Sriracha Hot Stout

I love sriracha. I mean, come one, who doesn't. It's like hot sex in a bottle. Without the sex. Because seriously you don't what that sh!t any where near your sexy parts. Yowza!

I've clearly established that I'm a fan of sriracha. But sriracha in my beer?

Hmm . . .

Hell ya!

I love a good pepper beer. To my taste, a pepper beer should subtly incorporate the characteristics of the pepper but not be overwhelmed by them - either in flavor or heat.

Sriracha Hot Stout (5.7% ABV) brewed by Rogue does this quite well.

It pours dark with a thick creamy head.

The aroma is dark roasted malts, fresh coffee, and a whisper of peppers.

The taste is a classic Rogue stout, roasty malts and coffee flavors with a tinge of hoppiness. The pepper flavor is subtle and not particularly hot up front. The heat comes through in the finish and beyond. In fact, the heat builds quite pleasantly as you drink - almost, but not quite, too hot.

The mouth feel is smooth, gently carbonated, and warm (then warmer and warmer).

Overall: Good

Cooking with Beer - Stout Beer Jelly

If you're handy in the kitchen and are looking for ideas for homemade holiday gifts, this is a tasty gift for beer lovers or someone who enjoys cooking.

This beer jelly is yummy on toast or grilled cheese or roasted veggies or baked brie or roasted meat or burgers.  You get the picture.

And, with only three basic ingredients and a bit of canning know-how, this is a pretty easy recipe to make.

Stout Beer Jelly

2 Cans Guinness Draught

1 Box Pectin

3 1/2 Cups Sugar

A word of warning - use the biggest pot you have. Trust me, on this. Otherwise you're going to end up with an expansive lava-esque foamy frothy mess all over the place.

Pour the beer and pectin into the largest pot you own. Stirring continuously, bring to a boil. Keep on stirring and boil for one minute. 

Then add the sugar. This is when all the voluminous foam-ulation occurs. Stir, stir, stir. Don't stop even when big, fat, spumous bubbles start belching molten syrup out of the pot. Keep stirring for two minutes.


If you didn't use an enormous pot, this is when you'll wish you had.

Remove the pot from the heat. The foam will settle a bit now.  

Prepare canner pot. Put enough water in canner to cover filled jars with at least one inch of water. Bring to a rolling boil.

Ladle the jelly into clean sterilized jelly jars. Fill to within a 1/4 inch of the lip of the jars. You may need to top off the jars as the foam settles. Wipe the rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

Process the jars for 10 minutes in a water bath. Remove the jars from the hot water bath and allow to sit undisturbed for at least 24 hours.

What's cool is that the jars look like little pints of Guinness. 

Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it.

Now, store them in a cool, dark place and use them as needed or gift them. 

Cheers!

(Hot water bath canning basics)

Maple Oatmeal Stout

I picked up a bottle of Lefty's Maple Oatmeal Stout from Ryan and Casey liquor store in June on our way home from vacationing in New Hampshire.  

I'm pointing out when I bought it because this stout is brewed seasonally and is available from November to March. I bought it in June.

And then, after I bought it, I sort of forgot about it. 

I discovered this bottle in the back of my fridge the other day and I popped it open.  It's never been out of refrigeration and it's a hearty stout, so I wasn't overly worried about it being funked.

Maple Oatmeal Stout (10% ABV) pours a deep cherry red that is dense and black in the glass. The head is small and fades to a layer of bubbles circling the edge of the glass.

The aroma is roasty malts, subtle maple, and a touch of booziness.

The taste was interesting. Gently sweet maple and dark roasted malts morphed into kind of a tart sour creating a sweet-n-sour dynamic that I've not experienced before. The sour hangs on through the end. You can really feel the alcohol in this brew, my tongue was all tingly. However, it tastes strong but not boozy.

Another interesting thing is the initial mouth feel was creamy like I'd expect from an oatmeal stout but then that changed too into something cleaner and smoother.


Personally, I didn't care for the tartness of the beer. It didn't taste wrong, per se, like the beer was spoiled or off. It was just weird for me. I guess I was kind of disappointed, only because I was expected more of a full creamy maple-y experience.  

My husband, on the other hand, liked it and thought it made the beer unique.

I don't overly like sours, he does. So, this is one of those cases where it really is a matter of taste.

Overall: good


I did some looking around at other reviews and we are not the only ones to get a tart/sour flavor from this beer. I asked the brewer for comment.

Note from the brewer: Age was DEFINITELY a factor in your sour results. That beer was expired. . . The other reviews that you found similar were also from people with expired beers. Some stores had left over bottles that were past due, and they never removed them. We've been doing our best to remove all old beers but its out of our hands for people who hold on to them. Our beer is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Some folks also let their beers sit warm for months in a closet instead of a fridge and that also damages our product. 

Mean Old Tom

I haven't met a Maine Beer Company beer I haven't liked.   

When I saw a beer with the name Mean Old Tom on it, I couldn't pass it up.  I have a thing for crotchety men.  I married one, after all (see Old Curmudgeon).

I guess we've all have an angsty poophead in our lives at one time or another.  It's obvious the brewers at Maine beer have!

The back of the bottle of Mean Old Tom reads:

I think it was the summer of ’76, I was 5 years old and my uncle Tom came to paint our house. It was in the tiny town of Louisiana, Missouri, on the mighty Mississippi River, where he would take me to troll the roadside ditches to gather one man’s junk (beer cans). In honor of his magnificent treasure (his beer can collection) and his spirit for fast cars, tough motorcycles and mean smiles, we bring you Mean Old Tom.

Heh, I read that and immediately visualized Walter Matthau in Grumpy Old Men!

So, I bought the beer because I liked the name on the bottle.  Let's see what's inside!









Mean Old Tom (6.50% ABV) pours as black as night but has deep ruby highlights in the glass if the light hits it just right.  It builds a massive mocha colored rootbeer-like head even with a gentle pour. That is some serious foam!  Awesome!


The aroma is like a cup of fresh dark roasted coffee with a touch of dark chocolate and smoke stirred in.

The taste was big on bitter coffee but that was mellowed by a subtle sweetness.  There is a clear dark chocolate presence and a hint of smoke. The vanilla is delicate and nuanced. The aftertaste is dark chocolate and slightly bitter. 

The mouthfeel is full with moderate carbonation.

Mean Old Tom is a well crafted brew.  It's well balanced and flavorful, creamy and delicious!

Overall: very good.

Founders KBS

I've stated previously that my experience with Founders beer has been hit or miss.  I'm finding that, although my preference in beer leans towards a lighter hoppier brew, that when it comes to Founders beer I like their darker beers much better.  They scored some big points in my book with Kentucky Breakfast Stout.  That is a seriously good brew!

KBS (11.2% ABV) is a breakfast stout aged in bourbon barrels.  Other bourbon stouts I've had are aggressive and taste more like bourbon than beer.  The bourbon flavor in this one is a subtle afterthought.  Very nice.

It pours a rich, velvety black with hints of ruby.  The tawny head is creamy but minimal.  

The aroma is roasty coffee with hints of dark chocolate and undertones of bourbon.  Very promising!

The first thing that I noticed when tasted KBS was how full and creamy the mouth feel is, almost luxurious.

The taste is an explosion of coffee, chocolate and toasted malts.  The bourbon flavor builds along with a pleasant boozy warmth and finishes the same.

Despite the high alcohol content, this is a smooth drinking beer.  The alcohol adds character without being distracting.

The flavors and aroma intensify as the beer warms in the glass and enhance the enjoyment of this wonderful beer.

Overall:  Excellent.  Get some! (if you can)





For more information about their beers visit Founder's website or check them out on Facebook.

Three Six Points

I recently wrote a piece about my theory on why beer that is brewed in Brooklyn leaves an odd aftertaste - read here.

Six Point beer,  which is brewed in Brooklyn, is no exception. Except that this odd left over taste is less obvious in their darker beers.  Generally speaking, their beers are pretty good and they very often get rave reviews so I keep going back to try new ones.  But I still get that off taste.

Not to belabor the point or bludgeon a dead horse,  in the following reviews for three different Six Point beers I will not mention it.  However, you may just assume that the off taste is there, because it is.

The Crisp (5.4% ABV) is my favorite Six Point thus far.  Formerly known as Sehr (German for "very) Crisp, it is a pilsner style beer.  It pours a bright honey yellow.  It bubbles up a big airy head that leaves behind layers of lovely lacing.  The Crisp has a nice hoppiness, as is expected, that is meadowlike - grassy, earthy.  What I didn't expect was how malty it was. The maltiness is not particularly sweet but kind of bready.  It's not overpowering, by any means, but it's clearly there and supports the hops quite nicely.  The hops linger at the back of the tongue.  Overall - good.









Brownstone (6% ABV) pours a cloudy caramel color with a rootbeer like head that dissipates quickly.  The aroma is like a malted chocolate cookie.  The taste is reminiscent of a Russian Imperial Stout - malt, coffee and chocolate.  Malty sweetness is strong throughout but finishes with a nice hoppy bite on the tail end.  It's got a medium mouth feel with a lot of effervescence.  A nice balance of sweet and bitter.  Overall - good.







Diesel (6.3% ABV) pours a very dark reddish brown with a thick tan head that leaves behind some impressive lacing.  The aroma is piney hops with cocoa and coffee notes.  The taste is very similar to a black IPA but with a stoutlike coffee and chocolate quality.  The malty sweetness comes through first and then transitions into a nice bitter hoppiness.  The combination of coffee and dark chocolate combined with the earthiness of the hops makes for an interesting balance of flavors.  The mouthfeel is thinner than I'd expect from a stout but exactly what I expect from a black IPA.  Good drinkability.  Overall - very good.

For more information about their different beers check out Six Point's website or visit them on Facebook.