Kev's Beer of the Week Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Bean

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/20/12

 

Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean

Kev Rating: B+
Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.90%
IBUs: 53

Availability: Limited
Had: Most recently purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Escondido, CA

The Stone Smoked Porter has always been a delicious offering from Stone - good in the bottle, great on tap!  It's a nice bridge between a Porter with smokey notes and a German style Rauchbier.  If you have been on the fence about trying something with "smoked" in the name, don't be, it's worth it.  

That brings us to the two variations Stone recently released in the bottle - Smoked Porter with Chipotle and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean.  Because I'm a week behind in my Beer's of the Week I'm doing a rapid fire - Chipotle for 7/13 week and Vanilla for 7/20 week.

Second up is the Smoked Porter made with Vanilla Bean.  I enjoyed this one a bit more than the Chipotle, but that shouldn't surprise too many of you.  It hit me more with the sweetness of the vanilla bean with some coconut which really enhanced the coffee and chocolate notes of the original porter. 

If you were slightly disappointed with the Maine Beer Co Mean Old Tom - less and less vanilla with each batch, then this one may remind you that you can put a bit more vanilla and not lose the original malt & chocolate notes you're looking for.  I even picked up another bottle to age for a bit to see if it matures.

Kev's Beer of the Week Smoked Porter w/ Chipotle Peppers

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/13/12

 

Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle Peppers

Kev Rating: B
Style: American Porter
ABV: 5.90%
IBUs: 53

Availability: Limited
Had: Most recently purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Escondido, CA

The Stone Smoked Porter has always been a delicious offering from Stone - good in the bottle, great on tap!  It's a nice bridge between a Porter with smokey notes and a German style Rauchbier.  If you have been on the fence about trying something with "smoked" in the name, don't be, it's worth it.  

That brings us to the two variations Stone recently released in the bottle - Smoked Porter with Chipotle and Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean.  Because I'm a week behind in my Beer's of the Week I'm doing a rapid fire - Chipotle for 7/13 week and Vanilla for 7/20 week.

First off is the Smoked Porter made with Chipotle Peppers.  Now, most of you that know me know I will eat anything...except for spicy food.  I've had a few pepper beers before and some have been way too spicy for me (looking at you Throwback Brewery) and some have been great (Left Hand).  However, the Chipotle is there yet not the highlight of the show.  The always tasty Smoked Porter is still the main attraction but is balanced nicely with a bit of heat on the back wave of the sip.  You can still taste the chocolate and coffee notes from the Smoked Porter and as it warms get a bit more of the heat from the Chipotle peppers - really nice variation on the original. 

For those of you out there that want big bad pepper notes (looking at you JP & Nick), this one may disappoint, but for the rest of you that just want a hint of the Chipotle, this one hits the mark!

Kev's Beer of the Week - MO Pale Ale

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/6/12

 

Maine Beer Company Mo (Madeline & Oliver) Pale Ale

Kev Rating: A-
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.00%
IBUs: ?

Availability: Rotating in small batches
Had: Most recently purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Portland, ME

If you've been following along, and I know you have, you'll know that I have enjoyed the small batches of beer being produced by the Maine Beer Company (Lunch IPA, Zoe, Mean Old Tom, Peeper, and MO).  MO is an American Pale Ale named after head brewer Daniel's twins (Madeline & Oliver). 

After I opened it up, it was a beautiful orange/red hazy color with a full white head.  The nose was full of citrusy goodness.  The first sip was way more hoppy than I had anticipated...but still balanced.  Most Pale Ales are more balanced with the malt & hops, but this one definitely leans in the hops favor.  The malt is there and provides balance, but the citrus is strong with pineapple and fruit.  The finish was incredibly dry & crisp - a great way to end this fantastic beer.

If you have a chance to pick up a MO, I highly recommend doing so.  I've sent one out to California to my friend Morgan (MO) and brought one recently to a BBQ.  They're still hard to come by, but hopefully the more we all support the Maine Beer Co, the more batches they'll be able to make!

 

Kev's Beer of the Week - White Oak

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 6/29/12

 

The Bruery White Oak

Kev Rating: B+
Style: Wheatwine (50% bourbon barrel aged)
ABV: 11.5%
IBUs: 20

Availability: Limited
Had: Purchased at Gordon's in Watertown
Region: Placentia, CA

Notes from The Bruery: "White Oak is a blended beer-- 50% wheatwine aged in Bourbon barrels (we call it "White Oak Sap"), and 50% Mischief (our Golden Strong Ale). Vivid caramel, coconut and vanilla flavors blanketed in a crisp yet robust wheat ale, White Oak is an exercise of balance."

 

I've been looking forward to bringing this beer to share with some friends and finally had an opportunity this past weekend.  Nick & I popped it open and poured it out.  It had a beautiful hazy orange color with a thick white head.  The nose was definitely bourbon with some gentle wheat coming through.  First sip was more wheat and malt than bourbon for me.  It then opened up nicely with the caramel and vanilla notes.  

 

While I've had many Barleywines, this is only my second Wheatwine (Boogoop being my first).  I definitely think this one is worth a purchase, especially when sharing with a group.  It goes down nice and easy, but has those really nice bourbon notes to keep it really interesting!  

 

Cheers & Happy 4th of July to all of you out there on the Interwebs!