Fuller's Vintage Ale - Limited Edition (2008)

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Fuller's Vintage Ale - Limited Edition (2008)
Fuller, Smith & Turner P.L.C.
The Griffin Brewery
Chiswick Lane South
London, England 
Est. 1845
www.fullers.co.uk

Brain Damage Quotient = 8.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 16.9

Postmortem Brew Review
Rich thick looking dark caramel color on the pour.
Sweet aromas of malt and fruit; orange predominance.
Tan colored, one finger high head that dissipates rapidly.
Scant cover of lace on the glass.
Very sweet malty taste with a bit of rich fruitiness.
Carbonation is at a minimum.
Full rich bodied mouth feel; alcohol warmth at end. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
The 12th Vintage Edition of Fuller's is run to a production of 145,000 bottles.  This one here is No.122901 and was purchased for me as a gift (thanks Dean) on St. Patrick's Day.

It was cold, lying in state in its own box.  No handles, hrmpf.  Still, you gotta' love a dead soldier that comes equipped with it's own coffin.  Muahahah.

Ffffpt, bahhhh, I digress, back to the ale.

Fuller's features two English hop varieties, Northdown and Challenger combined with Maris Otter malt.  Or so says the box bio.  That's funny.  I didn't detect a hint of otter in the taste.

This ale is rich and "luxurious" as the folks at Fuller's call it, and I'll certainly give them that.  And while you can't compare it to anything else, we all agreed that it was a bit like Sam Adams Utopias, in a smaller way.  It had that alcohol bounce and fullness of malt character, all the while being on the sweet side.

So if you can't get your hands on some Utopias, you may want to get a bit of that experience in a less expensive version.

Shipyard - Blue Fin Stout

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Blue Fin Stout
Shipyard Brewing Company
86 Newbury Street
Portland, ME USA
Est. 1994
www.shipyard.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.9 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Dark black pour.
Caramel brown head.
Head coats glass leaving string lacing.
Upfront roasted malt and coffee aroma.
Viscous body to the tongue but a bit watery on finish.
Roasted malt taste; coffee flavored finish. Both not in proportion to the aroma.
Fizzy carbonation.
Surprisingly light overall.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Blue Fin Stout has malt and coffee aromas that fulminate in bouquet.  They don't necessarily continue as fully pronounced in the taste.  That does not translate into a bad drinking experience, since it is lighter than you would expect from a stout.  It also has a modestly low ABV percentage that makes this actually easy to session.

Being from the Northeast, I can claim to a blue fin's fighting spirit, but it seems that the aroma and the taste are the only things that are fighting here.

Narragansett Lager

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Narragansett Lager
Narragansett Brewing Company
60 Ship Street
Providence, RI USA
Est. 1890
www.narragansettbeer.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.1 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Straw yellow with slight haze in color.
Grainy, malty scent. Just a small pop of hops.
Crisp white, tight foaming, two finger head.
Head retains for a long time leaving string lacing on glass.
Finishes a bit more malty than hoppy.
Light, refreshing and easy to drink.
Medium, soft carbonation with light mouth feel.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Alright, so here it is. Now don't pre-judge. This is by all means, a long standing traditional American lager that you'd likely drink after mowing the lawn. I once proclaimed, you might not drink this type of beer for a celebration just as you might not reach for a Belgian Strong Ale after cutting the lawn. Well, shut my mouth!

As the first "warm" day in FL arrived, I checked out the 'honey-do' list and decided to get around to cutting the lawn. So you are now skipping to the end and saying ---yeah, yeah, so you reached for this 'lawnmower' beer. Not so fast...

As the mower hasn't been run since last November, it was stubborn to start. After many unsuccessful tugs on the engine cord, the dang thing refused to even sputter. The original 'to-do' item of cutting the grass would have to wait as this new task developed...fix the lawnmower. A trip to the home improvement center yielded a new air filter and spark plug. Tools in hand, those were quickly replaced. Fresh gas, an oil change and a couple of passes over the blade with a metal file completed the job. I worked up a sweat just to get to this point. I pushed the primer bulb a few times and....

Success! So off to the garage chiller to cool down and also celebrate a small victory. The Narragansett was calling me from the back corner of the fridge door. Easy to drink, light to behold, it tasted like beer back from the days when I watched my Dad struggle with a mower. This beer was certainly available back then as Rhode Island was our next door neighbor to the east. Unlike other beer from that time, it has continued to survive. I must say that I really don't get the ad slogan 'Gansett uses --- "The Beer of the Clam". Let's not go there...it's just wrong on a whole bunch of levels. Bad visual!

So there you are. A lawnmower beer and a celebratory beer wrapped up in one nice 12 ounce bottle. Who am I to judge?

There's a beer for every reason and a beer for every season. I'm merely the reaper of beer, not the judge...

Magic Hat - #9

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Magic Hat - #9
Magic Hat Brewing Company
5 Bartlett Bay Road
Burlington, VT USA
Est. 1994
www.magichat.net

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.6 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 22.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Hazed golden color.
One finger off-white head that leaves dots of lacing.
Aromas of apricot and pear. Barely noticeable malt of hop presence.
Fruity, almost floral taste that is "...not like a pale ale".
Lots of carbonation.
A light bodied beer.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Found under my cap? A toast to Dennis and Justin.  What is that?  And what is the #9 all about?  They have the answers to these questions on their website under the FAQ's section.

What I can tell you is that I was expecting something more like a pale ale, due to the comment on the bottle label.  But there was none of that.  Instead there was an unexpected apricot taste that was actually quite pleasant.  I would consider a #9 as a beer alternative to a cider or some other type of malted fruit drink.  Mrs. Reaper quite enjoys this beer, so it will find its way into the garage chiller on a more regular basis.

Still confused?   Go see their site for more details.

Amadeus - White Beer

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Amadeus - White Beer
Les Brasseurs de Gayant
63 Faubourg de Paris
Douai Cedex, France 
Est. 1919
www.brasseurs-gayant.com 

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 25.4 

Postmortem Brew Review
Foggy yellow, golden color.
Floral and fruity sweet with spicy coriander scent.
Crisp white, tight foaming, two finger head.
Spotted lacing on glass.
Light, refreshing and sweet. Tastes like flowers.
Finishes with a pronounced spice of malt and hops.
Medium, soft carbonation with light mouth feel. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
Aroma therapy beer.  Spring in a bottle. Smells like Vicks VapoRub®.  A liquid garden of orchids.  All of these remarks came to mind when the bottle was popped open and poured forth into the glass.

It is an unusually different beer, sort of in the way gin is unusually different from other liquors.  There's something earthy, and floral, and funky free about it. Mhmm.....perhaps it is the Woodstock of beer?!?

This is a top fermented wheat beer that is unfiltered and can be enjoyed with a slice of lemon if you prefer.  Served cold, it's great for a hot summer day or just when you are looking for the next different thing to try.  Their website says it is, "...sure to delight all real beer lovers."

Peace---out!

Trappist Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap)

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Westvleteren 12
The Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren
Donkerstraat 12
8640 Westvleteren, Flanders, Belgium  
Est. 1838
www.sintsixtus.be
and
www.westvleteren12.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 10.2 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 3.0 (sample)

Postmortem Brew Review
Root beer color.
Aromas of berry, nut and brown sugar.
Super foamy; large bubbles in the caramel colored head.
Three-finger head with spiderweb lacing on glass.
Tastes of sweet candy with ripe fruit and chocolate flavors.
Alcohol warmth with sweetness on finish.
Absolutely delicious. Complex flavors. Syrupy sweet finish.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
Ohuhmmmm! Ohuhmmmm! We are saying it again.  We are so not worthy of such delicious nectar.

My good friend Dean also got a hold of the 12, formerly known as 'Abt'.  This 'quad' exceeded my expectations. The smells, the taste, the easy smoothness with the slightest sting of alcohol in the body.  Similar to the '8', this ale is also bottle conditioned and will keep for a long time if properly stored.  I suppose we are drinking these quite young, gauging by the storage dates on the caps, but if they were this good young, it stands that they would hold up to some aging and come out even better.

The Trappist monks do not waste much on flashy labeling, only going as far as to embellish their bottle caps with any branding.  The bottle is void of a label.  It has only a raised neck ring, near the top of the glass, to set it apart from any other brown bottle of ale.  The ring says, "TRAPPIST EN BIER" in block letters.  They have been doing it this way since 1945, keeping all the pertinent information on the bottle cap.  It makes them the only Trappist brewery that does not sport the Trappist logo.

Once again, it bears repeating.....equally lucky to have sampled this ale.  Very rare you mortals.

Trappist Westvleteren 8 (blue cap)

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Westvleteren 8
The Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren
Donkerstraat 12
8640 Westvleteren, Flanders, Belgium 
Est. 1838
www.sintsixtus.be

Brain Damage Quotient = 8.0 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 3.0 (sample)

Postmortem Brew Review
Dark brown, near black color.
Plum/grape/prune notes. Also shows a bit of oak.
Not much alcohol in smell.
Large bubbles; caramel colored, one-finger head.
Caramel bodied and deep smell of plum.
Fizzy carbonation.
Very tasty and complex on tongue.
Slight sweet aftertaste with slight alcohol presence. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
Ohuhmmmm! Ohuhmmmm! No, that's not what the Trappist monks are saying, but you will.  Mere mortals are not worthy to drink Westvleteren's ultimate brews.

My good friend Dean has done it again, procuring some of the rarest ale in the world.  This beer is only intended to be purchased at the monastery for personal consumption.  The monks do not ship this beer and it has been a time honored tradition not to do so.  In fact, here's what they say about it, "Westvleteren Trappist is sold only to individual customers. Every customer agrees not to re-sell the beer to any third party." 

Formerly known as 'Extra', here we have the "blue cap" ringing in at 8% ABV. While delicious and complex in flavors, I found just a little bit something missing from the experience.  Don't get me wrong, it is exceptionally smooth and full bodied, but something was amiss for my liking.  But don't worry, I found out what I wanted when we opened the 12 ABV (yellow cap).

This is so easy to drink, you need to keep in mind that it is at 8%.  A bit dangerous I'd say.  It is bottle conditioned and will keep a long time if stored properly.  With its nondescript brown bottle, store it carefully, lest someone mistake it for a bottle of floor polish and toss it out!

Lucky to have sampled this ale.  Mind you mortals, it's very rare!