Happy ninth birthday to my favorite beer store/bottle shop, and one of my favorite family-owned businesses, 99 Bottles!
They celebrated their birthday with a beer tasting that included one cider and three ales, accompanied by a 99 Bottles chocolate-on-chocolate cookie from fellow small business The Old Hen.
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Cold Brew Coffee Cider, a Hard Cider by Number Six Cider Co.
The pour is clear and golden. The nose is pure coffee. The tongue is a hit of dark coffee sliding over an undercurrent of apple cider.
I love the smell of coffee and I love the taste of candied coffee beans, but I am not a fan of the hot beverage known as coffee. But this is excellent. It is a perfect balance of coffee and cider.
(And I should not have even drank this. I have a non-allergic immune response to apples, but I made an in-the-moment adult decision to indulge knowing full well I would pay for that decision later. But it was well worth it!)
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P-51 Peanut Butter Cup Porter, a Porter by Wingman Brewers
The pour is the dark goodness of porter. The nose is pure Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. The tongue is peanut butter, chocolate, light smokiness, and more malty goodness as a backbone. This is like eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup while standing in the smoke of a twilight summer campfire. I like the P-51 Porter on its own, but this version is even better.
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Cuvée Brut, a Sour Red Ale by Liefmans
(also known as Kriek-Brut)
The pour is a clear gem red body topped with a pinkish-white head. The nose is fresh cherries that is just "this side" of cherry cough syrup. The nose is tart cherries and lemon, with a hint of sugar lurking in the background. It gets even a bit more sour on the finish, but in a way that pleases. I like this a lot!
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Delirium Noël, a Belgian Strong Ale by Brouwerij Huyghe
The pour is a clear orange-gold. The nose is cloves and other spices, with a faint leathery scent below. The tongue is spicy (primarily, but not exclusively, of cloves) and leathery and smooth and effervescent. It is complex and enticing. The mouthfeel is right on the verge of being watery to me, but still heavy enough on the tongue to keep me interested.
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Thank you to Tiffany
and Craig and crew for nine years of excellent customer service; hundreds
of beers I've been able to try at tastings and in bottles, cans, and
growlers; and numerous suggestions throughout my explorations and
adventures in craft beer.
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