The BEER thread.

Did a little Black Friday shopping today. The newest additions to the cellar are

Brooklyn Brewing Black Ops(bourbon barrel aged imperial stout)
Mother Earth Silent Night ( bourbon barrel aged imperial stout)
Mother Earth Window Pane Raisin and Fig(dubbel aged in apple brandy casks)
Coney Island Barrel Aged Human Blockhead( BBA dopplebock)
Terrapin Brewing White Chocolate Moo Hoo

 

We have another new microbrewery in town and I have to share that (1) it is actually making the better of the local microbrews and (2) it has a tie to Pittsburgh. The name of the brewery is Isley's Brewing Company and for those of you who grew up in the 'Burgh, you might recognize the Isley's name from the ice cream shops. When I met the owners of the brewery, I said "hey, my Dad worked at a Pittsburgh place called Isley's Ice Cream when he was in high school" and they informed me that it's the same family as their namesake. Anyhoo... two starter beers for now, a belgian white and a nice oatmeal porter. While the work on more, they've been taking those two and changing them up a bit. They've created a blueberry version of the wheat which was nice and light and I think did a grapefruit one as well, and the oatmeal porter (which was by far my favorite of the two) has gone out as a chocolate peanut butter variety (delicious) and a chocolate coconut one.

Anyways, if ya'll ever head down to Virginia, this one is worth checking out. Maybe they'll eventually be distributed, but for now, it's all mine!

 

Hate to say it but they sound awful.

 

They are actually all fairly decent... don't let the fruit scare you off (and I'm not a fruit drinker for the most part). It's barely a whisper of flavor and I actually had no idea I was drinking blueberry. The base beer on those was at least as good as Blue Moon (no, I don't drink Blue Moon, but I'm saying that these guys have at least "profitable" flavors already achieved, if that makes sense). The straight oatmeal porter was very good, definitely the better of the two, and the chocolate peanut butter one was surprisingly good (though I couldn't drink more than the sample just based on sweetness). Never know what you'll get reading descriptions and I was very pleased with how young these guys are.

 

I'm not scared off by fruit (I like DFH Aprihop) but those flavors, no matter how slight, do not appeal to me in the least.

Straight Oatmeal Porter? Sign me up!

 

I saw Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout & Narwhal Imperial Stout at my local 6-pack store today. Anybody recommend?

 

Both are very good. If you want great look for Brooklyn Black Ops. It's a bourbon barrel aged stout and it's outstanding. Although it isn't cheap.

 

I don't know about you, but for me pretty much every 10+% ABV beer is a sipper.

 

the 7 p's are applicable here

proper
prior
planning
prevents
piss
poor
performance

 

Time to BYOB.

 

highland brewery
thunderstruck
coffee porter

 

sry
yes it is good imo
nice smooth balanced flavor with coffee and chocolate I get an occasional very slight hint of anise (maybe)
I tried a variety pack of theirs a month or so ago when in eastern tn and enjoyed all the styles they offered
so seing it again I picked a 6 pack of the porter