I didn’t get a real chance in when I visited Michigan to delve into Jolly Pumpkin beers, but for anyone looking to branch out into a different type of beer style, I highly recommend finding some Jolly Pumpkin stuff. Their sour ales are adventurous, and not something you’ll find anywhere else. Plus, a lot of people clearly like them.
That brings us to the Beer Video of the Week. Happy weekend, everyone. Enjoy.
Arcadia Brewing Company in Battle Creek, MI
So after all my adventures with the dark beers in Michigan, even a man of stouts needs a good lighter beer from time to time. I’ve encountered some really good Arcadia beers in the past (London Porter, one of my favorite Scotch Ales), and I was happy to find an IPA of theirs on the beer menu at a nice beer place in East Grand Rapids, Derby Station. And though I was maybe looking for a lighter beer in comparison to the stouts I’ve been devouring, I couldn’t pass up a double IPA from a brewery I like. Plus, with a name like Hopmouth Double IPA, it was just too good to pass up. Hell, I was on vacation, all right?
Photo by Mary Katelyn Heisler
Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire, MI
I’ve already talked about my love for HopCat in Grand Rapids, and I’m definitely getting pretty close to calling Michigan one of the great, if not the greatest, beer state in America for dark beers, but I can now add Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire, MI, to my list of favorite breweries. Aside from the name catching my attention, Über Goober also had a little asterisk next to its unique and gluttonous sounding nom d’plume. (Note to all: any beer with an asterisk should be immediately consumer. It probably means there’s danger involved, and asterisk + beer = heaven. Or at least I think that’s what I learned in my statistics class. Close enough, at least.) Despite the beer seeming to be a rather reasonable oatmeal stout with a standard touch of alcohol, I was curious to figure out the notation for the beer. Well, the asterisk didn’t spell DANGER for most, but the beer did contain peanuts, making this the Über Goober Peanut Oatmeal Stout. I’d never had a beer with peanuts so prominently displayed, so this selection was a no brainer. Über Goober, please.
Short’s Brewing Company in Bellaire, MI
I feel a bit spolied in Michigan. Somehow, there is just an abundance of delicate, hardy, and challenging stouts to try in the state, and many from local breweries. Short’s Brewing Company wasn’t a brewery I was instantly familiar with, but they had quite a number of beers on tap at HopCat in Grand Rapids, so I knew they couldn’t be all bad. With my early evening drawing to a close, and my girlfriend ordering a cup of coffee herself, I thought the Cup A Joe Coffee Creme Stout sounded like a winner. (I can’t think the FDA is a fan of this one, either.)
Pouring a delightfully syrupy and rich jet black, the Cup A Joe blasted through the gate with a thick and rich scent of coffee and maybe a touch of molasses. The brew smelled like morning in a rustic cabin with the scent of freshly made coffee filling the air. 
The taste was just as pleasurable, with a nice and smooth mouthfeel rolling on the tongue, the touches of coffee clearly present but also with added notes of roasted malt and just a tickling of vanilla–possibly the creme element of the brew. An unexpected yet welcome tap-dance of booze brought up the rear of the beer and made it settle back onto the coffee notes and a roasted and nutty finish. The Cup A Joe didn’t taste too sweet when taking it head-on, but after further sips, a nice muted chocolate flourish showed its face in this delightful brew.
I like finding a beer that dares to be slightly sweet but doesn’t go overboard. Pulling off a proper coffee stout isn’t something to laugh at, either. Coffee is a complex flavor that needs to be married properly with surrounding flavors like chocolate, malt, and alcohol to form a smooth and well-rounded craft beer. As for the Cup A Joe Coffee Creme Stout, everything listed above holds true for this succulent coffee stout master. Find one. Taste it. Love it.
Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, MI
The Old Curmudgeon is a beer I’ve seen and heard a lot about. It’s always on the menu at Founders. It’s in bottles in the coolers at the taproom. And it even shows up on other bar menus occasionally. Not being such an old ale fan, I usually pass on it but what the hell, I thought, I already went with a Turkish, ancient-style beer and a black IPA, might as well stay out of my comfort zone. Old Curmudgeon even sounds nasty, so I put on my big boy shoes and stepped into the ring with the ornery old man for a battle royale.
Smelling more like a thick port wine, the Old Curmudgeon had a likable, thick-foggy amber color that was clearly unfiltered. The smell reflected the 9.8% ABV with a grandiose scent of booze and a distinct malt scent crashing into the nose. The beer didn’t taste quite as angry as expected, with a hearty and thick mouthfeel collapsing into some really intense malty curtains, capped with an almost grape-like tasting, slippery finish. Comparing this to a barleywine wouldn’t be too far off, but the distinct malt taste that was complimented with a dash of oak flavor made this a slightly grumpy beer that was easy to handle and drink. The sweet characters were slightly muted, but I suspect if you allowed this beer to warm and you sipped it slowly that you’d find some more intense fruit flavors.
Is this beer an ass? Not really. It’s definitely a beer that I’d have a hard time drinking at most settings, but the unique oak flavor nestled nicely in with the malt streaks make this a good beer for anyone looking for some better thoughts about old times and maybe hanging out with some grumpy grandfathers. Still, if you had a couple of these, I don’t think you’d be a curmudgeon for long–just a really drunk and really pleased everyman.
Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, MI
Founders has the dark beer scene on lockdown here in Michigan (see: Imperial Stout). Maybe even the world. I have yet to find a brewery that makes as many appealing, strong, and delectable dark beers as Founders does. Looking at their big board of beers is a treat in itself, knowing you’ll encounter at least one new dark beer you’ve never had there before. For me, it was the Black Biscuit. The bartender described the 10.5% ABV monster as a cross between a Baltic porter and a black ale. Based on the flavors, he was spot on.
Served in a gorgeous snifter, pouring a fancy and rich dark molasses color, the Black Biscuit erupted with the scent of oak, coffee, thick malt, chocolate, and alcohol. The smell was almost warm and comforting, and it doesn’t take much to see why this is called Black Biscuit with traits like that. The flavor ride was even more memorable, with a constant and free-flowing spectrum of slightly bitter hops melding with the chocolate and molasses before slipping away to a smooth and sexy sweet malt finish. 
It was almost sweet enough to be a dessert beer, but it didn’t have the extreme heartiness you’d expect from 10.5% ABV. The slippery mouthfeel lasted seemingly for hours on the tongue, and the final sweet and somber notes made you want to kick your feet up in a cozy recliner and sip this one for days.
Think of this beer as a nice layer cake. Or your mother’s homemade biscuits—it just has that kind of flavor profile to it. This beer has all the makings of a smooth and succulent black ale with the sweet and chocolaty make up of a delightful porter. If you’re looking for a soothing beer Black Biscuit is something you could never go wrong with.
HopCat/PussyCat Beer Guild in Grand Rapids, MI
About six months ago, I remember seeing some online articles that were discussing the mysterious black IPA. Some were stating that a black IPA could not really exist, and others were saying it has been around for ages so stop talking like it’s a new beer, you freakin’ idiots! (You know how Internet message board arguing goes, you insecure little ninny!) Whether it’s new or not, I’d never seen nor heard of a black IPA before, and I’d never even been given the chance to sample one until I found myself in arguably the best bar in America, HopCat in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Beer Advocate has already beaten me to heaping praise upon HopCat, naming it the third best bar in the world. I’ll second virtually anything stated over at Beer Advocate, and I’ll also point out that their Crack Fries may be the most delicious fries on the planet. But we’re here for the beer and when I saw one of those mysterious black IPAs show up on the menu, a double black IPA for that matter, named Black Scratch Fever, I was immediately sucked in. Claw away, pussy cat.
Served in a beautiful, 12 oz snifter, the Black Scratch Fever looked like a deep, dark porter with just a touch of scorched hazelnut tossed in. The beer didn’t have a whole lot of head, and the smell pulsated with solid notes of coffee and bitter malt. I was hoping to find some noticeable hops hints in the nose, but all of those were annihilated by the strong malt. The taste and mouthfeel were unlike anything I’d ever had in a beer before. A slimier, but also cloyingly thinner, mouthfeel of a porter was the first characteristic, with a blast of bitter, coffee-flavored malt exploding on the tongue. The 8.1% ABV was immediately identifiable as well, with a rush of booze clouding over what I was hoping would be the hop hints. The endnotes were even stranger, with a deluge of bittersweet chocolate malt pounding against a trickling of a slightly dense hop touch. It tasted like a porter on steroids, but not quite a stout either. Absolutely unique in the flavor presentation.
Certainly one of the most perplexing beers I have ever sampled, Black Scratch Fever presented the mystique I’d been hoping for all along with the black IPA. After I finished the glass, I tried to convince myself that I wanted another. It certainly was a dark beer, and it was most definitely different, but the endnotes were almost too strange a combination to beckon me toward another glass. This was a nice treat and something I’ll remember for quite sometime, but maybe not a beer I’ll be dreaming about when I head back west in a week. Regardless, if you find a black IPA on the menu at your favorite bar, don’t pass on it. It may be as mysterious as you think.
Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, MI
This beer almost made my girlfriend throw up. So we’ll start with saying that this isn’t exactly the most stout-friendly beer. This is a beer for a stout lover and a stout lover only. Sure, you might think you’re a fan of dark beer, or maybe even a fan of thick stouts. But then you give the Founders Imperial Stout a taste, and it knocks you on your ass, spits on you, and kicks your ass again just because it’s bored. Right, it’s only 10.5% ABV, but still, I dare you to take on this beer and come out unscathed. It just won’t happen.
Pouring an almost unbelievably dark, used motor oil dark of all darks, the Imperial Stout was ready for a knife fight right out of the bottle. Smelling like a bastard child of burnt coffee grounds and a thick chocolate bar, the Imperial Stout put forth a two-finger, espresso-colored head that looked more than tempting. One sip told me that this was one thick motherfucker. If you have ever thought Guinness was a dark beer, this will make you think it’s mountain-chilled bottled water. Showing a thick malty flavor, you have to swallow this one twice to get the flavor off your tongue. But if you search, and you’re hearty enough to find the intricacies, this really is a sensual, warming and a wonderfully sexy beer. Yes, it’s a hearty, beefy chunk of malty stout goodness; however, this is a sexy beer that a beer would drink. A beer’s beer, if you will.
Dessert and a light session beer is all this one would be great for. Sure, I guess you could take a chance with drinking this with a meal, but it might laugh in the face of venison or sword fight a hunk of steak. For any seasoned stout master, this is a must-have. Don’t think this beer is a tease, though. I challenge you to take on this hardy brew and push your taste buds to the limit. You’ll either be happy you did, or you’ll never touch it again. The beer’s waiting. Go for it.
The Wall Street Journal has an article today about some of the stranger Christmas trees people have created. The best? The BeerMas Tree!
T.J. Wisner used to buy a small Christmas tree for the downstairs floor of his home in Grand Blanc, Mich. Four years ago, though, after getting the idea from an art fair, he opted for something different: a “beer tree,” bottles of holiday brews stacked on a terraced mound of inverted metal buckets.
While the family has a separate artificial tree upstairs, the “beer tree” has become the real Christmas tree. Each year, the Wisners decorate the structure with Christmas cards and pile gifts around it. “This is actually where we have Christmas morning,” says Mr. Wisner, a 59-year-old life coach and speaker. “The day after Christmas, we blind taste the beers.”
We love the idea of the blind taste test the day after. The article talks about some of the other unique trees that are helping to rethink the idea of ol’ Tannenbaum. But T.J. Wisner, you, sir, are an honorary BarBEERian for the rest of the month. Cheers to you!
And coming Monday, we’ll be featuring our 12 Beers of Christmas. So stay in the holiday beer mood!
(Via The Wall Street Journal)
