My favorite winter warmer arrives today!
I’m such a geek sometimes. Ever since I noticed that Bell’s had brewed the first batch of their Special Double Cream Stout this Fall, I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival in St. Louis. It’s here. I pick up my case from Jake at 33 later this afternoon.
Why is this my favorite? Well, it just is. SDCS is a wonderful combination of richness and drinkability. It’s bigger than your average beer at 6.1% so it warms you up just fine thanks, but it’s not really big like Bell’s fine Expedition Stout, which clocks in at 10.5%. That means you can drink several over the course of the evening. Lots of flavors to complement a late Fall/early Winter evening as well – chocolate, a bit of coffee, and some dried fruit. Plus it’s got just enough bitterness from the hops and roasted malts to balance the not insubstantial residual sugar. I love it. I really do.
So, as if eagerly awaiting the arrival of a beer for a month isn’t geeky enough, you may have picked up on the whole “I noticed that Bell’s had brewed the first batch of their Special Double Cream Stout this Fall” thing. How did I notice? Well, Bell’s has a database on their website which you can query with a batch number that’s printed on the back of their bottles (and on the case boxes) which then tells you what kind of beer you have and when it was packaged. Some of us (and I can say “us” because I got the spreadsheet from someone a year or two ago and have sent it on to at least two other beer people) query the Bell’s database on a regular basis, and keep a spreadsheet of all the batches and bottling dates. So, I knew a couple of days after the batch of SDCS was bottled that it would be making its way through the distribution channels soon.
I also know (from the update I did yesterday), that Bell’s just packaged its rare Oatmeal Stout, the first batch of its marvelous Rye Stout since February of 2006, a new beer called “Harvest Ale” (for which there isn’t a TTB label approval on file . . . hmmm. Anyone got the scoop?), and an Apple Ale, which hasn’t been brewed as far back as the database goes (Jan. of 2004). There’s lots of fun facts to be learned from the information (such as just how damned much Oberon they brew – wow!). Anywho, if you’d like to geek out, I’m more than happy to forward the spreadsheet. Just holler.
This may be a dry month for me, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t be stocking up on SDCS, too!
If memory serves, their Harvest Ale is a wet hop IPA that was previously only put into kegs. Let’s hope this is the case, as I know you miss HopSlam as much as I do! It would hopefully be a worth substitute.
Apple Ale has a few old reviews up on the beer rating sites, but that’s all the info I could gather.
And YES, I’m pumped about their Oatmeal Stout. Can’t wait to get my hands on some on that again.
You know, I’m not sure I quite understood HOW geeky we were about this shit until I re-read all the details of your bell’s obsession. It’s always seemed perfectly normal to me.
As always, I’m happy to help.
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with some geekin’ out… you should see what beers I brought home from Chicago this weekend, and that AFTER I bought beer here in Madison last week. I rarely shop for beer as it is, but I won’t need to do so for at least another month or two!
Viva geekness! Viva Bell’s!
Ooh! Can’t wait for the summary. Reveling in the geeking (geekin’? Nah, I’m too old for that) of others works for me too.
Started on the new stuff last night with my first Five Day IPA. It was okay. Unbalanced in terms of hops, but it was a nice match to my grilled cheese. (Fontiago and four-year Cheddar. excellent.) It finished slightly metallic and, oddly, juicy. Hmm…
Unbalanced as in not enough hops? 5 Day can be a bit too sticky/caramelly for me to drink much of, but over-hopping is not something I’ve noticed with it.
We’re doing grillers tonight with a double cream Gouda and some Fontina (probably – I’ll see what looks good at the cheese counter) and a bit of Nieman Ranch bacon.
Unbalanced as in too one-dimensionally bitter. Not much malt for my palate.
Your grilled cheese & bacon sound awesome. Pairing any beers with them?
Huh. Never experienced overly-bitter 5 Day before. Sorry it wasn’t up to expectations.
The griller turned out well. Ended up with the Double Cream Gouda and some Maytag Blue. Nice combo with the bacon. My 5 year old loved it. My 3 year old chose to have mac and cheese with a side of bacon. They are definitely my children.
I had a Schlafly Coffee Stout with mine. Matched well, and is helping buffer the fact that my daughter got me up a bit before 5 this morning.
BTW, Dave, I am loving my shiny new Bell’s spreadsheet. Thanks for passing it on.