oh yeah, I have a blog don't I!!

Well, to those still reading my little blog, thanks. I have not been updating it too much. Running my own alcohol establishment has both been rewarding, and trying. I have learned loads being on the other side of the bar.
Today, something I just brought in has made my blogging fingers start to itch again. We now carry the Upright Fatale Four, and Billy the Mountain. For me, Upright is possibly the best brewery in the state, and I always get excited when something new comes out from them. I confess, I have not tried this year's Billy, or the F. Four, but I trust that they are interesting.
One beer that I have tried is the new Widmer Brothers KGB Russian Imperial Stout. Long a Gasthouse staple, it finally made it into the bottle this year. I know Widmer has gained a lot of detractors over the years, but I still love the big brewing beast. Sure, the fact that I got married there has something to do with it, but I can still be impartial, I swear. For instance, I thought the Brrr was boring, and the Bourbon version was expensive, and boring. Then came the KGB. It's easy to judge a beer by it's 9.3% cover for sure, but it still needs substance behind the ABV. The KGB has substance, in spades. Baking chocolate nose, with an impressive color. Watching the gentle head dissipate was hypnotic. It was chewy, like a heavy stout should be. A hint of coffee, and slightly chocolate finish, neither being too bitter. Is was the winter warmer I was waiting for, but never found this year. Sure, a well made, heavy dark beer is what we have come to expect from a winter beer, but so many fall so short.
For some, maybe a lot, Widmer has lost it's edge, and creativity. It's large size gets lost in a town that cares more about garage breweries, than breweries with a gasthouse. But in my little, humble opinion, they knocked it out of the park this time with the KGB.
By the way, isn't it great that we name beers after past national security agencies from other countries? What if a German brewery makes a FBI Amber?? Or a brewery in Canada making a MI5 cream ale? An American brewery producing the world's best ANSS Stout? ...Just saying...