Beer run, vol. 1: Bags Packed Porter

After an afternoon of shopping with my wife and her parents, we stopped in at Teresa's Next Door for a late lunch and some alcoholic relief. Though I guess it was only her Dad and I who needed the relief.

(Why doesn't TND have a website? If they do have a website, are they just awful at search engine optimization? When I open my bar, I'm going to have a big ol' nerdtacular website, which will track the open taps in real time.)

Taking a look at the Book of Beer, I saw that they had Victory's Bags Packed Porter on cask. I'm nuts for a good porter or stout. And on cask? Oooooo... pinch me. I once had Victory's Storm King Stout on cask at Victory's brewery. I think I left part of my soul there, it was so good. But, back to where the rest of my soul (and my wife, and my in-laws) sat. The porter was delightful, dark brown with just the right consistency. It had a finish that was different from most porters, and I was trying to put my finger on what I liked about it. While I like my beer, I'm not like the fancy tasters over at Beer Advocate. I read a couple of reviews and it came to me: the usual "roasted" finish to a porter (or, more often, a stout) was balanced out by... something. I don't know if it was the sweetness of the malts, some of the hops, whatever. It had a different finish, and I liked it. I'll have to find it again.

We dined on lunchy fare. I went with a steak sandwich, sans onions. Very tasty. For my second beer, I had the St. Druon, which was a Belgian-style blonde ale. Very smooth, very tasty. The sort you could drink all night and not notice until you tried to get off the stool. Not that it's very alcoholic (6%). Just goes down really easy. I think it would have been overwhelmed by the steak sandwich I had, but it was a nice stand-alone beer. I'd definitely pick up a six-pack if I saw it somewhere.

I sampled two other beers while I was there, both very interesting experiences. The first sample was the Einbecker Mai-Ur Bock. This is traditionally a spring beer, made in May. It had a distinct flavor of honey to it. Fun to try, but I don't know that I'd like a whole glass. Maybe in the spring. But it's a little sweet and light for winter.

Just as we were finishing, the latest version of the Book of Beer came out, hot off the presses. A couple of kegs had kicked over lunch (I swear, not my fault!), so they updated their tome on-the-fly. There on the list was a... peculiar beer: Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Stout. (No direct linkage to the actual desc of the beer, boo!) It just sounded fascinating. So I asked for a sampler. The glass showed up, with inky, thick liquid, and a head that took up half the space. I let it settle a little, and then brough it up for a taste. And I was assaulted by a breakfasty smell. Not even a proper creme brulee smell. One of the reviewers said it was like pure butterscotch, and that's not far off the mark. It was just... wrong. Weird, and wrong. I tried a little taste, and was thankful for free samples. It was definitely of creme brulee, and not much else. I think that the combination (esp. in a milk stout) could be interesting, but they have to dial back on the dessert. Certainly, a unique experience. One I'm not going to repeat.

Returned home to enjoy a lovely nap. Midday beer naps are a wonderful invention, and I think they should be rolled out to the general populace at the earliest opportunity.