Deadwood Nut Brown Ale

This weekend my parents and I went to Boston to see the Red Sox play the Orioles. We stayed at a Comfort Inn not too far from downtown. Inside the inn, there were signs for a Deadwood Cafe and Brewery so, being me, I twisted everyone's arm into going.

When we arrived, the place wasn't exactly what we expected. It was in a bowling alley but who am I to judge? This could be some fantastic beer that no one knows about. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

They were out of their stout but the replacement offering was a nut brown ale so I ordered that. On the website, it's described as a blend of a Pilsner and a Stout. The beer came out a dark brown, nearly black color. There was a small head that was cream to white in color but it dissipated very quickly to a very thin layer of foam. The nose was muted but a few floral and hop notes were present. The flavor was thin and overhopped for the style of beer. It was nearly identical to my dad's IPA in the amount of hoppiness. It was very disappointing since malty beers are my favorite and that's what this was supposed to be in part. There was no real aftertaste which was good but the beer overall was lacking. I'm sorry to say I won't be recommending this to anyone because I wouldn't want them to face the same disappointment that I faced here. 

Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

The quest for the elusive blueberry beer I had two summer ago continues. This time I decided to get out of the ales and try a stout. Unfortunately, it still wasn't a success in finding the magical purple beer but in any case, this one was still very good. Buffalo Bill's Brewery was the source of our most recent blueberry beer in the form of their Blueberry Stout. 

Their label held a lot of promise for my search which is why I bought it. I mean, look at all the berries on the label! Needless to say, that while the beer wasn't purple, it certainly did not disappoint in blueberry flavor. Even though this wasn't the beer I was looking for, I would certainly look for it again. 

Dad wanted to be fancy since it was a tulip glass

I poured the beer into a tulip glass from the Spiegelau collection that I have. The beer poured a deep brown, nearly black, color with a tan head that dissipated rather quickly. The nose of the beer was full of blueberry notes with just a hint of toasted malts and chocolate. The flavor matched the nose wonderfully with the classic stout flavor standing up wonderfully to the sweetness of the blueberries. The finish was clean with no real flavor lingering. There were a few hints of chocolate. The beer was remarkably smooth with little carbonation. It was overall a very good experience. As I said earlier, I strongly recommend this to anyone who enjoys both blueberries and oatmeal stouts.