Dogfish Head Chicory Stout

Description - Stout brewed with roasted chicory & Mexican coffee

Maker - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Notes - A pleasingly sweet stout, with great highlights of coffee, nut, and an interesting warmth.

9/10

Wells Bombadier

Description - English Ale

Maker - Wells & Young's Brewing Co.

Notes - This ale comes on a little strong in the beginning, but finishes with a nice grainy flavor.  Not quite as smooth as desired.

6/10

Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Description - Stout

Maker - Well's and Young's Brewing Co.

Notes - For those who enjoy chocolaty stouts, this is for you.  The prominent chocolate flavor mixes effortlessly with the coffee-ness of the stout.  A real pleasure to drink.

8/10

Gubna

Description - Imperial IPA

Maker - Oscar Blues Brewery

Notes - A little overpowering on the bitter, this strong ale has a lot of kick, but not a lot of staying power.

5/10

G'Knight

Description - Imperial Red Ale

Maker - Oskar Blues Brewery

Notes - Nice solid ale with a fruity, hoppy twist.  Strong and deep flavor.

7/10

Deviant Dale's

Description - IPA

Maker - Oskar Blues Brewery

Notes - A fairly standard IPA, but with a little something different I can't place.

6/10

Tommyknocker Saison

Description - Wit beer

Maker - Tommyknocker Brewery

Notes - A nice balanced wheat flavor with sweet highlights.  Also fairly fruity.

7/10

New Belgium Trippel

Description - Trippel Ale

Maker - New Belgium Brewing Co.

Notes - Nice Belgian-style ale with a pleasing sweetness.

8/10

New Belgium Abbey

Description - Belgian Ale

Maker - New Belgium Brewing Co.

Notes - A really solid Belgian-style ale with a nice effervescence.

7/10 

Upslope IPA

Description - India Pale Ale

Maker - Upslope Brewing Co.

Notes - This IPA had a distinct three-stage flavor.  A grainy attack, switching to bitter hops, and finishing with some nice florals.

6/10

Green Flash Double Stout

Description - Black Ale

Maker - Green Flash Brewing Co.

Notes - An almost syrupy stout, this one is reminiscent of an imperial.  Complete with a punchy fruit flavor, the roasted malt really stands out.

7/10

Wild Oak Old Vine Zin 2007

Description - Old Vine Zinfandel

Maker - St. Francis Winery

Notes - A rich zin with lots of fruitiness to add to the darker aromas.

7/10

Winterfest

Description - Lager

Maker - Golden Brewing Company

Notes - A really great all-around lager.  Nice light hop flavor balanced with the grains.

7/10

Rishiri Kombu Shochu

Description - Shochu distilled with kombu

Maker - Rishiri Fuji Town

Notes - This was an exceptionally floral shochu, like a bottle of potpourri.  Went well with the gentle sweetness.

8/10

2007 Melange De Reves

Description - Red Wine Blend

Maker - Leonesse Cellars

Notes - A uniquely smokey blend, predominantly Syrah, that's almost reminiscent of tanning leather.  A pleasure.

9/10

St. Francis Old Vine Zin 2008

Description - Old Vine Zinfandel

Maker - St. Francis Vineyards

Notes - This was a very nice, full-bodied and lightly fruity zin.  Highly enjoyable.

8/10

Black Diamond Merlot 2007

Description - Merlot

Maker - Western Importers, "A Guadagni Family Selection"

Notes - A dry, yet full-of-character merlot that goes perfectly with food. Very mellow and nice to drink.

7/10

Batch 19

Description - Lager

Maker - Coors Archive Brewing

Notes - Definitely reminiscent of Coors but with a sweeter mid flavor and a grainier finish.

6/10

1554

Description - "Enlightened" Black Ale

Maker - New Belgium Brewing Co.

Notes - An ale of dark character with lots of coffee highlights and a complimentary fruitiness that is very light.

7/10

The Czar

Description - Imperial Stout

Maker - Avery Brewing Co.

Notes - A medium bodied imperial stout with nice sweet molasses and toffee flavors.  Very well balanced.

8/10

St. Bernardus Abt 12

Description - Belgian Abbey Ale

Maker - Brouwerij St. Bernardus

Notes - Darker in color with hints of honey.  Fruity like a barley wine.  Very nice.

9/10

Mad Belgian

Description - Belgian Style Golden Ale

Maker - Mad River Brewing Co.

Notes - Amply sweet and full bodied, this is a very pleasing Belgian.  Very nice fruit flavors.

8/10

Dillon Dam Extra Pale

Description - Extra Pale Ale

Maker - Dillon Dam Brewery

Notes - A well-balanced pale that's pleasantly fruity while at the same time bitter.

7/10

Tyku Liqueur

Description - Sake Liqueur

Maker - Tyku

Notes - This tangy and fruity concoction was a real surprise.  Well balanced and packs a nice smooth punch.

8/10

Artesa Pinnacle

Description - Red Wine Blend

Maker - Artesa Vineyards

Notes - Don't recall any particulars.

7/10

Ten Fidy

Description - Imperial Stout

Maker - Oskar Blues

Notes - A thick, caramely imperial with strong fruit highlights of grape and apple.  That contrasted with a metallic mocha finish leads to a very interesting mix of flavors.

8/10

Firestone Double Jack

Description - Double IPA

Maker - Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Notes - Rich enough to have a full, balanced flavor, and hoppy enough to please those who like that sort of thing.

8/10

Whitewater Hill Shiraz 2008

Description - Shiraz

Maker - Whitewater Hill

Notes - A little on the sour side for my taste in shiraz.  Still some pleasing dark highlights.

6/10