Monday, June 1, 2009

Big Happy Hopper

Hoppin' Frog's Oatmeal Imperial Stout (BORIS the Crusher) is quite an intense beer. Which is great - I love that it! But tonight I was in the mood to mess with that big fat bullfrog of a beer. I found a bottle of Big Hoppy Monster - Terrapin's "Imperial" Red Ale - and blended that with the "Crusher." The Monster is great. It has both the hops and the malt galore, but it does not have the sweetness to tie it together. The blend is very nice... it mellows out the crusher's oatmeal malt a bit and adds more hops in the nose, AND it brings out the crusher's sweetness, which by itself is buried under all that oatmeal malt. This blend is a big happy winner!
[PS.: I should mention that the Hoppy Monster was a bit aged - I acquired it in Nov. 2008 - so it had been in my fridge for 8 months.]