All posts by John Fortunato

PIKE ENTIRE WOOD-AGED STOUT

Beers A-Z
PIKE ENTIRE WOOD AGED STOUTRobust 9.5% alcohol-fueled tan-headed brown-bodied barrel-aged slow sipper allows welcoming sherry opening to invigorate hop-oiled grain-roasted cedar-burnt bitterness and cocoa-powdered prune-dried raisin puree and black cherry illusions. Chewy molasses-sapped black coffee, brown chocolate and vanilla bean notes surface above warming burgundy-bourbon finish of outstanding full-bodied winner.  

ELYSIAN NIGHT OWL PUMPKIN ALE

Beers A-Z
Rich amber-hazed autumn seasonal with cookie dough-like yeast sinew and honey-roasted mocha malting receives sharp hop-spiced gourd acridity, revealing cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and gingerbread resonance adjacent to pumpkin pie crusting. Rigid phenol finish depletes tertiary sugared fig, almond, chestnut, and pecan illusions. Engaging dessert fodder. On tap at Biggie's - 2016, sweeter gingerbread-spiced pumpkin pie template perseveres as spritzy lemon snip crackles. Image result for elysian night owl

(BOULEVARD) LONG STRANGE TRIPEL

Beers A-Z
Luxuriously spectral Grateful Dead-inspired Belgian-styled tripel counters candi-sugared fructose sweetness and coriander-clove spicing with dusky fungi-like earthiness in uniquely balanced bottle-conditioned fashion. Thick yeast sediment creates heavy viscosity as luscious white ale confections such as gin-like juniper, buttery Chardonnay, and red-purple-black grape illusions settle above herbal white-peppered green tea sash. Apple blossom, pink grapefruit, and overripe peach regalia welcome luscious tropical cornucopia (pineapple-mango-cantaloupe-banana) to juxtapose oncoming cider-y sourness until grassy horsehide-rawhide dryness presents farmhouse barnyard funk to the mix. Beware: well-hidden 9% alcohol whir will spin heads. Long Strange Tripel - Boulevard Brewing Co. - Untappd

(BOULEVARD) THE SIXTH GLASS QUADRUPEL ALE

Beers A-Z
Respectable auburn-hued Belgian-styled quad ‘for the mature connoisseur’ retains winter warming brown ale character to medicinal wintry holiday finish. Unmistakable Belgian yeast funk deluges chocolate-spiced sugared date, stewed prune, brown banana, black cherry, bruised orange, and overripe peach illusions fortifying plush Grand Marnier-Cognac-Chardonnay trifecta as well as tertiary spiced wine, dry port and dark rum flirtations. Chewy molasses-like caramel malting completes the score. Boasting more depth and richness than Boulevard’s superfine Long Strange Tripel, this round-tripper’s a true homerun. The Sixth Glass - Boulevard Brewing Company

THREE FLOYDS MOLOKO MILK STOUT

Beers A-Z
Marvelous lactic milk chocolate-y full body pours like motor oil. Molasses-soaked black chocolate, vanilla ice cream, fudge cake, and Bailey’s Irish Cream illusions shoot to the top above hop-charred grain-roasted bittering and black cherry-pureed raisin-prune souring. Cola nut, hazelnut, and macadamia surface in the chocolate cake midst, upending tertiary cappuccino dip and coconut macaroon snip.

HOOK NORTON TWELVE DAYS ENGLISH CHRISTMAS ALE

Beers A-Z
HOOK NORTON TWELVE DAYS‘A strong dark brown beer’ better defined as wintry English strong ale with veritable schwarzbier makeup. Fruit-dried dark chocolate rises above holiday-spiced expectancy. Molasses-sapped cocoa-powdered caramel-chocolate roast sidles bittersweet prune-fig-raisin-apricot coalition above malt-smoked rye wheat bed. Sour-creamed walnut undertones deepen mocha-spiced plethora.

GRANITE CITY FOOD & BREWERY – MISHAWAKA

United States Brewpubs,
Granite City Food and Brewery suddenly closes in Mishawaka MISHAWAKA, INDIANA Within walking distance of Mishawaka Brewing, maroon-lettered sandalwood-bricked eatery-bar, GRANITE CITY FOOD & BREW, positioned inside University Park Mall (next to JC Penney), became the 26th of 30-plus Granite City restaurant-breweries along the Midwest trail, July ’08 (and closed 2019). Visited November '09, this midsize watering hole opens to stainless steel bar with white slate columns and wood veneer. Behind left side booths were glass-encased brew tanks serving a terse assortment of light-to-dark brews. A slight buttery creaminess gave lemony peach-grapefruit-centered wood-hopped maize-dried Northern Light Lager the heads up over phenolic Miller/ Bud Lite fare. Spice-hopped wheat-honeyed cornbread-like Wag’s American Wheat and sour-fruited gourd-spiced fig-sugared hop-sharp Octoberfest were crisply lightweight. Duke Of Wellington Pale Ale retained bright IPA-like apple-peach-orange fruiting, dry pine lacquering, and juniper berry-sharpened grapefruit peel bittering. Dry hop-roasted espresso-coffee-finishing Broad Axe Stout rendered surreptitious vanilla bean influence. Sugarplum, cinnamon-spiced apple, candied nuts and praline bedecked Brother Benedict’s Bock, which was bettered by bock-styled Northern Light mix, Two-Pull, a corn-husked dry body with spicier fig-date-almond sugaring and harsher hop phenols. www.gcfb.net Nearby ‘fan-centric’ South Bend sportsbar, Legends Of Notre Dame, located on campus across famous Notre Dame Stadium, served great local microbrews during November ’09 trip to watch the Fighting Irish oppose Connecticut on the gridiron. Prior to and after the game, enjoyed Goose Island Harvest Wheat and Mad Anthony Ol Woody Pale Ale while checking out sports memorabilia and regalia lined across interior walls of alehouse. Enjoyed burgers, sausages, and chicken tenders underneath canvassed courtyard beside outdoor patio. www.legendsofnotredame.org With four locations in Mishawaka/ South Bend, City-Wide Liquors featured deep selection of microbrews and imports. Found Boulevard Brewery’s Long Strange Trip Ale, Double Wide IPA, and Sixth Glass Quadrupel as well as Three Floyd’s Moloko Milk Stout.