Clown Shoes Billionaire

22 oz. Bottle

Cognac barrel aged English style barley wine.

Pours a medium darkness brown with hints of red to it, a really gorgeous beer. Slight khaki ring of bubbles around the top of the glass. Smells of sweet fruit (getting some strawberry and raisin), caramel, vanilla, and a little bit of alcohol. Not too much alcohol, this beer smells really delicious.

On the taste there's some fruit (again strawberry and raisin), but dominant smooth vanilla, toffee, burnt sugar, and caramel - all of these flavors work really well together and are spot on for the style. Alcohol is apparent, Cognac specifically. Also seems to be some kind of maple or molasses notes working in the background. Nice balance on the flavors. Carbonation might be a little to high for the style, but other than that, everything seems to be in just about perfect balance. ABV of 12% is very well hidden, just some very minor alcohol notes from the cognac aging stand out.

I feel like this would be the perfect beer to enjoy on a cool late fall night with a cigar out on the deck. Really nice flavors at work. Think I'll pick up another bottle and hold it until October/November.

Other than the carbonation being a little too high (and that's really just me nitpicking), my only other wish is that the cognac aging was a little more present; it's a little more subtle than I would have liked it to be. I'm not saying I'd like the equivalent of Bourbon County aging, just a month or two more in the barrel would have been perfect for this one (again, though, this is still a fantastic beer).

Overall Rating: 4.65/5

Harviestoun Ola Dubh 30th Anniversary

12 oz. Bottle

Received this as part of a 30-ish person yankee swap back around Christmas. My buddy, John, has been begging me to open it to let me know how it is (he bought it for the swap, but never actually had it).

Pours dark, close to black, maybe a dark cocoa/espresso color, but with a maroon/dark red hue to it. Really beautiful pour. What little remnants of bubbles disappeared fairly quickly. Smells strongly of Scotch and cocoa, but there's also vanilla, caramel, tobacco, and leather notes on the scent. Really smooth on the taste, really mellow Scotch flavor, balanced nicely by vanilla, caramel, and cocoa flavors, just hints of tobacco, apple, and leather on the back end. Probably the most nicely balanced barrel aged offering I've had from any brewery. The low carbonation really contributes to the smoothness of this beer, and is definitely a positive aspect. 8% ABV is very minimally noticeable.

A really well balanced, flavorful offering. Not quite sure it's worth the price, however, at just about $20 for a 12 oz. bottle.

Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Unconventional Pair: Long Ireland Breakfast Stout and Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka

Growler Fill of LI Breakfast Stout/Bottle of VG Espresso Vodka

Found the Long Ireland Breakfast Stout a little thin so I decided to add some Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka to the mix (about 2 shots to a pint, eyeballed), in order to kick up the ABV (the stout by itself has an ABV of 3.5%, roughly .7% less than Bud Light for comparison) and Coffee Flavor.

Pours dark brown, looks like espresso, with a slight ring of khaki head around the edge of the glass. Smells like coffee and dark cocoa, a little vanilla-y sweetness too, probably from the use of milk sugar in the brewing of the beer. Lots of coffee and sweet milk (it's brewed with a good amount of milk sugar - breakfast stouts typically use a Milk Stout base, but more recently this is not always true) on the taste, melds well with some vanilla and cocoa accents to the flavor. Finishes incredibly smooth, but still lacks in terms of "thickness". I want my breakfast stouts to have substance to them. It's too thin, and the flavor suffers a bit because of it. Fairly high carbonation for a stout as well.

The Van Gogh Espresso Vodka really takes this beer to another level. It was a decent breakfast stout on it's own, but the addition helps to begin to remedy my problem with the thin-ness of the beer, and reduces the CO2 surplus to moderate. It also creates a better balance of flavors; even though the coffee stands out more than the other two, it works.

Long Ireland Breakfast Stout Overall Rating: 3.75

Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka Overall Rating: 4.75/5

Mix Overall Rating: 4.25

Jack's Abby Hopstitution

1/2 Liter Bottle

The first extra pale lager I've ever reviewed, though not the first I've ever drank. This is a fairly uncommon style.

Pours translucent yellow-orange (more yellow than orange) with a fairly large white head (about 2 inches) of large bubbles. Slowly dies down to about 1/2 an inch. Carbonation is heavily visible. Strong citrus on the nose - orange/grapefruit/lemon/lime/tangerine. Really flavorful scent. Hop aroma takes the back seat to the citrus, but blends well with it.

With the taste, the citrus is a little less evident, however, there are a bunch of other flavors that mellow and blend together - some biscuit-y malt and grass-iness specifically, that work really well with the citrus and the slightly, but not overly, bitter hop finish. Nice balance, but lacks depth of flavor. The 5.5% ABV is completely hidden and the carbonation is moderate.

Overall a very well constructed beer with nice balanced flavors, but nothing that really pops enough to stand out and above other beers. Still a delicious beer to have on an afternoon after a long day of work, but I don't know that I would actively seek out another bottle of this specific beer (though I will be seeking out some other Jack's Abby varieties), especially at $4.99 a bottle.

Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Westbrook One Claw

12 oz. Can

My 400th Rating on Untappd.

Pours a murky yellow orange with about half an inch of head, really nice looking brew. Tropical flavors on the nose - pineapple and mango predominantly, orange a little less so. There's a bit of rye spice in the smell of this beer as well, but it is really hidden underneath the fruit. On the taste, some nice, mellow tropical fruit flavors - again the pineapple, mango, and orange - up front, followed by a slight hop and moderate rye bite. Moderately low carbonation works for this beer. ABV of 5.5% very well hidden.

A very nicely balanced beer. I could see myself sitting out by the pool drinking these all day - perfect summer weather beer: tropical flavors with a bit of a hop/rye bite. The only problems I have with this beer are how mellow the fruit flavor is and the rye bite is a little weaker than I would have liked. Again, though, this is a sessionable beer, and I would really enjoy drinking a couple of these on a hot summer day.

Overall Rating: 4.15/5

DuClaw Sweet Baby Jesus!

12 oz. Bottle

Was recommended this by my friend Nick.

Pours a very dark brown. What little head existed from the pour is now completely absent form the top of the beer (about 5 seconds after the pour). Smells like a Reese's peanut butter cup. Exactly like a Reese's peanut butter cup.

Peanut butter and chocolate on the taste (though not as strong as I would have liked), complimented by some nice roasted malts; based on the smell, exactly what I expected. Nice dark porter flavor.

The only downside to the taste is how light the beer seems on the palate - I wish it had some thickness, almost a syrupy quality to it - this in turn would most likely allow the chocolate and peanut butter flavors to be more prominent. Pretty high carbonation for this style as well; I feel this detracts from the overall experience a little bit.

The alcohol content of 6.5% is incredibly well hidden.

An overall enjoyable beer - really just a nicely made porter with chocolate and peanut butter undertones in the end.

Overall Rating: 3.9/5