Everyone knows how I feel about flavoured porters. One cannot simply resist a fancy bottle with the word 'double' by Rogue. I'm not sure what to believe about the labour relations accusations circulating about Rogue. Hopefully there will be more news about this topic. Regardless, they make great beer.

Double Mocha Porter (Rogue) = 10/10

An understated nose escapes the glass; not what you would expect from a 'double'. The taste speaks of double. Big flavours of roasted coffee beans up front yield to bittersweet chocolate, slight vanilla and hidden dark fruits. As the Rogue warms up, more vanilla aromas appear. Through it all there is a massive nose and taste of citrus hops; not surprising for a 78 IBU beverage. A good dose of astringency carried the long linger of roasted bitter goodness.

Taste +5
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 8.2%
Value +1
Appearance +1

I have never been a fan of flavoured porters and stouts. Just give me the good stout and put the fruit in a smoothie for the morning. Usually the fruit is there to hide the fact that you are drinking a pretty lame porter or stout.

Blueberry Oatmeal Stout = 8/10

This changes everything. The nose a bang-on for a good stout. There is rich, bittersweet chocolate, roasted grains and juicy blueberries. Alcohol warmth from start to finish only sets things up for a good flavour run. Every sip parallels the nose but the blueberry sweetness was a little syrupy. Still, the long linger was excellent and only made me want more.

Taste +4
Aftertaste +2
Alcohol Content +1 7.5%ABV
Value +1
Appearance 0

Driftwood Belle Royal
Strong Belgian Ale

Taste +5

It pours cloudy with red and no head; this either means glory or my bad homebrew. Luckily I grabbed the right bottle and glory hits the tastebuds. The nose was all pale malts, yeast, alcohol and sour cherries. The persistent alcohol warmth blends wells well with the medium effervescent mouthfeel. There is light fruit esters (apricots), but the big winner is the sour cherries. Their dominance is subtle and lasts from start to finish.

Aftertaste +2

The alcohol warmth and sour cherries had a kirsch-like quality.

Alcohol Content +1 9%

You could not taste it, only feel it.

Value +1

I think this one will do well with aging. The first stock wave vanished from Victoria within hours.

Ingame Enhancement +1

The new map for L4D is short but sweet. The Passing was great; I missed Francis. I hate pessimistic guys with tattoos.

Overall 10/10

Everything Driftwood touches turn to gold. Their output may not be voluminous, but the quality is sure there. Take a good, strong Belgian Ale and add sour cherries; not the syrupy kind. This is the Driftwood Belle Royal: well done.

Dicks Grand Cru and Loss
Delirium Tremens
Augustijn

Old Rasputin Imperial Stout

Rate Beer 4.11 100th Percentile
Beer Advocate A

This is arguably one of the best beers in the world. This is reflected in the high scores from Rate Beer and Beer Advocate. Anything from North Coast Brewing is a good choice

Taste +4

The nose has a faint hint of chocolate and roasted malt. This is one full bodied, thick stout. It is fully loaded with bitter chocolate, coffee and malt sweetness. Thankfully it is followed, or enhanced, by a nice alcohol tingle and warmth.

Aftertaste +2

The lingering bitter sweetness of the dark chocolate is similar to chewing on a roasted coffee bean covered in dark chocolate. It is very long and never forgotten with the alcohol warmth.

Alcohol +1 9%

You can taste and feel the alcohol, but it suits this beer well.

Value +1

This is not an overly expensive beer for the flavour. It is $11 for a 4 pack from the BC Liquor stores.

Ingame Enhancement +1

There is now a critical mass of L4Ders in the shire; this naturally leads to versus games. I can think of nothing more pleasurable than vomiting all over Nightware.

Overall 9/10 BOOMER ALL OVER NIGHTWARE

This is a classic example of how an imperial stout should taste. A nice bitterness, balanced with a malt sweetness and lots of ethanol to go around.

Meterman: I find myself saying this far too often, Flavius that the @#$# are you doing!
Flavius: I am getting ready ..OWW.. for the big Shire meet...OWW..
Meterman: Right, all our regular on-line gamers are meeting in RL for a few pints. I don' think they will care if your eyebrows are not plucked.
Flavius: So a back waxing will also be unnecessary?
Meterman: That might be nice for the Missess, but not needed for us.


Green Flash Trippel

Ratebeer 3.45 82th percentile
Beer Advocate B

Taste +4

This is a great Belgian style abbey ale. The nose is sweet with hints of prunes, raisin and malt. At first taste it is a very good and drinkable Belgian. You can pick up a mild spice (coriander, pepper) which sits on a firm bed of sweet citrus fruits and malt. This brew gave a full mouth, effervescent feel.

Aftertaste +1

There was a nice alcohol warmth that complimented the lingering fruit flavours. It was certainly a dry finish.

Alcohol +1 9.5%

The alcohol was hidden very nicely and only showed up as a warmth.

Value +1

I picked this 750ml bottle up at Brewery Creek. I will definitely buy this one again; it was in the $7-8 range.

Ingame Enhancement +1

You need to consume a lot of strong beer while trying to finish the blood harvest map on expert. It helps to calm the nerves. I have found that if you don't drink enough, you tend to call for your Mommy too often. Over 3000 zombies were harmed in the reviewing of the article.

Overall 8/10 BOOM ZOMBIESHOT

If you like your Belgians, this one is a little brighter in flavour than the Trappists.

Jolly Abbot Abbey Ale (Granville Island)

Rate beer 3.54 no percentile
Beer Advocate B+

Taste +4

This has got a lot of complex flavours going on. The nose is similar to alcohol (rum) soared cherries or prunes. The taste is identical the nose, with some added dark fruity sweetness. The flavour starts off with the malt sweetness, then the wave of fruit flavour follows.

Aftertaste +1

It finishes clean and leaves a nice residue of dark fruit and malt.

Alcohol Content +1 9%

Quite impressive alcohol content for a local seasonal brew, you can taste the alcohol just enough.

Value +1

This brew is a great value and flavour at $4.90 for 650ml. Get them quick before they are all gone, or you will have to wait until next year.

Ingame Enhancement +1

I tried to play CSS on the shire, but none of the regulars were around. Decided to make zombies run in fear instead. Nightware helped a little bit too.

Overall 8/10

This is another great beer from Granville Island. Sadly this one is only seasonal, so look for it next year.

Rogue Chocolate Stout

I think Clan ARC should start reviewing lower end beers. All of our scores are quite high. Then again, life is too short for crappy beer.

Rate Beer 3.91 98th percentile
Beer Advocate A

Taste +4

It pours with a full, thick tan head that settles down after a few minutes. The nose is all bittersweet chocolate. Surprise, the taste is just like the smell; roasted malt with bitter chocolate sweetness. There is a very nice balance between the sweet and bitterness.

Aftertaste +1

This brew gives a full mouth feel. There is a pleasant lingering sweetness the fades off to a nice hot chocolate bitterness.

Alcohol Content +1 6%

I'm sure there is alcohol in there somewhere.

Value +1

This was standard import craft beer price; very worthy of your dollars.

Ingame Enhancement +1

I am so glad Valve added the ability to move of a ladder in the latest L4D patch. I needed it to get over the pile of dead zombies left by Meterman, Nightware, Painkiller and myself.

Overall 8/10 BOOM HEADSHOT

Again, another great stout. This was on the sweet side; unlike the Green Flash which was on the roasty side. If you buy a Rogue, you can be sure of a great beer treat.

.
Flavius: I think I should go on a liver cleaning diet.
Meterman: Very timely, considering our hobby of drinking and reviewing beers.
F: There are so many options; herbal cleanses, colonics, fasting..
M: Draino, Rotorouter.
F: I hope it cleans out all my inner toxins.
M: Great, a nice clean slate for you to start polluting again with your beer and donut diet. Whenever I see you eat I think of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

Innis and Gunn Rum Cask Aged
Beer Advocate B
Rate Beer 3.17 58th percentile

Taste +3

The nose starts off with molasses, rum and cherries. The taste is oddly similar to a rum and coke. There is the rum and oak flavours that overlays the mild malty sweetness. Somewhere in there is little smokey/woody taste. This beer is quite unique

Aftertaste +1

The lingering is all malty/coke acidic sweetness. The finish was clean.

Alcohol content +1 7.4%

You can get just the slightest of alcohol ting at the end of a big mouth full.

Value +1

This was not cheap, but it does present well with the fancy box and all. You get 330ml for $3.50. It gets a positive score for its uniqueness of flavour.

Ingame Enhancement +1

WOOT, as always there was much bloody debris after Meterman, Nightware and I rampaged the virtual zombie infested forests for over an hour.

Overall 7/10

This was a very enjoyable and drinkable beer. I have drank two so far, with one more in my fridge. I plan to buy a few more before they are gone.