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Beer review: Westbrook Mexican Cake
Recently a dear friend treated us to a bottle of Westbrook Brewing’s Mexican Cake Imperial Stout, which has gained Whale status for a lot of beer nerds. A thick and sticky 10.5% ABV Imperial stout aged on cocoa nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers…what could possibly go wrong? Serving it too cold…
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Oktoberfest beers
Those of you who are married probably think you had a pretty nifty wedding day. Now imagine you had a wedding reception that was still famous over 2 centuries later… that’s Oktoberfest! It all started in 1810 when Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Theresa of Saxony. Their wedding reception set such a gold…
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Straight to Ale Intimidator Doppelbock
9% ABV Poured from: bomber Appearance: cloudy brown with deep ruby highlights, thin effervescent head. A very attractive pour. Aroma: A light sweetness underlies a gentle hop aroma. It wouldn’t surprise me if STA used Noble Hops in their recipe, as it has some of the dark, almost earthy/grassy aromatics associated with Noble Hops like…
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Video review: Beer Engineers Peanut Butter Porter
Video review of BE Peanut Butter Porter Changing things up a bit by doing a thoroughly irreverent video review with my buddy Joseph Baker wherein we touch on a little of the BS that breweries go through to get their beer onto the shelves. In post-review conversation we kicked around food pairings and decided that…
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Straight To Ale Laika Imperial Stout
Straight To Ale Laika Imperial Stout 9.75% ABV Poured from: bomber Appearance: jet black. Motor oil and used molasses. Thin off-brown head. Occasional sound of photons dying in agony as they hit the surface of the beer. Smell: very complex. Coffee, almonds?, caramel? savory nuts? It smells absolutely divine! Taste: starts with almond/nut? Coffee, sweetness,…
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Patriot Joe’s Ale
Currently Alabama has only one brewpub. This should change rapidly in coming years, but being the only one at present has put Patriot Joe’s into the spotlight. Introduction Heroes Grill – the restaurant that houses PJ’s – is a rather normal looking roadhouse restaurant. Their menu is well thought-out to meet the needs of their…