Goose Island Sofie

20171030:
This beer had a cloudy yellow color.

Goose Island Sofie - beer bottle and half full glass

The first sip of this Goose Island Sofie had a strong coriander taste. At first I thought it tasted like banana, but then I decided otherwise.

In any case, the side of the bottle says it was aged in wine barrels with orange peel.

While it was an interesting concept, I didn't enjoy it. 11:55PM PT

It had a wheat smell which was strangely pungent, similar to the taste. The taste, however, was more bearable. 20171031 7:50AM*

*As of 20171227, I didn't remember the tasting experience. However, I assumed that I wrote the note at night, but didn't send it to myself until the following morning.

[20171220 Edit]

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Goose Island Sofie

Goose Island Sofie - beer bottle

Relevant Links:
Sofie (Goose Island Website)
Goose Island Sofie (RateBeer.com)
Sofie | Goose Island Beer Co. (BeerAdvocate.com)

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Website Information:

Vintage Ales > Sofie

BREWER'S NOTES
Our sparkling Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale is wine barrel-aged with an abundance of hand-zested orange peel. Spicy white pepper notes contrast the citrus tartness. The light, refreshing, creamy vanilla finish will excite those fond of Champagne.

Originally brewed by Belgian farmers to attract the best farm hands, we were inspired to brew an exceptional ale as inviting as the original Belgian Farmhouse ales. Light and effervescent, we named it for our founder’s granddaughter Sofie.

RECIPE INFORMATION
Style: Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 20
Color: Champagne
Hops: Amarillo
Malts: 2 Row, Pilsen, Wheat

AVAILABILITY
Year Round
Bottles: 4pks, 765mL

Draft: 1/6 Barrels

AWARDS
Great American Beer Festival
2011: Bronze Medal - Belgian and French Style Saison

MAY CONTAIN WHEAT

Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout

20171024:
The beer had a dark brown color. It had a strong alcoholic smell, possibly vanilla.

Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout - bottle

The beer initially had a strong taste, but eventually it had a soft vanilla flavor.

The beer warmed my belly.

I drank the rest from bottle. The first sip from bottle was viscous. It had malty flavor and a lot of vanilla and/or alcoholic taste as well. It sort of reminded me of a bourbon whiskey. 5:52PM PT

I drank it slowly, because it was very strong. In particular, I had difficulty drinking it when it reached room temperature, because of it's strong flavor.

Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout - top-down view of a couple ounces

Actually, it tasted a little bit like medicine. Or is it the other way around? Perhaps medicine is given an alcohol flavor to mask its bitterness. 20171025 2:11AM PT

Wow. I knew this beer had a high ABV from how it smelled and tasted, but after finishing the bottle I noticed that it was 16% ABV! 20171025 2:12AM PT

[20171220 Edit]

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Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout

Relevant Links:
Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout (Dogfish Head Website)
Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout (RateBeer.com)
Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (BeerAdvocate.com)

Dogfish Head Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout - bottle (side view)

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Website Information:

Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout
A dark, roasty stout aged in oak barrels on vanilla beans.

ABV: 16-17.5%
IBU: 70
RELEASE: Aug
ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE: 2017
STYLE: Stout

Rare and often rumored about in the darkest corners of the beer community, World Wide Stout is dark, rich, roasty and complex, and lingers somewhere beyond the limits of the average beer.

Brewed with a ridiculous amount of barley, we've now taken this Dogfish Head classic and aged it on oak with real vanilla beans! With a little tender love and care we foster this beer from smooth, sweet wort into the big, bad blackend stout it always longed to be. Its bold, port-like complexity goes great with (or as) dessert.

With its high ABV, this is an excellent candidtate for cellaring, so grab a few bottles to enjoy now and lay the others down for a few years.

ENJOY
GLASSWARE: Snifter
FOOD PAIRING: Roasted venison, leg of lamb, cheesecake, chocolate mousse

EXPERIENCE
COLOR: Dark & opaque
AROMA: Roasted malt, coffee and licorice
FLAVOR: Roasted malt, toasted vanilla with subtle coffee notes
MOUTHFEEL: Velvety with lingering bitterness, slightly dry & warming

Cider Brothers Pacific Coast Cider Dry Hard Apple with Strawberry

~I'm not a beer. I'm a cider.~

20171020:
This cider had a light strawberry flavor. It was lightly sweet and not at all bitter. It had a light apple taste as well.

I don't normally drink ciders, but I recall first sampling other Pacific Coast Cider flavors at Wholefoods before getting this one. 6:40PM PT

Pacific Coast Cider Dry Hard Apple Cider with Strawberry

[20171219 Edit]

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Cider Brothers Pacific Coast Cider Dry Hard Apple with Strawberry

Relevant Links:
Pacific Coast Cider (Cider Brothers Website)
Pacific Coast Dry Hard Apple Cider with Strawberry (RateBeer.com)

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Website Information:

Dry Hard Apple w/Strawberry:

Resembles a crisp Rose wine in color and taste. Fruity aromas of fresh strawberries, vanilla cream and honey lead to sweet citrus, melon and mineral flavors. Medium bodied and very well balanced. Starts slightly sweet but finishes dry, soft and lingering.

Pairings: Fresh Fruit, Goats Milk Cheeses, Spicy Latin and Asian Appetizers

DOUBLE GOLD, Finger Lakes Int’l Wine Competition

Martin House Yakima Valley Apple

20171011:
The beer didn't have a strong apple smell. The smell, however, was pleasant. The beer tasted more like a pale ale with some apple notes.

Martin House Yakima Valley Apple

Hearing me describe the beer myself, the bartender described the beer as pale ale with some hoppy notes on the end. Yeah, I can see that. 10:24PM CT

[20171219 Edit]

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Martin House Yakima Valley Apple

Relevant Links:
Yakima Valley Apple (Martin House Website)
Martin House Yakima Valley Apple (RateBeer.com)
Yakima Valley Apple | Martin House Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)

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Website Information:

Yakima Valley Apple
Apple Beer

ABV = 5.2%
SRM (color) = 8
IBU (hoppiness) = 20

Special Ingredients: Apples

Availability: September 2017 | Draft | 6-pack 12oz cans

Tupps Full Grown Jack

20171011:
Having just had a pumpkin ale (Lakewood Punkel), I decided to try another.

Tupps Full Grown Jack

Whoa! I liked the smell and taste of this one better than the previous one. It was a powerful set of flavors. It had a slightly sour taste on the back end of every sip.

My friend said the drink had more of a beer taste on the palette than the Yakima Valley Apple. My friend also said it had a super rich mouthfeel with notes of coffee. 9:46PM CT

[20171217 Edit]

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Tupps Full Grown Jack

Tupps Full Grown Jack - empty glass (upper half out of focus) with lacing

Relevant Links:
Tupps Full Grown Jack (RateBeer.com)
Full Grown Jack | Tupps Brewery (BeerAdvocate.com)

Lakewood Punkel

20171011:
The beer smelled like a pumpkin beer. It tasted like one, too. Between the two types of pumpkin beer I'm familiar with, it was more like the spice type and less like the sour type.

Lakewood Punkel - full glass

However, some sips later, I detected the occasional sour taste, possibly from nutmeg.

Overall, it was a solid pumpkin beer. 9:30PM CT

[20171217 Edit]

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Lakewood Punkel Pumpkin Pie-Spiced Dunkel

Lakewood Punkel - empty glass & lacing

Relevant Links:
Lakewood Seasonal Beers (Lakewood Website)
Lakewood Punkel (RateBeer.com)
Lakewood Punkel | Lakewood Brewing Company (BeerAdvocate.com)

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Website Information:

PUNKEL

SEASON: Autumn (August - October)
STYLE: Pumpkin Pie Dunkel
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 23
SRM: 19
OG: 1.055
AVAILABILITY: Draft, 12oz bottle (6-pk)
SERVE: Dimpled Mug at 45˚-50˚

Is there a better fall treat than pumpkin pie? Nope, which is why there are so many pumpkin beers out there. But we prefer a beer that compliments a slice of pie rather than drinking a slice of pie, which is why ours is based on the classic dessert, not the gourd. Our twist: Punkel has no pumpkin. It's a dark, malty German lager enhanced by cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. Perfect for weather only Texans would consider "fall."

TASTING NOTES:
Dark copper hue
Toasted caramel malt
Pumpkin pie spicing
Light to medium body
PAIRS WELL WITH: Smoked Gruyere, Turkey Legs, Food Comas

Community Funnel Cake Ale

20171010:
To complete my visit at the State Fair of Texas 2017, I gathered what was left of our tickets and got a Funnel Cake Ale.

Community Funnel Cake Ale - plastic cup with powdered sugar along the rim

This Funnel Cake Ale tasted like a lager. I like the additional sweetness coming from the powdered sugar along the rim. Jamison liked it and said it tastes like a blonde.

Unfortunately, I had trouble finishing it due to my stomach ache from the fried Pop Tart and/or fried Twinkie. In fact, when I went to get the beer, the smell of the fried items triggered my stomach ache intensely; I had ordered the beer at the same stand we visited earlier in the day to get the fried Pop Tart and fried Twinkie. 7:38PM PT

[20171217 Edit]

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Community Funnel Cake Ale

Relevant Links:
Funnel Cake Ale (Community Website)
Community Funnel Cake Ale (RateBeer.com)
Funnel Cake Ale (State Fair of Texas Beer) | Community Beer Company (BeerAdvocate.com)

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Website Information:

Originally brewed for the 2014 State Fair of Texas, this ale won the Big Tex Choice Awards competition for Most Creative entry!

This year Funnel Cake Ale is back, & in cans! Stylistically, this beer is an English Summer Ale. We brew it using Maris Otter English malt and malted wheat to lend a crisp and bready finish.

During aging, we puree and infuse whole Madagascar vanilla beans to finish off the delicious character that's guaranteed to remind you of our favorite state fair treat & put a smile on your face!

​It's Texas State Fair Time, Folks!

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Style: English Summer Ale
ABV: 4.2%
OG: 10.5
IBU: 15

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Release Calendar: Fall: Sep - Nov

1/4 Keg, 1/2 Keg, 6 Pack Cans

Revolver Bock

20171010:
This beer had a malty taste. It was sweet and left a thin sugar coating in my mouth. 1:51PM PT

Revolver Bock - bottle

Although I had to drink it fairly quickly, it tasted great regardless. 3:29PM PT

[20171217 Edit]

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Revolver Bock

Relevant Links:
Revolver Beer Page (Revolver Website)
Revolver Bock (RateBeer.com)
Revolver Bock | Revolver Brewing (BeerAdvocate.com)

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Website Information:

REVOLVER BOCK
Traditional Bock - ABV: 6.5% IBU: 28
Caramel and toffee notes bring a full and satisfying body to this classic style. Northern Brewer and Willamette hops balance the sweetness of the malt.