For George

He would be really old today, our first Commander in Chief, but thanks to Avery you can toast him properly, with their new porter…

…as the Colorado brewery starts their “Ales of Antiquity” series

Robert Ford Approved


When it is all haze and 16oz cans, it is sometimes good to see a reliable brewery, like The Bruery, lean into their barrel strength and when they use whiskey barrels with a quad instead of stout. I perk up and start reading the label closely. Probably won’t see this one other than at Bruery locations so a trip to Orange County might be in order.

AleSmith Small


I have been hoping to see the return of small bottles (like some of the OG barleywines came in) for a while. Most are probably tired of me whining about it.

But reason to be hopeful as AleSmith is bringing out their Cinnamon Vanilla Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout, in all of it’s 13% ABV glory as well as the 12% ABV Barrel-Aged Old Numbskull, their classic barleywine in what the brewery calls, “user-friendly” 330ml (11.2 oz.) glass bottles.

You have gift box options: 2 bottles of each or mixed 2-packs.

Review – 2017 Black Tuesday from The Bruery


Right on time, The Bruery sent me a bottle of the latest Black Tuesday for Barrel-Aged Beer Day earlier this month.

I unfortunately could not crack it open that day but I scheduled it for a long, lazy Sunday. Here are my results…

2017 pours with some loud powerful bubbles. This is the same boozy bourbon load that I remember. But those bubbles add a bit of a cola note chocolate and coconut abound. And it packs heat going down. That espresso head disappears with a quickness. Not as viscous when coming out of chilled to more room temp. Jet black in color.

Out of the Woodwork

photos from Eagle Rock Brewery

Eagle Rock has bottled not one but two new beers, Rubus Magnifera & Cerasus Magnifera for their ongoing Woodwork Project.

Here are the new bottles in town:
Cerasus Magnifera – Sour Pale aged with tart cherries & mangoes
Rubus Magnifera – Sour Pale aged with raspberries & mangoes

The ERB “Woodwork Project is dedicated to the venerable art of maturing beer in wooden vessels. Deeply complex and often tart, these beers are a study in balancing the inexorable effects of time, oak, and mother nature.”

The cherry/mango combo would be my first choice.

Featured Review – Thanks for the Invite from Sanctum Brewing Co.


14%. That is explained by aging a strong ale in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels for over 6 months. I haven’t had much from Sanctum Brewing Co. but thought this big beer would be a good re-introduction. And yeah, it has the typical and really nice bourbon aroma. I get coconut and wood and a bit of spirited heat to it. But the taste falls flat after that. The beer is reddish/brown with an expected thin head. The taste is sweet without going too overboard but then nothing else. That sweetness sticks and then there is a slight medicinal finish to it. There are supposed to be notes of vanilla, but they have left the bottle without a trace.

Love the name and label design but the beer needs another layer, vanilla may not have done it but might have helped.