Total Wine!

I finally went to a Total Wine to check out their 1000+ beer selection. Oh sweet torture. I allowed myself three purchases. I went to a new friend's house to hang out and drink the beer. First up, was a Wexford Irish Cream Ale (Irish Red ALe, 5.0%).

The creamy head was encouraging, though this beer didn't end up being quite as good as I was hoping. It was pretty good though, silky down the throat. This was a little more malty and fruity than I'd like. B+.

Next I had a sip of Matt's Thomas Hardy Ale (Old Ale, 11.9% ABV).

This was really good. I forgot to take a picture until it was half drunk, but you're not missing much in this picture as there wasn't much head in the first place. I could taste brown sugar and raisins, prunes. It was thick with little carbonation. It's strange to me how much I enjoy the high alcohol taste in beers now, whereas I never really have with liquor. I liked how I could taste bread in the beer. A-.

My next beer was a Red Brick Double Chocolate Oatmeal Porter (American Porter, 7.7% ABV). I thought the color and head were promising, but the taste didn't meet my expectations or at least my hopes. I couldn't really taste much chocolate or oatmeal, it was more burnt malt with an astringent aftertaste. B-.

Finally, I had a jug of Mississippi Mud Black and Tan (Black & Tan, 5.0% ABV).

Not bad for a bottled Black & Tan. It was kind of sweet but didn't have much flavor. B-.

You know, I've gotten away from telling about my night. I'm going to get back to that, though this night I was just hanging out with Matt and Yasmin, so no shennanigans occurred. We did learn about Matt's stroke last year though, which was an awesome story. I wish I could have one without the threat of death or any long term consequences.

I had a beer at Hot Olives Saturday night after a nice neighborhood Christmas festival at which a friend of mine was singing in a quartet, impressing us all with her strong and solid soprano in many songs, including the freaking Hallelujah Chorus. You just don't get that on the street corner every night. Anyway, the beer I ordered was from the Czech Republic, a Krušovice Cerne (Schwarzbier, 3.8% ABV).

It was pretty good, a nice accompaniment to my meal. It was roasty and malty, with maybe a suggestion of coffee. Basically, if I want a stout or porter but don't need 10% ABV at the moment, this will do the trick.