I (Andy) have been looking for the beer for fucking ages. We were pretty excited for this one.

Brewery Home: Colorado

Serving Style: Bomber into pint glasses

Beer Style: American Imperial Stout

Appearance: DARK brown creamy head. A ‘black blackness’ body. Jim thinks the head reminds him of Nestle chocolate powder getting mixed into milk.

Aroma: This shit gets you pumped if you’re an American hoppy beer nerd. Silky chocolate that ends dark and bold, reminds both of us of premium hot chocolate. In the back sit big, bad ass American hops. Yes.

Taste: Roasted barley and chocolate that becomes lightly sweet in the middle. The end is bitter, sharp and wonderfully American hopped. At times the chocolate/roast notes can come across as chalky but the overall character is smooth and wonderful. Love these hops.

ABV: 9.5%

Drink one or all?: One. Then go buy another for tomorrow.

Cost: $8?

Overall: 19/20 The best of the night. A favorite for Andy.

The second of our Southern Tier reviews. We both saw it on the shelf and had always wanted to try it but never had the guts. We won’t hesitate anymore.

Brewery Home: New York

Serving Style: Bomber into pint glasses

Beer Style: American (Milk) Stout

Appearance: Opaque blackness (again) with an offwhite head (lighter than I expected). The bottle has really really awesome beer stats on the bottle. Cool!

Aroma: Wow! Huge caramel/butterscotch…maybe like burnt cream :D The ‘roast’ sits comfortably in the background. Jim: “smells exactly like a Werthers original candy!” It’s like ice cream with awesome toppings.

Taste: Starts a little harsh (this smoothed a bit when it warmed) but then the vanilla and roast balance out and end nicely. A good dessert beer, definitely unique.

ABV: 10%

Drink one or all?: One. It’s unique.

Cost: $8?

Overall: 18/20 Good! Interesting!

The last of our reviews! Wowza, what a night. Our reviews have gotten shorter, sorry all :P

Brewery Home: Boston, MA

Serving Style: 12 oz bottle into pint glasses

Beer Style: Imperial Stout

Appearance: Dark, opaque blackness. Tan head that doesn’t last.

Aroma: Crazy good aroma. RICH chocolate and vanilla that is milky and smooth. We were sniffing our glasses like crazy.

Taste: Smokey-roast notes with light dry chocolate. Good stout punch but it doesn’t last. Crisp mouthfeel.

ABV: 9%

Drink one or all?: One, enjoy slowly.

Cost: ???

Overall: 16/20

I’m on a little Sierra Nevada trip here for a variety of reasons: awesome bottles to fill with homebrew, it’s an amazing brewery and it’s on sale at Binny’s (my local liquor store). This was actually my very last bottle of the six pack and it took a lot of self-control to not down it earlier without careful review, yay new FAVORITE!

Brewery Home: Chico, CA

Serving Style: 12 oz bottle into pint glass

Beer Style: American Stout

Appearance: Pours with a dirty tan head that is strong enough to stick around for a while. Excellent lacing on my glass. Body is black to dark mahogany – amber around the very edges while holding it up to the light – but not the ‘motor oil’ thickness that we pour often around these parts. The head coated my glass all the way down, awesome!

Aroma: Full bodied malts with a heavy emphasis on the chocolate notes, all framed lightly by delicate hops. It is roasted (maybe some coffee too?) around the ‘edges’ but it reminds me most strikingly of rich dark or semisweet chocolate.

Taste: Rich and creamy mouthfeel…wow…that is satisfying. I get a nice chocolate sweetness on the front end of a sip that moves smoothly into a wonderful hoppy/roasted malt (I think I can definitely taste Cascade hops in the end…thank you homebrewing!) that finishes with just the right amount of dryness. Hints of roasted coffee beans come through strongly in later sips. Damn, I can’t get over that mouthfeel! It’s so perfect! This beer won’t blow your brains out the back of your skull, but you’ll be so happy when it’s smooth character makes sweet, sweet love to your tongue.

ABV: 5.8% Really?! Danger!

Drink one or all?: All six. Damn! Super tasty.

Cost: $8/sixer

Overall: 18+/20 It’s not the most interesting stout ever, but it could be the most sessionable. FAVORITE.

I’m waiting for Cannon and Jim to come help brew batch #2 tonight…oh look what’s in my fridge! YUM. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has emerged quickly as one of my favorites, but I haven’t really expanded to see what else the brewery does…until now. Hops away!

Brewery Home: Chico, CA

Serving Style: 12 oz bottle into pint glass

Beer Style: American IPA

Appearance: Dark gold or light amber, stong red hues. Thin but strongly lacing head. Body is clear, bubbly and superbly refreshing-looking. Further down the glass I was impressed how strong the head was sticking to the glass, wonderful!

Aroma: Jumps into your nose with Magnum and other American hops, hints of citrus and possibly pine (not woody but sap smell). The end finishes with muted malts, great balance. It may not have the ‘insane’ hop/spice roundhouse kick as other American counterparts (Rogue), but nonetheless appealing.

Taste: The smooth malts came at me first in the initial sip but faded quickly into determined, pine-y hops. The backend is complex with a mixture similar to the aroma (I do get more citrus here in the taste however). Finishes very dry and bitter – Jenny didn’t like this but I loved it – with plenty of hop bite. Sierra Nevada’s website says this beer’s IBUs are in the 70s. The high ABV is well masked by hyperactive hops when the beer is colder, I had 3 of these before I realized it sits around 7%…yeah, I was feeling good. As the beer warms the alcohol edge becomes jumps up a little bit, but the mixture with the citrus and pine notes of the hops reminded me of good gin, interesting.

ABV: 7.2%

Drink one or all?: 3 or 4 easily if you’re feeling hoppy. Great session beer.

Cost: $8/sixer

Overall: 16/20. I like – and will have again – but not as striking (or clean) as their pale ale in my opinion.

Cannon and Andy here. This review was actually done a few hours before Dark Lord, but shhhh dont tell anyone. It’s a beautiful day for beer. If you didn’t know already, Anchor Steam is an old old brewery based in San Fransisco that played a major part in building enthusiasm for small, craft brews.

Brewery Home: San Francisco

Serving Style: 12 oz. bottle into tasting glasses

Beer Style: California Common Beer/Steam Beer (made with lager yeasts at ale fermentation temperatures)

Appearance: Dark amber. Brian: “almost like tree sap. Mine (Cannon) has a strong off-white head, good lacing.” Lightly filtered, looks full bodied and beautiful.

Aroma: First sip is a mild sweet, molasses or brown sugar. Faint hints of dark roasted malts. The lightly citrus hop bite only comes in the very end. It gets sweeter (with more hay-like, earthy) as you empty the glass.

Taste: Dark and roasted but with the strong, smooth notes of a lager. Cannon thinks it’s too dry for him, almost irony; “still it makes my mouth water…my tongue is crying.” Great mouthfeel overall. Thick on the first sip but the hops and bubbles bite on the way down, refreshing. Andy definitely gets the lager yeast notes: “it has a nice progression start to finish, ends semi-sweet with good balance.” Stop drinking for a moment though and you’ll notice the strong bitterness of the hops.

ABV: 4.9%

Drink one or all?: 3 or 4. Great session beer.

Cost: $8/sixer

Overall: Andy: 16+/20 (right up my alley), Brian: 15/20 (even though I usually despise these bitter ales)