lol....I've been slacking on my responsibilities as a beer drinker. BUT I am stopping Fri post-work to re-stock the cooler. Def some porters, Rochefort 10, and I will be revisiting a Theobroma.

__________________

Four out of three people have difficulty with fractions

Commish - Twisted Wrister Fantasy Hockey League

12 team, $$$, 24 players, Weekly, H2H, limited keeper (8), multi-cat (G, A, PIMs, Hits, SOG, HT/ W, GA, SV%, SO)

Start: 2C, 2RW, 2LW, 4D, 2G

Funny you should mention Theobroma. Now I still haven't tried Dogfish Head Theobroma, it's not available anywhere even remotely close, but I want to more than ever. That Samuel Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout is made with Theobroma Cocoa....holy shit....that is some awesome stuff. I know those two beers are similar only in the inclusion of Theobroma cocoa, but I'm floored.

The Samuel Smith's Organic Stout is a departure from more mainstream chocolate stout in two ways. First off it falls in the Milk/Sweet stout style, which means it's more mellow and has a lower ABV than traditional stouts, most notably Imperials. The best way to describe them is "stouts with training wheels".

Second, and this does dovetail with point one to a degree, the chocolate character isn't as reliant on the usual dark, bittersweet that is most common when used in beer making. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as milk chocolate sweet, but it is closer to that than not. That milder, sweeter flavor leads to the more mellow quality I mentioned in the first point.

It's hard to describe, but there's almost a perfume-y quality to the aroma as well. I've described other beers as smooth, but none as much as this one. When I say smooth, I mean smoooooooooooooooooooooooth, buttery smooth. Since this beer isn't as big in the roasted malt flavor, and tends to the sweet side, they did a good job of balancing things out and giving it just enough bitterness to keep the sweetness from being cloying.

I'd recommend this one to anybody looking for something a little different in the stout family, or just wants to try a good chocolate stout regardless of where it falls within the style range.

__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when you open up your mailbox and find out the previous tenant was a playboy subscriber

Dallas Stars Team Coverage
Dallas Stars Prospects Coverage
Friday Night Studs And Duds
Common Sewer of good beer

Also Bomm let me know if you want me to re-post that list of porters. I have added a couple to it since I first posted it.

__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when you open up your mailbox and find out the previous tenant was a playboy subscriber

Dallas Stars Team Coverage
Dallas Stars Prospects Coverage
Friday Night Studs And Duds
Common Sewer of good beer

I'll pick up one of those London Porters. They have them at my local supermarket.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Do yourself a favor, don't buy just one, save yourself an extra trip and buy the 6 pack. If you only buy one you'll be headed right back for more. It really is an absolute beauty.

__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when you open up your mailbox and find out the previous tenant was a playboy subscriber

Dallas Stars Team Coverage
Dallas Stars Prospects Coverage
Friday Night Studs And Duds
Common Sewer of good beer

Tried another of the new beers I picked up last week, Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve. A solid, if unspectacular, red ale. A nice mahogany colored ale that starts out with a sort of toasted rye cracker taste from the malt and finishes with a crisp piney hop flavor. This is one beer that gets the pine hop flavor right.

I don't often compliment beers with that hop flavor as it's not my favorite and often tends to be overpowering to my palate. In this case Rogue gets it in my wheelhouse and it goes well with the malt. It's not a complex beer, simple and very drinkable, hence my calling it solid though not spectacular. I can see this one being a regular Xmas beer in my rotation.

__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when you open up your mailbox and find out the previous tenant was a playboy subscriber

Dallas Stars Team Coverage
Dallas Stars Prospects Coverage
Friday Night Studs And Duds
Common Sewer of good beer

There's almost $8 a pop, so I wont get six. I have to start drinking more home brew and less commercial beers. But my brewing talent hasn't reached the point where I can be happy with my beers over commercial yet. Hopefully that will happen sometime in 2013.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Yikes! I'm guilty of forgetting that not everybody can get these beers as cheaply as we can here in the states. I only paid $10.99usd for a 6 pack. Don't blame you one bit for buying only one at a time at that price.

__________________
You know it's going to be a good day when you open up your mailbox and find out the previous tenant was a playboy subscriber

Dallas Stars Team Coverage
Dallas Stars Prospects Coverage
Friday Night Studs And Duds
Common Sewer of good beer

Its a rough go down here. All the imported beer are way expensive and the local craft beer have to charge just as much as the market is tiny. There's only 4m people in NZ and the craft beer market is probably about 10% of the total market.

__________________
O&B Dream Team
Bill Barber - Bobby Clarke - Tim Kerr
Mark Howe - Chris Pronger
Bernie Parent
Farm: Giroux

Would ya, couldya, PUH-leeeeease??

I'll print it off as my shopping list. They'll sub as my veggies this week.

__________________

Four out of three people have difficulty with fractions

Commish - Twisted Wrister Fantasy Hockey League

12 team, $$$, 24 players, Weekly, H2H, limited keeper (8), multi-cat (G, A, PIMs, Hits, SOG, HT/ W, GA, SV%, SO)

Start: 2C, 2RW, 2LW, 4D, 2G