North Coast Brewing - Brother Thelonius

It was nacho night at our place, a late night with some friends over. While we were shopping earlier for the nacho staples, i told the guys we need to have a special l'chaim. So I picked out Brother Thelonious. When I picked up the bottle instantly I had a soundtrack for this moment in time, I could hear Dennis Coffey (definatly not Jazz) jammin out with Scorpio. I started pop lockin down the beer isle, the grocery clerk looked at me and said "Cool it son!". Then I raised Brother Thelonious to him and the horn section kicked in on Scorpio, BAH BAH BAH BAH BADIBA BA!. Then I snapped out of it. We rolled back to the crib, cracked open this ale and BOOM! Awesome beer, it was very dark, robust, extremely smooth, i don't know much more to say exept its probably my favorite beer as of now! I know i still have a lot to try, but as of now, its the top dog. I will assure you at first sip the music in my soundtrack of life changed to Mr Monks - Straight, No Chaser. I highly recommend everybody and their mom try this ale, its my favorite. 10 out of 10, but may have to create a better rating system with higher standards cause numbers are not doing it justice! As Mr Monk said "Ain't that a B*%ch!"

ALSO! Something very awesome: Every time you buy Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale you also help to support the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz whose mission is to offer the world's most promising young musicians college level training by America's jazz masters and to present public school-based jazz education programs for young people around the world. All of these programs are offered free of charge to the students and schools.

Brewery Ommegang Three Philosophers Belgian Style Blend

It was a late night, me and wife missed dinner so as we squandered throughout the grocery store looking for a kosher pizza, i fell upon this pleasant looking label. It was Brewery Ommengang 2009 Three Philosophers, Belgian style quadruple. I know very little about Belgian beers, this ale was lofty. Its a warm bronze brown color. I noticed the yeast settlement at the bottom, the label said not to let it mix, so i left it. It was a very mellow malty aroma with a hint of cherry. This is definatetly something you should drink in a group of 3, preferably lofty and deep minded sage like folk. Its got a lil kick to it, 9.8% to be exact. I absolutely enjoyed drinking this ale, but emotionally suffered severely not drinking it with some buddies, its a beer that should have some kind of ritual before served, i wish i had one of the traditional Belgian ale glass goblets, Im excepting gifts as of the moment (*wink wink*). Please try it but not alone! I give it a 9.DOPE out of 10.

Elysian Mens Room Red

So me and the guys from work have been hearing about this beer on the radio a whole lot. There have been stories of people who have been saying "Bro I put this on my mom, grandma, and ncle Dick its the best beer ever, I mean ever, I'm serious like Mr T bro!". Its pretty intense the response it is getting. Well last Thursday my buddy Ze'ev called me and said "Hey Rome we gotta see what all this noise is about and try this beer". So, Friday it was me, Brad and Ze'ev, we hopped in the whip and mashed out like Dukes of Hazard up to Capital Hill a few hours before Shabbos to check this beer out. We went to the brewery instead of Elysian fields, it was a mad house due to the game that day and the grand unveiling of The Men's Room Red finally being bottled. We got a pitcher of the beer and its core was pulsing red, like it was the heart of the earth...I'm joking, it was a nice amber/red color. The smell was toasty. The taste was amazing, it was medium bodied, with a smooth bitterness. This is a real deal good beer. For being on Tap is a good beer, but in a bottle, I imagine its gonna be top dog for a while. Rumor is they cant even bottle enough to meet the demand, so its there is some outsourcing of brewing. My biggest disapointment is all the clowns who hyped this beer up as if it was the dawn of a new age and the fore runner of the final beer redemption. Overall I will say find it and drink it, its a real good beer, but first tell the hype guys to stop talking and have another Men's Room Red. I give it a 7 out of 10.


Some facts from Elysian on The Mens Room Red.

Men's Room Ale
"Because we think it’s yummy!"

Style
Original red

Body
Medium

TASTING NOTES
Amber in color with a light hop aroma and toasty malt finish.

MALTS
Crisp 77 Crystal, Munich, Cara-hell, Cara-Red, Cara-vienne

HOPS
Bittered with Chinook and finished with Cascade

ABV: 5.6%

AVAILABILITY
Available Year — round 1/2 bbls (22 oz bottles coming soon)

A portion of the net proceeds from every Mens Room Original Red sold goes to helping support the families of our military vets through the VA Puget Sound Fisher House and Ft. Lewis Fisher House.

The Mens Room Original Red is brewed for The Mens Room Radio Show on 99.9 KISW The Rock of Seattle.

Elliott Bay Organic IPA

So Yesterday the wife and I walked into Choco Canyon Organic Cafe, a vegan/raw vegetable cafe in the U-District of Seattle. I heard about organic beers on tap. So I tried one that a couple of friends raged on about to me. It was the Elliot Bay Organic IPA. Overall is was a real deal quality beer. As the waitress brought the cold glass out to me, it was like a glass shaped amber inclusion, you know the prehistoric kind with the bug all sealed up like on the top of John Hammond's dino pimp cane in Jurassic Park. The color on this IPA was beautiful, if it could dangle from my chain I would flex it. The beer had a caramel taste at start and then perfectly boldly bitter for like 15 seconds. Then it rolled away clean off the tongue like it was never there. The smell was purdy, yup i said and spelled it purdy, "pretty" doesn't have the emphasis i need to describe to you its smell. Its smell was like honey on a chamomile flower, but like i said don't let that be the judge, drink it. An amazing beer. I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Drink one!

Hers some info from our friends at Elliott Bay on this IPA.

Malt Varieties: Organic Pale, Organic Light Munich, Organic Roast, Organic Caramel blend

Hop Varieties: Magnum, Galena, Chinook, Northern Brewer, Glacier, Styrian Golding, US Golding

OG: 14°P

ABV: 5.8%

IBU: 141

Description:

Bold and hoppy golden brew with plenty of aroma and flavor.

Originally, IPA’s were brewed in England for consumption by the troops occupying India in the 1700’s and 1800’s.

Beers traveling such great distances were brewed to high gravities so they could slowly ferment on the journey.

They were also quite highly hopped, since hops, a natural preservative, helped protect against infection in the beer.