I see that advertised on the Formula One broadcasts 
i love the sound of all of this ^^. Pistachio improves the profile of everything. toffee, too.
youāre a poet and you donāt even know it 
I still donāt know what a paw paw is and the Bubble Yum lead flavor seems to lend itself better to champagne.
PSāI have sweet lagers that have made their way into my rotation. Stand by!
Safety Meeting from Stowe Cider (Stowe, Vermont USA). A dry-hopped apple cider.
I bought this by mistake. Stowe Ciderās Tips Up has similar green-colored labeling, and they were side by side on the shelfā¦I wasnāt paying enough attention and I grabbed this instead of the Tipās Up.
Itās not heavily hopped, but thereās no mistaking that hops are present and right up front. Itās semi-dry, and the hops used (Citra and Galaxy) provide a citrusy experience, as opposed to piney, grassy, or metallic (thereās a hint of pine but itās far behind the citrus). Itās very good but not aligned with my preferred taste - I do not like IPAs in general - but an IPA fan would probably enjoy this.
llĆ grimes de tardor, blanc, a white wine called autumn tears. dry and fruity, a little bit short but really good. local product from the south west of Catalonia.
Just some OP rum for me today
Viking Runes āmeadā from Dansk MjĆød.
One of my girlfriendās coworkers (seems kind of odd using the term āgirlfriendā when Iām 67 years old and sheās 49) was raving about this drink, so we tried it.
(What a lousy photo - I hate my phoneās camera.)
I donāt consider this to be mead - itās a fortified honey wine at 19% alcohol - but itās not bad.
Itās like a subdued Port with some Christmas spices. The mouthfeel is a bit watery, but much better/heavier when chilled. It would be a decent pairing with chocolate desserts. I wouldnāt buy it again but the GF likes it, so I suppose I will be buying it again 
.
a lot more words for anyone interested
Now, Iām not a mead expert, but as I understand it mead is made from only 2 ingredients, specifically honey and water. The addition of fruits makes it a melomel, so technically this would be a melomel. But maybe Iām wrong. Then again, the addition of spices is a metheglin, and this is spicedā¦
Anyway, this is a fortified āmeadā - it has higher-proof alcohol added, which brings it up to 19% alcohol by volume. I donāt think mead was historically fortified, but then again, Iām not a mead expert, so maybe Iām wrong. However, I think that this would be more correctly termed a fortified spiced melomel. Admittedly, that term might be somewhat difficult to market.
To be fair, they call it a āhoney wineā on the label.
The important question - is it good? Well, that depends. Iāve had a few meads through the years, including some from a couple of local meaderies. This doesnāt strike me as being mead, although, again, Iām not a mead expert. This presents as a fortified wine, sort of like a subdued Port. Itās quite sweet, but the spice content makes it taste less sweet than it isā¦but you can feel the sweetness. Like, feel it in your teeth .
The aroma is quite spicy, and reminded of something but it took a while to place that memory. At first I thought "Christmas-ish* then it hit me: it smells like my grandmotherās fruitcake (which was a very fine fruitcake that she nurtured for a year, periodically dousing it with a splash of rum; it was nothing like the sad fruitcakes that show up in supermarkets). Flavor-wise, itās Christmas spices and sort of a sour cherry flavor.
I initially sampled it at room temperature and found it a bit watery in character. Chilling it gave it a better, fuller mouthfeel while not affecting the flavor much.
Itās a decent dessert-style drink. It would match well with decadent dark chocolate desserts. But I donāt think itās mead, and I think itās overpriced at about USD $28.
Happy Trees dry cider from Anxo Cider (Washington DC, USA). Fermented with wild yeast.
Iāve heard positive things about Anxo ciders. This is my first experience with trying one.
Itās very good. Dry but not quite bone dry, with a fairly crispy tannic apple flavor - this isnāt like modern apple variants which tend be very sweet, this is more like heirloom apple variants that have some tannic bitterness. A nice subtle touch of sourness, in the sour beer style. Quite tasty with an interesting depth, and Iāll wager that if this was unfiltered it would be among my favorites. As it is, itās damn good but not quite in my personal top ciders. I will certainly try a couple more varieties of Anxoās ciders, as this sample is very promising, and Iāll happily buy it again.
Just got home with a variety 12-pack from Warpigs Brewing, sister brewer to 3 Floyds Brewing. Both from Munster, Indiana, USA.
This is damn fine beer if you like a good, ice-cold IPA.
Let the weekend commence. CHEERS!
This isnāt in my glass today because itās a long-gone limited release, but it was special enough that I saved an empty bottle.
Last weekās 100th anniversary of Miles Davisā birth got me to thinking about this 2010 limited release called Bitches Brew, from Dogfish Head Brewery (Milton, Delaware, USA).
I find Dogfish Head pretty hit-or-miss, with more misses than hits (for me, anyway), but they have done some fascinating historically-oriented (and very limited) releases under their Ancient Ales line. I bought this one based on the name/label and with some hope that it would be one of their winners. It certainly was a winner.
From memory, and also checking my tasting notes, this was very complex in a very dark way. Some malty sweetness and figgy notes were offset by a bitterness that resembled Cajun coffee with chicory. A bit of smokiness. At 9% alcohol it was a bit warming, and a great ale to enjoy on a winter night. It was extremely good and worthy of invoking Miles Davisā seminal album.
I concur about this brand entirely.
Damn good notes. This seems like the realm of a porter being retrofitted into an ale and I love the idea of chicory and coffee notes. I you remember it was worthy of the man it was named for then that is way cool.
Plus 9% needs to be done artfully. Not every brewer has that touch.
My history with this beer goes back one year at a bar called Crown. I like to sneak in there and slam one before the train comes to take me home from work.
Shit this stuff Iāve seen since birth and never tried it till 2025ā¦itās a good pilsener. heavy with the bitter and just enough sweet to finish nice. Not even sure where itās from.
Anyway for the first time ever I bought this ^^ 4-pack todayā¦now a 2-pack as of this writing.
The nice thing about drinking there is always new territory to explore.
Anyways they a good. Cheers all
PSāalso in a bin for a buck each were these:
tiny bottles, got 4. will get to them later
Doppelbock?
crappy phone alert.
was at a high end grocer today and picked up these two today.
I can take or leave Japanese lager but I love San Diego so somethingās gotta give
@Stagger_Lee I remember you gave a clinic once about Trappistes.
What am I looking at here? I grabbed a #8. They all had different numbers, Itās imported by a Tacoma WA importer.
Produced by holy men or Monks? Top of label says Abbaye-ND De St. Remy - Rochefort -Belgium.
At 9.2 abv I will sip this lovingly.
Yes, thatās a Trappist ale, made by Trappist Monks.
Thereās Rochefort 6, 8, and 10. All 3 are beautiful beers. The 10 is a hefty 11% alcohol and is very dark, more like a stout; it brings a chocolaty characteristic. The 6 is 7%; itās breadier and fruitier. Itās not a ālightā beer in any sense but it lighter in character than the 8 and 10.
Try each of them. The 10 is my personal favorite but I love all 3.
im ill at the moment.
