Stevens Point Brewing's 2012 Black Ale

Today's brew was from Stevens Point Brewing in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. It was their 2012 Black Ale and it can be summed up in one word: malty.

This beer is blacker than the night's sky. I couldn't see any light coming through the glass except for the faintest glow around the edges. It poured well, except the head disappeared long before I could take the first sip.

When I did get the first sip, the maltyness of the beer was quite strong yet very smooth. It's a dry malt too that has just a slight nutty taste. I like the overall taste and flavor.

A great, dark beer, but I tend to prefer them less dry than this one was. Still tasty though.

Left Hand Brewing's Sawtooth Ale

The third beer out of my latest 6 pack is a Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewing Company. This is the second beer I've had from Left Hand. The first was their Milk Stout and was an excellent dark beer so I was hopeful for this one and it's just as good.

Poured dark golden with a nice thick head. When I poured it, it was to the top of the glass. It smelled slightly musty and different, but not in an off-putting way. It just made me more interested for the first sip.

First thing I tasted was the hops. A nice level of hoppy bitterness without biting back too much. You can also taste the rich malts. Great balance between the two.

Behind the hops and malts, I can also taste the mineraliness (is that a word?) of the wort. It's not as bad as some of the previous beers I've tasted, but it's still there. Adds a very slight metallic aftertaste but not bad.

As this beer warmed, everything but the malts faded into the background and I was left with a very nice malty ale.

Of the two Left Hand beers I've had, I think I liked the Milk Stout better, but this was still an excellent beer.

Kronenbourg 1664

This one was my International Pick of the latest custom 6-pack and it was, in a word, interesting.

It was a Kronenbourg 1664 from France. The photo was taken shortly after poured and you can see the head has completely faded away already. It was well carbonated and full of tiny bubbles. The smell was a little bitter and reminded me a little of a "big box" beer. Fortunately, it tasted much better than those.

First thing I noticed when I took my first sip was an almost sour taste. That soon transitioned into an almost sweet malt flavor. It was almost fruity, but I can't put my tongue on what fruit it may have actually been if any at all.

Overall, this is a decent French beer. Very drinkable if you can get past that initial slight sour taste. Plus, I get to add another country to my map... :)

Crown Valley Brewing's Black Cabin Smoke

Time to try and get back in the swings of things.

Today's brew is a new one from a brewery I've never heard of before: Black Cabin Smoked from Crown Valley Brewing out of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Another Missouri beer from just south of St. Louis. I plucked it off the shelf for a pick-6 just because it was from my home state.

Popped off the cap and it poured a beautiful dark amber. Didn't have much of a head and it soon faded to a thin layer, but the smell was great. Nice and malty with just a hint of smoke.

First sip was about the same way; rich malts with just the slightest touch of hops and woodiness that was followed by probably the best smoked flavor I've tasted in a beer so far. It was mellow at first, but long lasting which was nice.

Overall, I am quite impressed by the beer and I hope I will be able to run across more from this brewery.

That's it for today. Now, time to finish this delicious beer.

Mead Update, Wine and More - A Long Overdue Update

I just realized I haven't posted anything here since last year and it's almost April! Sheesh! No, I haven't given up my beer journey, but I have slowed down quite a bit with a lack of funding being the main reason.

Deschutes, O'Dell, and Twisted Pine

Wow, two posts in one night. Either something is wrong, or I'm playing catch-up again... My money is on the later. Anyways, the next round of beers were a very hoppy bunch.



Chainbreaker

I'll start off with Deschutes' Chainbreaker IPA. This one was a very interesting beer. It's a white IPA that is almost as white as a Wit. It is a very moist beer that is light on the tongue. I also found it surprisingly semi-sweet. What was shocking was the mixture of sweet and the strong piney hopps. A great brew.



O'Dell  IPA

Unfortunately, I did not take notes on this one and it's been a while since I drank it. It was, of course, hoppy and pretty good but I don't remember any of the finer points. :(

Twisted Pine

The last of the batch is Twisted Pine's Hoppy Boy. This beer poured medium gold with a big head, yet had a very light scent to it. Without much of a bouquet to it, I was worried it would be weak, but the first sip proved me wrong. This beer has an insanely powerful hopps flavor that is quite bitter and lingers for a good long time. It's not a bad bitter, but a good hopps bitter. In fact, the hopps in this one is almost too strong and overpowering.

Mert's Milk

Before I get started, I must say this post is over a beer that you will not find in stores anywhere. It's a 100% pure, Ozark made Homebrew brewed by a rookie brew-master. He calls his beer "Mert's Milk", and it is very good.

Silver Batch

His story began when he stumbled upon an unused homebrew kit relatively inexpensive. It came with a Pale Ale kit of unknown age or origin, but he was going to brew it anyways as it was a good place to start. While cooking everything up, he accidentally overcooked the malt extract which created a much darker Pale Ale than intended and gave it a more caramelized flavor. This first batch, which I'll call his "Silver Batch" because of the silver bottle caps, had a great malt flavor that was heavy yet smooth.

Orange Batch

His second batch was supposed to be a Maple Beer, but the maple flavor was so mild, it was hard to distinguish it. This second batch, the "Orange Batch", was slightly hoppier than the first and more of a lighter gold color. This brew was bottle conditioned with a little extra yeast. By the time I finished my last bottle, you could tell the yeast were still working away as it kept getting a little more stout. As for the maple, it was there. Once the beer began to warm up a little, the hint of maple came out. This second brew also produced a massive head and I had a hard time keeping it from overflowing.

His third and fourth batches are going to be a special holiday blend in time for Christmas followed by a California Pale Ale that he will be triple hopping around New Years. I can't wait.

My hat is off to Mert's Milk. I've loved the first two batches and look forward to future ones (and I'm not just saying that because I know you'll read this...) I only hope some day I'll be able to brew my own beers right along with you.

Before I sign off, I'd like to give a quick Mead update. I took a taste of my plain mead a while ago. It was only about a month or so since I started it, so it was still quite a bit cloudy. After the first swig, well, let's just hope another month of fermenting does the trick...