Swords Against Boredom

My friends at Brewery Ommegang have produced a beer to mark their 10th anniversary, and it is the best stout I’ve ever tasted.

It’s called Chocolate Indulgence. A lot of beers use chocolate malt, which has nothing to do with milkshakes or Hershey Kisses. Chocolate malt refers to really dark toasted malt used in brewing, and it is what makes dark beer dark.

Chocolate Indulgence uses that to good effect, of course. But it also uses actual Belgian chocolate.

Now, I’m not one to wash down a Snickers with a beer. Those are not two tastes I ordinarily would have put together. Had I seen this beer produced by a different brewery, I’d likely have given it a pass unless someone I trusted said, “No, Steve, you’ll like it.” (OK … I’d have bought it if it had come from Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Tadcaster , too.)

But this was a Brewery Ommegang product, and I love all their stuff. So I tossed skepticism to the winds and took a 750 ml bottle home.

Oh, this is a special brew. Fantastic creamy stout taste to begin with, full of intensity. Robust, as they say. And then …

Chocolate. There at the finish, just for a while. Not overpowering, not enough to mess up your next quaff of beer. Just … chocolate.

It’s a seasonal brew that I hope will be around next year, too. For now, all ye stout lovers, go grab a few bottles while you can.

– Steve

My darling bride always makes certain that some exotic beer is part of my birthday celebration. This year, she picked up some great stuff from my favorite American beer source, Brewery Ommegang, plus a black currant-enhanced lambic. She also managed to find 750 ml of wonder called Piraat.

My friend TW found Tuppers’ Hop Pocket Ale on his way over to our place for a weekend visit. As Ellie Tupper is a regular commenter on this blog, we just had to give it a try. Read more »

My respect for Belgium as a brewing nation continues to grow. Read more »

Enjoyed this today as the Reds were beating the Cubs, thanks to awesome pitching by Kyle Lohse.

As I’ve said before, Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery Tadcaster is my favorite English brewer, bar none. This Nut Brown Ale is only one reason for that. Highly recommended.

– Steve

As I watched the Cincinnati Reds open their baseball season Monday, I had a sampling of beers from Russia, Ireland and Germany:

• Yarpivo Yantarnoye (an amber lager from Russia)
• Smithwick’s (an Irish Red Ale)
• Warsteiner Premium Verum (a Pilsner-style beer)

This wasn’t a planned thing, merely fortuitous. My wife picked up the Smitty’s for me so I’d have good beer to take to my Fantasy League draft the day before — and she wisely advised me to leave a few at home. The Russian and German offerings came along when we checked out a farm market not too far from home. My wife had seen an ad mentioning a great beer selection. This time the ad was no lie. We found a boggling array of wines for her, and a fantastic selection of beers for me. Read more »

Part of my Valentine’s Day gift this year was a six-pack of Samuel Adams Brewery selections. The Honey Porter and Brown Ale I’ve encountered before, and I look forward to drinking them.

The pack also included a Black Lager, a beer I had not tried before. I have to say I really liked it — it has an earthy richness missing in a lot of lagers, and the taste is thoroughly German. This one would be a perfectly fine way to wash down a really good burger or steak.

And the Black Lager gives me a reason to forgive the good people at Samuel Adams Brewery for the godawful Cranberry Lambic.

– Steve