Sharing a Straight to Ale stout. Brings back memories of our trip to the brewery. Starts with what appears to be a very heavy texture, almost no head. Aroma of dark chocolate and alcohol. Texture is full-bodied but not as heavy as expected. Very creamy and smooth. Flavor is outstanding. Swiss dark milk chocolate with strong overtones of amaretto followed by a rich sweet coffee. Faint traces of vanilla in the background. All this is followed by a modest coffee bitterness in the finish. Excellent beer.

Good Duo beer. Son-in-law and I visited Straight to Ale and loved it. Interesting pastry stout that I took to Texas. Deep brown head, disappeared too fast. Super sweet aroma of maple and raw vanilla. Very soft and smooth texture. Powerful flavor. Huge blast of roasted malt, dark Swiss chocolate, sweet vanilla and maple syrup, followed by a rich slightly bitter French roast coffee. Each flavor complimented the other, incredibly well balanced. During the finish, the chocolate turns a little more bitter as it begins to dominate the palate. Not until the third sip does the 10.9% reveal itself in a big way, filling the nasal cavity with a pleasant burn. The taste just keeps going, lasts much longer than normal. This is a great beer. Hope I have a chance to find some more. Didn't quite max out my scale but came very close.

Enjoyed watching the Super Bowl with my son. Congratulations to Los Angeles for a great game. Very dark brown color, not completely opaque. Roasted coffee aroma. Smooth, gentle texture, not thick at all. Not as creamy as I would think a milk stout might be. Flavor is strong roasted coffee with a roasted coffee bitter kick. Finish continues this bitter deep roasted coffee quality.

Son-in-law arrived from Texas last night. This stout was so good that I needed to share one with the him. We will see if he enjoys it as much as me. No need to review, same as before. Loved it. So did Ryan.

This beer is from one of the best breweries in Alabama, Straight to Ale in Huntsville. This is their flagship beer. Very high and frothy head. Has some orange in it. Hazy deep orange color with no visible particulates. Has a fragrant flowery orange blossom aroma. Flavor is lightly sour, orange peel and pine. I've often heard reviews use pine as a taste adjective but this is the first time that I actually taste that. As the finish draws near, a hoppy bitterness arrives. The finish combines a bittersweet and sour quality with a grapefruit citrus with notes of the flower blossoms still in the background. IPAs have never been my favorite, and the ones that are flowery seldom connect with me. I seem to like the strong citrus and low bitterness qualities. I love this brewery, especially their stout, but I probably will not order this one again. I guess it's good, just not for me.

Trying to recover after Alabama's fabulous win over Georgia in the SEC championship. Went out and bought this as a celebration beer, from a really good Alabama Brewery. Almost no head, hazy with a very deep reddish brown color. Aroma brings forth an unusual deep fruit, maybe very ripe prunes. Texture has a softness but is also somewhat dry. The first thing you get is an alcohol punch, no barrel aging to change the flavor to some liquor. Next comes a distinctive raspberry with some notes of chocolate behind it. Neither are as sweet as you would expect. By the finish, both are gone and only a deep roasted, slightly bitter coffee and a tingling alcohol burn remain. This is one of the few old ales I've had. The 10.1% alcohol seems much stronger, more like 13.5 because it shows itself upfront and sticks around. I also love the way it has phases of flavor that come and go, which shows a great deal of complexity in this recipe. Definitely looking forward to opening another can that I don't have to share.

West Coast IPA from a very good Alabama brewery. High and very frothy head. Lasting a long time. Strong tropical fruit aroma. Deep orangish yellow clear color. Intense flavor. Grapefruit and orange peel dominate this citrus flavor. Strong amount of hops made to finish long and tangy. Good West Coast IPA but still just a little strong on the hops for me.

Happy New Year!!! (Central Time) Start with an Imperial Russian Stout. Not much head. Pours jet black. Aroma pushes the alcohol forward. Tastes first brings the bourbon barrel alcohol followed by a dark roasted chocolate. Finish shows a dark fruit sour while turning the chocolate bittersweet. Alcohol burn lasts. Good but can only handle one. Thankful to say goodbye to 2020.

Going to enjoy this one outside on a beautiful, somewhat cool, autumn day. Not looking forward to cleaning up all these leaves. Has an exquisite deep red clear color. Orange head that doesn't last too long. Aroma brings out the blood orange. Texture is clean and smooth. A soft, somewhat strong, but bitter sour flavor comes forth quickly. At first, it tastes like biting into an orange without peeling it. It then transitions into a sweet raisin or plum before finishing with diminishing citrus bitterness. After all of the citrus IPAs I've had, I would take this citrus Dubbel over all of them. On my next kayak trip, which seems far away, I think this is what I will bring. Wasn't expecting much but really have enjoyed this one. Be careful, that 8% alcohol is totally hidden.

Pool side trying another beer from Straight to Ale. American pilsners have a long way to go to catch up with German and Czech. Starts with a very small head, disappears. Not a lot of carbonation. Medium yellow and crystal clear. Faint pilsner aroma. Not as much flavor as I was expecting. No bitterness whatsoever, a little at the end would have been better. A step up from most American pilsner's but I feel like they could have done better.