Author

Dan Doughtie

Browsing

Duclaw 31 Pumpkin Spiced lager | Baltimore, MD This review is a two-fer. It’s two reviews in one. The first is about Cheers Wine & Spirits which opened today in lovely Martinez at the corner of Evans-to-Lock and Fury’s Ferry next to Columbia County Fire House 3. I’ve watched this location for the past months as I either rode by on my bike or taking Mr. Ben to school. I had wondered what was being built and found a story on the inter-web that three different groups applied for a liquor license at this intersection at the same time. One was diagonally across from this location and the other next to Walgreens. The Columbia County commissioners said they could only grant one permit because state law restricts liquor stores from being less than 1,500 feet apart. These guys won. So I stopped in because I saw the “We’re Open” sign…

Wild Leap Local Gold Blonde Ale I’ve been trying to review Wild Leap’s Local Gold for almost 2 years. I have been enjoying their brews for years but I had only had their darker brews like Caramel Cake Stout or Cookies & Cream. I remember having this beer for the first time at a wedding in Newnan, GA in July 2020. They were serving this at the rehearsal dinner and was taken back when I say the buffalo on the label. I had never seen it in Augusta. The bartender said she would be at the reception/ dinner the next day and would make sure there would be some. I even stopped in Jackson, GA on the way home on Sunday and found a six. It took me about 4 months to drink that 6. I caught Covid at the wedding and 3 days later was suffering from Covid pneumonia.…

Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout | Comstock MI Well I don’t really have 99 bottles of beer but when you are trying to empty your collection of onesies and twosies it seems like 99. I continue my quest to get rid of all my standing beer before I can buy anymore. I’ve already established that some of the heavier barrel-aged beers can stay because they will “cellar” quite well. But all the others gotta go. In the past I’d just pawn them off on the Beer Brothers during a burn pot gathering but we haven’t had a lodge meeting in forever. So like the Noom commercial where they say “you’ve been conditioned to clean your plate.” I’ve been conditioned to finish my beer. I have no clue to exactly where the Double Cream Stout came from but I suspect Beer Brother Mark gave it to me for Christmas…. or my…

Avery Uncle Jacob’s Stout “Happy Birthday to you… Happy Birthday to you…..” I won’t bore you with my singing. I am on a mission to drink up all of the brews I have collected in my little fridges before I buy any more beer. In my quest I pulled out an Uncle Jacob’s Stout tonight and poured it into a frosted glass as I pretended to help prep dinner. I bought it when Wine World was closing and that’s been a while. This is part of Avery’s Annual Barrel Series. It’s aged in bourbon barrels like Tweak and Rumpkin. As I was pouring I notice this one was bottled on February 6th, 2018. That’s why I’m singing Happy Birthday. I’m drinking this beautiful stout on it’s 4th birthday. Avery makes some really nice bourbon barrel stouts that age very well. This is one of them. As I said I was…

Kartäuser Doppelbock Dunkel |Memminger, Germany Finally a dark beer. Kartäuser Doppelbock Dunkel is a very dark Bavarian beer. I finished the Advent Calendar tonight as family gathered in the kitchen to eat after attending the family Christmas Eve service at our church. Mr. Ben had a speaking part in the Christmas Pageant. It was a great way to spend the evening. Our neighborhood and adjacent neighborhoods have lined the streets with luminaries giving the evening a calm feeling. All is well. And I have finally found a really dark beer in the Brewer’s Advent Calendar. This beer tastes dark but not a roasty toasty flavor. I know about roasting malts but I have to wonder if you can roast hops. I’ve never heard of roasting hops. This doesn’t pick up the caramel and other similar flavors with roasted malts. It has a dry mouthfeel to it. It is bitter on…

Fürst Carl Kellerbier | Ellingen, Germany I remember this beer from the Man Bag XXL. It was cloudy with a unique flavor as compared to the others. Tonight I shared a small glass with Dave-in-Law. He liked it and added that it had a hint of lemon in the smell and the taste. It has a mellow amber color. Nice malt mouthfeel but not overly malty. There was a yeasty flavor that approaches a Belgian brew then changes gears and becomes a bit hoppy. Not bitter hoppy but goes from that malty mouthfeel to a bit drier. That yeasty kind of flavor must come from being unfiltered. Dave added that “it doesn’t have an aftertaste and has a smooth finish.” I agree with the no aftertaste but I’m waffling on the dry finish…. or was it smooth. No, I think it was dry. Besides I was enjoying it too much…

I was excited to see the black pop out of the Advent Calendar can hoping it was a dark beer. Nope. Black can, clear beer. This is a Pils similar to the earlier Pils but this one distinctly more bitter. I remember this one being more crisp that the others but I could swear this one starts off a bit buttery like an over-oaked California Chard then it slams shut to being bitter. This one has a long drawn out bitter finish. So as you sip it has some buttery malt backbone then quickly goes bitter and continues that way to the finish. A horse of a different color. The can says it’s brewed by Egerer but Schlossbrau (or Graflich von Mengersen’sche Dampfbrauerei?) has a brewery, the Rheder Castle Brewery, that dates back to around 1750 but the brewery that eventually comes to the castle was started in 1686 (they…

Wittmann Urhell |Landshut, Germany Once again a Man Bag beer (Mannerhandtasche XXL). I had to poke around the internet to figure out what Urhell means. When a German beer has ur in front it means original so this is claiming to be an original Hell or Helles beer. Not sure I can appreciate comparing this to all of the other Helles I’ve had in this journey. Despite some rain last night I was able to actually hold a beer in my hand while grilling some pork chops. I pulled the grill over close enough to the garage so I could watch them without getting too wet. I also poured most of it into a glass so I could drink the remainder of the 500ml from the can. As I pointed out on a previous day the aluminum is so thin on these cans it is difficult to grip a full…

Graminger Kirta |Altötting, Germany This is one of the beers from the Man Bag I realliy enjoyed. Glad they included it because its a DARK BEER. I see what I want to see on a German beer label: DUNKLES. Its got a wintertime feeling to it. It also has a weird label with the devil drinking beer over a plate of … not sure what with a city skyline in the background. I found two websites, one which features a link to the brewery/hotel.. I think. This appears to be a website that features links to dozens of German brewery/hotels. But I would love to visit this one because it’s close to a lot of stuff. “Graminger Weissbräu is a quaint Bavarian brewery and hotel located on the outskirts of the pilgrimage town of Altötting. Its proximity to Munich (about 90 km), Mozart’s Salzburg (about 75 km), and Marktl am…

Meine Grosse Liebe |Munich, Germany This was definitely not in the Man Bag. The label says brewed by Egerer, and the Egerer website has some brews that feature the same Lion symbols. But if you search enough you find this beer has it’s own website and is a labor of love kind of brew where Stephan Schmid partnered up with long-term business partner Franz Luitpold Egerer, of the Egerer brewery, and came up with a beer that is a quintessential Munich beer. Both are big footballers so they made a great beer that says “Munch” and “Football” (soccer to us dumb Americans). It is another Helles Lager. But this one has the feel of a modern-era craft Helles. Meine Grosse Liebe translates as “My Great Love”. The website said “Brewed according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, the traditional beer embodies the love and passion for Munich; from a…

Pin It