Growler of Highland Devil's Britches, growler of Port Shark Attack. Which to open?
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Done. Yum.
Who here has had any Devil's Backbone beers? And which?
Last edited by duketaylor; 03-05-2015 at 09:18 PM. Reason: additional info
This might be my favorite beer.
Not starting out quite right, with a very soy sauce nose.
Notes of coffee, boozy bouquet.
First snifter pour (sharing with the LoveNinja) a pretty frothy head, the second snifter, less so.
750ml corked and caged, the cork was wedged in so tight it literally took me over 5 minutes to get the cork out, and my thumbs are still sore. Crazy airtight.
As it warms up, the nose is shifting from soy (ick) to vanilla.
Glorious mouthfeel, rich, roasty, and a finish that transitions from coffee to dry oak.
The bourbon characteristics are not coming to the fore, so Silent Night is still too cold.
Waiting a little while on the second sip is not quite agonizing but certainly is trying my patience.
It's worth it. Chocolate gives way to coffee, followed by the tongue drying oak notes and finishing with bourbon notes that shift the tongue from dry to numb.
Now a bourbon and vanilla nose. Still wonderful mouthfeel, coating the tongue and a very pronounced bourbon finish.
Silent Night represents the best of what a complex beer can be. It is a hard hitter at 9%, and presents/drinks bigger than that.
Mother Earth works with Counter Culture on the coffee roast. As a result and by design, no two years of Silent Night are exactly alike.
It is a very realize-able dream of mine to go to Kinston for a weekend, tour Mother Earth, eat at the Chef and Farmer, and close out the Mother Earth tap room.
Mother Earth is my favorite NC brewery, and Silent Night my favorite beer.
I was lucky to get 4 from Bruisin Ales, I am cellaring three in hopes to do another 3 or 4 year vertical tasting in a few years.
We seem to be in a renaissance of session beer, which I think is fantastic.
The big beer arms race got to be a bit silly.
I've never had Dark Lord, or Kate the Great. Of all the imperial stouts (or stouts of any kind) I've been fortunate to sample, Mother Earth Silent Night is my favorite.
Cannot recommend more highly. Find it, buy it, drink it, cellar it. Well, well worth it.
Speed review. black saison with lime and peppercorn.
Smelled like limes, tasted like a (pepper) spicy coke.
Worth seeking out.
Had a Duclaw Brewery Sweet Baby Jesus beer last night. It was dessert in a bottle, which is what I was looking for. I was trying to get away on a technicality - made a decision to give up dessert rather than alcohol for Lent. I guess I'll find out eventually if God accepted my rationale that the beer was not, by definition, dessert. At any rate, it was advertised as a chocolate peanut butter beer and it was exactly as advertised. I could definitely taste both the chocolate and peanut butter notes. Neither was overpowering, and both made for a good, heavy, flavorful beer. I can't imagine drinking it as anything other than an after-dinner beer. But, for that purpose, it was quite good.
I've never had anything else by Duclaw but I plan to.
I feel like I am taking things a bit out of order. First was Ninjabread Man.
Now, Love Ninja.
I will eventually get to the base beer, Ninja Porter. (Thanks mattman!)
First a shout out to the beer loving DBR community- I believe this was a gift from ricks68 via devildeac (I owe you one- first drink on me when I am in Asheville next!).
First glass went to the one and only LoveNinja, second pour did not have as generous or long lasting a head.
No note of ABV on the bottle for this raspberry porter.
Nose smells of chocolate and raspberry.
Whoosh, an explosion of sweet raspberry fruit is the first impression.
A bit of bitterness and a roasty malt ending.
Love Ninja is a really nice sipping beer, and a pretty nice dessert before dinner option this afternoon.
I really applaud a brewery that makes a good base beer and is not afraid to shake it up with seasonal variations.
Asheville Brewing Company appears to have found a nice niche with their porter and done a good job keeping it interesting with seasonal variations.
The chocolate and mint combination seems to be getting play in the stout world ( at least at Raleigh Brewing and Crank Arm). I'd love to see a chocolate mint Ninja porter.
Thanks devildeac and ricks68!
I hear Twin Leaf is releasing its first bottled beer on Sunday, March 8.
Anyone who cares to acquire a bottle for me, I'd be much obliged :-)
Last edited by mattman91; 03-07-2015 at 06:56 PM.
Never had this before, courtesy of devildeac.
Went exceptionally well with a beef roast, roasted sweet potatoes and green beans oven roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper. (As an aside, is there any better way to prepare vegetables than oven roasting with olive oil, salt and pepper? Asparagus, I am looking at you.)
An amber ale, malty nose.
The clarity in the glass is exceptional, crystal copper in hue.
Exceptionally well balanced, maybe slightly tilted toward malty.
Evokes memories of Killian's, and I am confident side by side I'd be wrong on that count.
Caramel malt drives the flavor, might even be possible to mistake the style as an ESB.
Way too easy to drink, very sessionable. Getting an ale this crisp and clean is a work of art.
Time to start thinking about that New Glarus road trip again. Who's in?
Thanks again devildeac!!!
Giving props to one of W-S's newest breweries. I haven't actually been to their location yet (soon!), but this is a solid IPA that Lowes Foods had on tap. Golden brown pour with a very thick, foamy head. Decent citrus and well-balanced. Not over-hopped at 70 IBU. Alcohol at 6.3% ABV made the 32-ounce growler go down fairly easily between me and Mrs. Tripping. I was quite impressed as well by the length of the finish. A worthy effort here.
"Amazing what a minute can do."
Thanks to devildeac and ricks68 for Love ninja from loveninja!
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Port Shark Attack. Hungry for goat/sheep/ewe.
Drink good beer. Go to Hell Carolina.