A Brief Interlude: Old Chub

      I just opened a nice can of Old Chub from Oskar Blues Brewing.  It's really good.  Go and get some.  I just noticed that the front of the can says " It's Like Sputnik " WTF.  On the back it says " A Virtual Planetoid " ok.  Are they saying Sputnik was a virtual planetoid?  It wasn't a " virtual " anything.  But who the fuck knows. It smells of drug addled hippies.  Hippies who make great beer.  Why are you reading this instead of going to get some Old Chub.  Oops, that's a picture of the old can, no Sputnik.

Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

      Founders is a new brewery for me out of Michigan, so I hope for good things from them. Dirty Bastard pours out a dark red brown with a strong wine, mocha, dried fruit and alcohol nose.  The flavors are pretty strong.  Big mocha, plum, tingly hop, some herb and some awesome.  I really like Scotch Ale, but this is extraordinary. It's strong, full of flavor, heavy and Scottish,  so it's not crap.  I would highly recommend this to non pussies who like a big strong beer.  A big winner.

St. George Winter Scotch Ale

      I love me some Scotch Ale.  This is a seasonal from the VA based St. George Brewery.  It pours out a dark orange amber and has a weak mocha nose.  The flavor, however has a lot going on.  There's a weighty dried fruit Flavor as well as mocha, burnt caramel and vanilla.  This is a strange mix of tastes that works for me, but others could find this pretty odd.  I think I'll try this again if it comes out next year, but I'm not telling you to run out and get it.  Interesting though.

Duck Rabbit Wee Heavy Scotch Ale

     If you've been paying attention, I love everything Duck Rabbit makes.  So far I have loved each of their beers so much, that I have composed a poem to celebrate their greatness.  This is one of their two seasonals for the Winter,  and I can't wait.  Wee Heavy pours out a very colorful red-orange.  The nose is heavy with fruits and alcohol, ummm alcohol.  The flavors are amazing.  It has concentrated fruits, a jammy apricot like flavor, kind of like a lot of Barleywine's.  There's also a deep dark burnt caramel, in a really good way,  and even a peaty sort of flavor you might find in a single malt.  This is a very unique beer.  I can see how some wussies might find this too heavy and too strong, but they can go sip a wine cooler and shut up. Wee Heavy is warm and cozy perfect for guzzling in front of the fire during the long cold Winter.  Travel to wherever they have this and purchase it immediately.  Even if you have to fly.  I will now compose a Haiku too express my love for this beer.

Wee Heavy Winter
I bask in your warm embrace

The snow melts away    

The Pike Kilt Lifter Ruby Ale

Another beer with a fine name and some promise. Kilt Lifter is from The Pike Brewery out of Seattle Washington. A ruby ale? Let's take a look. Kilt Lifter pours out a dark amber to copper color. The nose is a strong sweet caramel with a touch of bitter. This stuff has a lot of sweet caramel and malt up front, than the hops slowly ramp up becoming quite strong on the finish. There's nice body here and the alcohol is evident even though it's only 6.5%. The flavors are very well balanced, with maybe a bit much hop on the finish. However you only notice it the first couple sips. The sign of a good beer it seems to get better as I pound it. This is a really good beer. I would buy this again in a heartbeat. Go find it.