stout

New Beer Blog Alaskan Pumpkin Porter (2014)

In this fall beer blog, we are going to sample a brewery new to Michigan. It is Alaskan Pumpkin Porter. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this Northwest craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know this craft brewery. Let us get into this pumpkin porter.

It has a jet black color with a nice tan head on this porter. The aroma has hints of cinnamon and nutmeg notes. The taste has a light chocolate to cinnamon and nutmeg with a smokey malty aftertaste. It is drinkable beer for a porter.

Here is a desecration from their website (www.alaskanbeer.com):

Style:

A native plant of North America, pumpkins were first used in beer in colonial America as a substitute for hard-to-find malt, and none other than the father of our country George Washington had a highly touted recipe. This imperial porter pumpkin beer combines the robust, full-bodied style of a porter with a, frankly, crazy amount of pumpkin.

Taste Style:

With over 11 pounds of pumpkin added to every barrel of this imperial porter, this beer has a smooth, velvety rich texture. Brown sugar, holiday spices and a scoche of Alaskan’s famous alder-smoked malt are added to create an aroma and flavor reminiscent of grandma’s Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

History:

This is the first bottling of our Alaskan Pumpkin Porter, after a highly sought-after holiday Rough Draft release in Alaska. This Alaskan Brewing take on a colonial American tradition is perfect for autumn and Thanksgiving, as here in Alaska we see the nights get longer and colder and can find comfort in the richness of this brew.

Ingredients:

Alaskan Pumpkin Porter is made from our glacier-fed water and a blend of Magnum and Goldings hops, 6 different malts including Alaskan alder-smoked malt, brown sugar, and a spice blend including cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Plus, of course, Red Hubbard variety pumpkin.

Story Behind The Label:

Alaska is home to some of the world’s largest cultivated vegetables, squashes, gourds and pumpkins. The long daylight hours in the summer promote fast growth, and also prompt fierce competition amongst the farmers of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, who converge on the Alaska State Fair with their gigantic prize produce in the quest to be crowned State Fair champion. It is a common sight at the fairgrounds in Palmer to see a pickup truck barely able to contain the huge pumpkins they haul to the competition, which can weigh in at more than 1,200 pounds.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.alaskanbeer.com

Twitter: @alaskanbeer

Closing, Yay! This is my first Pumpkin Porter of the season. I am glad it is coming from one of my favorite breweries out west. There is a nice balance between from the porter and pumpkin. To me, I found this beer taste like a chocolate cover pumpkin with some cinnamon and nutmeg notes. It is a sipping beer but perfect for the fall and winter seasonal. I can see many beer drinkers drink this beer after fall is over. This is a great and well designed beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser16@gmail.com

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Atwater Brewery In The Park

In this beer blog, we are going to talk about my visit at Atwater Brewery In The Park. I did not take tasting notes but I will talk about the food and kind of what I had to drink. I also will talk about my experience there. If you have read my earlier beer blog posts about their beers, you know the history of this Detroit craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know this craft brewery. Let us get into this dining and drinking experience.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.atwaterbeer.com

Twitter: @atwaterbeer

Ending, I know there is other craft breweries using churches as their brewery. I know there is one in Pennsylvania. I have never been there. I would love to go. I will be the first to say that I am not a fan of this brewery but I wanted to check out this new brewpub in the Grosse Pointe, Michigan. I might not like the beer from the brewery but I like going to brewpubs. Sometimes, it might be the traveling that might be have an effect on the beer. The staff is super nice and helpful. The inside and outside area is very welcoming to their guests. They have two beer menus. One is beers that are brewed there and the other list is brewed at their main brewpub. I had two beers exclusive to the brewpub there. I had their Poorboy, which was a smoked porter, and Black IPA. I love these two beers and I was pretty impressive. I believe the main brewmasters need to look at some of these beers being made at this brewpub. The other two were Detroit Pale Ale and Bloktoberfest. I kind of like Bloktobeerfest. It is true to the beer style but I felt it was a little light for the style. Pale ale, I just felt it was a little weak on the hop and not strong malty backbone. I had two more that were not on any of these photos. I had GP IPA and Scherthing Cream Ale. These beers are part of the exclusive to Grosse Pointe brewery. The food came out. It was a German theme food menu. I love apps we order. It was a basket of Pretzels. They were awesome. There were different sizes with cheese and honey mustard, which were homemade there. There is a spicy mustard that was also made there. The main course was Turkey Burger with fries. I loved it. It was cooked just right and I love the spices. Overall, I had a great time and I will be back. I would love to try all the exclusive beers brewed there. I will be upfront and honest. I am not a fan of their everyday beers. There beers brewed there need to be packaged. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Ninkasi Brewing Double Latte Milk Sout

In this special blog, we are going to get into fourth of twelve beers from the Sierra Nevada Brewery Beer Camp. This beer was teamed up with Ninkasi Brewing from Oregon and the beer is the Double Latta Milk Stout. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on both of these breweries, you know the history of both of these both West Coast Breweries. If you have not, please, read them to get to know Sierra Nevada and Ninkasi Brewing. Let us get into stout.

It has a jet black color with a tan color head. The aroma has a fresh coffee bean notes. The taste has a slight sweet malty notes at first, however, back half of taste profile is coffee notes. The coffee notes live in aftertaste. It is a sipping beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

This cold-press milk stout features roasted grain, artist coffee and a dose of lactose for a robust body, and sweet coffee-chocolate-like flavor.

Inspired by the perennial cafe favorite. Double Latte combines two great things: coffee and beer. Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing knows their way around a good cup of joe. Featuring cold-press coffee from legendary Stumptown Coffee Roasters and a dose of milk sugars, this coffee milk stout is a rich and roasty treat.

Here is a description from their website (www.beercamp.sierranevada.com):

Inspired by the perennial café favorite, Double Latte combines two of the greatest things in life: good coffee and great beer. Oregon’s Ninkasi Brewing knows their way around a good cup of joe. Featuring cold-press coffee from the legendary Stumptown Coffee Roasters and a dose of milk sugar, this coffee milk stout is a rich and roasty treat.

This young-gun brewery has a locomotive charge. A rich conversation at a local bottle shop in 2005 has morphed into a Pacific Northwest staple. Named after the Sumerian goddess of fermentation, Ninkasi’s first batch of beer was Total Domination IPA and it remains a must for those with a lupulin itch.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.ninkasibrewing.com and www.sierranevada.com

Twitter: @ninkasibrewing and @sierranevada

Closing, this is by far my favorite beer. I might be a hophead but I love my porters and stouts. In the stout world, I am in love with milk stouts. Sierra Nevada and Ninkasi Brewing had to add coffee to this stout. This beer put me in heaven. The coffee is not overpowering the stout and the beer. Coffee blends in nicely with the milk stout. It makes it nice smooth and creamy just like a Latte. I just wished I could get a few more bottles. I hope either brewery takes this beer and continue to make it. This beer is worth buying this Beer Camp. This beer is the MVP in the pack. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Finch’s Brewery Tour

While in Chicago, I had more time to check out another brewery. It is a little brewery that was founded three years ago in Chicago. They are known for packaging their beers in cans. They are up to seven different beer styles in cans and they also package some beer in tall single bottles, which is 22oz bottles. The brewery is named after the founder, who are Benjamin and Paul Finch. They are located on the Northside of Chicago. They started out at this location and has expanded, however, they started out with two beers, which are Cut Throat Pale Ale and Gold Wing Blonde Ale.

Tour Guide:

In this photos above, the guy in the green shirt, who is Nick, in the middle of this crowd was the tour guide. Nick is a teacher for his full-time job and does this part-time. He is also a homebrewer and I am not sure if he helps around the brewery. However, he works on the brewery tours and sets up tour dates and times. He is an awesome tour guide. He knew the history and the beers. He is not reading off paper or memorizing history scripts unlike some tour guides. He is a student of this craft brewery and he puts a personality into this brewery tour.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.finchbeer.com

Twitter: @finchbeer

Closing, I learn something from this tour and that is a huge apprise to this tour. I enjoyed my time at the brewery and glad I went to check out this brewery. The one thing that I learned during this brewery tour was the discontinuing of two of their beers. Both beers were the first two beers they started brewing. Both are going to be discontinued and replace with two new beers. The Cut Throat Pale Ale will still be a pale ale but a different one. The Gold Wing Blonde Ale will be replace with Hardcore Double IPA. I believe that is the name. I love the direction of this craft brewery. They have a bright future and I believe their newer beers will take this craft brewery to the next level. I highly recommend getting down and take a brewery tour. If you do not have the chance, go and try some of their beers. I promise you will not be disappointed with their Black IPA and Stout. This craft brewery makes some great beers and they are extremely under rated. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Lagunitas Brewery Tour

While in Chicago, I had a chance to get by the new brewery in Chicago from Lagunitas Brewery. I want to thank my boy, Tony for the hook up. Everyone was great at the brewery from tour guide, bar, to Jack. I had several different beers but I did not have time to take tasting notes. I really do not want to guess, however, I saved all the photos of the beers and during the brewery tour. You will see them below. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this West Coast and Midwest Craft Brewery. Let us get into this brewery.

Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale

Imperial Red Ale

Brewery tour!!

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.lagunitas.com

Twitter: @lagunitasbeer

Closing out, I had a great time at the brewery and I will be back there when I am back in Chicago. I might have to eat and get beer to go. As many of you know, I am a huge fan of this craft brewery. I always throw their IPA into my line up of regular IPA’s. I was able to get turn on to other beers that they make. I will be checking them out and adding them to my line up of beers. For example, I am adding Daytime IPA. I will be switching back and forth with their IPA and Daytime. As far as the brewery tour, it is like every other craft brewery tour. This craft brewery is set up for expanding and they are growing it everyday. It is also set up awesome for brewery tours unlike other craft breweries. The whole tour is on a catwalk above the craft brewery. You can see everything. I highly recommend jumping on this craft brewery tour. If you know their beers, I would still make a point to checking this brewery out. This brewery is very important for us on the eastern part of the country. We will be able to get fresher and enough of their beers for the demand in this area. It also gives us a chance to get their beers cheaper. I highly recommend checking this brewery out in Chicago. They have great food, service, and of course, great beers. Thanks again, Tony! Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Oddside Ales Chocolade Koffie Stout

In this beer blog, we are going to get into another beer, which is Chocolade Koffie Stout, from Oddside Ales. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on this Michigan craft brewery, you their history. If you have not read those posts, please, do so to get to know Oddside Ales. Let us get into this stout.

It has a jet black color with a tan to light brown color head. The aroma had a heavy coffee notes. The taste profile of this full body beer is a chocolate to heavy coffee notes with a dry coffee bean aftertaste. It is kind of drinkable to a sipping beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.oddsideales.com):

If you’re a fan of chocolate stouts this is the one to try! A great mixture of thick, sweet, dark chocolate fudge, and light espresso bean undertones will immediately appeal to your senses. Your taste buds will dance when the creamy stout takes flight. 6%ABV

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.oddsideales.com

Twitter: @oddsideales

Ending, I am a pretty big fan of this brewery and I will try anything new or beers I have not had yet from this brewery. I am a pretty big fan of stouts, porters, pale ales, and India Pale Ales. I do not like my coffee but only if it is in my beer. I know this craft brewery knows how to use their coffee bean. They shown me that in Bean Flicker Ale. To me, there is something a little off in this brew. I do not know if it is the stout or the coffee bean is over the stop. I am starting to think that I might have picked up an old beer. The problem is there is no code dates on their bottles. I recommend this beer but I hope you get a better bottle. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog What Is Good Beer?

In this special beer blog, we are going to take in-depth look at beer. What is good or bad? How do we come up with this conclusion? Many of you know, I have been drinking beer for a while. I started like everyone from the Bud Lights and moved up to all the craft beers. Most craft breweries around the country know of me or know me. I started as a Metal DJ on STFU.Fm. The station shut down but before that I started to feature craft beer on the air while playing music. After the station, I started document the beers that I had in my life time. This blog was for me to go back and see if my thoughts grown. Plus, I have always wanted to be a writer. I know I am not the best on spelling and grammar, however, I believe I have improved because of this blog. I just want to say thank you for coming by reading, and putting up with my errors. This blog also made me a better beer drinker. I have learned more about each beer style. I am finding out I like all styles and it is including wheat beers. I am still writing music and sports review. I wanted to give you a little more about myself. When I thought about writing this “What Is Good Beer?” I will not point out breweries. I am not calling out anyone. Let us see if we can answer this question.

What Is Good Beer?

I know several craft beer drinkers will jump to the answer. It is the little guys, who are Craft Breweries. Is that because they do not make a golden lager or the companies that make it? Craft Breweries make different beer styles asides the American Style Lager. They will make Pale Ales to Porter to Stouts and sometimes even a German Style Lager. Is Good Beer is more selection or “Flavor”? “Flavor” has been toss out there. A little style of the American Golden Lager. German immigrants wanted to have their beers here in the States. This is where American Golden Lager came from. Is it a ton of Ads to make the beer better? Mass produced? There is a brewery in the big Midwest brewery that puts their beer through hard test make sure their quality is the highest. It is make sure that their beers are up to their standards and constant. Is that a bad thing?

There are other things wrong with the mass-produced beer companies. It is the fact they put other things into their beers. However, it adds to their cost, they make less on their beers. Mass produced beer market is getting smaller everyday. They put these items into their beers to get it as close to their old country style. More and more people are drinking craft beers. The question is their beer better or good. Yes, it has a ton more flavor and that is the first thing anyone says. I agree with that. I see in every state, please, drink local. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem that I have is most of the newer beer companies out there are making some bad beer. I do not mean bad in the beer will hurt you. I mean it is just not good beer.

What about the craft breweries?

Some of the smaller breweries do not put their beers through as many tests like the bigger breweries. This leads to inconstant batches of beer. This is not a good thing when you like that beer. When you try the beer for the first time and do not like it, the quality might be the issue. Beer drinkers might be turn off and never try it again. Is this a good beer? I get it that most breweries do not have the capital to do all tests. I am not saying this is a case for all these small craft breweries. Some little craft breweries do not even have labs to test anything.

Closing, I love craft beer and I will keep on searching for better version of my favorite beer styles. The local guys are making beer but I am open-minded to say there are some bad or not so good beer coming from those craft breweries. I enjoy some of the mass-produced beers but I will not go out of my way to buy them nor drink them. Many people will not like this statement I am going to put out there. If the beer you are drinking is good to you, it is a good beer. We all have thoughts on beers and they are all correct. This goes for all mass-produced beer. If there is a bad beer on the market, the beer drinkers vote with their wallet and they will let beer companies know that it is not good. It will disappear off the market. Please, share your thoughts with me. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Short’s Cinnabilly Doppelbock

In this beer blog, we are going to sample Cinnabilly Doppelbock from Short’s Brewery. If you read my earlier beer blog posts on their beers, you know the history of this Michigan craft brewery. If you have not, please, read them to get to know Short’s Brewery. Let us get into doppelbock.

It has a clear amber to brown color with a tan color at first but over time, there is no head. The smell has a sweet malty to cinnamon notes. The taste has sweet malty notes with a rush of cinnamon on the back-end. The aftertaste has a heavy cinnamon that rushes away. It is a sipping beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.shortsbrewing.com):

Cinnabilly has an appealing look and aroma. This clear, caramel colored gem emits a soft potpourri of cinnamon sticks, brown sugar, and hints of vanilla. Sweet malt flavors allow for an array of sensations, ranging from toasted almonds to cinnamon graham crackers. The pleasant addition of cinnamon creates wonderful accents throughout the beer that are never overwhelming.

7% ABV

30 IBU

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.shortsbrewing.com

Twitter: @shortsbrewing

Closing, at one time this Michigan craft brewery was in my top ten. Since moving back to Michigan, I have been retrying their beers and have been pretty disappointed. I have to say there is some things you do not add in some beer styles. This brewery would have noticed it but they keep making more and more different beer styles to their family of beers. I bet they are in double-digit for seasonals. There is nothing wrong making a ton of beer styles. As long as your quality does not take a hit. I believe their demand is pretty high on most of their beers and they are rushing beer to the market. Quality is more important than quantity. This beer style is a great beer style and I have seem craft breweries do different things with it. I thought this was a great idea. I was wrong thinking that. I put some thought while drinking it. I was wondering why I was thinking that. The cinnamon overpowers great things that are in Doppelbock. I am really disappointed and I wish I never try it. It is hard for me to say that because I love beer and craft beer. I do recommend it to try it at least once but I bet you will be disappointed. I will give them credit for trying something. It seems that is all I am doing now with Short’s. Don’t go get some! Drink it! Not enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Greenbush It’s My Porter And I’ll Rye If I Want To

While at Ashley’s Westland, we are going to sample another beer from Greenbush Brewery. It is their It’s My Porter And I’ll Rye If I Want To. If you read my earlier beer blog posts, you know the history of Greenbush Brewery. If you have not read them, please, read them to get to know this Michigan Craft Brewery. Let us get into this Rye Porter.

It has a jet black color without a head on this barrel age beer. The aroma has a heavy alcohol to bourdon notes. The taste has spicy with a heavy boozy notes with a heavy alcohol aftertaste. It is a sipping.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.greenbushbrewing.com

Twitter: @greenbush_brew

Closing, I really enjoyed this beer but towards the end of this 12oz pour. I was forcing myself to finish it. The boozy notes in the beer just over takes everything. Please, do not take this the wrong way. I really did like this beer but I cannot get through another 12oz pour. I could share a 12oz bottle. There is some notes rye spice that blends nicely but fate with the bourdon notes. I can see people that will love this beer and others will not like and/or hate it. If you see this beer on draft, try it. I recommend it. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweser

Instagram: @djweiser13

New Beer Blog Original Gravity Primordial Porter

While at Ashley’s Westland, we are going to sample the very first beer ever made by Original Gravity. It is their Primordial Porter. There is not much history from this Michigan craft brewery. I know they are going to be celebrity their sixth year being in business. Let us get into this porter.

It has a jet black color with a semi tan color head. The aroma has hints of chocolate and coffee notes. The taste has a chocolate to coffee notes with a dry cocoa aftertaste finish. It is a kind of drinkable to sipping porter.

Here is a description from their website (www.ogbrewing.com):

**PRIMORDIAL PORTER
The very first beer brewed at Original Gravity Brewing Company. Primordial Porter is a full flavored Robust style Porter. Almost black in color with a complex malt profile that exhibits a smooth balance between chocolate, coffee and roasted flavors.
O.G = 1.064 –6.0%

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.ogbrewing.com

Twitter: No Address

In the end, I am a huge fan of porters, stouts, pale ales, and IPA’s. I have never ran into a bad porter maybe not a really good one. I was pretty excited to see this brewery on draft at my craft beer bar. I have been wanting to try their beers for some time since moving back to Michigan. I have had their Southpaw IPA and I really enjoyed it. This lives up to the classic porter style. It is heavy with some nice chocolate notes and hints of coffee. It is full of flavor and I enjoyed it. I love this porter and I just wish I could find it in package. I am looking forward to visiting their brewery here soon. I highly recommend this beer. Go get some! Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

Instagram: @djweiser13

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