Beating The Cold With Beer II - Base Camp S'More Stout, Lough Gill Mac Nutty & Rohrbach Cookies and Milk Stout

For the second day in a row, my wife and I found ourselves stuck inside due to outrageously cold temperatures. Fortunately, we had a refrigerator full of beer and no place to go. Another beer tasting seemed to be on the menu for the day and I could not be more excited.


We started things off with Portland, Oregon's Base Camp S'More Stout. I wanted to start here because I wanted something to remind me of warmer days and enjoying a s'more fits that perfectly. The aroma contained a lot of smoke and roastiness, along with some chocolate, coffee and caramelized sugar. It tasted pretty close to the aroma. The smokiness was the first thing I noticed, it certainly added a nice campfire note. Then there was dark chocolate, coffee and caramelized sugar which added a touch of creaminess to the finish. I am assuming that caramelized sugar was supposed to satisfy the marshmallow note but it needed to be bolder. Completely missing was the graham cracker and I found this immensely disappointing. In a s'more, the graham cracker is certainly not the star of the show but it does bring everything together. Missing this key component makes it hard for me to think of this as a s'more stout. If I put that aside and just think of this beer as a chocolate stout, it works fairly well.

Overall rating: 3/5


Next, we decided to “take a trip across the pond” for a beer from Ireland's Lough Gill Brewing Company. MacNutty, a nut brown ale brewed with macadamia nuts should have been right in my wheel house. In the past, I have blogged about how I feel brown ales are a completely underappreciated style. I have also blogged about how I feel people always remember a really bad brown ale. Well, unfortunately, I will always remember this extremely watered down, borderline flavorless beer. It is like drinking a glass of water with a hint of caramel sweetness, a touch of chocolate and a nutty finish that not surprisingly washes away clean. Nothing here tastes particularly bad, there is just barely anything to taste at all. I felt like I was hydrating(which is important) while I was drinking it but that was not what I was looking for on a super cold night.

Overall rating: 1.5/5


Discouraged from the last beer, I opened the fridge and pondered what to drink next. I grabbed a can of Rohrbach's Cookies & Milk Stout while thinking, “when in doubt, drink local.” This line of thinking was rewarded the moment I opened the can. The aroma was chocolate chip cookies in beer form and it was blowing my mind. My mind continued to be blown when the flavor of chocolate chip cookies is what I got on my first sip and every sip after that. It was a touch more on the subtle side at first but the rich chocolate and vanilla flavors only get bolder as it warmed making this even more of a treat. After every sip, I would stare at the glass in disbelief of what I was drinking.  This is a dessert beer that never gets too sweet and delivers exactly what it promises. I admit I am geeking out a little bit as I write this, I did not expect to like this as much as I do. This is a really great beer and I am thrilled it is brewed in my hometown.

Overall rating: 4.25/5

I think we did a solid job beating the cold, I wonder how we will beat the snow? Cheers & stay warm!


Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Beating The Cold With Beer - Oskar Blues 2015 Tequila Barrel Aged Gubna Imperial IPA, Night Shift Village Lager, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

It is absolutely freezing in the Northeast. Temperatures are below zero, wind chills are below zero and I am fairly certain we now live on Hoth. The good news is there is hope in the forecast ahead and slightly warmer days are on the way. For right now though, the best bet to beat the weather is to stay inside. What I mean by that is, stay inside and open some fantastic beers.


Last night, I took a very long look at what was in the refrigerator and after some careful deliberation, I decided to open up a can of Oskar Blues Gubna Imperial IPA Aged in Tequila Barrels. I was particularly intrigued by this beer because it was canned on December 16, 2015. A little over two years is a lot of time to change a beer and when I took my whiff of the aroma I saw the first casualty of aging was that the hop bite had drastically faded. The aroma of bready malt, wood, caramel and some earthiness stood out the most, with just a little bit of tequila in the background. When I took my first sip, I was not sure what to think. It was woody, earthy, bready and spicy, and while this should not have been surprising it somehow caught me off guard. As I worked my way a little deeper into the glass, I started to fall in love with it. There were some really interesting notes that began to emerge as it started to warm a little. There were nice hints of citrus, mango and pineapple. The tequila was there too and that kept confusing my senses. It was like merging irresponsible college drinking and responsible craft beer appreciation. In this beer, worlds were colliding and eventually I found a way to love it even more. Like the Rum Barrel Aged Death By Coconut I reviewed a few weeks ago, Oskar Blues has another barrel aged winner here. I hope to try this one fresh one day to see how it compares with the 2 year old version. For tonight however, this 11% treat provided a nice bit of warmth on this cold night.

Overall rating: 4.25/5


When it gets cold out, I sometimes crave a lager. I think this has to do with great memories I have drinking lagers on cold nights in college, as well as some fantastic nights drinking PBR in the backyard of one of my favorite bars. After some pondering, I settled on Night Shift Brewing's Village Lager and it was delicious. It seemed to hit all of the flavor notes I was looking for. It was grainy, bready, slightly fruity and had a nice bit of spice on a finish that was crisp and clean. At 4.8%, Village Lager is perfectly sessionable and is something I would love to regularly have in my refrigerator.

Overall rating: 4/5


Finally, I opened my last bottle of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. While there was nothing to celebrate on this cold night, Celebration Ale remains a seasonal favorite in our household. This is a beer I largely attribute my love of craft beer to. I do not think it is necessary to break down its flavor notes. This is one of those beers you should have already tried.

Overall rating: It's awesome!


That wraps up my first night of beer tasting to beat the cold. While this particular weather event is not as bad as I assumed it would be, it certainly has left me with no desire to leave my couch. For me, this is just one of those times of year where there is nothing better to do than stay in, read a book, write a blog, watch tv or play video games. Then again, I try to find a reason to do those at any time of year, so I guess the cold does not matter. Stay warm out there, everybody! Cheers!



Rating Scale:
1. Repugnant and undrinkable
2. Acceptable but forgettable
3. Good, worth a purchase
4. Excellent, a step above the norm
5. Truly Exceptional. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!