NOLA Beer Tasting Pictures

NOLA Beer tasting pics

A fantastic time was had by all at the recent NOLA Beer tasting we had on Saturday January 24th. There was about 60 people and well over 100 beers. Awesome fun! Here are some pics from the recent event.

Cheers!

The Beerbuddha

Beer Review: Saint Somewhere Saison Athene

Saint Somewhere Brewing. What can I say other than I think they are truly the little brewery that could. These guys are a small operation out of Tarpon Springs, Florida. When I say small I mean it. They actually put out posts on Myspace that ask people to come down to the brewery and help bottle beer. Payment? Lunch and six bottles. No seriously. They just worked out a distribution deal with Shelton Brothers, an importer out of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Yeah, I said an importer. Usually the distribution chain is three tiered being brewery, distributor then store. These guys are doing whatever it takes to get their beers out there to the public and I think it's great.

I previously reviewed a Saint Somewhere beer before with their Lectio Divina which was a fantastic brew. Recently I acquired their Saison Athene and have been waiting for the right moment to drink it! I finally got around to it the other night and man what a beer. Here is my review:

Brewery: Saint Somewhere

Beer: Saison Athene

Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale

ABV: 7.50%

Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass, Tulip, Oversized Wine Glass

Serving Type: Wine Glass

Appearance: The beer poured a hazy, golden straw color with a huge white, fluffy head. Lacing was present throughout the entire life of the beer.

Smell: Nice earthy, grainy, lemon-y and funky aroma. Interesting hint of pepper.

Taste: Wonderfully funky taste with a nice hop spice. Hints of lemon, earthy yeast and pepper are present. Nice dry finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.

Overall: Once again a fantastic job by St. Somewhere Brewing. This is another beer I'll be picking up any chance I see it!!

Score: 4.5 out of 5 Buddhas

Beer Review: Stone Ruination

Ah, Stone Brewing Company. What can I say other than they are one of the coolest breweries we have here in the US. They have one of the coolest logos with that gargoyle demon thing(pictured below) and in the most recent issue of Beeradvocate Magazine they were named All-Time Top Brewery on Planet Earth .

Unfortunately here in Louisiana we don't have Stone yet but hopefully we'll be seeing them this year!! As for the beer I'm reviewing it's the Stone Ruination IPA which is a Double or Imperial IPA which basically means it's hoppy as shit. If you click on and read the label below it gives you a great description of the beer.

Enough jibber jabber. On to the review!!

Brewery: Stone Brewing Company

Beer: Stone Ruination

Style: Double/Imperial IPA

ABV: 7.70%

Recommended Glass: Snifter, Tulip, Oversized Wine Glass

Serving Type: Tulip

Appearance: This beer poured an orange-y yellow with a nice fluffy white head. Lacing was present the whole time.

Smell: Hops, hops and more hops! A nice subtle hint of sour grapefruit and then more hops.

Taste: A nice toasted bread flavor in the front that is quickly masked by a HUGE bitterness. This beer is HOPPY! Again, as in the nose, a subtle hint of grapefruit. The piney hoppiness dominates here though.

Mouthfeel: Slightly heavy body with medium carbonation. Kind of thick and syrupy.

Overall: Overall this beer appeals to the hopheads only. For the style of beer(Imperial IPA) it is a great beer. It fits the style quite well. I see why they call it Ruination because it completely ruined my palate.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 Buddhas

Beer Review: De Struise Brouwers Black Albert

OK, so in November you read that I was able to get some Black Albert to Louisiana and it finally came in December. Finally I got around to drinking mine a couple days ago. I was gonna go into this long and winded story about how the beer was specially brewed by De Struise Brouwers for Ebenezers Pub in Maine and blah, blah, blah but The Beer Wench beat me to it and well, let's be honest, she did a better job than I could ever do. So, if you want some great and detailed info regarding Black Albert you can read it on her site. Click on her name and it'll take you there! On to my review!!!

Brewery: De Struise Brouwers

Beer: Black Albert

Style: Russian Imperial Stout

ABV: 13%

Recommended Glassware: Pint Glass or Snifter

Serving Type: Pint Glass

Appearance: This beer poured very dark, black. Not much of a head present but what was there was tan. Lacing was present but minimal.

Smell: Huge smells of coffee and chocolate with nice subtle hints of tobacco and dark fruits.

Taste: Coffee tastes dominate here but there are nice hints of chocolate and fruits. Mild hop profile which presents itself about midpalate. Again a slight hint of tobacco makes itself known.

Mouthfeel: This beer has a medium body with little carbonation. The beer comes across very velvet-y(is that a word?).

Overall: Overall this is a great beer but man the $10 bottle price(for an 11.2 oz bottle) and the hype surrounding it seemed a bit much. I felt North Coast Old Rasputin RIS was just as good for a hell of a lot cheaper. Obviously now I will need to buy a bottle of both and do a side by side tasting. Darn for me.

Score: 4 out of 5 Buddhas

Two Beer Queers: Beer Advocacy, Hawaiian Style

I found the Two Beer Queers website through Twitter and I must say I love these guys. With reviews scores like Fucking Shitty, She Go and Mean, Russel Kealoha and Bully O'Sullivan drink and review their way through beers available to them on the beautiful island of Hawaii. I just wanted to give these guys a little shout out so go check them out today!!

Cheers!

The Beerbuddha





TWO BEER QUEERS EPISODE 04 - GB MARZEN & SAM ADAMS HOLIDAY PORTER from Russel Kealoha on Vimeo.

Beer Video of the Month: January

Beer Review: Sam Adams Chocolate Bock

Ok, so I fell for the hype and grabbed myself(and my brother and father)some bottles of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. Everyone in town was freaking out about this beer(that retails for around $15 a bottle). I enjoy Rogue Chocolate Stout and Young's Double Chocolate Stout so I figured I'd give this one a try. Instead of going into this whole long winded spiel about the beer I figured I'd let Sam Adams do it themselves. Here is a description from their website:

Samuel Adams® partnered Felchlin, a renowned Swiss chocolatier, to develop a unique innovation, Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock. We started with a complex selection of carefully roasted malts combined with hand-selected Noble hops from Bavaria, the world’s oldest growing area. After using a centuries old brewing process, called Krausening, we slowly aged the beer on a bed of rare dark cocoa nibs from Felchlin®, a renowned Swiss chocolatier. Known for their quality these wild cocoa nibs, harvested from the rainforest of Northern Bolivia, impart complex aromas and flavors of chocolate, honey and vanilla in the beer. The resulting beer, Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock, has a big, malty character that is combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate, giving this brew a complex full-body taste with a velvety finish.

Tettnang-Tettnanger and Spalt hops were hand-selected from the world’s oldest growing area and combined with a complex selection of malts including two-row Pale, Munich and Caramel to create a rich and satisfying brew. This dark beer has a big, malty character that is combined with the subtle sweetness of chocolate. Samuel Adams® Chocolate Bock was aged on a bed of cocoa nibs to create its unique layers of flavor. As the beer matured, the fruity, tart, earthy and chocolate aromas were released into the liquid to give the brew a complex, full -bodied taste with a velvety finish. A hint of vanilla was added to meld the symphony of flavors together.

Now see, wasn't that better and fancier than I could do? It makes it almost worth the $15 I paid for the bottle. Anyways, I decided Christmas Eve, while my wife and I were setting out my daughters presents, was a perfect time to drink this beer. Ok, it's true, my wife put out the presents and I drank beer and watched. On to the review!

Brewery: Sam Adams Brewery

Beer: Chocolate Bock

Style: Bock

ABV: 5.6%

Recommended Glassware: Flute, Pilsner, Mug or Stange

Serving Type: Sam Adams Glass

Appearance: This beer poured a dark, black with a nice fluffy tan head.

Smell: More cocoa-ish than chocolate. Some roasted malts. Not much else going on.

Taste: Small hints of cocoa. Lots of roasted malt flavors with hints of fruits. Again, as in the aroma not a whole lot going on.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.

Overall: Overall not a bad beer but certainly not worth the $14.75 I paid for it either. The beer was an average beer at an above average price.

Score: 3 out of 5 Buddhas

Good Girl!

My daughter, Evangeline, with a bottle of Michelob Ultra Pomegranate Raspberry. I guess she doesn't like it. Good girl.