Roebling Imperial Robust Porter

Brewer: Rivertown Brewing Company, Lockland, Ohio
Alcohol Content: 7.8%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Brewed with imported sweet vanilla beans, cold pressed espresso/coffee & raw cane sugars.  Like a big, chewy, vanilla, coffee infused brownie, Roebling Porter brings tons of chocolate aroma & a docile acidity."

Wilk's Take:
First and foremost, thank you to my sister-in-law Danette for feeding into my beer obsession with a variety pack for Christmas.  Nothing warms my heart more than an endless supply of beer to opine about.  The first one I grabbed was the Roebling due to its compact 12oz bottle that looked oh so cute in my fridge next to its big brothers.

Roebling pours like liquid red rocks.  It settles in the glass a hearty brown, but held in the right light, the ruddy, reddish brown that originated in the pour can be caught.  In direct contrast to the brewer's description, Roebling reeked of espresso right out of the gate; coffee heavy to the extreme.  I really buried my nose in the glass to capture the vanilla and chocolate but kept coming up short.

I dove in for the first drink and the taste sensation that settled over my tongue defied what my nose just got done telling me.  The bitter smell of espresso gave way to a taste of chocolate heaven.  I actually said out loud "the taste defies the smell."  The chocolate led the charge with the espresso in a close second trailed by the vanilla bean.  Frankly the vanilla bean was only evident on the inside of my cheek after I swallowed.

Roebling surprises as you drink it.  As I neared the bottom of my glass the aroma that lifted into my nose was that of chocolate and no longer espresso.  The taste of coffee virtually disappears as well and all that is left is a full flavored porter and I wish I had another one in the fridge to grab.  Alas, I'll have to track it down another day or forget about it when I have another beer.

Suggestion: This is my first time even seeing a beer by Rivertown Brewing Company.  I'm sure Danette will tell me where she got it.  Find this beer and try it.  While you're at it, might want to invest in another Rivertown beer, as this one is a rare breed (as offered on their website).

Value: I can't really speak to the value of Roebling.  As part of a variety pack I can only imagine that it ran anywhere between $2-3 for the bottle alone.  That's better than any bottle you can buy at a bar.

Michelle Factor: Not only did Michelle give it a whirl, so did special guest Melanie.  Both liked it and Michelle agreed the taste defied expectation. 

Founder's CBS

Brewer: Founder's Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Alcohol Content: 10%

Official Description from Brewer:
None that I could find

Wilk's Take:
Founder's does it right.  This beer came to me via eBay.  I felt this strange desire to grab a hard to find brew because it seemed like getting one would be akin to finding the Holy Grail.  I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I am seeking the best.  When I say Founder's does it right, I am comparing them directly to Three Floyd's, our local champion.  Although Founder's Brewing had a CBS release party, the beer was not limited to the brewery; it was distributed across the state of Michigan and even made its way to Indiana.  Retail stores had the right to sell the beer on the shelf.  After my experience at the Three Floyd's anniversary party and the stories I've been told of Dark Lord Day, I was glad to find out that Founder's doesn't take itself too seriously.

The bottle, not labeled for size, was probably 750mL.  And let me tell you, it took me four hours to drink it over the course of Christmas Eve.  It poured out of the bottle like used motor oil and even my guests "oohed" and "aahed" as it hit the bottom of my glass.  I raised the glass to take in the aroma and every note Founder's wanted you to grab was there: coffee, chocolate, maple syrup, and bourbon.  The most subtle of these was bourbon.  From my previous encounters with bourbon stouts, most smell so sweetly of bourbon that it could be off putting for those who detest it.  With CBS, the bourbon is just right.

I had CBS stored in my cold room downstairs and I put it in the fridge prior to serving.  I tried it fresh out of the cold bottle and it was delicious.  I let it warm up to room temperature and it was even better.  I am constantly amazed at how different a beer can taste as your progress through the glass and even how it can change from the front of your mouth to the back.  Of course, the tongue has different taste buds at different locations so this makes sense, but CBS defies the logic.  The bitter coffee notes (and bitter might be too strong to describe it) resonated most clearly at the front of my mouth whereas the sweet maple chocolate taste was caught on the back end, which let the beer flow smoothly down the throat.  I didn't want to rush through this beer, I wanted to drink it forever.  Only one beer competes with that sensation and I'm sure you can imagine which one it is.

Suggestion: If you can find it, try it.  If you know someone who has it, ask for a taste as I doubt anyone would want to part with a whole bottle.

Value: I wish I could tell you.  My eBay purchase cost me some serious coin, but I'm glad I did it.  I don't even know how much it retailed for, but I'm sure it was worth it too.

Michelle Factor: None.  Michelle was relaxing with some egg nog.  I wonder if CBS mixed with egg nog would be good.

World Wide Stout

Brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Delaware
Alcohol Content: 15-20%

Official Description from Brewer:
"YES! This is the beer you've heard so much about. Dark, rich, roasty and complex, World Wide Stout has more in common with a fine port than a can of cheap, mass-marketed beer. Brewed with a ridiculous amount of barley. Have one with (or as!) dessert tonight!"

Wilk's Take:
Somewhere on a shelf, a lone bottle of Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout cried out to me, practically begging me to buy it.  Honestly, I admit that I have not really had a Dogfish Head beer until this very moment.  I know that seems odd because Sam Calagione has done as much for the craft beer movement as anyone.  At least he has been well publicized.  But when you have a reputation for brewing good beer you must be doing something right.  Now I could have gone with the standard 60 minute IPA, but no, I go for a little rarer sighting, the World Wide Stout.

Between the realm of chocolate liqueur and rubbing alcohol lies the aroma of World Wide Stout.  It is simultaneously inviting and repulsive.  Granted, the repulsion is based on years of childhood illness where I inhaled rubbing alcohol as a method to clear chest congestion, so it might not be a fair comparison for this beer.  There is something definitely pungent about the smell that makes you think you'll lose a few nose hairs in the process.  I drink it anyway.

For a stout, the look of the beer is anything but.  As I poured it out of the bottle into my trusty pint glass I couldn't help but notice a deep amber color reflected from my kitchen lights.  This is not the used motor oil I love seeing, but it wasn't off putting either.  There was also a distinct liquidity about it that betrays the normal heavy of stouts wallowing in snifter glasses at your run of the mill craft beer establishment.

The taste is definitely akin to port wine.  It has to be.  Something that sweet can only remind you of dessert.  There is no bitter here, but Dogfish Head advertises World Wide Stout to be 70 IBU.  Even when you let it sit on that back of your tongue you are not getting anything remotely close to 70.  My fellow drinkers can confirm, but 70 is on the higher end for an IPA, which this is a far cry from.

Suggestion: I'm a sucker for stouts and World Wide is no exception.  It's good.  After a long day of work and a good meal, unwind with one, if you can find it.  With the heavy alcohol content you won't be surprised to find that it comes in a stand alone 12 oz. bottle.

Value: Definitely not a value buy.  For $8 you could get a couple bombers and even a six pack of good beer that could hold its ground to World Wide Stout.  Of course, it's usually from a local brewer and straight from their tap room.

Michelle Factor: She took the picture, does that count?  She passed on sampling.  Just not in the mood I guess.

Three Floyd's XV Anniversary Party - Worst Episode Ever

Maybe it's my fault. As a rookie coming off the bench, maybe I didn't prepare myself or establish the right expectations for the day. I was so excited to have access to this "exclusive" shindig that I failed to read any information about it posted just the day before. I have waited a week and half to even attempt to describe the day's activities because I needed to calm myself down. I wanted to approach it from the most objective perspective I could muster, but in the end I still hate, HATE, what I went through.

My wonderful sister-in-law Genny was kind enough to drop my brother Adrian and I off because I knew that parking was going to be ridiculous. That warning was well publicized by Three Floyd's from the outset, plus I read about previous Dark Lord Days. We arrived at 1:07pm, which was seven minutes after the premises was accessible to ticket holders and the line snaked down the street, around the corner, around a cul-de-sac, and back down the other side of the street. Now, I stood in line to get into a ballgame before with ticket in hand, so I was fine with that, but the line wasn't moving!

The picture above shows how much further we had to wait having already waited in the line for approximately one hour. Many of my taste buds were crying as I watched those around us drinking fine brews and feeling the saliva in my mouth ascending to levels reserved probably for dogs looking at a bacon treat. I had two bottles of CBS in my bag that I was looking to trade so the will power not to crack one of those open was battling my desire to drink a beer. I was hungry too. I skipped lunch because there were fine chefs inside and I love good brewpub food.

It took two and a half hours to get into a facility where we had tickets to attend the event inside. Egregious. When I get to the gate I present my ticket and my driver's license and the woman gave me two options, "To the right is the line to buy the bottled beers, to the left is the tent where they are serving the guest beers along with Three Floyd's beer." We went to the right.

Fortunately, my friend Dale met us near the front of the line. I let him cut the line. I didn't care at this point. I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and decidedly peeved about the whole situation. Not to mention the group behind us let about six people cut the line. Dale was our beer gopher. As my brother and I stood waiting to buy beer, Dale went to grab a couple of Alpha Kings. Yes, you read that right. Of all the selection of beers they were offering we decided to get the flagship formula. Why? Because it was the easiest brew to get. When Dale returned he handed us our Solo cups and graciously said, "First round is on me." I chuckled a little assuming that the beer had to come with the price of admission. Nope. $5. Damn, I'm at a beer garden at a lame state fair, right?

The picture above is the line to buy bottled beer along the side of the brewery's warehouse. Another hour and a half. Thankfully I was able to try "Baller Stout," the XV anniversary brew which is a combination of Dark Lord, Surly Darkness, Struise Black Albert, and Mikeller Beer Geek Brunch, before I decided if I wanted to buy it. Who am I kidding, I was going to buy it regardless. It was very tasty. Velvety smooth, but really hits you with coffee on the front end and cayenne notes on the back end. When I actually drink a bottle I could offer you a better opinion, but since I felt like a jilted lover drinking it, probably a good idea to leave the bias aside.

It took us another hour and a half standing in line before we bought our beer. I walked away with four bottles of Baller Stout, a bottle of Biggs' Stache (limited barrel aged brew), and a bottle of Alpha Klaus just because I wanted it. My time in line also yielded a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout which cost me a bottle of CBS. With beer securely in my bag, in was time to forage for sustenance.

At 5 o'clock, with five hours still ahead of the celebration, the food was gone. The celebrated chefs, nowhere to be found. The two food trucks that they brought in to supplement? One was closed and waiting for all the guests to enter the brewery (yes, still a line outside) and the other had a long, winding line since it was the only food on site. The bands that were lined up for entertainment? Inside the warehouse.

I left. I could not fathom spending another second of my time there. On a scale of one to worst episode ever you can imagine where I rated this event. Am I on a soapbox? You bet I am! $25 per ticket gets you into a party where you have to spend $5 on beer, an equal if not more amount on food that wasn't even there, and $30 per bottle of anniversary beer. I've never been to Dark Lord Day, but I'm guessing that I'm never going to go either. Having tried that beer (and it is by far the best beer I've had to date) I have no need to go back.

Alternatively, now that I'm a seasoned veteran, I can always approach the festivities from a different perspective. However, my favorite craft beer establishment threw a one year anniversary celebration for its patrons and provided Zombie Dust free of charge (along with another craft beer selection) and the food was free as well. In fifteen years, maybe Three Floyd's is slowly morphing into an entity whose mystique far outweighs its service. The product is outstanding, don't get me wrong, but if the precedent of Dark Lord is the new trend in craft beer (i.e. CBS, Darkness, etc.) then I may just pass and stick with the Alpha Kings.

Why did I do that?

Leading up to the unique beer sale at Wise Guys (yes, I renamed it) I was trolling around craigslist and eBay looking at how much some of these beers were going for.  And I revisited an old favorite: Dark Lord by Three Floyd's.

There it was, in my hometown nonetheless.  It seemed like a reasonable price at the time and besides, I already convinced Brett to go in on half.  The only thing I had to give up was the bottle.  I had no problem with that as I am not in the habit of keeping the bottles.  I was only interested in the prize within.  So I arranged a meet with the buyer and ponied up $60 for the 2011 brew.  Why did I do that?

Finally the day of the sale came and we lined up outside the store with a dedicated crowd more than likely chasing after the same beer: Founders CBS.  We were ushered into the narrow first aisle of the store and told about the quantities available.  They were selling 8 bottles of CBS that morning and there were roughly 60 or 70 people in line.  Very interesting.  I don't remember the specific counts of the other beers but we had six names in six beer drawings and the outlook seemed promising.

"You know," Melanie started, "we should have gotten back in line and come up with aliases to increase our odds."  This was a brilliant idea!  Unfortunately one that was shared after the name collecting stopped.  If ever I find myself in that situation again, you better believe I'll remember that piece of advice.

First up was the CBS.  They were selling it for approximately $18 a bottle.  These bottles were fetching as much as $60 on eBay so the investment alone was worth the wait.  Alas, we struck out.  And the next round was lambic beers from Upland brewery in the form of raspberry, peach, or hell, I can't remember.  We lost out on those too.  Spirits were fading.

I was already holding a bottle of Hoppin' Frog's Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale which was a 2010 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal winner.  I was happy with that.  I just wish that I could get some of these other beers.  And then it happened.  The total take away was at least doubling up on the last four beers sold:

4 bottles of Hoppin' Frog Naked Evil @ $25 each - $100 (Why did I do that?  I sold one bottle right on the spot because I couldn't imagine what I would do with four, so we'll scale it back to $75)

2 bottles of Stone Vertical Epic, years 2006 and 2008 @ $42 each - $84 (Why did I do that?  Turns out Stone has been brewing Vertical Epic since 2002 and they release the beers on the following dates: 2/2/02; 3/3/03; 4/4/04; etc. and they will stop on 12/12/12.)

2 bottles of Hoppin' Frog DORIS @ $13 each - $26 (Why did I do that?  I had a bottle at Beer Geeks the week before and it was good and remember BORIS got this whole thing started)

2 bottles of Victory Otto @ $10 each - $20 (Why did I do that?  To be honest with you, I have no frickin' idea.  It was just a limited release)

$205 on 9 bottles of beer averaging $23 bottle which translates to about $1 an ounce.  Ok, that softens the blow a little bit.  Plus I walked away with the Pumpkin Ale which I think was $17 and a bottle of Abita's 25th Anniversary Double Dog for $6.  All told Wise Guys got $228 from me that Saturday morning.

Here's the problem I have: It was a total scam!  Ok, the beer is real and I have it, but my friend Brett calls me half an hour later and says, "So I was at Nick's Liquors and they have Hoppin' Frog DORIS and Naked Evil on the shelf."

"Son of a bitch."

Ok Wise Guys, great marketing scheme.  You bring in foot traffic and hype up beer only to ensure it's sold in one day.  However, good luck getting any more of my money.  Apparently Nick's Liquors doesn't need bells and whistles to sell their beer.  Might be better priced too.

Post Script: This spawned a nasty habit.  I went on eBay and spent $20 on Vertical Epic year 2007 and $10 on Vertical Epic year 2010.  $42 at Wise Guys for beer I could have got on eBay at half the cost.  Granted, year 2002 is going for about $600+.  And I spent $75 on CBS because I didn't think I'd actually win that auction.  Why did I do that?  I can't even drink it now and feel good about it.

Rare beer attack - Sneaky bastards

So I follow a couple dozen people/breweries/beer bloggers on twitter.  Sometimes they provide useful information, other times I gloss over it like a kid being begged by his mother to make the bed.  However, one tweet rose above the others, even though it was so plain:

"Limited release beer sale coming soon....stay tuned for details!!!"

Thanks @wiseguysliquors, that made my day.  What could it be?  The intended effect worked and I was captivated.  Ok, I'll admit, I really didn't care.  Honestly, rare beers are all hype right?  The value of the beer is related to the scarcity moreso than the actual taste.  Or not.  Dark Lord seems to be popular, but with a rabid fan base and loyalists touting it as the best beer ever could just be pulling my chain.  I might think it tastes like crap!  I stayed tune for the next tweet which came about 10 days after the first:

"Our limited release beer sale will be on Saturday 10/29 @ 9:15 a.m. at our Merrillville location."

Well no shit.  You just opened your new store only two months earlier so picking your flagship location was not a stretch.  Still not telling me anything useful.

"We will be using a lottery system to determine who will get the opportunity to purchase these special items to be as fair as possible"

That's good.  The last thing you want is dedicated beer drinkers to start lining up outside your store before a beer release.  You would end up with a tent city of people drinking the night away before you opened.  That helps a lot.  But is it worth my time?

"the beers involved will be announced on Monday 10/24!!! thanks for your patience!"

Damnit.  Really?  Three more days to find out what the hell you'll be selling?  Does that mean the deal with the distributor fell through on some stuff?  Does that mean your distributor won't tell you?  Alright, until Monday...

"Saturday's limited release beer sale will include the following beers:"

140 characters, saves on advertising dollars I suppose

"victory otto, hoppin' frog DORIS, hoppin' frog naked evil, upland lambics, vintage stone vertical epics and founders CBS!"

And there it was.  The hook that the sneaky bastards were using to drive foot traffic.  It could be argued that only one of those beers was rare or highly sought after.  Then again a trip through craigslist or eBay just tells you what the secondary market is offering for these brews.  Craft beer has almost become an investment.  The Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout alone was a myth!  You could triple your money!

I rounded up my team.  Thanks to Adrian, Brett, Melanie, Michael, and of course Michelle for accompanying me to Wise Guys Liquors that morning.

The conclusion tomorrow...

"Get Him to the Geek"

Jason Owens has spent four years trying to open the bar where he wanted to go have a drink. His efforts have paid off as Beer Geeks has just celebrated its first year in business proving that others in the region also want to go to his bar and have a drink. Of course striking the craft beer iron while it is hot didn't hurt either.

Not Your Typical Dive Bar

Well, from appearances, it is exactly your typical dive bar. Sandwiched between a pizza joint and a burrito place, the unassuming facade of Beer Geeks isn't inviting the masses from the outside with bright, flashy lights and a wall of picture windows letting you peer at the patrons inside. There is one iron gated porthole that lets in absolutely the bare minimum of natural light. At 3pm when the door opens you have to adjust your eyes to take in the darkness, tempered only by the glow of fluorescent.

"I wanted that dark bar, downtown Chicago feel: low ceilings, dark and intimate. I wanted a dive bar with a purpose," Jason explains to me. "I got some of my ideas from Bone Dry, the booths, tables and chairs. And I always had the idea for the leather couches. First thing I did when I got in here was get the carpet." The carpet, the exact color escapes me now, only contributes to the dark atmosphere. In contrast to all of it are the white ceiling tiles that even the whitest guy could jump and hit.

"This is the kind of bar I hung out in Chicago. I always wanted to open a place where I wanted to go drink." And that's the prevailing theme with Jason. He fell in love with the Chicago Blues scene and offers Tuesday Bluesday. Local bands and musicians come play on Saturday nights to add to that intimate bar setting. It's everything you might expect to find in downtown Chicago.

The Craft Beer Phenomenon

"Bone Dry had been rotating craft beers before the movement ever became huge. It was just something different than your Millers or Buds. You will never find those here."

My journey into craft beer started at Beer Geeks with a bottle of Hoppin' Frog's BORIS. As I was chatting with Jason I was slowly sipping on a snifter of Hoppin' Frog's DORIS, completing my circle so to speak. Recently, Wise Guys Liquors advertised a rare beer sale with one of those bottles being DORIS, which I had already had!

"It's all about the relationship with the distributors. I take care of them, they take care of me. If there is one barrel left in the state, they give me a call and say, 'Hey, there's one barrel left and we're bringing it to you.'"

That's a great position to be in. When you are tapping kegs from all over the states it pays to grab the barrels that might not be available anywhere else in Indiana. Now I'm sure the folks in Indianapolis get a large selection as well thanks to distributors down south. But the rotating selection up here separates Beer Geeks from even the breweries that can trade their own beer for another's.

"Every time you come to Beer Geeks it is like a brand new bar. Yesterday we had 'Old Blarney' but today it's gone. I'm about to go put on 'Zombie Dust.'"

And away he went, back into his labyrinth of kegs and lines and swapped out one for another. As he was cleaning the line of the 'Old Blarney' pouring it into a pitcher he offered a taste of an 'Old Blarney,' 'Zombie Dust' mix. I passed but the other patrons at the bar were more than happy to try.

That's how it has to go here. There is no set day and time for beer rotation. If a keg is empty, Jason wastes no tap space and grabs another brew. It makes Beer Geeks a year round brewfest.

And the clientele certainly helps lend that feel too. When I was there chatting with Jason there were maybe a dozen people in the place. Although I was the one pressing him for answers, every patron was waiting to hear the story behind the bar. At times, the topic changed from Beer Geeks simply to beer. There is no more enjoyable experience than drinking a great beer and talking about great beer with people who share the passion.

The Palate Requires There Be NO SMOKING

The town of Highland does not have a smoking ordinance.

"Totally my decision," Jason says.

"So this wasn't because you were serving craft beer?"

"No, but I know how much that means to craft beer drinkers."

It certainly is an added benefit to walk into Beer Geeks and not be engulfed in a haze of secondhand smoke. Most of us know that to truly enjoy a craft beer you have to invoke all five senses and that can be a little difficult when all you smell is nicotine addiction and all you taste is stale air. But it all goes back to Jason's concept of the bar he wants to drink in.

This is also a good thing for the beer selection. It all comes down to his palate. He alone selects the beer and sometimes, on a rare occasion, he may let a distributor talk him into a beer without actually tasting it. As far as I can tell, this has backfired only one time.

"One time I got a keg of Pink Killer Beer. It was grapefruit infused. Probably the worst beer I've had in my life. I went through the keg in three days. The girls really loved it."

Word of Mouth

"I advertised one time.  I ran a weekly Friday ad in the Times for a blues event.  Oh, and I sent some stickers or coasters to a brewfest and nobody had any idea the place existed."

I cheerfully retorted, "But you have about 3,000 friends on Facebook."

"Yeah, but half of them are from Brazil. You know how Facebook is, people see 'beer' and they just go crazy. One girl 'liked' one of my keg tapping's yesterday. I did that in September! I hope she wasn't expecting to come in here and order it."

Jason takes the time to announce every new beer on tap and he's pretty good about staying up to date. Between Facebook (Beer Geeks), Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/beergeekspub and his own website, http://www.beergeekspub.com/, you can always stay up to date on what's going on.

I asked him how much sleep he's lost in his first year of business.

"I haven't lost any sleep. Sure it keeps me busy, between [the three aforementioned media], bar tending, working another job (yes, he works another job), and running the business I certainly have been busy. But I have a lot of help."

The Future

Beer Geeks, with little to no publicity or fanfare, is slowly becoming a staple in the craft beer scene here in Northwest Indiana. Although the vast majority of the public may be unaware of its existence, the fans of craft beer flock quite frequently to enjoy a pint, tulip, or snifter of the newest ale to arrive on the scene. It even manages to attract a few hipsters thanks to the offering of PBR ($3 tall boys only).

When I asked Jason about the future of Beer Geeks he offered me a surprising response:

"I want to open a blues bar."

Craft Beer could lead the whole beer industry back

http://money.msn.com/stock-broker-guided/article.aspx?post=597cf1c1-18a4-4f48-8632-f73a3dfe534c

Notice that even in a depressed economy, craft beer is a growing enterprise.  The one year anniversary of Beer Geeks, the opening of Bulldog Brewing, the popularity of Three Floyd's show that craft beer in Northwest Indiana can be a major player in the Miller v. Bud debate, wherein these beers have more taste than the big media spenders.  I think it shows that if you actually considered the quality of your beer over the quantity you can gain a loyal following not tied to how much money you spend on advertising.

The Michelle Factor

This blog would not be complete without the help of Michelle.  She puts up with all this silly drinking business and supports my passion with her own.  We just celebrated five years of wedded bliss and she decides to show her love with a bounty of gifts that make a beer drinker just ooze with excitement.

The personalized hoodie sweatshirt now means that Beer Me Wilk is virally advertising.  Don't be surprised if you see this at the next tailgate, pub, or brewfest event (like say the Three Floyd's anniversary party).  And I hear it makes a great Christmas present too.

The other awesome gift were two glasses, yes glasses, recycled and produced out of 22 oz bombers.  The company that manufactures these is based in San Diego, so naturally Stone is the brewer of choice.  You better believe Beer Me Wilk is shopping the idea around to some glass manufacturers here locally so that his bottle collection can be turned into quite possibly the most ingenious beer vessels yet.

Next time you see or talk to Michelle, and you actually like the blog, thank her before you thank me.

Night Tripper Imperial Stout

Brewer: New Holland Brewing, Holland, Michigan
Alcohol Content: 10.8%

Official Description from Brewer:
"Night Tripper is an Imperial Stout for a Fat Tuesday release. Dark, mysterious and poetic, Night Tripper’s abundance of roasted malts, combined with flaked barley create a rich, roasty beer with deeply intense and lush flavors. Night Tripper’s layered, nuanced tones invite intrigue and reward a curious palate. Beads and masks aren’t required, but are encouraged."

Wilk's Take:
I suppose there is always a possibility of grabbing a seasonal brew late in the year.  I have passed Night Tripper on the shelf several times but never had the presence of mind to buy it, which is a little troublesome as it screams Imperial Stout right on the label.  On top of that, it has been sitting in my fridge for weeks as circumstances have continually drawn me away from this brew.

Fate had a plan.  You see, a beer like Night Tripper needed to be enjoyed in the perfect drinking vessel and this weekend, this vessel came to me.  Introducing: Das Boot.  Surely a 36 ounce boot glass can accommodate a 22 ounce bomber with ample room to spare.  However, as I am here to talk about beer, the boot will have to wait.

When I popped the top off the beer and the warm air met the cool liquid the vapor that wafted from the bottle's contents to my nose was furious.  Maybe robust would be a better word to use but how creative is that?  It really was the first time that I felt floored by the smell of a beer without so much as spilling a drop.  I emptied the contents into das boot and the aroma just grew more powerful.  It reeked of bourbon of all things.  Maybe not bourbon, maybe an Irish whiskey or a scotch because although sweet, not that sweet.

The roasted malts were delicious.  Notice New Holland doesn't tell you chocolate or coffee but keeps the descriptors vague: rich, intense, lush, nuanced.  That's probably because they couldn't label it!  I can hardly describe it myself except to say it drank so smooth and when I finally made it to the end I was disappointed it was all gone, but thankful I was done because 10.8% can floor you  (especially when your favorite football team is winning).

Suggestion: Go forth and procure, but only if you like stouts.  If you're trying a stout for the first time, Night Tripper is not the answer unless you're that brave.

Value: I can't remember what I paid for Night Tripper, but if I had to guess it is a bit on the higher end because it is seasonal and I bought it out of season.  It doesn't matter though, I'd buy it again.

Michelle Factor:  Michelle could smell the beer before I ever brought it to her.  The sour grapes expression on her face was all I needed to see.

Guest Factor: So we tried the "Melanie Factor" this week.  Melanie drinks beer so this was a new little spin.  She didn't like it either, but she detected something in the beer she couldn't quite label.  I believe it was the whiskey smell I described above.  She could tell me otherwise.