Today I got back to running on my own.  I ran a nice 7.25 miles or so.  Felt great.  I’ll be sore tomorrow, but it was time well spent.  As such, I needed to shower more or less immediately.  Now, my favorite thing in the world is drink beer in the shower.  I was running, contemplating drinking a stout.  Then, it hit me: Barleywine.  I should have a barleywine.  Well… turns out it might not be the greatest decision I’ve ever made…  I decided to try something I haven’t had in some years, the North Coast Old Stock Ale.  The vintage I have is the 2007.

It poured a delicious brick red/ruby/brown type color, and left a very weak head.  All of this expected for an 11.5% ABV barleywine.

As for smell, I managed to grab a whiff before I hopped in the shower, and it was very thick with syrup and molasses, and cut with a hefty dose of ethanol.  It smells as a barleywine should, although I’d prefer a bit more hops.  Then again, I prefer all beers over 50 IBUs.

The taste was really upsetting at first.  I was less than thrilled.  It was just alcohol and a teensy sweet.  Not bad, necessarily, but the cost is not worth it.  However, once it warmed up a bit, and I was half way through, it really opened up.  It was quite sweet…  it really balanced out the alcohol well.  I have to admit, it almost leaves you with a vanilla or bourbon finish, but not quite.  My tongue actually begs for it.  Pop this beast in a bourbon barrel for a few months, and this beer would be a 9.  As it stands, it’s only a 6.

-brian

So I think this is a new brew from Sierra Nevada. New to me, anyway.

The photo below doesn’t do the head justice, as it poured with a nice one, but that quickly dissipated.

It smells like a German lager. Malty, but lighter than a standard bock.

The mouthfeel is pretty lightweight, and modestly bitter for the style. Again, lighter than your standard bock, but tastey.

A decent session beer, if you want something a bit different than you standard english pale or ESB.

All in all, 5/10. And a fair price to boot.

My second beer of the night, likely third, and possibly 4th beer of the night is from Short’s Brewing of Bel Aire, Michigan.  Good Humans.  I don’t know the story behind it, and why it’s named what it’s named, but I do know I like good people, and according to Hunter S Thompson, good people drink good beer.  Or something like that.

Good Humans is billed as a Dry Hopped Double Brown Ale.  Generally, I’m not much of a fan of brown ales.  I find them bland, and unimpressive in every respect.  On Ian’s recommendation, however, I bought a 6-er of this.  I also warned him that if I wasn’t into it, I’d punchisize him.  In a fierce way.

So, what was I expecting from this?  Well, I was expecting lots of malt.  Lots of really bland malt.  Maybe a teensy bit of hop in the nose, and a decent amount of alcohol; it is a double after all.

What was I given?  Well, in the nose, it’s major league hops.  Floral hops, citrus hops, grassy hops, dirty hops.  It’s hops though.  There’s a strange sweetness to it though, almost like strawberry preserves.

As far as mouthfeel, it’s light and fluffy, with some carbonation.  It doesn’t stick to the tongue, it just flows over smoothly and lightly.

The taste was the true kicker though.  It broke all of my expectations.  All of them.  It was not like anything I expected.  It is really hoppy.  Not like an IIPA, but very hop flavored.  It’s got a weird sweetness that I wasn’t necessarily prepared for.  Very fruity.  Very strange.  Very delicious.  Nothing at all like a brown ale.  Very delicious.  The genius responsible for this beer is certainly a Good Human of the highest caliber.

8.5/10

brian!

The low tonight is between -5 and +3 farenheit.  Because I like beer, I needed to find a beer that keeps me warm in the cold.  Turns out, Imperial Stouts are just the right thing for that.  The epitome of a winter beer, if I do say so myself.  So, I was interested in finding a reasonably priced Imperial Stout.  My choices came down to Founders Breakfast Stout, which is a damn shame we’ve never reviewed; Great Divide Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, which I’ve stupidly never tried; and Bell’s Expedition Stout, which is a stellar beer and usually over-priced.  Today, however, I was able to find a great deal on the Bell’s Expedition, and as such am blogging it for our fine readership.

As you can see, this fine ale exhibits a strange characteristic for imperial stouts: it has head.  This is certainly not a bad thing, just different.  It’s quite thick, but fades pretty quickly.

The smell is comprised of lots of malt, chocolate, coffee, and alcohol.  It’s really sweet, in both senses of the word.

The mouthfeel is full, with minimal carbonation bite.  Very thick, coating the tongue and mouth wonderfully.

The taste is multi-faceted.  There is a lot of sweetness up front, while there is plenty of bitterness as it moves back on the tongue.  There are all sorts of flavors you could associate with this.  Coffee, chocolate, and oats are all very prominent.  There is a noticeable hint of alcohol in the flavor, which is really enjoyable.

Overall, this is a stellar beer, and I’m glad I finally got to review it for the site.  While it’s not the greatest imperial stout ever, it’s a hell of a good one.

8.5/10

Overall: 9/10