No beer this Monday.

There's no beer review this Monday as I have sinus congestion which is not helpful when tasting and smelling things. In fact, I had a Firewater IPA on Friday night and it didn't seem too hoppy? I certainly hope to write about a beer for you all next Monday.

Terrapin W-N-B Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout

When I was a younger beer drinker I preferred porter nearly exclusively to stout but our tastes are prone to change and I now love these microbrew dark beer styles. This one pours with slightest head and smells like coffee. The first sip is like coffee ice cream. The head quickly disappears but the carbonation is still hiding in this creamer liquid to tickle your (my) tongue. Each sip seems to sweeten with definite hints of lactobacilious malts.

There’s really no hops flavor that I can detect. This beer’s just full bodied roasted oatmeal malt. Near the end of the drink the Imperial alcohol throws an 8.1% abv curve ball to my head. The "W-N-B" in the title stands for "Why not beer" and the contents of this beer answer, "there's no reason why not." A very strong five out of five pint rating.

Paperback Friday: Jo Clayton & more

What’s the purpose of Paperback Friday? It’s a feature where I share with the readers of Fanatical Recycling the mass market Fantasy and Sci-Fi paperbacks which, literally, spill out of my bookshelves. My interests focus mainly on the more notorious Sci-Fi writers like Jack Vance, Brian Stableford, E. C. Tubb, Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock. Of course, when shopping the various used book bins across America, I also pick up random mass market Fantasy novels. I feel that the cover art for these novels is worth preserving, as relics of these respective genres, this is the purpose of Paperback Friday.

Jo Clayton: Maeve
Copyright 1979 by Jo Clayton
First Printing: June 1979, Daw Books

Theodore Cogswell: The Third Eye
Copyright 1968; Theodore Cogswell
A Belmont Book – Sept. 1968
This is a collection of sixteen episodes published in various pulp ‘zines from 1952 to 1962.

Jarrod Comstock: These Lawless Worlds; #1 The Love Machine
Copyright 1984 by Jarrod Comstock
First Printing: April 1984, Pinnacle Books

I purchased all three of these at McKay Books in Knoxville, Tn. I’m currently reading These Lawless Worlds.

Barley Wine for Monday

I have not had a lot of experience with the Barley Wine style of ale and recently found a seven ounce bottle of Rogue’s Old Crustacean and brought it home. I did look up an explanation of the style in a few of my various beer books and learned that Barley Wine is to ale as Malt Liquor is, supposedly, to lager. (Malt Liquor is no longer a higher gravity version of lager as the name once implied.)

The Old Crustacean pours clear and coppery. It looks like southern sweet tea but smells of hops and nuts. The first sip is all Rogue, full of hoppy flavor. The sour, alcoholic taste reminds me of the citrus hops flavor of Stone Brewery’s Arrogant Bastard Ale. I can feel the alcohol, 11% ABV, after the first few sips.

This seven ounce sample of Barley Wine is just enough to reintroduce me to the style. Barley Wine is not an everyday beer style, rather an untraditional beer to be reserved for more traditional special occasions. I give Rogue Old Crustacean a five out of five pints as a drink to celebrate weddings, holidays, promotions, births or political over throw; Viva Egypt!

Atwater Brewery; Vanilla Java Porter

Vanilla Java Porter has all the characteristics of it’s namesake style. The color is so dark brown that it is almost black and the flavor is reminiscent of a Black Lager. V.J.P. doesn’t have the showy head of foam like many Porters but is does have a big, deep, nutty coffee flavor. Delicious!

This one was bottled in April of 2010 and hasn’t been sitting around long enough to lose the carbonation, but all three of the V.J.Ps that I’ve opened this winter where light on the bubbles. Atwater certainly has a great recipe for this Porter and the low carbonation is fitting. Each sip is a mouthful of java flavor. I don’t taste the vanilla which must be adding some sweetness to the powerful coffee flavor. Vanilla Java Porter is a real sipper and is a good bit more bitter than a Fort Collins Chocolate Stout, Guiness or Magic Hat Howl. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Vanilla Java Porter 3 and a half pints.

Love List

limpery over at the blog Aldeboran has posted a list of his love interests. This isn't a list about potential mates but a list of what he loves about life and I'm inspired to follow his example.

Things I love about life:

I love my wife.
I love my family and friends; the Creels, the Morgans, the Gollihers, the Hamners & the Browns.
I love my stepsons, my granddaughters and their mom.
I love our cat.
I love my new friends in East Tennessee and all my old, and new, friends on Facebook.
I love freedom.
And, I love beer.

This is the short list version; I may add some more when they come to mind.

Oh, of course, I love reading.

We must have more beer on Monday!

On Christmas day I discovered a new beer available on the shelves at Walgreens Pharmacy. I don't usually buy beer from Walgreens but, it has been proven, that I'm a sucker for snazzy packaging and a bargain. This beer is Big Flats 1901 Lager. I should also mention that I have a weakness for old style American beers too. As much as I complain about Budweiser and refuse to have Coors Light in my home, small house beers like Big Flats remind me of my college days when cheap was a good indication that we'd have beer to drink.

The Big Flats label has a red ribon which lists it as a "Lager Beer." Well, a pils is a lager and this is definitely a pilsner style brew rather than a premium lager. Big Flats forms a nice head when poured into a pint glass but there's no head retention.. The flavor is the standard cereal grains and the sweet taste seems to increase with each sip. I'm beginning to see where the tradition of the frosted mug originated, the sweet taste seems to increase as the beer warms. I have had several of these beers over the past few weeks and I believe that Big Flats is best when consumed straight out of the can. There's no hops flavor to mention, just good ol' lawn mowin' beer.

Now, I have written about mediocre beers in three of my four beer reviews. Beginning next Monday I will limit the beer entries to quality brews, I promise. Next week’s beer will be a porter from an American micro-brewery.