I mentioned previously that I was "flavoring" some cigars with Bourbon and was going to drink some beers alongside the sticks.  We'll here is my first of numerous reviews to that affect.  This is a beer/cigar beer review, so more bang for the buck is a handy mantra for these thoughts. First, it's been a while since I had this beer and this particular one has matured for about a year and a half.  In fact, it was bottled in April of '07.  Jefferson's Reserve is a quite a good bourbon on its own (especially the small batch stuff), so I was excited to drink this Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout beer.  It is made by Bluegrass Brewing.  Upon the pour, it looked nice and blackwith hints of brown coming through when held up to the light.  There was very little head retention after the beer sat for a second.  A slightly metallic aroma was noticeable on the nose, while Bourbon vanilla, caramel, and nuts were evident.  There were also grain-driven chocolate, sweet malts, and coffee to be noticed.  A charred wood aroma also came through. The charred wood was also slightly smoky in the taste of the beer.  All the above mentioned grain and ...

Nate was right in asserting that I had reviewed Aventinus.  However, I actually reviewed the Eisbock version of this beer.  So, as much as this and the Eisbock are similar, they are not actually the same.  This beer is less intense, less thick, and less strong.  Don't let that statement fool you; this beer is still a beer to be reckoned with. Without further ado, let's talk about this beer.  First off, this beer is a wheat doppelbock.  Translation: it is a wheat beer made in a very strong way, which is described as double strong bock.  (If you want to know what some of this means, it's on this page as a link.)  It may be quite a bit darker than most would expect a wheat to be.  Since I mentioned the color, I'll deal with it first.  It is dark crimson brown in color with a stable and creamy head.  It looked very nice in my glass that was made specifically for this beer.  The aromas of this beer were many.  I noted that it had a mix between a barley wine and Belgian candy sugar aroma.  There was a winish quality that came though as though the beer was aged on lees (expended grapes that were used for wine ...

This is the last of the four Ridgeway beers that I reviewed and the last of the "Drink with us Everyday" beers.  Without further ado, let's talk about this last one. Appearing like liquid gold, this Ale looked delicious.  It had very very little head retention, which brewers often do with fairly strong beers.  This one weighed in at 9.5% ABV. Seriously Bad Elf was very floral.  I was immediately taken by the aroma of hops.  Even more significantly, the beer was reminiscent of an Asti or Riesling wine.  It had touches of crisp green apples on the nose, which gave it a nice fruity aroma.  It almost smacked of perfume aromas.  This was thick and full-bodied (almost barley winish in some respects), giving a very full mouth-feel and coating.  The green apples came through in the Ale, which was very nice with the sweetness of the brew.  Alcohol was also noticeable in the beer, which I thought added very strong hints of Gin.  There was maybe a touch of sulphur taste in the brew.  This was a lingering Ale that finished in a dry hoppy bitterness, which went well with this assertive brew.  I actually had some smoked ham (any strong smoked meat would be nice with this ...

Three Floyd's brewery is in my state of residency (Indiana) and is very well-respected.  In fact, it is purported to have one of the world's best beers. So, when I get a chance to drink some of their beer I'm also excited.  I chose this one because I knew that I could get it and hoped that others might try to pick it up as well.  Here is my review. When I poured this beast, it looked very dark for a Porter; it actually looked more like a Stout.  However, this American version of an English Ale is still true to the style.  It had a deep dark body and a creamy brown head, which was very stable.  The beer smelled hoppier than I'm used to for Porter but was still pleasant.  The hops had a slight citrusy grapefruit quality.  It smelled very roasty with a slight biscuity quality.  It had some serious dark chocolate aromas to round the smells out.  Now for the sip.  The beer was fairly carbonated and dense, which gave it a very nice mouth-feel.  It was very roasty (think coffee) and chocolatey.  Alcohol warmth was present in the brew.  Hop-wise, the grapefruit quality came through and added a nice ...

Number four and counting.  I'm excited to review this beer.  I think it is the best Ridgeway Ale I've had so far.  I still have a few more to try, so I shouldn't be overzealous.  In appearance, the beer was blond with touches of orange hue.  There was a small but stable head at the beginning of the brew.  In addition, there was not a lot of activity in the glass, which means that the beer was fairly subdued.  When I sniffed the beer, I immediately noticed touches of hay, a hop spiciness, and hints of wine fruitiness.  There were also faint hints of toffee along with sulphur in the the nose.  I found the hop aroma to be particularly nice.  A bit of sweetness was also discernible.  Fresh green hops were immediately evident in the palate of the beer.  The hops went all the way through to the end of the brew.  Intermingled with the hops was a slight sweetness and very faint cola quality.  The beer ended in a dry grain and hops finish. I found the hops in this Ale to be very refreshing and thoroughly enjoyed Bad Elf Winter's Ale.  If you like British Ales with good balance, this is one for you.

We have reviewed several other Christmas Ales on this site.  Some of them have been spiced and others not.  Some were good, despite having cinnamon, cloves, or other flavors added.  Corsendok and Bison were examples of two good Christmas Ales. Let me start this review by saying that this Ale was not my style.  Some of you may love it...you can still tell it is well-made, but I don't like some of the flavors.  Additionally, Schlafly does make some very good Ales (like their Bourbon Barrelled beers), so don't think that I'm being militant against the company (at least there is one company in St. Louis making good beers).  The color was a good start on the beer, being that it was a lovely coppery-bronze.  It was very attractive and active in the bottle, which gave it a nice creamy head.  Cloves and orange zest were very apparent in the beer, cloves more than anything else.  There really wasn't too much going on beyond this in the beer. Alcohol warmth was obvious upon drinking the beer.  Bitter orange zest started from the first sip to the very end; orange was certainly the most prominent quality in the beer.  The cloves were also present, which is very ...

This is our second review for "Drink with us Everyday" during our Christmas week.  I hope that you are joining with us as much as possible while we are drinking and reviewing these beers.   Looking at the color of the beer, it had a golden color with hints of Rudolph's red nose.  The beer had a much longer, taller, and stable head than Santa's Butt Winter Porter, which we reviewed last night.  There was a nice creamy looking head on it, which held in place very nicely.  In the nose of the beer there was some fruitiness, which I pinpointed as apricot.  There was also a touch of alcohol aroma that co-mingled through its overt metallic notes.  The metallic notes were also noticeable, but not overpowering, in the palate of the beer.  A medium hop level was present in the beer at a level slightly higher than the first Ridgeway beer that we tasted.  Having gotten past the wave of hops, the beer ended with a dry, grainy, and somewhat bitter finish.  There was maybe even a hint of dried nuts at the end.   Perhaps the Porter was slightly better, but I'm often biased toward darker beers, so how good it is to you is for you to discover.  I will say that I enjoyed the beer, so you might like it, too.

Santa's Butt-- what an interesting name for a beer.  This is one beer in a series of Christmas-themed beers from Ridgeway.  Let's break it down a little.  First of all, Santa's "something" is an appropriate name for this time of year.  Surely, his "Butt" is not appropriate.  Well, there's actually more than meets the eye to the name.  Double entendre anyone?  A "Butt" is actually an older term that meant barrel.  Porters, such as Entire Butt, play to this fact.  I guess the implication is that the beer came from Santa's Barrel (you can see why I didn't say that it came from Santa's Butt).  Ah! British humor.  Without futher ado, let's talk about the beer. The beer comes in at 6% ABV, which is perfectly fine for a Porter.  Of course there are stronger versions, notably Okocim's version.  Santa's Butt had very little head retention and a deep reddish-brown body.  It fit very nicely into a pint glass.  On the nose, it had a slightly metallic, winish touch, plenty of toasted & burnt grain, and touches of chocolate.  There were also hints of honey, hops, and sweet malts.  Along with the chocolate taste, the sweet malts translated into the palate.  Dry burnt grains  also gave off a very nice roastiness to the beer, as well as a imparting a slight ...

More than O.K.--that is what I have to say about this beer.  I've had Okocim's strong Porter a few times and have enjoyed it.  When I saw this beer, called a Full Pale, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  After all, there are some nice beers coming from Poland.  Upon pouring the beer, it had a little head on it, which was sandy blond and looked fairly clean in the glass.  It was pretty aromatic, as far as a Pilsner-style goes.  On Okocim's website, this is called a Polish Pils Style.  It did have a light hop aroma, which is typical of many Pilsners these days (although not historically).  I noted a slight woodiness and grainy-ness in the nose, along with sweet honey overtones.  Taste-wise, the beer had a slight alcohol taste and a nice grainy finish.  There was also a dry and slightly nutty finish to the brew.  I found the dryness particularly likable.  The honey in the nose came through in the palate of the beer, especially when it came to the yeasty aspects.  There was nothing extremely distinctive about this beer...but something inexplicable made the beer immenently drinkable.  It is a delicious beer that you don't have to overthink.

For my part, winter is never welcome, but beer makes the cold times more tolerable.  Let me start by saying that this is beer was above average, but I like some of Sam Smith's stuff better.  A much better way to "Welcome" the winter might be their delicious Imperial Stout.  The head on the beer looked like a high snowy winter peak, which was held in place by the very active and bubbly beer.  In the glass, the Ale looked as crisp and clean as a winter's day.  Its deep copper tones were beautiful in my Samuel Smith's glass.  Aroma-wise the beer had more hops than many of Samuel Smith's beers (notably their Pale Ale, which we've previously reviewed).  Along with the nice floral aroma, there was a malty sweetness that dominated the brew.  Grains, slight nuttiness, and hints of caramel were present in the nose.  The malty sweetness that was in the nose turned into slight sweet malts on the palate.  Hops were also very evident in the taste of the brew.  I would say that the middle of the beer really showed some hop bitterness and taste.  Perhaps the bitterness of the hops makes the bitter winter more tolerable.  The hops continued through the end but ...