Blue Dawg Wild Blue

      Blue Dawg, got that name sucks,  brings us a Blueberry Lager.  It pours out insanely purple with a strong Blueberry soda nose.  Yeah.  And it is in fact just an alcoholic blueberry soda.  It has no beer like qualities.  Now I think it's a very nice beverage.  One you should give a try, especially if your a wuss that loves fruity girl drinks.  I don't know where this hides its 8% ABV, you can't taste it.  This would be great stuff to get girls drunk with.  I prefer every other blueberry beer I've tried to this, cause they were beers.  Still, an interesting beverage.

Lagunitas Pils

      Lagunitas brings us a Czech style Pilsner, Pils.  I like Lagunitas, they are the only ones who seem to make staggeringly hopped beers that achieve perfect balance.  Pils has sweet caramel on the nose and pours out a clear medium gold.  Wow, Pils is nice and crisp with very nice caramels, and great mild herb and citrus hop flavor.  Also notable is the 6.2 % ABV,  which gives it a nice presence in the mouth.  This is a really nice beer that I think would drub any actual Czech Beers.  Which would be a good idea,  American VS Czech.  Maybe I'll do that after the Spring Tourney.

Cow Fight Final: The Beat Down in the Barnyard: Bag VS Hand

      Long Trail's Bag destroyed The Thunder while Left Hand crushed The Caster.  Now the final powerful struggle between these two courageous killer cow competitors commences.  Bag has a big body nice complex flavors, although there's a touch of an off flavor on the finish, maybe.  The Hand brings those big mocha flavors and a nice touch of sweetness.  That's a weaker body on this warrior though.  Maybe Hand can get a finesse win.  The Bag steps up again with that great mouth feel and honey alcohol vibe.  Bags flavors even stand up to the big mocha of The Hand.  Hands purity of flavor has the edge, but it needs more heft and as always more alcohol.  While the straight flavors of The Hand shine,  The Bag brings a lovely complexity with its caramel, honey citrus and herb flavors.  While both of these cows are fierce fighters The Bag throws a vicious blow to the tenderloin sending The Hand to the canvas.  The Bag steps on the throat of his fallen foe, ending it.
      While both of these beers are good the Double Bag is the one I would hands down recommend first.  It's interesting flavors, superior body and of course it's 8% ABV,  make it a winner.  This is one you need to try,  I will get more soon.  Although with the Spring Beer Tourney coming up I don't know when I'll find the time.

Cow Fight 2: Milk Stout Mayhem: Lancaster VS Left Hand

      Lancaster produced a very nice Winter Beer,  while the last time we saw Left Hand they were over hopping some Pale Ale.  Here we have two milk stouts we will call The Caster and The Hand, in a one on one, bone crushing cow conflagration.  First up in this titanic struggle for cow dominance is The Caster.  Caster brings a sweet and sour flavor with nice light mocha.  A pleasant flavor to be sure, but the body has the stature of Verne Troyer.  The Hand has a bit of that lactose sweetness, but lacks the sour note of The Caster.  What it does have is more traditional big stout flavors of mocha and coffee.  Also, The Hand has some weight behind him unlike his opponent.  The Caster has a unique flavor and it's a pleasant enough fellow.  However, in a fight, The Hand has much bigger flavors and a bigger body.  The better to crush the Caster in it's steely grasp.  The Hand wins easily by submission.

Cow Fight: Moo Thunder VS Double Bag

      Everyone Knows that cows are vicious animals always looking for a good scrap.  Just work with me here.  Due to the violent and unpredictable nature of cows, I thought I would take some cow themed beers and have them fight to the finish.  First up is Butternuts Moo Thunder, truly a fear some name, versus Long Trail Double Bag.  A fearsome name for a different reason.  What guy doesn't fear ending up with a double bagger.  Thunder is a farmhouse stout and Bag is a strong ale.  Let's begin with, Thunder versus, The Bag.
      The Bag struts out citrus herb hop through to the finish, and caramel, jam, honey and a hint of yeast.  The flavors are nice, but what sets apart The Bag is it's big full body.  That almost syrupy thickness that feels so nice in the mouth.  Next up is Thunder with a heap of vanilla, some mocha and a bit of that earthy farmhouse flavor.  Very nice, but Thunder has the body of Stephen Hawking.  Very weak for a stout.  The Bags substantial flavors and powerful body sweep away the stout flavors with but a sip.  Another pull on Thunder brings its flavors to the fore.  The Bag is strong, it stomps on the puny  Moo Beer.  Bag Crush.
      The Thunder on it's own might have been pretty good, the flavors are nice.  It just was like water next to Double Bag.  The bag has everything, flavor, crisp hop, body, balance and most importantly, lots of alcohol.  The Bag reigns triumphant.

Heavy Seas Siren Noire

      Oh,  Heavy Seas you produce such good beers,HERE and then utterly undrinkable garbage, HERE and HERE.  So to get back to just mediocre they need a winner.  Of course,  Imperial Chocolate Stout, sounds like a winner to me.  Noire, of course, pours out black as night with a staggering amount of chocolate on the nose.  There's nice hop bite all around strong chocolate and mocha flavors. This has a heavy body with a buttery quality to it.  The chocolate flavors have amazing depth and quality. I could see how some would complain that it's not that beer like, being more alcoholic chocolate.  I would disagree, I think there's enough hop here to bring it into the realm of beer.  I loved Young's Double Chocolate Stout, but this is way better.  This is great, the chocolate lover will adore this.  One of my favorites,  although this is not an easy drinking beer, more a dessert.

Scuttlebutt Amber Ale

      Scuttlebutt just appeared in stores around here and I really liked their Winter Beer.  This would be their Amber Ale.  Amber is the perfect all-purpose beer.  Good in any weather.  Flavorful, But not to strong for those pussies who don't like big beers. Not too big, not to little,  just right.  Scuttlebutt pours out a cloudy amber with massive sweet caramel, slight herb and citrus nose.  This is a nice crisp amber with gobs of caramel.  It also has a nice hop bite with a little citrus herb tone.  Nice balance, classic flavors,  a winner.  Perhaps, not as good as Duck Rabbit's or Full Sail,  but worth a look.  A classic done well.