Many of you know that I normally don't go after an IPA.  I find rye beers interesting, though, so I struck a compromise.  Hop Rod is a Rye P.A. of sorts, and it's not something I would normally pick up.  However, since it was "Gamble with us Saturday," I decided that this might be just the beer for the occasion—and who knows, I might be able to find out whether or not it was actually a good beer.  I've reviewed one or two other things by Bear Republic, and they've been okay but not great, so I was hoping that my gamble wouldn't turn up to be snake eyes. The Pour:  I'm assuming it's due to darker rye malts that this beer was a slightly darker version of an IPA.  Not black or brown, just deeper.  A touch of haziness was part of the overall appearance of Hop Rod, while the body was active and propped up a stable head, which incidentally, left very nice lacing as I drank it. The Nose: Ever ubiquitous and perhaps starting to grow on me (to an infinitely tiny degree), grapefruity hops were a part of the nose. The citrusy nose was under-girded by a touch ...

At 68 IBUs and 8.1 % ABV, this is a Big Bear of a Stout, indeed.  Sometimes drinking a bomber of something like this can take a bit of time, but I had plenty of time to savor this bear and hibernate.  Check out the list of beers these guys make/have made.  Crazy long list. The Pour:  To be honest, this beer simply wasn't as dark as I expected it to be.  It was dark, but light pierced through the body.  However, a creamy, light brown, and stable head rested neatly on the robust porter colored body. The Nose: Plenty of hops came through on the nose.  Personally, I'm not a huge fan of large hop aromas for a stout, but this wasn't too bad at all.  Hints of powdery yeast and iron-like metallic qualities were part of the nose.  Caramel, chocolate, and bits of coffee also played a role on the nose.  A treacle/honey tone was also detectible.  Sweeter malt aromas told me that the beer would have a fair amount of balance for all its bigness. The Taste: The sweetness and caramel were perhaps the first impression that I had of Big Bear.  It wasn't long after the beer hit my ...

As I've mentioned previously, I occasionally like to write something about the local beer scene.  So, if you are in Southern California (close to Claremont, specifically), then this is a post of particular interest for you. About twenty minutes or so from my apartment in Pasadena, there is a place called The Back Abbey.  A friend of mine, let's call him Dan, introduced me to this place.  As a lover of Belgian Ales, I was already intrigued by this place since I knew that Belgians are their specialty. I've written before about how important a beer selection is to me vs. simply having a large quantity on tap. Although these guys don't have the number of beers to match corporate models, what they do have is what one might call a deep cut.  So, when Dan told me that they didn't have tons of beer on tap, I wasn't too deterred...and that's a good thing. When we arrived, I immediately took note that the Back Abbey had a display above the bar of bottles from every Trappist Ale, even the rare Westvleteren selections.  That is the one Trappist coveted by beer drinkers that can't be obtained very easily since they do not ...

Am I remembering this beer differently?  Did it used to be darker and more stout?  Maybe they did change it a bit.  The last time I drank this beer was about a year ago.  In fact, I drank a bottle that I had aged for 3 years. That aged bottle was really nice to drink, so I was a bit disappointed with this "fresher" bottle.  Don't get me wrong, Bison Chocolate Stout was still good...but it certainly wasn't what I expected.  Here is the skinny on this thinner version of Chocolate Stout. The Pour: It's amazing how one's recollection of a beer can be skewed by time and expectation.  When I poured Bison Chocolate Stout, I noticed that it was not quite as dark as I remembered it being.  In fact, it was less Stout looking and more Porter in approach; light was visible throughout the dark brown/black body and a creamy light brown head sat atop--looked like a Porter. The Nose: When I caught the touches of coffee aroma, I remembered that this was in fact a Stout.  For me, the dividing line of a stout and porter essentially lies along the lines of using Black Patent Malt or Roasted Barley.  I ...