Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Beer, burger and bourbon




Last night we went to Plan B for beer, burgers and bourbon.  In that order. 

Besides having very creative burger combinations and an outstanding selection of bourbon, Plan B has a varied and constantly changing rotating beer list.  So, it’s always fun to see what goodliness they have on tap.  

Unintentionally, we seemed to focus on dark beers.  All of which were really quite good.  

We had ordered a Hooker Chocolate Truffle Stout but wouldn't you know it tapped out just then?  The waiter brought us a tasted of Rogue Double Chocolate Stout and Clown Shoes Chocolate Sombrero. While yummy on both counts we went with the following.


Double Stout Black Ale (8.8% ABV) by Green Flash Brewing.  Served in a chalice, the beer was black as black with a thin but lingering head that left behind a nice amount of lacing.  I didn’t detect a lot from the aroma but it had a big chocolate flavor with a touch of smoke that ended with a bitter coffee / chocolate finish.  The mouth feel is creamy and smooth.  Very drinkable for such a robust brew.  Overall, very good.


Chocolate Coffee Brown Ale (5.5% ABV) by Half Full Brewery. Being a Connecticut brewery, Half Full is a local-to-me brewery.  Served in a shaker pint, this beer was black with ruby highlights. It smelled to me like a caramel macchiato.  It tasted much like an iced coffee and was exceptionally drinkable.  The mouth feel was thin and bubbly.  It finished very clean.  This is a beer I could drink way too much of.  Overall, very good.


Pitch Black IPA (6.5% ABV) by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company.  Served in a shaker pint it was, indeed, pitch black with a head that left behind extreme lacing.   The aroma was hoppy, as I would expect from an IPA, but also malty.  It tasted like bitter coffee and hops.  The mouth feel was creamy and smooth.  Actually, it felt and tasted very much like it could have been a hopped stout.  I really, really liked this brew.  Overall, very good.



Stone Smoked Porter (5.9% ABV) by Stone Brewing.  Served in a chalice, this beer was very dark with mahogany highlights.  It came to the table with a thick head that left behind layers of lacing on the glass.  The dominant flavor, as the name suggests, was smoke accompanied by a touch of coffee.  It had a medium, bubbly mouth feel.  I'm not a big fan of smoked beers, but this one was pretty good - not killer smokey.  Overall, very good.


Along with the beer, I had their burger of the week special which was a 9-ounce burger topped with a fondue style cheese made with smoked gouda and ale, frizzled onions, bacon and grilled pineapple.  The cheese was fantastic but honestly I could have done without the pineapple.  The pineapple and cheese sauce went well together.  The cheese sauce and burger went well together.  But the cheese sauce, burger AND pineapple - not so much.  

Where most people would finish their meal with a chocolaty dessert, I finished mine with a nip of chocolate infused bourbon.  The base bourbon was Pure Kentucky XO.  It was smoooooooth and delicious.  The chocolate infusion was subtle and quite nice.  The perfect digestif. 

A pleasant, relaxing date night with my hunny; I enjoyed the meal as much as the company!  

Cheers!


1 comment:

Half Full Brewery said...

Glad you enjoyed the chocolate coffee brown ale (we like it too!)