McNeill's War Lord Imperial India Pale Ale

War Lord Imperial India Pale Ale
McNeill's Brewery
Brattleboro, VT
American Double/Imperial India Pale Ale
8.5% ABV
BA: B
RB: 90(39)
Tasted from 22oz bottle poured into Ikea 25oz snifter

     I'm back people and this time I'm going to post alot more often.  Today's beer is McNeill's War Lord Imperial India Pale Ale.  I have to be quite honest that I was surprisingly happy drinking this beer.  It poured a deep amber brown with a big 3-4 finger head(my pour was a little less than ideal) but in the big $1.99 Ikea 25oz snifter it looked formidable and awesome.  It gave the nice piney, citrus smell of a west coast IPA and the pleasant bitterness of a true East India Pale Ale.  At 8.5% its in the mid-range of a Double IPA but it was a little boozy to the taste.  The saving grace of this DIPA from a small Vermont brewery was the price.  At $6 retail for a bomber, it provided some nice bang for the buck.  Drink this a little on the cold side because at cellar temperature the booze really comes though.  Very little of the best Vermont has to offer is available outside Vermont but I'm glad it's starting to filter out.  War Lord is absolutely worth the $6 so go out there and give it a try.  I'm giving McNeill's War Lord a 3.5 pints so it's not worth running around the world to find but if you see it I'd give it a taste. 

Recent Acquisitions

Josh and I made a little early evening trip to Cable Beverages and DeCicco's(Ardsley) to check out their beer selection and hopefully find something rare.  Here's what we grabbed.

Me
Southern Tier Cuvee Series Two(Cable)
Southern Tier Cuvee Series Three(Cable)
Dogfish Head Squall IPA(Cable)
Stone/Green Flash/Pizza Port "Highway 78" Scotch Ale(Cable)
Southampton Altbier(it tastes like honey nut cheerios, Cable)
Captain Lawrence 5 Years Later(16oz growler DeCicco's)
Cigar City Jai Alai IPA(split 6 with Josh, DeCicco's)

Josh
Harpoon Single Hop ESB(Cable)
Lagunitas A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale(Cable)
Green Flash Hop Head Red(Cable)
Cigar City Jai Alai IPA(split 6, DeCicco's)

Also last week we put together a case share group for Shangy's out in Emmaus, PA.  PA law requires you to buy a case of beer from distributors.  Recently they have bottle shops where you can buy singles but the prices are very high comparatively.  The prices for a case at Shangy's and other distributors are incredible.  Usually even beating the wholesale prices of a case in New Jersey.  Also PA has much better distribution.  So we put together 8 guys and grabbed 4 cases as a test run and split them up giving us 3 beers each.  It went great and I look forward to doing it again as soon as I deplete the reserves in my fridge.  Here's what we picked up on the trip.

Avery Ellie's Brown Ale(cans)
Brew Works Hop'solutely
Bell's Two Hearted Ale
Bell's Kalamazoo Stout

Through a trade I acquired 3 Bell's Hoplams and thanks to a member of the share group I also received 2 more.  Also picked up, in the last few weeks, Sierra Nevada Hoptimum(Whole Foods Paramus) and Southern Tier Cuvee Series One(Whole Foods Paramus),   We'll hopefully review just about every one of these beers.

Bolero Snort Round 3 Oak-Aged Longhop

Oak-Aged Longhop
Bolero Snort Brewery
Bergen County, New Jersey
IPA aged in Grand Marnier barrels
6.6% ABV
Tasted in my new IKEA brandy snifter

     I won't start this review by rehashing my comments of the original Bolero Snort Longhop.  You can read that review here.  What I will do is compare the two. 
     First, this is not just an oak-aged version of a beer that took on a little oak flavor.  This is an oak-aged version of a beer that morphed into an entirely unique beast.  In the adult fridge of OJ, some purple stuff, and Sunny D, this is what Sunny D wishes it could be.  This beer has a strong citrus flavor, which is not unique to beers.  Most West Coast IPA's are loaded with citrus.  The uniqueness of this beer comes from the citrus being overwhelmingly oranges.  Grand Marnier as we all know is an orange liqueur.  And if you didn't know that, you would after your first sip of Oak-Aged Longhop.  My nice big glass allowed all the hoppy orange aroma to swirl around and float right up my nostrils down the nasal cavity and right into my brain.  My sweet and bitter taste buds soon followed to confirm, "yes indeed the orange flavor is there and its here to stay." 
     The beer poured a slightly deeper, browner orange than the original and had a bit less head.  The aroma slapped me in the face as it was coming out and hasn't gone anywhere in the 10 minutes I've been savoring this beer.  Bob and Mel have done it again.  I can't wait for Oak-Aged Longhop to be a once yearly brew that is snatched off the shelves with such ferocity as Nugget Nectar or Kentucky Breakfast Stout.  Bolero Snort has swung for the fences and knocked this one well into the parking lot.  An emphatic 5 out of 5 for this beer and I can't wait to see Bolero Snort wedged in between Stone and Rogue on our shelves in the not too distant future. 

Copper Mine Pub 12x12 Month 2

Copper Mine Pub 12x12 Beer Club
Month 2 - April 2010
1) Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch
2) Smuttynose Old Brown Dog
3) Nogne ø IPA
4) Cape Anne Fisherman's Brew
5) Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster
6) Left Hand Fade to Black
7) Victory Altbier
8) Victory Pursuit Pale Ale
9) Stone IPA
10) Sierra Nevada 30th Anniversary Fritz and Ken's Ale
11) Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar
12) Sierra Nevada Summerfest Lager

Bolero Snort Brewery (Round 2)

Thanks to my association with Aaron and his connection to the Bolero Snort Brewery, I was given the opportunity to sample a pair of their home brewed beers. The two beers I was given were a Summer Saison and what they called an Oatmeal Craisin Cookie Stout called Bull-aisin Saddles Stout.

The first one tried was the Saison. The bottle told me that it was bottled back in July and upon pouring, unfortunately, it looked like it. It had an orangey color but with tons of sediment, more than I had ever seen before. I was a little worried about drinking it, but I wanted to confirm that it was not supposed to look like that so I texted Aaron a picture and he instructed me not to drink it. I did at least give it a perfunctory sniff so that it wasn't a wasted experience and came away with a bright citrus aroma. Lots of orange and fruity sweetness in the nose that I expected from a saison. I'm more than willing to try this one again when it's brewed because I want to give it a chance. It's too bad this particular style goes south pretty quick, since this was bottled only 6 months ago.

But my first Bolero Snort experience was not a total loss. As a matter of fact, the Bull-aisin Saddles Stout (great name!) more than made up for the spoiled saison. Before I offer my review, I want it to be known that I'm going to want this one again as soon as possible! It poured a very dark, opaque black color with minimal head. I described it as beautifully dark as night. The aroma was like nothing I've ever experienced before. The side of the bottle claims it was "aged for a few weeks on organic cranberries and whole vanilla beans" and it really shows. It's not oppressive or by any means too much but the cranberry aroma is very prevalent. The vanilla is also noticeable but takes a backseat to the cranberries. Just before sipping, I noticed the slightest reddish tinge around the very top of the liquid where the head normally is. Very nice touch. The first taste consisted of a big hit of cranberry. It had a tartness that was unexpected while still being enjoyable. Totally different from any other beer I've tasted. Mouthfeel is medium to full in body, no real dryness but the cranberries just keep on coming. The vanilla and oatmeal are clearly there as the supporting cast but they are not forgotten or missed. The finish was long but the tartness faded before it became too cloying. This is really one hell of a brew! Without a shadow of a doubt, this one gets 5 pints out of 5!

Copper Mine 12 x 12

     So in my mini-bio section of this site I mentioned that I completed the Andy's Corner Bar 100 Beer Club in 2007.  The premise of the club is drink 100 different beers over the course of the year and get your name on a plaque and some free swag.  It was more difficult than it sounds because Andy's only had 8 taps(10 if both beer engines are in use).  There were alot of bottles though so it helped.  In the past year I started the Copper Mine 12 x 12 Beer Club.  In order to succeed here you have to drink 12 different beers over the course of a month for 12 months.  The thing that helps with this challenge is that every month its basically a reset.  If you like a beer you can have it count towards your goal again as long as its in a different month.  So in theory you could drink 144 different beers(there's 20+ taps here so it's slightly easier) or you could drink the same 12 different beers each month for 12 months(just hypothetical because there's only 1 or 2 beers that Vito keeps in stock year round).  So I began my quest in March 2010 and as of today I'm 1 beer short of my 7th month.  The months don't have to be consecutive.  In this post I'm going to list the first month of my quest and each beer will be hyper-linked to its BeerAdvocate description.  I'll try to post a month each night.  And as I complete a new month I will also post that(I'm at 11 for January so I'll easily finish that at the Smuttynose event on 1/27.  Make sure you attend that).  And please comment on the site and on facebook.  I see the hit counter go up but I want to know who's actually reading. 

Copper Mine Pub 12x12 Beer Club
Month 1 - March 2010
1) Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
2) River Horse Hop-a-lot-amus
3) Boulder Hazed & Infused
4) Smuttynose Old Brown Dog
5) Troegs Nugget Nectar
6) Avery/Russian River Collaboration Not Litigation Ale
7) Defiant Muddy Creek Lager
8) Ithaca Cascazilla
9) Ithaca White Gold
10) Ithaca Ground Break
11) Victory Prima Pils
12) Stone IPA

Bolero Snort Brewery

     I am pleased to have finally tasted 2 offerings from the Bolero Snort Brewery.  Bolero Snort is the homebrew label of Bob and Mel.  I went to school with Mel's sister and I frequent the same craft beer bar as the hoppy couple.  So with the disclaimer behind us let's talk about the beer.  Bob left 4 different beers for me at the Copper Mine and since this site has 2 contributors, I decided I would take 2 and give 2 to Josh.  So being the hophead I am, I chose the Longhop naturally and decided to give the Wee-Heifer's Fruitcake a try.  Since these beers aren't for sale I won't go into too much detail.

     The Longhop, at 6%ABV, is on the lighter side for an IPA.  There was an excellent hop aroma and flavor but it didn't blow out my taste-buds like some IPAs will.  It poured a dark orange/light brown, sorry the picture isn't too great, and it had a nice frothy head and laced on the glass beautifully.  The best beer I can compare it to is Smuttynose Shoal's Pale Ale.  If you want to taste a nice crisp, clean, smooth, easy to drink beer that still has a nice hop bite then that is the beer that will give you the same experience.  If they do become a production brewery, I think Longhop needs to be their frontline beer.

     The next beer I sampled was the Wee Heifer's Fruitcake.  I should have read the label before choosing because there's one ingredient in this beer that I've never enjoyed in beers.  CHERRIES.  It's really a personal preference.  I think they hit the flavor right on the head.  I'm sure the beer is excellent and I'm sure I'm the only one that didn't like it, but the disclaimer is I don't like beers with cherries or any overly sweet fruit flavor.  Troegs Mad Elf is a beloved beer to many, but I won't touch the stuff.  Ommegang Three Philosophers elicits the same feelings.  For Bob and Mel this is not a negative review.  Consider it an abstention due to a conflict of interest.  And don't hold it against me when Scotty Goes Bullnanas is ready for distribution because I really do like bananas.  So if any of you know Bob and Mel, please support their ambition and raise a pint to many more excellent brews in their future.  Longhop gets a solid 4.5 pints(that can easily become a 5 if some Oak-aged Longhop finds its way into my belly) and Wee Heifer's Fruitcake gets an abstention due to my personal preferences, but if you have a chance and you like cherries I do recommend the beer.

Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Kentucky Breakfast Stout

Founders Brewing Company

Grand Rapids, Michigan

American Imperial Stout

10.2% ABV

BA: A+

RB: 100(99)

Tasted in a Chimay goblet at The Copper Mine Pub

     Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout is one of the hardest to find annually produced beers in the country, and after finally tasting it I know why.  This was absolutely one of the best beers I've ever had.  I don't want to rank it against beers of any other style because thats comparing apples to oranges and that's just not fair.  It is one of the best ever and so far the best stout I've had(Dogfish Head Bitches Brew was also excellent).  The Copper Mine featured this beer as a special tap for their annual Christmas party, which was delayed by a few days due to our massive snowstorm.  It was only fair to give everyone a chance to come down and try it.  So on a chilly Thursday evening in December, Vito and Matt began pouring just before 7pm and as soon as 7 came they began serving.  KBS poured a very dark, deep, creamy brown with very little head, and even less by the time it was passed out to the ravenous patrons.  It has a strong bourbon/coffee/chocolate smell with a little vanilla in there just for fun and the wood was also evident.  This beer is aged in a cave in bourbon oak barrels and that is quite noticeable.  The taste is almost indescribable.  I wanted to drink it and then pour in a lake and freeze it for the winter then take it out in huge blocks and thaw it in the spring and drink it again.  But seriously there was so much coffee and chocolate that I could swear I was drinking a cocktail of Kahlua and Bailey's mixed with a little beer and a dash of oak aged bourbon.  This beer is a rock solid 5 out of 5 pints with a shot of bourbon to just show that its too good to be rated.  If you see this on a shelf at a store, BUY IT.  If you see it on tap at a bar, DRINK IT!!!!!!!!