Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

What comes to mind when you think Kentucky? For Two Guys, it's basketball, bourbon and bees. We wish there were some other animal that Kentucky was internationally known for but bees are all we have. Our extraordinarily smart 4 readers know that none of those three things are related to a journey of beer exploration. Well in this case that would not be correct, a brewery in Kentucky has decided to age ale in barrels that were used to hide Coach Calipari's recruiting violations and boy does that beer taste bitter. Just kidding, they used barrels that were previously used to age Kentucky bourbon. We will not detail to our very alert readers what ale is since we have done so in previous blog posts. We will just go straight to the beer.

Joe: The beer we tried for this sample is a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale brewed by the Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company located in the, no way shaped like a basketball, commonwealth of Kentucky. As previously mentioned the ale was aged in barrels that were used to age bourbon. The beer has a hefty 8.19 ABV. It a dark beer with high carbonation. As you can imagine the ale had a strong taste of bourbon with a hint of malty vanilla and caramel. It is advertised as a sipping beer and with the bourbon taste that is best how it is drank. You need to savor this beer. While I am not a bourbon guy—this is not a bourbon blog, after all---I did enjoy this beer. I give it 3 stars.

Joe, Justin, Jim Beam & beer

Justin: I wasn't sure what to expect with this beer and with good reason. It is a very unique sipping beer with strong bourbon flavor and subtle hints of vanilla and oak. The ale is aged for 6 weeks in spent bourbon casks from some of Kentucky’s finest distilleries. The flavor is strong right out of the gate and it doesn't let up. You definitely want to take the advice and 'sip' this one. I enjoyed the beer and I think that it would grow on me. I expect this would be the ideal after dinner beer for bourbon connoisseurs. Three stars!

New Belgium's Red Hoptober

Our next beer to review fits the style of Amber Ale. What’s that you say? Two Guys have already explained what ale is. Our readers are very astute so I’ll jump right into the distinguishing factors. Amber ales are basically pale ales that also use crystal malt. Crystal malts are responsible for the strongly sweet toffee-like flavors and the amber color. They are high-nitrogen malts that are wetted and roasted in a rotating drum before kilning.

Brian survived Two Guys initiation
 of setting the guest blogger on fire.

We are also pleased to introduce our second guest beer blogger. Brian has been a friend of ours for many years now. While he seems to have an endless supply of Busch Light available in his pole barn at all times, I've often noticed that he is no stranger to branching out and enjoying many seasonal and craft beer varieties. Now onto the beer!

Brian: I was lucky enough to be invited to a beer tasting with a couple of good friends. As usual I was ready! Then I saw the beer that we would be tasting and reviewing. The beer was New Belgium’s Red Hoptober. New Belgium’s flag ship beer is not my favorite, but after tasting this brew I was quickly surprised how much I liked it. The beer has a heavy start, but ends with a good flavor. I could see myself enjoying this beer with some thick burgers or around the campfire. If you enjoy a hoppy beer then grab a few of these New Belgium seasonals before the season is over.

Joe: Fall is a wonderful time of year. The heat and humidity and withering brownness of a brutal Indiana summer changes into crisp cool nights and the beauty of the forests as they prepare themselves for their winter hibernation. But what makes Fall truly grand it that it brings seasonal Fall beer. For our first Fall sampling we tried a Red Hoptober Ale brewed by the New Belgium Brewery which is very confusingly located in the extraordinarily rectangular but yet tall state of Colorado. The Hoptober had a dark red color with a 6.0 ABV. The flavor is a malt citrus caramel taste on the front end with a hopps bitter taste on the back end to nicely complement the malt flavor. The hoppy bitter taste made me think that it was an IPA but I cannot find any description that it is one. The beer was perfect to drink on a beautiful fall night. I give it 4 stars.

Justin: The hunt is over! This new seasonal offering from New Belgium Brewery hits on all cylinders. Red Hoptober's flavor is a mixture of light toffee sweetness and crisp citrusy pine. It ends with a bitter hoppiness that is reminiscent of an IPA. It was the perfect complement to sitting around a campfire. I would (and did) buy this beer again. Four and a half stars!

Flying Dog's Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout

The beer we tried for this sample is an Oyster Stout and by Oyster Stout I mean it is a stout that was brewed with oysters. No, you get out of town; it was really brewed with oysters. Two Guys thought it was a one note gimmick thing but it turns out there is a history of oyster brewed stout. And what would Two Guys be if we didn't share that history.  Let's first start with oysters. Oysters are bivalve mollusks that live in a marine or brackish env---. Two Guys almost fell asleep typing that so, really, what do you need to know about oysters other than they taste excellent with cocktail sauce. Let's go straight to the history of the beer. Stout is a beer that is brewed with dark colored malts or barley and hops. The dark malts make the beer a dark color. Our ever alert readers may ask, why call it stout when that sounds like a normal beer other than it being dark. It's called stout because wedding dancing is strong with it. It is typically brewed at a 6 to 9% abv. There are many types of stouts. They range from Dry stouts(coffee taste) to the above mentioned Oyster Stout. There was a brief time in the first half of the 20^th century where brewers thought “we need to provide nourishment to our stout drinkers while they dance at all these weddings”. So they used such things as milk, oatmeal and oysters in the brewing process to do that.  At the time, oysters were very cheap which is why they were used. Plus there has been a long history of drinking beer along with eating oysters. So why not combine them into one product. The nourishment phase of stout ended after WWII and is now only occasionally seen. Now onto the beer!

Doing our part to help save the oysters!

Joe:  The beer we sampled was Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout from Flying Dog Brewery located in the Tetris piece shaped state of Maryland. I picked this beer with some trepidation because I was unsure how I would dunk the beer in cocktail sauce but sometimes a journey of beer exploration is not for the faint of heart. The beer was almost black in color with a 5.5% ABV. The taste up front had a bit of cocoa with a hint of vanilla. It then faded to a salty iron taste on the back end. I believe the oysters are what produced the back end taste but it did not actually taste of oysters. This beer is difficult to score because I really enjoyed the front end taste but was not sure of the back end. I did get used to it. I give this beer a 3. One further note, proceeds from this beer go the restoration of the Oysters beds in the Chesapeake Bay. Such is the power of beer, they even try to save oysters.

Justin:  When Joe first informed me that he had picked out an Oyster Stout I immediately tried reading his face to see if he was serious. Then I saw the bottle and quickly realized that this was no joke. O boy! I composed myself and decided that I was up to the challenge. I have been pleasantly surprised by other craft beers so I gave it a shot. The obvious intimidation factor here is that the beer is brewed with oysters but I was surprised (and relieved) that there were no fishy aspects to this beer. The taste was more of a smoky charred flavor. The aftertaste had me a little confused. I didn't hate it but I wasn't crazy about it either. The second beer that I drank was better than the first one and the third one. I learned that I prefer my beer sans shellfish and I probably wouldn't buy this beer again and therefore rate it 1 star.

Red Hook's Long Hammer IPA

Extreme temperature changes and long hot storage conditions are a couple of reasons that can cause beer to go bad. In fact, a term often applied to spoiled beer is skunk beer. This is what the English had to deal with when trying to supply their fellow soldiers and countrymen residing in India with a decent beer back in the 1700s prior to the modern conveniences of refrigeration and pasteurization. So the story goes that the style of IPA or India Pale Ale is one that was created out of necessity. By generously increasing the amount of alcohol and hops, the beer was protected from bacteria as the hops act as a natural antibiotic and preservative. George Hodgson, the brewer credited with this solution naturally became a hero and a legend. The style was firmly established after a fateful shipwreck caused the casks on board to be distributed locally where the export ales were an immediate hit. There are many different varieties of this bitter beer found today that include American and English IPA, Double IPA, Triple IPA, Belgian IPA, and Black IPA.

 Joe: Our latest beer is Long Hammer IPA from the Red Hook Brewery located in Woodinville, Washington. Much to my absolutely no surprise whatsoever, Woodinville is located in the Seattle Metro area. I picture the Seattle metro area covering the entire state. The IPA is 6.2 APV beer with medium carbonation.  It has a light gold color. As mentioned above, IPAs are noted for their hoppy bitter taste. This IPA does not disappoint on that end. It also has a slight hint of a piney flavor that accents the bitter taste. Saying that though, the flavor was not as complex as I would have liked. It was sort of a one-note flavor. I give this beer 2.5 stars and my lowest score so far but it did make me want to try more IPAs so I give it credit for that.

Goes great with grilled burgers!

Justin: I find that I am enjoying IPAs more and more each time I try them. They are much more bitter than a regular pale ale which is the signature characteristic of this style. But within the bitterness is a vast array of flavorful tones. I found that Red Hook’s Long-Hammer IPA was fairly crisp with some nice light pine and citrus flavors. This is a great starter IPA as the bitterness is not too overwhelming. I give it 3 solid stars and look forward to trying more complex IPAs in the future.

*Disclaimer: Please be advised that although it has been awhile since the blog has been updated, the beer samplings have continued.