Aging beer is always a tough one for me. Sometimes I just get so excited about cracking open a beer that I run through the apartment drinking everything in site. By the end of the night there are broken bottles everywhere and I’m hammered out of my mind. Alright that’s not really true but honestly who the hell can put a beer aside for a year or two and not want to drink it? Luckily I’ve been able to with a couple offerings thanks to a small wine fridge we got a few years back. Out of sight out of mind as the kids say. So this weekend I decided to crack open a three year old bottle of Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter. That’s how I roll son.

I first had Gonzo Porter man moons ago when I had a chance to visit Flying Dog’s brewery back when they were based out in Dover. It was a limited release only available at the tasting room back then and it was mighty good. Big and mighty brew which didn’t hide its 9.2% ABV. It made a bitch out of me you might say. This is probably the best part of aging this beer out for a while though in my opinion. It does a lot to mellow out alcohol flavor. I liked it a lot fresh from the bottle but a couple years in the slammer did a lot to help the chocolate and coffee flavor combine well with the malt sweetness. If you can wait on this one I’d suggest giving it a year at least. But what the hell do I know. It makes a really good beer great if you ask the old Joemeister, and you’re at the site so I assume you are asking. Thanks for asking buddy!

So if you have the will power, which I didn’t think I did, I’d say give it a go. Toss it aside for a while and let the mgic flow in you.

Flying Dog Brewery - Gonzo Imperial Porter - Aged Three Years

How I love a good dirtoir. I remember as a kid sitting and just wasting the day away with a big bucket of dirtoir and thinking I was the luckiest child in the world. As I grew older I would take my love of dirtoir with me everywhere I went and if there was a party you could bet your sweet ass I was bringing a big old bucket of dirtoir. I love dirtoir… there I said it. I don’t care who knows.

Alright you caught me fibbin but I do love this beer. I wouldn’t bullshit you about that. It’s what the fine people over at Rogue Ales call GYO or Grow Your Own. Meaning they made the beer with their own hops and barley. They even made the sand that made the glass that made the bottles. Then they made metel to make the caps. Again I lie but I am serious about the hops and barley. Makes you feel like you’re helping the world when you drink it.

There is a nice roasted barley aroma to it. Kind of like a good coffee with some chocolate notes. Just a touch of the hops happiness. I don’t know, it’s good people. The taste really shoots up the coffee like flavor. “Black, like my men” as they say. Lots of chocolate here too with more acidic flavor then I’m used to, but not in a bad way. Really good and of the few black lagers I’ve had I ranked this my favorite.

Rogue Ales - Dirtoir Black Lager

You ever wake up in the morning and automatically get excited to have a beer? I know me too! But then the wife starts telling you that you’ve got a drinking problem and the next thing you know you’re walking into an intervention and your whole family is crying in your living room. Only plus there is usually its pot luck so you’ll at least get a nice lunch out of the whole thing. Where was I though, oh yeah beer in the am. I love a coffee stout or porter for this reason. You don’t feel so bad about drinking in the morning. There’s no need to wait till after 11 am to start your day off.

And thanks to the good people at Philadelphia Brewing Company you now have another tasty option to add to your morning rotation. Their coffee porter is mighty good my friends. According to their website the gang uses about two and a half pounds of coffee in each barrel. I don’t know if that’s a lot but I assume it is or they wouldn’t have pointed it out.

The aroma is just like breakfast in my house. Big coffee notes with some chocolate and caramel coming along. Alright I don’t usually have chocolate and caramel for breakfast but stick with me here. Nice sharp black coffee bite in the flavor is the main focus and that’s a really good thing. If you’ve been disappointed in the past by a lack of coffee flavor in your stout or porter this is the one for you. It’s also named after me… well at least I assume so.

Philadelphia Brewing Co. - Joe Coffee Porter

Well hello there my little friend! Aren’t you a bitter little bugger? That’s what I said to my Green Flash Brewing Co. West Coast IPA. Why is it a west coast IPA you might ask? Well the brewery is in San Diego, and if the recordings of 2Pac have taught me anything it’s that California is very much on the west side. If you need any more reason that that then you’re against 2Pac and against me and I suggest you move along.

The beer has a sharp piney aroma too it. Lots of hops all up in your grill. Notes of grapefruit come into plat also. I’m excited kids. The first ship has a big sharp bite too it. All about the hops, not to overpowering but defiantly the main focus here. Strong, dry and bitter finish rounds everything out. Really a great example of an American IPA. I love freedom and I think if 2Pac was alive today, which he very well may be, he’d be proud of this one.

Green Flash Brewing Co. - West Coast IPA

When I was in middle school for three days I tried to work at the strawberry farm near my parents house. I failed miserably. Outside of being color blind and not being able to tell what a ripe strawberry liked like I also learned quickly that my husky frame did not do well with manual labor. People like me aren’t meant to be in the field for more then ten minutes at a time. I burn easily.

All this makes me appreciate Sierra Nevada and their Harvest Series. A series of beers that is made with freshly picked hops from Yukma Washington and brought directly to the brewery. A lot of people do a lot of picking to make this happen. Yes I’m 99% sure there’s a machine they use to pick the hops but still, it sounds like a lot of work.

I got my hands on their 13 release of the Wet Hop Ale in the series. A sparky little brew with a big hop bite to it. I don’t really know what makes a beer sparky but it sounds kind of nice and then 24 oz bottle that this comes in is doing me good right about now. Joe’s getting a buzz people! But let’s step back for a minute. The aroma of this one like a magical field of hops that just sprouted in my apartment. Little bit of malt and citrus some around too but all about hops. The taste, oh the taste my friends. Sharp hop bite with a nice amount of bitter going on. Great fresh hop taste. Not that I know what fresh hops taste like but I assume it’s like this. Sweet malt taste that balances everything out. If you like the hops, and I bet you do, you should give this one a go. It’s up there on my list of favorite IPAs.

Sierra Nevada - Harvest Series Wet Hop Ale

Let’s take a trip on the happiest road in the world my friends. A magical road that leads to a land of sunshine and gumdrops. A trail so full of wonder and delight it could only be called one thing, the New Jersey Turnpike. Saw that coming didn’t you? You may of heard about the good people over at Flying Fish Brewing and their Exit Series line of beers that celebrate every exit on the greatest highway in the nation. Each stop on the trip highlights another great thing about New Jersey.

Last week I got my hands on their Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout. “Oyster?!” you might be saying right now, “What kind of shit are they trying to pull here Joe!?”. Well I’d first as you not to swear, this is a family site. And second I’d say yes they do actually put oysters in the beer, Delaware oysters to be precise, and it’s wonderful. They give the beer a great creamy texture without any of the strange flavor you might be thinking you’ll get. The beer as more of a rich chocolate flavor and coffee aroma. A bit of a smokey armoa and flavor also but all around a really great beer from what is so far a great series of brews.

People toss around the word “love” too much these days. You don’t love Snookie from “Jersey Shore” you’re just envious of her lifestyle and want to be a part of it. But my friends I’m going to go ahead and say it, I like Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout. I want to date it. If it would have me I would take it away for a romantic weekend getaway and propose to it. We’d have a destination wedding and live happily ever after. My wife knows about this and is fine with it. Well let me clarify that she’s ok with me loving the beer but she thinks the fact that I want to date it is kind of weird. We all have our quarks though.

What makes it so good? It’s like drinking a big tall delicious cup of the best black coffee your. The best cup of coffee your undeserving mouth has ever tasted. Yeah think about it. The aroma is something children dream about at night. Dark chocolate notes dance along with the coffee aroma, both playing nicely with the chicory. The taste is so wonderful I almost cry every time I take a sip. If you’ve ever had coffee down in New Orleans, or at least some place that puts chicory in their coffee, you already have a good idea of what’s going on here. Dark a big dark roasted flavor that just perfectly balanced. The beers got big flavors all around and full bodies but drinkable. Just an all around great beer, it’s defiantly my favorite stout and possibly my favorite beer. There, I said it!

Dogfish Head - Chicory Stout