A Million Beers: Beers #11-22

More Travels on my attempt to drink one million beers


11. Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock- This is a seasonal beer that comes out in a big bottle right about now. It's absolutely delicious and tastes very much like chocolate. I bought several of the bottles last year and this was the last one. Highly recommended.





12. Killians Irish Red- This is Mrs. Idiot's Beer. She likes to have some Killians on hand, so we buy some, and she drinks my Sam Adams Light instead. Go figure.






13. Long Trail IPA- This is a perfectly fine beer that doesn't stand out in my mind for any reason at all. As you'll see in a few more beers, that might be a good thing.






14. New Castle Brown Ale- I discovered this beer by accident many years ago. I thought I was buying J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown Ale, but wound up with a cooler full of New Castle instead. Subsequently, some friends of mine who remembered that cooler full of New Castle always buy it when they know I'm coming over. It's a vicious cycle, but fortunately, this is a good beer.

15. Sam Adams Oktoberfest- Mmmm, Malty! A fine brew for the fall.








16. Sam Adams Light- I still grab the regular Sam Adams beer at the store because I'm an idiot and a creature of habit, but this one is every bit as good.






17. Smuttynose Wheat Wine Ale - This is part of the Smuttynose "Big Beer Series" which is a cute little play on words. A "big beer" to a brewer or someone who likes beer a lot is really heavy in its "gravity" (and thus high in alcohol). A wheat wine or barley wine like this certainly qualifies. It's also a big beer because the bottles in this series are bigger than normal. (They're almost two pints).
I drank this last weekend and enjoyed the heck out of it, as I've enjoyed all of the Smuttynose products I'd tried...


18. Smuttynose Scotch Style Ale- I enjoyed the Wheat Wine so much I jumped right into the Scotch Ale, another in the Big Beer Series. It was great, a very rich and malty brew. When I poured the second glass out of the bottle, however, a big pink glop of yeast fell out into the glass. In the world of homebrewing, finding yeast and sediment in the bottle is no big deal. Finding it in the bottom of the bottle I just got at the supermarket kinda grossed me out because it took me by surprise. There really should be something on the label to warn us idiots about this. Smuttynose got some major points off for that.

19. Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde- I grabbed this one right after the Scotch Ale incident because I wanted to drink something tame. Mrs Idiot had one also, and said it tasted strongly of strawberries. I thought it was barely strawberry, but then again I'd just had two very very big beers and think I had drowned my tastebuds in them.


20. Smuttynose IPA- A few days after the Scotch Ale incident I was ready to get back on the Smuttynose horse, and I had a couple of bottles of their IPA in the fridge that had been orphaned by a guest. I opened one and took a big swig. Nice beer, not all that bitter for an IPA. Then I noticed that the beer looks like it has a million little floaties and swirlies. Seriously, I don't know what kind of sediment or yeast or what they have in their standard IPA, but it totally grossed me out. I looked at the other bottle of the stuff we had in the fridge and it was like a minefield of beer debris. Again, something on the label teling me that those aren't pretzel backwash would be nice. As is, no thanks, Smutty.
21. Sierra Nevada 2005 Summerfest Beer- Finally, a happy story after my floaties. I saw the last 6-pack of this in the supermarket and grabbed it, figuring that it would soon be extinct. Great beer, very smooth.




22. Sam Adams Summer Ale- This is one of my favorite beers, probably because when I see it show up in the stores I know that summer is right behind it.