Boulder Nitro Shake Chocolate Porter

I've been back from Denver for a couple of weeks now, and thinking how i need to get back there someday...maybe next time without the kids...to make my way to more breweries and drink way, way more beer.  Anyway, while catching some lunch at the Ale House in downtown Denver, i tried the delicious Shake Chocolate Porter on nitro from Boulder Beer.  The 5.9% ABV brew poured a dark, blackish brown with a foamy white head (as nitros are wont to do) and smelled of malts, chocolate, and coffee.  The flavor was a velvety mix of chocolate and coffee with some hints of caramel and a great blend of sweet and bitter.  I must have this again someday.

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Avery Tangerine Quad

Turns out there are a lot of breweries in Colorado.  I was only there for 4 days...with kids...so i was only able to make it to a couple, but Avery Brewing in Boulder most certainly got a visit.  While there in their taproom/brew pub (the food was excellent by the way), i was able to try a handful of different beers, culminating in the Tangerine Quad, a 10.1% ABV Belgian style quadrupel with added tangerine peel and aged in bourbon barrels.  I think it goes without saying that it was magnificent.  Pouring a dark amber, the beer smells of dark fruits, tangerine, and hints of vanilla and alcohol.  The flavor is complex, notes of fruit, vanilla, caramel, bread, and oak swirling together with the tangerine peel in this full-bodied brew, nothing ever overpowering.  All in all, a damn fine beer.

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Bristol Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

"Make the Empire Great Again!"  Like i wasn't going to buy the beer with storm troopers on the label.

Last week i spent a few days in Denver and was able to sample a hand full of different Colorado brews, as one is wont to do when in Colorado.  The first during the trip (literally just a couple hours after landing) was the 10% ABV Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout from Bristol Brewing out of Colorado Springs.  The beer pours dark with a fleeting head and smells of malts, oats, hints of chocolate, and booze.  The beer's flavor was predominantly a mix of malt and alcohol but with a little extra tang to make things interesting.  Not a bad way to start the trip...and again, dig on those storm troopers.

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Buffalo Bayou Black Raz

Every now and then, a beer can totally serve as a desert, something thick and sweet to end a meal or evening with.  The Black Raz, a delicious chocolate raspberry stout from Houston's Buffalo Bayou Brewing, has you covered.  The beer pours dark black with a nice tan head and smells of roasted malt, raspberry, and hints of vanilla, toffee, and other fruit.  The flavor is a lovely mix of malt, chocolate, raspberry, and cherry that's sweet, but with a roasty back end, and all in an 8% ABV package.  Nothing overpowers.  All in all, a wonderful stout.

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