Karbach has really been on a roll with its barrel aged beers. F.U.N. Series #003 is Hellfighter, an Imperial porter aged in bourbon barrels for at least five months. A 10.8% ABV limited edition brew, this bottle can cause a little bit of confusion because Hellfighter is also the name of Karbach’s regular Imperial porter. Unlike Bodacious and Fra-Gee-Lay, Karbach didn’t give this one a new clever name. If you like darker, more robust ales and you also have a penchant for  [ Read More ]

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 ]

After a fun filled trip during opening weekend of the Food & Wine Festival, as well as both successfully completing the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, Patrick and I decided to thoroughly reward ourselves with a complete beer tasting at both the Brewer’s Collection Booth and the Craft Beers Booth. With the Brewer’s Booth complete (minus the allusive Kolsch), we set our sights on the final booth of the adventure.  Obviously we’re posting reviews in reverse order…the Brewer’s Booth post  [ Read More ]

Unfortunately Wolaver’s website is under construction but I did a little digging to get you guys some back story about this brew…. The selling point of Wolaver’s Alta Garcia Coffee Porter is that they use organic coffee from the Costa Rican farming village of Alta Gracia. The organic coffee is grown by the farmers, and they are paid fair prices for their product. Alta Garcia is also an educational farm where locals can learn organic coffee farming techniques themselves and  [ 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 ]

Breckenridge, Colorado, home of hundreds of inches of snow annually, is also home to Breckenridge Brewery. Tonight I’m drinking Vanilla Porter, and something tells me they may spend too much time snowed in. First, the bottle for this Vanilla Porter confuses me. “Seldom Seen, Never Duplicated” is the first slogan. I didn’t exactly hunt for this beer; it was in the rack for the make your own six pack at the local grocery store. “Seldom seen” doesn’t really seem to  [ Read More ]

Since I’m on a Rogue kick, started off with this beauty….Fell in love right away.  Coffee & chocolate flavors were fabulous. Dare I say that it reminded me of Guinness yet slightly smoother and lighter? Hope everyone had a great New Year!