Beer Review: Ten Fidy by Oskar Blues

Ten Fidy is a solid heavy Imperial Stout with a mind blowing 98 IBUs.  Like all Oskar Blues products, it is canned which I truly feel is better for your beer.  This beer recently won a Gold Medal at the 2010 World Beer Championships.

I have no clue where the name came from.  However, I did Google 10-50 and found out it means "under the influence of drugs" in police radio jargon.  I find that hilarious, because with all these hops and 10.5% ABV you feel the punch.

Tasting Notes:
Poured pitch black from a can into a snifter glass with a couple fingers of deep brown head.  It was full of smoke and ester with fresh dark fruits.  The aroma was not overpowering.  A bitter beer but not sour with plenty of roast, smoke and chocolate along with additional fruit notes.  A very smooth and creamy mouthfeel warms you up and yes, it even makes you feel safe.  Be careful with this one-you do not even know the alcohol is there.

Beer Review: D.O.R.I.S. The Destroyer by Hoppin' Frog

Once again, thank you to my mother who picks Hoppin' Frog up from the brewery.  You would be a momma's  boy too if your mom stocked your fridge with craft beer.  It was leftover from Christmas, but I kept it cold and brought it back to Chicago to keep me warm.

Tasting Notes:
This double imperial stout poured black with the consistency of motor oil.  A nervous sniff revealed aromas of hops, chocolate and coffee coming from a very thin deep brown head.  With almost no carbonation it still had a full mouthfeel covering the tongue with the same coffee, chocolate and hops as the nose.  At 10.5% ABV this beer lets you know who is the boss and the intense flavor makes sure you can  handle only one bottle of this.  To be honest, I am not sure my taste buds recovered the next morning.

Brew Masters: Bitches Brew Episode

Last Sunday Discovery Channel aired the first episode of Brew Masters.  The show follows Sam Calagione as he makes some of Dogfish Head's 31 annual brews.  The first episode followed Sam as he collaborated with Sony Music on Bitches Brew.  Bitches Brew is both a album and now a beer.  The album Bitches Brew was Miles Davis's first Gold Record, and is considered a highly influential piece by the music community.

The beer Bitches Brew is a blend of an African beer and a Russian Imperial Stout.  The African beer, Tej, was described by Calagione as coyingly sweet, and more like wine than beer. Tej is also higher in alcohol content.  The Russian Imperial Stout is lower in alcohol content and has a chocolate base.

I drank a bottle of this as I watched the show.  I found the show informative, but wished it would go deeper into some of the processes behind brewing.  For instance a deep explanation of the benefits and reasons why someone would want to blend beer would of been excellent.  A bottling line malfunction provided a useless distraction to the plot of the show.  I found it annoying that they made a big deal over having to throw out $7,000 worth of beer.  Which, by the way, was a false alarm.  While that is a lot of money, it is a drop in the bucket for an operation like Dogfish Head.

I know this was only the first episode so I do hope and believe a lot more about craft beer will be explained in future episodes.   For instance tonight Sam explores Chicha, also known as Spit Beer.  So please tune in tonight and get grossed out.

Tasting Notes:

Poured from a large format bottle into a Dogfish off-centered glass creating a thick, dark tan head that stuck around, yet created little lacing.  The aroma was sweet with very subtle hops, and at 9% ABV I could smell some alcohol.  The body was full with a velvety feel, and notes of roasted coffee and chocolate and a trace of smoke.  Wish I had some dark chocolate to pair with it.