Tasting Notes: The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout

I'm finishing up a six pack of The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout which I purchased from Lowe's foods. The Duck-Rabbit is a NC brewery. The milk stout is one of several beers that they offer. As the name suggests this beer is a stout brewed with lactose.

As you scan the beer aisle, this beer catches your eye with its cool red and black label that shows off the company's optical illusion logo (the duck-rabbit). The price at Lowes Food was $8.49 - standard fare for a microbrew. 

Initially there is nothing out of the ordinary upon pouring it into the glass. The color is as dark as any other stout, with a slightly less dark, brown head. You may need to turn a few more lights on in the house because the dark beer sucks the light out of the room. For someone who loves stouts though, this black-hole effect is a daily event. Nothing special here.

With the aroma you begin to get a sense that this is a rather extraordinary beer. Vapors of wheat and coffee - which attend most stouts - rise combining with the unique aroma of lactose that bring thoughts of latte or cappuccino. 

Don't be fooled though. Take a swish of this beer and you won't be thinking cappuccino for long. On the front it is a thick, smooth, bitter wheat flavor with subtle hints of chocolate. The finish leaves you with a hint of coffee and a distinct sweetness that clearly comes from the lactose. On top of that lactosey sweetness, the finish is characterized with a distinct acidic bitterness that keeps you coming back for another sip.

Unfortunately, the sweetness of this beer prevents me from being able to enjoy a bowl of pipe tobacco while I'm drinking it. I don't like to smoke my pipe with sticky lips. With that insignificant squabble aside, the Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout is a very enjoyable beer that will be a staple of my beer diet for years to come. I really love to find such high quality beer that is brewed in my home state. I would like to find a pub that serves it on tap to get the true experience. 

Beer Notes: Sam Adams Double Bock

The Samuel Adams Double Bock is from the company's Imperial Series. This was only my second excursion into bock style beers, Yuengling's Bock being my first. I first noticed the intense flavor if the beer as it had twice the bock-ness of a regular bock. Sam Adams describes the beer as being very smooth, but to me, it had somewhat of a bite.

The Double Bock is a good beer, no doubt. But this is certainly not a beer that I would seek out in the hot summer days spent outside. This is a sophisticated indoors type beer that demands to be sipped and savored, quite like Sam Adams Imperial Stout, which I will review soon.

Beer Notes: Old Rasputin

This beer is one heavy hitter. Its complex, intense, dark, rich flavor makes this one of my favorite stouts, and easily one of my favorite beers in general. This beer is a beast that any stout lover has to try. It will be love at first taste.

Beer Review: Yuengling Bock Beer

You're sitting outside, enjoying the cool breeze. The sky is a faint orange as the sun begins its decent behind the trees, and a few remaining beams of light trickle through the leaves and caress the glass of Yuengling Bock Beer in your hand. You take a sip of the Bock. This beer tastes like the sunset itself.

Yuengling describes Bock as having "a deep amber color, pleasing malt base, and a refreshing hop aroma". I could not agree more. What surprised me the most about the Bock was its smoothness. It is incredibly drinkable.

Where the Bock lacks is in the lack of head and aroma. The head dissipates quickly, which I won't hold against a high quality beer. The aroma is sweet, but faint. I would have liked for it to be more aromatic, but what is there, I enjoyed.

Overall, I was impressed with the Bock. The classic artwork on the box made me instantly curious about this anomaly in the grocery store, and I was not disappointed. This beer is seasonal, so if you can find it anywhere soon, I highly recommend giving it a try, unless you think you can hold out until the end of next winter!

Scots Create World's Strongest Beer

What else would you call a 40% ABV beer created by a group of Scots other than Sink the Bismark? It costs around 40 Euro.

This even beats out Sam Adams Utopias beer, which comes in at 25% ABV with a price tag of $600. But it's a good thing proper men don't rate quality beer on alcohol content, but rather on taste. And we are proper men, aren't we?

Which Beer to Drink: A Guide

Need help deciding what beer to drink? Look no further than this chart, created by someone other than me.

Bartender Fans Through

bartender fans through
a cloud of smoke -
foamy stout served

Another Beer Site

The great beer resource that Hammer just linked reminded me of a beer site that I like to visit occassionally - EnjoyingBeer.com. He rates beer and pubs and talks about beer history, philosophy, and theology.

Beer Link: Here's to Beer

Here's to Beer is a great go-to site to learn more about the world of beer. One of the best parts of the site is the Beer & Food section, which highlights what foods complement which beers, and vice versa!