Black Cauldron Imperial Stout

This installment of my grueling experiment was interesting for several reasons.  For one (if you've already skipped to the pictures, you might notice already) I used a different glass for my drinks this go around.  The reason behind that leads me to reason number 2: I didn't select my beers this time --- my wife did!  And she did it without my knowledge, input, or influence.  She was accompanying some friends to our (read "mine") favorite beer distributor here in LA.  While there, she thought it'd be nice to pick me up something special along with a new pint glass.  Only knowing that I am a fan of darker beers, she asked the salesperson for a recommendation and brought home a 4-pack of Black Cauldron Imperial Stout from Grand Teton Brewing Co.  The Sapporo glass?  Well, it was cheap and near the counter I guess...an impulse buy if there ever was one...and one I'm thankful for!

The Beer:
While I wasn't quite planning on adding another stout to this blog just yet, who am I to argue with free beer for the cause.  Black Cauldron was certainly a unique beer to try.  Not so much because of its flavor, taste, or originality....but because the package came full of details about the beer.  For instance, did you know that it's said that Catherine the Great discovered stout while visiting England and ordered some for the Russian Court?  No?  Neither did I.  Wanna know something else?  When the first shipment spoiled at sea, a special batch --- stronger and bitter enough to travel was produced.  It arrived in St. Petersberg and became known as Russian Imperial Stout.  Never thought that this wacky project would be filled with all sorts of knowledgeable trivia, huh?  But how did it taste?  In a word, strong!  I've had plenty of Stouts before, but this one was thicker than most and packed a wallop of smokey flavor with it.  The bitterness was a bit overwhelming at times though.  And I couldn't manage to finish all 4 in one sitting.  By the end, I'd had enough.  My palate couldn't tolerate any more spiced or dried fruity tones.  For one or two beers, it would've been ok throughout the night. But once I got through number 3, it was too much and had me not really desiring a fourth, but rather a big glass of water.

The Buzz:
The thing with Imperial Stouts like this that I was aware of beforehand, I was certainly going to get druuuuunk!  Boasting an impressive 8.0% abv, it wasn't the most potent beer I've had, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the weakest.  In addition to the facts provided on the packaging, Grand Teton Brewing Co. provided a bevy of figures to match.  Black Cauldron has an Original Gravity of 22, measures 43 on the IBU scale, and falls at the very upper end of the Lovibonde spectrum around 35.  What do all those numbers mean though?  Well, just turn that packaging on its end and underneath they'll tell you!  Original Gravity refers to the "strength" of beer prior to fermentation.  It denotes how much sugar has been extracted from the malted grain into the unfermented beer.  The IBU scale stands of International Bitterness Units and represents the amount of bitterness in the beer.  IBU is an expression in parts per million of alpha acid in the beer.  And the Lovibonde spectrum, well, that is obviously the color of the beer.  Which in itself comes from the color of the hops.  The scale ranges from 1 to 30 with the lower numbers being very pale to the upper ends being black.  So there you go.  That's your beer class for the day.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.  Oh yeah, the buzz...uh, I was certainly fucked up by the end of the 3 beers I drank.

The Hangover:
Coming off last month's experiment and painful recovery from the Lagunitas Censored Rich Copper Ale, I was praying for a more merciful hangover.  It could've been the decision to leave that 4th beer in the fridge.  Could've been the huge glass of water I downed before bed.  Maybe it was just that the beer gods were listening to my prayers.  But, after the typical aspirin, water, antacid cocktail I take every morning after drinking, any lingering symptoms of a hangover ceased to exist.  By noon, I had taken Murdoch (my boxer) on a nice long walk through one of the most expensive neighborhoods in LA where we were hoping to run into some other dog-loving family who just happened to have a 6000 sq ft guest house in the back they were hoping my family could move into.  Yeah...Sunday walks are fun!

The Verdict:
Black Cauldron Imperial Stout was far from a favorite of mine.  But that's not to say it was a bad beer.  It just wasn't right for this experiment.  It will however be notable for me for a few reasons.  The fact that it was one not of my choice, the fact that I actually learned something useful from this experiment, and the fact that part of me actually feels smarter (although admittedly, after each of these projects, most of me actually feels slightly dumber).  But kudos to Grand Teton Brewing.  I'd be interested in getting my hands on some of their other batches not only to taste, but to see what else I could learn from their packaging.  For now though, I'll be hanging on to Black Cauldron's 4-pack...if only for reference!

Lagunitas Censored Rich Copper Ale

So, five posts in, I think this is going to be a monthly thing.  It seems that's the amount of time in between experiments that best fits my schedule.  That's not to say that I've been drinking only one night a month.  Oh no, in fact, over the past several weeks I think I've sampled more flavors and varieties of beer than I have in a long time.  From Vanilla Bean Porters on cask to Belgium Triple Hop IPA's, I've gone far and wide in sampling some delicious brews.  For this installment, I went with one of my favorite breweries and one of their unlimited releases - "The Censored Rich Copper Ale".

The Beer:
Now, I've had Lagunitas beers before.  One of my all-time favorites is their Brown Shugga Sweet Release Ale.  Man, is that one tasty beverage.  This one though, was equally (if not more) tasteful than even that favorite of mine.  The Censored Rich Ale might have been the best overall tasting beer I've had ever.  It fit perfectly to my tastes: a touch of hops but not bitter, rich but not thick, malty but without aftertaste.  It has no copper in it, but the name fits perfectly due to the beautiful color of the beer.  I seriously LOVED this beer.  Since the parameters of my experiment call for 36-48oz of consumption, I often have the choice when dealing with six-packs of drinking 3 or 4 beers for this project.  In this case, the choice was easy.  And in fact, had my wife not given away two of them to a friend earlier in the week, I likely would have had to void the test altogether because I would've drank the entire sixer.  There was a sweetness to it that I had never really noticed in other ales before.  I think this was due to the caramel malt added with some sort of roasting touches to the finish.  Whatever technical magic they worked up for this one, I appreciated the efforts.

The Buzz:
In the past, I've paired these experiments with evenings of video games, MMA fights, AFL Retrospectives, & the Winter Olympics.  All things that go well with drinking in my opinion.  The content of the entertainment doesn't necessarily need the focus of sobriety (perhaps video games do, but I've been playing those drunk since I was 17).  This time however, I found myself participating in this test while in the middle of a Dexter mini-marathon.  Season 4, episodes 5-9 to be exact.  Intense shit!  Certainly the best season so far in my opinion and one I can't imagine them topping.  Anyway...a show like Dexter with all it's plotting devices and character mysteries isn't exactly one to watch as you're consuming 48oz of alcohol at a 5.9% abv.  You see, while episodes 5 & 6 were easy to follow, early on in episode 7 things began to get fuzzy.  Literally fuzzy.  I was on the last half of the last beer when I started the show.  Somehow, once the drink was all done, I couldn't recall anything that had happened in those first 15 minutes.  ANYTHING.  And it wasn't because of blacking out or falling asleep.  It was because I just didn't care about the show anymore.  Part of me was heavily contemplating further drinking for the night (other beers in house...again, voiding the project) and another part of me was looking at the DirecTV guide for something more passive to watch.  So, while I don't exactly know what that means in measured terms of drunkenness, I can however say that Dexter and beer aren't the best of friends.

The Hangover:
Here is the moment you've all been waiting for:  THIS BEER DESTROYED ME!  That's right, DESTROYED!  How is that for irony?  By far, the best tasting and most satisfying alcohol I've drank during this whole procedure is the first one that truly delivered on those horrific symptoms I've experienced in the past.  I woke up, popped some Advil, took an antacid, drank some water and went back to bed.  Surely, I'd be fine.  I mean...I've been fine every other time, right?  Wrong!  I woke up feeling like death.  Angry death too.  Death that wanted to punish me for any amount of enjoyment I took in watching a serial killer raise a family in Miami.  So, once up and around, I figured I just needed some fresh air and food and all would be well.  Nope!  We hit the farmer's market and got some breakfast and still I was shaky, nauseous, and fatigued. By 2pm, the nausea went away but the fatigue and headache set in like an old man trying to send soup back at a deli.  It was bad.  And what made it worse was that I was so upset by how much I loved the beer.  How I had planned on making it "my beer" anytime we went to a party or BBQ or whatever.  People would see me show up and be like: "Hey Rob, I see you brought ol' faithful: Lagunitas Censored Rich Copper Ale".  And I'd be like: "Oh, you know me".  And then we'd both laugh and high-five.  It would've been perfect.  But alas, it's not to be.

The Verdict:
Fucking Pissed Off! That's the verdict for ya! For now, until I find out more regarding Lagunitas brewing procedures and ingredients, I'm going to have to stay away.  Because I am indeed ALLERGIC to this fucking beautiful, gorgeous, delectably fantastic Censored Rich Copper Ale.

Red Oval

Coming in over a month late (hey, it takes time to plot this out, research my beer, organize pictures, look at porn...uhh...I mean, write this out.  Yeah, thats it!) is my latest entry to my experimentation of the body, mind, and soul (less so with the soul...more so with the body...a little bit of the mind).  This time around, I decided to switch up game plans.  No more of these $10+ per bottle shit.  No sir, I'm going economical on your asses here.  Trader Joe's Red Oval.  Costing a whopping $2.99 for a six-pack.  Yes, indeed, I'm livin' the high-life!

The Beer:
So after my last foray into TJ beer stock, I decided to go back and try the opposite end of their selection's spectrum.  I went with Red Oval.  A working-man's beer if you would.  Perhaps not for the beer snobs out there as much as their for the brew dogs.  So what did I learn about Red Oval?  Well, for one, it's brewed in Wisconsin at the Minhas Craft Brewery.  You may remember them from such gems as: "Mountain Creek Classic", "Rockhead Malt Liquor", and "Wisconsin Club".  What's that?  You can't recall your last night out with a 40oz. of Rockhead?  That's alright...neither can anyone outside of Monroe, Wisconsin.
Joking aside, Red Oval wasn't all that bad for it's price.  Being a lager and of similar marketing and packaging to beers like Budweiser and Miller Lite, its not surprising that the taste was similar.  There was no discernible odor, a mild hoppy taste, and perhaps most surprisingly no lingering after taste in my mouth.  At under $3.00, I was just happy that it was indeed beer I was drinking and not barley-water (which I imagine would be the uber-cheap way of brewing by simply putting barley into water for an hour, chilling overnight, and serving).

The Buzz:
So the thing with cheap beer, is that they kinda skimp on the alcoholic content.  Having become accustom to high-priced, high-abv, high-falutin' craft brews, I forgot that the requisite 4 beer limit for this experiment wasn't going to have quite the same impact.  So, throughout the night, while being bored to death with the Winter Olympics, I put away 4 cans of Red Oval in a little under 2 hours and had nothing to show for it.  The buzz was barely noticeable and  I felt swindled out of my hard earned cash.  Then I remembered that I had only drank about $2.00 worth of alcohol.  Or the Los Angeles bar equivalent of a shot-glass of imported beer.  So, who was I to complain about the lack of buzz when from an economical standpoint, I was ahead of the game in terms of drunkenness.  That said, it took all my might to not finish off the six-pack and get something for my time's worth.  Fortunately, I had a friend over who dropped those extra two (and several high priced beers) before the women's downhill slalom finished.

The Hangover:
Going to sleep that night, I didn't expect any hangover whatsoever due to the fact that I wasn't drunk in any way.  I mean, how could you feel like shit the next day without feeling like awesome the night before?  It just wouldn't seem right.  Even so, I drank a full glass of water before I passed out just like the rules stated (granted, their my own rules that no one but me knows about, but rules is rules, yo!).  So when I woke up in the morning with a nasty taste in my mouth and tired as all hell, I was confused and upset.  A hangover?  From this?  You gotta be shitting me!!!  Since it was only 7am, I popped a few Advil, re-brushed my teeth, and headed back to bed for another hour or two of sleep.  By 9am...pseduo-hangover cured!  No bad taste, no fatigue, no nothing.  Just pure Sunday morning bliss!

The Verdict:
So, I went with the cheap lager this time over the expensive ale.  What did I get?  Just sub-par beer at a basement-level price!  Perhaps if I had finished the entire six-pack the brief, barely hungover symptoms I experienced would've been far worse.  But for purposes of this blog, I am NOT allergic to Red Oval.

Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale

By now, if you've read all two beer reviews on this site so far, you may get the sense that I don't drink very much.  Fact is, I don't get drunk very much.  I do, however, drink atleast once a week.  Sampling a beer or two, having one at dinner or while watching UFC on a Saturday night all alone in my home while on the couch in a bathrobe contemplating how out of shape I am compared to the fighters I'm watching...ok, that's enough of that, on to my long overdue post.

The Beer:
Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I picked up this bottle of Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale while shopping.  Almost two months later, I decided to give it a go.  Maybe the time it sat in my fridge was a determent to the taste of this brew, because right off the bat, I did not like it.  It was a thick beer, but not as smooth as a porter or stout.  There were notes of spice and malt, but it didn't have that satisfying taste of cocoa that I've gotten in other dark beers.  The heft that it held in my stomach was far from refreshing and although the second glass did go down smoother than the first, I still found myself struggling to finish the last few sips.  But then again, this is Trader Joe's.  The place known for their "two-buck-chuck" wine selection.  What was I really to expect.  So I did a little digging and came upon the brewer of this "Vintage Ale".  It turns out that this exclusive beer is brewed by noted craft brewery Unibroue.  And judging from their beer selections and alcohol content, the Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale is in fact just a repackaging of their Trois Pistoles.  That said, it's still pretty cool to score a 750mL bottle of that particular beer at TJ prices.

The Buzz:
As far as alcoholic content goes, this dark drink packed in 9%abv.  Not too bad for the price.  I certainly felt it by the end of the bottle.  But like most heavy ales, I felt this one with each sip.  It wasn't the type of beer that lent itself to chugging it down (or even vigorously sipping for that matter), so with each trip my lips took to the glass, I was aware of my progressive intoxication.  Being that this brew occupied my time watching Stikeforce MMA on Showtime, I'd say that I was ready for shut eye before the main event even approached.     The thing with this beer though was that because of its taste and feel, there was no way I could possibly drink any more for the night and increase my buzz.  But at the same time, once I was done with the bottle and I allowed myself one glass of water, I immediately started to sober up.  Like...immediately!  I managed to stay awake through the entire under-card and was completely fine for the entire (albeit very quick) main event.  So kudos to you Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale for creating the perfect recipe for moderate intoxication with rapid recovery time.  And kudos to you Nick Diaz of Strikeforce MMA for winning the belt that night!

The Hangover:
When the next morning came around, I woke up with the same typical stomach/lightheaded/jittery feelings I always seem to get.  I was sure though that with the strong alcoholic content and thick malty taste, this one was gonna last well past my coffee and cookie in the morning.  But, much like the Bons Vœux last time around, the hangover disappeared very quickly.  I took my dog to the park and let him run around quite a bit while I just relaxed in the sun.  After 40minutes or so, he was tired and ready to leave, and I felt as though any remnants of alcohol in my system had been burned off in the warm 70 degree February sun.


The Verdict:
Not allergic.  Three beers so far, three negatives on the allergy.  Could be time to switch it up from all this fancy-pants, high-end craft beers and get back to Joe Six-Pack-Plumber-Everyman-Beer.  Or perhaps just simply switching it up between ales and lagers.  Or...maybe even both!  Stay tuned astute reader!

Name Change

Just a quick update regarding the name of this blog.  For all you loyal readers, you may have noticed that the title has changed.  It was intended to be "allergictofun.blogspot.com" but that was taken by something lame and out of date.  So I settled upon "allerigictobooze.blogspot.com".  That, however, never sat right with me and wasn't entirely accurate (I'm not allergic to ALL booze, just certain beers).

So I present to you the new, improved, and FINAL title and URL for my blog: beerhatesme.blogspot.com.

I feel this is much closer to my unfortunate alcoholic situation regarding one of my favorite beverages.

That is all, stay tuned for a new entry on a Trader Joe's beer that lured me in and pulled a switcheroo after some research!

Avec Les Bons Vœux de la Brasserie Dupont

Uhhh, yeah. The title to this post. Yeah, that's the name of the beer. Smart move Rob, for your second post, really grab those readers with an obscure beer and a name that is absurdly long. Let's just refer to it as Bons Vœux. I think that's the safest way to approach writing about this beer. How did I come across such a long-winded, niche-market, specialty-crafted beer? Thank a guy at Whole Foods in an elf cap. Seriously. A guy. In an elf cap. Who apparently is employed by Whole Foods to educate and assist shoppers about their beer purchases. I dig the notion. Kind of like a fancy restaurant but in a grocery store. Anyway, I drank this one a few nights ago and have my assessment.

The Beer:
Before I got started on this particular beer, I figured I'd prime my liver with a single glass of a home-brewed pale ale a friend cooked up over the holidays. It wasn't half bad. Not particularly noteworthy, but it got my body ready for the intensity that Bons Vœux was sure to deliver.
Being a Belgian beer, Bons Vœux is a blonde top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle. I'm no brewer, but I can tell you that must mean something special. Fermentation twice in one single beer?!? The Belgians must be crazy. Well, apparently crazy works over there in that wacky part of the world. Because this baby was packing 9.5% alcohol. That's quite a bit, even amongst imported double-fermented beers! A little research (as well as reading a blurb on the back of the bottle) reveals that since 1970, the brewery has been brewing a special beer to give as a new years present to their best clients (the name of this beer “Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont" means "With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont"). But how did it taste? The Bons Vœux is coppery blonde and tastes bitter, fruity and mild. I loved at first, liked at second, and kinda got tired of by the end.

The Buzz:
Fancy pants beer aside, how well did it fuck me up? Pretty well! Must have been all that refermentation. I know that it hit me quick and hard. One glass (about half the bottle) and I certainly felt it. And I wanted more. The second glass though, while easily getting me plenty drunk, was much much harder to go down. The fruity bitterness started to wane on my taste buds and I soon felt like this was a hefeweizen. Not only was my head reeling from the intense alcoholic content, but my stomach was barely able to handle the last sip. I wasn't sick by any means, I was just full. And my palate couldn't handle the deep flavors, which in retrospect, says a lot for the beer. Even after thoroughly inebriating my system, it was the flavor of the beer that was really preventing me from finishing the entire bottle. I can't say that that has ever happened with a beer before. That said, I personally prefer the hops to be dialed down a bit. But that's just me, the non-Belgian who can't handle his alcohol anyway.

The Hangover:
Like the Coconut Porter before, this hangover can be separated into two distinct parts. The first (again on 4 hours sleep awoken by hungry dogs), I was quite dehydrated with a slight headache. A little water, a couple pills, and I'm back to sleep without too much trouble. I had no noticeable stomach issues, yet the heavy taste from earlier was still quite potent in my mouth. The second part of the hangover, the more serious part, was barely present. I awoke after another 4 hours of sleep with a little cloudiness in my head, still quite groggy, a slightly stiff, but far from what I'd even consider hungover. It may have taken me a little while to get up and going, but after a shower and coffee I was in tip-top shape, ready to take on the day. By noon there was virtually no physiological evidence that I had been drunk the night before. Could those double-fermenting Belgians be on to something? Is this how they drink and brew so much beer? Has my bizarre allergy been solved? I'm not sure just yet, but this is something that is sure to be watched over the subsequent experiments. If a beer that packs 9.5% alcohol could be something that is drinkable on a school-night, perhaps there is something to the fermentation and hops selection of a country that is responsible for my typical hangover-ailments.

The Verdict:
Not Allergic. For its unique brewing process and seasonal specialty, La Brasserie Dupont's Bons Vœux is a-ok in my book!