Down 'n Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

Check out that sweet fire pit!

Now that everybody knows us, I thought I might write about the rules of Two Guys and some Beer. The rules are exactly like the rules from the movie Fight Club with a couple of very small differences.

Here are the rules to Fight Club:

1^st rule: You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB.

2^nd rule: You DO NOT talk about FIGHT CLUB.

3^rd rule: If someone says "stop" or goes limp, taps out the fight is over.

4^th rule: Only two guys to a fight.

5^th rule: One fight at a time.

6^th rule: No shirts, no shoes.

7^th rule: Fights will go on as long as they have to.

8^th rule: If this is your first night at FIGHT CLUB, you HAVE to fight.

Here are the rules to Two Guys and Some Beer:

1^st rule: You drink craft beer that you have not previously tried.

2^nd rule: You DRINK craft beer that you have not previously tried.

3^rd rule: If someone goes limp, the sampling is over.

4^th rule: Only two guys to a sampling....unless someone else wants to join, we really don't mind.

5^th rule: One beer at a time.

6^th rule: No shirts, no shoes, no problem.

7^th rule: Beer sampling will go on for as long as it has to, or until the beer is all gone.

8^th rule: If this is your first night sampling with Two Guys, you HAVE to drink a beer.

See, the rules are almost exactly like Fight Club except with no actual fighting. Two Guys may think the movie is pretty cool but we tend to think the fighting would be overly painful. We will just stick to the beer.

Joe: Our third beer to sample was from the Tyranena Brewing company. It's located in the beer state of Wisconsin. We specifically sampled the Down and Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Yep, you read correctly—chocolate. It was brewed with chocolate or as the description says 'cocoa nibs'. I am not sure what a nib is but it gives the beer a very chocolate coffee taste. The beer is very dark (almost black) with light carbonation. As previously mentioned, it has a chocolate coffee taste with a hint of oatmeal. There is a light bitter hops flavor at the back end. It's ABV is 6.30%. On some beers, it takes a beer or two to truly acclimate to the taste. That was not the case with this beer. I enjoyed the first one as much as the third one. I give it a 3.5.

Justin: When I was first presented with the sampling, I noticed the label had a picture of a derailed train. There is a nice little short story that explained the legend of the train and then it ends with the following sentence - “We brew Down 'n Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout thick and black like the glacial muck.”  Hmmm, doesn’t exactly make the mouth water. However, after the first taste I knew that Joe had picked out a winner. The beer is smooth from start to finish with very light carbonation. The chocolate flavor is not one that I am used to tasting in beer but it was a nice refreshing change that wasn’t too sweet. I also detected subtle hints of coffee and toasted oats that helped make for an enjoyable after taste. I give it 4 stars!

Claymore Scotch Ale - Wee Heavy

We thought we might introduce the "Two Guys" who are writing about some beer.

Justin Hill is from way up north where snow is manufactured but now lives where Posey County melons are supposedly grown.

Joe Vieke is from where Posey County melons are actually grown but now lives in the city that designs expressways that come with stoplights.  Stoplights on an expressway?--seriously.

We both have wonderful wives who actually came up with the idea of writing about our journey of beer exploration in blog form.  And for those who care about such things, they act as designated drivers when the need arises.  We also believe that football is best sport invented in the history of ever. Now onto the beer.

Joe :  We sampled Claymore Scotch Ale from the Great Divide Brewing Company located out of Denver, Colorado. It is a dark beer that has ample carbonation.  As you drink, it gives you two dominant tastes--a caramel malty flavor with a punch of alcohol as it hits the back of the mouth. The hops also give a bit of a bitter taste mixed in with the caramel.  I really enjoyed the caramel taste but I, normally, am not a big fan of beers  that give you taste reminder that it is an alcohol beverage.  This is beer blog, not a rum blog.  But saying  that, as I acclimated to it, I enjoyed it more and more. My first impression was to give it a 3.0 score but by the time I acclimated to the alcohol taste I moved it up to a 3.5.  The beer has a 7.7% alcohol volume so it is not a beer that you are going to be slamming down Busch Lite style.  It is beer you savor.

Justin's wife Jamie was a guest sampler.  She took a sip of the beer and there was brief moment where we thought we were going to have scream "don't go toward the light!!--don't go toward the light--stay with us!!."  While she survived the experience, she did not enjoy the beer.

Justin: As I was browsing the beer selection in the liquor store, I picked up a bottle of Claymore Scotch Ale and read "Suggested Food Pairing: Pot roast with roasted vegetables, seared lamb shank with white beans, bread pudding." Sold! This was the first time I've seen a suggested meal on a beer label and I'm not sure if I was hungry at the time or if I was influenced by the fact that it’s named after a medieval Scottish Sword but this beer just sounded cool! I really enjoyed the rich toasted caramel, coffee, and butterscotch flavors. The ‘subtle warming character’ however was more like a roundhouse kick to the back of your throat as it traveled to your stomach. The strong after taste became subdued the more I drank likely due to high alcohol content. I did enjoy this beer and I rate it a solid 3 stars. I look forward to trying more offerings from Great Divide.