So I started out this evening with a Oskar Blues old chub, I wanted to follow it up with an otherworldly ale, I could have went for a known ale like Plead the 5th, or Black Note, instead I was hoping to delve into the cellar and discover something new, like the time I discovered the Czar. I wanted a solid brew, at least something along the lines of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, or Old Rasputin. I decided to give my Goose Island Night Stalker a try, there was a time when Night Stalker was amazing. Unfortunately when we sampled a bottle in February it was way hoppy and infected. It no longer seemed infected, it had the semblance of something that could have been good, but it was pretty gross, nasty funky piney hops still present. Whoever let that one go at Goose Island should be fired, right after their flogging. Serious evidence that someone doesn't give a rats arse about what exits their facility. Last winter I was pretty impressed with the Old Hickory Imperial Stout, so I decided to give The Bean, from OH a shot. According to the label it is brewed as a tribute to the world's greatest dog, so I found in appropriate to include my own beer and bird hunting dog in the photo. It was WAY over carbonated, like bubble bath bubbles, medium to light bodied, no vanilla bean presence detected. Maybe I got to this one too late. Sometime vanilla fades. It just has this overly bubbly light bodied coffee character. Still good coffee flavor, but not what I was expecting. No off characters or detectable hops which is a plus. To give it a fair evaluation I put it up next to my homebrewed coffee stout.
The bean is about the same SRM, it might be a hair darker, the homebrew has a bit better head retention and finer bubbles. My stout has malt notes on the nose and definite vanilla bean, which The Bean is missing. It is by far thin next to mine. This is rather pathetic considering my ale is not all that full bodied to begin with. The bean coffee character is unique from mine and tastes great in it's own right. But in the end it's a pretty weak ale. Little to no unfermentable sugars leave it dry and light bodied.
So much for discovering an otherworldly ale tonight.
