Beer O' Clock

So, I spent a few minutes on Thursday night wearing out the refresh button on my computer, trying to latch onto Dark Lord Day tickets.

OK, it was more than a few minutes. It was an intense meltdown of refresh, but it was a success.

Dark Lord Day is the only day of the year Three Floyds makes its Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout available. The rarity drives demand. It's also a festival with three bands and a lot of beer nerdiness, which is fabulous. A couple friends of mine went last year and I had to give it a go this year.

These tickets fly out of the Three Floyds' offices. Last year, they opened sales at 5:30 a.m. This year, it was a 7 p.m. opening on its website, which crashed like Mr. Magoo behind the wheel of  stock car. Here's a breakdown of the server carnage. My friend Brian said it best, it's a cool, organic event taken over by neurotics. But hey, I've got four tickets.

April 24, I'll have my hands on the thickest Russian Imperial in mankind. The festival itself, it should be interesting. I've never been to a beer festival. Should be interesting.

I bought a four pack of Dogfish Head's Olde School, a barleywine style that packs a 15.04 percent wallop. It's a sweet, warming beer that is an excellent representative of the style. If it gets any warmer than 50 degrees, cellar it for next winter. That's when you want this sweet, sweet powerhouse to warm your soul.

This might be a tailgater, but at 15% you might not make it to the game. The taste masks the alcohol well, but there is a burn to it.

It's got a B+ on 592 reviews at Beeradvocate.com.

I bought this in Madison around New Year's and finally broke it open on St. Patrick's Day.

Here's what Three Floyds says: "Ireland's first and last Ard Ri (high king) of the whole Gaelic race, Brian Boru was born in Munster, Ireland around 940. Brian Boru's mother was killed by Vikings when he was a child. He spent his life uniting the Irish tribes to become the first king of Ireland only to be killed at Clontarf on Good Friday 1014 putting down a rebellion by the king of the province of Leinster. Brian Boru Irish Brand Red Ale is a very rich ale with toffee, caramel, citrus and pineapple notes. Brian Boru is brewed with several malts and Amarillo hops. February release."

I would say it leans more toward the malt side, with caramel coming in a close second. If you're burned out on Guiness or Smithwicks on Paddy's Day, I highly recommend.

A fairly regarded beer on Beeradvocate, rating an A- on 316 reviews.

Deep roast coffee, chocolate, cherry, vanilla and caramel. It's a pretty muddy brew.

Broad maltiness, roasted malts and piney hops, it's a wonderful dark beer. I admit, I don't know a lot about the style, Irish dry stout. At 5.25% ABV, you can try it and not end up on your back for the evening.

It rates an A- on 324 reviews at Beeradvocate. "The biscuit and dark malt roast greets the palate right off and mild caramel notes w/ french roast coffee's smokiness follow. The taste of citrus flavored hops which have grapefruity tinges and black coffee/burnt toast notes round things out. Great tasting and quaffable, perhaps the best dry stout I ever had, so drinkable and flavorful at the same time, a great beer."

The is a Marzen/Oktoberfest that  I thought I would like better than I did. Didn't click with me. Thought it'd be a cleaner, crisper lager. It was thicker and a little more lumbering than I wanted.

It had a caramel breadiness that I wasn't expecting. A nice beer, highly drinkable with character, but stacked against the Sprecher Oktoberfest I recently tasted, it came up short.

Rates a B- on 74 reviews at Beeradvocate.

An American IPA that is no longer brewed, unfortunately. With a decent 7% ABV kick, this was a delicious IPA that was one of the first beers I tasted after arriving home from Miami and a week of mass yellow fizzy beer (free) at the Orange Bowl hospitality suite.

Hoppier than it smells, it's also resinous with a chewy full body for the style. Citrus fruit, lemon peel, grapefruit, pineapple and pine notes with a nice dry finish. Extremely drnkable.

B+ on 107 reviews.

Really liked this beer, and, thankfully, it's widely available, as all Rogue beers are. We can get them pretty much everywhere in CR/IC.

It's a scharzbier with a cool story behind it. It's Rogue's "Grow Your Own" program. The ingredients are grown by Rogue, which makes it rarity.

Some roastiness is there and more sweetness than I expected. A little sharpness from the hops comes in at the end. Overall, delicious. Not as great as Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but in the top third, easily.

A delicious American Imperial Pale Ale, The Oracle was a limited release. Can't tell if Bell's Brewery has done it again or plans to brew it again. Very drinkable for a bitter DIPA with a 10.04% ABV.

I liked it, but not as well as Hopslam, which is Bell's homerun when it comes to the heavy hophead beer. I've only had one bottle. I snagged this from MetsfanIV on the Twitter. I'd love to line this up with Stone's Ruination, Bell's Two Hearted and Hopslam. I think Oracle might fight in pretty well.

Rates an A on 171 reviews at Beeradvocate.

This was a strang brew, one that I've never had and very much want again. It's termed a "wheatwine," but it also has heavy oat to it, as you can imagine from the name. This is a collaboration beer between Three Floyds and Mikkeller, a brewery from Denmark that has language like this "på få år" on its website.

The best way to describe it might be "oatwine." Either way, I'm not a big oat beer guy. I bought this because I was in a "what the heck" mood. The circumstances for the tasting are as follows, I was a week out from the gallbladder surgery I had, sitting on a futon and feeling sorry for myself. A friend came over and I thought, let's drink a few of these beers. I was shocked how much I enjoyed Oatgoop.

The alcohol, sweetness and bitterness expected from a barleywine with a little extra bite of sourness from the wheat.

A 10.4% ABV, it gets an A- on 81 reviews from Beeradvocate.

I also had this beer when I was convalescing from surgery. Stone is the national champion of beers. NATIONAL CHAMPION.

I know Iowa's crazy beer laws are changing for the better. I don't know if that will bring Stone products to Iowa. If it doesn't, hop in the car and drive to Madison or Chicago and stock up. Whatever style, Stone does it A+, although the Ruination is the hoppy beast and my personal fave.

Strong up up front with bittering hops and roasted flavors. espresso and anise. Finishes with a flourish, including coffee, cream and alcohol. A 10.50% ABV, it's a beer that lives up to its style with an American punch. The alcohol is a key flavor component and played perfectly.

Rates an A after 1,719 reviews on Beeradvocate.