Beer floats

So first off, I feel it necessary to at least mention the fact that it has been a very long time since I last blogged. For those of you that know me, I've had a fairly hectic couple months and what with the relocation, I fell a little out of the habit of brewing, blogging, but never drinking. So after a long hiatus, here's a couple reviews to enjoy.

After reading a post by @ChipperDave (http://www.fermentedlychallenged.com/2008/12/who-is-chipperdave.html) about making beer floats, I was motivated to try making my own.

I used that devil Rasputin mixed with Chocolate ice cream, thinking that would be a nice combo.

Here's my brother prepping the floats.

At first we used only a little beer with about a scoop and a half of ice cream and it was mixing enough, so we used more beer.

Overall, no one was too enthusiastic about the combo. Maybe too much beer, maybe just the wrong type. The hops and the bite seemed to take away from the creamy sweet side of the ice cream. However, the malts mixed well. So I was left wondering if another beer wouldn't be better. Maybe Rogue's Chocolate Stout??

That being said, my mom still enjoyed it.

As did my brother.

The man, the myth, the legend...

Green Flash Le Freak

The aroma is as advertised, west coast style hops blended with Belgian Trippel and the seam between the two is invisible to my big nose. Another addition to the popular fusion that is taking over the beer scene: IPA meets Belgian. Not being as much of a Belgian fan, I'm not as skilled at describing the flavors and knowing what I should be tasting for. However, what I will say is this: the front end has a characteristic sweetness that I've known from Trippels; that sort of pungent overripe plum. But just as the fruit begins to unleash its most pungent, viscious tannons, it evens out, and ever so slightly melds into a recognizable mix of hops and barley. The hops are bright, although subdued by the fruit immersion and subsequently the bitter kick follows similarly like a muffled instrument. Interestingly, the sweeter part of the brew has it's own kick that sort of spirals up right into the nose and back down again rather than into the throat and back up under the tongue. I have to admit when I think about the visual that description creates via "taste-o-graph," I like the balanced flow. Given my general disinterest in Belgians, this seems like a fine compromise.



Le Freak: ****