The Beer I Drank Today: Black Albert

The Beer I Drank Today: De Struise Brouwers Black Albert

Style: Russian Imperial Stout (via Belgium)

Color: I'm black, y'all! I'm black y'all! I'm blacker than blacker than black, y'all! (Sorry for the CB4 ref. I couldn't resist.)

Head/Lacing: tan head, nice lacing even though it doesn't stick

Aroma: red wine, chocolate, and smoke

Flavor: chocolate, raisins, and alcohol (13% ABV)

Context: Sanford over at Sycamore hooked up some of us in the Columbia Beer Enthusiasts with this beer. No one else here sells it. It's been sitting in my fridge ever since I picked it up, just waiting for me. R fixed a steak and I figured this was as good a time as any.

Would I recommend this beer to you? Yes. I love what American craft brewers have done to the Russian imperial stout, but no one does beer in any style better than the Belgians. This beer is no exception.
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I've recently had the pleasure of trying several other beers of note. In my erratic posting, I just haven't told you all about it or taken pictures.

Coney Island Albino Python: This American pale wheat ale took me by surprise with an injection of vanilla. It was an enjoyable beer, but I doubt I'll drink it very often.

New Belgium La Folie Wood Aged Beer: Sour is the new hoppy in the craft beer world. This one has to be the sourest beer I've had. (Although, I have a couple of Jolly Pumpkin beers to drink.) It was trully interesting, but I doubt I will buy or drink another. I drank with two other guys. The one who brought the La Folie abstained from drinking. He already had one after buying two bottles. The other guy politely finished his glass. I used a wine saver to store it in the fridge and finished the following day.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch: On a little excursion around STL a couple of weeks ago, I picked up several beers in Illinois I can't buy here. This was one of them. This is a fantastic beer. Supposedly, the recipe was found in Midas' tomb or something, making it one of the world's oldest beer recipes.

Charleville Tripel Wit: For a small-time operation, this was a decent beer. Charleville makes some nice beers, but I won't go out of my way for them when there are so many other great beers on the shelves these days. Of course, I may have to visit their winery/microbrewery in St. Genevieve one of these days.

Dogfish Head Raison d'Etre: This is a solid strong Belgian Ale. It's not as impressive as some DfH's other offerings or even most Belgian strong ales, but it would be a regular in my rotation if it were available in Misery. I do have a Raison d'Extra waiting in the wings though.

Dogfish Head Festina Pêche: I sort of went DfH crazy with my beer run to STL, but something about the packaging reminded me of summer the way Bell's Oberon does. Though a little sour for my taste, this beer will be nice once the hot, summer weather returns. And at 4.5%, I may have more than one the next time.

Mikkeller Simcoe Single Hop IPA: This is a great American-style IPA. It reminds me of something between Two-Hearted Ale's hearty bitterness and the refreshing grapefruitiness of Hopslam. It's too bad one 12 oz. bottle costs so much.

There's more where that all came from. I just have to get back to blogging more often. Look for some music posts in the coming hours and days.