Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

Brewer: Rogue

Style: Brown Ale

ABV: 4.8%

The first thing to be said about this brew is it has an amazing aroma, as soon as I opened it my kitchen was filled with the rich sent of hazelnut. It was rather intoxicating. The initial pour released a thick foaming head and watching the reddish brown color appear below the head created a beautiful contrast.

Ok I was a little overzealous with the pour but what can ya do?

The flavor of this beer is primarily hazelnut with a nice malty finish. The hazelnut isn't like the syrup you'd add to your "on every corner" coffee. It gives a lingering hazelnut aftertaste that is quite enjoyable.

Rogue continues with the use of their pacman yeast which gives their beer its distinct flavor. With a low IBU of 33 there is really no bite to this beer and it has a very smooth character.

All in all I would give this beer a B+. Granted I'm not a huge brown ale drinker but this is one I would like to keep around and enjoy from time to time.

Keep on drinkin'

Roy

More of my photography

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

I really wanted to do a specific beer for my first review, but unfortunately I could not get the 750ml bottle cold fast enough. My patience wore thin, and I decided to have this fine beer instead.

I picked this up at the Total Wine and More in Fairfax.

This beer hails from Bell's Brewery in Comstock, MI and comes in at 6.1% ABV. It's listed as a sweet stout and seems perfect enough for the winter months. It pours a dark brown sugar color, with not much head. It has a slightly bitter, yet sweet, chocolaty taste in the beginning. Better yet, it actually has a taste that lingers around well after, turning more roasty at the end. It is certainly a heavy beer, but one can expect that from most stouts.

My favorite style of beer is stout. It's great to see so many stouts come alive during the winter season. These beers are the "comfort food" of alcoholic beverages, and the Bell's Special Double Cream Stout is no different.

I will probably tend to stray from numeric ratings, as I have an unsophisticated palate, but I give this beer a thumbs-up. I give this beer an A-

-Bo

Founders Breakfast Stout

Brewer: Founders Brewing Company
Style: American Imperial Stout
ABV: 8.5%
Country: USA, Michigan

I'll kick things off on this blog by reviewing Founder's Breakfast Stout. I've had this before and thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted a nice excuse to drink it again.

I picked this up as a four pack from the fine gents at the Ashburn Wine Shop.

The bottle lists this as a double chocolate coffee oatmeal stout. With those kind of modifiers, 60 IBU, and a 8.5% alcohol content, you know this bottle packs a wallop.

The brew poured bubbles out of the bottle with a thick viscosity leaving a thin caramel head. It was as dark as oil with no light shining through the glass. Swirling around the glass, it left a thick, sticky trail of bubbles.

I fell in love with the aroma immediately. A sturdy coffee fragrance was complemented with a rich, dark chocolate scent. Images of Starbucks and milkshakes danced through my mind. I could inhale this all day without getting tired of it.

The first sip was thick and creamy. The body on this is wonderfully heavy. A strong flavor of the toasted malts shined through with wonderful flavors of creamy-roasted chocolate, dark coffee, and hints of earthy oak. A slight taste of alcohol leaked through and hinted at the amount concealed within.

The feel going down was warming and pleasing. The hints of bitter coffee lingered for awhile after drinking this. This is so good I had a hard time savoring this and I gulped it down quicker than I ought to have. This was certainly one of the best stouts I've ever had and I'll need a good excuse to buy more of this sooner than later. Forget about breakfast, this is so darn thick and creamy I would have it as a post workout meal.

Overall I'd give this a 5/5 stars. Update: We're switching to a grading system so I'll give this a good 'ol A+

This is an excellent beer that I could drink any time of the day. If you find this do yourself a favor and pick up a couple of packs.

Thanks to my lovely wife Marley for the photos. Check out her site for more: http://marleyphoto.oliad.com/

Introduction

This blog is going to be dedicated to all things beer. Roy, Alex, and I will be submitting daily (we hope) posts on reviews of beers, events to look out for in the beer world, musings about homebrewing, etc. We hope that anyone out there who stumbles upon this blog enjoys our work, because we certainly do :)

-Bo