2-4-T: Rogue John John Juniper & The Bruery Autumn Maple Ale

1. Rogue John John Juniper

I covered one of Rogue's John John Ales before and admitted my disappointment following high expectations. Perhaps that leveled out my interest in trying out this beer, the 3rd and final John John ale that I've tried from Rogue, but I was more pleased with how this one turned out than the John John Hazelnut. (Side note: the "John John" refers to the first names of both the master distiller and brewmaster of Rogue) Now, having tried this beer immediately after having a bit of Rogue's Spruce Gin probably helped, considering this beer is aged in the same barrels that are used to distill the very same gin. Again, like the Hazelnut, there was not a crazy strong spruce or juniper flavor, but I wouldn't expect that from a gin barrel. However, if it did, it would probably turn me off from it - I don't want to drink a Christmas tree. So, there was a nice balance of spruce/juniper flavor with a nice bitter hop presence in the finish. Overall, considering this is the first beer I've seen and tried that has had a gin influence, a nice product, but I wouldn't rush to try it again.

Overall Rating: B

2. The Bruery Autumn Maple Ale

I had this beer last year in November for the first time and decided to have it on Thanksgiving this year. I like how this Orange County brewery, The Bruery, decided to make this beer amidst the craze of pumpkin ales, because they use a ton of yams in place of pumpkin to make it. They also use a lot of spice and a Belgian yeast to make a strong ale with the flavors that are perfect for Fall. My impression from last year was more favorable than this year, but it was still a good beer. A lot of maple syrup taste comes through in this beer which definitely has the Belgian characteristics. The spices, cinnamon and nutmeg, come through more as the beer comes to room temperature. There's also a bit of that sweet vanilla taste to it. At 10% ABV, The Bruery suggests aging this beer so if I happen to see any stragglers out on the shelves, I'll definitely pick one up to save for next year or the year after. I feel like this beer would shine more after aging.

Overall Rating: B+

2-4-T: Philadelphia Brewing "Joe" Coffee Porter & Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

1. Philadelphia Brewing Co. "Joe" Coffee Porter

I love Philly. I love the sports even though they've already taken years off of my life and I love that it is an excellent beer destination. As a craft beer lover, I love supporting local breweries so I'll check out any beer made in PA. This is only the 2nd beer I've had from Philadelphia Brewing Co. but it was a pleasant surprise! "Joe" Coffee Porter is made with fair-trade locally-roasted coffee (Don't tell the FDA! They combined caffeine and alcohol!!). This beer has an excellent coffee flavor coming out of it with a nice, sweet balance from the chocolate malts. Sitting at 5.5%, I would love to see this beer be made with a little more time for a higher ABV beer because the flavor coming out of it is great. That said, Philadelphia Brewing Co. does not really make high ABV beer, which I have to respect. Besides, you don't want to get too high on your ABV when you're mixing caffeine and alcohol!

Overall Rating: B+

2. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Before you shake your head and say, "Guinness? Seriously? Why are you reviewing that?" let me explain. This is a beer that Guinness has distributed to mostly African countries but until recently, never distributed to the U.S. of A. Guinness is for the most part my go-to beer when session drinking because it has flavor with a low ABV. You know how most people think it's like a meal in a glass? Nonsense. It doesn't have much more calories than some light beers. The Foreign Extra Stout, however, is a bit heavier. It doesn't have the creamy mouthfeel that the nitrogen gives the regular Guinness Stout. It sits at a whopping 7.5%, much more than the 4.2% of the flagship beer. It's darker, more complex and heavier, but I wasn't in love with the taste of it. I think the nitrogen infusion of Guinness Draught is what makes it great so I wasn't really impressed with this beer, which apparently is popular in Africa and elsewhere. That said, I totally understand why Guinness would introduce it to our country considering all of the high ABV beers that are distributed by craft brewers.

Overall Rating: B-

2-4-T: Weyerbacher Mike & Rogue Double Chocolate Stout

1. Weyerbacher Mike

A taste of Belgium from just down the road. Weyerbacher has a Brewers Select Series in which they release a different style of beer for each letter of the NATO alphabet. The labels don't identify the style so unless you read up on them ahead of time, it's a fun little guessing game. I quickly discovered that this one was a Belgian-style dubbel from its sweet maltiness. And a quite tasty one at that. Honestly, without a label, this could easily pass as being from Belgium. Just like a lot of the Weyerbacher brews, it went down really smooth despite being over 7% ABV. I look forward to the remainder of the Brewers Select Series. Is it too obvious to guess that W (whiskey) will be a Scotch ale?

Overall Rating: A-

2. Rogue Double Chocolate Stout

Ah, Rogue...how I love thee. Heavy stouts are some of my favorite styles of beers so I'm not quite sure if I'm an easy judge of them or there are just so many damn good ones out there. This one definitely entered my top 10 list though and I'm eager to buy some more of it. This is one of the current 3 "double" brews that Rogue has, each of which is an amped up version of one of their normal brews (the other two being Dead Guy Ale and Mocha Porter). I wasn't big on the Double Dead Guy Ale despite loving the regular Dead Guy and liked the Double Mocha Porter but probably not much more than the regular Mocha Porter. The Chocolate Stout is very good but I'm not HUGE on the bitter chocolate stouts. But...the Chocolate Stout is more bitter than the Double. (Did you get all that?) There's nothing extraordinary about the Double Chocolate Stout other than it being just a really smooth, creamy stout with delicious chocolate flavor. And it went down too easy for being 8% ABV in a 22 oz bomber.

Overall Rating: A

2-4-T: Stone Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout & Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall '10

1. Stone Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Drool. Stone Brewing Co. is one of those breweries that just guarantees good beer no matter which of their styles you consume, even though you're "not worthy" of it (in case you're not familiar with Stone, first of all I suggest you remedy that, but second of all they have a humorous marketing angle for their beers, jokingly describing them as way too good for anyone to have). This 2-year old beer was released in celebration of their 12th anniversary and unfortunately is no longer made, so if you see a bottle, buy it! It pours jet black with a thin tan head and smells/tastes godlike. If you're into stouts, this is a must try. The name is on point - it tastes like and has the mouthfeel of an oatmeal stout but the bitter chocolate notes are really strong, which is impressive after sitting for 2 years. I'm not quite sure how much better this will get with more time if at all, but if it has this impression after 2 years, I'm pretty certain it could age for another few years with the best of 'em at 9.2% ABV.

Overall Rating: A

2. Magic Hat Odd Notion Fall '10

I kind of feel that I've outgrown Magic Hat beer because they make a wide range of styles, but none of them are very extreme or bold in flavor. That said, their #9 was one of the first beers I had that wasn't canned water so I have to respect them for contributing to my love of beer, and going through one of their mixed 12-packs has been far from disappointing...plus I dig the brand's style. The winner in my mind was their Odd Notion Fall 2010 edition. I didn't even know what style of beer this was before having it, but once I poured it, I saw it was a cloudy light color. Tasting it, I immediately recognized it as a wit and a quite tasty one at that. I had to look it up on their website to see how it was made and was impressed to see that it was a wit made with coriander, orange peel (normal so far) and...green apple. A simple idea but a great one and it really gave the wit a refreshing, sweet, crisp taste, great for fall. I'll be looking out for Magic Hat's Odd Notion series from now on, which releases a unique beer each season.

Overall Rating: B+

2-4-T: 21st Amendment Back in Black & Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

1. 21st Amendment Back in Black

Since the Giants just won the World Series, even though virtually no one on the east coast gives a damn, I figured I would review a beer out of their home city of San Francisco. 21st Amendment Brewery is one of the canned beer advocates out there and they're giving canned beer a good name. "Back in Black" is apparently inspired by Paul Revere's midnight ride and a rebellion against the English IPA "in favor of the more aggressive American version." This being a black IPA, this suggests that the black IPA originated in the U.S., which could be the case in terms of the name, but as I found in the old English recipe used in Pretty Things' Once Upon A Time, probably not in style. Regardless, black IPAs are real sexy right now in the states (yep, I said sexy). Having just had a behemoth of this style (Avery New World Porter), it was hard to be completely subjective, but this was still a good beer. Jet black, thin head and nice, dark roastiness throughout the beer. It doesn't really finish dry though, which I'd prefer in this style. It's nothing to mess around with at 6.8% ABV, but you could also throw back a few of these without having dry mouth and a headache.

Overall Rating: B

2. Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast

Two things off the bat...I've been meaning to try more beer from this Danish powerhouse of a brewery called Mikkeller and I've especially been meaning to try the Beer Geek Breakfast. Well one step down because they have a LOT of beer styles to try. Though I didn't crack this beer open when I rolled out of bed, depending on the morning, I probably could. There's some strong coffee notes on this beer. Made with oats too, this beer could be part of a complete nutritious breakfast. There's not much else to say other than that they just achieve a fantastic balance of coffee and oat taste in a dark, heavy beer with a great head, nice lacing and a really smooth finish, especially considering it's 7.5%. If you're looking for a beer to have in the morning, you might want to evaluate your life first but if everything's in check, reach for this beer.

Overall Rating: A