CrashOctopus Blog

WOW, it’s been a long time since I posted about beer. I’m due!

Duck-Rabbit Brewery is a specialist in dark beers. Little else is needed to win over my heart. I’ve tried a few of their brews and liked them all.

Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout is only the second milk stout I’ve tried… and it makes me think that milk stout is my favorite kind of beer, ever. It’s sweet, but not as sweet as Left Hand’s milk stout. There is a bit of a sour aftertaste that is reminiscent of chocolate. It’s very drinkable for a heavy stout and I like it so much, I think I’ll go have another right now.

I was out buying beer a few weeks ago and lamented to the cashier that they didn’t have many dark beers available. Apparently people prefer stouts and porters in winter, and once the weather warms up, they want something lighter.

Whatever.

But they did have one new stout: Ten Fidy from Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado. (If you check out their page, they also make Old Chub, a Scottish ale which sits in my fridge waiting to be taste-tested.) It’s only available in cans or on tap. I bought one can for a dear price of $4, but it was tasty enough that I tried it on tap at a Taco Mac.

It’s a nice dark stout. It has very little carbonation - in fact, it was so almost flat that it was just… weird. A bit like drinking Kahlua straight. It’s smooth and a bit tangy, with a sweetness like dark chocolate (although there’s only a hint of actual chocolate taste) and the aftertaste is quite bitter. On tap, it’s smoother and less bitter.

Ratings:
Can: 8.5
On tap: 9

Another week, another delicious dark beer. This week it’s Lion Head Stout. I don’t know what brewery it’s from, because the bottles are long gone, although I recall it being imported from the Caribbean. Anyway, it’s heavy and musty… almost reminiscent of the odor in a barn, or the lion house at the zoo. But in a good way. Really. It’s slightly sweet, but sharp in the middle and has a slightly bitter aftertaste. Pleasant and refreshing overall. Pretty darn good beer.

Ratings:
M: 8
N: 8.5

I can’t for the life of me remember where I tried this beer, but in the spirit of the recently celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, I present: Beamish Genuine Irish Stout.

Unsurprisingly, it’s very much like Guinness… but with more flavor. I am sorry if you’re a Guinness fan, but it’s so very bland that it’s easy for a stout to improve on it. That said, it’s a good “drinking” beer, although I got fairly toasted on St. Patty’s Day and had the worst Guinness hangover ever on Tuesday.

Anyway, Beamish has a tiny tang and bite, which make it a little more bitter than Guinness, but just as smooth and creamy. A tasty alternative and another salute to Irish beermongery.

Ratings:
M: 7.5
N: 7.5

I went out with some friends to the fabulous North River Tavern a few weeks ago and tried a new seasonal stout, Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence. It was tasty but wow, expensive.

It is yummy, sweet, and chocolately with a long (but good!) aftertaste. It has absolutely no bitterness. And it was bad for hangovers. I think most dark beers are. I recommend it anyway.

Rating: 9.5

Recently discovered at the Beverage Resort: North Coast Brewing Old No. 38 Stout.

It’s a mild, fresh, rich, slightly sweet beer. Overall its flavor is pleasant, if a little bland. It is not very bitter, nor complex. There is a tiny hint of sour aftertaste.

Ratings:
M: 7.5
N: 7.5

While in Chattanooga two weeks ago, I stopped at a brewery & restaurant for lunch. I had their in-house Big River Iron Horse Stout.

It is slightly tangy, very earthy, and a little sweet. The aftertaste is sweet and fleeting. Overall, it is smooth and cooling and tasty. Not at all reminiscent of steam locomotives.

Rating: 8

I went out to sushi the other night for the first time. I liked it. It didn’t go all that well with beer, but I had to try the Japanese stout on the menu: Hitachino Espresso Stout.

It was complex and interesting. Full-bodied, rich, and bold, it had a slight bitterness, but also had a hint of sweet so the bitterness didn’t linger. It was more like coffee than any other stout I’ve tried.

Rating:
M: 8.5
N: 8.5

Been awhile since I posted about beer. Luckily, it hasn’t been awhile since I drank some, so here you go. Image swiped from Breckenridge’s website.

Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout is complicated. It tastes roasted, reminiscent of the bottom of a burnt cookie. Except not sweet. At all. It has a really bitter aftertaste that I don’t like. Could be the same reason I don’t like coffee. Perhaps if you like coffee, you’ll like the beer better than I do. However, Nathan likes coffee, but says the beer is tasty, but hoppy and sour.

Ratings:
N: 8
M: 5

A tall bottle of Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout was hiding on the shelf at the Beverage Resort. We brought it home and fell in love. Late last week, we went to Taco Mac and they had it on tap, and it was even better. Incidentally, Left Hand Milk Stout is the beer of the month at Taco Mac, and I’m going back this week for the free glass.

This stout is tasty and sweet, with a tang, and you can really taste the coffee. It has that coffee bitterness, and it lingers in the aftertaste. It’s smooth but with a slight bite, and the tap is even smoother. If it had a bit more secondary flavor, it’d be a 10.

Ratings:
M: 9.5
N: 9