Black Beer Affair

Last night a buddy and I went to the 3rd Annual Black Beer Affair at Gordon's Wine & Liquors in Waltham.   It was my second in a row and Nick's first.  Upon walking in, checking your name off, scoping out the tables and food...you're given a check list of beers.  This is always the best and worst part of the night for me.  See, I LOVE Black Beers (dark beers of all shapes & sizes) so this is a double edged sword.  I've been aggressively hunting dark beer for quite some time.   So surprising me with a beer I haven't had before is difficult, especially at an event trying to please the general public. 

Below is the run down of the beers at the event...of them I had only NOT tried five (5).  While this is a small number, there was one on there that makes up for it - The Bruery's Black Tuesday.  This is an annually released Bourbon Barrel Aged stout that is only released at The Bruery, so getting it here in Boston is...difficult to say the least.  The BBA only had one bottle to share with about 50 people, so I only had a few swigs in my glass, but man were they fantastic.  I will continue my pursuit of getting a bottle of this to have & hold.

More exciting to me was sharing my knowledge of these beers with Nick, he is a fellow beer geek, home brewer, and all around beer lover.  So, going from table to table with him and enjoying so many great beers was fantastic.  As he said as we dropped him off, "can't wait to do it again next year".   Well said.   Big shout-out to my loving wife for being our personal chauffeur - thanks Bex!

Table 1:
Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter: A
Mayflower Barrel Aged Imperial Stout: A
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout '09: A+
The People's Pint Imperial Stout '08: B
Victory Dark Intrigue (barrel aged): A-
Cellar Special - The Bruery Black Tuesday '11: A+

Table 2: 
Samuel Adams 13th Hour: C
Alesmith Speedway Stout: A
Founders Imperial Stout: A
Oskar Blues Ten FIDY: A
Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon: A-
Blue Hills Three Peak Holiday Stout: B
Cellar Special - Brooklyn Black Ops '11: A+

Table 3:
Uinta Labyrinth Black Ale: A-
Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous: B+
Mystic Barrel Aged Descendant (Gordon's Exclusive): B
Weyerbacher Tiny: A-
Founders CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout): A+
Cellar Special - Firestone Walker Parabola '10: A+

Table 4:
Dupont Monk's Stout: B-
Mikkeller Beer Geek Brunch Weasel: A
Mikkeller Beer Geek Hop Breakfast: B+
Haandbryggeriet Aquavit Barrel Aged Porter: B
De Molen Hel & Verdominis: A
Cellar Special - Great Lakes Barrel Aged Blackout Stout '10: A+

Special Draft: Firestone Walker XV: A (first time having on draft vs. bottle)

Above, the beers that are italicized are the beers that I hadn't had before.  Technically six as I hadn't had Firestone Walker XV on draft, but have had in the bottle. 

If you have the opportunity to go to events like this, for a reasonable price ($25), please do so.  It is a great way to try MANY awesome beers for one low price.  The staff from Gordon's was knowledgeable and not afraid to share their opinions of these brews; this is a nice change as they do not work for the breweries and can be honest as they pour.  To top it off, this event was catered by Soul Fire BBQ in Allston - yum.