My favorite Dark Side brew

[Chipper Dave]

I've been tracking some of my favorite dark brews and I thought I'd share two of them. The first is a brew from the Breckenridge Brewery in Colorado called Breckenridge Vanilla Porter. This rich porter has some nice vanilla overtones.

Another favorite dark brew comes from the Boston Beer Company and is their Samuel Adams Holiday Porter. it came in their seasonal Winter Classics 12-pack.

Both of these beers are sure to warm you up. What are some of your favorites?

[Eli the Mad Beer Man]

Breck's Vanilla Porter rocks. Not a real big fan of "holiday" beers. Something in the spices they all seem to have.

Some of my fave dark (side) beers: Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter, Widmer Snowplow, Guinness, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Bristol Winter Warlock, Yellowstone Valley Back Widow Stout, Lefthand Milk Stout...

I'm at work (thus, I'm not able to look inside my beer fridge), so there's several more. Ya know, these are just "some" of my faves! ;)

[Chipper Dave]

Ah yes - the Left Hand Milk Stout - I really enjoyed that beer. I've not yet toured all of teh Tommyknocker brews. I had heard mixed things about that Cocoa Porter but am still willing to try it.

One thing I love to do with stouts and porters - mix it with ice cream and make a dark beer float. Have you ever tried that? It's amazingly good! I especially recommend using an english toffee ice cream and your favorite porter or stout.

[Eli the Mad Beer Man]

Beer and ice cream... never had the two separate/combined like that. Heard it was good though!

HOWEVER... I do have a gallon of Phantom Canyon Stout Ice Cream. It was specially made by Josh & John's (it can't be bought) for Phantom Canyon for their Valentine's Day specials. The only reason I got some was due to Fran's daughter's boyfriend - who is a line chef at PC. DAMN GOOD!

[Chipper Dave]

One other good brew I've tried recently was the Samuel Adams Cream Stout. Mmmm. Those guys make some damn good beers. Makes you wish that dark beer season would last year round, well it can, but in 100 degree summer heat like we have up here in Greeley, dark beers just don't refresh like the lighter fare does in heat.

[Eli the Mad Beer Man]

Sam Adams is great beer! Big fan of Boston Beer. LOVE their Black Lager!

I've Been trying to get them on board with the Aleuminati (I have a contact in their PR department), but far as I know, no such luck yet.

Fran and I want to go to Boston to see a Red Sox game in Fenway, tour the Sam Adams brewery, and hit up the many fine (nay, world class) beer bars in the area.

[Rob DeNunzio]

Now here's a topic that can get a guy like me to rambling... Old Peculier was probably the beer that woke me up to how the power of the dark side could manifest itself as something other than the Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout that fueled my college days. Which, come to think of it, is probably why I now have a soft spot for New Belgium's 1554 - it's a nice black beer that has something totally different to say than your typical stouts and porters.

Other favorites include (sorry, Eli) the big, dark monsters of the northern winter: Scaldis Noël, St. Feuillien Cuvée De Noël and all their murky and severe Belgian holiday ales...

And I'd be remiss if I neglected to give proper praise to my personal dark lord, Gulden Draak. Bow before the golden dragon!

(Oh, and there's something I'm working on that relates to this thread that I'll pass along once it's finished, on Belgian stouts and how they're really coming into their own as a style.)

And Kostritzer! Crap this is hard.

[Corbin Choate]

Yes, Sam Adams has some fine beers. I really like their Cream Stout too. I have 3 of them in my fridge as we speak. I forgot to mention A Lump of Coal from Ridgeway Brewing. It's available between mid-November and Christmas.

There are many elixirs of darkness I have yet to try. Fear not. The Dark Lord himself has provided a Whole Foods in my vicinity which specializes in just such goodness.

Giant---Single----Bottles.

[Shawn, the Beer Philosopher]

Okay Rob, I too am a huge fan of Gulden Draak ... huge! I often wonder why it doesn't seem to get the props it deserves ...

So we're on to darks, huh ... this reminds me that I have a Victory Storm King, "vintage" '06 in the cellar I need to unearth one day soon ..

Have any of you guys had the pleasure of enjoying Perkuno's Hammer from Heavyweight Brewing Co. before they went the way of the dinosaur? Maybe the best baltic porter I ever tried ... I miss that beer.

I'm looking forward to your analysis of Belgian stouts ... ...

[Rob DeNunzio]

You know, I've always liked Gulden Draak, but it wasn't until I had it on tap that I was completely converted by the power of the dragon. So I guess I've figured out what pint I'll be buying for you when you get out here...

[Shawn, the Beer Philosopher]

Sweet!

[Chipper Dave]

Ooo that Gulden Draak bottle looks unique. I'll have to look for that. I love a good Belgian. One of the local Belgian dark brews I've tasted comes from the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, CO. Their 1554 Belgian Black Ale. It is jet black and has that familiar New Belgium hop taste only with lots more malt. I love that stuff more than I do their Fat Tire Amber Ale. While Fat Tire is ok, I think they've grown beyond that beer now and have got another good beer on their hands with their 1554. That reminds me, I have to pick more up of that this weekend.

[Da OD]

What a GREAT topic. Where to being? Old Peculier... Boy I have some stories for that brew. Guinness, A brew so good I named my pup for it (SHR Lord Guiness of Stout, UKC, AKC). Murphy's Irish Stout, tasty. So many other Great Darks. Heinekan Dark is tolerable, Sam Adam's Black Lager, Delightful! Schlafly Irish Stout, Coffee stout, and Oatmeal stout, Primo. One of my favorites is Xingu, a Brazilian Black Beer. That's whats in the Beer Fridge. Unibroue has their Trois pistoles and Chambly Noire, Yummy. There's a good start.