Beer Review - Greenbush Brother Benjamin

 
Greenbush Brewing Company - Brother Benjamin

Beer Type: American Double/Imperial IPA - 10.10% ABV

Appearance: An interesting looking label on a 12 oz brown bottle, beer poured a hazy light brown color with a nice thick head. A lot of visible carbonation on the pour!!      

Smell: Plenty of aroma here - first up is some sweetness, then we have floral and fruity scents, last a bit of spice? You can smell a bit of the booze too. 

First Drink: Smooth malt gives way to a big bitter punch while the finish has a bit of alcohol burn and more herbals flavors along with the hops.  

Mouthfeel: A little too much bite in the carbonation department, it's getting the roof of my mouth, but plenty of body with a slightly sticky finish.  

Last Drink: A lot more of the bitterness and hops coming through now. Piney and I am not sure I like that.          

Drinkability: A big beer with a big price tag. A local MI brew so I wanted to try it but not sure I would go for this on a regular basis.          

Notes: I can see this beer being compared to Bell's Hop Slam and while I am not enthralled with that beer I can see the difference in perfecting the brew. This one seems a little rough around the edges still.          

Verdict: 3.75 out of 5. Has me interested in trying more beers from this brewery!    

Beer Review - Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout.

Dark Horse Brewing Company - Tres Blueberry Stout

Beer Type: American Stout - 7.5% ABV

Appearance: One of a series of special brew stouts all with similar label design. Beer poured a dark black/brown wit a thin tan head. I am sure it is my imagination but I can almost see a dark purple/blue tinge to this beer when held up to the light.      

Smell: Dark malt and ripe blueberries come first. Not too much after that actually. Smells tasty!

First Drink: Initial flavor is a little odd, bitter and sweet followed by some dark chocolate malt flavors.  

Mouthfeel: Quite smooth... silky smooth one might say? The aftertaste is a little bit sticky/tacky.  

Last Drink: More of the tart blueberry flavor comes through as this brew warms up.          

Drinkability: Do you like blueberries? Do you like stouts? If you answered yes to either then you will like this beer.          

Notes: Hooray for local brews featuring local fruits! Looking forward to drinking more of this down the road.          

Verdict: 4.25 out of 5. Not the every day stout of choice but it packs a lot of interesting flavors into one package. 

Progress Report 5/11/13 - The Trollgating Continues...

Hey look! I unpacked my stuff and got back to work on this Troll/Ogre thing for the 40 Miners Big House! Decided to add a few more details... in the form of Gnoblar/Goblin things. The theme here is a Trollgate party. Bring food, horse urine, rotting bits of food, and your team spirit!!

Got him primed and ready for some paint now too. In other news Massive Voodoo blew my brains out on the wall earlier today with the first (in a series!?) of "behind the scenes" photos for the stunning "Touch of Death" diorama. Wow. WOW. Must... get... better?!

Boxes, boxes, boxes...

Hello neglected blog! Life has been extremely busy as of late.. did I mention I bought a new house and moved into it? It's true! As all this has been occurring my hobby time has been reduced to zero. It has been 1 week since I began living in my new home full time and things are slowly progressing towards that "moved in" look. After some electrical work is done this week I hope to have my painting/hobby zone put together and complete. As of now it looks like this...

One view of the new painting sun room!

My S.O. was nice enough to let me, my minis, plants, and paints have this gorgeous sun room in our new home. Looking forward to getting some painting done in this damn near idyllic situation sometime soon! Until next time (hopefully later this week)...