New Year

With all this freezing weather, I feel like my beer tasting has been on ice - bad pun intended. I've got a few more beers from Christmas to try, so those reviews will be up soon. The bottles are just 24+ oz, so I want to be able to try them with a group. Perhaps we can break them out the next time Colleen and I get together?

I've been rather busy with work lately. I'm about to go into a more formal review process of my work, so I've been spending a lot of time with a mentor to help get my work product to a better level. Not that I am in trouble at work, it's actually the opposite. I'm extremely grateful to have prospects move my career forward. Once this is all over, I need to buy said mentor a beer.

Cains Dark Mild: This was a rather dark ale with a mild taste. I thought it was well balanced and got a nice malt flavor from the beer.

Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout: This was quite an experience. I like Imperial Stouts. This had a head that definitely had a chocolate malt flavor. There was also a distinct coffee malt flavor. It's not a beer to be reckoned with as it weighs in at 9.5% alcohol by volume. The hop characteristic was quite interesting, as it added to the bee'rs flavor without overpowering the best parts of an Imperial Stout (the malts).

The following beers were a gift from my friend Matt. We split the bottles, which makes for a nice tasting. Add in some pizza, and you've got a relaxing Friday night.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye: I tried Terrapin Rye Pale Ale a few weeks ago. After trying this beer, I decided to give a beer with rye based malt another shot. I enjoyed this more than the Terrapin. It was a strong pale ale, and the rye gave it a nice malt flavor to the strong aroma of hops.

Bear Republic Racer 5: Contrary to the rate beer ratings, I thought this was a pedestrian pale ale. It didn't do anything wrong, nor did it do anything that outright impressed me. It's your standard pale ale - medium in color with a bitter hop taste.

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale: This beer had quite an interesting taste to go along with it's long winded name. The bottle states that the beer is brewed with hops, hops, and more hops. This was quite bitter on contact, but got sweet during the after taste. It's interesting how one can affect a beer in a variety of ways using hops, and this beer is a good example of that.

The scorecard:
Colleen - 355
Paul -329

Cheers,
Paul