Hello again!  Dooley and I are back at it as my fridge is overloaded with blog-worthy beer.  First, I have to give a shout out to Kevin who brought back two beers from Florida which we are going to review first:

Brewer:  Florida Beer Company
Beer Name:  Key West Sunset Ale
Beer Style: American Amber Ale
Price?
ABV: 4.8%

Aroma: A slight citrus maybe?  John said "something".  Not sure it is anything at all but air.  Weird start to a beer rating.

Appearance:  Amber, duh.  Pretty clear.  Nice foam and lacing.  Overall, a good looking beer.

Mouthfeel:  Light, slightly bubbly.

Taste:  Smooth.  Definitely a light summer beer.  Not much taste at all.

Overall Rating:  I'm saying a 3.5.  If it was August and I was sitting poolside, the rating may be higher but its January and I'm on my 55 degree basement.  John says its 3 and he would drink heavier when it gets warmer.  Definitely better than Bud Light but not much to it.

Brewer:  Cigar City Brewing cigar citybrewing.com
Beer Name: Maduro Brown Ale
Beer Style: Brown Ale
Price: ?
ABV: 5.5%

Aroma: Hint of Cocoa nibs.  Yummmm  Chocolate.  Smells delicious.

Appearance: Definitely cloudy. Dark.  Looks like a dark brown ale.  Very little lacing in the glass.

Mouthfeel:  A little tingly.  Lighter side but not disappointing.

Taste:  Delicious.  This is a very nice beer.  It has a great chocolate taste with some other sweet notes as well.  Very well balanced; slightly malty and very smooth.  I might see if I can find this somewhere in Missouri.

Overall Rating: I'm going 4.5.  Almost perfect.  My only complaint is that it is fairly simple and straightforward which isn't a bad thing.  John says 4.25.  Good hints of chocolate.  Overall good cold weather beer.  Check their website.  It looks legit.  They have a lot of weird sounding, intriguing beer.

On to #3!

Brewer: Schmaltz Brewing Company amd Terrapin Brewing Company
Beer Name:  Reunion Ale '14 (A Beer for Hope)
Beer Style: Ale w/ toasted coconut, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, choclate, and cocoa nibs (This is legit- it says it in the label)
Price: Can't remember- Probably about $5 for a pint bottle.  This is a beer brewed for charity- specifically Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research,

Aroma:  Smells like friggin coffee.  Like Folgers in your cup coffee.  I was hoping for a little more of a blend.  Maybe the taste will be better then the aroma.  John gets a hint of chocolate.  I got some cinnamon after the Folgers cloud vacated the area.

Appearance:  Mississippi mud pie in a glass.  Dark and cloudy for sure.  A good looking beer- nice lacing; good foam.  This looks like a good beer.

Mouthfeel:  Slightly tingly- not very heavy.  Pleasant.

Taste:  Holy crap!  John says its too many tastes being celebrated at one time.  I concur.  This is like drinking the entire Golden Corral in one glass.  Cinnamon, chocolate, vanilla, kung pao chicken, artichoke hearts in a light butter garlic sauce, lemon cake with chiffon icing, its all here.  Might be slightly ambitious as a beer.  It smells like you are drinking a cup of coffee but very little coffee taste because everything else comes through.

Overall rating:  First off, I love the Schmaltz brewing company mentality. They have great beer names, labels, pictures, etc.  As an overall brewer, they are up there on my list.  This beer however, is not their best offering.  I am saying a 2.0 with the points being deducted for biting off a bigger chunk then they could chew.  John says licorice.  2.5.  Not good but better then Milwaukee's Best Light.  (Check out our rating for MBL in the cheap beer blog from a couple of years back!)

Next Beer:

Brewer:  Boatswain Brewing Company
Beer Name:  Chocolate Stout
Beer Style: Chocolate Stout
Price:  Don't know.  Wife picked it up at Trader Joe's for me.

Aroma:  Nothing.  Literally air only.  Second weird aroma tonight.  John thinks the chocolate beer thing is a giant farce as every time he drinks a "chocolate" beer, it is nothing near chocolate.  He might be on to something with this one.

Appearance:  Super dark, Like a chocolate stout.  Great lacing, perfect pour.

Mouthfeel:  Not much there.  Very smooth and easy on the palate.

Taste:  Very bland.  Not much chocolate and not very stoutish either.  More like a very mild brown ale.  John says nothing up front and nothing on the back end.  Sounds like a real bad date to me.
We are watching "The Wendell Baker Story".  Its pretty funny.  Wait for the comvenience store scene.  Hilarious.

10:38 pm  We just turned on the Godfather and we are going to blog one more beer.

Brewer:  Boulevard
Beer Name:  Smokestack Series Imperial Stout
Beer Style:  Chocolate Imperial Stout
Price:  $12.99? at Schnucks

Aroma:  Whiskeyish.  Go figure.  Quite a bit of whiskey stout.

Appearance:  Not as dark as the other stout.

Mouthfeel:  A shot of whisky, anyone?  Definitely not a light beer here.  Plenty of weight, tingle, etc.

Taste:  Not a bad Imperial; stout at all.  I'm not a huge fan of imperial stout but this is fairly mild with a very laid back whiskey taste.  At 11%, it still packs a whallop but niot as bad as some others.  It is reasonably drinkable.  

Overall rating:  John says 3.75.  Good taste but hard to swallow.  No comment necessary.  I'm saying a 3.0.  Not a huge imperial stout fan but its not bad.  I'm going to sleep tonight for sure given that this is 11%.  Night night.  Pics come tomorrow.