A trip to the Wine Warehouse

I bought the beers below from Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville, VA. The place has a really great selection and I usually spend too much money when I’m up there. The Dogfish Head slection is especially good. The also have Celis beers, which I found really odd the first time I saw them, since Celis has been out of business for years. I have a soft spot for that brewery because Celis White was one of the first beers my wife liked and that brewery was big in Austin when we were living there. Not to mention that Pierre Celis was the brewmaster. Apparently, the name was bought by these guys and they’ve started brewing it again. Anyway, onto the (brief) comments about the beers.

Dogfish Head Black and Blue — cracked this one open at the very end of a long night. I was really afraid that it would be sickly sweet, but as with the Red and White, the sweetness was muted. It was a nice beer, but I didn’t like it nearly as much as the Red and White. 10% ABV
Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale — another real winner from Bell’s. It’s a thick, dark old ale that balances the malty, caramel sweetness very well with the alcohol and (muted) hops. It’s a very dark, almost opaque brown/red body and a tan, thick head. I’m very glad I bought a six-pack of this (actually a seven pack by mistake since I put one in a mixed six). Apparently “old ale” also means barleywine, which I learned while looking for information on this beer. I had an Expedition Stout as well — fantastic as always. 9% ABV
Thirsty Dog Hoppus Maximus — this one didn’t make much of an impression on me. Grassy, astringent hop flavor which felt kind of thin. I expected a huge IPA-type beer (even though it’s an Amber Ale), but it was fairly run-of-the-mill. Maybe the name set my expectations too high, but I wasn’t overly impressed. 5% ABV
Abbaye des Rocs Triple Imperiale — I was trying to find the brown ale, but settled on the triple. I’ve never seen so many yeasty floaters in a beer before. The color is a much darker brown/amber than I expected with a creamy head that doesn’t really linger. It has a medium to full mouthfeel (maybe oily?), with roasted caramel. Some BA folks said figs and molasses tastes to it — I was trying to place the flavor and I think that’s it. I like it, but the yeast floaters are extremely disconcerting (it is filled with them!). 10% ABV
Celis Grand Cru — I had never seen this one before, so I figured it was worth a try. I tasted a bit of banana and spicy clove in this one. It poured a straw/gold color and had a white, bubly head. It was good — I’m glad I got to try it, but I wouldn’t seek it out. 8% ABV

And finally, I had this beer out at a restaurant in Charlottesville…
Smuttynose IPA — Extremely hoppy and good. Nice, solid very good IPA. 6.6% ABV.