Zonker Stout - Snake River Brewing Company

    Zonker Stout is a Foreign Style Stout brewed by Jackson, Wyoming's Snake Rider Brewing Company. The can explains that the Stout gets its name from a particularly effective fishing fly. It also touts that the beer has medaled multiple times at the Great American Beer Festival.

    Zonker pours a deep, chocolatey black with a creamy, two-finger head that is just darker than khaki.

    Snake River's Stout smells lightly of chocolate and coffee, as well as some roasty notes. Hops can be slightly detected at the end of the beer's aroma.

    The Stout has a moderate body with a medium level of carbonation. The beer has an extremely creamy texture and finishes a bit sticky.

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    Zonker's flavor comes mainly from the malts used in brewing it. Up front you can taste the light roasted malts. The slight bitterness of the hops as well as a slight coffee flavor follow up the roastyness. Finally, rounding everything out, sweet, sticky caramel and chocolate malts finish off the flavor and leave a pleasant candy-like taste in the mouth.

    After trying this beer, I was glad that I poured it into a cup, rather than drinking it from the can. There are a lot of reasons that you can hear people give for why you should always pour beer into a glass, but this time, none of those come into play. My reasoning? I wouldn't be surprised if Snake River Brewing Company was run by fish, and that they have created the cans as a way to capture humans. It's classic trapping really, offer something that tastes good to the prey so that in partaking of the treat the prey unknowingly falls into the hunter's trap and is captured. If the Zonker fishing fly really is such an effective lure, perhaps the fish got tired of falling for it and have created Zonker Stout as revenge. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of hook or net comes out of the can while you're drinking the beer and then fish appear with little S.C.O.B.A (Self-contained out-of-water breathing apparatus) suits and carry you off. Another narrow escape!

    I was pleasantly surprised with Snake River's Stout. I can see why the beer has won many awards at the Great American Beer Festival. I would completely recommend anyone who is a fan of Guinness Stouts give Zonker a try as I feel that it is a much better Stout overall!

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Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout - Samuel Adams

    I hope that everyone is having a happy holiday season! I received this 22oz bomber as part of a four-set of Samuel Adams "Small Batch" series from Santa. I assume that this series of beer releases is Boston Beer Company's response to the general idea held by beer fans that they are no longer a "craft" brewing company. I have had a few beers in the series (reviews to come) and I have to admit that they taste little like Samuel Adams's normal line of beers, which I feel all taste very similar to one another. If you are not familiar with the Samuel Adams lines of beers, they are made by Boston Beer Company which is located in Boston, Massachusetts.

    This stout pours a thick, dark black with a thick tan head. The brew smells pleasantly of spices and molassesy sweetness with a hint of alcohol at the end which strikes me as slightly unpleasant.      

Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout touts an alcohol content of 9% ABV. This high alcohol percentage is noticeable in the flavor of the beer, though the flavor is more warming than harsh. I feel that this beer would likely fall into the category of winter warmers due to this warmth. The flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger of traditional gingerbread are immediately perceptible, but thankfully not overpowering. A sweet maltyness that one would expect from a stout follows the initial spice. The beer has an overall earthy flavor that is quite nice.

    The mouthfeel of the beer is thick and smooth, exactly what I'd want from a stout. The carbonation level is also very nice at about a medium-low level which adds to the smoothness.

    The label leads me to believe that either A.) The gingerbread flavor found in this beer is due to the need to find a use for all the accidental gingerbread man amputations, or B.) that it is highly dangerous to drink and drive a sled. Either way, that third gingerbread man should have kept his arms and legs inside the car at all times. I think that it may be a wise life choice for him to find a new set of friends as well. Those two in the front there appear to be laughing at his injury. I mean, he has to be yelling, and they'd have to hear him. Having a leg ripped off by a pine tree that you pass at high snow speeds would produce a scream that would likely cause an avalanche. There is only one conclusion, his friends are laughing at his pain! He should find friends that are a bit nicer...Or just let me eat him.

    Overall, Merry Mischief Gingerbread Stout is a very pleasant holiday brew. The alcohol flavor is the biggest detractor from the experience as it could have easily been mellowed by Boston Beer Company's brew-masters. This stout makes me want to curl up under a blanket with the lights off and admire the Christmas tree.

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