James Squire Nine Tales Amber Ale

 I think ales are quickly becoming my favorite style of beer. Mental note to brew more of them.

Along with my haul of Coopers from the store I grabbed a James Squire merely on impulse, and it turns out that was a great idea. Their Nine Tales Amber Ale is quite good. The color is a fantastic reddish...well, amber color coming in at something just shy of 20 SRM. There's lots of lacing happening on my pint glass and the slightly nutty finish to the beer is really nice. It's neither hoppy nor particularly malty, but still extremely drinkable.

Recommended, for sure.

Coopers Extra Stout

It has been quite a while since I had a stout beer and it is most refreshing to get a good one! I'm still glowing from my discovery of Coopers at the store, a rarity in Taiwan, and I feel as if I should go buy them all up and hoard them, Gollum-style.

Anyway, the Coopers Extra Stout is a great beer. There was a great towering head when I poured it into my glass and it was nice to watch it settle out. It settled much differently than other darker beers I've had recently, such as Guiness and Old Speckled Hen, in that there was a very...beady texture to it; the other ones were more, I dunno...silty (not a bad thing by any means).

Beer this dark doesn't get into my fridge enough. The Extra Stout hits the SRM scale pretty high at 30-35+ with its tasty opaqueness. The flavor is moderately dry with deep roasty tones and a slightly bitter finish. The warmer the beer gets the stronger the flavor becomes as it was quite cold when I started drinking it.

Great stuff. I need to get some more.

Alss check out this handy little archive to read more about stouts.