Yorkshire Stingo
Samuel Smith
Tadcaster Brewery
8% ABV

Dark amber to brown-Susprisingly light color, bottle is Dark brown.

Wondrous beer, maybe the most complex I have ever tasted.
I know this flavor from somewhere…Flan maybe? Dry, oakey finish.  I don’t want to say anymore and spoil it for you.  Well done Sam Smith, definitely in my top 5 of all time, (maybe top 1!)
Go find this beer!  Buy two and put one away to age.  This was a limited production, so I don’t know how many are out there. It’s pricey, but when you break it down by each, individual flavor, it’s pretty cheap.  This beer could easily sway the beer vs. wine debate.

Saaalut!!!

10 Extra large, Grade A Bananas!

(Did you ever make an A on a test before the curve?  Do you remember how it felt?  That’s how Yorkshire Stingo feels!)

Stone Levitation Ale
4.4% ABV
Stone Brewing Co.
Escondido, CA

Dark amber color.

Him’s an itty-bitty, teeny-weeny Arrogant Bastard…Ittin’ him.
You’re not foolin’ anybody, Stone Brewery!  Trying to masquerade this huge, hoppy,  flavorful beer off as a low alcohol session beer?   Seriously???
Seriously, this a hopped-up amber ale, that is very well balanced.  It may be a little bitter for non-hopheads, but I think it’s just right.  Maybe a little pricey for a session beer, but you can tell there’s a lot of work behind this one.  I had a draft that was much darker than the bottled one I’m having now, but it was just as good, if not better.

Saaalut!

8.5 bananas!

Heresy Imperial Stout Aged in Oak Barrels
8% ABV
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Easton, PA
Color-Dark as night.  I swear I saw two red pig eyes in there looking back at me!

Aroma-Vanilla, a little dark and toasted malt, peppery hops.

Taste – Great stout start, strong vanilla/oak in the middle, good hoppy/coffee finish.  This is good, real good!  Woo!  There’s the alcohol!  Better slow down and savor this one for a while…I’ll get back to you.  Great, full mouth feel.  Good quality oaked aged stout, highly recommended!
Saaalut!
8 bananas.

Hanami Ale   

Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth, NH

According to Smuttynose, this is an ale brewed with cherries and other natural flavors…O.K.
The color is a deep pinkish amber.
The aroma is sweet, cherry pie…Oh yeah!
First sip-CHERRIES!!!  This is not an ale with a subtle cherry flavor, this is all cherry with other subtle flavors falling in.  I can’t tell if it’s all sour cherry or cherry with a lemon finish.  There is a quality ale carrying these huge fruit flavors.  If you like fruit beers, especially cherry, then this beer is for you.   I happened to have lasagna with this beer and they complimented each other very well.  I imagine this beer could step in anywhere a red wine could go.  Hanami Ale would also go very well with dark chocolate, cherry cobbler, or chocolate covered cherries.

Saaalut!

Hanami Ale gets  9  bananas!

Bell’s Amber Ale
5.8% ABV
Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Comstock, MI

Golden Amber in color

Great Amber Ale, malt lays comfortably over the top of the hops, perfectly balanced for the style.  This is THE amber ale.  Crisp and clean, malty goodness.  Bell’s proudly states that this is their flagship beer, and rightly so.  Bell’s makes some quality beer but I’ve had sediment in every brew from them so far.  They are not pasteurized, so maybe this is the norm.  It doesn’t seem to affect the flavor.  If it does affect the flavor then I really want to go to Michigan and try these beers fresh!  Highly recommended, give all Bell’s offerings a shot!

Saaalut!

Strong 9 bananas!

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

18-20% ABV

As I pick up my goblet to take a sip, I hear an old Knight say, “You’ve chosen…wisely.”
This is mecca for beer lovers.  I know that technically it is a beer, but there is so much more to this beverage!  It drinks like a port or a brandy.  The aroma is very telling.  I smell hops, malt, alcohol, many layers.
The taste-There they are, hops galore!  But not in your face.  You can taste plenty of woody, citrusy hop flavor, but it is more than balanced out by the huge malt and alcohol.  This beer is sweet!  The hops and sweetness spiral together through your mouth giving you appropriately timed tastes of each, but the overall impression and finish is sweet. And it lingers.  My teeth taste good, my tongue tastes good, my lips taste good!  I don’t want this one to end.  I’m going out of state at the end of August, and I will return with more of this delicious contraband to put away in the cellar.  I think a 10 year old 120 would be amazing.
I have a note from Florida to Georgia here, “Please don’t change your beer laws.  We are making a killing!”
I’m just saying, I can’t buy an 18%ABV beer in Georgia, but I can get a bottle of 200 proof Golden Grain??? (Sorry, let me get this soap box out of your way.)
Anyway, loved the beer, go find it and buy more than one, so you can store some away.

Saaaalut!
Solid 10 bananas!

Dogfish Head

Worldwide Stout

18% ABV.
70 IBU
Freakin’ Glorious!

DarkDarkDark brown, major maltiness, just the right amount of bitterring, and a big warming hug!
I’m not even half way done with this beer, and I already miss it!  Beer has evolved!  Perfect stout, but drinks like a brandy or port. Powerful malt flavors, maybe burnt fig…raisin?  I don’t know but it is really good.  Me thinks I have a new favorite beer.  These will be great for the cellar.  UNFORTUNATELY, I’ll have to go back out of state to get another one, but it’s worth the trip!

Saaaaalut!

Talking Monkey says 10 bananas baby! 

Victory Wild Devil Ale
6.7% ABV
Hop Devil fermented fully with Brettanomyces yeast.
 

WOW!

1st taste – Hops are still there in finish, but overpowering dirty sock taste, (cheese maybe, Stilton, Bleu cheese?), hits you in the face 1st.  Cover me, I’m going back in!
   

Sorry if I’m offending any sour beer aficionados here, but this is my 1st trip down Brett. Lane.  This is definitely an acquired taste!  Any brett. experts out there, please chime in.  I remember the first Bud I ever had, and how awful and bitter I thought beer tasted.  I’ve come a long way, but I don’t know if I’ve made it this far.  I’ll let you know.  Liquid bleu cheese maybe?  I am on a new frontier here.  I wonder what this would be like paired with a strong Gorgonzola?  Mind blowing, I imagine.  All I can say is, if you are a broad spectrum beer lover, and extremely daring, give Victory Wild Devil a shot.  Hell, buy two and age one.  Who knows what this beer will be like in a couple of years?
   

That’s it, definite bleu cheese intermingled with hops, this is growing on me.  Gotta try more sour beers. 

Saaaalut!
Talking Monkey gives this one 6 of 10 Bananas.