Wakey Whiskey: Roaming Man Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey

By Eric Ducote

Good morning all and HAPPY M'F'IN' GAMEDAY to you all!  We wait all off-season for this day with a bit of hope that this season is going to be the one.  This season LSU is going to beat Alabama, win the SEC, go to the playoffs, and win the WHOLE DAMN THING.  We also all know that this isn't likely, but hey, for now, I'm saying there's a chance.  LSU is starting off the season with the University of Miami, which is a tough test right out the gate, both for the Tigers and for my wakey whiskey selection.  I try to tie what I'm drinking in to who the team is playing, or where they are, or just something that makes a connection.  

Well, I don't have any Miami whiskey.  I don't even have any whiskey from the state of Florida.  Do they even make whiskey in Florida?  What's "Florida Man" up to these days anyway?  In the absence of a Miami connection, I had to go with the backup plan, base my selection off of where I am at the time.  Well it turns out for this Labor Day weekend I'm on vacation in Knoxville, Tennessee, and in the Bite and Booze collection just happened to be a bottle of Roaming Man Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey from the Sugarlands Distilling Company in nearby Gatlinburg.  

Roaming Man Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey

This is a blend of three barrels from the same batch that were all barreled at 118.42 proof back on May 29th, 2015, then aged for two years and five months prior to bottling at barrel strength.  The final proof on this whiskey is a robust 120.98 for 60.49% alcohol by volume.  As mentioned before, this is a straight rye whiskey, with a grain bill of 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% malted barley.  All of that information is right on the bottle (plus more) which is phenomenal for a whiskey geek like me.  

Now, the whiskey, this was aged in 25 gallon barrels so even though it's only around 2.5 years aged that increased surface area per volume will augment the aging process.  This sped up process leaves a rich copper colored whiskey with hints of red and orange.  The nose is potent with alcohol but also some cinnamon and vanilla notes.  The taste is strong with a pronounced alcohol burn (to be expected!) then the oak and vanilla comes through from the barrel char as well as more cinnamon notes which is very typical for rye-heavy whiskeys.  This is definitely a sipper that will probably benefit from an ice cube of a splash of water (maybe next pour) but it's a good sip just served neat and room temperature.

I'm glad to have tried this one, now I need to look for some other Sugarlands products while I'm up in Knoxville.  Cheers! and GEAUX TIGERS! 

Feature Beer Friday: Innis & Gunn's Bourbon Barrel Porter

By Eric Ducote

Good morning everyone on this Labor Day weekend!  I'm still at work for today, then headed out on vacation, but don't worry, there's a Wakey Whiskey coming for you all on Sunday.  Just because it's football season though and the whiskey is flowing doesn't mean the Feature Beer Friday posts have to stop.  I can multi-task pretty well it turns out. Today's #FeatureBeerFriday is coming to us from Innis & Gunn out of Scotland, and I believe it's my first international beer to be featured. Innis & Gunn features a wide lineup of craft-focused beers as well as three brewpubs throughout Scotland.  

This particular beer from Innis & Gunn is their Bourbon Barrel Porter.  It comes in 4-packs of 12 ounce bottles, which I found recently at my local Rouse's store but should be in other stores around town with a good craft and international selection.  It's 7.4% with an undisclosed IBU, but I wouldn't expect too much hop pressence from a porter to begin with and even less after some barrel aging.  

Innis & Gunn's Bourbon Barrel Porter with a cameo from The Adorable Bentley.

The beer pours exactly how I would expect, a deep brown color with a finger or so of off-white head.  The aroma is sweet, with notes of toffee and chocolate, and just a hint of bourbon and the familiar vanilla notes.  The taste is incredibly smooth, layers of flavor including toffee, vanilla, dark chocolate, and bourbon, but none particularly stand out and dominate, giving it the complexity they claim, but maybe without a crazy amount of richness.  It's actually not a bad thing at all as too heavy in one facet or another could throw this well balanced beer completely out of whack.  

I know the USA tends to be thought of (with good reason) as the world leader when it comes to craft beer, but this offering out of Scotland shows that we aren't the only country putting out a quality product.  Cheers, enjoy your holiday weekend, and Geaux Tigers! 

Feature Beer Friday: Tin Roof's Dry-Hopped Saison

By Eric Ducote

Good morning once again, and welcome back to Feature Beer Friday here at Bite And Booze.  It's almost football season, which means a lot more #wakeywhiskey, but in the meantime there's always time for a beer or three.  It's been a few minutes (or months) since I featured Tin Roof Brewing, but they have some pretty good stuff on tap and available in cans right now, so I thought it was the perfect time to feature one of their newest brews, the Dry-Hopped Saison. This beer is currently available in 12 oz. cans from the taproom.

Tin Roof's Dry-Hopped Saison

This brew is Tin Roof's take on a traditional saison, then dry-hopped with Simcoe hops.  The color is a slightly hazy pale yellow with the fizzy extra bubbly head that is typical of a saison.  The initial aroma is powerful with piney resinous hops that hit me as soon as I crack the can open and get stronger as I pour.  The taste is unmistakably hoppy, but that farmhouse funk is strong as well, with a hint of a sour note and plenty of yeasty esters that distinguish the saison style.  It's only 5.5% abv which makes this a really easy drinker that's perfect for the hot rainy days we've been experiencing.  

This certainly isn't the flashiest beer around, but it's another excellent release from the rejuvenated Tin Roof Brewing Company. 

Feature Beer Friday: Eel River's Triple Exultation Barleywine

By Eric Ducote

Good morning again readers!  I hope everyone has been having a fantastic summer now that the "vacation" aspect is coming to a close.  The weather aspect... we'll still have a few months I'm sure.  I hinted at this week's Feature Beer already, and sure enough, here's the Triple Exultation Barleywine Style Ale from Eel River Brewing. This beer is the 2018 edition that I also found for a cheap $5.99 for a bomber at Rouse's, and it comes in at 9.7% and 80 IBU.  I talked a bit about Eel River in last week's post, so I'll jump straight into the review.

Eel River's Triple Exultation Barleywine style Ale

My first thought was that this is a bit on the dark side for a barleywine, I'm more used to seeing a copper to deep red color and this beer is more on the brown end of the spectrum. Upon first sip, there's not much flavor, and this comes across more like a big amber ale than a barleywine to me, but as it warmed up the beer opened up a great deal.  The barleywine characteristics started to come out like toffee and caramel notes from the strong malt backbone.  The hop presence was strong and bitter but not overpowering.  

After pulling this beer up on Eel River's page I see that it has previously been marketed as an Old Ale, so that makes more sense why I would initially feel it was on the bland side for a barleywine.  By the time I was done with the bomber I was really enjoying the Triple Exultation, especially for the price, so I'd recommend finding one, but be sure to let it warm up a few degrees before diving in. 

Cheers everyone!       

Feature Beer Friday: Eel River's Raven's Eye Imperial Stout

By Eric Ducote

Good morning everyone on another beautiful Friday!  Today's feature beer is coming from Eel River Brewing out of Humboldt County, California.  Eel River operates two facilities out there, a brewing and packaging facility as well as a brewpub and tasting room.  Eel River Brewing has been around for a good while, over 20 years, and has been distributed locally in limited quantities for many years as well.  I've never seen any of their flagships pop up, but I do often see the Raven's Eye Imperial Stout on shelves and used to drink plenty of it, always finding it to be one of the best offerings of the style regularly available.  I saw bombers of the 2018 Raven's Eye and the 2018 Triple Exultation Barleywine at Rouse's for $5.99 each, I didn't hesitate to grab one of each.  You can probably guess now what next week's feature beer is going to be... 

The Raven's Eye Imperial Stout is listed at 9.5% abv and 28.5 IBU, described by Eel River as, "Bold and creamy, with hints of dark chocolate and espresso, this roasty brew is balanced by aromas reminiscent of molasses and plums. Warm, festive and strong, Raven's Eye is also quite smooth."

Eel River's Raven's Eye Imperial Stout

The pour is exactly what an Imperial Stout should look like, a viscous dark brown with a frothy off-white head.  The aroma is boozy with chocolate flavors and hints of plum.  The taste is similar, roasty with more chocolate notes and definitely dark fruit flavors.  (I actually wrote those tasting notes in my phone before I looked at Eel River's own description!)  This is a full-bodied full-flavored fantastic Imperial stout at a great price.

If you see this one around town, don't hesitate, and if you see it at as good of a price as I found, you might want to buy one or two to age as well, as I could see this getting even better over time.  Cheers!