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.

BREWniversity: The Bottle Share

I got invited to my first official bottle share. Now the Barons and I have often shared bottles with each other, but the closest thing we've ever done to a true bottle share was our Vertical Epic party. So that begs the question, what is a bottle share?

We all learned that sharing is caring in preschool, but this is a little bit more specific than that. A bottle share is when you get a few people together and everyone brings bottle of beer that they want to drink and you pass them around so everyone gets a taste. Normally it's something that's hard to find, so you are letting other people have the opportunity to try something they normally wouldn't be able to have. There really isn't a better opportunity to get to try this many unique beers other than a festival.

It's not necessary, but it's cool if you work up a theme to the party. Having all the Stone Vertical Epic beers gets people interested. This bottle share was for a Dark Lord vertical doing 6 years of the insanely good RIS.  Parker, a big time beer collector, trader and connoisseur, on the southside was hosting.

Since this was my first bottle share,  I was nervous about what to bring. When someone is as generous as Parker was, you want to make sure that you bring something that others will be excited about.

Here are some pro tips when trying to figure out what beers to bring:

1. The harder it is to find the beer the more people will get excited about it
2. Look at the age on the beer, the older it gets the harder it is to find, see rule one
3. People get jacked up about beers from other markets, see rule one
4. Variants are everyone's favorites! Go for something that has an awesome or crazy twist
5. Look for anything that has been in a barrel, barrels are good!

General tips:

1. Bring tasting glasses, or make sure they are provided because it'd be weird if we were all just swigging it straight out of the bottle.
2. Bring bottled water to cleanse your pallet and keep you hydrated
3. Plan for a DD, you are probably going to be ripped
4. Have a spot to showcase your graveyard, because everyone wants pics
5. Have fun. My favorite moment was when someone passed around the "Grand Cru" which was a bit of everything we drank for the night

I had a great time and am pumped to do another one. 

Dark Lord: Revisited

First off, big thank you to Parker!

I've never been to Dark Lord Day at Three Floyds. Its been at the tippy top of my bucket list since I first got my hands on a bottle of Dark Lord 2012. Sadly, before this weekend it was the only year I'd tasted, and I liked it so much, that it became the stout that I judged all other stouts against. Now its been a long time since I've had it, so my memory was a little bit shaky but it just tasted so good.

So this past weekend I was able to try six years of Dark Lord at a bottleshare with some awesome and crazy experienced Indy beer geeks (thanks to Parker for the invite and bringing the vertical). Dark Lord is an incredibly difficult to get Russian Imperial Stout by Three Floyds. It is only released on one day a year, and you have to get tickets just to be able to buy it. Its highly collectible and totally cellarable. We lined up Dark Lord from 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, and 13 that have been aged by Parker.  Each one has a color coded wax seal so you can tell what year the bottle is from (2008 has black wax, 2009 has white wax, 2010 has olive green wax, 2011 has yellow wax, 2012 has red wax and 2013 has orange wax).


I ranked them as follows:

1st - 09
2nd - 11
3rd - 08
4th - 10
5th - 13
6th - 12

Most of the tasters agreed that the 2009 and the 2011 were the two best years for Dark Lord. The 2009 was my favorite. It was still big and boozy, but the sweetness was tempered by some nice spicy hops and great boozy heat. It was well balanced and really stood out as being outstanding. The 2011 was great but there was more dark chocolate flavor with a solid hint of bitterness. The 9, 11, 08 and 10 were really solid 5 head beers. The 13 will be amazing in about three years but was still pretty great now.

Since I've already done a review of 2012 Dark Lord, I wasn't planning to talk about it much. I mean what more can I say about the greatest beer I'd ever had, right... Well I found out something interesting. As you drink different craft beers and try new styles, your pallet stretches and evolves. You learn to like more subtle qualities in your beer. On top of that like with some ex girlfriends the memory can be way better than the reality.  Unfortunately, the 2012 was my least favorite of all six years. It was the sweetest, almost like a sledgehammer of flavor on your tongue. I still enjoyed it, and it was a solid 4.5, but I was shocked to have my bubble burst so quickly. At first, I figured it was because the beer was a little bit fresh, maybe it needed some time to age a bit and let the sugar and booze flavor mellow out, but that wasn't just the case because the 13 had better nuances to it.

From what we can tell the beer recipe hasn't changed too much. Each one tasted mostly the same as the last just with subtle differences in the flavors that were shinning through. These can be explained by differences in grain and hop crops or changes in their equipment at FFF. All in, this is rated as one of the best beers in the world, and no matter what bottle or year you get it really does not disappoint. The beer is big bold but still nuanced enough to really get you excited. The general consensus was 3 to 5 years of cellaring will probably do wonders for the beer and let it get even more complex. I am excited to have a few of the newer bottles sitting at home right now.

I can't say enough about the guys we were drinking with. You know you are with A+ beer people when there is a line to take pictures of the bottle, and there are people getting pictures of people getting pictures of the bottle (so meta). One of the guys runs a blog, Beer Daddy Blog which really is a fun read and another runs Hop Glass which showcases some really cool glassware. Andrew, the head brewer from the Ram showed up for a bit and Cy from Flat 12. Thanks again to Parker for setting it all up. It was great to meet everyone else. I can't wait to do it again. Best wishes and Cheers!

Indiana Microbrewers Festival 2013: The VIP Experience?

I bet a ton of you saw the ticket price for the VIP experience at the Indiana Microbrewers Festival, and said there is no way it's worth it. This was their first year doing it, and although there were some bumps in the road, it was pretty solid and I would do it again in a heartbeat. As VIPs we got ten limited release beers at two different tappings at 3 and 5, appetizers, early admittance and private bathrooms. I dropped off the Little Lady and Prof Beer to get in line at 1:45, an hour before the event was supposed to start, but only fifteen minutes before VIP and early admission started. Of course I forgot my phone so I had to haul ass back to the car and get it, because it isn't easy to blog, drink and check in to Untappd without your phone. When I got back we realized there was not just the early admittance line, but also a very short VIP line. The experience had begun!

As I was whisked through security and given a glass, I couldn't help but think "damn that worked out great!" but for the next hour that's where the experience stopped. The guys at the gate told me that the first VIP tapping would be at 3 o'clock and we should make our way to the VIP tent to partake, but for the first hour we were free to get as much brew as we could hold!

The beers were outstanding. We were having such a good time at the festival we almost didn't make it to the VIP tent at three. There was no signage to indicate that it was the VIP tent, but it had been marked on our map. Unfortunately for us, everyone else wanted to be there on time for the first tapping. The line went about a hundred feet outside the tent. We waited through it only to find out it was actually the line for food, but no one in the back of the line knew that. It's funny, when a line forms everyone just seems to get in the back and wait. Luckily the appetizer-style food was really tasty and that helped me get over the fact that I had waited in line for ten minutes for food not beer. Lucky for us the beer line was short. The first VIP tapping was a great line up, but most of us were hearing rumors about what the second one would be, and that got everyone excited for 5 o'clock. Three Floyds was really the only big dissapiontment. Their limited special bla..bla...bla release for VIPs, was dreadnaught.

When we came back for the 5 o'clock tapping there was no line. We got in quickly and everything looked clean and much better organized. The only problem was the beers weren't ready until about a quarter after. I know you're thinking ohh poor guy, got VIP tickets, but the festival is so much fun it is hard to miss it, especially when you are missing just to stand in line. Five o'clock beers were outstanding! Food was very good as well. The only problem I saw at five was that they were allowing general admission tickets in to use the bathrooms. I actually left the VIP tent area to find a bathroom with a shorter line.

I talked to Rob from Flat 12 for a little while, and he noticed some of the trouble we were having in the VIP tent. He's looking to clean it up for next year, so everyone should be pumped. These are my suggestions to make the VIP experience better:

1. Tap things on time, and quickly (we think we spent over an hour in the VIP tent and half of that was in line)
2. The brewers were hovering around, have them there officially and let them say something about their awesome creations. These were some of the best brews I've had, let them take some credit for it.
3. More bathrooms, and keep the general public out of them. (again general waiting in line)
4. More notoriety for VIPs, people should be jealous of the VIP ticket holders, so they want to do it next year. If no one sees how cool it is, you'll never get more people paying for the experience 
5. keep up the GREAT BREWS!

My favorite beers of the festival were:

1. Pappy Fog (Velvet Fog aged in Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon barrels) by Sun King (vip)

2. Batch 1 by Triton (vip)
3. A four year vertical of Scotch Ale by Shoreline brewer (vip)
4. Cucumber Kolsch, Gin Barrel aged by Flat 12
5. 25th Anniversary Volume I by Lakefront Brewing

Honorable Mentions in no specific order:
BA Double Dog Dare by Fountain Square (vip)
25th Anniversary Volume II by Lakefront Brewing
Funk a Dile by Flat 12 (vip)

Best Selection: Flat 12 you knocked it out of the park! I could have spent an hour in your booth just tasting the awesome creations.

Darkhorse: Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee WI. Huge surprise! I had never heard of these guys, but damn they make some great and unique brews.

It seemed like the VIP experience was just missing one thing, experience. The organizers had never done this before so they were fumbling with it a little bit, and I never really felt like a very important person. That being said, the beer was incredible and made it all worth while. For the hour early admittance and all the amazing beers they handed out I would do it again in a heartbeat! Thanks for putting on such a great show!

I had 47 unique beers throughout the day, but I went back for sixths of Pappy Fog and Batch 1, because when it's that good, it is hard to only have one.

An Epic Vertical Epic Review

El Duque has set the bar high. There are so many epics that we look to these days. I thought nothing would be better than Homer's Odyssey, but then I remembered that it's been too long since I read that in high school and I can probably only name one character without googling it. What I do know, is A Game of Thrones!!!

These days you can talk about aGoT with just about anyone nerds, business professionals and of course beer geeks.

The true hero of my night was Vertical Epic 05.05.05, so we will call it our House Stark. It was dark and bold with big sweet malt taste. Perfect for a cold winter night. After seven years it had mellowed nicely and there was not much heat remaining from the heavy booze (8.5% abv). Great chocolate and toffee flavor with a nice banana Belgian yeast flavor. It was a medium bodied beer that finished clean and crisp. The beer was  strong, upfront and honest, just like Ned kept his house. It was a shining example of a Belgian Dark Strong.

The second most impressive beer was Vertical Epic 07.07.07, so we will call it our House Lannister. Unlike 05 this was light and bubbly. The flavor was complex and subtle. There was intrigue mixed in with malts, hops and yeast. The ginger provides a great soft flavor that rides throughout the entire beer. It is bubbly and effervescent. The beer is outgoing and social just like the Lions of Lannister. It was a strong flavored brew but finished off dry and bitter. A clean end to a very exiting drink.

The beer that I thought was most under appreciated was Vertical Epic 11.11.11, so we will call it our House Targaryan. I love dark beers with some big off flavors. This beer was infused with a dash of spicy fire. The hot pepper was in the aroma and in the flavor. The hops complimented with peppers very well. They had just a hint of spice and floral flavor. The Belgian flavor was strong in this one as well. It was a true Belgian Strong with an awesome West Coast American kick. This was also one of the stronger beers, with 9.4% abv. Between the chili and the booze this one brought dragons fire to the party in a big way.

The beer I was least impressed with was the Vertical Epic 04.04.04, so we will call it our House Tyrell...don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it was just a bit lame. There was nothing wrong with the beer, it just had nothing particularly exciting going on with it. It was a pretty traditional light refreshing Belgian beer. The 8.5% abv had mellowed out very nicely after eight years of aging, so that didn't stand out. The flavors were soft and sweet with just a light bit of flavor.

I agree with El Duque, the Vertical Epic 12.12.12, was just misunderstood. Like the men of the Iron Islands, House Greyjoy, it was bold and harsh. It was a strong beer with some pretty overpowering flavors. Please keep in mind that it'd also aged the least, so it hadn't mellowed much at all. The cigar was needed to reign in the dark spicy holiday flavors of the 12. This would be a great after dinner drink, but be ready for it to be in your face.

All of these beers were awesome. The worst of them was much better than a 4. The best of these was absolutely fantastic. This was a modern day epic for your taste buds. It was distinctly Belgian, with an incredibly forceful hint of California from our friends at Stone. They embraced someone else's tradition and made it their own for all of us to enjoy. Like with all good books, movies and TV shows, we are sad when they end, but happy we got to experience them. If you can get your hands on any of these beers, even if it is only two or three of the recent ones, do it. It was a great experience.

Epic Vertical Epic

The Beer Baron's Epic Vertical Epic Tasting was (as the name implies) epic.  It was a great time, with good friends, good beer, and good food.  All of the beers were very good, and I would rate all of them in the 3.5-4.5 range.  There was also an apparent progression to the Vertical Epic beers.  When tried in order, each beer is very different from the previous, while still sharing characteristics that tie them together.

Without further ado, here is my ranking of the Stone Vertical Epic beers:

The 's:

1) 05.05.05

My favorite beer of the tasting was the 05.05.05, which is a dark beer with chocolate in the aroma.  This sweet beer has a strong toffee flavor, as well as figs and brown sugar.  It has a medium body and light carbonation; a creamy mouthfeel makes this a very enjoyable beer to drink.  The "beef roll-ups" (braised ginger flank steak, sliced thin) were excellent as well.

2) 04.04.04

Another standout from our Vertical Epic tasting was the 04.04.04.  The 04.04.04 has a strong fruit and lime taste, with honey and bready flavors.  It is a silky beer with medium body and carbonation.

The 's:

3) 11.11.11

The 11.11.11 was my third favorite of the Vertical Epics, a definite step below the previous two, however it went very well with the chili pepper flowerless chocolate cake.  The 11.11.11 and chocolate cake was the pairing that I felt complemented each other the best; the pepper flavor and heat in the beer goes very well with the creamy chocolate.

4) 09.09.09

5) 07.07.07

6) 03.03.03

7) 12.12.12

8) 10.10.10

9) 06.06.06

10) 08.08.08

Calling the 08.08.08 a disappointment would be too extreme, but it is in the back of the pack.  It was clean and smooth, but the flavors could have been a little more pronounced.

The :

11) 02.02.02

This was definitely my least favorite, but we didn't have the official 02.02.02.  The Big Guy's homebrew hadn't been aged for 11 years, and while still a good beer, it didn't quite stack up against the others.

Review: Stone Vertical ‘02 thru ‘12

What is a Vertical?

In a nutshell, "A vertical tasting offers a selection of beers from the same brewery, all brewed in different years. This is one of the most educational tasting formats because it offers the opportunity to taste the effects on beer caused by weather, growing conditions and changes in beer-making style over time, as well as demonstrating how beers change as they mature." Paraphrased from Realbeer.com

The Stone Vertical '02-'12 is a ride not only through time but through different styles of beer.  Like any great beer each one is it's own roller coaster of flavor and tastes.  

Here I thought the Professor was going to be on HIS phone all night...

Impressions?

Best Dynamic Duo:

I'm a dark chocolate lover.  Every Christmas I try and stuff my stocking with a dark chocolate orange.  Guilty pleasures, I know, we all have them!  After spending a semester abroad in India I have developed a taste for the extremely spicy.  This beer brought all those flavors together and more.  The 11.11.11 was paired with a Chili Cinnamon Flourless Chocolate Torte.  Either of these on their own would have been a treat, but the combination nearly blew my socks off!  You can tell because I can't seem to find a picture I know I took of that torte...

The 11.11.11 had a spicy chili cinnamon nose that opened up my sinuses just a bit!  The fiesta of chilies and citrus orange rind flavors played merry havoc on my pallet.   It's medium heavy body finished with a spicy dryness.  

The 11.11.11 paired with the  melt in your...  everything torte just about had me seeing my life flash before my very eyes!  This pairing won the race for me.  If this was a marathon run by a fat kid and these were at the finish line waiting...  he would come in 1st every time!

Runner Up:

10.10.10 paired with Bacon Wrapped Nectarines.  Besides the fact that bacon goes with everything, even fruit...  The light flora grape nose, light crisp bodied, white wine finished citrus fruit experience of the 10.10.10 was a VERY close second to the 11.11.11.

Back of the pack:  

I didn't care for the 2.2.02, affectionately named the International Incident.  I have a sneaking suspicion that if The Big Guy let it sit for a cool 11 years then busted it out I would have had a different opinion of it, but we didn't have that amount of time to burn.  Definitely a great base recipe to tweak and make his own!

Thats RIGHT! $5.99! ...in 2004...

The 4.4.04 was not what I thought it should have been. The taste was not as intense as I would have liked. It was all light touches of lime and ghosts of clover and spice. Call me classic, but I like a nice battle ax to the flavor face... Bold, intense! Those words just did not describe the 4.4.04

Just the Facts Mam:

2.2.02 - 2.5

3.3.03 - 4

4.4.04 - 4

5.5.05 - 4.5

6.6.06 - 4

7.7.07 - 4.5

8.8.08 - 4

9.9.09 - 4.5

10.10.10 - 5

11.11.11 - 5

12.12.12 - 4.5

El Duque's Epic Vertical Epic

I love that my first thought of trying to describe to people what going through the Vertical Epic was like was that it was a Wagner opera, each brew it's own leitmotif.

Then I realized that makes me sound like an asshole, so I'll go with this: Yeah, it was like drinking Star Wars.

Luke Skywalker: (7.7.7)-  Yes, my name is also Luke, and yes, I was tortured for years with Star Wars references, but I grew up with him and even though I think Obi Wan Kenobi is the most interesting character, Luke will always be my favorite, which means, yes, the 7.7.7 was by far my favorite brew.

I then, as I do now, refer to it as "that one beer that was Mountain Dew?"  Stone billed it as Saison and Golden Trippel influenced and it's obvious.  It's a perfect blend.  You get the refreshing lift of the citrus peel, spices, and ginger, as well as the high alcohol and candy sugars.  Like I said, Mountain Dew.  Surprisingly complex and refreshing and very glad I had it after it had aged. 

Han Solo: (5.5.5)- My second favorite beer of the night shared many characteristics with this space pirate.  It was dark, smooth, boozey, and not liked by many.  Han, like this beer, started from a simple beginning.  No spices were used in this beer.  Simple things led to complex malts and deep plum and sherry notes.  It was like drinking leather and it was damn sexy.  When I told it, "I love you." Its simple response was, "I know."

Jar Jar Binks: (3.3.3)- Jar Jar Binks is the beer equivalent of banana clove for me.  Both of these things are unpalatable and bring up deep wells of hate a loathing.  I don't remember much of 3.3.3.  I blacked out its terribleness.  It was too thin, too boring, and way too sweet. In the words of Jar Jar, "Dissen berry, berry bad. Oh! Icky icky goo!"

The Death Star: (6.6.6)- A man made moon that destroys planets and rebel trash.  Epic right?  Try huge letdown.  With a number like 6.6.6 I was expecting something... foreboding, or spicy, or daaaarrrrk.  Instead it was underwhelming.  I think this suffered worst from age than the other brews.  Fresh, the oak/toasted taste, dark malts, or odd tea leaf (Stone said it was supposed to be cedar), might have been a good mix, but when I had it, it just seemed too thin.  Obviously the planetary shield generator was down.

Anakin Skywalker: (12.12.12)- This one was my dark horse.  It was misunderstood, spicy, dark, and whiny.  Everyone, including me, immediately wrote this beer off.  It was confused as to what it was supposed to be: a winter beer, or potpourri.  Like the aforementioned Jedi, It was too spicy and bi-polar.

That was until it was paired with a cigar and wow, it really came together.  Like Anakin, once this brew took a dip in smoke and fire, it chilled out.  The spice and smoke of the cigar really made the flavors congeal and the antiseptic smoke numbed the tongue and mellowed the potpourri punch.  It was a great way to end the epic.

Stone billed their Vertical Epic as an epic told in beer form and it truly was quite the journey.  It was an amazing night full of friends and laughter, even if all those Belgian strong ales may have frozen me in carbonite and gave me hibernation sickness the next morning.

Epic Vertical Epic Party

For those of you who do not know what the Vertical Epic is, Stone Brewery has been releasing a Belgian Strong beer every year since 2002. The first one was released on February 2nd, 2002 - 02.02.02. The second was released on March 03, 2003 - 03.03.03, and so on all the way till last December with 12.12.12. They were all bottle conditioned, and were made to be tasted after 12.12.12 was released. Each beer is a unique twist on a Belgian Strong with a seasonal flavor from the month that it represents. The beers are only available for a limited time after they are released. After that you have to beg borrow and steal to try and get your hands on the older brews.

After six months of searching, I was able to acquire ten of the eleven Stone Vertical Epic Beers. The 02.02.02 was going on the net for more than $300 per bottle and there was no way I was going to pay that price, even to complete the Vertical Epic. Stone was kind enough to put home brew recipes on their website so you could replicate, or at least come close to, their brew. I made two cases of 02.02.02 (which I have decided to call International Incident). We had one bottle of 03, 04 and 05 and then two of everything else.

  

I invited nine of my best beer buddies and co-writers to my house and assigned everyone a beer to do a food pairing with. Stone gave descriptions of all of the beers' aroma, color and taste, plus pairings for food, dessert and cigars.

My friends did not disappoint; the food was outstanding. Since the 02 was a home brew I did not have anyone bring food for that. (The home brew turned out great. Thanks to the guys at Great Fermentations, the Scene post to come soon, for helping me tweak the recipe to get it going here). The pairings were as follows:

The 03 was paired with a light monchego cheese and a grilled portabella mushroom. 

The 04 was paired with a nice soft brie cheese

The 05 was paired with a ginger marinated thinly sliced beef

The 06 was paired with Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese

The 07 was paired with a coconut lime marinated shrimp 

The 08 was paired with mini fish tacos with avocado, cilantro and home made salsa 

The 09 was paired with mini BBQ pork sliders and spicy slaw

The 10 was paired with bacon wrapped nectarines with basil and balsamic vinegar

The 11 was paired with a chili pepper flowerless chocolate cake

The 12 was paired with chocolate covered espresso beans and, my favorite, a nice dark cigar

The food did such a great job accentuating the beer. It was a well put together pairing list by Stone. My personal favorite, other than the wonderful shrimp cooked by my wife, was the chocolate chili flowerless cake. It was a great pairing with Stone's chili Belgian Strong 11.

Over the next couple of days each of us will put a post up with our favorite beers, favorite pairings and those that were less impressive.