Hopeeyedidntfuckitup Ale

Hopeeyedidntfuckitup Ale

Background:  I found this interesting drink in…my estate!  Yes, Hopeeyedidntfuckitup Ale was produced and is on tap at Casa de Tobias.  I must admit the name is not creative, nor is the idea for the brew.  There are multiple Vanilla Bourbon Stouts available but what sets this apart is its invention.  I traversed great distances to the nearest supply depot, with a well created recipe in hand.  However to my dismay, the depot had nearly none of the supplies which I had meticalisly planned for.  Thus, said name was mumbled under my breath as I grabbed things that seemed to match.  “What, I need roasted oat?  Roasted barley;  close enough, they both have ‘oaste’ in the names…”  I included bourbon, and the delicate flavor of real vanilla beans in this amalgam of guesstimation. 

Color:  darkish

Taste:  Surprisingly good.  It is often I make good beer, it is not often that part of the flavor that makes it good [to me] is not my own pride.  Actually, I might hypothesize that in fact, no beer that I have made thus far went unflavored by said placebo.  This brew truly is the first beer I have made in a few years of home brewing.  This is certainly not a pour of Bourbon County Rare by any fathom, but alas it is good.  

Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel

Sierra Nevada Ovila Dubbel

Background:  This Beer was presented to me in lieu of the libation of my quest; KBS.  It’s greatness was expounded to me by the shop attendant.  As his first recommendation to me was that of Fullers Ale 2007 about a year ago, I decided his opinion deserved consideration.  I quickly retraced the path I had taken to get there and arrived safely at home, bottle in brown bag under arm.

Color:  The beer was a bubbly translucent deep terracotta, like a fresh semi-dried brick hand made from the best of clay in Spain.  If I squinted, held my breath, spun in a circle three hundred and fourteen and a half times, and then looked at the glass with my eyes one fifth of the way open, I could actually see the Monks of the Abbey of New Clairvoix.  

Taste:  With all of the back story, the stones, and prayers I must admit I expected great things.  Alas, I must write that the tasting was less than this.  To use the word mediocre would be harsh, but only slightly.  I have had myriad other time (and inebriation) forgotten named ales with similar responses from my tongue’s flavor catchers.  What can be said is that part of the sale of each bottle goes towards the restoration of a twelfth century monastery, which although is not a flavor, it is nice.  I do look forward to this ale’s siblings, Saison and Quad which will be released in June and November respectively.