Sin City Brewery's Classic Irish Dry Stout

On March 22nd at 12:53 P.M., I was walking back from the Planet Hollywood casino through the Miracle Mile when I chanced upon a tiny little bar. Though overflowing with gaudy paraphernalia and shameless in its touristy sheen, the miniscule niche (barely larger than a New York hotdog stand) was a palatial oasis in a sea of Coors and Bud Lights. Craft beer! A beacon of hope to the discerning drinker. Beerus Ex Machina.

Ah, indeed it was fortuitous that I espied the diminutive watering hole at that very moment. I had wanted to forget the money I had ungraciously donated to countless pit bosses. I had wanted something to purge from my mouth the lingering vestiges of American macros that I had theretofore been imbibing. I had wanted something with taste, gravity, and spunk.

I promptly bee-lined for my new haven, pulled up a chair, and requested the thickest, blackest draft they had. Sin City Brewery was ready to oblige.

The bartender soon presented me with a pitch-black libation: their Classic Irish Dry Stout. As the name suggests, it's an Irish Dry Stout modeled after the iconic Guinness. I peered down into the cup, angling my nose to whiff any aromatics emerging from the muddy depths. Not much bouquet came through, though the smell could have been masked by the sterile plastic cup in which it was served. "Drat! It could taste like anything!" I thought, looking askance at the inert inky liquid. A few bubbles rose lazily to the surface. "I'm not going to drink myself," the beer seemed to say without any particular sense of urgency.

0 hour. Judgement Sip. Without the osmic reconnaissance to prepare my palate, I took an apprehensive swig.

The stout unsurprisingly delivered a simple, powerful melody of coffee and chocolate notes. I found it to be a little earthier than Guiness with a bolder coffee taste. Also hitting me with its modest maltiness, the taste transitioned gradually from sweet caramel to a dull bitterness. Hoppiness was rather low, though we all know that hops is not a desideratum of mine.

I liked the soft roasted characters as well, which weren't at all reminiscent of charcoal (thank heavens). It had a buttery mouthfeel with a slight prickliness thereafter, ending in a mildly acerbic aftertaste. With some hearty swills, I soon finished the satisfying brew and kicked back for a nap.

I give it a solid B.

BREW D'ETAT

Coming soon to a blog formerly named "Beer: An Odyssey" and "Beeriodical" near you...it's Brew D'Etat! And it's awesome.

Brews in the News

Well, looks like it's time for another weekly update from the world of brewing:

Preparations are underway in Chicago for the Brewers Association's Annual Craft Beer Conference. This year, it will take place from April 7-10 and will feature some terrific workshops, keynote speakers and of course...plenty of beer. Unfortunately, due to work, I will be unable to attend this year's conference, but if you can afford it...GO! More information available here.

The Indiana House of Representatives has passed a bill that will allow--wait for it--for the sale of carryout beer from Indiana's microbreweries on Sundays! A huge victory for our friends at Three Floyds, Upland Brewing, and all the other great breweries in Indiana. Check it out!

Oskar Blues Brewery, one of the pioneers of selling awesome canned craft beers, has announced its newest seasonal brew (and one we'll hopefully get to taste at the Hops and Props festival Saturday)--GUBNA, a double-IPA tipping the scales at nearly 10% ABV. BeerAdvocate has the story.

That's it for this week's 'Brews in the News.' Be sure to visit on Sunday, when we upload our latest podcast, recapping the Hops and Props beer festival from Oshkosh, WI. Here's the official website for the festival, if you'd like more info.

Our First Podcasts!

Check out our first two podcasts from Madison, Wisconsin! Dylan (and much less so, Chip) lead you through seven different suds: some good, some bad, and some ugly. So sit back, crack a cold one, and listen up! You can get all of our podcasts on Archive.org, by clicking the link on the right-hand side of the page.

Chip's Apt

Beers:
1. Kennebunkport IPA (Portland, Maine)
2. Founders Harvest Ale (Grand Rapids, Michigan)
3. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (Chico, California)
4. Lakefront Holiday Spice Lager (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)




Live from The Haze

Beers:
1. Dogfish Head Fort (Milton, Delaware)
2. Stone Smoked Porter (Escondido, CA)
3. Three Floyds Gumballhead (Munster, IN)

A Cry for Help!

While I don't doubt that hundreds of you are having an absolute blast reading our wonderful, wonderful blog, we've recently come to a bit of a conflict concerning the name--Beer: An Odyssey is too close to Beer Odyssey (a similarly named, but unrelated, blog).

So, help us out! We're looking for some suggestions for new names--something unique, catchy, and easy to say. I just updated our page to the new URL, but now we're looking for an awesome, new name. The offer below still stands!

Bonus: If you live in Madison, I'll buy you a pint of something really good (my choice, ha!) provided you come up with an awesome name.

All Hail the Dark Lord

Dark Lord Day is next month and still no word on golden ticket sales. Any idea what day in March tickets have gone on sale in the past?

Background for our loyal band of followers:

http://www.darklordday.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Floyds_Brewing