Door #10

Now, this one I know I've seen before.  Not so often in the bottle, although I think it's lurking around there too, but on tap every other Sunday.  I don't always get Founders Dirty Bastard, since it has a pretty heavy sweetness which is a little much for me most days, but sometimes it's nice.  It's especially nice on colder days, but still the porter is my go-to when I'm down there.

As always, it's heavy and sweet from the start, with good slather of licorice.  There's a little twitch of sour candy in there, and a slightly smokey finish.  The wood from the aging comes through after a while, adding another dimension to the flavor.  It has kind of an odd mouthfeel, being on the thicker side, but it's not quite syrupy.  It also isn't a super smooth kind of beer; maybe that should be obvious from the name.  You don't have to fight it down exactly, but it's certainly a proud and unswerving drink.

Although cloudy and chilly, it's not enough to be snowy.  No Christmas weather here, but where I come from we only have 30% chances of a white Christmas on any given year.  Stick with beer foam, that's a lot more reliable.

from a quiet corner

It seems like I have to look harder and harder to find American craft beers.  I suppose it has as much to do with the quality that Spanish breweries are producing now as with tariffs on either side.  This is a day when it makes sense to have some patriotic beverage, though, so I made that little effort.  My reward?  Untitled Art, of Wisconsin of all places, and a Chocolate Scotch Ale.  That's what I'm talking about!

Beer towel's back!

It kind of pours like a root beer, with a thick beige head that just sits on top.  Doesn't smell much like root beer, though, definitely a stronger thing.  It is sweet, Scotch ales are like that.  I don't know if I smell chocolate off it.  There is something in the flavor that reminds me of Hershey's syrup.  It's a quick strike of sweet and then a weird kind of tanginess that sits in the mouth for a while.  It's really a light feeling beer for being of this sweetened type. 

It would be nice if this was a fine drink that I record and don't necessarily remember later as opposed to the beer I had on the first day of the Empire.  All we can do is wait until the end, I guess.

Supplier: La Buena Pinta
Price: €5.80

threefer!

Somebody must've spent hours on this

Our old pal Founders is introducing some new brews and had a little presentation at Roll this week.  The promotion emphasized that the fruit beer would be tapped for the first time ever in Spain, which certainly made it sound exclusive (for a while).  The beers were all barrel aged, fairly high in alcohol content, and spoken of in the most glowing of terms by the representatives.  Although it was a business presentation, everyone was pretty relaxed and friendly.  I was recommended Backwoods Bastard first, a take on their Dirty Bastard scotch ale.

Like Dirty Bastard, it comes off as a sweeter beer than I normally like, although it has its attraction in colder months.  The smell is definitely sweet and I don't detect much else behind it, but the taste is pretty balanced, not syrupy.  The noticeable flavor is definitely vanilla, although the aftertaste has more of a mellow and woody note.  I find it heavier than I remember Dirty Bastard, a little too heavy now that the weather is warmer, at least for my taste.  As winter holidays come around, though, the Backwoods Bastard is a good choice to warm your stomach, if not your heart.

I tried Kentucky Breakfast Stout, or KBS, next.  The previous Breakfast Stout had been disappointing, lacking in flavor for me.  I'm so spoiled with these intense beers.  KBS was much better right off the bat, with a rich chocolatey-ness and smooth texture that marks the perfect stout for me.  The barrel was harder to detect, and I never felt like the bourbon overwhelmed the stout with sugariness, something that some barrel-aged beers suffer from.  I was terribly pleased with KBS, and had several samples over the course of the night.  Highly recommended for stout lovers!

Glass two came with a mini-cupcake

Finally, the fruit beer, Frootwood.  It's a cherry ale, again aged in bourbon barrels, but those barrels also held maple syrup at some point apparently.  The beer is a frisky pale red color and has an aroma that reminds me of both champagne and cheese.  I saved this one for last, thinking it would perk me up after the powerful Bastard and KBS, and it is indeed refreshing.  It's also a strong one, at 8%.  The flavor is light and unpressuring, though, and would be lovely on a hot summer night, as well as a sunny winter afternoon.  The fruit is the most noticeable part of the flavor, but the texture of Frootwood is also interesting.  Somehow it feels more solid than the other two, almost like a melting Jello shot.  It's still easy drinking and quite pleasing.

More snacks!

There's nothing like a gathering of beer lovers to perk up your week!

Especially beer lovers with dapper clothes and snazzy beards

crossovers

If anything promotes a beer, it's having people drink it all.  Founders Dirty Bastard, a Scotch ale, was on tap at a place I've been to before.  But, I had started a bit small and when I went for my big girl drink, they were out.  I was assured there would be another keg the next day, but the winds of chance have not blown me back.  So, in the import store's cooler it was sitting in the bottle and I had to snatch the opportunity.

Oh, doesn't everybody have a beer towel?

I think I detect  hint of whiskey in the smell, but it's probably just my imagination; the "Scotch" in the name is having an effect on my expectations.  It's a nice dark brown beer, beige-ish head, a bit bubbly.  The strongest flavor is bitter, but it's a rounded, mellow bitter, with some flashes of light sweetness at the edges.  In fact, I'd almost call it a candy bitter.  It maintains a nice, smooth, laid-back flavor, with a good balance of bitter and sweet that doesn't push one or the other too much.  It's a bit strong at 8.5%, although not the strongest beer you can find these days without looking too hard, but a good conversational beer that keeps words flowing without distracting the tongue.

I guess I'm going to have to make a trip, to see if the draft is as good as the bottle.  Probably better...it'll be just my luck if they're out again by the time I find a minute to go.

It would be just like him, too

Supplier: Taste of America
Price: €4.95