Central NE BA Meetup Feb 19, 2011

Another successful meetup. We did have a slight incident with the Skillebrau, but that will be explained later. If I screwed up on who brought what beer I apologize, please let me know and I will correct it, and hopefully remember to record it next time.

To get things started we cracked a growler of Kern River Citra DIPA, very fresh, tons of delicious musty fresh hops, plenty of citrus and tropical fruits, etc.

From there we settled in and started the real tasting, beginning with Rock Art Infusco, from Melissa's cellar from 2007 I believe. It was labelled as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale, bringing some chocolate covered raisins, licorice, candi sugar, some booze, smoked apple and cherry wood, caramel, toffee, very complex.

After that we took on our first compare and contrast with Berkshire's two Bourbon Barrel Scotch Ales, the Julios release from 2 years ago, and the latest Gude Greg. I believe Chris V. brought the Julios BB Scotch Ale, and I offered up the Gude Greg for comparison. We came to the conclusion that they were different recipes, and very different beers. The Julios one is now about 2 years old or so, and definitely has lost its edge. Most of the bourbon and oak, and nice scotch ale flavors have subdued to the point it's not that great anymore. The Gude Greg is just average overall, some bourbon and oak but not a lot, and the base beer is not the greatest.

Next on the list was Element's Dark Element versus the Double Dark Element, thanks to Chris H. The regular is a nice beer, some raisin and dark fruits, dark malts, a bit sweet, but the double was almost literally doubled that. Very sweet and heavy, lots of dark fruits and raisin, some bit of earthy hops, some booze, etc. Both great beers.

We then moved onto the Imperial Stout Trooper vertical, '08, '09, and '10, thanks to Andrew P. The '08 brought some woody esters, dark fruits, aged malts, a little smoked, and a nice aged flavor. The '09 seemed the most bland overall, a bit more chocolate but just seemed to be missing something. THe '10 was really tasty, lots of fresh hops, earthy, dark malts, fairly luscious.

Sorry for a quick break, Lucic just started the THIRD fight of the Bruins game tonight, damn!

TO change the pace we moved into Trinity Old Growth thanks to Phil. THis was crazy sour, some dour dark malts, malt vinegar, mouth and even eye watering puckering sourness, some acetic acid, solventy, but interesting.

Then we moved into the Surly Smoke Lager '09, also brought by Phil. This brought a nice smoked malt and campfire, some woody esters, a bit chalky with chewy malts, roast, creamy, but all that on the foundation of a crisp lager flavor. Very interesting.

After that I offered up a Gumballhead as a quick palate cleanser, before we moved onto the Abyss vertical. Evan brought the three initial bottles, '08, '09, and '10. The '09 ended up being VERY sour, so we tasted it quickly and I brought one up from my cellar, which also ended up being infected, but was much less infected just in the early stages. The '08 actually brought a fresh wort taste with some hops and bitterness, dark chocolate, black patent malt, dark fruits, and nice and roasty, tasty! The '09s speak for themselves, and offered an interesting drink when blended. The '10 was fresh and a bit boozy, a bit of fluffy nougat, fresh hops, and more bitter.

Next was the Great Skittlebrau Incident of 2011! As a joke I suggested some Skittlebrau, a reference from The Simpsons, and Phil immediately jumped on it, so I had to deliver. We decided to drop the skittles in the Bud Light tall boy can and let them settle and dissolve a bit. However, we were all apparently unaware that skittles have the same properties as Mentos, and dropping them into the Bud Light caused a big eruption of Bud Light all over the place. EEEEwwwwww!!!! After we cleaned up, it tasted like Leinenkugels fruity sugary cheap crappy beer.

After that we needed something with meat! Ivan the Terrible! Also thanks to Xenon I believe. This was all i had hoped it would be, dark and roasty, heavy but light and fluffy, caramel, vanilla, oak, plenty of oats, light earthy hops, smooth and creamy, a bit of booze but drinks well.

Then we raided my cellar and stood around in the cold cellar for about an hour just talking, and eventually came up with Zapata bot and Alpine Duet, and probably some other beers I didn't record.

Thanks to Evan for some great photos again, our unnoficial photographer.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2323070&id=42407965

Not sure when the next event will be, but shouldn't be too long. Theme is also open, any suggestions welcome. See you next time.

Cheers!
-Jared