It just so happens that my birthday seems to fall every few years on the same day as the Superbowl. It's always the same day as Groundhogs Day, which I think is always a reason to party, but this year we had three reasons to have some people over and raid a few of the bigger beers I've been holding on to. Truthfully I had started considering which beers we should drink well before we even hit 2014. I have so many big bottles I've be holding on to, you have a few things to consider when selecting.
First I had to pick bottles that are different, and yet, somewhat complimentary. Next, I had to figure out what my other friend, who is also a beer collector, would be bringing to the party. Then we had to figure out what order we would be drinking them in. There were quite a few bottles to pick from, but I figured it would be a night for dessert.
The Bruery - White Chocolate (2012) - The first beer we drank on the night was a beer I traded for over the summer from The Bruery. The Bruery puts out big beers, and they have a beer club that allows their members the ability to buy their special releases in bulk. The 2013 White Chocolate was somewhat known for being infected, but I thankfully have been hoarding a bottle of perfectly fine 2012. This beer's abv comes in over 14%, so it was obviously a giant beer to kick off the events. But, while it had quite the high alcohol, I would say the beer hides it well. It's a wheatwine they age in used bourbon barrels with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. The beer's flavors were certainly big on the vanilla; however, the chocolate flavors really back off. It was absolutely a great birthday beer and one big way to kick off the tasting.
Goose Island - Backyard Rye - The second beer of the night was this big Bourbon County variant from Goose Island. Bourbon County is a line of beers they put out once a year that makes the beer nerds in America go nutty. This particular variant has been aged in Templeton Rye whiskey barrels with fresh mulberries, marionberries, and boysenberries. I've had a few of the variants from this series, but I think this one might have been one of my favorites. Unlike the previous beer, this beer is a big beer from start to finish. The smell is in your face, the booze is in your face, and the berries even come on strong. I'll be very interested to see what time does to this bottle. Thankfully I have a bottle in my cellar, so I'll give it some time to develop.
Avery Brewing - Odio Equum - One thing I've come to realize about doing a tasting, you need to have that beer that breaks up the styles. Typically I look for lighter beers to bring in the diversity. This time we decided to bring in a sour ale. This beer is a belgian-style red ale that has been brewed with raspberries and aged in first use cabernet sauvignon barrels. Avery makes some crazy good barrel aged beers, so we were really excited to see how they do sours. This one provided some really nice light flavor to break down the giant stouts that preceded and followed it. The raspberries weren't overbearing, and the wine barrels provided a nice sour flavor. I'm definitely not a big cabernet sauvignon fan, but I apparently really enjoy when you but an awesome beer in it.
Westbrook Brewing - Mexican Cake (2012) - The last beer of the night was the big beer I basically centered the whole tasting around. Mexican Cake is a highly sought after imperial stout that is brewed with cacao nibs, vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, and fresh habanero peppers. I've had a few hot pepper beers, I've brewed a hot pepper beer, and I've traded for a few big hot pepper beers. However, I've never had a beer with habanero peppers in it. Thankfully, this big 10% beer was fairly well-balanced for having such a strong pepper in it. The pepper and cinnamon definitely played well off each other, but they were kept fairly in check by the base beer, vanilla, and cacao. This is one beer I'm certain I'll be getting again. I have an amazing hook up with a guy around this brewery who I regularly trade with. Next time I'll be interested to have this one a little younger. I'd like to see if the fresher the beer the fresher the peppers. Ultimately it was a great tasting. My palate was pleased, my groundhog saw his shadow, and the team I was pulling for lost. Can't win them all. I won where it counted and that's all that matters. Time to start planning for the next tasting.
