Bravery Brewing has teamed up with Corvo Coffee, not on a typical coffee stout but a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Baltic Porter with roasted coffee beans on draft and in single 16oz cans, named El Valiente.
Valiant
Review – 7th Anniversary Cat’z Pajamas from Brewyard Beer Company
I missed the seventh anniversary party for Brewyard Beer Company but I made a point of grabbing a 4-pack of their Bourbon Barrel-Aged Belgian Quad, Cat’z Pajamas.
The feline Quad pours with a slight reddish tint to it. Sharp and bubbly on the palate. The bourbon notes are present but not overwhelming. The barrel provides a nice sweet, almost maple note to the beer. For a double digit ABV, it only gives a little jolt when drinking in keeping with the balanced nature.
Review – Dead Guy Ale from Rogue
Been a long while since I have had a Rogue beer and even longer since a Dead Guy even though that is really the only one available in SoCal.
Here is my review of the Dead Guy variant Dead ‘n’ Dead.
Whiskey barrel chips meets Maibock amped to 9.5% abv. Oak and alcohol on the nose. Kinda hoppy red ale initially before the Germanic influence creeps in. Was not expecting the bubbly nature, thought it would be more placid on the palate. Even so, you can tell this is strong beer. Nothing hidden here. The whiskey chips do their job, adding the spirit without bowling over the beer underneath.
Bourbon & Kentucky – more photos
Anytime you travel, you have more photos than you know what to do with. For me, that means posting them here, there and everywhere. Here are more photos from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail…
Beer Review – No Ends, Only Beginnings from Firestone Walker& Highland Park Brewery
Did you think I would NOT review a bourbon barrel-aged beer this month? I specifically hunted a good choice to start with and who better than Firestone Walker who collaborated with Highland Park Brewery on the excellently named, No Ends, Only Beginnings.
This is a simple and effective beer. No bells. No whistles. There is a lovely sugary, caramel aroma here. Not much in the way of oaky barrel. I could see comparisons to brown sugar or a restrained vanilla cupcake. The booziness is really held in check by the sugar. If tasted blind, I would not say bourbon but I would rate it highly.
City Beer Store – Review 1 of 4
Time for another round of which beer is the best! I have four beers to review over the course of this month that I purchased from City Beer Store in San Francisco. (You can subtract the mead, that I will review separately.)
I start with Kentucky Mule from Firestone Walker. Bourbon barrel + ginger + lime peel all at 11.8% ABV. The aroma is bourbon trailed by lime. This is a very viscous beer. Big mouthfeel here. The bourbon barrel is lead guitar with lime following as bass. And if you wait, there is the heat of ginger. As the beer warms up, the bourbon and ginger take over strongly with a brown sugar note piping up. This is a strong one, a sipper for sure but damn tasty for ginger fans.
Barrel Seltzer
I should have seen this seltzer coming from a long way off. Just look at the bottom of the cans of New Holland’s Dragon’s Share hard seltzer and you will see that it is aged in bourbon barrels. So you will get orange with bourbon, cherry without bourbon, blackberry with bourbon and original too. I don’t be think it is a great use of a barrel but I guess it is a true differentiation point compared to all the other hard seltzers.
Fudge
Looking for something to drink in the first week of 2021 that will set the tone for the rest of the year? Well, how about a decadent and boozy candy in a wax topped bottle from Beachwood. The bottle dropped on New Years and will certainly be a tasty treat.
Forever Jazz
I love seeing beers in packaging that is not usually associated with a style which is why it is cool to see that Los Angles Ale Works has put their Jazz Forever Bourbon Barrel-Aged beer in 12oz cans. The beer is described by the Hawthorne brewery as, “A smooth and choco lately blend of Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, and Roggenbock.”
Damn the Bourbon Torpedo
If I was a good enough beer blogger, maybe Kris Kringle or Mrs. Claus (hint, hint) will find one of these bourbon barrel bottles of Torpedo for me to try. I don’t know which dominant flavor will come out on top but it will be interesting to try for sure.