Beer Tourism: San Diego

Modern Times

I recently went on a trip to San Diego and the southwest to see my family and go camping. Since I'm from San Diego I usually make this trip 2-3 times a year. If you don't already know San Diego is one of the craft beer meccas of the world, if not the beer mecca: 90-ish breweries up and running in the county (and dozens more in the works), several craft beer juggernauts (Stone, Green Flash, Alesmith, Ballast Point, Port/Lost Abbey, etc), lots of fast rising stars (Societe and Modern Times), entire neighborhoods that are defined by their craft beer culture, and some of the best bars (a seperate IPA bar housed in a shipping container within another craft beer bar? Yes please) and bottle shops around. I mean a small mountain town with one main street, no stoplights, and a population of 1500 people has 2 breweries! 

This is essentially the Disneyland of craft beer. 

Modern Times

While beer is never the sole reason for my trips to San Diego it's always involved. This is a recounting of my last trip to San Diego breweries and one in Arizona thrown in. The rundown in the order I visited them:

Modern Times**

Arizona Wilderness (AZ; ratebeer's 2013 best new brewery in the world)**

Ballast Point (Scripps Ranch location)

Wet'n'reckless**

Green Flash

Alesmith

Intergalactic**

Groundswell Brewing**

Coronado Brewing (Knox St)*

Pizza Port (Solana Beach)

Culture Brewing**

Stone Brewing (Liberty Station)**

Nickel Brewing**

* New to me

**New brewery

Lots of breweries, so I'm not going to do a blow-by-blow (you can look at the pretty pictures), but I'm going to hit the highlights and summarize my thoughts. 

Modern Times and Culture were easily my favorites of the new breweries. MT is about 10 minutes from the airport so this is worthy of a stop when you get into town. Their Fortunate Islands hoppy wheat and Black House coffee stout are 2 new favorites of mine and their space is great. Culture is a few minutes walk from the beach in north SD county and definitely has a surf vibe. Lots of variety in the beers they brew and all of them were tasty. Again the space here is wonderful; small with nicely finished woods everywhere, but there's 2 garage door size openings that make it feel big- one is the entrance and the other leads to an outdoor patio. The bonus to a Culture visit is that pizza port is a block away. Pizza port has multiple locations in San Diego and all of them serve fantastic pizza and house brewed beers (some of which they've started canning). 

The other new places: Wet'n'reckless, Intergalactic, Groundswell, and Nickel all were mostly positive visits. WNR is tiny tiny tiny, but the beers were good. Intergalactic and Groundswell were both fun places, with nice space and good beers. Nickel is intriguing since it's in that 1500 people mountain town. The beers were interesting, but average. I would likely go back as there's something that tells me they will improve. 

The only non-SD brewery I went to was Arizona Wilderness outside of Phoeniz, AZ. They recently were awarded RateBeer's "2013 Best New Brewery in the World" title... and I'm not sure why after my visit. When I went they had 5 beers on tap, none of which I would drink again as they were average at best. Service was slow and the food we ordered was just okay (fries were great though). I'm not saying AZW is a bad brewery/brewpub, and for all I know I could've been there on a bad night, but results from my one point of data inducate I'd rather go to dozens of other places before I go to AZW again. 

Most of the other breweries I visited this time around were places i'd been to before or places that had a new location (Stone and Coronado). One thing that really struck me about a lot of the places was the amount of inviting space they have available for beer drinkers to lounge around in; something that Indy breweries are sorely lacking. There are few places that come to mind around here that I would actually spend time in other than to fill my growler. It's unfair to compare Indy breweries to posh beer landmarks like Stone and Green Flash, but there are breweries in San Diego that do a lot more with a lot less and that's ignoring the weather and geographic advantages they may have. There's a fair amount of breweries in Indy that make better beer, but I'd pick the SD counterparts just because they're a lot more inviting. In other words It's time for places to start thinking outside the (cold concrete) box. Again, it's unfair to compare the scenes in my 2 homes, but there's a lot that can be learned from San Diego's beer community... I mean they've got to be doing something right if they can sustain all those breweries.

Whether or not you've been there before, there's always something new to explore in the San Diego craft beer scene. I would highly recommend anyone with a serious interest in craft beer take a trip there and spend at least few days exploring. You will come away with a serious appreciation for the San Diego beer scene... just don't blame me if you don't want to leave.   

Arizona Wilderness

Ballast Point

Wet'N'Reckless

Green Flash

Groundswell

Coronado Brewing- Knox St

Culture Brewing

Stone- Liberty Station

Stone- Liberty Station

Nickel Brewing

Nickel Brewing

Cooking Under the Influence: Belgian Mussel Soup

There's a restaurant in Indianapolis that the Big Guy and I went to quite a bit when we first started dating. They've got a great ambience, and their outdoor patio area is perfectly placed for people watching. The menu at Brugge is as you'd expect, primarily Belgian. One of my favorite items on that menu is the steamed mussels. Give me those, some great beer and asunny afternoon, and I could sit all day. We've come close to doing just that a handful of times.

I wanted to create that recipe but with a bit of a twist. You'll frequently see mussels done in white wine, which I do like, but with this being a beer blog, I wanted to do something with a delicious Belgian beer.

Fortunately for me, my husband and parents are willing guinea pigs for my recipes.

To start with, I found a recipe for mussels that I liked in a cook book I already had sitting on my shelf in the kitchen. For the basis of this recipe I used the Mussel Soup outlined in Just One Pot.

I adjusted the recipe to include more mussels, since that's what I was able to get a t the grocery store. Something I learned in making this dish is that mussels are not as easy to clean as I would like. If you make this yourself, you'll want to have a fresh scrubby sponge and the time and elbow grease to invest.

The other modification I made was the addition of the beer. I went with a Belgian Blonde, something that would complement the other ingredients without overpowering them.

Ingredients
3-4 pounds fresh mussels, in shell
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups vegetable stock
1 Leffe Belgian Blonde Ale

Directions
Soak the mussels in cold water for 1 hour. Scrub well.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, and 2 cloves of garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and the ale. Add the mussels and cook until they are all open, about 5 minutes. Discard any that do not open.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley and 2 cloves of garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 4-5 minutes more.

We opted to serve this dish with a loaf of crusty Italian bread. It was great, definitely one I'll be trying again.

Dark Lord Day in Pictures

Most of the blog got to go to Dark Lord Day 2014. While we recover, here's our day in photos.

Surviving Dark Lord Day

This week begins just like every other week for most people. For many beer geeks, however, this week starts with more excitement than most. Dark Lord Day is Saturday. If you don't know about this, check out www.darklordday.com and catch up.

Having been to the past two Dark Lord Day events, I thought it might be good to pass along some tips for surviving the day. The boom of craft beer in the last year or two has brought a lot of new beer geeks to the scene which has increased the number of first time attendees. 

1. Arrive early. The parking situation is a concern. The sides of the streets will be lined with cars by 7:00am. If not earlier. If you don't get one of those spots, you may be forced to pay for parking in one of the surrounding lots or across the street in the park. If you plan to arrive later in the day, you may have better luck as there are people who leave early. But one of my favorite things about DLD is the bottle sharing line before the event starts. So getting there early means less stress related to parking and awesome time waiting in line. 

2. Don't be an asshole. This is probably the most important tip for the day. Be flexible, have a positive attitude, and remember that everyone is there to have a good time. Don't line cut in the bottle line once inside. If someone in line offers you a pour of Bourbon County Rare, be modest. Take a 1-2oz pour. Don't be greedy and take a 6oz pour unless you are looking to get in a fight. Which goes back to the first sentence in this rule. 

3. Take a case of water with you. Seriously everyone should bring that much water. This is a marathon. Not a sprint. Small pours and lots of water are your keys to not getting drunk early in the day and face planting in the grass. Contrary to what you might think, you do not want to get drunk at DLD. For most, this is inevitable though. So hydrate hydrate hydrate and make sure you eat a substantial breakfast and an alpha brat for lunch. Bring snacks as well. Food and water are your best friends on Saturday. 

4. Don't forget your tickets, cash, and ID. You will need all of them. Guest taps are $5-$10 during the day. Dark Lord bottles are $15. If you win the right to buy a barrel aged Dark Lord that's $50. Plan for the best because you don't want to have to deal with the ATM line. I promise. 

5. Bring a cooler or a backpack. The rules say coolers are not allowed, but if you bring a soft cooler that goes over your shoulder, you will be fine. Backpacks are definitely good to bring as well. Just don't bring one of those large coolers on wheels. They won't let that in. Also, the high temp for Saturday right now is 48, so you may not need a cooler at all. But better to have it to transport your beers for sharing. 

6. Bring beer to share and a tasting glass. People love craft beer. You don't have to bring super rare bottles to share. Bring a growler of your local favorite. Bring home brews. We all will want to try most anything craft. I also usually bring two tasting glasses. Don't stress about what to bring. Bring something you want to drink and don't mind sharing with others. 

7. Dress appropriately. It's going to be a tad chilly. Great for keeping beer cold during the day, but you will want to wear a sweatshirt or a light jacket. Also, sunscreen is a good idea if you don't plan on wearing a hat. It will be sunny and you can still get sunburned if you don't take proper precautions. Also, right now the forecast is for 0% chance of rain...which means you should definitely bring some rain gear. 

8. Bring a cloth grocery bag. When you go through the bottle line to get your dark lord bottles, they will provide you with a flimsy bomber 4 pack holder. Don't trust your bottle fate to these carriers. Put your bottles in a cloth grocery bag and immediately take them to your car. You don't want to be the guy who passes out in the grass next to your dark lord bottles because there ARE people there who will violate tip #2 and you will go home empty handed. 

9. Bottle sharing tips. Don't assume anything you see on the table is fair game for you to take a pour. Always be courteous and ask. It usually will be fair game, but asking eliminates any question. If you didn't bring it, ask. People are always nice and generous, but if you just start taking pours you are violating tip #2 and people won't enjoy being with you. Contribute to the share as well. Plan to bring bottles that you open in line before the event and in the tents during the event. Don't open all of your bottles in the line before. Also, if your bottle has a cork, bring a corkscrew. 

10. Bring toilet paper. Self explanatory. 

11. Hit up the guest taps. There is world class beer brought in from awesome breweries across the globe. Use your friends to divide and conquer. If you have 10 friends everyone buys one different pour and you share them with the group. Sharing guest taps is a lot of fun and you get to try more incredible beer.  

12. Check out the bands. I've missed this each year, and while Metal is not really my thing, I definitely want to check out some of it this year. I am dying to rage. 

I am sure there are many other things I could list but if you follow these 12 tips you should have yourself a marvelous time. Be safe, don't be afraid to call a cab, and have fun!  Be sure to check back as we will have our own Dark Lord Day story to share with you all. 

Founders Backstage Tasting

The 2014 KBS release has come and gone already. This year bottles were dropped on different days for a little over a week, which made it very different from last year's one-day blitz.

In honor of this years KBS release, the Barons got together with some close friends and went through all 9 of the releases so far. We also did 5 years of Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) and 3 years of Backwoods Bastard. It was an epic night from Founders Brewing.

For the last 3 years Founders Brewing Company out of Grand Rapids, MI has been bottling limited release experimental beers called their Backstage Series. They all have big flavor, high alcohol content, and really interesting ingredients. They are a beer geek's white whale. We haven't been great about reviewing all of them, but we did get to their Barrel Aged Double IPA, Doom.

There is nothing better than having awesome friends that share a passion as much as you do. Our tasting group is made up of some outstanding traders who get their hands on some of the most impressive beers out there. When we're able to combine our powers there isn't much we can't put together and this night was proof.

My favorites from this tasting were: Blushing Monk, Frangelic Mountain Brown and Doom (although it was closer to a hopped up barleywine like Behemoth by FFF).

Blushing Monk was the first of the Backstage beers to be bottled and distributed. It came out almost 3 years ago, and that was well before I got into trading etc, so it was one I had never tried. It was very impressive. It reminded me of an imperial version of Rubaeus, their seasonal raspberry beer. It poured out a beautiful ruby color with a little off-white head. It had big raspberry aroma with just a little bit of boozy heat. After 3 years there was still barely any oxidation. The beer was thick, sweet, and boozy in all the right ways. There was tons of berry sweetness with an excellent tart finish.

This was the kind of tasting where you have a tough time deciding what the best beers really were. All the backstage beers were impressive in their own ways, so it was an epic evening all around.

Kevin: This was a great event.  It was fun to go through each beer in the order of their release. Blushing Monk was by far the best beer of the series at this point. Interestingly, Founders only uses one strain of yeast for every beer they make. Blushing Monk is the only beer they have made that doesn't use the house yeast. Take that for what it's worth. Easily the best of the night.

It's also sad to have experienced the death of CBS. When fresh it was a massive coffee stout with loads of maple, chocolate, and bourbon. A glorious beer. It's dead now. Oxidized and tasting of barrel tannins with just a touch of maple. It bordered on unpleasant. A good example of a beer that should have been consumed when fresh. 

The surprise of the night for me was Doom. The hops had faded away a bit but it was crisp, clean, and still had a tiny hop bite that balanced the malt and bourbon goodness. I actually wouldn't mind having another. I also enjoyed Frangelic Mountain Brown. It wasn't as sweet as it was fresh and seemed to be holding together nicely. 

One suggestion if you have these bottles. Drink them. Founders says that the majority of their beers should be consumed freshly. This series is proof of that. None of them were better than when they were young.  I wouldn't advocate trading them either unless you clearly tell the person you are trading with that the beer is clearly past it's prime. Also, stop trying to trade for them...except Blushing Monk. 

Tastings like these are once in a lifetime. Was a great experience. But I learned my lesson. With every Backstage release moving forward I will definitely not let them sit around.

Indy Beer News

We are proud to announce that the Beer Barons are teaming up with Indy Beer News to bring you even more great content. Keep your eyes on the site as we start integrating some of their content into our page. Indy Beer News has done an outstanding job bringing great interviews and event related content to Indy. If you haven't checked them out yet, its well worth the listen. Cheers and enjoy!

If you have problems accessing the podcast here, go straight to the source.

Indy Beer News: "In this week's episode, I've got a lot of news including details on 3 new breweries opening in the coming weeks. Plus a couple of big tap takeovers from Flat 12 Bierwerks and Sun King Brewing. Plenty of other things happening with Taxman Brewing, Bloomington Brewing Company, Upland Brewing Company, Hoosier Beer Geek and Indiana Girls Pint Out!"

BREWniversity: How to Saber Your Beer

You read the title correctly. The first time I heard someone say that, I thought it was some stupid joke. I had no clue that sabering a beer was a thing. Apparently it is. The concept is actually kind of cool. Opening your corked bottle with a knife in one quick swipe seems like a recipe for disaster. I've seen videos of people opening bottles this way and it never seemed like something I could pull off.

At a tasting two weeks ago, our friend Parker attempted to saber a bottle and was quite unsuccessful. Granted there was a lot of pressure, and people generally seemed uncomfortable with the idea; so after a few failed swipes with a knife he aborted the mission for the night. 

Fast forward to last night. The topic came up in conversation halfway through our evening. We decided to give Parker another chance. I had a Cascade Strawberry that was nicely chilled and ready for action. I gave him a butter knife and we all went outside to the deck. 

Parker took a couple swipes and couldn't  get it done. Rob then took his turn and was also unsuccessful. My turn. My first two swipes were futile. The third one, however, resulted in a nice "pop" sound and the cork went flying into my back yard. We all erupted into cheers as the beer slightly gushed out of the bottle. It is, without a doubt, a cool party trick that was awesome to experience. 

A couple of tips if you choose to try this yourself. 

1. Be outside. You don't want this going down indoors because of various safety reasons. 

2. Use a butter knife. 

3. Find the seam of the bottle, I am told this is the weakest part of the bottle and if you strike in that area you are more likely to experience success. 

4. Be aggressive with your strike. There are a lot of fears that can go through your mind when trying to saber your beer. "Will I shatter the bottle?" "Will I slice my hand or finger?" (Etc.). These thoughts will bring that glimmer of doubt which results in hesitation. 

5. You should slide the knife up the seam and whack the bottom of the cage in one fast motion. Be sure to be holding the bottle tightly and at a 45 degree angle at least, if not higher. This allows a successful strike to send the cork flying. 

The end result is a clean break of the glass holding the cork in one piece. Completely safe to drink.

Here is a pic of the bottle I sabered.

Cheers!!

Bloomington Craft Beer Festival

For the second year in a row, we had the opportunity to attend the Bloomington Craft Beer Festival. The festival took place at the Woolery Mill, which serves as a great back drop. The whole festival has a pretty chill, laid back vibe that you don't see with some other events. It's small enough that you can easily try something from each brewer, but large enough to provide a good variety.


The view from the Brewer's Hideout

We opted to get the early admission tickets and were able to get about an hour of tasting in before the "consumption crowd" arrived, though it was never so packed that it was hard to get around or get to the brewers' tables. Unless you wanted to have some Zombie Dust, then you had to deal with a really long line. I know there are some people opposed to early admit or VIP ticket options, but I always prefer them. I also tend to go against the crowd at the beginning, go to the furthest breweries from the entrance, and work my way back to the front.

 

Of the breweries that came, there were a few standouts for me.

1. Black Acre Brewing, Blood Orange Infused Bitter Life: An American IPA
2. 18th Street Brewing, Bitch Hands: An American Pale Ale
3. Against the Grain, HAmon HAmarth: A smoked beer

I was surprised that I'd had so many of the beers that were there. I know I've been busy this year trying as much as I could, but it would have been nice to see a few more unique offerings. If you want to see how this compares to what we thought of last year's event, read that post here.

The Big Guy: I'm always happy to head back down to Bloomington. The only hard part is not hitting Kirkwood. After this festival, thank God I didn't go to Kirkwood...thank G O D. The venue for this festival is one of the coolest spots around and the weather was perfect. It was a sunny 75 degrees and windy enough to cool the whole thing down to the perfect temperature.

Brie and I were the only Barons that made it to the event, but we met up with some friends from Girls Pint Out, Great Fermentations and our tasting group as well as some newbies from Brie's office. Coming to these things with new comers can be a lot of fun. I always have a great time watching how they react to the beers for the first time. A really hoppy beer can shock someone the first time.

So I think my wife and I hang out too much. My favorite beers of the show were:

1. 18th Street Brewing, Nubian Overlord: A double IPA
2. Against the Grain, HAmon HAmarth: A smoked beer
3. Black Acre Brewing, Blood Orange Infused Bitter Life: An American IPA

Honorable mentions include: Barrel Aged Scotch Ale by Fountain Square, Andrew and Drew Smoked Amber by Bluegrass Brewing, and The Dude White Russian Porter by Crown Brewing.

Flat 12 brought the crazy again with a carnival theme. Surprisingly the squid ink gose, Octogose, was pretty good. The briny quality of the squid ink was a very nice addition to the salty sour gose beer that is becoming more popular lately. Although this one was a win for me, the caramel corn was not.

The festival was full of great beers and some beers with really cool combinations of flavors. On a sunny spring day there isn't anything better than good friends, good beer and a designated driver. I can't wait to take a trip up to 18th Street and a drive down to check out Against the Grain.

Endless IPA

Endless IPA is the newest release from Goose Island's Limited Release Series. Endless IPA is a light bodied session IPA coming in at 5% ABV and a relaxed 35 IBUs. Now you hop heads out there are going to argue that this barely counts as an IPA, and I'll give you that, but session beers are big right now. This one fits in with a more laid back hop profile than Stone's Go to IPA and Founder's All Day IPA (both session IPAs). The best part of this IPA is the hop choice that was made. Endless IPA is all Amarillo hops, and I love Amarillo hops. I fell in love with them when I first tried Amarillo Ninja by Pipeworks.

The hops were sourced form Elk Mountain Farms in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Goose Island is doing a lot to try and stress the farm to bottle relationship that the brewers have with the hop growers. Elk Mountain has only been growing hops for two years now, but for what it is, the flavor is there. I have a lot of hope that once they've been in operation a few more years they're going to have some wonderful hops. Bonners Ferry is located on the same latitude line as some of the best hop farms in the world. This means climate and temperatures are going to be on point, all they need is continued experience growing.

This beer pours out a goldenrod yellow with a nice thick fluffy white head. There's a spicy citrus aroma with a little bit of a bread crust on the finish. The flavor follows suit nicely. The citrus and grassy notes of Amarillo dominate everything. The bitterness is light and crisp, and really doesn't linger at all. The malts are a nice light sweetness that compliment the hops and bring out the fruit flavors. Like all the GI beers, this one is super clean in appearance and in flavor. Its executed flawlessly, and that's something I'm starting to expect from all their beers.

Keep in mind that this is a session beer. Its light. The mouthfeel is light. The malt character is light and the hops are pretty light. The beer has great flavor for such a laid back beer. It will be released here in Indiana in six packs and twelve packs, and I think I could smash a twelve pack by myself on a hot summer day. Its crisp and refreshing and probably easier to drink than it should be.

I love their hop choice, so I give it a 3.5

Brianna:  By now you all know that I'm not much of a hop-head and I usually don't go for IPAs as my first choice. I don't think this will be the IPA that changes things for me as far as that's concerned. Having said that, I really liked this one. Just about everything is light- the mouthfeel, the malt characteristics. The hops definitely come through, but they don't overwhelm the rest of the flavors. It's an easy drinking beer. I could definitely see myself sitting on the back porch enjoying this beer all summer long.

The Scene: Books & Brews

Books & Brews, which was on KickStarter late last year, opened a few weeks ago. As you can probably guess from the name, they are a unique business, combining two subjects close to my heart: books and beer.

The front section is a used bookstore, with a wide selection of used books on handmade shelves.

Passing through a door in the back of the bookstore, you will discover the bar area.  Once again, this features handmade furniture, and a large garage door at the back, which is opened in good weather.  There is also a large window behind the bar, allowing you to see into the brewing area.

They opened with several guest taps, as well as four of their own beers on tap:

• The Little Beer That Could Pale Ale (6.2% ABV, 35 IBU) - a Centennial hopped pale ale
• Toil and Trouble Dark English Ale (4.8% ABV, 20 IBU) - a Northern English Brown with extra caramel malt
• Lord Byron's Breakfast Ale (4.8% ABV, 20 IBU)
• Clifford the Big Red Ale (7.4% ABV, 13 IBU)
  
  

After a couple weeks, they added Hop's Cradle DIPA (7.2%, 85 IBU) - a DIPA hopped with Centennial and Cascade, currently on a nitro tap. Last weekend they added Shogun Soba Ale - an amber ale brewed with buckwheat, giving it a salty-sweetness (for everyone who ever dipped their french fries in their Frosty...).

 

In addition to the beer, they have food, which is almost entirely locally sourced, including:

• Smoking Goose Meats
• Trader's Point Creamery Cheese
• Ludwig Farmstead Creamery Cheese
• Broad Ripple Chip Company Chips
• Amelia's Breads and Cookies

 

In addition to selling books, beer, and food, Books & Brews is excited to host events.  You can see more details on their calendar.  They are also interested in ideas from the community, so if you have a good idea for an event, let them know.  They have many regular events, including:

• Monday - Book Club
• Tuesday - Tabletop Games
• Wednesday - Trivia, Crafts
• Thursday - Open Mic
• Friday - Live Music
• Saturday - premium events (e.g. author readings/signings, children's readings, etc.)
• Sunday afternoon - Live Music

Blakkr

So we've done a lot with black IPAs here at the IBB. A black IPA is a relatively new style (new by beer standards that is) that we see all over the place here in America. I personally like this style a lot, but my concern is not with how the beer looks or tastes, its with the name. Right now we're calling it a Black Indiana Pale Ale... black pale. That just doesn't make sense to me, and seems a bit lazy. We are willing to call just about anything hoppy an IPA because breweries know that it'll sell. IPAs are popular, and a lot of breweries are trying to capitalize on that popularity. Recently the Great American Beer Festival officially added American Black Ale into the pantheon. This is what they are calling the "BIPA." I think its great. So many beers are named after the country and region that they're created but since America came to the beer game a little bit late we don't have many named after us, even though we are making some of the most unique beer this world has ever seen.

Blakkr is truly a great American creation. Three breweries got together to make this imperial black IPA Surly, Real Ale Brewing and one of our favorites, Three Floyds. This beer pours out an oily black color that looks more like a Russian imperial stout than any American black ale that I've ever seen. The color is deep and heavy. It has thick tan head that leaves great lacing all the way down the glass.

The first smells you get are the big roasty malts, dark coffee and bittersweet chocolate. That's followed up by a outdoorsy pine forest aroma with just a bit of grassiness. The flavor follows this up. The roasted malt flavor is huge in a great way. It tastes like a bitter sweet chocolate imperial stout. With this intense malty flavor you might worry that no amount of hops could shine through this brew, but Blakkr delivers the hops even more than the malt. There is a huge bitter piny resin flavor from the hops. All of this blends nicely with some sweet tropical and citrus hop flavors. It wouldn't be fair to compare other American black ales to this one because the imperial nature of the malt raises the stakes all across the board. This one of the best beers I've had in a long time. I'm really impressed.

I give it a 4.5

Russ - Pours a dark almost opaque brown with a 2 finger khaki head. Laces well as the beer does a disappearing act. Aroma is mostly toasted grain and pine, but there's a hint of soy sauce. The taste gives notes of dark chocolate, bitter dark roast coffee, and pine. Middling body, with average carbonation. The mouthfeel is slick with a long bitter finish. Yep it's a black ale, with typical heavy roast notes and a distinct soy sauce note that's interesting (but not bad). Other than the latter, there's nothing really different about this beer. Still worth trying as it's solid offering 3.5/5