UPDATE: On 11/19/2011 I am reaffirming this. This is still my favorite brew in the entire world.

I’ve held off making this announcement for over six months, because I wanted to make sure. I’ve sampled it six times now, five times in bottles and once on tap. I am in fact drinking it again as I type this.

I came to the same conclusion every time: this ale scores a perfect 10 on the Holy Grail Scale.

Being that today, August 5th, is International Beer Day, I thought it fitting to finally come out and announce it. My search isn’t actually over, because there may be more than one Holy Beer – and remember this is totally subjective. My Holy Beer may not be your Holy Beer. But this is definitely my Holy Beer.

Let me quote directly from my beer diary:

Dragon’s Milk from New Holland Brewing

OMFG I may have just found the Holy Beer!

Smells like: Nothing. Vague hints of brewski, nothing else. Translates very little to the olfactory sense. Maybe a whiff of molasses? If so it’s just a ghost.

Taste: OMFG.

Light. Sweet. Sweet biscuit with touches of honey. Very well balanced hops dancing like ballerinas over the top of exquisitely tuned malts. Echoes of bourbon, as it was aged in oak barrels. It’s freaking NIRVANA.

10.00 ON THE HOLY GRAIL SCALE! The Holy Beer is discovered!

If you check out the comments on their webpage you’ll see I’m not the only one who thinks this:  Dragon’s Milk – New Holland Brewing

Bravo, New Holland. Bravo. Well done.

SADLY, I have to update the review of this beer. Something has happened to it. The last four I’ve tried over the space of nearly a year have all been TERRIBLE.

Flying Dog, what the hell did you do?

All the good things I’ve said about it below, I now have to take back. I now have to recommend Okocim above this Porter. Highly above this Porter.

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I already know I love this beer, but how much do I love it?  How good is it, really?  I’ve been drinking it for about a month now – for pleasure – and am just now getting around to reviewing it.  So let me put on my professional beer reviewing hat, and let’s jump right in…

Popping the top and giving it a sniff: It smells of molasses with a dark undertone of yeast and toasted malt.

Taking that first wonderful swig:  Sweet dark malt, molasses, pecan and walnut notes, sting of hops, smooth bitter finish.  One of the best Porters I’ve ever had.  But, dare I say, is it better than Okocim Polish Porter, which has been up until now my favorite beer in the world?

Let’s test!  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a bonus section!  Here, for the first time ever, I bring to you the GroovyBrew.com Head-to-Head Porter Smackdown!

Gonzo: Lighter. More fizz.

Okocim: Thicker and richer, not so much fizz.

Gonzo: Better high notes.

Okocim: More complex tail end, sweeter finish.

Gonzo: Sweeter up front, more black coffee at the finish.

Okocim: Definitely smoother.

Gonzo: More for swilling, more likely to drink one after another.

Okocim: More for sipping and savoring.  Less likely to down one after another.

Gonzo: 12 oz. bottle for about $2.50 (Chicago area price).

Okocim: A bit over a pint (500ml) for about $2.50 (Chicago area price).

Gonzo: 7.8% alcohol.

Okocim: 8.3% alcohol.

Gonzo (final impression): Would happily drink it every day.

Okocim (final impression): Would save it for an occasional treat.

WINNER BY A MARGIN: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter!

Seriously, they’re both wonderful beers, and I love both of them, but all in all I’d have to rate the Flying Dog “.1” more.  So since I’ve given Okocim a 9.8 on the Holy Grail Scale, I must then award Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter a 9.9!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the closest to the Holy Beer I have yet found!

I’ll be celebrating International Beer Day with all the gusto I can muster, God help me. Probably with several of these:

It’s smooth with a honey-hoppy bite, perfect amount of fizz, finishing with that nice golden pilsner maltiness and a nice woody-bitter afterglow.

I wish the common American beers tasted this bold and rich.

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

– this post created with BlogPress on my iPad

- this post created with BlogPress on my iPad

Well guess what.

I may have found the only thing I have to drink from now on. We have all three ingredients in one bottle. It was a foregone conclusion I would think it’s wonderful.

You can smell the chocolate and the coffee the moment you pop the top. You can taste them, too, mixed with the rich malts and bubbling hops. The coffee edge is even more pronounced than the chocolate. In fact, the coffee taste blends in and piggybacks so closely with the beer malts that my tongue is thoroughly confused.

Am I drinking coffee with a bit of beer in it? Or am I drinking beer with a bit of coffee in it?

It can’t tell one way or the other.

On the finish, the coffee and the hops battle each other for the control of the bitterness. It’s interesting, kind of like watching a back alley fight.

There are some requirements for liking this beer. You have to enjoy a dark, strong ale. And you have to enjoy drinking coffee black with no sugar. I’m not sure if that’s a problem for some people or not, but I can tell you one thing, as good as this stuff is I’m not going to put cream and sugar in it.

The folks at Rogue really are rogues. So far I’ve liked everything of theirs I’ve tried. And I’m serious, I want to move to Oregon. Perhaps when my love and I make it there, we’ll start up a combination brewery, coffee roasting, and chocolate company?

I can dream, right? Anyway…

This stuff is good. It doesn’t quite make the Holy Grail scale, but I wouldn’t have a problem drinking it every day. The coolest thing about Rogue’s Mocha Porter is that I can actually cross post it on both sides of GroovyBrew.com.

I hate moving.

After popping the top of this Black Jack Porter from the Left Hand Brewing Company, I’m sitting here on the veranda with my laptop, enjoying the pleasant breeze and looking down with sympathy at the poor schmucks who are moving out of the apartment complex.

Carrying huge boxes, grunting with pieces of furniture. Man-handling a table that looks way too big to have fit into one of these little apartments. Meanwhile I’m sitting up here with a beer.

Looking down at them, thinking, sucks to be you.

I sniff the bottle, detecting sweetness and deep chocolate malty goodness. Oh yeah. This is going to be a treat.

The first sip does not disappoint. It starts off as sweet as it smells, with some sharp winey notes. Very rich, dark, full bodied. Yes, I like it.

Below me, one of the movers curses as he bangs his elbow against a corner of the truck. Ouch. Poor guy. Wish I could help, but I’m already busy.

There is a sudden upwelling of mocha in the flavor. The roasted chocolate malt comes to the foreground with a most definite espresso coffee taste. What is it with coffee in the beer flavor? Not that I’m complaining but it seems I’m running into it more and more often. If it’s a trend, then it’s one I like. Obviously.

At the tail end the hops come up, but only for a bit. It’s like they make a cameo appearance before the malty mocha takes center stage once more. It makes me smile. I could easily drink several of these in a row.

Meanwhile, the hapless movers have wheeled a washing machine out and are standing around it, dreading the idea of lifting the heavy cube of machinery into the truck. They look up at me. I can see what they’re thinking. They’re about to ask me if I can come down and help.

I grab the beer, the laptop, and slip quietly inside. Yeah. No freaking way.

I hate moving.

UPDATE: I proclaim this a groovy brew and rate it 5.4 on the Holy Grail Scale. Left Hand Brewing Company rocks.