Black Friday

I'm not writing about the upcoming day after Thanksgiving horror that so many take part in, rather I am writing about some new dark beers that have hit the area. I do want to say that it sucks to see so many places open on Thanksgiving- I was in Dollar Tree and saw they have to be open as well that day. Who the hell is going to be in there stocking up on unwanted cans of Campbell's Dry Egg Noodle or Pepper Pot soups? Give people a break to spend a holiday with their families.

Santa Fe has a new one for y'all- Black IPA. The design is minimal but striking nonetheless in a Metallica Black Album kind of way. Originally a recipe of homebrewer John Rowley, the Black IPA was featured at the Santa Fe tap room but is seeing distribution for the first time. And that's a good thing. I enjoyed the original version sample I had of this beer very much. The ABV is 7.1%, a little higher than their Happy Camper. I saw this at Whole Foods on Carlisle selling for $8.49 a six-pack.

Wow, these Stone collaborations are coming out more often than, well, I was going to say ex-Cowboy players but that doesn't really apply. Anyway, the latest collaboration brings us a Black Smoked Saison, thought up by the minds of Evil Twin, Stillwater, and, of course, Stone. Though unusual, we've seen the black Saison done before by Widmer. Never seen a smoked one before, however. Evil Twin makes about 10,000 different beers, much like Mikkeller does. No surprise, as the head of Evil Twin is the brother of the head of Mikkeller. Ambitious guys. Though based in Denmark, many of the Evil Twin beers are brewed by Westbrook Brewing, out of Mt. Pleasant, SC. Stillwater is a Baltimore brewery that specializes in Saisons, and I really like what they do with the style. You can find this 6.8% ABV Saison at Kelly Liquors and Jubilation selling at $3.99 per 12 oz. bottle. Oh, yeah, the beer is called The Perfect Crime, but I don't think it refers to the fact that an equivalent six-pack of this beer would cost you $24.

Good to see that along with Coronado's new distributor comes more beers from their portfolio for us. Stupid Stout is the latest to hit here. Once called Stoopid Stout till someone realized their mistake (or maybe they didn't want it confused with Lagunitas Hop Stoopid?), Stupid Stout is an Imperial Stout that comes in at 10% ABV. And though I have become addicted to Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stouts, I found myself really enjoying the Stupid Stout. Lots of chocolate and some coffee and it's not one of those thin-tasting stouts. I hate those, don't you??? I'd love to see what barrel aging would do for this beer. You can get Stupid Stout at Jubilation in 22 oz. bottles for $6.99.