Burton Baton: The Bastard of Beer

(Ok, I cant take credit for the name, but its just too perfect. Why mess with perfection? http://beeradvocate.com/articles/626)

The reason the name works is because it is not one "pure" beer. It is actually two beers brewed separately, then blended and aged together (almost like cigar tobacco). In this case, its an English-style old ale and an Imperial IPA (Dogfish 90 min).

I've had this beer a few times before, but its been a while and I've grown as a beer drinker a lot since then, so I was excited to sit down and try this beer again. We had it on tap at Zeno's and I may have drank half the sixtol on my own, I think got it every time I wasn't working.

Each 10 ounce I got was dark brown with a hint of orange, with a finger or so of tan head. The smell was caramel and sweet malts. The taste was oak and vanilla mixed with an sweet Double IPA. The Burton had a very smooth finish, and its the taste of the DFH 90min that lingers and is the last flavor to leave your palate.

For some reason I feel that the beer tasted better from the tap than a bottle. Usually I feel that people who think beer tastes better out of a keg are full of it, but this time, I had to swallow my pride and agree.


QUICK TASTE

Burton Baton
Milton, DE

ABV% 10.00

Imperial IPA aged in oak

Appearance: Dark brown color, less red then a typical IPA

Aromatics: Malty, Oaky

Taste: Sweet malts, vanilla, smooth, and at the back end you can taste the 90 min

Notes: Interesting beer, good name, sweeter then I normally prefer, but very good!

90

Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am

Victory Hop Wallop

I just got walloped - Hop Walloped to be exact (it was an obvious pun, but it had to happen) - by Victory's robust, year round Imperial IPA offering. 

Bearing the image of the legendary coal miner Horace "Hop" Wallop (he's fictional, just FYI if you get upset when you don't find his name on wikipedia) this delicious beer pours a golden yellow color with about a finger of head. 

When I went in to smell it I was immediately hit with a strong aroma of grapefruit with some piney undertones, possibly from the use of Cascade hops (?). I'd heard of grapefruit being a taste present in many IPAs but never was it so obvious for me as in the Hop Wallop. 

Not being a huge grapefruit fan, I wondered how that character would carry over to the taste, but upon drinking it was very pleasantly surprised at just how great the flavor was. Its very hoppy while managing to remain well balanced. The finish is especially great; the zingy hop flavor sits on the palate and back of the throat for some time allowing you to really enjoy the complex flavors. As the beer warms the flavor continues to evolve, staying very hoppy, but becoming more and more balanced. 

All in all an great offering from an great Philly brewery.

-Andrew

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Victory Hop Wallop

Downingtown, PA 

American Double/Imperial IPA

8.5% ABV

Appearance: golden yellow with low carbonation

Aromatics: stroooong smell of grapefruit with spicy piney undertones

Taste: very crisp on the tongue, bright

nice lingering finish, zingy hop flavor stays on the palate and back of throat for quite some time

Notes: Delicious, one of my more favorite Imperial IPAs due to the fact that its hoppy, but not mind-blowingly so

87/100

America and The UK together again...

... OK, at least working together.

Stone (famous for Arrogant Bastard and other big character beers) teamed up with Brew Dog (famous for the former world's strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin) to create a Belgian Style Double IPA.
If you take everything you know about Stone and everything you expect from a Belgian style black beer you'll end up with Bashah.

When I poured it I initially noticed the dark, dark brown color, and the lighter brown head.

The aroma of the beer is about what I expected from the combination of the dark look and from a Belgian. Its dominated by the fruity sweet smells of a belgian dark, but with definite smokey undertones.

The taste is like no other beer I've ever had... it was good, and I enjoyed it, but I had to wait for it to warm up for a bit before I could dissect the flavors. It has a rich fruit and light chocolate flavors, and smokey undertones that I smelled that are caused by the roasted malt. This very light smokey flavor that is not overpowering or dominating at all and are very pleasant. The combination is very nice and well balanced.

When two of the most progressive and dedicated breweries in the world combine their powers anything could happen. In this case they not only hit the target but they blew it up like a Nuclear Penguin, or a stone hitting Goliath... or something like that... I'd have to but this beer up pretty high on my list of all time favorite beers.



- Nathan

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Stone & Brew Dog Bashah
Scotland/California


ABV% 8.6


Belgian Style Double IPA

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black; Lighter brown head


Aromatics: Sweet fruit and smoke


Taste: Light hops, dominating fruity and smokey malt taste

Notes: A Scotland-brewed, combined effort between Stone and Brew Dog is exactly what you'd expect from great breweries like these two. Worth hunting down and paying a little extra for. It also has a pretty sweet label...

One of the top beers on my list I gave this beer a 93.