Monday Bloody Monday

Rather busy day today at work, and it won't be letting up anytime soon. Too many side projects going on along with normal day to day stuff. Thankfully the evening has arrived and a beer is sounding good.

The Beer: Southern Tier Krampus
The Style: Imperial Helles
ABV: 9%

Helles is a light German style lager which I've had previously and rather liked, but it's not something you really come across too often in the States, so my interest was piqued when I saw this Imperial (more alcohol, character, body, moar!) version from Southern Tier. The story behind the demon is interesting; in some Euro countries he is basically St. Nick's sidekick. Except he actively punishes kids who were bad throughout the year. Sorry Hans.

Pour is burnt orange, quite a bit darker than the non-imperial version. A nice bit of crisp, piney hops in the nose but otherwise quite subtle. Mouth feel is a quick explosion of spicy hops and malts with a bit of alcohol warming and fades just as quickly as it goes down. The larger the sip, the larger the spice presence. Finish is clean, with just a bit of lingering malt and hops. Alcohol presence is really subdued; this is one that could sneak up on you. Southern Tier is cranking out the hits, this is quite excellent.

Currently pairing with this song and this song

And onto the beer

Excellent weekend. Went out to see Jujuba last night, a local afrobeat band that have been rocking pdx for a few years now. Very danceable rhythms with bandleader and talking drum player Nojeem, straight from Africa kicking the jams. You can read more about them on their site, http://www.jujuba.org/ but suffice it to say that they're always a good time to see live.

And I am now on to my first beer review. Here we go...

The Beer: Firestone Double Jack
Style: Double/Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.5%

Picked this one up as it is a limited release and it just made it's way to Oregon for the first time. Pours a burnt orange, lighter in color than I would expect for the style and strength. Smell is over the top pungent (but in a good way); makes me think I have fresh crushed hops in the glass. Taste is surprisingly subdued and balanced compared to the nose, although a nice rush of hops hits and lingers. No bitterness build-up. Alcohol is warming but barely noticeable, highly drinkable. Over the last year or so, and in large part due to friend's inspirations, I've been getting more and more into IPAs. This ranks up there with some of the best I've had; don't hesitate to try this one.

Concerning the style, the biggest hurdle I had previously was overcoming the bitterness. With the beers that I had tried, it just kept building up until I basically had cottonmouth, or hopmouth if you will. Several beers and years later, I've found that a high alcohol content is needed along with a bit more malt to balance it all out. When you do find that balance though, it's absolutely brilliant.

Bonus review, guest spot filled by my lovely wife

The Beer: Southern Tier Choklat
Style: Imperial Chocolate Stout
ABV: 11%

"Oh My God!  What can possibly be better than this?  My two favorite things combined: chocolate and beer."

I like chocolate, I like beer, and when honey told me he had gotten chocolate beer I was a bit apprehensive.  I like good beer and good chocolate, to have a beer that has some sort of chocolate added to it and have it be just sort of tasting like chocolate is a real let down. But not so with this. It has the body of a good stout, smells more of stout than of chocolate. But taste it and  instantly  reminded of true sipping chocolate flavors.  This really is the stout version of the very best dark chocolate hot cocoa experience... Like I said before, and I will repeat, truly the  best of my two favorite things.   YUM!

Coming along

Still poking around a bit to customize this layout. Despite me working in IT, I am a noob when it comes to web design. Pretty fun though.

Beer review will be forthcoming this weekend. I have a few in mind to pick up, aiming for Sunday. In the meantime, listening to music. Now, I'm not a favorites guy. There are too many amazing things to experience in the world and some things are better suited for certain times or even seasons. Having said that, I've come to realize that Blood Sugar Sex Magik is my favorite album. It's to the point where I can't imagine anything else surpassing it.

It hits all the right spots for me, funk, blues, hard hitting rock, emotion, melody, rythm, energy, feeling, even the cheesy lyrics fit for it's time. And playing music, I would be proud if I had written any of the parts on any of the songs. When I think of music to get me motivated, I think of this album. Absolute badass.

First

Here we are. This is a creative project for me; I'll be including beer reviews and other topics on pretty much everything that comes to mind. I was looking for an outlet more inclusive than other sites. Very much a work in progess.