Ok, this is a reminder to those who attend beer tastings, that the feelings of love that you feel for a particular beer at the event, may not necessarily carry over to any future time.
Last fall I had occasion to attend a tasting very near my home and I sampled a very good variety of some very tasty brews from the state. One of them was Tri-City's Giant Slayer Russian Imperial Stout. One thing that I liked about it was the label that featured a knight who looks suspiciously like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That alone is neat enough to make me want to buy this beer!
Anyway, I stick it in the fridge for a time when a RIS sounds good to me. Some quiet evening in front of the tv, or sitting outside on the patio, or whatever. Well, last night I go into the fridge and grab what I think is one of my homebrews (cause it had no label). I pop the top and notice the sound it makes is not quite what I expect. I take a sniff and wonder what happened to my beer!? Ok, I pour it down the glass and it's thick and dark!
I look closer at the bottle and see the label was just turned around! I had no idea that this was the quiet evening that fate had decided would be the perfect time to enjoy this beer. Well, I'm not really a stout fan, but I bought this one just in case I ever felt the urge.
After laughing at myself I take another sniff. Very familiar aromas are noticed, but I cannot quite place them. Frankly, it doesn't smell good to me. But, I know that aroma is not everything, so I take a small sip.
Ah, not too bad! Very different from what I remember from the tasting, but the beer has had several months in my fridge, and who knows how long it has sat on the shelf at the store.
So I'm drinking away, trying to pick out the different flavors and aromas, and it's "OK", but I'm not really a connoisseur of stouts. Then it hits me. I KNOW where I smelled this before! I had a large plastic tote in the yard where I soaked rusty car parts in molasses and water to dissolve the rust (yes, it really works!). This beer smells just like that fermented, rotting tote of molasses! But not the worst of it. When that tote gets real bad, it smells like someone rolled a skunk in cat crap and left it in a plastic bag in the sun. Kind of makes you gag.
Anyway, the stout is ok for me, but not nearly as good as I remember form the tasting. Def dark with molasses and roasty flavors and aromas. If I had to choose between this and Founders Breakfast stout, I'd probably go with Founders. It's not bad enough to make me want to give up stouts altogether, by any means. But that's my take as a "not a stout guy".
Last fall I had occasion to attend a tasting very near my home and I sampled a very good variety of some very tasty brews from the state. One of them was Tri-City's Giant Slayer Russian Imperial Stout. One thing that I liked about it was the label that featured a knight who looks suspiciously like the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That alone is neat enough to make me want to buy this beer!
Anyway, I stick it in the fridge for a time when a RIS sounds good to me. Some quiet evening in front of the tv, or sitting outside on the patio, or whatever. Well, last night I go into the fridge and grab what I think is one of my homebrews (cause it had no label). I pop the top and notice the sound it makes is not quite what I expect. I take a sniff and wonder what happened to my beer!? Ok, I pour it down the glass and it's thick and dark!
I look closer at the bottle and see the label was just turned around! I had no idea that this was the quiet evening that fate had decided would be the perfect time to enjoy this beer. Well, I'm not really a stout fan, but I bought this one just in case I ever felt the urge.
After laughing at myself I take another sniff. Very familiar aromas are noticed, but I cannot quite place them. Frankly, it doesn't smell good to me. But, I know that aroma is not everything, so I take a small sip.
Ah, not too bad! Very different from what I remember from the tasting, but the beer has had several months in my fridge, and who knows how long it has sat on the shelf at the store.
So I'm drinking away, trying to pick out the different flavors and aromas, and it's "OK", but I'm not really a connoisseur of stouts. Then it hits me. I KNOW where I smelled this before! I had a large plastic tote in the yard where I soaked rusty car parts in molasses and water to dissolve the rust (yes, it really works!). This beer smells just like that fermented, rotting tote of molasses! But not the worst of it. When that tote gets real bad, it smells like someone rolled a skunk in cat crap and left it in a plastic bag in the sun. Kind of makes you gag.
Anyway, the stout is ok for me, but not nearly as good as I remember form the tasting. Def dark with molasses and roasty flavors and aromas. If I had to choose between this and Founders Breakfast stout, I'd probably go with Founders. It's not bad enough to make me want to give up stouts altogether, by any means. But that's my take as a "not a stout guy".
