Boulevard Sixth Glass Quadruple isn't as sweet as Kangaroos

I'm at my brother's house the night before the other half of the family takes off for Utah. I'm able to check out my Christmas gift to Warren, a Kangaroo skin for his new house, which I'm sure his fiance will be thrilled about. Several years ago my brother gave me a prized gift after spending a semester abroad, a Kangaroo testicle beer opener. It's a gift I treasure greatly for it's uniqueness, ball puns, awkward situations and general hilariousness. It was featured in several posts last year:

I took a trip to Sydney in September and decided it was imperative to return the favor. Days before I left Warren closed the deal on a house in Houston and a housewarming present was in order. Before any PETA followers stop reading the blog, let me say that these pelts are sold at any novelty market in Aussieland and Roos are as prevalent and detrimental to crops as deer are in the states. This pelt is plush and majestic and I'm excited to see where Warren puts it, and then which closet his fiance eventually throws it in.

Doesn't it look like a furry stingray to you?

Anywho, onto beer. I have the final entry from the anticipated Boulevard Brewing from Kansas City. It's receiving a Texan homecoming at Warren's house.

Mr. Armadillo asks what the hell you're looking at, buster.

The Quadruple pours a huge head and is way over carbonated. There's a fine brown sugar quality but otherwise it's surprisingly un-complex. I expect more from a quad but you also can't tell that it's 10.5%. Not complex but drinkable, a nice dessert to a wonderful evening with brother. TRANSFORMERS rating.

We Are Back!

It's been a couple months since we last posted, but David and I are getting back in the game! I could give excuses about our absence, like I was working constantly at advertising grad school or David was making it happen...

Like a boss, except he doesn't send faxes anymore. A boss doesn't do that, only college interns...once they learn what the hell a facsimile is. Kids probably think it's a type of emoticon.  If video killed the radio star, everything else killed the fax machine. Well, they had a good 15 years.

Anywho, the point is 2012 is a new year and we're going to continue where we left off; exploring new beers hoping to inspire people to experience craft beer they've never heard of before. The twist is, David and I are no longer living together. There were no divorce lawyers involved, although I did end up with the beer brewing kit (sadly sitting in storage).

I now live in San Francisco and David in Los Angeles. Even though we're only separated by a 5 hour drive, thanks to the odd character of beer distribution, we'll be tasting a wider selection of beer and probably creating more of an online conversation with each other and you, the community. I hope our 3 month sabbatical didn't turn you away from Milk Is For Babies, because there's a great deal more in store.

I for one am going to publish a few back-dated entries that I've written but for one reason or another, haven't posted, including the final beer in the beer every day year, beer 400. We'll still be drinking and writing, usually at the same time, just not each day. We hope you tune in and let your friends know!

Avery The Czar Imperial Russian Stout solves a mystery

It's two days after Christmas and my great aunt has shed mystery within the house. The man trapped within the painting in the living room turns out to be Uncle Jedediah. The parental units hung it up because the person was family, but they couldn't remember who it was. Apparently Aunt Sara told us that he was used when she was growing up up to scare the children into eating their vegetables. To me he looks like a distinguished Russian Tsar.

Avery's Czar is 55 IBU's throws down with 10.57% alcohol. There's a subtle and well balanced coffee and chocolate roastyness in the smell. The mouth is subtle as well, the chocolate and coffee and roast blending together for an up front sweetness and dry finish that results in a balanced complexity.  This isn't kingly, like an AleSmith Speedway Stout, but it still deserves royalty. The Prince? Well as it warms up the alcohol comes through with a sharpness. How about a Duke? Not The Duke, John Wayne, but maybe a Duke of Westchester. Duke of Greeley? This beer has changed slightly, like what I know of Greeley. One of David and I's close friends Dan is from Greeley Colorado, the state where Avery is also based. When I first met Dan he told me there wasn't much to the city, but I found out later from my cousins that Greely is actually known for its enormous amount of shit. It's the fertilazer capital of America. Nonetheless, this beer and my friend Dan, better known as Danimal, is way above that shit. THE ROCK rating.

For dessert, I'm watching a Band of Brothers episode, enjoying some a Christmas gift from my parent's wine tasting friends, from a Chocolate store in Napa. Chocolate and an imperial russian stout pair deliciously together. Chomp, gulp!

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Juniper Black Ale is a boozy dessert

On the heels of the Beer Camp Weizenboch comes an 8% Juniper Black ale that sounds very enticing. Both these beers are high in alcohol for their style and I'm convinced that these people at beer camp just want to get drunk on the good stuff. And I have to say...good for you!

This is delicious as hell (happy berfday Jesus, sorry). There is a smooth roast with only a small but tasty spicy bite to it thanks to the juniper. It's especially amazing with the ice cream and pairs like a like a liquid syrup. . I'd say it's THE ROCK rating. This is a beer I would like to gather more of and share with my friends.

Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Weizenbock is a homebrewer's dream come true

Merry Christmas! I awoke from a Brandy Alexander induced 5 hour post Christmas power nap. Oops. Somebody got a little sauced at Christmas. Happens to the best of us. I even missed the Lakers losing, which makes me sad that I missed that.  But thankfully I have a holdout from the summer to get me back into the Christmas drinking spirit.

This is a holdout from the summer months that I bought and held onto. The Sierra Nevada Beer Camp is a really great idea and epitomizes the spirit of Craft Beer - collaboration, passion for beer and creating unique products. Applicants send in a video on why they should be invited to the Sierra Nevada brewery one weekend in August. The winners are formed into a small team and together they brainstorm a beer recipe and brew it that weekend. It sounds like a wonderful, dream come true experience for any home brewer and if I hadn't been behind on my application for the Miami Ad School, I would have applied. Now you'll know what I'll be doing this June!

The Weizenbock is a surprising 6.8%, a bit high for the style but on par with the Weihenstephaner Vitus.  The aroma is incredibly sweet and quite yeasty. The pour leaves the brew cloudy from the unfiltered wheat flakes. Their are flavors of apple and other citrus. This would've been a deeelightful summer beer on the porch, but it goes just as well with me Ma's roast beast (beef) on Christmas. Happy holidays everyone. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Saint Arnold Stout and Sailing Santa are not inspiring a miracle on 34th street

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for a chubby mouse, because I was out delivering gifts to family friends, who then graciously invited me in to drink their beer and eat their cheese. Warm houses and friends and round bellies, that is the Christmas spirit. The Hamels, who I'll be skiing with next week and whose wedding I went to last year (the reference below on the napkin), offered me a brew I had seen on local shelves but had not acquired.

The Saint Arnold brewery is for the moment, the only local Houston brewery, and we visited it around this time last year (St. Arnold Brewery Tour). From what I can gather the Stout is one of their newer additions and a departure from their typically German style of brewing. It's billed as a seasonal 'Winter Stout' and clocks in at 5.6% alcohol. There is subtle roast aroma and the body is light, giving credence to debunking the myth that all dark beers are heavy. Only Guinness tastes heavy people, and it still has fewer calories than Bud Light (give or take). This Stout has flavors of coffee and a hint of chocolate, but otherwise this is more of a beer to consume rather than enjoy because it lacks a robust character. If I'm out at a bar this week and it's on tap, I'll enjoy ordering it, but don't go out of your way. ARMAGEDDON rating.

This is the first entry I will have posted since drinking a beer every day for 400 days. Since I'm no longer drinking on the straight and narrow, I can drink on the far and wide, which makes for a poor saying but a truthful fortune; i.e., drinking multiples of large beers in one day will make me F-A-T like Jolly Saint Nick.

Speaking of, leave it to me to only just now decorate the Christmas tree with my personal ornaments the night before Christmas. Fortunately, I have found just the man to help me get far and wide tonight.

Sailing, surfing, Santa does it all. Saint Arnold is also attempting some dexterity with their Sailing Santa, which is a blend of their fantastic Elissa IPA and their delightful Christmas Ale. What rating will the Sailing Santa receive for Christmas?

Well, Santa likes to party with a heartwarming 7%. The IPA really shows through with grapefruit and citrus flavors following a subdued hoppy bitterness. This combines with an unfortunately light spice from the Christmas ale. I'm not feeling the greatness of an inspired blend here. What made the Elissa IPA so fantastic was the clean, razor like bitterness of the hops. And the spice in the Christmas Ale, like Rudolph's Red nose, was the star of the show. Here, St. Arnold has combined the two only to mute the best characteristics of each.

Like the stout, Sailing Santa is a fine drinking beer, but why drink a dull combination when you can drink a smaller bottle of each, right? Maybe use a straw and can mix them together in your mouth? That doesn't make sense but neither does a surfing Santa. Board shorts in the Arctic? Come on! Where's his dry suit? ARMAGEDDON rating and Merry Christmas to all. 

The Bruery 4 Calling Birds spices up my last night in San Francisco

I partied hard last night to celebrate the end of school at a Christmas themed party, where there was Maker's Mark and Fernet on tap, which is David's wet dream, but arrrgh. I hate it. Fernet is the worst. The hipsters up in San Fran love it with ginger ale, but I still can't handle the licorice and spiced fused concoction. Spice seems to be the theme of week though.

Today I turned in my portfolio, outlining several campaigns I helped create over the last three months during school. The lead campaign in my portfolio was actually a personal one, this blog. It was really interesting looking back on the year and why I initially began the blog. The retrospective has my wheels turning. I finished an epic year of beer every day, now what happens? How do I approach writing the blog now? My goal last year was simply to finish the year, and after beer 365, I decided to continue until the round number of 400. 3 months have passed without a post. This is the beginning of a new era, the renewal of my exploration of craft beer. What is my goal now? I have ideas but will hone in on something more specific in the new year.

Until then, I return to my favorite brewery and one of its most epic beer series, The Bruery's 12 Days of Christmas. This year it's 4 Calling Birds. A Partridge and a Pear Tree was before my time with The Bruery, 2 Turtle Doves was a tour de force, 3 French Hens was a powerful dark belgian strong ale, but how will 4 Calling Birds deliver?

An astronaut playing the banjo is my portfolio cover. It seems odd but it says what it needs to.  For instance, Space is awesome and I'm a nerd. Deep stuff.

4 Calling Birds is an 11% dark ale brewed with gingerbread like spice. You can age it for 8 years but I couldn't let a Christmas go past without at least trying it. In the Christmas spirit, I want to say I'm thankful for having a completed portfolio, to be enjoying my favorite craft brewery, not being a student any longer, and seeing my family tomorrow in Houston. I appreciate the indulgence of Christmas like spices here, but after a half a glass down, I'm not thankful for the spicy qualities, which are overwhelming.

A couple more sips gulps later and the brew still isn't integrating with the spices well. This is an example of The Bruery doing what they do well, a dark strong belgian ale, like their Cuadruple (made with agave), but the spices could definitely be more subtle. The Two Turtle Doves was orgasmic, it was so complex. This year they went more Christmasy and less belgian, and the result is a 'spirited' brew. With the robustness of this spice, this is a beer to share with others and not alone, but I'll finish it all the same. The Bruery rocks, unfortunately, this is not The Rock. TRANSFORMERS rating.

Bruery Black Tuesday and Melange #3 complete my life

I'm in Los Angeles for the weekend after booking spur of the moment tickets last week. My portfolio for ad school is due Wednesday and I wanted to get out of town and have my mind off it for a bit, so I'm back in the town I've called home for the last 9 years. We hear from Karl that there's an incredibly special beer pouring at The Bruery Provisions store, and of course that's the one place we don't really need an excuse to visit in the first place. Is it true that Black Tuesday is pouring here? Will we be too late?!

Black Tuesday, as you can read on the label below, is an Imperial Stout Aged in Bourbon Barrels. It's over 18% alcohol and it's been a Holy Grail for David and I for years now.

Every year the Bruery creates the opportunity to purchase a bottle of the brew online on a Tuesday and pick it up at the Bruery a week later. They sell out quickly and the website frequently crashes, so we've never been able to buy a bottle. But apparently The Bruery has made more this year. It's one of the highest rated beers on Beeradvocate, I believe, and it should be. Look at the price of the bottles on eBay:

Anyway, so we arrive and they not only have the Black Tuesday on tap, but the special edition Melange #3 which is 15.5% is also available. I'm stoked! These are beers off my bucket list. 

So the Melange #3 is a blend of three bourbon barrel aged strong ales. White Oak Sap is a wheat wine, especially made for the Melange, is combined with The Bruery anniversary series old ale (I believe the Cuir) and the imperial stout, Black Tuesday. Talk about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It's the beer on the left in the picture. It has an incredibly complex palate with chocolate, dark fruits, oak, vanilla and rich toffee. I mean, wow, so smooth. You can barely taste the alcohol too. It's one of those beers I could drink every day for the rest of my life. For $8 we are poured 4 oz of the Melange and 2oz of the Black Tuesday, on the right.

The Black Tuesday is aged in bourbon barrels for over a year and it has rich caramel, toasted malt, vanilla, and anise as some of the flavors. What's amazing is not only the complexity, but how well hidden the alcohol is. This is the 3rd beer I've tasted that's 18% and you can barely taste the alcohol. The other two were made by Dogfish Head, and the alcohol comes through like a hammer. Here it's a feather pillow. If the Melange is a beer I could wish to drink everyday, the Black Tuesday is my Friday night after work and special events drink. It's too powerful and too amazing to be drunk everyday, there needs to be an occasion, albeit a weekly occasion to drink this. What I love about the Bruery is they could make a living off making these two beers, but they're innovators and would become bored only making two beers. But God I wish they would. If these and a Bruery Mischief are the only beers in my beer closet for the rest of my life, I would survive.

After only drinking 6 oz of beer, both of us have a weird buzz going on. It's a very heady, kind of high, buzz because while we sipped these, the sips were incredibly potent and hit us all at once. Wild to be buzzed on half a can of beer. I must be feeling goofy because for these beers, I'd rather not be buzzed and continue drinking their complexity. But you can't always get what you want, right?

These beers were on my bucket list and I feel so incredibly appreciative towards life after drinking something this fantastic. Sounds a little sappy but true, it's pure greatness. The Black Tuesday has a 98 out of 100 rating on beer advocate: B.A. Black Tuesday. Like Spinal Tap's drummers, I'm a bit worried about spontaneous combustion right now. BAD BOYS rating to both, obviously. Thank you David for driving down here.