FLIGHT OF FOUR

Troy's Work Table visited 99 Bottles this morning and indulged in this week's Flight of Four while he browsed the shelves and coolers.

---

Dogfish Head Kvasir

The pour is a clear orange body with a tinge of pink at the edges.

The nose is mostly tart berries, with a hint of yeast.

The tongue is a tart berry bite, which leads into a licorice and honey middle (almost like a "high-end" herbal cough drop), and is followed by a dry finish. Wheat and bark notes lurk in the background.

This beer is an excellent surprise. The tart isn't too tart; even those who don't particularly care for sour beers should be able to handle this one.

One of the 99 Bottles clerks asked me what I thought of it. After I gave him my assessment, he told me that he thought it would be a perfect beer for Thanksgiving dinner. He's right.

This beer was my favorite of the four. Highly recommended.

---

Wingman Brewers Miss-B-Haven

The pour is a hazy straw yellow with a fuzzy white rim.

The nose is funky, yeasty, and a bit antiseptic.

The tongue is more of the same with a bit more of (Seabreeze) antiseptic, cloves, and grapefruit peel.

It's a good representation of the Tripel style. Very drinkable.

---

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA

The pour is clear yellow-orange.

The nose is butterscotch and orange.

The tongue is bitter leaves, butterscotch, orange, orange peel, grapefruit, and more bitterness. The initial jolt of bitterness somewhat smooths a bit, but not as much as I expected. The finish is quite long, remaining as bitters and butterscotch.

This is a bold IPA, although just a bit too much of bitterness presents on the front. Otherwise, this could easily stand alongside some of the "classic" and much coveted IPAs and/or IIPAs (Russian River Pliny the Elder or Dogfish Head 90-Minute Imperial IPA, for example).

---

Widmer Brothers Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout

The pour is dark brown to black.

The nose is faint cough syrup, freshly turned mulch and/or soil, black licorice, and dark chocolate.

The tongue is raspberries and dark chocolate bar, with hints of coffee, bark, black licorice, and mulch.

Essentially, this is like drinking a raspberry chocolate bar, although it has what I consider to be a strong medicinal finish.

This was my least favorite of the four, although it could have been better if there was less of a medicinal flavor. I'm sure plenty others will find this satisfying.

(Part of the Widmer Brothers Reserve Series.)