Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer Blauw/Blue

Gouden Carolus Cuvee Van De Keizer! A top of it's class Belgian dark strong ale brewed every year on the 24th of February to celebrate the birth of Charles the Fifth. Also known as Cuvée of the Emperor this exceptional beer is a special version of the Golden Carolus Classic, with a huge flavor profile and mysterious aromas added. Sweeter malts and elevated abv at 11% give this beer an almost wine sensation in the mouth. Kept with a cork and cage, perfect for sticking in your basement and forgetting about it for a year or so (but age-able for up to 10 years!). Shit, I'd get two and drink one fresh and sit on one. This is such an incredible, flavorful beer. Something that is so special it should  never be drank alone. Get someone you know who has never had anything bigger than a Bud light and let them have a glass. Not only will they be drunk before they know what hits them, they may fall in love with better beer! That's win/win in my book. Cheers!

 Rate Beer: 100 

Beer Advocate: 96

Pilsner Urquell

Plzeňský Prazdroj. You figure it out. Pilsner Urquell. Since 1852, this czech pilsner has been the forefront of thr style as it is the very first. Using Saaz hops, Urquell has a bit more of a bite, but still easily drinkable. A nice crisp summer beer. Overall, the beer just makes sense As an ambassador for the style, often imitated and most certainly compared to. Available everywhere. Low abv and supreme drinkability. Put some in your face already.

Cheers! -DAVE

Ratebeer: 72 

Beer advocate: 81 

STONE'S SUBLIMELY SELF-RIGHTEOUS BLACK IPA

Hoppy and roasty. Think big coffee porter style but also with a large focus on the hop profile. American black ales or, black ipa's, when done well can empart a huge amount of flavors. Stone's Sublimely self-righteous black ipa nails this style and luckily it's available year round. Roasted malts give the toffee, coffee notes while the large amount of hops bring out juicy grapefruit. Big abv at 8.7. This beer hits every time and pairs great with damn near anything barbequed. Most places that carry Stone's beers can get this if they don't already carry it. You should probably already be drinking this. Cheers! -Dave

Beer advocate: 94

Ratebeer: 100 

OLD HORIZONTAL

A barley wine is an English style strong ale. Typically high in alcohol and despite it's name, it's still very much a beer.They called it a "wine" because of it's high booze content but the barley implies it is made from grain instead of fruit. Victory brewing's Old Horizontal seems to really embody this style. Deep colors and smells of dark fruits and sweet candy make up this 11% abv beast. Meant as a night cap on the cool winter nights or to just get really drunk. really fast. Barley wines were meant for aging. Extensively at that. I would suggest buying two! One to obviously try the style if you never have, and another to sit in a cool dark place for a few years. It's amazing what some time will do to a beer that ages well. This beer can beer found where finer beers are sold and usually, if you have a nice beer store you go to and they don't carry something you've heard of, ask! Chances are it's distributed to your state but your beer store didn't know to carry it. Cheers! -Dave

Rate beer: 100 

Beer Advocate: 91