Founders Bolt Cutter

Founder's Bolt Cutter - Our 15'th Anniversary Ale (2012)

Anniversary Brew (Backstage Series)

25.4 fl. oz. / $25.99 / 15% ABV

About: "Bolt Cutter is a cellarable 15% ABV barley wine brewed in celebration of our 15th anniversary. Dry-hopped with a mountain of Cascade hops, it’s balanced by a malty sweetness and spicy complexity, resulting from barrel aging some of it in bourbon barrels, some in maple syrup-bourbon barrels and some not at all (standard fermentation only). We allowed the beer to mature in bottles and kegs for four months so that it would be perfect for its release in November 2012. Bolt Cutter pours a deep copper color and is best sampled at different temperatures to allow the flavors to unfold."

Thoughts: I bought this beer two years ago and it's been in the back of my fridge inside of a closed paper bag ever since. Why? I do not know the answer to that question. I just figured I'd save it for the "right time" or a "special occasion", but there never really was one of those things that ever made me think now is the time. When I decided to buy a Bolt Cutter glass online to pair the shot with they had just sold out, so I guess I felt kind of bummed. Well, that bullshit is over. Last night was Halloween, I got a full weekend to do nothing but jerk off so let's fuckin' do this!

This beer is way clearer than I thought it would be. I'm talking a crystal clear burnt orange with shades of ruby red, and it looks pretty nice. It's so clear that I can read the lettering through it on the back of the glass in this dim room. The off-white head was gloppy and slow to form before dying down into a puddle of mush. I can smell this one from across the table. Just the way I like it. There's only three things I like to be able to smell from across the table: my food, my beer... and my women! The smell is of strong, sweet malted barley and the alcohol is strong with this one. It's got a syrupy burst of toffee that's candy-like and indulgent. Despite the strength on this, it doesn't appear to be hiding a kick.

First sip and it's all there, and with an effervescent surprise on the mouth feel on top of it all. It's absurdly smooth, with a tingling that roars throughout the whole thing, but still, so soothing and soft. How does it stay so smooth?! Is it the two years that have gone by? I got a shiver inducing bite a few seconds after that first sip, but it's settled already by the second. With the third and fourth sip I feel a fire igniting in my stomach. I of course wouldn't put it past Founders to have this barleywine loaded with hops (not much unlike SN Bigfoot) and man are those grassy as all fuck hops bouncing around here. Sometimes after a while, that kind of thing builds up and grimes up a beer, but that's not the case here as it sits back just like a gentle leafy, grassy breeze in the background. It's not strong enough to be distracting, but it's just there enough give a little needed depth... because overall, I'm not getting too much depth here. It's layered, but slightly repetitive.

It tastes like a really smooth hard liquor barleywine hybrid. For the most part it's sweet, especially when you swirl it around in the mouth. After the swallow it's got a very low lever bitterness, but it's there and adds a little complexity to the drink. It's slightly softer than I usually like, most likely due to the aging, but it's still peppery and has a nice zing to it. For being so mellow, it's still damn tasty! This is some exquisite shit here as a matter of fact. Now, I'm of course a little experienced with these High ABV beers. Just the other day I drank a World Wide Stout, Rumpkin, and a Pump[KY]n, in addition to the many others I've tried, this is by far the softest. But that doesn't mean that other people would find this soft at all. Oh hell no! Actually I'm pretty sure that if you gave this to someone who didn't know what the fuck it was they'd think it's straight up booze and not a beer at all.

But that's a good thing, especially about this beer for a guy like me. A freak! No, a guy like me, who enjoys the finer things in life. I just read the info on this beer while preparing to post this review, and while it's obvious that there's some sort of barrel aging it's not on the bottle I don't think. It makes sense now how they did it, what with the syrup I got, then the bourbon and even at times where it didn't really seem as if it were barrel aged at all. So the mix of all three of those things are indeed evident in the taste here. Even then however, I'll admit that this one isn't perfect. Not that it needs to be. In fact, I like it just the way it is, because if were different, well, it'd be something different. And I didn't want to drink something different, I wanted to drink this. And perhaps I'm rambling a bit, but although it's not as good as I was hoping (waiting on it two years and wondering doesn't help that, btw) I still enjoyed the hell out of this one and if given the chance, I'd buy it all over again.

Stone RuinTen

Stone RUINTEN IPA (2013)

Yearly Special Release *NEW* (June)

22 fl. oz. / $7.99 USD / 10.8% ABV

About: "We first released this decidedly indelicate beer in 2012, as Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our belovedly bitter Stone Ruination IPA. Stone RuinTen IPA uses the same recklessly hoppy recipe as the 2012 release; only the name has changed, as we plan to unleash this belligerently delicious hop monster upon the public annually from now on. We packed a whopping five pounds of hops into each barrel, and cranked up the ABV to stand up to the hop onslaught. The results are glorious, and we know you'll rejoice in tasting this audacious gem of hoppy splendor once again. You're welcome."

Thoughts: Just released. Drank 6/23/13 with a Drink by date of 8/28/13. Posting the review 8/11/13 due to pure laziness and other recent technical problems, overworking and life outside the computer. What a beautiful bottle huh? I don't really get how they abbreviated it to "RuinTen" but whatever... I mean, I get it, but it's still just weird to me.

I never actually got a chance to try Stone's Tenth Anniversary Ale which upset me quite a bit since literally everyone was drinking the stuff and bragging about it online, posting photos and even thugged out selfies for some reason or another. Sure, that kind of thing shouldn't matter but it would be nice to always get a chance to buy a release I've been waiting for or hearing about that's all.

RuinTen poured a beautiful shade of orange. Man... what a nice looking brew this one is. The beer is slightly hazy but transparent enough to read these words through. It's got a light slightly cream colored head that looks very white in the photo above.

The scent of immense hops invade the brain. Lingering sweetness ensues. Tons of pine, mango, grapefruit, sweet juicy orange, lemony zest, drizzled caramel, and oily resin. Little bits of peppery spiciness crawl up the nostrils, tickling away and leaving a slight burn.

Onto the taste: heavy on the leafy hops, drenched in resin, drowned in oils, with a big splash of heat, a little burning haze right behind it and a bitter citrusy finish. This stuff is seriously dank. A toasty breaded malt rests firmly as the fiery assault of hops blister the tongue. Hang on - I just offered some to my woman. She smelt it, then plugged her nose and took a sip. Afterwards she made her way to the bathroom sink and told me that it tastes "like shit!" Nice. This is brutal and blistering. I love it. Booze is present, which I tend to enjoy. This bottle is a meal in itself, and I'm hungry so it's a good thing I bought two.

Smooth and creamy with an oily finish.The beer isn't all too thick, but the flavor lays the smack-down in such a way that it seems like it. It's not super overly bitter, but the bitterness hits strong and violently. It lingers for a long while but when it falls back a little bit of that sweetness limps in. There isn't a great balance on this one, but hell, it was never meant to be. Final thoughts: You want a beer smack to the face, here ya go. Afterthoughts: I still like "Enjoy By" better.

Firestone Walker 15th Anniversray Ale

Firestone Walker 15th Anniversary Ale - A Blend of Barrel Aged Beers (2011)

Limited Release (Brewed Once)

22 fl. oz. / $24.99 USD / 12.5% ABV

About: "As a finished beer, XV is alive with amazing complexity and yet it is quite possibly the most integrated and seamless blend yet.

Looking at a blend of 8 beers on paper at first looks chaotic and potentially disjointed; however, a closer look reveals and interesting theme: 76% Barley Wine style beers, 19% Stout and 5% Imperial IPA. XV introduces our new blonde barley wine "Helldorado" with flavors of lavender honey liqueur. The well established "DDBA" delivers its signature American toasted oak, English caramel toffee and light leather nuances. 2010 vintage "Sticky Monkey" folds in brown sugar, maple, cinnamon, ginger and ripe figs. "Parabola" brings the familiar flavors of roasted dark coco, and chocolate covered cherries. "Velvet Merkin" carries silky milk chocolate, toasted coconut and creamy textures. "Good Foot" and "Bravo" add assertive barley wine warmth and lush barrel derived vanilla bean notes.  The game changer this year is the addition of "Double Jack" to the blend.  At just 5% its massive dry hop character brings citrus zest, tangerine and mango aromas making this a completely new beer.

The beer is unfiltered and unfined, so there will be a small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.   XV is best enjoyed poured carefully into a half-filled brandy snifter or wine glass. Allow it to warm to 55F to fully enjoy the pleasing and complex aromas. As the beer sits and breathes in the glass, a richer, orange zested, chocolate dusted, vanilla custard character is reveled, so take your time. If you wait to open your bottle later, store it in a cool dark place. I suspect that this beer will age well and change favorably for years to come. It was an absolute pleasure in the making and I truly hope you enjoy our Sixth oak-aged blend!  Our journey continues and it’s just as fun and exciting now as it was back in 1996.

18% Helldorado (11.7% ABV) Blonde Barley Wine. (Buckwheat Honey and 100% El Dorado Hops)

17% Sticky Monkey (12.5% ABV) English Barley Wine. (Mexican Turbinado Brown Sugar)

17% Bravo (13.5% ABV) Imperial Brown Ale. (100% US Grown Fuggles Hops)

13% Double Double Barrel Ale (11.5% ABV) Double Strength English Pale Ale. (Double Version of Flagship)

11% Good Foot (14.3 ABV) American Barley Wine. (Copious amounts of American Grown Hops)

10% Velvet Merkin (8.6% ABV) Traditional Oatmeal Stout. (100% US Grown Fuggles Hops)

9% Parabola (13% ABV) Russian Imperial Oatmeal Stout. (Simcoe, Brao, Styrian Golding and East Kent Golding)

5% Double Jack (9.5% ABV) Double India Pale Ale. (Triple dry-hopped DIPA)"

Thoughts: I've never had a beer that came with a certificate before! Wow... cool shit.

XV poured a dark cherry color with a slightly brownish shade once it filled the glass. The head was minimal and very tan, and understandably faded quickly.

This beer smells absolutely beautiful. God damn... boozy dark fruits and dark chocolate predominate. It is wondrous. This is one fierce smelling barleywine man, I'll tell ya, and the really cool thing is with this blend that they've done this beer has a really awesome stout characteristic that comes in halfway through and a big hop profile at the end. Up front though it's really malty, heavy and dense smelling. In a word: Powerful.

First gulp and I am fucking blown away! You don't really get a ton of oak in the scent at first, but right off the tongue there's a massive sweet and delectable booze blow followed by a smooth woody finish. Second gulp now, this is pure insanity. The spice and flavor rolls around vertically in the mouth, constantly pounding down on the tongue like raindrops of ecstasy. It tingles, it's sticky, it's got a little bit of a harshness to it but it's not overly harsh and it falls back reasonably. It's slightly smoky. Tons of dark fruit, plum, raisins everywhere, figs, freshly fallen leaves, vanilla, Belgian chocolate, cinnamon, pepper... hints of cherry, cut grass, celery salt, mild coffee, red wine and hidden floral notes after it's swallowed. Oak is everywhere and leaves the mouth feeling as is there should be a few splinters in there after a short bit of drinking. This is some crazy shit!

The mouth feel is full, takes a while before it gets foamy, stinging, tickling and coats evenly leaving a massive amount of the gorgeous taste to linger for long periods between sips and gulps. Starts to get drying after a while, though not aggressively so. Nice feeling all around.

After warming for an hour this one gets really mellow. Slightly puckering effect with heavy booze, and yet, the booze isn't grossly overactive, but rather just explosive at first and fades so quick due that barrel aging that it's simply blissful. The price of this one hurt me at first, so much to the fact that I left it in the fridge for a few months. Tonight was the night, and unholy hell, what a fantastic night it has become! If you ever see this on the shelf, buy it!

In an act of courtesy, I offered a drink to my lady:

Me: "Hey, come over here and tell me what this smells like."

Her: "Uhg! I don't know but it's disgusting."

Well played.

Stone 16'th Anniversary

Stone 16'th Anniversary IPA (2012)

Limited Release (Brewed Once).

22 fl. oz. / $7.94 USD / 10% ABV

About: "This year our brewing team was inspired by some exotic-ish additions of the lemony persuasion. Yes, it's a Double IPA (can you really say you're surprised?), but as we strive to do with all our Stone Anniversary Ales of the let's-take-this-IPA-in-a-new-direction variety, we've brewed up a Stone-worthy divergence from tradition. The amount of rye malt we used isn't quite enough to warrant the appellation "Rye IPA," but it still adds hints of spiciness that contrast deliciously with the tropical fruit flavors and aromas of the Amarillo and Calypso hops. Add a few European specialty malts, some lemon verbena, and three more hop varieties to the mix, and you have a highly complex brew melding both bitter and fruity hop notes with rich toasted malt character punctuated by nuances of spicy rye and subtle lemon."

Thoughts: Poured a light golden yellow tone with a slightly off-white head bursting with various sized bubbles that later developed into a thick and snowy froth. The beer itself is pretty cloudy, there's no speckling on the first pour (half of the bottle) and there's some light to medium carbonation.

Well it smells very lemony that's for sure. It's plesant. I'm actually thirsty as fuck right now and a lemony IPA sounds just about right... espeically at 10%. It smells a bit spicy, but the mix of all these hops and that lemon it smells kinda like a weird kind of rubber that I can't identify. Smells like a good balance of malts in there with the hops though.

Taste is a sharp sting of lemon zest and oil, and a ton of rye backup. It's tingling, spicy, there's haze from the booze, it's slightly bitter and a little sweet and sour. There's also a little bit of grass in the background. It's definitely flavorful, there's no doubt about that. But is it "tasty"? I'm not quite sure. I'm sort of having a flashback to DFH's Hellhound My Ale which was brewed with lemons (and while I love hops, lemons and ale - for some reason this one isn't sitting well with me).

Alright, poured the rest of it and taking a look... now there's a massive amount of grain in there. Maybe I should have rolled the bottle, no matter... taking another gulp here and it's got a lot more of a peppery tone throughout. The brew is blended very well and there are a couple layers, and it's not really horrible at all, but I'm still not diggin' it.

Mouthfeel is wet - naturally I would suppose - don't know why I said that, very minimal coating, a little light, bubbly - not frothy, and drinkable.

This brew is bitter and sour, and could have been incredible if they didn't go with that rye malt and instead opted for something sweeter. Maybe that's just the bitch in me talking though. This one gets a solid "meh" from me. I wanted to like it more, especially as a connoisseur of all thing lemon, lemon shaped and sour. *wink* Thing is... too much yeast can put a damper on things.

Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5

Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet 1.5 First Anniversary Ale - double black india pale ale (2010)
Brewed and Bottled by the Mercury Brewing Co., in Ipswich, MA. USA.
Limited Release (Brewed Once)
22 fl. oz. / $9.49 USD / 10% ABV

About: "One year of brutal work and abundant shenanigans is in the books. So, we up sized Hoppy Feet (...lovingly crafted by combining Premium malt with lots of Amarillo and Columbus Hops. Grapefruit and Pine are balanced on the nose and on the palate by a nutty, dark chocolate, roasted backbone) and dry hopped it twice. The huge, complex flavors and powerful hop and malt aromas make a worthy tribute. Thank you, each one of you, for helping make our dreams real."

Thoughts: Poured a dark brown initially out of the bottle, that immediately transformed into a solid pitch black in the glass. The head was a one-finger with a khaki color and it didn't last all too long. There are puddles of foam atop the brew now.

Juicy plums dipped in chocolate sauce. It smells really strong, so I better get ready for my head to be knocked backwards. It's a hazy strong dark fruit scent with a strange background that almost like graham crackers and caramel. 

First gulp went through about four or five phases. Smooth and strong, then spicy, there's an alcohol burn after the swallow, with a grassy afterglow, and a hint of coffee at the end of everything. Mostly it's just that hazy burn, with an aftereffect of breathing some pepper dust. After warming, the overwhelming sensation of booze dies down a bit and the flavor really comes through. It's of dusty hops up front, lingering grassy hops following close behind, and dirty caramel.

Mouth is clear and pleasant, not too low or high of bubbles, and there's no lingering effects.

3/4th's of the way through and it's pretty much just OK for me. Nothing really stood out taste-wise that especially impressed me, and at the same time, I wasn't really disappointed to any severe degree. It's got the pluses and minuses, and it infected my sinuses, but in the end, it's probably just a hopped up version of their Hoppy Feet brew. After tasting this I'm bound to try many of their other brews, but not the Hoppy Feet normal release anytime soon. So we'll see...