94- Alaskan Birch Bock

NLT- When disappointment gets you down, try, try again! So we did just that, we went for round two. We were more successful with the Alaskan Birch Bock. My favorite part about this beer was the smell, and we all know from grade school science that smell is a large part of taste. The smell reminded me of a hard candy from my childhood-horehound candy to be exact. Ever heard of it?? (JFT- I have NEVER heard of this! (NLT- That is why I scored so much higher than you on the candy quiz)) It is a unique taste, and the best descriptor I can give it is a less sweet, more molassey tasting root beer barrel. Well, the excitement of the candy smell was about it for me. The beer was good, but nothing spectacular. It was a really simple tasting doppelbock, but left a little more alcohol as a aftertaste then I care for. After an F with beer 95, and a C+ with 94....you better believe 93 is going to be great!
  

JFT- We were so upset with 95 that we reached into the fridge to drown our sorrows and this is what we pulled out. Stylistically, not a great beer for the season. Dopplebocks are designed to be high octane, boozy, Germanic, malty juggernaughts that are to warm you through the winter. Not ideal for August, but hey, it was this or Pabst ( NLT- that is an exaggeration, we have more beer than just Pabst in the fridge.). Nose was really fun, sweet and caramel tones on top of a warm, almost brandy like flavor. The beer settled heavily on the palate and tried to stay there but was washed away with the buttered popcorn we were pairing this with. Because it was so quickly off my palate it was equally off my mind and struck me as almost forgettable right until I took another sip and was blasted again with good old Dopplebock weightiness. It's called a "birch" bock because it incorporates birch syrup but it is not noticeable at all except for a tiny bit on the nose, and that is if you are looking for it. (NLT- or it was noticeable A LOT with that whole smell thing, in my opinion.) Otherwise it just lifts the ABV up a little and probably brings in the unsubtle heat at the finish of it. So, 0 for 2 tonight...we'll make it up to you next time.

  http://www.alaskanbeer.com/our-brew/limited-edition/pilot-series/alaskan-birch-bock.html

95-Fuego Del Otono (Autumn Fire)

NLT- Well, when you drink 99 beers you can't expect them all to be winners. This was not a winner. Now, this blog is about, as John put it, "The Devil and the Details". The brewer, Jolly Pumpkin is good and we have had their beers before and enjoyed them, the idea of this beer, also good. The timing of the beer was bad- in fact out of date. We didn't notice until we got home that the beer was bottled over a year ago, add in the fermentation at the bottom, the over flowing of beer upon opening and you get a huge disappointment. Especially when you just spent $15 on it. :-( Now, to be fair this could have been a great beer--in season. We may never know, will John ever convince me to spend $15 on it again?? Doubtful. We did have a few sips, but it tasted like cider water. I really have nothing exciting to share about beer #95.

JFT-I am so annoyed at myself right now. I picked out this beer with my heart, not with my head. A tip to all you "would be beer geeks" out there: Discount Liquor in Milwaukee has the best selection in town (Sorry Ottos) but BEWARE THE OLD BEER! A wonderful seasonal that seemed so promising; chestnuts and spice, an autumn citrusy gem...but, it was bottled in October of last year. Very few beers can handle aging and this was not one of them. The beer was wild (when it start fizzing over just from opening it) and far to foamy. The nose was of yeast, nothing more. The flavor was a sweet-sour cidery flavor that just wasn't appealing. If you ever taste a flavor like that in a non cider beer, something went wrong. But I beg and plead to you, do not abandon this great boutique-y brewery. When it's fresh and in season, they make some of the best stuff around.

http://www.jollypumpkin.com/annarbor/index3.htm

96- Frangelic Mountain Brown

NLT- After a 21 month hiatus due to our adorable son Andrew, and back by popular demand, John and I have decided to resume our quest to try 99 unique beers! Frangelic Mountain Brown was the perfect beer to lure us back to blogging. I have had a lot of coffee beers in my time- but this one is by far the best. Now if you have ever heard people describe a flavor as "syrupy" but wondered how that is even possible, taste this beer and you will get it. It tastes like a latte with hazelnut syrup- as I said to John, work in a coffee shop and you will get it. This beer was flavorful, yet somehow, still light on the palate. The coffee taste was far from bitter and while the hazelnut was definitely present it did not overwhelm. I couldn't get enough of this and was a little disappointed John and I had to share our 750 mL bottle of this Founders Brewing Co beer. The biggest surprise of all was that despite it being a “coffee beer” it was perfect for a warm summer day!   

JFT- Founders brewery is one of the finest in the country and while this doesn't match up against their flagship, KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout), it is still a fascinating version of an American Brown Ale. The nose pops you with the sugary nutty sweetness you smell when you walk into a Buddy Squirrel but on the palate the sweet is cut by the coffee. Most brewers make sure that when they incorporate coffee into a beer it is an unmistakable (and often unbalanced) note. Frangelic used a subtle hand and had it play off the hazelnut and let the nuttiness be the star instead of the other way around. I kept waiting to find some sort of hoppy flavors on the back of my tongue but it never showed up. I never thought I would find such joy in something that had no hops. Only a few cases of this beer made it into the state this year, and it's long gone now, and I am super glad I still know a guy in the industry.

http://foundersbrewing.com/latest-news/2012/frangelic-mountain-brown-is-our-next-backstage-release/