Surly Ten (10th Anniversary) by Surly brewing

September 28, 2016 by cloudx30 tagged 10th Anniversary, Fuwa Hyouka, Old Ale, Sassafras, Shimoneta, Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn't Exist, Surly 10, Surly Brewing, Surly Ten, Toasted Sassafras | Leave a comment

Rating: 6/6

Surly Ten (10th Anniversary) by Surly brewing is a 10.5% ABV Old Ale aged on toasted Sassafras.

Label:
Ten years is hard to summarize in a couple sentences. Hell, it’s hard to even comprehend all that has happened since I helped Todd brew our first batch on New Year’s Eve, 2005. So many great people have been part of this journey, helping Surly tackle challenges we hadn’t even dreamed of when we filled those first kegs. Thanks to Todd for ten years of tireless work and exceptional beer. And to everyone who has enjoyed those beers with us. Cheers! Here’s to ten more!

Omar Ansari

Brewed with pale ale, crystal malts, invert sugar and aged on toasted sassafras, this celebratory Old Ale is meant for sharing. Amber in color with aged flavors of toffee, sherry and vanilla-sassafras, finishing with a warming full-bodied swallow.

ToddHaug

==Introduction==

The first time I tried a Surly beer was when I saw the Surly 5th Anniversary. It was the first time I saw a beer that had some crazy paganistic and satanic artwork. I was like damn, that’s pretty bold of Surly to do. Once I tried their beers I was hooked! Yes, as evil looking as the beers looked, they were damn fine marvels of delicious dark liquid. Since that time, I have tried many ways to get these beers either online or via trades as Surly has not hit my market yet. So yes, while I would like to visit their brewery someday, for now, I will keep adding their beers as I can find them. Cheers for 10 more years Surly!!

Aromas:
Dark fruit raisins, currants, prunes, blackberries, grapes, port wine, dark cherry yogurt, earthy hop hints, dulce de leche Caramel, vanilla, oak, sassafras, Gansito (Chocolate Mexican Raspberry Twinkies), raspberry Chambord, milk chocolate, cinnamon, biscuit bread, mixed berry preserves, figgy pudding, oatmeal cookies, dark chocolate, flan, Danish cream, dark candy sugar, fruit cake, molasses, anise, stone fruit pears and brown sugar.

Flavors:
Rich dulce de leche Caramel, vanilla, oak, sassafras, Gansito (Chocolate Mexican Raspberry Twinkies), leather, toasted rye bread, tobacco hints, English Toffee, Sherry, dark fruit raisins, currants, prunes, blackberries, grapes, port wine, Danish cream, Dark candy sugar, fruit cake, molasses, anise, stone fruit pears, ginger bread, raspberry Chambord, milk chocolate, cinnamon, biscuit bread, mixed berry preserves, figgy pudding, oatmeal cookies, dark chocolate, flan, clove spice, bananas, hazelnut nectar, pecan pie, dark cherry yogurt, earthy hop hints, apple pie and cherry cobbler hints.

Aftertaste:
Finishing with Rich caramel, vanilla, dark fruits, butterscotch, anise, port wine, oak, stone fruit and fruit cake. No alcohol in the taste, Crimson clear body, creamy, velvety smooth and syrupy mouth feel and sipping drinkability.

Overall:
An exceptional brew that was very different from the ones before and yet so complex and delicious. I have not tried Sassafras, or at least I do not think but the flavors on this one were very unique. Something a crazy scientist would definitely come up with. I would highly recommend this one as well. Love those Surly brews. Now it is on to the newer ones, cheers!

Anime Corner:
Fuwa Hyouka from Shimoneta: A Boring World Where the Concept of Dirty Jokes Doesn’t Exist was used in this pairing as Fuwa is one of my favorite characters from the show along with Anna but she is the only other scientist, aside from Washu from Tenchi Muyo, that I know of. The fact that her colors pair so damn well with the colors of the label of the beer is simply awesome! It was just a matter of finding the right pieces of artwork and it was the perfect girl for pairing.

Sources:
https://66.media.tumblr.com/7ae9bb3f64222cbbf170373bf21332c0/tumblr_nt8wiuVsGv1tspryno1_1280.png
http://beta.hentaihearts.net/file/pic/user/2015/07/f0fc01f79dfbb2ad858b27eb9dfe38c4_1000_square.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/04d6aa35c90da9a84193243feb750140/tumblr_o2d5x7WchF1qjmcfmo1_1280.png
http://i.imgur.com/RBRCOyr.jpg
http://pre15.deviantart.net/b0f5/th/pre/f/2015/315/6/6/hyouka_fuwa_by_azurmc-d9gcktt.png

Decadent (10th Anniversary Ale) by SKA Brewing

March 12, 2014 by cloudx30 tagged 10th Anniversary, anniversary ale, decadent, Double India Pale Ale, Imperial IPA, SKA brewing | Leave a comment

Rating: 5/5

Decadent (10th Anniversary Ale) by SKA Brewing is a 10% ABV Imperial India Pale Ale

Commercial Description: (skabrewing.com)
It’s a Celebration.

Imagine celebrating some huge, momentous occasion and then imagine drinking the liquid equivalent of that celebration every day.

Citrus aroma prevails. Mounds of fresh hops and caramel malts explode upon the palate. Originally produced to celebrate our tenth year in business, this Imperial IPA hides nothing of our tendency toward self-indulgent behavior.
___

Never have I seen an IPA with a wax covering. Most beers with wax I have seen involve some special reserve stuff. Damn, this must be special. Even more special, as my friend Aaron from www.beermetaldude.com hooked me up with this awesome brew exclusively from Durango Colorado. So basically, this review would not be here without his contribution and SKA Brewing for making this. This is my first SKA Brewing, and special release, beer for review and your reading pleasure.

Aromas:
Citrus, piney, grapefruit hops, honey, biscuit bread, caramel, floral notes, lavender hints, mango, passion fruit, pineapple hints, papaya, oranges, tangerine, prickly pears, toffee, peach notes and herbs.

Flavors:
Peach, caramel, oranges, piney, grassy, floral and grapefruit hops, mango, passion fruit, dragon fruit, prickly pear, oranges, tangerines, papaya, melon, pineapple, toffee, hints of rye, biscuit bread, herbal notes and coriander hints.

Aftertaste:
Caramel, peach, grapefruit, herbal, dragon fruit honey, piney and flora hop linger. No alcohol in the taste which makes this great. A sipping beer with a medium mouth feel and some refreshing aspect.

Overall:
Damn, the best stuff I like from Imperial IPA, well, at least the tropical and caramel malted ones. This is perfect for those that like IPAs with a moderate amount of bite with some good hop profile and malty caramel support. The balance is simply great. If you are looking for a more herbal, garlicy, oniony type of IPA it has some minor elements to it. Still, Double IPAs are no joke. A 10% ABV awesome beer is no joke either. Great stuff from SKA and hope to try some of their other beers some day too.

Anime Corner:
Stitches from Sengoku wars and Misaki Mei from the “Another” series were chosen to represent the Skeleton presenting himself and introducing himself to a beautiful lady bringing a bouquet of hop flowers. In this case, the artwork represents how much the skeleton cares for the lady and likewise as Stitches holds the the skeleton. This beer is a representative that love goes beyond the boundaries of death but also, good flavors like IPA that is past its prime can become a totally delicious beer. Not to say that this beer is not fresh, which it really is, but!! Good IPA sometimes end up becoming some good Barleywines. Remember that, beer is not about having the freshest as possible, but even if you don’t, having it now or a long time down the road, it means life is short, so enjoy the beer whenever you want regardless of time.

Parabola Reserve Series No.004 Limited Release 2013 by Firestone Walker

April 29, 2013 by cloudx30 tagged 10th Anniversary, anniversary ale, art of brewing, beer fans, best beers in the world, Bourbon Barrel Aged, bourbon barrels, Chocolate Rain, Firestone Walker, Knights in the Nightmare, Maria, Oatmeal Stout, Parabola, Ramirez Liquor, Reserve Series, Reserve Series No.004, Russian Imperial Stout, Stout, world class beers | 2 Comments

Rating: 6/5* In the top 10 best of the world, it sure proved it’s worthiness.

Parabola Reserve Series No.004 Limited Release 2013 by Firestone Walker is a 13%ABV World Class Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. Black Xantus’ Big brother 😀

Description:
Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of brewing beer in oak barrels. In the fall of 2006, we embarked on a program to barrel age a series of vintage strong ales that would later be used as components of blending beer. That blend would become our first Anniversary Ale, “10”.

After the release of “10”, we released limited amounts of the component beers on draft only. Many of these beers gained a cult following that craft beer fans raved about and begged for us to put in bottle. Parabola was one of these beers.
We present the 2013 vintage of Parabola, a barrel-aged Imperial Stout. It has been said that the only constant is change and the same is true for barrel aged beers. Cut from a similar recipe, Parabola evolves and shows a different face each year; a result of time spent again in the barrel.

Chocolate, charred oak, vanilla, black cherry and coffee are just some of the complex aromas and flavors you will find in this beer

Parabola is a one-of-a-kind sipping beer to last and will reward careful aging for years to come.

Ideal Aging Temperature 45F

OG: 29.5p [plato]
IBU: 82 [high]
Cases: 3500 produced [LTD]
Aged: 12 mo [time in barrel]
Yeast: British Ale [house]
Color: 167SRM [black]
___

The mess I had to get in to find this beer. Just amazing. Even for Black Tuesday and Chocolate Rain I had to trade for it but it was easier to get than this beer. I almost left work early when I heard the new of it’s release. Driving on the freeway like a mad man, which is really something I have never done for a beer like this. In fact I wouldn’t do a lot of things for certain beers, even when they released Westy 12 in December 2012 I could care less. But this one was something that I really set my eyes on and was damned to get it. It was so hard to get that by the time I got there, it was literally the last one at a Ramirez Liquor in Boyle Heights, California. I was glad I made it on time. No limits for this release either when sold at their store. Maybe one day I will get another to age but now that I will review this for the masses, it may inspire those to go seek this black liquid gold for themselves, even if online.

Fragrances of this beer are very complex. Hershey’s milk chocolate, almonds, Mexican “cocada” coconut candy, oak, vanilla, bourbon, marshmallows, dulce de leche caramel, sweetened condensed milk, flan, roasty sweet burnt notes, crème brulee, Kahlua coffee, cherries, raspberries, prunes, raisins, capirotada raisin bread pudding, molasses, hazelnut, brownies and a slight cola like smell that reminded me of a Port Wine like Trois Pistoles. Damn, this is very complex.

The Flavors are insane!!: You get a ridiculous amounts of chocolates like sweet, milk, dark, bakers and slight Abuelitas chocolate followed by vanilla, dulce de leche flan, bourbon, cocada coconut candy, roasted coconut, espresso, mocha, crème brulee, dulce de leche, raisins, cherries, raspberries, prunes, hazelnut and walnut capirotada raisin bread pudding, chocolate syrup, cocoa powder, molasses, chocolate chips ahoy cookies, oatmeal, sugar cream of wheat, marshmallows and slight port flavors.

Best way to describe this chocolate cake frosted coffee cake sprinkled with coconut, nuts, dipped in bourbon, made with portwine, dipped in bourbon, vanilla caramel glazed, mixed with fruits with Rocky Road Ice Cream on top and well, just a complete and utter dessert. Should I remind that the bitterness actually comes from the roasted coffee notes.

The insane part is that it is very balanced, very drinkable and un-overpowering, very smooth, and its freaking amazing as it it goes down. Like a nice chocolate and chewy syrup that coats the back of your throat but then becomes like a milk chocolate. The craft beer Holy Grail. This is not Black Tuesday or Chocolate Rain or even White Chocolate. However, this beer proved that it can actually transform with every sip. It’s evolution is insane. Which reminds me of why something like this would be called Parabola. (Skip this if you don’t like math 😛 ) If there was a graph depicting a change of flavors with every try, I would say it fits into the definition of a Parabola. The flavors change going from a bourbon coconut to an extreme chocolate upper limit, then back to a bourbon coconut. Ofcourse the flavors keep changing as you go along to what I described earlier. Also the temperature is in charge of these changes as well. Gets way better as it warms up. Yeah, even if you have to go out of your way to get this, I would recommend it by all means to anyone who has not tried this. Also, apparently, from past years, what may have also contributed to the high rating is the fact that even the Brewmaster said this is the best version yet. So there you have it. Get one for now, cellar one for later.