As we get ready to move into the best time of the year…Stout Season….I thought it was time to take an inventory of what is in the Stout Fridge and what is waiting to get into the Stout Fridge. Taking inventory does a couple things – it is a good reminder of what is lurking in the back of the shelves and it also give you an opportunity to rotate your Stout Stock by moving some bottles/cans to the front of the line. I’ve been guilty of sampling the most recent purchases when I could be enjoying some aged Stouts!
I found a few choice Stouts that I’ve moved to the front of the tasting line….and I’ve also realized that I need to enjoy some of the Stouts that I’ve been saving…Parabola, Abyss, even a Bourbon County Rare! Now that I’ve updated my inventory list of what I have, I can plan my tastings and I can get back into the trading mode….
Have you taken inventory lately?
In other topics…this week was Raleigh Beer Week and aside from specials at all of the Raleigh based Breweries, most of the bottleshops are having specials – many are tappings of rare Stouts that don’t usually make it to Raleigh!! I was fortunate to visit the Busy Bee Cafe in downtown Raleigh and was able to sample some of Terrapin Brewing’s finest – 2013 Wake-n-Bake as well as comparing Single Origin Stouts Sumatra and Guatemala. Love the Wake-n-Bake! There were a lot of enticing stout events this past week, kudos to the organizers and all of the participants of Raleigh Beer Week 2016!
Additionally, I received my monthly Premium Brewpublik delivery recently…..an amazing mix of local, national, and international Stouts!! 
Tasty Stouts from Twin Leaf Brewing in Asheville, NC, Double Negative from Grimm Artisan Ales (NY), 2016 WOOTStout, and a 3-fer of great 
Stouts from DeMolen Brouwerij in the Netherlands. The neat part of the DeMolen Stouts are that they are all dated from 2014…some great aging! I already have enjoyed Cease and Desist this past week and really like everything I’ve had from DeMolen! I also was pleasantly surprised at the MDXXI Mexican Chocolate Stout from Twin Leaf, a brewery out of Asheville, NC. Very tasty and something I will seek out again! Many thanks to my friends at Brewpublik – you too can get incredible beer of your choice delivered to your doorstep. Give them a shout and let them know the Stoutwhisperer sent you!!
usually disappointed when a brewery touts a stout with vanilla notes – but PAA delivered with Paradise! Just smelling this stout was worth the price of the pour but the liquid delivered as well…..and I just read a blog post that PAA will be selling a brewery only release of Pirate Paradise! No way I can make it to Krebs, OK, but if they are able to get this right, Pirate Paradise could the Stout of the Year. Just wish I had a way to get my hands on one (perhaps if someone from Prairie is reading this….)!
house! I’m able to select my “crate” and also take advantage of their Instagram flash sales of more scarce beers as well (see bp_reserve). If you are in their coverage areas (Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Charleston, San Francisco), I highly recommend them. If you aren’t, keep an eye on them (or drop them a note), as they are rapidly expanding into more markets.
Iceland, Denmark, and Norway! In fact last night I had Garun from Borg Brugghus in
Hofbrauhaus. They are amazing for their size, their atmosphere, and their ability to bring both locals and tourists together into an incredible melting pot. Germans drink their beer in one liter glass mugs (“Ein mas bier, bitte”). To the left is a picture of a wall full of these glass mugs ready to be filled and brought to your table by waiters or waitresses who can carry 4 or 5 of these mugs filled with beer at a time!! For someone who drinks their beer in 12oz 
or 22 oz sizes, one liter is quite a bit! Germany also has
After my requisite hour long wait gradually warming it, I popped the top. It poured jet black with a nice foamy cream colored head. I caught notes of the tequila, some coffee, and perhaps some sweetness from the chocolate and cinnamon. The first sip was a bit different that what I expected…the tequila aging imparted a flavor that wasn’t what I would consider smooth. It wasn’t bad mind you, just different. The mouthfeel was medium to thick and the aftertaste had a bit of an edge to it. It took a few tastes to get acclimated to the flavor, but once I did, I began to enjoy it. This was my first exposure to a tequila-aged stout, so it took a few sips to get used to it. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed – I love Speedway Stout and my expectations were high – but I just wasn’t expecting the tequila to have the impact that it did. I really enjoyed a snifter of Hammerhead Speedway Stout recently and that may have helped to raise the expectation bar a few more notches! But as I said, I got used to the taste after a few sips, so all was not lost.
a nice foamy head. The aroma was wonderful – notes of coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg – and the taste matched the aroma. A deep complex stout with a medium mouthfeel and a nice bite of pepper in the aftertaste. It’s better than I remembered……what a nice surprise! As it warmed, the aromas brightened and the tastes were beautifully layered, with the smooth heat in the swallow. My snifter was empty quicker than I had hoped!
thick Stout so it was a perfect match. Little did I know that I was celebrating both Mothers Day and the 3rd birthday of BOMB! Our friends at Prairie Ales just 
quickly. The aromas brought me back to the first Christmas BOMB! I had back during the holidays….a good strong whiff of spices. The first sip was nice and thick and I knew then I was enjoying a BOMB! The Stout coated my tongue and the aftertaste had a bit of heat to it, another telltale sign of BOMB! The spices added a layer of complexity to this already complex Stout. This is a great Stout for those who like to have their taste buds bombarded! As I
Lake City, Utah, Epic is in the midst of one of the more ambitious brewing projects I have seen in quite a while. The Epic team is releasing not 1, not 2, but 14 variations of Son of a Baptist, a non-barrel aged relative of BBB. The brains behind the brew at Epic is also a coffee lover, so a request went out to find coffee roasters that would be willing to collaborate on small batches of Stout. The request was to submit beans that would enhance the flavor profile of a Stout. They selected 14 roasters and made 14 different versions of Son of a Baptist. Roasters from California to Virginia, Michigan to Texas made the cut….and so did a local Raleigh, North Carolina roaster, Larry’s Coffee! 
Peter and Ryan from Larry’s Coffee were there to answer questions and they also had the Peruvian coffee that was used in the beer available to sample as brewed coffee! Neat touch! Peter told me that they selected the Peruvian coffee beans for their chocolate notes and the way it would compliment the malts in the Stout. They were right on, as my review will attest. Pharmacy was very crowded on Wednesday evening and as I looked around, I saw many of the patrons with a glass of Son of a Baptist in their hand! Hats off to James, Peter, Ryan, and the Pharmacy team!
After taking it out of the fridge and letting it sit for an hour to bring it to around 50-55 degrees, I opened it and let it pour. It BBB was a beautiful jet black with a nice foamy head. Once the photo opp was over, I lifted the glass to my nose and was bombarded with some amazing aromas. Usually there is one scent that dominates and overwhelms; Big Bad Baptist provided me with equal notes of coffee, chocolate, and bourbon! Each aroma was incredibly layered and I could detect each scent, which I must say is a first from all of my tastings. Either my nose is better at differentiating scents or this is foreshadowing what’s to come.
worked well! I was hoping for a similar experience when I opened a bottle of Son using coffee from Portola Coffee Lab, a Southern California roaster. This version clocked in at 7.9%ABV in its 22oz. bomber.
create on their website. Based on your profile, they then select craft beers that match your profile and deliver it to your doorstep every month! I was intrigued by the concept so I reached out to them and after understanding their business model, I decided to sign up. As you might expect, my taste profile is “all Stouts all the time” and the more we talked, I decided to sign up for their concierge plan. It’s their most personalized plan (with the highest monthly cost) but it seemed like the way to go for me. The beauty is that it is a month to month subscription, so I can freeze my account during the summer when Stouts are in hibernation. You can even specify when (day and time) to have your Brewpublik crate delivered! On the day of my delivery, they texted me with a link that tracked my delivery all the way to my house! I met my delivery person as they were driving up the street, he dropped off my crate, I signed off on the delivery, and away he went to his next delivery!
pour, nice and black, with a small head that almost immediately disappeared. It had a nice bourbon nose. The first sip was wonderful. It was as if my tongue was painted with BCBS! Nice and thick with a nice smooth bourbon layer. The aftertaste was smooth and full of a bourbon taste. This is a big boy Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout! It is a 14.3%ABV Stout that doesn’t really hide it, as it is nice and warming and gets more complex as it warms. The Goose Island brewers, for all the unfortunate quality issues that have bedeviled them in 2015, got this one right!
jet black pour with a good solid head that remained. The aroma was all chocolate, with a hint of citrus. So far, so good. The first sip was thin and not what I expected. Another sip, same thought. Every time I take a drink, my nose gets a great aroma and my mouth gets a thin, nondescript stout where I struggled to find either Chocolate or Orange. I continued to drink hoping to find a point where the taste matched the nose, but unfortunately, I was never able to find that spot that brought me back to my Choklat experience. Certainly not bad, but I was hoping for a much better tasting experience than I had. The aroma was the winner here, but unfortunately, this review is much about taste, which was a solid average.
enjoy talking to the folks there. They are very friendly and helpful. When I picked up my KBS, I had a chance to chat with Gabriela and Jesse about KBS and Stouts in general. Jesse and I first ran into each other sampling the Root Beer Stout at the Big Boss Brewing event a few weeks back, so I know he’s got good taste! I was thrilled to walk out with a 4 pack and thought my quest was complete. I highly recommend visiting House of Hops if you are ever in Raleigh….tell them the Stoutwhisperer sent you!
everyone seemed to get a large delivery of this release. Since April is North Carolina Beer month, I decided to do my part and give Dark Age a try…..
big kudos to Founders Brewing for the 17oz. size!! This is a perfect size as it allows me to give a good pour and get some foamy head without worrying about spillage! KBS isn’t the most heady beer, but I was able to get a decent head from the pour! The aroma was an alluring combination of bourbon, chocolate, and a hint of coffee. Would the taste match the aroma? The first sip answered the question….unequivocally yes!
Carolina tapping of 2016 KBS on Friday evening (April 1). Bull McCabe’s in Durham, NC was given the honor because of their ongoing commitment to the Founders lineup and the fact that they were the volume leader for Founders in NC in 2015. Mrs. Stoutwhisperer and I took the 30 minute drive to the Bull City to Bull McCabe’s. It was crowded, but not mobbed. They were pouring small (4 oz.?) snifters to insure everyone received an opportunity to sample this year’s vintage. I bellied up to the bar, ordered 2 KBS snifters for myself and a lager for Mrs. S (she isn’t a stout fan). I ran into Jessie R., the Founders representative for North Carolina, who was greeting everyone and handing out Founders swag. She commented on my KBS t-shirt (pictured above along with my KBS glasses) and we started talking about KBS, the hoopla around the release and how Bull McCabe’s got the honors as the first NC establishment to tap KBS. She shared that a Charlotte location was tapping a keg on Sunday and that the bottle sales would begin on Tuesday. Jessie was rightfully proud of all the excitement around the release and I congratulated her on a great event.
wasn’t much head in the pour, which was fine due to the size of the snifters. I couldn’t get much aroma, but that was probably due to the fact that I was outside at a patio table where it was a bit breezy. However, the taste was spot on! A slight bourbon taste, some coffee and chocolate notes, a nice mouthfeel, and a smooth aftertaste told me that Founders had found just the right balance of stout and bourbon aging. After I finished the first snifter, the second one affirmed my thoughts…..the 2016 KBS vintage is a winner!
Stoutwhisperer 