Quick updates

I've updated the Kev's QRG, Beer Fridge, and Kev's Places pages with some recent additions!  More updates to come...CHEERS!

Updates coming soon!

All - I apologize for the general lack of updates lately, there will be posts soon.  

I will be visiting a few breweries in the coming week and hope to share as much information as possible upon my return.  

Until then, some beers I've been enjoying recently:

• Troegs Perpetual IPA
• Lagunitas IPA
• New England Brewing Co 668
• Oskar Blues Deviant Dale's
• Great Divide Hoss
• Alesmith Nut Brown
• St. Bernardus Tokyo

And I recently was able to purchase these three big boys:

• Firestone Walker Wookey Jack
• Firestone Walker Parabola
• Firestone Walker Double DBA

Cheers, may good beers flow for all of you! Also, if you haven't seen the Dark Knight Rises, I highly suggest you do so soon!

Kev's Beer of the Week - Stone IPA

Kev's Beer of the Week ending 7/27/12

 

Stone IPA

Kev Rating: A
Style: American IPA
ABV: 6.90%
IBUs: 77

Availability: Year round
Had: Most recently purchased from Gordon's in Waltham
Region: Escondido, CA

One of my favorite year-round IPAs is from Stone Brewing Company.  There are a few go-to beers I rely on when going to a friend's place or when I'm really just not into the selection of untried craft beer, Stone IPA is one of them.  George turned me on to Stone Pale and Stone IPA a while back and I can't thank him enough.  

This IPA pours a crisp orange/amber color with a nice foamy head - beautiful.  Taking a whiff off the top you can get big notes of citrus hops and a bit of earthiness.  First sip is always a bit of a shock, bitter and clean from all the aggressive hops.  Then it mellows (or your palate simply defends itself) into a fantastic full bodied IPA - more citrus, pineapple, and pine touched so slightly by some malt just for a bit of balance...so good.

I highly recommend this IPA for any IPA lover out there, it WILL become part of your normal rotation!

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!