Parents

Some times parents can be very cool. Yes I said it, very cool indeed! Whilst away on one of their annual trips to Florida I asked them if they would bring me back a few bottles of craft beer - they said yes. I did not expect much as my parents have no clue about craft beers, there more interested where they can get the cheapest oakiest chardonnay, or shiraz from.

To my great surprise, what do they bring me? Only the bottles displayed below;

Now I'm one who can get easily exited by the simplest of new beers, so these really hit the spot. They were bought, apparently, in a offie in Florida which sells around 1000 different craft beers from different U.S. craft breweries. This is not a massively advertised feature though, as the main selling product for the shop is different wines, apparently 1000 different craft brews is not a big thing in the U.S..

So yes parents can be quite cool sometimes, if somewhat unknowingly! They had no idea about any of the beers, they just thought they looked cool.

Two of these I tried tonight - Harpoon's Leviathan series - Double IPA and Stoudts - Fat Dog barrel aged imperial oatmeal stout. The DIPA was great - big aromas of candy floss, lychee fruit, grapefruit and a big hoppy bitterness. The flavour was a little smoky with some woody bourbon flavour in the big caramel malty body, mixed in with the citrus/orange zest. With the big warming effects from this 10% beer, it is definitely a major cross between a DIPA and a barley wine.

The second beer I had was Fat Dog's barrel aged imperial oatmeal stout (can they fit any more styles in there?) This was a big beer at 9% with huge aroma hints of a dairy/milky, oatmeal smell. The flavour was exactly what it said on the tin - velvet silky smooth with a big oaky body leading to a nice bitterness. Very balanced and expertly produced, a winner in my books.

So there you have it, my advice to everyone is - don't underestimate anyone! I think I will keep the other two beers to share with some staff members ;)