Eisbock 28

Back when your author was in college and fairly inept about alcohol, I felt ahead of the curve on ice beer. Rock Ice (Rolling Rock's minor dip into that pool) was in my fridge for quite some time and I was somewhat insufferable about my 'knowledge'. "They freeze the water, man! That leaves, like, all the booze! How is that not better?? This is my beer from now on!"

Cue the facepalm every person usually has when thinking about their youth.

I reflected on that as I was cracking open Redhook's Eisbock 28, their Fall selection in their limited series run, because the ice beer of my youth should not even be in the same store as this stuff, let alone the same zip code. That's not to say this is gold medal brew, but there were a lot of things I liked about it. There is some sweet, date-like flavor and bran malt in the nose of the beer that I found well-balanced. I compare it to opening a fresh box of sweet-smelling Raisin Bran and taking a large whiff. The 11% abv is much smoother than some other beers with the same alcoholic content. Yes, you can tell it's there, but no, you're not wondering if somebody put a shot of Everclear in your glass when you weren't looking. I don't know if I'd swing for it at a 6 or 7 dollar price, but if it's at your local market for under 5 bucks (Fred Meyer to the rescue) then it's worth a shot.

I should seriously start listing the things I thought about beer before my head was screwed on straight. Just not sure if I can type while repeatedly cringing.