Jack’s Abby Coffee Smoke and Dagger: 3.5 – Sadly while we love the original, this coffee variant just doesn’t hit the right spots, even for a coffee beer.
Google Shop Average: Jack’s Abby Coffee Smoke and Dagger $7
Website: http://jacksabbybrewing.com/
Not since our cookout where we had the delicious Kraken, have I ever really had Bombay (which was sadly lost to us). As stated I’m more a Tanqueray kind of man, but then Justice would have some fighting words with me about that – mostly because we’d have drunk our respective gins. However not to show bias this week I shall partake of the original Bombay Sapphire for you all.
Rogue Beard Beer: 5.0 – Now I’m not 100% sure the story of wild yeast being extracted from a man’s beard and then going into this product is true; however the problem with any wild yeast beer is that some can be downright amazing, whereas others are just bland or skunked feeling. This isn’t as bad – and considering the name at least it’s not an IPA.
Google Shop Average: Rogue Beard Beer $8
Website: http://www.rogue.com/
Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout: 4.0 – This again suffers from the classic problem that many beers fall into with barrel aging, in that you don’t really get a nice woody flavor, but a more mellow sweet flavor that overall is really not what you want from the beer. Some have gotten aged beers in bourbon barrels right, but it’s far and few between.
Google Shop Average: Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout $9
Website: https://avbc.com/
Well I’ve given up at this point for something to not try and ruin my palate, so let’s go with Jim Beam. Thought maybe there is a bit of hope as this is not the standard Jim Beam, but their black which is aged for a whole 8 years.
Amber Apparation Amber Ale: 4.3 – Great art and that’s mostly it. The beer is passable, but for something that looks this nice you’d expect it to be something really fancy, or powerful/strong, or even just really weird tasting. Hell any sort of flavor or distinctiveness would have made this worth buying, but nope.
Google Shop Average: Amber Apparation Amber Ale $10
Website: http://hennikerbrewing.com/
The Maple Collaboration: 7.0 – It’s ale, with maple syrup. It does not get more apt than that. It’s very sweet but ultimately it’s just now as good as the maple syrup beer we all believe in our hearts maple syrup beers can be.
Google Shop Average: The Maple Collaboration $7
Website: http://www.peakbrewing.com/
Alright so let’s get back to the other “HBR reviews a diverse set of spirits except for wait why do they have so much scotch and vodka?” type of review we do. This time with something that I recall hearing about all over the place a few years back.
Atwater Brewery Vanilla Java Porter: 7.0 – Unlike a lot of other vanilla beers (and this may be the ‘Java’) the vanilla here actually tastes like vanilla, but does so in a way that it’s not gimmicky. As far as a vanilla porter goes, this is one of our favorites (but it does have to rank against other porters)
Google Shop Average: Atwater Brewery Vanilla Java Porter $10 for 6-Pack
Website: http://www.atwaterbeer.com/
