A pair of Shipyard beers from Portland, Maine, a "chocolate-free" Black Chocolate Stout from Brooklyn (a stark contrast from my lately reviewed Flying Monkey's Chocolate Imperial Stout) and a one of my favorite styles from one of my favorite breweries, the Rogue Yellow Snow IPA.
Shipyard Imperial Porter:
625 mL bottle. Practically jumps from the bottle with carbonation, pours opaque black with a massive beige head, decent lacing. Aromas of bitter chocolate, espresso, roasted cereal grain a touch of earth and a bit of alcohol bite. Medium sweet at first, dryer midpalate, both bittering and sour. Full bodied with lots of carbonation, mouth coating and a boozy steak sauce tinged finish. A beast, albeit a tasty one.
Shipyard Barley Wine:
625 mL bottle. Pours a dark brassy amber with a decent off white head. Minimal lacing. Aromas of cocoa, pine, aged malt and roasted cereal. Sweet, but not overly, with a great bitter punch and a lingering dryness. Tastefully complex.
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout:
355 mL bottle. Pours opaque black, you can't see through this one. A quickly dissipating beige head. Pleasant deep aroma, cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, and nut. Mildly sweet, with a massive full midpalate, and a lightly bitter finish. Lightly carbonated. Surprised to see this contained no chocolate, would have bought it sooner if it's name did'nt suggest the opposite. Tasty stuff from Brooklyn.
Rogue Yellow Snow IPA:
330 mL bottle. Pours a murky pale yellow orange, lots of clouding and a thick white head. Lovely aroma, pine, wax, honey, citronella, pomelo. Fairly dry for its style, but a big bitter punch. Waxy texture with a lingering drying mouthfeel. Full bodied and medium carbonation. Fairly certain Rogue doesn't produce bad anything. A stand out example of an IPA, very well balanced.
The LCBO currently has a great Beau's Gift pack, featuring four of their specialty brews, they are also carrying their winter seasonal, the Bog Water. Check back in a few days for my notes.
As always, more can be found here:
http://www.ratebeer.com/user/169526/ratings/
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