Catching up with beers from the last week or so

Finally I get a chance to sit down and recap the last 10 days or so. Let's start off with a new source for beer that I discovered at my nephew's birthday party while chatting about beer with my brother-in-law's brother. Princeton's Liquors (http://www.princetonsliquors.com/) in Maple Grove was a very pleasant surprise for me. The Four Firkins and the Liquor Barrel remain my go to places for obvious reasons but these guys had some new stuff that I hadn't seen before and they give you a 10% break on bottles if you buy six at a crack.

I checked it last Monday before the kickoff of the opening double header of Monday Night Football. I decided to rate a few that I had tried before (and one that I hadn't) while cleaning up the bar after Freedom Fest the Saturday before. I started with the...

Surly Hell
As I stated when I first tried it, it reminded me of what I think Heineken (German for a skunk's ass) and Rolling Rock are trying to do. Although I found out at Surlyfest (more on that to come) that if you don't drink Surly plenty cold, that skunky aroma rears its ugly head. I gave it a 3.8 on Rate Beer and said:
16 oz can from Golden Valley Liquor Barrel. Light golden yellow in color, medium foamy white head. Slight yeast aroma and (perhaps due to unconscious suggestion from reading the description) fresh bread as well. Slightly bitter flavor from the hops but smooth and light on the palate. Not usually one of my favorite styles of beers but this is probably the best one that I’ve tried.

Hoegaarden
One of the summer's greatest surprises. I picked this up from the Firkins for the gal after asking what a good next step for a Blue Moon drinker would be and little did I know how much I'd like it myself. Too bad it's made by InBev. Oh well, I think this is still my favorite Belgian that I've tried so far. It got a solid 4.0 on Rate Beer for me and earned the following comments:
Pale yellow pour with thick foamy white head. Fresh, yeasty wheat aroma with some spice coming through. Clean taste with a hint of citrus and the coriander does make an appearance along with other spices. Light mouthfeel with a smooth finish. Great beer.

Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat
This one has been a bit of a Jeckle and Hyde for me. I loved it at the Point tasting at the Four Firkins but the first bottle I had at home didn't seem to have the same flavor. Each one has been a bit different for me but I still can recommend this, especially to someone who likes the lighter side of beer. I gave it a 3.2 on Rate Beer because it did what I expected of it and said:
Yellow pour, slightly cloudy. Aroma is wheat, faint citrus to it. Not a lot of flavor, slight wheat/yeast with a hint of orange. Not overly flavorful but as the description says, great beer to drink while enjoying summer activities as it is quite refreshing.

Founders Breakfast Stout
This is a bottle that I picked up at Casanova the last time I made my Stone/Dogfish Head/New Glarus run. I was saving it until I saw that the Four Firkins got some in and also that Princeton's carried it. A couple neighbors were watching MNF with me and I was exposing them to some new beer and they both gave this a taste when I cracked it and actually really liked it which surprised me because of what I know their tastes normally are. This was so damn drinkable and flavorful and definitely one of my top new beers. I can't wait to get some more of this. It got a 4.4 from me on Rate beer.
Thick black pour with a brown head. Heavy chocolate aroma with a hint of coffee. Smooth, definite chocolate flavor with a fantastic lingering sweet finish.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful for me in regards to new beers even though I really wanted it to be a prolific beer rating week for me. Oh well, a nice treat for me was Wednesday night when I found out that Famous Dave's had Bell's Two Hearted Ale on tap. Why doesn't everybody?

The weekend in review is coming very soon.

Point's Belgian White

I originally wanted to rate a few beers tonight but sometimes things just get in the way. Luckily I got one out of the way before I started a movie and had a Honeyweiss with my pizza.

I went to the Four Firkins for the Point tasting and their Belgian White was one of the big surprises for me. I was looking forward to having another but made sure it wouldn't be till I had time to do an official rating because I only had a six pack in the fridge. I forgot to do the swirling trick or the upside down pour trick you're supposed to do with this kind of beer (more on this in a future post) but it was as good as I remembered. I gave it a 3.6 on RateBeer and had the following to say:
Thin white head that quickly disappears, pale yellow in color. The coriander and orange peel really come through along with the yeast in both the aroma and the taste. Excellent beer.

I know Blue Moon is enjoying some pretty good popularity but with beers like this one and Hoegaarden, I don't know what everyone is thinking. Speaking of Hoegaarden, I see a posting of it in the near future.

Cheers!
Mike

Getting my goose on...

Tried the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout last night. I've been looking forward to this one since I've read lots of good things about it. I bought one bottle during my "stock up on imperial stouts" trip and after reading what I read and realizing that this might not be easy to restock, I figured I'd give the bottle a try so I knew if I needed to go buy some to stash away.

Here's what I wrote on RateBeer.com (4.3 rating):
Black thick pour into the snifter with a thing brown head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is charred, smokey with the strong ABV coming through. Thick, chewy, syrupy mouthfeel. Definitely can taste the charred oak, bourbon element to this and some molasses. Great sipping beer.

This IS the ultimate sipping beer. It has been years since I've tried the Sam Adams Triple Bock and I only vaguely remember it but the smell of this conjured up some of those vague memories. It has so much going on that it's tough to pull out specifics but I did go back for more bottles.

Unfortunately the Four Firkins didn't get their shipment in but I did get the two bottles they did have along with four more of the Rasputin, a Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, a Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti from Great Divide and a six pack of Hoegaarden. Another $48.65 goes into my hobby.

They were also sampling the new Summit, their German Style Kolsch. I wasn't too fond of it. It was OK but the aroma was a bit on the skunky side and the taste was nothing to write home about. It was the first tasting at the Firkins that didn't lead me to buying some of the product. Oh well, their batting average is still better than Tony Gwynn's back in the day. Makes me look forward to cracking that Triple Bock again one day.

My rating for it was a 2.2:
Tried some of this at a Four Firkins tasting. I love Summit and most of their beers but this one didn’t do it for me. The aroma was a bit skunky to me and the flavor was better but still not one I’d buy.

Had a Two-Hearted Ale to finish off the night. It was a productive day for the beer blog