Monday night beer tasting...

So, I attended a little beer tasting with a couple of old beer buddies and a couple of new ones last night. Quite the selection, I must say. We had everything from Bear Republic Racer 5 (on-tap) to BrewDog's Tokyo*. Here's what I remember us having last night...I'm sure a may be missing a couple.

Bear Republic Racer 5

Maine Brewing Company Spring Peeper

Home brewed Saison

The Bruery Saison de Lente

Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad

Terrapin RoggenRauchBier

Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale

Avery 10 (2003)

BrewDog Tokyo* (18% Russian Imperial Stout - wow)

I know there was at least another one or two, but I just can't remember them tight now. Anyway, I always enjoy Racer 5 and the Spring Peeper. The 420 is just a basic Pale Ale. The Tokyo* was a nice beer. Big and warming...imagine that, huh? The Avery 10 was a 10% DIPA from 2003. I had been wanting to see how this one has changed over the years, so I brought it along. Boy, did those hops really fade! I expected they would, but that thing tasted like a big, malty Old Ale. No hops to be found. My two favorites of the night were the Bourbon Barrel Quad and the RoggenRauchBier. The BBQ is a Quad aged in Bourbon barrels with some sour cherries added. The addition of those said cherries did it for me. They added a nice bit of sour fruitiness that really complemented the wood and vanilla I got from the barrels. Gotta add that one to my wants list, for sure. The RoggenRauchBier is a Rauch (smoked) Lager. The smoke was fairly subdued in this one, though. Sometimes the smokiness of some Rauch beers is too overwhelming for me, but this one had it nailed perfectly, imho. It had a nice spice to it that worked well with the smoked grains.

It was good night of good beers, good conversation, and meeting some good people. I look forward to the next one. Cheers!