This Week's Beers in My Fridge

I love my fridge. It seems to keep producing awesome beers, week after week. It's a magic fridge. Really.

1) Stella Artois Euro Pale Lager. Not a grand showing for the first beer out of the gate. Light and pale, nice frothy white head. Clean smelling with grainy aromas. Vague hop bitterness with a mild sharpness. Not your typical Belgian beer (see last week), but surprisingly drinkable as an all-night sesison beer; provides more flavor than Bud or even Molson, but still a bit nuetral. 6/10.

2) Rogue Ale Brewery Shakespeare Stout. Pours pitch-black with a tan head and lacing. Creamy and thick, with sweet malt right up front...oh so inviting. Nice espresso aftertaste. I would drink this beer with dessert (or as dessert)...a rich chocolate dessert would do nicely. 8/10.

3) Stone Brewing Company Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale. Dark brown, almost coppery, slight haze. Very subdued nose, so I was worried at first. After I let it warm up a bit...WOW. Stunningly smooth from aging it in oak barrels...really smooths and mellows what is normally (the non-oaked AB) a hoppy powerhose, and adds some vanilla undertones, just sort of in between all the other flavors. The hops still own the joint, but they are mellowed just perfectly by the oak. Beautiful. 9/10.

4) Founder's Brewing Company Red's Rye. My God, another amazing offering from Founders. Massive herbal, fruity esters, and grapefruit. Lots of spice. Slightly chewy mouthfeel. Incredibly creamy on the palate. Big juicy fruity flavors of apples, some pear and peach. Crisp twang from the rye. Floral hops, with resiny oils that stick. 9/10.

5) Great Lakes Brewing COmpany Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. Fortunately for this beer, it does NOT follow its namesake. Black as the night the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, with a dense, rocky head and lacing to match what smashed her up. Carmel and chocolate in the nose, medium to full in body with a fat chewy malty mouth feel up front. A rich undertone of caramel fills a creamed coffee center, with a hop character that comes though and leaves a leafy / faded citrus taste. Perfect traditional porter. 9/10.

6) Brewery Castle Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier. Rich, clear amber. Pours with a creamy off-white head. Sweet, syrupy, malty nose, with heavy fruit esters (plum, raisin). Caramel/toffee, plum, raisin, grape, honey, sweet chocolate and light biscuit flavours come to the front. Alchohol bite adds a spicey note. Finishes with alcohol fumes and a light grain flavour with chocolate liquor notes. Gods, is this amazing. Brewed once a year and aged for 9 or 10 months. 9/10.

7) Dark Horse Brewing Company Double Crooked Tree IPA. Pours a glowing copper/orange color with a thick head. Slight alchohol nose with a citrus and pine scent as well. Tastes initially of pine, then caramel and melted butter. Creamy and thick, then suddenly, out of nowhere, the hoppiness of an IPA smashes through. Destroyed my tastebuds for the night with all the hops. Also, weighs-in at over 13% abv. Had to drink LaBatt. 8/10.

8) Dogfish Head Brewery Chicory Stout. More coffee-black than actual black. Every had coffee in New Orleans? They add a root called chicory to it. It makes it bitter-strong but uniquely spicey at the same time. Unlike any other spice, though I could say a hint of nutmeg. Well, take a stout, which already tastes like coffee, and then add the chicory. Aaaa-iieeee! Leze le bon temp roulez! 7/10.

9) Dragonmead Brewing Company Sir Williams ESB. Dark red color with a huge off white head and lots of lacing all around. Caramel and a little toasted malt and spicey hops...almost peppery. Biscuits and caramel up front followed by a pronounced, bitter hoppiness. Dry, yet still malty finish. 7/10.

10) Kuhnhenn Brewing Company A Few Shilling Too Many Scotch Ale. Served to me in a tulip-shaped glass from the brewery, and it came the appropriate caramel brown/burgundy. Pungent and sweet, with aged wood tones in the nose. A smooth sweetness up front, fading to a taste that reminds me of a good, oak-aged red wine. Hints of peat moss, which is appropriate, but way more plum/raisin taste. Thick, but not syrupy. 7/10.

Some day, all of this really is going to catch up with me.