Nothing tastes better after 13.2 miles than beer

Congrats to my lovely wife for finishing The Arizona (Half) Marathon today! She did some serious training, including a 12 mile run from Tramway & Montgomery to Saggio's by UNM (yikes!). I did my fair share of training, but mine involved testing the limts of my taste buds when it comes to good beer.

So, I did some arm curls with the Rogue Hazelnut Brown over at the Yard House at Scottsdale Fashion Square. I didn't notice this beer at first, with the initial beer being a Green Flash West Coast IPA. I really had trouble with the 2nd beer, but after combing through the beer list (which upon counting was 119 draft beers), I noticed I completely skipped over the Hazelnut Brown - shame on me, as it was a very tasty brew (like most of what I have out of the Rogue Brewery)

Appearance - An oddly semi-translucent brown with a fine tan head - 3.5/5.0
Smell - Very mild with nuttiness and malt. From what I understand, this is a fragrant beer, but that wasn't the case with the one I picked up. 2.5/5.0
Taste - A rich, bold flavor with some (obviously) hazelnut and chocolate. There's some smoky nutty malt as well. You can get some sweetness out of this, but just a hint. 4.5/5.0
Feel - Silky, with a little crispness at the end. Definitely lighter bodied than I expected. 3.5/5.0
Drinkability - Loved the beer, but would have loved to had more detectable aromas. 4.0/5.0

Wow, a beer I really...really didn't care for.

The Lips of Faith series that New Belgium puts out is, from my understanding, a very enjoyable line of beers from a pretty reliably good brewery. This beer, the La Folie Sour Brown Ale does not reflect this beer.

The beer's coloring looks really nice - it's a dark red with absolutely nothing for a head. A very potent sourness and vinegar as you take a sniff, which is expected given it's a sour brown ale. Where I have a real problem with the beer is the taste. To be completely honest, the beer tastes like I drank some funky cough syrup, then upchucked a bit in mouth...but kept it in, so ended up tasting the stomach acid again on the way down. I can't just get past that. I took a few more sips and picked up some sour apple & cherry, but not enough to redeem this beer. The vinegar flavor comes up again in the aftertaste...

I couldn't finish the whole bomber, which is sad given the price - $13 bucks a bomber! EPIC FAIL by New Belgium

Appearance - 3.5/5.0 - A pretty dark red with nada for head

Smell - 2.5/5.0 - Oy...vinegar and pungent sourness.

Taste - 2.5/5.0 - GAG...sour, vinegar, cough syrup, stomach acid, sour apple & cherry

Feel - 1.5/5.0 - It certainly sticks with you...

Drinkability - 1.0/5.0 - No way Jose. This is definitely an acquired taste.

On the 12th day of Christmas, Santa Beer gave to me...

a wonderful Christmas treat from Chicago - Goose Island Christmas Ale.

The Christmas Ale pours a soft amber brown with a wispy white head. Lots of sweet malt smells, along with holiday spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, etc... sorta like a beer-nog. Excellent taste, with malt being the primary flavor, bits of sweetness in the beer too. It tasted like something made for the holidays (whatta concept...). Crispy at the end and the flavors sit in your mouth for a little bit. Middle of the road in terms of carbination and body, but fitting for a brown ale. Very enjoyable on this Christmas day and had I the wherewithall, would have purchased a few more! Given that most winter seasonal beers tend to lend themselves to a darker variety (or the typical "Winter Warmer" style beer), this was a very welcome treat.

You may be able to find this at Jubliation still for $6.99 a bomber, so scope them out. Otherwise, available at Kelly's and Quarter's as well.

Merry Christmas!!!

Appearance - 3.5/5.0 - Soft amber brown, lil' bit of white head
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - the smell of Christmas - nutmeg, cinnamon, etc... subdued, but detectable
Taste - 4.5/5.0 - Sweet delicious malt, crispy
Feel - 4.0/5.0 - Medium bodied, with medium carbonation; finishes well and clean
Drinkability - 4.5/5.0 - A great option for a holiday beer outside the standard winter beer; very tasty!

Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale

Like most beers that I have tried since starting this little venture, I have seen the Samuel Smith's brand a lot. Quarters, Jubliation, Kelly's, at brewpubs, etc... Just never thought about trying it. So, in the spirit of experimentation, I figured the Nut Brown Ale would be a nice middle ground to see whether I like the brewery or not. Well, I'm a lookin'...and I'm a likin'.

For a brown, I was expecting a bit of a darker color than the rich amber that I go. Fortunately, the beer got much better as I took in the nice malty and nut aroma, then took a sip. The malt and nutty taste was the key flavors, with a hint of some fruity sweetness that wasn't overpowering, but added some distinction to the brew. There was a mild aftertaste, but very clean and crisp. Would definitely have again and will be featuring another brand of the Samuel Smith's line later on.

Appearance - 3.5/5.0 - Lighter than I expected; more amber in color than brown - good head that sticks around
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - malty and nutty aroma; flavorful
Taste -4.5/5.0 - walnut, really malty, nutty taste, hint of fruit at beginning; "woody" - distinctive flavor without being overpowering - very flavorful
Feel - 4.5/5.0 - mild aftertaste, but good. Clean and crisp taste;
Drinkability - 4.5/5.0 - Very good taste and would definitely try something else from the brand

Lost Coast Downtown Brown

I've had some Lost Coast beers and they were pretty good, so figured I would most likely enjoy the Lost Coast Downtown Brown. That did not prove true with the Brown, which just not what I expected. The beer started off nice with a really oaty, malty aroma. It went downhill quickly though, as the head was pretty wimpy and the beer itself looked more like an amber or red, rather than a brown.

The flavor was malty at first, then ended sweet, which I didn't care for. I expect a more robust taste with a brown and this wasn't it. On a good note, this was a smooth beer, but unfortunately not one I would buy again.

Smell - 3.5/5.0 - nice oaty malt smell
Appearance - 2.5/5.0 - Wimpy head, more amber color than brown; head was gone quick
Flavor - 3.0/5.0 - there was some malt taste, with a sweeter finish - not what I would expect in a brown
Feel - 3.5/5.0 no aftertaste, pretty smooth
Drinkability - 2.5/5.0 - not my style of brown, so won't be picking this one up again

Furry Four Legged Amphibian Cabeza

I had heard a lot about the Dogfish Head beers from Cap'n Bishop - but unfortunately for me, you can't get them here in ABQ all that often. So, I had to go to Durango to get it. My buddy G.I. Joe wasn't up for an IPA, so we opted for this Indian Brown Ale as a compromise. From what I knew about the 90 Minute IPA, this would be a potent beer.

And it was.... There is a very malty, tart alcohol flavor to the beer, and it offers up a strong aftertaste to boot. You can really taste the roasted, nutty oat flavor. And it was surprisingly hoppy, but not so much you'd assume you accidently poured a dirty IPA. I should have figured an IBA would have some hop in it. With a 7.2% ABV, it had a kick to it....

Beer Score version 2.0 is going to kick in with this beer, so any comments - very welcome. This will be a similar scoring system to Beer Advocate (so I can double post), but also will feature some other aspects of the beer that my lovely wife thought would be helpful.

Look - 4.0/5.0 - A really nice brown color for the beer, with an almond-esqe creamy head
Smell - 4.0/5.0 - You can really smell the oats and malt, but the alcohol aroma is a bit more than I would have liked.
Taste - 4.5/5.0 - A wonderful blend of hop with a brown ale that created a very unique taste
Feel - 4.0/5.0 - Robust flavor and strong aftertaste.
Drinkability - 4.0/5.0 - Would have this one again - the hybrid of the brown ale and IPA makes for an interesting flavor.

Light (1) - Dark (10) - 7...This is a brown ale, so it's not as bitch black as a stout or porter, but it's a pretty dark beer.
Clear (1) - Cloudy (10) - 3...while this beer is not transparent (b/c it's dark), it isn't cloudy/unfiltered.
Sweet (1) - Bitter (10) - 7....due to the hybrid nature of this beer, the brew is higher than you'd expect in a brown, but still not as bitter as you'd expect in an IPA.