More fun in OKC

As it turns out, Oklahoma City isn't the beer wasteland we thought when we first arrived. In fact, we've tried so many new beers since we've gotten here, we haven't had much time for our usual favorites(aside from the local Austin brews) like Sierra Nevada, Stone, and New Belgium. We've been trying things like Li'l Lucy's Hot Pepper Ale (refreshingly spicy with lots of pepper meat), Rodenbach Grand Cru (10/10), Roughtail IPA, Mmmhops(made by Hanson apparently...not sure why), Oasis Imperial ESB(strong and balanced- this one is a new favorite), as well as many more beers we've never seen before. Tonight we decided to review one local beer and one beer from the other side of the world. Craig Writes in grey. William writes in blue.

First, let's get to the local beer- the Black Hop India Black Ale from Dead Armadillo. 

Black Hop pours an opaque black color with a generous frothy head. Some brown can be seen through the light. The smell is fresh and grassy with some tropical citrus and piney hop notes. I feel like I can smell pink bubble gum and a hint of mango. The taste is sharp and bitter up front with some black coffee notes.  This beer is rich in roasted malt flavor as well as bitterness. The citrus of the hops is supported by the sweet caramel in the aftertaste to create a pleasant lingering taste that just  smacks of hops.  

Craig gives this beer a 'great' rating. 

It pours dark brown with a dirty head that lingers. Caramel in the nose, a lot like a barleywine 

and slight alcohol. The nose also features pleasant citrus (sweet like fruit juice). The taste starts with

hop bitterness and flows through into the caramel and other roasty tones (chocolate).

'Great' Black IPA, most of the malt is for color, but it reminds you it’s there.

Next, we get to talk about the beer from Belgium

Mikkeller Amarillo pours a hazy golden color with lots of sediment- clumps of it in fact. It smells fresh and hoppy with sweet caramel behind that. The taste is sweet caramel up front followed by a piney and fruity hops with a strong floral note. The malt is slightly buttery and well rounded. The beer drinks easy and is enjoyable. Overall a 'good' beer. Lots of juicy hops and balanced flavors. 

Fair warning, the word “apricot” is heavily used. It pours a hazy apricot color with a thick head that stays thick in the lacing. Sediment sits, neutrally buoyant in the midst of the golden orange hue. There is a distinct caramel and buttery barleywine aroma. The nose also gives us some sweet fruit and tangerine/apricot. The taste starts out with pine on  the sides of the tongue, fruits (pineapple and apricot), caramel maltiness. It finishes clean, just like an American-style IPA should.

I’ll give this beer a 'Apricot' (great) (not a lot of variety in overall opinion yet). I’ve always liked the idea of single hop beers, and this is a great way to get to know Amarillo hops. It may be a bit old, but even so the great interpretation of the American IPA style serves as a smooth and clean hop flavor.

Our rating scale is as follows:

terrible poor neutral good great

Adventures in Oklahoma City

Hello loyal readers. I've missed you. As many of you know Oklahoma has opened her rousing bosom to me and my friend/roommate/business partner/beer adventurer/level 3 lawful neutral dark wizard, William.  We were warmly welcomed but alas- beer is not as accessible here as it was in beautiful Tejas. Restrictive laws keep beer higher than 3.2% on the warm shelf at liquor stores. And any high alcohol beer is banned at gas stations. It becomes much harder to stop for a Sierra Nevada after a hard days work.

The good news is that there are more than enough beers at the liquor store for us to try. We’re going to start with some great local brews from RoughTail Brewing in Midwest City. That’s just a few miles south of Oklahoma City and close enough for a brewery tour(more to come).

Of the three brews sitting on the store shelf, we chose the American Strong Ale and the Stout. We left the IPA for next time and the stout had  a higher IBU than the IPA, so naturally we went with that. RoughTail Brewing comes in canned 16oz four packs for about 9 bucks. I'm impressed by the can designs. We start with the 12th Round Ale - a strong American style ale.

It pours very dark brown - almost black with a hint of red and a thin off white head. The smell is slightly buttery and rich with some caramel sweetness and a slight toffee note on the edges. There are also some apples and fruit notes in the smell as well as floral and herbal hops. The hops smell fresh and jump out of the glass into my nose. 

There is much of the same in the flavor. There are layers of caramel, piney biting hops, and soft alcohol. There is a sharp biting hoppiness with grassy and herbal tones.Overall this is a very drinkable ale and I'll probably be trying it again. 

Polar Night Stout pours a solid black with a creamy light brown head. Smell is of rich bitter chocolate and burnt marshmallow. 10 out of 10 for smell for Craig. Very hoppy bright leafy hops which come through strongly in the taste. The powerful hops lead well into dark berries with a chocolaty finish.

This brewery obviously likes hops and it comes across in their beer. They do it well creating distinctly American styles. The stout tastes more like a hoppy black ale to me (Black IPA or whatever you want to call it) which is a good thing.  This could be an everyday drinking beer.

Craig gives both beers a ‘great’ rating

Running blindly into the Oklahoma City brewery scene, it's lucky to land so softly on these two great beers. Prominent hoppiness pairs well with the high alcohol and the light but present maltiness.  Top rated of the two is Polar Night.  

William gives both a 'great' rating. 

Our rating scale is as follows:

terrible poor neutral good great

Beer

I haven't updated my blog for a long time, but I've still been drinking.