Saturday, while out shopping in big box land on the south side of town, The Wife and I stopped in at
Mass Beverage to pick up some provisions for the weekend. Mass Beverage has the best beer selection in town, it's a shame it's located so far away from the converted garage we're forced to call home (it's nice, but really, really small).
They have a bunch of shelves in the back with a large selection of single bottles for mix-and-match six packs and also plenty of bombers, 750ml bottles, and imports of various size to chose from. There is also a large cooler section with more six packs and bombers. I settle on a six pack of
North Coast Brewing Co.'s Old No. 38 Stout for daytime activities and a bomber of
Great Divide Brewing Co.'s Yeti Imperial Stout for my Saturday nightcap.
After enjoying a
closer-than-it-should-have-been victory by the hometown Jayhawks and a dramatic
victory by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Budweiser Shootout in the evening I was ready to get down to business.
Yeti is a year-round offering from Great Divide that comes bottled in 22 oz. bombers. It's brewed in the
Russian Imperial Stout style. Basically a high alcohol, highly hopped version of a regular stout. It was originally brewed by British brewers for export to Russian Czarina, Catherine the Great who had a healthy appetite for stout. Yeti weighs in at 9.5% ABV with a hefty 75 IBUs, not the biggest stout on the block but, this mythical beast will be more than enough to send me off to dreamland.
Hugo says: "Drink more stout or I'll eat you!"
The pour is a thick, black color with a dark, frothy head that looks like chocolate mousse. Initial aromas are of sweet molasses, you should really let this stout warm up to around 50-55°F before pouring - I skipped this step. After warming, the complex malt bill began to reveal aromas of milk chocolate, creamed coffee, and a touch of roasted malts. The hop additions revealed themselves as mostly piney, earthy aromas, but also a hint of fruity citrus aromas.
The first sip brings the roasted malts more to the fore, also some semi-dark chocolate and a touch of caramel sweetness. The mouth feel is rich and full with enough carbonation to give it a velvety smoothness. The swallow finishes dry with lingering bits of slightly burnt pine needles and dark chocolate flavors. Also, a slight warming effect from the alcohol.
Overall, I give it an A grade. A big, bold beer, you'll need to take your time and sip it slowly. I definitely enjoyed it, and I'll buy more, but I'd recommend sharing it with a friend, 22 oz. was a bit much for me.
Bumble likes to eat cookies with his stout.
I found myself in the mood for some hops today, so I headed down to the Cork & Barrel Downtown to see if they had any fresh IPAs. I settled on Titan IPA from the good folks at Great Divide that was bottled in mid January. After my recent experience with a bottle of old beer I've been paying more attention to bottle dating and beer freshness.
Weighing in at 6.8% and 65 IBUs, the Titan pours out a hazy orange tinged copper with a big chunky white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the sides of the glass. This ale appears to be bottle conditioned so look out for some junk in the bottom of the bottle (you can see some floaties in the pictures).
The hop aromas hit right away with a burst of pine resin and grapefruit. There is also some caramel mixed in there as well. The flavor follows the same blueprint, the hops lay down a pine and grapefruit blanket of bitterness but there's just enough caramel malt sweetness in there to keep things balanced and tasty. The mouth feel on this one is just about perfect for an IPA, smooth and full with a long dry finish and lingering grapefruit bitterness.
Overall this is another really good IPA from Colorado with plenty of tasty American hops and just the right amount of malt balance. Compared to the Odell IPA I would probably choose Odell, but just barely, they are both really good and worth your time and money.
