Since Black Butte‘s 20th birthday, Deschutes has taken to creating special versions of the porter. For 2012, the result is Black Butte XXIV; it debuted in June and I got my hands on a bottle. XXIV. 24 years after Black Butte Porter’s debut, our potent, layered, imperial tribute returns. As usual, it’s a jazz riff, guided by the brewer’s nose and the lure of exotic ingredients. Artisanal dark chocolate nibs. Daglet dates. Mission figs. It may, possibly, hopefully, be the  [ Read More ]

Stillwater, Minnesota is a small historic town on the river near the Minnesota and Wisconsin border. Stillwater has its reputation of having a great line up of eating establishments near the river. On March 10th Lift Bridge brewery, Stillwater’s first brewery since prohibition held a release event for their new Irish Coffee Stout. The Irish Coffee Stout is a blend of their Imperial Stout after it has been aged in whiskey barrels with a big Milk Stout, and then infused  [ Read More ]

Shiner Bohemian Black Lager is the second beer in the Shiner Family Reunion six pack (I previously reviewed Shiner Bock). This beer, also known as a Schwarzbier, was first brewed for Spoetzel Brewery’s 97th anniversary, and is a somewhat unusual style. It’s a lager beer, but has some of the smells and flavor of a stout ale. This is the first Schwarzbier I’ve tasted. It has light scents of coffee and chocolate, and has a similar taste; coffee with a bit  [ Read More ]

Black Butte Porter, named for the Black Butte (pronounced byoot, not butt) in Oregon, is a pitch black porter from Deschutes (pronounced dey-shoot) Brewery in Bend, Oregon. I’ve not been to Bend, but I have been to Eugene, Oregon (home of the Oregon Ducks) and it’s absolutely beautiful up there. Looking at Google Maps, however, I was closer to Bend than I thought; we skied at Mount Bachelor which is just west of Bend and just north of the Deschutes National Forest.  [ Read More ]

If anyone comes to NYC to visit, make sure you let me know and I’ll drag you to McSorley’s Old Ale House. It’s a step back in time, sawdust on the floor, good beer, good times, and a must visit for any beer fan. When I saw that they were selling McSorley’s Black Irish Lager by me, I quickly grabbed a bottle. I usually only drink their ale when I’m there so was interested to try this one. This was  [ Read More ]

Yesterday after work I met Ryan at the Flying Saucer in Houston for dinner and beer. I had this very dark brew called Black Metal by Jester King. The color certainly lives up to its name; even the head was a dark brown that mostly dissipated before I took this photo. Lots of coffee flavor in this beer and almost turns into a mocha flavor with some chocolate taste. Weighing in at 10% ABV, I ended up just sipping this the entire  [ Read More ]

The winner of the night, and my all time favorite drink when both beers are available… the Black Velvet! Didn’t think we’d make it this far in our adventure but we did! Half Guinness…half cider….in this case it was Strongbow (my favorite). Some people think Guiness is too heavy, others think cider is too sweet. This is a perfect blend of both and the combination is scrumptious. Highly recommend it to everyone! Cheers!

Enjoying a fabulous Black and Tan at a dive bar in NYC Almost as good as a Black Velvet!