the australian pale ale fest continues...

quick rundown:

murray's angry man is a solid pale ale, only surpassed by little creatures and stone & wood pacific ale. hop aroma is decent. maybe a bit over-carbed

vale ale is pretty average. nothing stands out about it. 

endevour sounds great when you read the label, but there isn't enough hop presence. not terrible, but not great.

murrays angry man

not a typical brown ale. good hop aroma, bitter hop flavors, very nutty with some caramel. not something i'd like every day, but very solid.

stone & wood pacific ale

disclaimer: picture is from our deck in st louis, not byron bay

purchased from a bottle-o in byron bay, so about as fresh as  i can imagine it being. amazing aroma. passionfruit heavy. very light and refreshing. the galaxy hops shine in this beer. great for the summer in QLD/northern NSW. reminds me somewhat of yards philadelphia pale ale. great beer.

note: i got some a couple of days later from dan murphy's that i can only imagine is a fair bit older, since the hops had faded compared to the fresher batch. still solid, but fresh was fantastic.

perennial artisinal ales abraxas

Billed as a 'exican chocolate stout', it's made with chili's cinnamon and cacao nibs. It is delicious, the chocolate and cinnamon notes are up front and the chili creeps up on you, but isn't as noticeable as in Mikkeller's chipotle porter. The cinnamon blends nicely with the rest of the flavors. definitely worth seeking out if you can find it on draft, at $18.99 a bottle it's pretty expensive.

mikkeller to via from (barrel aged)

Nicely spiced, dark fruits and bourbon up front. The barrel flavors aren't overpowering, though. A solid beer, I enjoyed it.

odell friek

I had thought this was long gone from the area, but saw it at Whole Foods and decided to pick it up. It hits most of the right notes for a sour/wild, but the mouth feel is a bit thin. not bad, but a bit too expensive for what it is.

mikkeller santa's little helper

chocolatey, alcohol is warming, but not overpowering. some nice fruit flavors. one of my favorite christmas beers.

allagash curieux

really nice. it's a trippel aged in oak bourbon barrels and that's what it tastes like. i haven't particularly enjoyed trippels  for the last couple of years. dubbels either, for that matter. i like this, though.

goose island 2011 bourbon county stout

pretty much perfect. you wouldn't know it's 14.5%. love this beer. one of the best barrel aged beers i've ever had.

stone vertical epic 11.11.11

belgian golden ale brewed with ancho chili's and cinnamon. i had high hopes for this one, but it ended up kind of a mess. only made it through less than half of the bomber before pouring the rest out. stone is usually a a solid bet, so it was kind of a bummer. the only other stone beer i was this disappointed in was the belgo imperial stout,

mikkeller hoppy lovin' christmas

a really nice IPA. citrusy, resiny, fantastic. might try and get another one of these before hitting australia next week.

dogfish head burton baton

amazingly smooth given the 10% abv. nice flavours from the hops and oak aging. a top notch beer.