Super-smooth black lager with a kind of buttery caramel undertone - not sweet, but velvety, I guess. Didn't have the kind of lactic tackiness that I remember from other dark lagers in my experience. Very tasty.
Matchless Bar (2020)
Sweet, thick, but not overwhelming or syrupy. Just enough roastiness to balance out the flavor. The opening is chocolate and there's recognizable hazelnut but the whisky is the thing that isn't obvious at first, except for the vaporous quality of the finish. That strength really sneaks up on you though, I was wrecked by the end of the can.
Reuben's Three Ryes Men (2020)
Medium-light stout/brown ale base, with clean but sharp rye whiskey notes reminding you this is an event beer. I don't think the flavor ever really melded harmoniously for me, which kind of keeps this from being in the top tier; maybe the beer didn't have the body to stand up to the barreling.
Deeply unpleasant, like when you accidentally buy the unsweetened blueberry juice at the supermarket. There's a tiny bit of a wine cooler note at the end but otherwise there is nothing beer-like about this at all. Do you have a UTI, or want to remember those good times? Maybe, and only then, this might be the beer for you.
Bracingly tart, bit of salt on the lips, nice cherry flavor. Finished slightly sweet and very clean.
I gotta say, for something that is supposedly 17.5% ABV this was drinkable as hell.
Quite tasty, smooth porter with just a hint of smoke in the background.
I was remiss in logging this so I don't remember anymore. I do think it was tasty, remember it being light and shandy-like with a nice lime flavor.
I mean, it's the same beer. Hit the spot better this time, I guess.
Just a super solid porter. Roasty, medium bodied, nice, slightly acidic but smooth-finishing coffee on top.
Canned October 2018. This beer smells amazing, smooth pina colada and maybe a hint of cola, but the flavor is quite dense, intensely roasty and umami in a way that ends up being off-putting very quickly. The pineapple and coconut counteract it fairly effectively but the beer still finishes very tacky in the throat.
Superlative Urn beverage consumed with gratitude to Eden.
There’s a good beer in there after it punches me. Thanks Eden!
Quite tart but clean, totally unsurprising from Cascade. Cute, small can that takes some of the bite off of their normal pricing structure. Floral and slightly tropical in flavor.
Bourbon County Caramella Ale (2020)
Oy plagiarized my donut comment. High octane maple glazed cinnamon bun. Very sweet. Instant drunk while trying to cook dinner. Dangerous.
Normally I find Yeti overbearing, and there've been a lot of good peanut butter stouts, but friends, this one might be the best one yet. Definitely not on the sweet side, this is a roast dark peanut butter beer with just the right intensity of flavor. It's hella strong but doesn't taste that way. Loved it.
I don't know if the can makes it worse or if I'm more discerning in captivity, but I found the fakey strawberry jam flavor to be significantly off-putting. The rest of the beer is kind of an insipidly sweet stout, okay enough but sticky in the throat, and the jam puts it over the top into serious "meh" territory.
Rich dark chocolate flavor and an unsweet, pleasant coffee character. Almost savory, but not weird. Finish is lactic-dry, almost tacky, which builds up over time, but the overall stout is actually very nice.
Opaque, hazy-juicy tropical flavor somewhere between pineapple and passionfruit. There's a bit of pot/herbal undertone to the flavor that gives it just a hint of acrid skunkiness and reduces the overall enjoyability of this beer.
Gulden Draak Imperial Stout (2018)
Brown rather than black. Roasted, rooty/wet hay flavor, decent amounts of caramel. A Euro/UK take on a stout rather than what you'd find Stateside, I think. Pretty solid.
Starts pleasant, a sweet cereal hazy IPA with a sweet limeade flavor. Over time the limeade starts overwhelming the whole experience and starts fighting with the hop resin. It never gets annoying but it does certainly feel less pleasant to drink by the end of the glass.
Bready quad, lightly sweet but with a strong toasted flavor/bitterness always present. To my mind, although I haven't had the others in a while, not at all like the caramel-heavy, thicker quads put out by the European Trappist breweries. Makes me want to revisit them, though.
A sweet-ish, pleasant pilsner, laced with a bitter, brett-like complexity on top. Drinking a whole pint makes me think this was deceptively stronger than expected as well. I liked this one a whole lot.
Really chocolatey and poured smooth. Maybe just a tad on the sweet side for me but solid.
'Ol reliable. Nothing over the top, nothing too syrupy, too sweet, too alcohol-y, too malty, too whatever. A great way to ring in the new year.
Light, bright, sweet cereal, and a clear hop bitterness hinting at resin. A nice kind of pineapple juice fruitiness keeps it colorful. An easy-drinking IPA.
Normally I would never say this, but this could have been just a tad sweeter. I’m sure everyone else loves it, and I might also have loved it any other time, but for some reason I wanted something with just a tinge of sweet with the sour in cherry and this was just short of that. Also, thanks Roy and Sara!
Light smell for something that tastes so strong. Something soapy and distracting in body.
Tastes exactly like a Butterfinger. At least for this flavor combination, more successful than a lot of other attempts (and I appreciate a candy bar that isn't yet another Almond Joy / Mounds thing).
I very much prefer this on CO2 but obviously still excellent
A little too dry for me to love, but otherwise pretty enjoyable
Dark bitter smell, balsamic vinegar qualities. Smooth yet complex rich body. Good finish, nothing off lingering.
Pretty much an IPL. A malt-forward lager with some upfront resin drying out the flavor. Tacky on the tongue; nice hop flavors that seem to balance the malt rather well. Not sure I like this trend toward 11.2 oz cans though.
Bourbon County Caramella Ale (2020)
Intensely sweet, like a sweet apple wine or brandy, with a concentrated caramel flavor throughout. It's a nice flavor, but there's just a little too much of everything throughout - it was hard to drink more than a small sip at a time. Hopefully with age maybe this could become a lot more mellow. All that said, it was still way better than the Kentucky Fog.
Maybe I was starved, but I thought this worked really well. Transparent, effervescent and just slightly fruity/tangy, with a sweet and smooth cereal overtone. Pretty much exactly what I was looking for in a Kolsch.
