Yesterday I had a Lion Stout while I was over at Ben's killing time before a movie (one that I didn't get to see: yes, Dark Knight tickets are still selling out).

That beer was much too sweet (+dry = cloying) for me, but it was complimentary and it's from Sri Lanka, so it gets a pass even though it's far short of awesome. Hurrah for decent Asian beers!

If you really want to talk disappointment, once I got home I poured myself a Rogue Chocolate Stout. The aftertaste is great and the beer only gets better as it warms up, but there's too much roastiness on the front end, something too too close to coffee for me.

The moral here, I think, is not that these are bad beers (the Chocolate Stout is apparently a Big Deal), but that I need to stick to my seasonal beer snobbery instead of drinking dark stuff in the middle of the summer. I had extremely high hopes for that Chocolate Stout, and it's clear now that it will never meet those hopes, but I can see having a glass of it at some cold winter happy hour, maybe.

Labels: American Stout, Ceylon / Lion Brewery, Chocolate Stout, Export Stout, Lion Stout, Rogue Ales Brewery

Let's see. So far this week I've had a Bell's Kalamazoo Stout, the roastiness of which was a great complement to the venison roast sandwiches I'll be eating lo unto the end of time, and on Monday I went out to Town Hall with Graham, Markie and special guest Barb.

Graham thoughtfully ordered me a pint of their delicious 1800 Old English IPA. Very cool to see that waiting for me when I showed up, late (as usual when I go to Minneapolis).

For my second and final drink... ooh, that would go well with a drumroll. Anyways, in hindsight I should have tried the new Solstice APA, but instead I got Mango Mama. Usually I'm a big fan of Mango Mama, but I just wasn't feeling it on Monday.

Probably because I've been stuffed up all week. I'm probably the first person to research neti pots just so beer will taste a tiny bit better.

I'm pretty excited for the new Fourth of July beers at Town Hall, by the way. I think I may actually like blueberry beer, which of course wouldn't have the disgusting appearance and texture of actual blueberries.

Yesterday I went to Senor Wong, where I downed cheap tasty Wonton Poppers and $3 pints of Kirin Ichiban until around 8:30 or so. Nora and Ben came over, joined eventually by Jenna.

Labels: 1800, American IPA, American Stout, Bell's Brewing, Japanese Rice Lager, Kalamazoo Stout, Kirin Brewery, Kirin Ichiban, Mango Mama, Senor Wong, Town Hall

My coworker Pete hosted a cookout yesterday, so I brought four beers: a Two Hearted, a Skinny Dip, and two Sierra Nevada Stouts.

I enjoyed the first two, as usual — I think the Skinny Dip may have been more subdued following the Two Hearted — and the Stouts weren't bad. Although as b/4, they weren't really interesting enough for me.

Several of his guests like good beer, and we had a brief conversation about the weirdness of Surly brews (if you don't like one, you can always plausibly claim that you just don't understand it), the upcoming Flying Dog mix-packs, and their fondness for the Flat Earth Black Helicopter, easily (because I hate coffee flavors) my least favorite local beer.

Later on I was offered a Stella Artois and I just couldn't refuse. It's not that Stella is better than the Two Hearted or the Skinny Dip, but on an intellectual level Stella is so interesting — with its references in Achewood, failed British ad campaign, and mysterious choice of green glass for the bottles — that I like it far more than I would an identical beer under a different brand name.

Labels: American Blonde Ale, American IPA, American Stout, Bell's Brewing, Euro Pale Lager, New Belgium Brewing, Sierra Nevada Brewing, Skinny Dip, Stella Artois, Two Hearted Ale

Went over for Barry's for some baseball with Ben, Nick, and Matt. I brought along some Munich Dark and a bottle of the Sierra Nevada Stout.

As before, the Munich Dark was too sweet for me, like brown sugar in a bottle. The stout was decent, certainly better than the Munich Dark, but it didn't really bowl me over or anything.

However, it's getting very good reviews at Beer Advocate (the Bros gave it an A+), so I'll try and pay more attention next time I have it. If this is a stake in the ground, it may be that I just don't like the American Stout style. Which would just leave Imperial, Irish Dry, Milk Stout, and (presumably) the Rogue Chocolate Stout... I think I can get by.

I also had a Budweiser later on. They aren't really delicious or interesting or anything, but I can still enjoy a cold macrobrew every now and then.

Labels: American Macro Lager, American Stout, Anheuser-Busch, Budweiser, Capital Brewery, Munich Dark, Munich Dunkel Lager, Sierra Nevada Brewing