Chocolate Indulgence Belgian-Style Stout

Not bad. Hoped for more. Light, drinkable, and chocolatey, with a slight Belgian sort of flavor. ID

25.4oz corked bottle, 7% ABV
Ommegang Brewery
Cooperstown, NY
purchased at Kenwood

Hop Syndrome Lager

Very light in color, making me wonder, are lagers generally lighter colored than ales? Bought this for the name invoking hops on the label. I am a hophead thru and thru. Nothing in the world tastes better to me than hop flavor. This smells grainy on the whiff, like a true pilsner. Light and very carbonated. Not a grainy taste, like a better version of a mass-produced light beer. Yeah, it has good hop bitterness, but that's it. A grainy (bud light uses more rice than grain) nicely hopped light beer. This might be the best way to introduce a frat boy to better beer, and that is a noble aspiration, but to a seasoned drinker, this is far too boring. Give to the kid you want to civilize. ID

22oz bottle, 4.8% ABV
EPIC Brewing Company
Salt Lake City, UT
purchased at Holiday Market

825 State Stout

Dark, very dry, hey, this is Guinness! Or the next best knock off. Used to love Guinness but now usually pass it up. This is the exact style, but statistics education and history aside, this just might be better! ID

22oz bottle, 5.6% ABV
EPIC Brewing Company
Salt Lake City, UT
purchased at Holiday Market

Lagunitas Imperial Stout

Sweet but a solid bitterness, as one expects from this brewer. Solid all around great stout. Really, considering what this is packing, it tastes just amazing! MB

22oz bottle, 72.45 IBU, 9.9% ABV
The Lagunitas Brewing Company
Petaluma, CA
purchased at Holiday Market

Imperial Choklat Stout

Isn't this the brewery that does "Mokah"?! I'll have to check my records. This is dry and kind of a dark bitter chocolate. Crisp finish, and not noticeably sweet. Usually I like the bitterness of dark chocolate, and bitter beer, but this leaves something to be desired and my girl, who helped me pick out 8 different stouts just now, agrees. If Southern Tier is the maker of "Mokah", I'd suggest they stick with that, but bravo for attempting multiple chocolate stouts on top of multiple other stouts and porters. My winter brewer of choice, for sure! ID

22oz bottle, 10% ABV
Southern Tier Brewing Company
Lakewood, NY
purchased at Holiday Market

Summer Shandy

Made fun of this for the longest time, but trying it on ice during family Christmas, and it's not bad!! ID


12 oz bottle, 4.2% ABV
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company
Wisconsin
grabbed from in-laws' fridge

Santa's Little Helper 2012

Cleaning to get ready for the holidays, and definitely feeling like I need a little help! A dude at the store recommended this to me, saying he had them special order it for him. Generally not feeling like I need recommendations, but it's cute when someone tries. Nice dark roasted flavor with the tiniest, tiniest hint of sweetness. Plenty bitter, and goes down really easy, considering what it's packing! I'll give this an MB for effortlessly helping with my holiday woes! Is it wrong that my holiday spirit comes in a bottle?! LOL!

25.4 oz capped bottle, 11% ABV
Mikkeller At De Proef Brouwerij
Lochristi-Hijfte, Belgium
purchased at Kenwood

Hop Flood

Always big expectations for a beer with "hop" in the title. Darker than I expected, and grainy nose. Very nice dark, dry grain flavor, balanced by hop bitterness. Was gonna pan this one because I felt duped by the lack of hop flavor, but that unique dry, very roasted grain flavor wins this over. But they should have named it "Mud Flood" or something better to denote that the dark grain was the master of this mix. MB.

22 oz bottle, 7% ABV

Evil Twin Brewing at Westbrook Brewing Company

Mount Pleasant, SC

purchased at Kenwood

Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

Both "farmhouse" and "saison" are nearly swear words to me, denoting beers with flavors I tend to dislike. I bought this as part of a holiday gift pack, because I wanted the chocolate ale (to be rated later) and I wanted the accompanying glass shown in the picture. This was to be something tolerated along the way. So we're all set up for a fair and uninfluenced review, right?! That wheaty sort of smell that I expect is there. But aside from being a bit too heavily carbonated, this actually tastes quite good! A slight orangey sweetness is balanced by ample bitterness. Definitely crisp and refreshing. Oh, how I so love to be wrong! Based on how awful I thought this might be, contrasted by how good it actually is, I'm gonna go MB on this one. Well done guys, and thanks for shattering my (probably incorrect) expectations!

25.4 oz corked bottle, 7.7% ABV
Ommegang Brewery
Cooperstown, NY
purchased at Kenwood

Hop Whoopin' Ale

Oohh, this label caught my attention! Always, I'm interested in a good hop pummeling! Much lighter in color than the double IPA I just had. Oh, such a nice hop nose! But the taste? Watery and ok it is bitter, but where is the hop flavor? Damn, FFF just announced on FB that they're out of Zombie Dust, and my dumbass didn't go get sone earlier this week, even though I've been out for awhile. Oh how I need that hop flavor!! I'd hoped that this would fill in, but it's a bitter disappointment (not that bitter is disappointing, but lack of hop flavor surely is). And at 10 bones for a 4-pack, this watery beer (ABV not listed) is just plain pissing me off! ID

12 oz bottle, 95 IBU
O'SO Brewing Company
Plover, WI
purchased at Kenwood

Detour Double IPA

A hoppy aroma on this champagne-bottled Utah product. Silky smooth mouth-feel with a slight sweetness wrapped all around by a very pleasant bitterness. This is a fine beer, all around. Too bad that the big ABV must make this export only! You make it, we'll drink it, Utah! ID only because I'm crazy for more hop flavor.

25.4 oz corked bottle, 9.5% ABV
Uinta Brewing Company
Salt Lake City, UT
purchased at Kenwood

Infinium Ale

Weird citrusy aroma. Been holding this in my fridge for almost a year. Never seemed the right time to open it. So how about a totally banal Tuesday night to start feeling like I'm on vacation and getting drunk with my girl? Kinda sour and insanely bubbly. Not bad, but not something to save for a year. The overcarbonation is a bit annoying. Light and refreshing though. Ah, it's alright. ID

25.6 oz champagne bottle, 10.3% ABV
The Boston Beer Company
Boston, MA
purchased at Kenwood

Sweet 16 HE'BREW

Intrigued by the 16 malts, 16 hops, and 16% alcohol described on the label! But probably too much of a gimmick to be good. Dark and sweet stout but balanced. A slight hint at the back of the throat that this is packing some heat. All in all, pretty good, and this should get ya drunk!! ID

22oz bottle, 16% ABV
Shmaltz Brewing Company
Saratoga Springs, NY
purchased at Kenwood

Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout

Wow, very chocolatey all through the mouth, with a sweet stout flavor at the end. Light feel, and not at all thick. My girl likes it, and part of the bottle is headed into a milkshake! ID

550 mL bottle, 5% ABV
Samuel Smith's Brewery
Tadcaster N.Yorks, UK
purchased at Kenwood

King Goblin Dark English Ale

Copper color and smell of a British ale. It has that flavor, excellent, and then almost a champagne sort of taste and texture! This is really freaking cool, and light on the stomach. Ha, label says it is brewed only on a full moon! Great find! MB

500mL bottle, 6.6% ABV
Wychwood Brewery
Witney, Oxfordshire, England
purchased at Kenwood

Cappuccino Stout

Dark and a bit sweet. Burnt grain flavor, but I don't taste an overt coffee flavor. A good drinking stout. Not looking to stay up, so I hope the coffee added isn't too strong! ID

22oz bottle, 29.5 IBU, 9.2% ABV
The Lagunitas Brewing Company
Petaluma, CA
purchased at Kenwood

Heavier Handed Oak Foudre Aged IPA

Pure bitterness with a slight hop flavor. Just had a sneezing fit, so my ability to taste is pretty impaired. Easily drinkable, with substantial bitterness and no malt flavor getting in the way. Smells bitter too, not hop-flavored, just bitter, as best as my nose can manage right now. Silky smooth. You can taste the oak barrel just the tiniest bit. Good beer. ID

22oz bottle, 84.3 IBU, 8.1% ABV

Two Brothers Brewing Company

Warrenville, IL

purchased at Kenwood

Reunion Ale '12

A collaboration beer, and donation to myeloma & bone cancer research. Ahh, how I love doing my charity work! This is labelled as a "dark imperial ale with cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla, and natural flavors". A very pleasant chocolate flavor, in a dark-colored, but pretty light, refreshing beer. Wow, this is a perfect drinkable dessert! All cocoa flavored, and I can't get over how light and drinkable this is. Would be perfect in the milkshakes my girl and I make. But equally perfect on its own. So many of these chocolate beers are out there now, it's amazing, and this is definitely one of the good ones! God (I should probably say Yahweh), I love this genre! My night is now a happy one! Don't ya just love how a good beer can do that? MB

22oz bottle, 8% ABV

Shmaltz Brewing Company with Terrapin Beer Company

Saratoga Springs, NY with Athens, GA

purchased at Kenwood

Revelry Imperial Red Ale

Excited to see this. Haven't had a new Two Brothers in awhile. And a hoppy red too. Probably my favorite style. It is not Easter! Rather the bucket pictured in the background was my use of a Mythbusters trick to cool it quickly in a saltwater-ice mix, because I couldn't wait. Well this is a heavy sweet red. Not catching the hop flavor I had been hoping for, but the hop bitterness does keep that sweetness nicely in check. If it were just a bit sweeter, I'd be disappointed, but this rounds out well. That sweetness also warms the throat, so you know it's "imperial". Pardon my gas, but the hops show up nicely on a burp. So altogether this is an ID.

12oz bottle, 124 IBU, 9.5% ABV

Two Brothers Brewing Company

Warrenville, IL

purchased at Kenwood

Calumet Queen Kolsch-Style Ale

Very light in color and smells a bit grainy. Grainy flavor but balanced by appropriate bitterness. Sure to please the light beer drinker at your party who's open to something new. I can appreciate the quality of these brew over the cheap mass-produced varieties, but this is just not my style! ID

22 oz bomber, as always see FFF website for the particulars
Three Floyds Brewing
Munster, IN
purchased at FFF Brewpub