Beer # 46 Black Chocolate Stout, Brooklyn Brewery

Ok this isn't an Ultra-premium. However, when doing research for the Nørrebro Bryghus, I realised the connection between Brooklyn Breweries brewmaster Garret Oliver and Nørrebro Bryghus founder Anders Kissmeyer, and considering I already had this beer in my fridge waiting to be tasted, I thought I would throw in a bonus. We have done a Brooklyn Brewery beer before: Post Road Pumpkin Ale here,

Brooklyn Brewery has it's origins in 1987. It was first opened by

Steve Hindy an Associated Press correspondent who gained experience making beer, as contraband, in Muslim nations while he was stationed there and banker Tom Potter. Originally the beer was all brewed offsite by Matt Brewing Company of Utica famous for the Saranac Line (I have to admit when Saranac Pale Ale is available in Ontario it is a regular visitor to my fridge!! I will post it as soon as I get another six pack). Steve and Tom contracted Milton Glaser to compose the brewery's iconic baseball-esque logo. Glaser was most notably the genius behind the "I Love New York" logo. In 1994 Garret Oliver signed on as brewmaster and the rest is an American microbrewing fairy-tale. The brewery has a vast stable of award-winning beers. Garret Oliver (while looking like the slightly more distinguished older brother of the Old spice guy) has a number of books, has been judge on the tasting panel of the "Great American Ber Festival" for 20 years and regular Judge for CAMRA's (Campaign for Real Ale) "Great British Beer Festival." He has won numerous awards both home and abroad, and is a vocal advocate for both the slow food movement and pairing beer and food.

Beer God Garret Oliver

Old Spice Guy Isiah Mustafah

PRETTY CLOSE I THINK YOU SHOULD DECIDE

Alright enough already... let's drink some beer:


Almost pure black with a small band of a dark tan head made of small bubbles. Looks like a doberman! Deep molasses on the nose with a leathery earthy sweetness. Slightly smoky and and hint of the high alcohol, 10.0% ABV. Comes in a brown glass bottle holding 355ml of Imperial Russian, or "Black Chocolate Stout." There is no actual chocolate in the beer. The name comes from the grades of malts used, six of them in total, two of which are black and chocolate. First sip is a strong smack of bitter chocolate, followed by espresso coffee and a green pea sweetness. Rich and complex like a whiskey, smoky, bitter, sweet and woody. Aeration brings out brandy notes



Overall results: (Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional)

Taste: Pass
Cost: So-so (In Ontario it is $3.00 a beer)
Colour: Pass
Beer Style: Exceptional
Re-order: Pass
Experience: Exceptional

Final Thoughts: Very nice stout, not mucked about with and didn't need the addition of chocolate or other adjuncts to get the point across. Very drinkable despite the 10.0% ABV. Not a beer I would have more than one at a sitting, but definitely one that can find it's way into my fridge more than once.

Cheers

CJT

Beer # 5 Post Road Pumpkin Ale

Been a little stuffy this week so I needed a strong beer to snap me out of it. When I indeed had realised I could taste again (Thanks to Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup: perennial elixir to runny noses everywhere) I went up to my local LCBO and stumbled across a lonely looking bottle of Post Road Pumpkin Ale in the section of outgoing seasonal beers. Making room for all the spicy, filling, and soul warming hearty winter ales, the staff had relegated this orphan to a corner for quick sale.

Pumpkin Ale is one of those funny beers that the Pint Jockey had avoided most of his life. After being weened on Labatt Blue, and 50, and wasting my mis-spent youth with Labatt Ice and the other frozen, dry, high alcohol, no taste, no character beers (anyone else remember Molson Naked?) I thought flavoured beers were just "wrong." Marketing ploys to ensnare women into drinking more beer. Real beer had hops in it and was "bitter," dry, and citrus. It wasn't until I started to delve into the history of beers that I realised hops were not always where it was at... in fact hops have only really been in beer for about 500 years, and were mainly employed as a preservative, not a flavouring agent. In fact cinnamon, corriander, cloves, anise and other such herbs and spices were flavouring beer for almost its entire 10,000 year run, so the relative newcommer hops has only been friends with beer for about 5% of it's life. So I thought... let's see what all the fuss was about.

Post Road is brought to us from the good people at Brooklyn Brewery, obviously in Brooklyn, New York. www.brooklynbrewery.com Now I have had the fortune to taste some of the Brooklyn beers and they are quite good. So I had high hopes for my little orphan when I brought him home. The bottle claims that the recipe is a modification of an 18th century recipe made with malted barley and roasted pumpkin just like the colonial Americans used to brew. The brew date was August so it had spent a at least three months in bottle. Poured coppery orange in the glass with a short tan to off white head with fine bubbles.

 The first sniff is ALL pumpkin pie, (you can almost smell leftover turkey) Spices dominate cloves, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, followed quickly by roasted pumpkin puree, and vanilla around the edges. Slight creaminess as well (whipped cream on top?).


The pumpkin disappears in the attack making room for the abundant spices. However, the finish is all roasted pumpkin balancing out the spiciness with a caramelised sweetness. Aeration brings out the ale aspect with the malted barley adding an undertone to the sweetness of the pumpkin. Cinnamon and clove carry on right to the end of the finish and linger in the mouth long after all of the other flavours have disappeared.

Taste: Pass
Cost: Pass ($2.50 per 355ml bottle)
Colour: Pass (reminiscent of pumpkins)
Beer Style: Pass
Re-order: Pass ( but Fail since it was the only bottle)
Experience: Pass


Now I'm still not a huge fan of spice ales but this one does do the trick. Probably best enjoyed once a year with that pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving (tip of the hat to our southern neighbours who are just about to celebrate their version of the holiday I'm thankful we get ours out of the way when BBQing is still a possibility).


Stay tuned later this week I have the 16 and 18 year old reserves of the Ola Dubh lurking in my fridge waiting to be blogged.


Cheers CJT