Founders CBS 12/1/17

CBS is Founders Breakfast Stout, aged 3 years in whiskey barrels used to age honey also.  HopKat Westport was celebrating 20 years of beers on 12/1/17.  Ron, Ann, Fran and I tasted CBS 2017, along with KBS 16, and 17 as well as DKNL, the watermelon Gose, barrel aged IPA and Porter.  Needless to say, we spent a while tasting 5 oz beers.  The CBS lived up to its hype and was very good.  multiple samples. 

Founders tasting, we have Founders Imperial Srout, 2015 KBS, 2016 KBS, 2017 KBS. Finishing wing Deschutes Bourbin County Stout, 2015 and 2017.

So, Imperial Stout good beer, would definitely good beer drink anytime I find it.  Next 2015 KBS,  smooth, good beer, tiny bit bolder than the 2016 KBS, nose is a little better, 2017 a fresher nose, all are great beers, to me 2016 is a smoother taste than the 2015, 2017 is a fresher taste.  So good to be able to taste three years again but each other. 

HopCat Wood & Wild event barrel aged and sours

First beer:
Traverse City 355E.  Bells Brewing, whiskey barrel and American Stout. No whiskey nose, 8.8%, not bad, no coffee or cocoa taste an American Stout with whiskey.  I would drink this beer. 

Second beer:
Black Butte XXIX, Deschutes Brewery, 12%, rum & Bourbon barrel aged with Dutched cocoa, Saigon​ cinnamon & cayenne.  nose is slight cinnamon, cayenne sneaks up on you,
I would drink this beer.

Third beer:
Dragon's Milk Reserve: Triple mash, Bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout, triple mashed, only 17% abv.  Smooth in the middle of the tongue, does not taste the 17%.  Triple mashing happens when the mash is cooked and then cooled, cooked cooled for a total of three cookings.  Very nice nose of the imperial Stout.  the triple mashed process is how they used to do beer, it develops the flavor over a longer time frame.  I would drink this in small amounts, dessert at the end of the meal. 

Fourth beer:
Barrel Aged Ten Fidy, Oskar Blues, barrel aged Imperial Stout, 12.9% abv, chocolate covered caramel and coffee, very viscous. Haha a big word from the Brewer.  Liquor taste comes through a bit after.  Amazingly I would drink this beer. 

We are letting all four warm up to see the difference as they came out very cold and I drink KBS at basement Temp.  Better, not so cold. 

Fifth beer,
Clutch, New Belgium Brewing, wood aged Imperial Sour Stout, 8.5%, yes I am tasting a sour Stout and yes it would be New Belgium making it.  A little sour nose, slight sour taste, dark head, I would drink this beer.  Ha! 

Beers from 9/29/17 Bier Station KC

Prison Rodeo, American IPA with a very good coffee note.  Prairie Artisan Ales, OK, I would drink this.

Zephyr, North Peak Brewing, Oat IPA, good fruity nose, delicate front taste, slightly bitter at the end, good drinkable beer, I would drink this.

Keith's Korner, Petennal Brewing. IPA, English yeast, Munich malts to start dry hopped with two others and one experimental.  It has a fruity taste in the middle of my tongue.  I would drink this beer.  

Abyss, Deschutes, Imperial Stout, barrel aged Bourbon barrel, new oak and Pinot noir barrels. 
Good beer to contemplate life over.  Nice complexities, I would drink this beer. 

Friendship Brewing, Wentzville, MO

Ryenot Chocolate Coffee Rye Beer, 6%, 32 IBU, smooth chocolate and coffee blend, not bitter, good drinker, just enough different, good beer.
Bloody Nose IPA, 7%, 60 IBU, great nose IPA, with blood oranges, the blood oranges give it a different after taste, good beer just different.
Laplander DIPA, 9%, 106 IBU, dry hopped with mosaic and Citra hops, good citrus nose, the 106 IBU is not overpowering, it is bitter but a good IPA bitter.  Good beer. 
Bignose IPA, 7%, 60 IBU, American IPA, good nose , different citrus flavor, good American IPA..

Third Wheel Brewing, St. Peters, MO

Goomah, American Stout, 5.5%, 18  IBU, aged on cocoa nibs and vanilla beans giving it a slight sweetness.  Good beer
Spandex Specter, Belgium Saison, 6.3%, 24 IBU, they say black pepper balances the fruit, dry hopped with Citra hops.  Beer. 
Singular Day 2017,;New England IPA, 7.5%, 37 IBU, double dry hopped, 5 pounds of hops per barrel, El Dorado, Citra and Mandirina Bavaria blend hops.  Really nice citrus nose, good taste, skight citrus finish, good beer. 
Dyslexic API, Imperial IPA, 8.8%, 60 IBU, lactose added with dry hopped with Columbus and Simcoe hops.  60 IBU shows up for a little bitter but the lactose cones through initially.  Outside edges of the tongue find the sweet.   Good beer.
B.O.S.S. Imperial Stout, 10.5%, 62 IBU, dark chocolate, hints of coffee, the high ABV gives a hint of alcohol.  Not much.  Has a slightly bitter after taste, due to the 62 IBU.  Good beer. 

Mark Twain Brewing many

Rambler Red Ale, Irish, 5.5%, 20 IBU, lightly hopped, toasted malt, says milk chocolate, but not really.
Sawyer's Blonde, ale, 4.2%, 19 IBU, just beer
Clemens Keep lach, 4.2% , 19 UBU, traditional German style, Pilsner malts, just beer too.
Halley's Blueberry Saison, 6.8% abv, 18 IBU, Belgium, has the Belgium after taste
A Wee Bit Foggy, Scotch Ale, rich flavors of carmelized malt dried fruit, good beer,

Charleyville BBA Imperial Stout

River City Stout, 10% abv, nice bourbon nose, heavy liquor taste, me ght be better aged for a year. 

Charleville Brewery Saint Louis

Short Black Sun, black Pilsner, 5%, not very strong,made for the eclipse
Ale Mucho Hoppo, Double IPA, 9%, 100 IBU, good beer, good bitter
Hoptimstic IPA, 6.6%, 65 IBU, smooth IPA good taste, not overpowering, drinkable,
Bellows Shake, Oktoberfest, 6%, smells of banana, smoth, drinkable.

Dieu du Ciel, Quebec

Russian Imperial Stout, with coffee added, 9.5%, got 11.5 oz bottle at Side Project Cellar, big coffee nose and flavor they say it can be cellared

Side Project Brewing sour and other beers

Coffee Shop Vibes Peruvian, Russian Imperial Stout, 13% abv, nice coffee aroma, very dark stout, not bitter, very good.  Coffee and then more coffee. 
Backpack Fashion Show double dry hopped IPA, very good IPA nose, different taste, good beer.  8% abv. 
Bretta,  Sang, sour beer, 7% abv, French oak puncheon aged blond with sweet orange peel & blood orange juice. 
All three good beer. 

2nd Shift Brewing The Hill, Saint Louis

Bourbon barrel aged cat Spit Stout, gr at bourbon nose, smooth, 6% good beer.
Brewligans IPA, 6%, citrus finish, good start on the front, drinkable
Art of Neurosis American IPA, 7.6% no overwhelming taste or finish.  Soso.
5 Cats Imperial IPA, 8.5%, again nose is off, back of tongue is different. 

Narrow Gauge Brewing, Florissant MO

Old Town Porter, good color, good porter, very drinkable
Sparkle Motion, American pale ale with Citra and Galaxy hops, good flavor, served almost room temp 6%
Fallen Flag, American IPA, dry hopped with Citra and mosaic. Good taste great aroma
SHB, DDH Simcoe, double dry hopped with Simcoe hops, great aroma, different finish, 7%, 50 IBU, not necessarily one to order again
They have a lot of different IPAs

Flat Branch Pub & Brewing

So, Flat Branch has several beers on tap: tried two IPAs, an oatmeal stout with chocolate, and a gold chili beer, IPAs ate soso, girls got the stout, Ron got the chili and I opted  for the Katy Trail Pale Ale. 

Lawrence Beer Co. Grand opening

'Lectric IPA, German malt base, 6.5% ABV, the nose is from an IPA, taste is different, say it is for hop lovers,
Fly Over Stout, 6%, Chinook, they talk about chocolate but good beer.

Toppling Goliath IPAs

A good friend brought me three beers from the Brewery in Decora, Sosa, King Sue and Zeelander in 22 oz bottles.  Fran and I first split the Zeelander 😁, excellent nose, great taste, good beer, hop from New Zealand.  Yummy
Second I opened a Sosa, double IPA, different nose, different taste, but really good beer.  One hop, Mosaic, really good.  Double yumm.  Photo is of the Sosa. 

I am waiting to open a King Sue.  

Brew Lab for their beers, Kolsch, Porter, Chocolate Porter, Nuthouse Brown, Belgium Pale Ale

Kolsch very drinkable, refreshing
Chocolate Porter let get and refreshing, chocolate hints not overpowering.
Nuthouse Brown, again good drinkable beer.
Belgium Pale, has the Belgium nose, Belgium back of tongue taste.  If you like Belgium this could be your beer.  Not my glass of beer.

Bier Station stouts, Torn Label, Stone, Coop Ale Works, Against the Grain

So, first off,
Torn Label, House Brew Stout, a good Stout, coffee nose and taste, good beer, coffee, chocolate
Stone WOOT Imperial barrel aged Stout, collaboration with a bunch of people, sweet molasss nose, good dark color, very smooth, very good beer.
Coop Ale Works, Territorial Reserve: BBA Imperial Stout, good dark color, bourbon nose, smooth not bitter, good beer
And last but not least
Against the Grain, Burned at the Stake Stout, so smoke nose, duh, you get the smoke nose and taste, smooth but smokey.  Not Fran's most liked.

Five stars for Woot
Four stars for Territorial Reserve

Augusta Brewing, Pale, IPA, Double IPA, Stout

Tannhauser, Pale, 49 IBU
1856 IPA, not fruity nose, not like my normal IPA
Double IPA, better taste, good nose,
Stout,  good coffee nose, smooth taste not overwhelming

Crown Valley Brewing, Gateway Arch Ale, Coffman Porter, Gunslinger Double IPA, Ricochet Red Sour

Gate Arch Ale, 4.2%, Ale, soso, probably not order
Coffman Coffee Porter great coffee aroma, good coffee taste, nice beer would order.
Gunslinger Double IPA, 9% 93 IBU, good aroma nice taste, not overpowering alcohol
Ricochet red sour, 6.5%, 20 IBU, this is a fine line between beer and a dry wine.  I would probably not order again.  Ann did not like this sour.

Emperial Brewing , kc mo, young brewery, needs age

Saison, 4.8%, pre sour beer,
IPA, 8.3%, not like my normal IPA, vanilla on the back side
British Pale, 5.9%, 100% Otter malt, a different type pale with the British malt
Porter, 5.1%< smoke after taste

International Tap House KC, MO

Open two weeks, great selection of beers, Good place for First Friday.  Join all of us for First Friday. 

Red Crow Brewing

Trying their Pale Ale (Frances), Rye Porter (Elaine), and Louise their IPA.  All three good drinkable beers.  Great location nice outside area.

Micro Breweries visited Nov. 2014

Long weekend trip for KS and CO microbrews.  Thursday night, Hays KS at Gella's Diner and LB Brewing, LB for liquid breakfast. 
Friday drove to Ft. Collins and visited:
O'Dell's
New Belgium
Fort Collins Brewery
Equinox
Saturday woke up and visited:
Up Slope
Avery
Boulder Beer Co.
Mountain Sun, recommended by others during the day
Wild Woods, another recommended brewery
Drove back to Longmont for:
300 Suns
Left Hand
Oskar Blues
Sunday we drove back to KC.
It being fall we were able to taste multiple dark beers, many IPAs, a sour beer at one place (our first), pale ales, and many variations of any variety.  This as our first micro tour with more under our belt since then.  Hooray

Rabbit Hole Red IPA, full flavor

Red IPA, Good flavor, nice finish, not the typical fruity front end of an IPA.

Rabbit Hole Brewing, pale ale,

Pale ale, bitter finish to it,

Rabbit Hole Brewing, Maiboc,

Mai Bock beer, seasonal, darker color off taste,

Rabbit hole brewing, justin TX. Kolsch

Rabbit Hole, Kolsch, German, nicer version of Heineken, drinkable good beer

HopCat KC grand opening 2/25/17, one stout and one porter

St. Louis Brewing Co., Scholarly Sticky Toffee Pudding, American Porter, W/molasses, vanilla beans, &  Date Puree.  Sweet porter, okay beer:. Ballast Point Brewing, Cinnamon Raisin Commodore, American Stout W/cinnamon & raisin 6.5% ABV.  Sweet with cinnamon taste, okay beer. 

HopCat KC, grand opening, 2/25/17, two more stouts barrel aged

Deschutes Brewery, 2015 Abyss, Barrel aged imp. Stout, W/black strap molasses, licorice, cherry bark & vanilla, 11.1% ABV, very good barrel aged stout:. Oskar Blues Brewery, BA Ten Fidy, Bourbon barrel aged, Russian Imperial Stout, 12.9%, another nice stout, very good. 

HopCat Grand Opening KC

Firestone Walker Brewing, Velvet Merlin, nitro oatmeal stout, smooth low alcohol:. Left Hand Brewing, Fade to Black, Foreign export stout, 8.5%,very good stout definitely order again. 

HopCat Gand Opening second flight of beers

Prairie Artisan Ales, Tulsa, OK, Bomb, Imp. Stout W/ coffee, chocolate, vanilla beans, & anchor chili's, okay beer but not as good as Calavera from Zipline Brewing:. New Holland Brewing, Night Tripper, Imperial Stout, good beer would order again:. Bell's Brewing, Traverse City Vanilla 355 E Stout, Traverse City Whiskey Co. Barrel aged coffee stout W/vanilla, 8.8%,very good beer, would definitely order again. 

HopCat grand opening

HopCat, Grand opening three new beers, Lagunitas, High Westified Imp. Coffee Stout, Rye Barrel aged;. Perennial Sump, Imp. Stout W/Sump coffee;. Zipline Brewing, Calavera, Barrel Aged Choc Stout W/vanilla, cinnamon, chili pepper & cocoa nibs.  All three good beers. 

Deschutes, BA Russian Imperial Stout, The Abyss

Russian Imperial Stout, 5 malts, 4 hops, molasses, brewers licorice, vanilla beans, cherry bark, 80 IBU, 11.1%,

Against the Grain, Mac FannyBaw, Smoked beer

Wee Heavy, smoked peat, intensely smoky, peat smoked malt, alderwood smoked salt, aged in used Angel's Envy Bourbon Barrels for caramel, vanilla and whiskey.  No, the tastete is smoke.  Don't think anything else.  Smooth me. 

Evil Twin Brewing, Pappy's Imperial Biscotti Break

Imperial Stout, aged in Pappy's Bourbon barrels, 11.5%, more of the smooth bourbon taste.

Elysian Brewery Split Shot, Espresso Milk Stout

NW Espresso Milk Stout, uses Stumptown Coffee, great coffee aroma, very smooth, dark color,6 malts, Magnum hops, 6%, 28 IBU, has flaked oats as on of the malts. 

Deschutes Stout Obsidian Stout

Stout 7 malts, 4 hops, smooth, they talk about espresso and dark chocolate,. 6.4%,  55 IBU, a smooth stout,

Des Chutes Black Butte Porter XVIII

Porter, barrel aged 12 months, bourbon, Scotch, 6 malts, 3 hops, 6 months in each barrel , sweet orange peel back side, 11.5%, very smooth cocoa and vanilla beans too. 

Founders Imperial Stout

Imperial Stout, very dark good color, good dark malts, as some one else said may need to cellar a few and see how it ages.  10.9%abv. 

New Belgium, Sour Stout,

Sour Stout, why would you do this to a stout, why, why why!!!!!!   Not drinking this one very quickly, Ann where are you when I need you for a sour beer!!!!

Avery Brewing, Tweak, barrel aged, 16% abv, imperial stout,

Imperial Stout barrel aged 4 months, reminiscent of CBS, very, very bourbony,

Golden Road Brewing, Wolf Among Weeds, Imperial IPA

Imperial IPA, 8.0%, citrus nose, okay IPA,

Mark Twain Brewing, King Arthurs Court, Imperial IPA

Imperial IPA, the grape fruit hops prevalent on the back side, 8.2% abv, not bad, would order again.  Still a little odd on the back side. 

Founder's Lizard of Koz, imperial stout With blueberries, vanilla and aged in bourbon barrels

Blueberry Imperial Stout, sweet, not my cup of beer.