The Duck-Rabbit Märzen

Smells right - malty and lagery. Taste is almost exactly what I want, with sweet malt and a crisp finish. There's an odd note in the end, but otherwise this is quite good.

Penn Brewery St. Nikolaus Bock Bier

Grabbed this randomly at a wine shop. I don't think I've had anything from Penn before, but while I'm on the east coast I like to try pretty much anything I haven't seen in California.

I should first confess that I have a small cold, so my sense of smell isn't perfect right now. That said, my girlfriend claimed this smelled off, and I thought I got a whiff of skunkiness (and it is in a green bottle, for some reason). Now, all I smell is sweet lagery malt. Taste is really good: sweet but not too sweet, thick but not too heavy, a little stronger (7.5%) but not boozy. This is really very drinkable.

Founders Backwoods Bastard

I'm back on the east coast, and so once again reaping the benefits of beers I can't get in California.

This smells really oaky, with sweet strong beer underneath. I believe this is the oaked version of a barleywine, and that's how it tastes. The oak dominates a little too much, but the beer below isn't overly sweet, and for a late night tipple this certainly works. Recommended, unless you hate wood.

St. Martin Brune

The place I bought this from had it deliberately mislabeled as a Hitachino Nest beer. The guy told me he wasn't supposed to be selling it. I figure: any beer that he'd break the rules to sell me is a beer I'd like to try.

Big aroma here - smells a lot like pears. A little more beery when I really poke my nose in. High carbonation, nice Belgian candi- sweetness, and more pear-centered fruitiness.

This is really enjoyable. Not wildly remarkable, but I very much love pears, and that's enough for me - I'd drink this again.

Grand Teton Black Cauldron Imperial Stout

Smells really roasty, hints of fruit and maybe a whiff of alcohol. Tastes about like expected, really. I'd say, actually, that if you can imagine how an 8% imperial stout tastes - this is like that. Not bad, by any means, but I'm not getting anything from left field here. Worth drinking; I'm not sure I'll be coming back for more anytime soon.

BrewDog The Physics

At 5%, this is one of two session-strength beers from BrewDog I've had occasion to try. The other was good; let's see about this.

Hoppy nose, but not west coasty, and light malt. Taste is a little malty, juicy, with a definite presence of hop bitterness. A little more bitter in the aftertaste than I care for.

I don't love it, but it's fairly drinkable. If you're more into hops than I am, but not crazy for cascades, I'd bet you'll like this.

Dogfish Head & Sierra Neveda Life & Limb

I could tell a long story about trying to find a bottle of this with little luck, but the short version is that I was at a local Whole Foods the other day and two were on the shelf.

Smells malty and brown sugar sweet, maybe a little spice. Thick, but briskly carbonated (very welcome). Not as maple as expected, but solidly malty, and then my mouth is coated at the end with birch/maple syrupiness.

I kind of expected this to taste really wacky, but it's not too weird at all. For something quasi-experimental this is really drinkable, and I have to recommend picking up some if you see it.

(I haven't been able to try the Limb & Life, but based on this I suspect it's probably not so flavorful.)