Anchor Our Special Ale (2010)

3.8/5

AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

2010 12 ounce bottle. Pours very dark red-brown color with a very nice 2 finger tan head with amazing retention and nice glass lacing. Aromas of roasted malts, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and molasses. Taste of strong spices closely matching the nose, with some chocolate in the background. The spices mellow themselves out as I got deeper into the glass. Medium carbonation and body. A winter warmer that has a ton of flavor for being only 5.5%, definitely exceeded my expectations. Tasty!

Very good stuff from Anchor, tons of flavor.

Delirium Noël

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

750 ml bottle into snifter. Pours slightly hazy dark red color with a dense 1 finger off white head with good retention. Aromas of cherries, dark fruit, molasses, spices, and Belgian yeast. Taste of sweet cherries with spices, and dark fruits, with lingering sweetness of fruits on the finish. Some slight alcohol warming after the finish, but overall very well hidden for 10%. Damn impressive and tasty for a Belgian, and this tops the Nocturnum for me. Great!

A great Belgian Ale, and it beats the Nocturnum for me.

Breckenridge Christmas Ale

3.6/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours slightly hazy red color with a fairly dense 2 finger off white head with good retention. Aromas of dark fruits, molasses, and spices. Taste of molasses, spices, and a little bit of dark fruits, but not much. Mostly spice dominant here with maltiness, and no bitterness. The taste is solid, but the finish is fairly weak, not much lingering taste going on here, but the more I drink it the lingering starts to appear very slightly. A fair amount of alcohol warming on the finish. A solid winter warmer, but there are definitely better ones out there.

Solid stuff, but check out other winter warmers.

Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection Ice Cream

We now have a new discovery(for me) in the premium ice cream market. Dove (owned by mars) has a line of premium ice cream pints. I had seen them around, but I never really gave them a second glance in the past, just because I was crazed over Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs. Based on the nutrition facts (300 cals for a serving, on par with some other heavy hitters from BnJ's and HD) I had a feeling this was going to be great. I was right. The interesting thing about this ice cream is that it is covered with a layer of dark chocolate on top, with the logo imprinted. Now, there were some other people I heard from that complained that it was difficult to get into the ice cream. Good thing I always soften my pints up, and it is well worth it. The chocolate on top came off whole and I ate it by hand haha. The ice cream itself is great, very good texture and taste. A fair amount of caramel in here(though we can always have more, am I right haha). Chocolate chunks are well distributed throughout the pint, and chocolate covered pecans are also well distributed, and good sized. Overall this experience has me curious of what else Dove has to offer in their ice cream selection. I shall be searching out more flavors soon.

9.5/10

Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake

Wow what a surprisingly good flavor. I am glad I made sure to grab 2 pints of it when I finally found it after searching to the ends of the earth. Probably one of the best stand alone ice cream flavors they have put out yet. The pumpkin definitely stands out the most, and the cheesecake flavor just kind of lingers in the background. The graham cracker swirl is very crunchy, just like regular pie crust, and adds a lot of flavor onto the ice cream itself. My only problem would be that they should have put more graham cracker swirl in the pint. The spoon shot shows some of the crust on the bottom right of the spoon, but most of it was found more towards the bottom of the pint. I softened this pint up in the microwave and the texture and creaminess is as good as it ever has been with Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Fantastic.

9/10

Bells Special Double Cream Stout

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown with a nice sized 2 finger tan head with great retention that reduces to a lacing cap that leaves decent lacing. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, licorice, and cream. Taste of dark chocolate with coffee, and vanilla cream alongside it, with a huge lingering roastiness on the finish. Much more malt forward but there is some slight coffee bitterness on the finish. Very creamy feel with medium carbonation and body. Some very slight alcohol warming after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic sweet stout that is packed with flavor, despite only being 6%.

This is a great stout, though it is not as magnificent as I remember it being the first time I had it. I realize there are a lot of high rated beers on my page currently, but I am trying to keep it going as long as possible. I am not a fan of buying bad beers to try (though I have found a liking for some slightly lower rated beers on ratebeer and such).

Edy's Limited Edition Peppermint

Well, this certainly was different than what I expected it to be. Originally I thought it would be somewhat strong tasting peppermint ice cream with actual candy sticks inside of the ice cream. This is not the case. It is some very mellow flavored ice cream that still gets the flavor through, and it has peppermint gel bursts throughout the container. Definitely is not overwhelming like I thought it would be and is highly enjoyable for what it is, though I am a fan of mint ice cream overall. The texture is still on spot and is the same as most Edy's ice creams: probably the best feel and creaminess for a light ice cream available. The taste actually mirrors that of the mints you can usually get at the Chinese buffets, or other Asian restaurants haha (the chalky mints). If you were weary of trying this out I would highly recommend it, unless you severely hate mint.

9/10

Dark Horse Scotty Karate Scotch Ale

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours very dark brown with a 1 finger light tan head with average retention. Aromas of chocolate, caramel, whiskey, toffee, and smoke. Taste of whiskey, chocolate, toffee, and some smoke and wood. The whiskey flavor is not super strong at all (in comparison so some other scotch ales I have had) and is balanced very well with the beer taste. The 9.75% is not noticeable at all except for a slight warming after the finish. No bitterness at all. Medium carbonation and body. My first Dark Horse beer, and I am impressed. Delicious for a malty beer.

The word is that Dark Horse is available in Ohio, I just need to find it.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

4.1/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

330 ml bottle. Pours dark brown with a dense 2 finger tan head with good retention that reduces to a nice lacing cap. Aromas of chocolate, cola, roasted malt, wood, and smoke. Taste of chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, and smoke. Malty and sweet on the front with chocolate, which rises to a smoky, roasty lingering bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and body. Great stuff, and definitely a ton better than the regular Draught.

a tasty beer, and good thing they finally brought it to the US this fall.

Giant Eagle Caramel Turtle Cheesecake Ice Cream

Quite a surprise here, for a pint I bought on impulse today. Lower in calories compared to your normal BnJs and Haagen Dazs. This one was 180 cals/serving. It is Cheesecake ice cream with caramel filled chocolate praline pecans and a buttery caramel swirl. Although the texture of the ice cream is definitely lighter, the taste is all there. The cheesecake ice cream is spot on and is actually a bit on the strong side as far as flavor goes. The caramel filled chocolate was very dense and hard to chew, but the taste was very good, and there are plenty of praline pecans throughout the entire pint. Could use more caramel, but the overall balance of the caramel swirl with the rest of the pint was very good. I will have to check out some more of their flavors.

9/10

Hoppin Frog Barrel Aged BORIS The Crusher

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter. Pours pitch black with a very nice 2 finger tan head with amazing retention that reduces to a lingering cap. Aromas of strong whiskey with chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, and molasses. Taste of chocolate and coffee with a lot of bourbon in the back towards the finish that slowly fades into a slow rising bitterness on the finish, that lingers with bourbon and roasty chocolate notes. The bourbon flavor lasts the longest after the finish. A very smooth and excellent barrel aged imperial stout!!

Maybe a little too strong on the bourbon, but I love bourbon and it blends well with the Imperial Stout.

Thirsty Dog 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours clear copper color with a small off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap. Aromas of honey, ginger, and cinnamon. Taste of a lot of ginger and cinnamon, with honey coming through towards the back. Lasting notes of ginger and cinnamon after the finish, with some slight alcohol warming. Medium carbonation and body. Wow this is an exceptional holiday ale, and I would go as far as saying it beats out the GL Xmas ale, it has bigger flavor all around. Great!

Fantastic Christmas ale for the season.

Bells Cherry Stout

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours pitch black with a small tan head with average retention. Aromas of cherry, chocolate, molasses, roasted malts, and caramel. Taste of a LOT of tart cherry on the front with milk chocolate showing more towards the finish. The tart cherry and sweet chocolate notes linger for a bit after the finish. Medium-full body and medium carbonation. A little too forward on the cherry here, but still overall pretty well balanced with the chocolate notes. Overall a very enjoyable and tasty beer, once you get used to the tartness of the cherries.

The tartness threw me off at first, but overall a good stout, but a little too much cherry.

Hair of the Dog Ruth

3.6/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours hazy amber-orange color with a 2 finger white head with very good retention and nice lacing. Aromas of citrus, floral, caramel, and spicy yeast. Taste of citrus, and floral with some spiciness, then a nice clean bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit, but has good balance. A slight amount of alcohol warming noticed after the finish. Has a fairly light body feel with medium carbonation. Overall I would say this is a solid pale ale, with good mouthfeel and taste.

I was amazingly lucky to find the Hair of the Dog beers in Indiana because they only distribute locally normally which is Oregon and surrounding states. This was pretty good, but I am really excited to try "Adam" and "Fred" soon, which are some of the highest rate beers on ratebeer.

Three Floyds Behemoth Barleywine

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle, 2009 vintage. Pours cloudy dark copper with a nice dense 2 finger off white head with great retention and very nice lacing. Aromas of caramel, raisins, molasses, citrus, wood, and banana. Taste of molasses, bourbon, citrus, roasted nuts, wood, and pine. Some very slight bitterness on the finish, it is quite sweet, but very tasty. A ton of flavors going on here, I don’t think I could pinpoint them all. There were more aroma notes there than I could figure out as well. There is alcohol warming after the finish, but not too overly strong. Has a full creamy body with medium carbonation. Lingering tastes of wood, caramel, and bourbon on the finish. Incredibly drinkable for the ABV. I feel quite lucky that I was able to find this while I was over in Indiana, the number of ratings tells me it must be somewhat rare. I had purchased the last bomber that was in the liquor store I visited as well. Overall, this is an incredible tasting barley wine, and is highly enjoyable.

Found this one in Ft Wayne, and it was the last bottle at the liquor store. I feel lucky that I acquired it. So awesome. The wax color shows the year it was brewed, you should be able to see the blue wax on the side dripping down.

Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

750 ml bottle. Pours hazy amber color with a very nice 3 finger fluffy white head with incredible retention and great glass lacing. Appearance is just fantastic. Aromas of sour fruit, spices, and citrus. Taste of sour and tart citrus notes, with spices. Some slight bitterness on the finish, and has lingering tart and sour notes. Medium body and heavy carbonation. Overall, this is another great ale from JP, incredibly drinkable, and highly enjoyable. Definitely need to get my hands on some more of these Artisan Ales.

Another tasty ale from Jolly Pumpkin. Definitely check them out if you can, very highly rated beers across the board on ratebeer.

Häagen-Dazs Bananas Foster

You would not think that banana flavored ice cream could be impressive, I sure didn't until I had this the first time(which was a while ago this year). But there are a lot of flavors going on in this pint, and they all blend together very well. There is banana ice cream, which is pretty much perfect in texture and has a very creamy banana flavor that is paired with cinnamon and nutmeg. Then there is the brown sugar and rum flavored swirl which turns out to be a great compliment to the ice cream. I have never actually had a real bananas foster dessert before, but judging on this ice cream, I have a feeling I would really enjoy it.

9/10

Nøgne Ø Imperial Stout

4.4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

500 ml bottle. Pours pitch black with a very nice 2 finger dark tan head with incredible retention that reduces to a lacing cap that leaves great lacing. Appearance just looks fantastic. Aromas of dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, and licorice. Taste of dark chocolate, coffee, roasted malts, with a huge creamy full body with a nice clean bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation. Absolutely no sign of alcohol content in this brew. Overall this stout is outstanding, and I would buy it again in a heartbeat if I saw it. I need to try more from this brewery.

I will have to try and get some more Nøgne Ø ordered around my area to try more of their beers. I found this one in Indiana.

Bells Hell Hath No Fury

3.9/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

12 ounce bottle, batch 9999. Pours pitch black with a 1 finger tan head with average retention. Aromas of coffee, chocolate, dark fruits, and Belgian yeast. Taste of rich chocolate, dark fruits, and spicy Belgian yeast. The finish is pretty clean with a very slight bit of bitterness, and with chocolate, and Belgian spice lingering. Medium Body and carbonation. Overall, this is tasty Belgian style that has a lot of stout qualities to it.

I have pretty much never been disappointed by Bells.

Smuttynose Old Brown Dog

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours hazy brown color with a 1 finger dense light tan head with very good retention that reduces to a lacing cap. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malts, molasses, cola, and some caramel. Taste of chocolate, roasted malts, nuts, and molasses. There is a nice smooth bitterness on the finish, with a roasted chocolate flavor that lingers. Medium carbonation and body. Overall, this is a damn tasty session beer, would have it again in the future.

I will definitely have to try some more Smuttynose in the future, this is tasty stuff.

Häagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut

Wasn't sure what to expect with this, though I pretty much already knew it wasn't going to completely suck. It is not very evident what is going on in this pint by the spoon shot itself. There are small chunks of pineapple, and coconut flavored ice cream. I think I saw some coconut shavings in there as well. Pineapple flavors meet you as you sample the ice cream, and the finish flavors are of the coconut ice cream, with sweetened cream. A very delightful experience, but in my opinion, they could have had a bit larger sized pineapple pieces. But overall I fully enjoyed the experience. Haagen Dazs never disappoints lol.

9/10