Year of Beer Paintings – Day 179

KBS!  Stout for breakfast!  Seriously, I was going to drink this last night but my wife warned me that if I drank this beer without her, she would… well, I won’t go into the details.  She came home too late last night after a long day of guiding visitors around Alaska, so here I am doing my part sipping on 6 oz of beautiful coffee and chocolate Kentucky Breakfast Stout at 10 AM so I can write this blog post about it.

Rich and malty, with a bitter bite, and a nutty flavor.  At 70 IBUs, the bitterness is masked by the malt.  The nutty flavor reminds me of coconut beers; must be part of the barrel aging at cave temperatures.  This beer is thick on your tongue creating a blanket of pleasure.  I can see why it is one of the most sought-after beers in the Midwest!  Thanks Patrick for mailing it to me, this was a special treat!

Cheers to Founders!  I am glad I found out about your brewery through this project!  I hope you keep on making KBS!  I know it is probably a labor of love, especially paying for the cave real estate!  I now understand why there is limited availability of this one, as it is obviously hard to make a beer this special!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 06.28. KBS by Founders Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

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Year of Beer Paintings – Day 176

I’ll Plead the 5th… the imperial stout from Dark Horse Brewing Company, that is.  This 11% beer should not be taken lightly; I have barley wines that have less booze in them.  I loved this one, so black, with dark, oily foam that quickly faded from my glass.  Looking into my glass felt like staring at a dark abyss of crude oil.  I think I even saw a rainbow floating in the top of the glass.  Charred chocolate and toasted malt make this beer roasty, yet mostly bitter and sour from the dark grains.  Hardly balanced, this beer will take your tongue to new heights, maybe to a place where you, well… plead the Fifth.

I painted the Constitution behind this Imperial Stout to remind us how great a Nation we have where we can “Plead the Fifth” in more ways than one!  I hope I only have to drink the beer and never get called in to court.

Cheers to Dark Horse Brewing! Drinking a beer from a place where I’ve never been makes me want to go there.  Thanks Patrick for sending me this bottle all the way from Michigan!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 06.25. Plead the 5th Imperial Stout by Dark Horse Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 146

The daily beer painting is of Dunegräs IPA by Greenbush Brewing Company in Sawyer, Michigan.  This brewery does not distribute to Alaska; however, if you have the right connections, you can get special beers delivered to you wherever you may be!  Dunegräs is an American style IPA full of hop flavor and delicious floral beer goodness, but without any dune grass whatsoever.

This is the first beer I have had from Greenbush Brewing Company, a relatively new brewery established in 2010.  The founders Scott Sullivan and Justin Heckathorn must know what they are doing, judging from this IPA.  I have consumed a lot of IPA in my day, and this one was a very good offering – slightly cloudy and a little tart.

Way to be Greenbush, and welcome to the Year of Beer Paintings!  I hope that you enjoy looking at my paintings as much as I enjoyed drinking the Dunegräs!  Cheers!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 05.26. Dunegräs IPA by Greenbush Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

 

 

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 144

The daily beer painting is of Curmudgeon Old Ale from Founders Brewing Company.  If there is one statement I could make about this beer, I would say, it is smooth!  A nice old ale brewed with molasses and aged in oak casks, this beer is a bit on the strong side coming in at 9.8% ABV.  The flavor is a bit fruity with oak being one of the strongest characteristics; it finishes with bold whiskey-like booziness.

Keep your eyes out for the lighthouse when you are drinking this, because if you have a few, you might get lost!  The good news is that with the old curmudgeon himself manning the light, the likelihood of a completely lost cause is diminished.  I love the marketing on this one; what a great name for a beer that is such an easy sipper, but strong in taste!  I just imagine the lighthouse attendant swigging one of these after a long night of keeping watch over the water.

Founders, I am so happy I found out about you!  Please start distributing to Alaska! We have many good breweries, but great beer is always well received here!

You can purchase this painting, or a limited-edition print at my Etsy shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings gallery.

Year of Beer 05.24. Curmudgeon Old Ale by Founders Brewing Co. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.

Year of Beer Paintings – Day 132

The daily beer painting is of Oberon Ale by Bell’s Brewery!  I wish I had the 5-liter mini keg of this beer sitting in front of me right now.  This highly hopped summer wheat ale is what Bell’s Brewery is all about!  Its proprietary yeast mixed with wheat malts and complex spicy hops makes this a fruity beer, with a smooth mouth feel. I had always believed Oberon to be an IPA, but I guess summer ale is a more appropriate name for this hop forward wheat ale.

It’s hard to get Michigan brews here in Alaska, even though there are many Michiganians living in Anchorage.  I’m always impressed when I get a sampling of Bell’s beer here, so if any of you are holding out on a special beer from far away that you think is equally great and should be included in the Year of Beer series, mail it to me and I will paint it and send you the number one print at no charge.

I painted this one in its home in the Mackinaw Forest sitting tall within the dense trees.  I think the orange label and the fruitiness of this beer pairs nicely with the green crispness of the forest.

To Oberon Ale!  A great beer only available half the year and to half the country… darn!  Here’s a request from Alaska, I am hoping Bell’s will distribute up here sometime soon!

The original painting sold. You can purchase a limited-edition print at my Etsy shop.

View the complete Year of Beer Paintings series.

Year of Beer 05.12. Oberon Ale by Bell’s Brewery. Oil on panel, 8″x10″.