Dark beer for the season, finally. Hoppin’ Frog’s DORIS the Destroyer (sic) whiskey barrel aged imperial stout. I know the picture was taken late in the afternoon-but look at how dark that beer is!
I am going to need dinner after this.
I’ve let DORIS sit for a little while to warm up and I think it’s to my benefit. This beer, which looks like a decadent chocolate cake in liquid form, does barrel aged about as well as you could ask for it. The whiskey isn’t a dominant flavor at all, which is a real triumph.
I notice it when it hits my belly though, that alcohol strength heat. Otherwise, this beer leans very much into a chocolate covered espresso bean. The finish is even a little harsh, like you’ve sucked all the sweetness away and all that’s left is an almost too harsh bitterness from a coffee bean.
It’s a nice beer to have after what can be called a cruddy week.
Some of you may recall enduring a pandemic for the majority of 2020, and during that time I found it difficult to do some of the things I probably should’ve done-in this instance, clean the gutters for the house.
I wasn’t punished for this, because that particular winter was pretty dry. This year, however, not so much. So when I woke up to a leaking basement, due to the gutter overflowing and not draining correctly, well, that was a not fun morning.
It’s a small thing-but I recently read that we might need to get measles boosters, because some 23 million children were unable to get measles vaccinations, due to the pandemic. That is some rough news.
You have to do the little things, else the big things eat you up.
As we live through a period of American history that is almost certainly the result of a bunch of people thinking they could take their hands off the wheel and not be involved in making things better-“that’s Washington’s problem” kind of thing- I hope that more people are getting and staying engaged.
It’s the little things. Else the big things eat you up.
Today’s second pint goes to the Christmas Family Adoption Foundation. It might be too early to have Christmas decor up, but it’s never too early to set someone up for a nice holiday.
A pint for Dionysus 