My kind of expedition

Not too long ago I bought myself a single bottle of Bell's Expedition Stout. At $20/6-pack it was out of my self-stipulated price range for a beer I've never tried, but I was willing to cough up $3.50 for a single. I wish I had purchased a case. It is a phenomenal beer.

It was probably the darkest beer I've seen; it was almost black in the glass. It had a really distinct coffee aroma on the pour, and there was next to no foam. The first thing I tasted was a hint of coffee, then a little bit of chocolate flavor, and then the aftertaste was almost like caramel. All of this was the undertone for the very good, strong roasted flavor you expect from a stout. It was also unbelievably smooth for a beer with a 10.5% alcohol content.

I don't normally drink stouts or porters in the summertime; I usually opt for more hoppy beers when the weather is hot, but this is one stout I would drink in the middle of the desert.

Thankful for Colonialism

Okay, so not everything about Colonialism was good, but at least it gave us India Pale Ale. I have recently tried a really good one: Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA. It has a really nice deep reddish color, and has a pleasant citrusy smell. Since it's an IPA it's extremely hoppy, but there is enough of a malty taste to balance it out. It has a pretty high alcohol content (9%) and as it got warmer in the glass, I thought the alcohol taste came through more and almost dominated the malt flavor in the aftertaste, but the initial hoppy bite is terrific.

It's a really good beer. It's a little on the pricey side for me ($11/4-pack), but it was worth it.

I give it 4 staggers out of 5.