Pouring with a tall layer of pillowy light tan head, the body is an interplay of  copper shadows and ruby highlights. No particular aroma. The initial taste begins with a flash of sweet malt which is quickly washed away by a strong layer of hops, dry and mostly tart, citrus, with a little bit of pine and earthiness emerging in the aftertaste. A lasting finish with hops laying at the back of the throat.
I’m hoping that this will be a great beer to go with my beef pot pie, we will see in a moment, once the content of the pie has cooled from volcanic to merely hot. Well, the idea was good, based on my memories of Old Thumper, beef pot pie seemed to be a good match, the beef and gravy should bring out some of the hops in the beer, while the beer will help to wash down the heavy gravy. However, Double Old Thumper is far hoppier, thus there is far too much hops (for me) brought out by the beef and veggies. If you like a heavy dose of hops with your food this might be right up your alley. On second thought, after finishing my dinner, the beer is suddenly a nice balance of malt and hops. Lets see what time brings… I think I like it better without food.

Double Old Thumper is the creation of Shipyard’s Master Brewer Alan Pugsley, who trained at the Ringwood Brewery, the original creator of Old Thumper. Shipyard is also the brewer, sectioned by Ringwood, of Old Thumper in the US. Haha, the RateBeer description mentions pairing with a ‘hearty stew’ good to know my ideas are not completely off the mark. As a fun fact, when first brewed, 25 years ago, Old Thumper was considered a strong beer, both in England and the US. Nowadays, it is considered of average strength, while Double Old Thumper, literally twice the strength,  is considered strong.

Pouring with a beautiful cinnamon colored frothy head, the aroma smells like dark chocolate bonbons, surprising since the literature on this beer emphasizes coffee.  The flavor is top-notch so well blended and smooth that my barbarian taste buds had a hard time  getting a full fix on the various layers.  The body is topped by an intensely smooth chocolate flavor that envelops your mouth without effort. This is followed by a layer of dryness, a nice counter-play to all the heavy chocolate. in the first I was never able to find a noticeable coffee note, my tasting notes just said VERY GOOD. As my glass warms the coffee profile started to emerge, so if you like an intensely chocolatey beer drink in colder, if you want more coffee let your bottle warm to a high cellar temp.  A really great beer, a great evening sipper.

A light citrus aroma wafts over a bright yellow body topped by a white cap. The body is invigorating with a layer of tiny hard bubbles, very refreshing!  The initial flavor is slightly sweet with a hint of lemon, finished in a light layer spices, coriander and lemon peel. A good example of the style. Refreshing on a warm day, but it won’t keep you warm on a cold night.
I had first learned of Mother Earth brewing about three years ago on a trip to North Carolina. Their distribution is a little limited so I’ve only been able to pick up more on visits back to the state. My first attraction is the art work on the label, but of course it’s the beers that keeps me coming back.

Pouring a dark ruby-red with hints of reddish-brown, once settled in the glass looks very much like cherry cola. While setting the beer releases an inviting aroma of ripe cherries.  At first there is a layer of reddish tan head, once again much like cherry cola. This head is extremely delicate, and the movement of me taking the glass to the coach burst many of the structural bubbles and the head quickly turned in to a thin colar hugging the side of the glass.

The real surprise of Bell’s Cherry Stout lies in its flavor. The initial sampling was dominated by tart cherries almost from start to finish. There was a layer of dark bitter-sweet powdered cocoa that arrives with the finish but only in the first one or two sips. The tart cherry character remains for the entire sitting and intensifies as the beer warms. I like the flavor but it doesn’t say ‘stout’ to me, I would compare it more to the flavor of a Kriek, although the nature of a stout does add a bit of uniqueness to the profile.  A great drink if you are looking for something different.

I’ve had Bell’s Cherry Stout before, unfortunately I had to drink it out of necessity and not because I wanted to. I bought a bottle in 2009 which was a 2008 vintage. I had put it away and ended up cellaring it, then when we moved to MD the box with the bottles tumbled out of the moving truck. The fall luckily only damaged one bottle, Bell’s Cherry Stout, breaking the seal in the cap. So I quickly opened it up and poured it, at room temperature after a about a year and a half cellaring the profile was much more blended,reminiscent dark chocolate bonbons with cherries. This bottle was of 2010 vintage which I bought in early 2011. My plan is to track down two more bottles and age them again to see what I will get.

Scotch Ale, French Broad Brewing Co., North Carolina, 7% ABV

Pouring a brownish dark amber with a huge amount of tan head. The flow releases a sweet aroma but once thing settle in the glass there is not much to sniff out. The initial taste reveals a body full of carbonation, layered with sweet nutty malt, that drops off sharply in the finish. Wee Heavy-er is very easy to drink, the flavor is inviting, not very heavy and the carbonation leaves you refreshed.  Even the sharp drop off in flavor disappears by the second try. The biggest contributor to my enjoyment was the long-lasting layer of foam, it lasted the entire bottle. The foam adds an essence of creaminess to the body, playing along with the malt to add a little weight to the body that is at the same time filling but not heavy.  Testament to this is the fact that this may have been the quickest bomber I’ve ever drank.

Pouring dark, cola colored with a bit of light tan froth,Clutch looks inviting on a cold evening, which at the time was just the case.  During pouring a strong aroma of cherries wafted from the bottle, but upon raising that glass I was surprised to find not much happening. The opening flavor is dominated by sour cherries giving the impression of drinking wine. This feeling was short-lived as the cherries are washed away by a tidal wave of strong coffee and bitter chocolate, followed by a  nutty finish, which leaves your throat dry. As the liquid warmed the coffee flavor began to dominate with a background of sour cherries rounding out the finish and aftertaste. The more I drank, the stronger the sourness became, eventually competing with coffee/chocolate profile of dominance.

Clutch is very filling, a bomber can easily satisfy two. I find it best to thing of Clutch as a stout, something I was not aware of when I bought it, I was imagining a Flemish style ale. I’m still happy with the results, it was intriguing to test what a stout is like with cherries. This beer is made with 80% stout mixed with 20% ale aged in sour wood, so there are really no cherries used.

New Belgium is quickly developing into a brewery to watch for me. Recently they have released sever interesting seasonal or limited run beers, including Clutch and Hoptober. They are generally creating a storm all over Maryland, it was only recently that New Belgium beers became available in bars as well as shelves. Fat Tire is now, perhaps, one of the most common craft beers available in Maryland bars, judging from the number of new neon signs going up in windows.

Released as part of the Lips of Faith series, Clutch is a collaboration between the brewery and the Maryland hard-rock group Clutch. I am not sure what part the band played in this brew but it must have been significant because the band’s logo is used as the logo for the beer, pretty much the most prominent element of the label.

A beer well deserving of its fame and inclusion on many ‘must drink’ lists. Though listed as an Ale, Dragon’s Milk is better thought of as a stout. Pouring a dark black with almost no highlights, the body is seemingly without carbonation though there is a thin ring of oatmeal colored head sticking to the rim of the glass. Most noticeable is the strong aroma of vanilla sweet wood wafting from the glass and even the bottle.

As you would expect the palate is complex layers of wood, strong vanilla and the essence of bourbon, I wanna say Jack Daniels. The body is smooth but very heavy, this is definitely a good sipping beer, time will only release more of the oak aging’s results. Drinking slowly will also allow you to fully appreciate the complex layers of flavor. As the beer settles the high alcohol kicks in feeling you with warmness. A pint bottle is plenty for two giving you the opportunity to share a great beer with a friend but also to be able to compare tasting notes. It has been a long while since I’ve had an oak aged beer and Dragon’s  Milk was a good reminder of the past.

Fun facts: Dragon’s Milk is a 17th century term used to describe the strong beer usually reserved for royalty. This strong ale was aged in oak for over 120 days. The label lists food pairings right on the bottle, saving you a trip to the internet.

Tapped just minutes before I ordered it, I had high expectations. Generally speaking a like any beer with Flanders or Bourgogne in the name, Duchesee de Bourgogne is one of my favorite beers.

Pouring a deep, cherry red, a fleeting tan head that leaves a beautiful lace down the glass. Body alive with racing tiny bubbles. Appearance..CHECK!

Aroma, hard to tell, if I really dig, a faint hint of sugary cherries and raspberry.  With some imagination it could be light Kriek.  Frankly the aroma didn’t do much for me.

The flavor is very light, the best way I can describe it is fruit syrup that’s had too much water added to it.  The body fairs no better, at first it is refreshingly lively, the small hard bubbles tickling the tongue, but soon everything went flat, adding even more to the watery flavor.

With my new found interest in hoppy beers, I indulged in a glass of New Belgium’s Hoptober on Wednesday night. It was 50 cent wing night at my new favorite restaurant and what better to go with some spicy wings than a hoppy beer?

Poured on draught, Hoptober presented a nice golden tone with a huge, pillowy white head, picture perfect.  Even with a plate of steaming hot wings under my nose I could smell the citrus/pine aroma literally billowing from the glass.  On first taste (pre-wing) I was greeted with mild hops in the open, followed by a delicate amount of honey, enough to counterbalance the hops bitterness but not create true sweetness. For the finish the hops and honey intermingle, creating a mild dryness in your throat. As the flavors sit after the swallow the hops seem to resurface coating the mouth with pine.

As I hoped the beer and the wings went together very well. Hoptober was strong enough to stand up to the vinegar and hot pepper of the sauce, washing away some of the grease and giving the spices a little extra zing. The wings brought out the dry hops notes in the beer, but surprisingly also created a level of creaminess to the body that was not there on my initial sampling.

Though the name would imply an Oktoberfest beer, Hoptober is not one, since it is not a Marzen but a Golden Ale. As such it doesn’t have any of the characteristics of an Oktoberfest and it never pretends to. With that in mind it is a very enjoyable beer.

What I really enjoy about their range is the creaminess of all of their beers, it makes the beers feel significant but not heavy. The Pale Ale and IPA are hops forward, the IPA more so, of course. The creaminess in these two examples really seems to bring together the palate, with the hops playing the role of topper. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed the IPA, SnapperHead. It has the perfect amount of hops for my tastes, it’s strong but as I said its creamy nature really creates a different experience from other IPA’s I’ve tried, most importantly it does not have that earthy note that is common in hops heavy beers. I actually want to go and find a six-pack of the stuff, very rare for me.