Dead Bear Brewery

Well, when in Rome.  Or more precisely, when in Grayling, Michigan..  There happens to be a brewery right in front of the Days Inn where I had a room.

The Dead Bear Brewery.

Decor is not much, pretty 'rustic cabin' type stuff, but not too tacky.  They had a good selection of not just their own, but other Michigan Brews.  A few Short's, Dark Horse, Bell's, and a couple of others as well.  I wanted to sample a bunch, but it was late and I had to work early in the morning, so I just had one.  I tried their Hefeweizen, and it was pretty good.  Not a ton of depth, but no nasty off flavors and a very clean finish.  This would work great for a spring summer outside workin' beer.

I also ate there.  Menu had some sandwiches, a couple of steaks, and some homestyle favorites.  I had an open face Ribeye sandwich and my traveling partner had the meatloaf.  The meatloaf came out with a nice stack of onion rings on it.  I knew I was going to be OK when the waitress thanked me for ordering the ribeye rare.  It wasn't a ton of food, but it was a nice portion for only $11.

I'd eat there again.  Especially if I have to go to that supplier again.

Lot 40 Canadian Whisky

Nose: mint, leather, rye grain.  Slight cloves and spice, but not overpowering.  It opens up nicely, a little tingly on the nose.

Palate: smooth, not oily. A gentle rest onto the middle of the tongue.  Sweet rye and spice, smooth grass and whole grain. 

Finish is long and lingering, never gets too bitter, stays balanced as it gently fades away.  The peppermint is a low undercurrent throughout, never dominating and running away like some ryes, just gently supporting the earth and spice.  Not that this is terribly earthy like many Single Malts, but it is present.

A very nice drink at an immensely drinkable proof that requires nothing more than an open bottle.  I surprise myself continually when I reach past the Four Roses limited edition to drink this.  Although this isn't available in my state, I will find myself going out of my way to get more again very soon.  At ~$45 bucks, the value is pretty amazing as well for a relatively sought after whisky.  It is almost enough to push it into the daily drinker category, but I'm still a little too cheap for that.

Elmer T. Lee

Nose: spice and wood. Slightly pepper minty.

Palate: spice, a bit of heat with an undercurrent of rich caramel. Not terribly sweet, but sweet enough to balance the bite.

Finish: nice and long, drifting towards the tingling heat and the caramelized sugars. A twinge of vanilla that has been lurking throughout shines a bit near the end. Reminds me of swallowing the last bite of creme brûlée.

You know those things that fit right, those old slippers, that comfy pair of pants, that but groove in your couch.  That's where I am with ETL.  I've mentioned it a lot before, but this is the first time focusing on it.  I love this stuff. It is great for the price point, readily available, and always delivers. If I had to choose only one bourbon to have constant access to at retail price for the rest of my days, this would probably be it.

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel

Nose: old wood and leather with a bit of smoke.

Palate: sweet spice, leather, and a bit of ash and oak with varnish

Finish: short, slightly acidic, and a mouthful of just whisky.

I actually kinda like this bottle.  Not a fan of regular JD, even the gentleman Jack leave me with a mouth full of ash and smoke. This doesn't do that. It is there, but just as an accent flavor.  It is pretty sweet, but we knew that with Brown Forman, right?  There is a lot of similarity with the Woodford Reserve profile. Not a bad thing for this, but not a ringing endorsement for the price point either. This bottle came to me as a 'liberated' open bottle from a tasting by the Detroit Wine Organization.  Hey, they can't re-seal it and offer it anywhere else, right? 

Caribou Crossing

Nose: soft rye bread, light cinnamon spice.  Very subtle nose, not much there.

Palate: sugary sweet, mellow and even. Spice is very minimal.  Unimpressive, but inoffensive.

Finish: no burn, light tingling. Still pretty sweet.

So, this is a Canadian whisky offering from buffalo trace.  See, BT named themselves after a buffalo crossing, and this is their Canadian whisky... Get it? Ha.

Not bad stuff, but nothing to write home about. Got this on a whim and a recommendation from a store owner (over on Woodward).  Another customer came in while I was browsing and bought a couple of bottles as it had been out of stock.  I was not overly impressed.  I am also quite unimpressed with the other two selections recommended to me by this owner.  Side note, I'm not going to bother with this store anymore.  I'll stick to our buddies at the Canopy in Brighton from now on.  Not to say that this is bad, quite contrary, it is pretty good.  Just it isn't anything special and the price tag is too much for what it delivers.

Parker's Heritage Collection Promise of Hope (2013)

Nose: thick spice, deep caramel, luscious vanilla.  Big, big, nose.

Palate: matches the nose beautifully.  Full caramel, vanilla, some chocolate.  All topped with a dash of cinnamon, some cloves, and some allspice and pepper.  Full flavor bourbon.  The caramel feels more dominant to me, but man is it tasty.

Finish: tingly and peppery, a nice compliment to the candy sweet nose and palate. 

This not only supports a great cause, much more palatable than dumping ice water on your head, but is an all time great whisky.  In the words of Heaven Hill Brand Ambassador, Bernie Lubbers, "greatest there is and there won't be another quite like it!" This was in response to me complimenting Craig on having made this a fantastic product, Bernie leaned over with that response and filled my glass.  This was at WhiskyFest in Chicago. I normally only go for things that I am unfamiliar with there, but I made my way over there, specifically for this.  Darned is it tasty.  I really wish I had bought more.  This was my last sip of my saved sample.

Four Roses Single Barrel Limited Edition 2013

Nose: rich and velvety, decent amount of alcohol, as should be expected given the obscene proof of this. Chocolate and cinnamon stick out to me, along a solid backdrop of oak and leather.

Palate: hot fire and cinnamon. Pretty intense, water tames it some, and opens some caramel bits, but it is a fun drink a full strength.  While it is hot and intense, it isn't too much.  Doesn't feel like varnish being applied to your teeth, just like a nice hot candy. Funny note, I hate red hots and other similar candies, but love this stuff.  Dunno, maybe I need to revisit that policy.

Finish: nice and long, twisting towards bitter, but never unpleasant. Picks up a little tang that is escaping me right now, but I want to say it is related to the yeast strain.

For all the great press that the 2012 and 2013 small batch limited editions got, I found this to be better for me in a blind tasting.  Dunno, maybe I liked the higher proof and the hotter feel, maybe just the extra push of chocolate did it for me?  Also no bottle picture of this.  The tasting this evening is coming out of the sample library, which is soon to be sent away to its' intended target. The bottle for this was gone probably last April or May. 

Block Brewing

As I have been made aware of my audience, I have been negligent in keeping updated.  The new place in town here, Block Brewing, has been a hang-out of sorts in the last couple weeks.  Three meals and a couple of Beers.  I don't take detailed notes when eating with friends, so that's not going to appear here.  Anyway, a sampling of some beers that I had of theirs:

Hop Genius
Love Me
These two were very hoppy... not my favorite category.  Drinking partner Dr. Green and White really enjoyed the contrast between the hop notes, with one being more citrus-y, but I unfortunately cannot remember which.  Both seemed very hop forward without much other flavor.  No real off-notes, but just a bit bitter without much of a pay-off for me.  Good, but if I want hoppy, I want a Two-Hearted.

Atlas Amber
Pretty good amber ale, good robust beer flavor without anything offensive to it.  Decently bitter and interesting.  Had a pair of these on my second visit.

Cross-Eyed Moose
Transporter
?Blackout Stout?
Not 100% sure this was the stout that I had, but I think so.  There wasn't as much contrast with these three as I think there should have been given the descriptions, but they were all solid malty beers with nice dark roasty flavors.  The coffee flavoring of one of them was nice, but for something billed as a coffee flavor, I want more coffee forward.

Now, I've heard good things about a couple others, but they were out both days I was in there.  For reference, those are the Blood-Red Orange IPA, the Blonde, and the Black IPA.

For food, they focus on Barbecue. They did, however, keep the pretzel sticks and cheese from the old Shark Club menu.  My son and his little friends greatly appreciate that. I got the 'Big Block Burger' twice and the Brisket sandwich once.  I also saw/sampled the pulled pork sandwich.  All pretty solid.  The variety of sauces is nothing to write home about, but they are good.  I found the Texas Hot to be most to my liking with the beef, though the others worked well too.  The Kid's mac and cheese was huge and pretty darned good.  I was stealing forkfuls of that with a little dip in the sauces.  I saw a pizza at the next table that looked pretty decent as well.

Altogether, my expectations were very low... I thought this place was doomed.  The Shark Club always had great beer selection, but the atmosphere was horrible and the food was just OK.  The atmosphere is 100% better with a nice new dark wood interior and better tables.  The food is good, though perhaps a more limited menu.  They still have a handful of rotating taps for other craft brews, and the selection was more than decent, but not the expansive list that the Shark Club had.  I really hope these guys can make this a successful place.  Can't beat the location from my house and it is way easier to get the family in and out of there than most other places around.

Cheers,
Andy

Eagle Rare 10YO

(Canopy select barrel)

Nose: nice spices, cinnamon, pepper, clove.  Plenty of hotter pepper; cayenne, crushed red pepper, paprika type.  Pretty minimal on the vanilla and caramel tones.  There is plenty of alcohol, especially for 45%, but it is a good whisky alcohol strong nose.

Palate: delivers exactly what the nose promises.  The pepper is flavorful, but not too hot.  Easy to sit and hold or sip this one.  Fades to some more minty flavors after the pepper and spice rush.  The vanillas and caramels really do play a side role in this whisky,

Finish: well in line with the nose and palate.  Still fading to the minty notes. Never turns bitter or acidic. Also turns hotter, but not unpleasantly so.

Another great gift from Dr. Green and White and family.  My personal booze provider it seems.  It has been a long time since I have purchased a bottle of Eagle Rare, mostly because it is in the same price range as Elmer T. Lee, and as you know from reading this, I like that a lot.  Like another brand, 1792, it is good but hard to make the hand reach past the ETL just for the variety.  This whisky has me thinking of making an intensity scale of some sort.  The reason for that is this doesn't beat you over the head with spice.  It is a nice thrust, but it isn't so intense that it burns anything in or out.  Like flexing muscles from a distance.