Brew Review: Lost Abbey Serpent Stout

By Rob Thamer

Lost Abbey's Serpent Stout is a rich, chocolatey treat with a nice thick white head and a color … well, as the bottle says “a liquid so dark and viscous that all who tasted soon fell victim to evil incarnate”. While I'm somewhat confident that I've escaped possession of any kind, I can say that I have not escaped a warm buzz, as this 11% abv stout packs a wallop.

The alcohol is very evident on the front of the pallet with this beer. Its not at all unpleasant, as the chocolate flavors soon follow and it reminds me of a truffle infused with liquor, or an Irish coffee. The finish is rich, as the cocoa notes linger, with some hints of a really sweet liquorice perhaps.

While I don't find this beer to be complex, it is not what I'd call delicate. The flavors are bold and delicious. No pretentious BS here; just a massive stout. Recommended.

Brew Review: Green Flash Brewing Double Stout

By Rob Thamer

A strong black ale at 8.8% alcohol that is quite complex and full flavored. The aroma is sweet, very malty (reminds me of malt balls, literally), that is helped to your nose by a creamy head.

The taste is interesting, as it is quite dry in flavor on the first sip, but quickly develops on the palate to a sweet, chocolaty richness with evident bitterness from the hops. In fact, the bitterness is more noticeable than most stouts, especially at this ABV which can tend to be cloying. I'm surprised because the beer is rated at 45 IBUs, but it’s clear that the malt profile is adding to the perception of bitterness with coffee notes.

Many attribute stouts to a cold weather beer but on this late spring day I'm finding the beer to be very pleasant. Recommended.

Brew Review: Boulevard Brewing's Dark Truth

Dark Truth stout from Boulevard brewing is a beautiful complex beer. A sweet nose with ample head, this beer is dark and delicious. On a typical chilly spring weekend in Colorado, this beer really hits the spot.

Brouwerij de Molen Expands to Meet Demands

Brouwerij de Molen is a tiny microbrewery in Bodegraven. A small town situated in the triangular rural area between Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht in the Netherlands. We started craft brewing in 2004 with just a handful of (US) barrels a year. Quickly growing to the 1100 barrels produced in 2010. In 2010 the historic mill from 1697 A.D., where the brewery and restaurant is currently located, was completely renovated. There's a great new interior now, a large parking lot and a new terrace in front of the restaurant. Even the mill is fully operational again. While we now offer a more beautiful and larger brewpub to our customers, our beer production is limited in the mill itself. The demand for our exclusive beers is growing, however, at 30 percent per year, forcing Brouwerij de Molen to expand elsewhere.

Brew Review: Great Divide Grand Cru

Great Divide’s Grand Cru is an 11% ABV Belgian-Style Dark Ale. On this snowy eve, I have sat down to drink this beer, brewed with yeast that would never operate under the conditions present outside. I have just completed a dinner consisting primarily of pasta, and entirely absent from the recommended food pairings list on the bottle (roasted chicken with thyme, bread pudding, etc). None of these facts reduced my enjoyment of this beer in the slightest.

Brew Review: Stone Brewing's Sublimely Self-Righteous

After a trip to the store to pick up a supply of good brew, I was sitting in my kitchen staring at the Brew Dog I bought and wondering if the 15$ for 2 bottles of beer was worth it. I completely forgot the BD after cracking open a bomber of Stone’s Sublimely Self Righteous Ale.

Fermentation Field Trip - Part 2

By Peter Doyle

There are always lots of places to spend the night in a camper, from National Forest roads, to real campgrounds, to secret offerings from the locals in the breweries. Most folks were very encouraging when they heard of the trip, and the discussions along the way with brewers, servers, and locals are at least half the point of a trip like this; it’s kind of a Beer Festival in a certain way, with the tables turned a bit. The intention is to meet, sample, experience, and immerse oneself (pun intended) in their world for a few minutes.

Sunday morning found us before long at a coffee shop, as the propane was non-functional, and we needed some joe. We got directions down to the Arkansas River, and passed the morning hours in antique stores and the Good Thyme Cafe in Canon City, waiting to open McClellan’s at noon. The place had good Irish ambiance, and a sleepy beertender...

Brew Review: Victory Brewing Co.'s Old Horizontal Barleywine

Old Horizontal is a deep-amber Barleywine with little head retention and considerable alcohol content at 11%. This one came my way as a welcome surprise from the wife after a hard day’s work – and a delicious treat it is. Sweet with plum notes, it is a good seasonal.

2010 Holiday Craft Brew Shootout!

Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards

By Chris Toomer & Rob Thamer

Holiday cheer comes in many ways… Food. Family. Gifts. New discoveries. For some, it is the thrill of giving a special gift! For others, receiving is the best part of the holidays. At BrewClick.Com, we are especially cheerful for ALL of the above! The Holidays let us experiment and enjoy new foods as well as old favorites and family traditions. We spend time with family, and that includes our BrewClick.Com family. We give and receive gifts of information, awards, and new brews. And each Holiday season, we make new discoveries.

This year, we thought, let’s do something different and hold a Holiday Craft Brew Shootout. We invited dozens of breweries to participate from around the country, and many of them did by sending us their finest Holiday Brews for us to taste and judge.

Fermentation Field Trip - Part 1

By Peter Doyle

Faced with a three-day Labor Day weekend, and an empty nest at home, the obvious decision was to finally go on one of the myriad brewery tours I’ve been planning for years. Armed with the Beer Drinker’s Guide To Colorado brewery map, we plotted our course, researched the beers, and decided to do a Colorado Springs/Pueblo/Canon City/Salida/Buena Vista/Frisco/Dillon loop...