On January 23rd, we went to a event at World of Beer. This event had an epic beer selection. We took notes on our Untappd application.
Beer # 1
Bell's Black Note Stout
Oh, Bell's Black Note Stout. We've hunted for you for about a year. You are an elusive one. Finally we were able to catch you and enjoy your bliss. A barrel aged behemoth that is sought out by many, your 11.8% ABV was well noticed.
This was available on tap. The pour was pitch black with small amount of light caramel head. The aroma on this was fantastic. A lot of roasted, some chocolate, and some bourbon notes come through with the initial sniff. The taste is not disappointing. Roasted, molasses, brown sugar and chocolate toward the foreground, with some bourbon, oak and vanilla flavors coming through toward the back. This was thick and syrupy with decent carbonation, smooth sipping beer with some alcohol bite and bitterness on the backend. This makes up for the parking meter outside eating an extra quarter.
Suggested pairings:
Music: Miles Davis, "Bitches Brew"
Cheese: Parmiggiano-Reggiano
Food: Creme brulee
5/5 Caps
(side by side Bell's Black Note Stout- Photo by Jennie Koeper)
Beer # 2
Bell's Hopslam (draft)
We've previously reviewed Hopslam, and rightfully so as it's Jennie's favorite beer. We had the opportunity to have this on draft, and of course, we took advantage of this. The aroma is citrus (possibly Citra) hop heavy with hints of honey and pine. A lot heavier, fresher flavor on draft than in a bottle. The appearance is about the same (only different being this was in the proper glass for this). The flavor is much better on draft as well. A fresh blast of pine, followed by an onslaught of citrus. This finishes bitter and more resiny (as opposed to honey) than the bottle.
The residual staling of hops on my tongue...
The warmth of alcohol coursing through my veins.
-Ode To Hopslam, Jennie, 1/15/2012
Suggested pairings:
Music: The Ramones, "I Wanna Be Sedated"
Cheese: Vermont white cheddar
Food: Baklava
5/5 Caps
Beer # 3
Flying Dog Kujo
Oh... Ho ho ho... This beer... Oh, yes, this beer. This saddens me that it's been so few and far between that I can obtain this. I personally love this beer, possibly my favorite beer of all time. We had this first in January of 2012. After that, we couldn't find any until May 2012 (while healing from my broken foot, Jennie found some old stock). We were hoping for a release last year that we could review, but unfortunately, it never made it to Ohio. I've been longing to have this sweet bliss bless my mouth again, and on this fateful night, it happened (actually, this and Black Note are the reasons we made sure we attended this).
This was the first time having this on tap. This poured black as coal with a light caramel lacing on along the edge of the glass. The nose was very faint, but upon deep sniffs, nothing but a good coffee. The flavor on this is roasted malts and coffee. Heavy on the coffee. Mmm, coffee. Jennie picked up heavy vanilla toward the back that I didn't. For being 8.9 % ABV, this is smooth drinking, with decent carbonation and a slightly sticky (sweet-like) mouthfeel. I find this interesting that this beer has less reviews on both BeerAdvocate and RateBeer than Black Note. Does this mean this is a harder to find beer? Regardless, I personally would bathe in this daily if it were readily available.
Suggested pairings:
Music: Mad Season, "Long Gone Day"
Cheese: Double Gloucester
Food: Belgian waffles or pain au chocolat
5/5 Caps
Beer # 4
Weasel Boy Barrel-Aged Anastasia
(Weasel Boy B.A. Anastasia- Photo by Jennie Koeper)
This has been building a lot of hype around Central Ohio. Weasel Boy is out of Zanesville (30-40 minute drive from Columbus) and has had limited distribution here. The first time we saw this was at Kenny Road Market, which was priced at $50 for a pre-filled growler. Ouch. The regular Anastasia was a Bronze medal winner in 2010 and Gold medal winner in 2012 at GABF, so we had to try this. At 10% ABV, Jennie decided to have this alone (as someone had to drive) with a couple sips from me.
Black as coal pour, decent carbonation with an off white head that was noticeable and lingering. At this point, the notes we were taking became 'humorous,' more or less, as we were feeling the previous heavy-test brews. What I can make from our notes is this had a flavor of chocolate that blended into an intense coffee flavor with some oak, bourbon and vanilla toward the backend. This drank smooth as velvet with a slight tickle of the throat from the carbonation. The ABV was not really noticed while drinking this (unlike the Black Note Stout). "Totes Ma Goats Amazeballs" in the notes a few different times...
Suggested Pairings:
Music: Tchaikovsky, "Swan Lake". Yes, the entire opera.
Cheese: Baby Swiss from Amish country
Food: Georgian shashlik, a kebab from the Caspian Sea region
5/5 Caps
Beer #5
Bell's Smitten Golden Rye Ale
(Bell's Smitten- Photo by Nathan Shadley)
We rounded out the night with a good old standard, Bell's Smitten. This was poured from the bottle into a pint glass. We've previously reviewed this, so for our review, please click the link to it.
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