Aloha, everybody,
It's a relaxing night at home and the Dodgers are beating the Angels on TV in the annual Freeway Series, so let's open a few packs of Babe Ruth Story baseball cards and review a few more beers from the beer trade between Matt from Bob Walk the Plank and I.
These Babe Ruth packs are great fun. They feature wonderful photos of the Bambino on the front, and plenty of stories and trivia about his exploits on the back.
For example, here's a few cards with Red Sox Ruth.
Ruth went from riding the bench during the World Series despite pitching 18-8 as a rookie to leading the club with an incredible 0.87 World Series ERA just a few years later.
The set is chock full of photos of the Babe and other greats from the era.
Speaking of greatness...
Devil Anse IPA from Green Valley Brewing
The name of this beer is taken from ol' Devil Anse Hatfield, who led his family in the legendary Hatfield-McCoy feud. the story on the can tells of Anse being so bold and fearless, he could take on the devil hisself.
Tasting this IPA, I'm not sure I could take on the devil, but it sure is the perfect beer for a summer's day that's so hot the red guy might be around.
The beer is bold, citrusy and hoppy. The taste is absolutely delicious to an IPA lover. This one might make you want to chug it, but be careful, as the devil is in the details, hiding in a big 6.9% abv. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
The back of this card tells the story of how Babe Ruth earned the dubious honor of being the only man to ever end a World Series by being thrown out trying to steal.
It was Game 7 and the Yankees were down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Babe drew a walk, and despite the fact Lou Gherig was hitting right behind him, he had the idea to steal second base - on the first pitch!
Ruth fooled noone. He was thrown out and the Yankees were dead. It looked like a great idea, but didn't turn out that way.
Kind of like this beer.
Hopslam Ale froom Bells Brewery, Michigan.
A double IPA brewed with honey sounds like a wonderful idea. A 10% abv makes it sound even better. But like Ruth's mad dash for second base, something went awry along the way.
There's a strong hoppiness with a sour grapefruit finish that holds on long after your drink. People argued for years whether Ruth should have stayed at first base. This beer will probably inspire equally intense debate.
Babe's on his way too heaven in this one. Everyone knows how much the Big Bambino liked beer, so he probably found a beer like this one up there.
Siberian Night from Thirsty Dog Brewing.
The first taste of this beer let's you know this is something special. It's like rich, dark chocolate mixed with caramel on the front of your tongue, with a hint of sweet raisins bouncing off the rear of your palate.
The taste is big, so you can't drink it fast. But it's so complex, you'll really just want to savor and sip it.
Thanks again for the beers, Matt. Only three remain!
Aloha!
Aloha, everybody,
If you read the most excellent Pirates blog Bob Walk the Plank (but of course you do, because who doesn't?), you probably read about the beer trade that Matt and I pulled off.
I sent Matt some beer crafted at my local brewery (here in sunny Southern Cali), and he sent me a whole buncha beers from the land of the ice and snow.
Look at that bunch. Most of these beers I'd never seen in my life, and I would probably never get to taste, except for the fact that Matt and I put this trade together.
I said "most of these beers" because I'm familiar with one of the twelve Matt sent. More on that later.
As you can see, that's a lot of different beers to sample and review. It's going to take me some time to taste them all. So I'm going to break this trade review into a couple of posts (or three).
I decided to be systematic about the project, so I chose a side of the box, and I'm going to just go down the line, one by one. Matt asked me to be brutally honest in my reviews, and so I shall.
Here's how the first beers went down...
Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. This beer hails from Pennsylvania and it packs a punch with a 9.1% abv.
This one's very much like some of the stouts I'm used to. By that I mean, it's the usual. I'm not saying it's a bad beer, but it's that middle of the road flavor that you or I have had in every middle of the road stout.
There's a sharp taste that overwhelms what should be this beer's distinct flavor. Seems the brewers couldn't find a way to tame that big abv punch.
Next!
Santa's Cookies is an Imperial Oatmeal Stout from Champion Brewing. These folks are closer to Matt's neck of the woods, in Virginia, and THEY know how to make an Imperial Stout.
This bad boy (8% abv) is slightly bittersweet, like a quality dark chocolate. I didn't taste much oatmeal, but that's not a knock. The flavor blankets the top of your tongue like liquid velvet.
Man, it's good. Savor this one.
I drank those first two myself (on separate nights), but today I brought out a few more to taste with family around the BBQ.
Here's a WOW beer. Blackout Imperial Stout from Great Lakes Brewing, over in Cleveland Ohio. Do you want to taste a beer that takes a 9% abv and does it right? You found it. This one has a creamy smooth finish. Highly recommended.
Next up was The Mad Elf from Troegs Brewing in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This one delivers a double digit, 11% abv. As the bottle says, it's brewed with honey and cherries.
Our BBQ weather was somewhere in the low 80's, but this winter warmer still hit the spot. The bottle says it's an ale brewed with honey and cherries, and you can sure taste that yummy blend.
This one is a keeper. Another smooth finish, but this one lingerrrrs. It tastes like cherries dipped in velvet beer. Thumbs up!
The final taster we tried was...
Pale Joe from Founders Brewing in Michigan. This one's a Pale Ale brewed with coffee (5.4 abv).
Sorry Michigan, this beer is quite pedestrian. Not much to distinguish itself from other pale ales. I rate this a solid...meh.
There you have it. Five beers down and a lucky seven more to go. It's been a real blast tasting these beers so far, and that big box tells me there's plenty of beer goodness yet to come. THANKS, MATT!
Join me next time when we review the next batch of beers.
Aloha!
