Hello Beer Friends! Once again we find ourselves at the lovely Idle Hands for the (hopefully legendary) Bourbon and Beer Night. We have the pleasure of Breckenridge Brewery’s company, one of our favorites from the far away land of Colorado. We are looking forward to the always phenomenal Vanilla Porter and something called the 72 Imperial, which is a new one for us, which is always nice. Stay tuned…….
Phil’s Pre-Game #1 Founders Red Rye – always one of my favorites, and just as good this week on draft as it was last week for the Founders event. A good mix of bitter and sweet, the rye doesn’t disappoint.
Brad’s First Pre-Game Victory Yakima Glory – this Black IPA always surprises me because it doesn’t have the roasted malt taste I find with most Black IPA’s. This is always surprisingly drinkable and delicious.
Brad’s Second Pre-Game Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale – this Amber ale always surprises me because it has more of a bite than the typical Fat Tire, Bristol Mass Transit and Breckenridge Avalanche Ale I grew up drinking. This time I long for the old days and want a smoother Amber taste than a bite.
Phil’s Pre-Game #2 Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale – Brad brings up a good point, it a got a good bite, more than I usually expect from Ballast Point. Crisp and bitter, maybe a little more than you would expect from an amber, I think it strays a little into pale ale territory, but that’s a good thing.
Phil’s First Breckenridge Vanilla Porter – good god this is a great beer. We had this the last time there was a Breckenridge event here and loved it then just as much as I love it now. I really think this is quickly rising to the top of my looked for favorite beers list. It’s just so smooth and delicious, the sweetness is great because it’s not a sugary sweetness, it’s got that nice natural sweet you get from smelling a bottle of vanilla extract, with that great porter malt to counter it.
Brad’s First Breckenridge Vanilla Porter – always delicious. Since Phil hates bourbon I’ll comment on that. Idle Hands does a hard alcohol tasting with a brewery and often they are connected. This Breckenridge Bourbon is made in Breckenridge, Colorado with the water from the mountains themselves and has a interesting ride. The smell is maple-y sugary and the taste hits with the alcohol taste, smooths out and then light burn on the way down. This is very good – not as harsh as Knob Creek but not as smooth as a Basil Hayden… Somewhere in the middle. Very drinkable neat and probably too good to mix with.
Brad’s Second Breckenridge Agave Wheat – This is pretty awesome. I’m not a hater of the wheat beers like the other Beer Friend at the bar (who shall remain nameless). I enjoy the lighter taste and crispness of the beer which (unfortunately) makes it REALLY easy to drink.
Brad’s Third Breckenridge 72 Imperial Cream Stout – Holy Sweet Batman! this might be a little much for my taste. It’s labelled as a chocolate stout which I don’t agree with – but that might because I couldn’t (even after a 8 oz) get over the sweetness. I’ll have to try another later to get a better view.
Phil’s Third Breckenridge 72 Imperial Cream Stout – so my second beer was really another Founders Red Rye so we’ll just remember that from before. But for the cream stout it was really good! Not quite what I was expecting for a cream stout, usually I think of the creamy ones as, well, creamy. This is a little more on the bitter side, but in the best way. It’s a cream stout with a better bitter end for the taste than we are usually used to. Kinda more along the lines of a coffee stout than any other, but still is good one for the masses.
