I’m not often easily persuaded but some curse-ed woman convinced me to have a beer tonight while I was at work… you know who you are. She did bring up a very valid point, “why not” I believe was her logic, and thats pretty hard to argue with. I even dismissed it for about 30 seconds, then I got to thinking about the new beers I have yet to try. I got New Hollands “Dragon’s Milk” in last week and have had an awesome customer response to it so I said, “shes right! I should have a beer, I’ll write a blog about it, and I’ll call it “work.””

So, I opened it, started drinking it, helped some customers, did a little of this, a little of that. Now its gone. Its 8.5% ABV in a 22oz bottle. This is going to be a short review.

Its pretty fantastic. Great balanced vanilla flavor with a touch of dark chocolate. It has a smooth finish that isn’t to dry and is a remarkably drinkable… I wish I could take a nap in my office right now.

-Joe Woelfle
www.blatzcave.com

I added the Lagunitas Maximus IPA to my rotation of 22oz bombers this past week so nows as good as time as any to write a review about it! Well that and I wanted to drink it so it worked out well.

This is a great, very drinkable IPA. It is hoppy like you would expect and IPA to be but has some very different flavors as well. You can pick up on some caramel which seems subtable to go with its dark golden color. There is a long almost sweet finish and an… interesting message on the bottle. If you can decifer it let me know! Their own website warns of the possibility of stripping the enamel off your teeth drinking it. I don’t know about THAT but I see what they are getting at.

Come check it out!!

-Joe Woelfle
www.blatzcave.com

mmm... Oatmeal

Due to the overwhelming (as opposed to underwhelming or just regular old “whelming”) response of the Vanilla porter, coupled with the fact that I got a new Breckenridge beer I have decided to review their “Oatmeal Stout”. Of course, the fact that I happen to have a six pack of it sitting on the counter encouraged me to write another beer blog. Its a pretty cool package, with an image of a “man in the moon” with a night cap on and a kind of creepy smile. Billed as “tall dark and dreamy” and “a stout worthy of the title”.

A fair warning: Stouts are not for the beginner beer drinker, the training wheels will have to have come off before you want to give this guy a shot.

For everyone else, the basics of a good stout are pretty simple: creamy and smooth with flavors of chocolate and a hint of roast coffee. I popped the top off and poured it into my extra special tasting glass (found a clean pint glass!), and after the head ALMOST poured over the top I stopped looking for the paper towels and paid more attention to the beer. The head has a great chocolaty color, while the beer itself looked like black coffee. So far so good! The first sip was creamy, smooth… well everything I already mentioned that you should look for in a stout. The chocolate and coffee flavors were well balanced and complimented each other well. The tastes were consistent from beginning to the end of the beer. Definitely a must try for the stout lover.

One more thing about this beer is the mildly hidden recipe for a Oatmeal Stout Milkshake, it looks like something I’ll have to try for New Years! You’ll have to get your own to find it.

-Joe Woelfle
www.blatzcave.com