Shorter Vox Day

Shorter Vox Day: "You should judge a book by its cover."

(There are so many levels of horseshit in that small post of Vox's that I was originally tempted to write out an entire post drawing out the threads of the utter dumbosity -- but why waste my time pointing out such obvious flaws in the writings of the intellectually blinkered?

Beer Review, Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout

Guinness 250th Anniversary Stout
Dublin, Ireland
5% ABV

Appearance: Very dark coloration, black/brown with a slight reddish tinge on the bottom. Thick off-white head that leaves significant lacing. 4.5/5

Smell: Dry aromatic maltiness, lots of breadiness, hints of mild hops. Has an almost bock-like aroma. Interesting. 4.0/5

Taste: Sweeter than expected. I'm drinking this warmer than usual, having left it out of the fridge longer than I intended, and the extra warmth is bringing a lot of sweet malty complexity to the forefront. Astringent on the finish, dry on the aftertaste. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Perhaps a touch thicker than ordinary Guinness (which is very watery to my palate), with a touch of carbonation. No hop bite at all. 4.0/5

Drinkability: I'll probably get a bottle of Guinness and a bottle of Extra Stout and do a three-way side-by-side at some point. I think this is a better beer than either of those, but whether it's just my mind playing tricks on my tastebuds I can't say. 4.0/5

Overall: 4.1/5

Beer Review, Founders Imperial Stout

Founders Imperial Stout
Grand Rapids, MI
10.5% ABV

Appearance: Very dark, black, with a thick tan-colored smooth head. Head sticks around and leaves significant lacing. 4.5/5

Smell: Sweet, malty, chocolatey, but with a bit of a fruity undertone. Hints of chocolate-covered cherries and... grapes. Very nice aroma. 5.0/5

Taste: Highly astringent, very strong with the alcohol. Underneath the astringency is a strong malt presence and a touch of breadiness. Finishes dry. It's pretty unbalanced for my palate -- I'd prefer this with either a stronger malt to overcome the astringency or less alcohol. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Thick, velvety. Leaves the tongue coated. No significant carbonation. 4.5/5

Drinkability: A good RIS, but not quite a great one. Maybe if I let one cellar for awhile... 4.0/5

Overall: 4.35/5

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Sumatra Stout Recipe

I forgot to post this the other day. Recipe for the Coffee Stout I brewed on Wednesday.

1/2 lb Black Patent Malt
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Munton's Roasted Non-malted Black Barley
3/4 lb Water Street Sumatra Coffee
6.6 lbs Dark LME
1 oz Northern Brewer (45 min)
0.5 oz Liberty (5 min)
0.5 oz Liberty (0 min)

The wort came out dark as fuck on this one, and the aroma was heavenly. I made a Coffee Oatmeal Stout before, which turned out fine, but I didn't add enough coffee and the beer turned out a lot lighter than I wanted. I'm hoping this is going to be a nice roasty jet-black stout with a malty backbone.

I guess we'll see in a couple of weeks. The plan is to move it to glass this Wednesday, leave it in the secondary for another week, then bottle around July 1.

Beer Review, Double Crooked Tree IPA

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA
Marshall, MI
13.6% ABV

Appearance: Pours darker than expected, a ruddy brown more like a malty lager than a DIPA, with a thick slightly-off-white head that reduces to about a quarter-inch fairly quickly. Very nice impression from the appearance. 4.5/5

Smell: Oooh. Sweet, malty, but with a nice dollop of crisp grassy hops. (Perhaps Centennial?) Rich, invigorating, very well-executed. 4.5/5

Taste: Sweet with unfermented sugar, slightly "hot" with alcohol. Hoppy but balanced with a nice sweet malt backbone, intense but not overwhelming. These would probably age very well, although true hopfiends will probably find this a bit underpowered for their liking. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Thick, coats the tongue, with a nice wallop of hops and high carbonation. 4.0/5

Drinkability: For thirteen+ percent, this is amazingly smooth. Fans of the style should at least give it a once-over. 4.5/5

Overall: 4.25/5

Beer Review, Founders Double Trouble

Founders Double Trouble Imperial IPA
Grand Rapids, MI
9.4% ABV

Appearance: Hazy yellow-orange appearance, thin white head that dissipates quickly. 4.0/5

Smell: Sweet citrus, heavy with grapefruit, with a strong dose of crisp white hops. Very nice aroma. 4.5/5

Taste: Hops. Lots of clean hops. All over the entire body of the beer, with a strongly alcoholic finish and a drying aftertaste. Some notes of citrus. It's good, but very strong. 4.0/5

Mouthfeel: Moderate. Heavy with hops (obviously) and a high carbonation (not quite so obviously). 4.0/5

Drinkability: Quite a good DIPA. Not the greatest ever, ends up a bit one-note, but not bad at all. 4.0/5

Overall: 4.1/5

Beer Review, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Cleveland, OH
5.8% ABV

Appearance: Dark, nearly black velvet, but not opaque like a stout (slight transparency to the body) and with a reddish tinge to the liquid. Half-inch khaki-colored head. Amazing appearance. 4.5/5

Smell: Dark malts, lots of sweet grapes and raisins, very bready. 4.0/5

Taste: Delicious dry malts, roasted grains, slightly dry on the finish. A touch of raisin sweetness, but not too much. Basically a note-perfect American Porter. 4.5/5

Mouthfeel: Moderate thickness, mild carbonation, no significant hops. Smooth. 3.5/5

Drinkability: This may be my all-time favorite porter. 4.0/5

Overall: 4.25/5

(And that's probably being a bit too harsh on it, numerically speaking.)