Drinks

2x Winter Beers

Finally seeing some winter beers appear on the shelves…Both Rocky Ridge, fantastic brewery in this state.

Rock A Block – Chocolate Stout, 5.5% 375ml can. A nice stout, smells fantastic. Taste is nice dark grains with a nice cocoa element and actual chocolate in some form giving it its chocolate thing. Not really any sweetness and a rather dry finish. Uses Eukanot hops that are extremely well balanced. Pretty straight up and ticks enough boxes for a stout.

Maple Coffee – Milk Stout, 5.5% 375ml can. The smell is real dark which would be the brown malt and a big dark roasty coffee smell. A lot more bitterness from the malts and coffee than the hops it seems, there is a slight sweet milkyness from the lactose and hint of the maple syrup in that. The hops, Eukanot again, are there and balanced well enough, any lightless on the hops lets the grains and coffee do more work. Could be a bit more forward with the maple and lactose, and the smell and taste hint at something far bigger, but nothing is overbearing and it ends up with a surprisingly dry and clean finish. A very drinkable stout.

Considering that oats are used in both of these beers, I’m surprised there isn’t more body and mouth-feel. Both aimed it seems for a dryer cleaner finish and a more easy drinking “sessionable” winter beer instead, though the grain bill and adjuncts hint towards otherwise. See below.

Rock a Block Chocolate Stout
Maple Coffee Milk Stout
Drinks

2X Rock Ridge music themed beers

These are from a few weeks ago…John Denver and Hall & Oates. The John Denver was NOT my style at all and at 10% was far too much. Big West Coast IPA’s I cannot deal with anymore. The Haulin Oats Pale Ale with oats at 5% was far nicer.

Drinks

Amazake

I had one of these previously, but it seems I didn’t blog it at the time. This one is pumpkin flavour. The weird sweet-umami/mushroom thing really didnt give me any pumpkin character, but it was still anice. I like that fermenty funky thing amazake has going on. The price is stupid, but thats certain drinks from Japan in general.

(Note: Both the pumpkin and matcha green tea below are Horaiya Honten brand)

I found the first one I had, It was matcha green tea flavour, and did have a green tea light taste and tannin bitterness if I remember correctly. The Morinaga Amazake can in the picture I do not remember unfortunately.

Drinks

Bubble Tea in a can

I have had an Ocean Bomb brand drink before, which was also good, and this was also good too. Brown Sugar flavour it says, and thats accurate. A nice brown sugar sweet milk with that strange unnatural bubble tea element. The tapioca/”Starch Balls” according to the ingredients, were a nice but different than usual texture. Nice.