12welve Eyes Winter Warmer

12welve Eyes Winter Warmer. 7.1 % ABV. 12welve Eyes Brewing, Lowertown, St. Paul, MN.

Clear, dark crimson coloring, leaning toward bronze, with a slim whitish head.

In the nose: Mostly malt, with a touch of spice. Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Slight dose of grassy/citrusy hops. Orange zest?

In the mouth: Malt and spice hit the palate together. Hot and toasty. Medium-bodied, easy drinking. Spice and fruit notes continue. Dominate. Delight. It's a bit thinner in body than I'd like, but it's tasty stuff, so I don't really care. Clove is coming through. Overall, it's got the flavor of a mulled ale. Raisins and orange mix with cinnamon and clove. Getting honey, too. Love it.

Getting my last tastes of winter flavors, as we welcome spring, at long last. Oh, it's gonna be great. Been a rough winter. Gonna real love this spring.

12welve Eyes Brewing Cataracts: Denali

12welve Eyes Brewing Cataracts: Denali. Hazy IPA. 5.5 % ABV. 50 IBU. 12welve Eyes Brewing, St. Paul, MN.

Cataracts seems to be the name for the rotating Hazy IPA from Twelvewelve, each one featuring a different hop.

Thoroughly hazed, dull yellow hue, large and lasting pure white head.

In the nose: Vibrant floral hops, with underlying fruit. Delicate, delightful.

In the mouth: Big bitterness blasts the palate from the start. Alongs come the fruit. Tropical tones, as well as citric. Guava meets pineapple, dappled with grapefruit and orange. Light bodied. Easy drinking. Refreshing and likable. And pretty damned tasty.

I like these guys, and this brewery, that was named after 3 owners who all wore glasses so that they were 3 4-eyes, aka Twelve Eyes, although one left before the brewery opened, so they should really be 8eight Eyes....but the numeral 12 should not replace the letter T, no way, no how. It's not like replace an E with a 3, for they are at least nominal similar in shape. I'm gonna keep calling them Twelvewelve, and you can't stop me.

12welve Eyes Clout Chocula Cereal Milk Stout

A couple weeks ago, I made my second visit to the Twin Cities premiere spectacle-themed brewery, 12welve Eyes in St. Paul, which I will always pronounce "twelve-welve", because that's how it's spelled. Once again, I was hanging with Ed. I decided to take home crowlers this time, and when Ed saw my selections, he told me, "you got one I liked, and one I didn't." This is the one he didn't. But, you know me, I take the bad with the good. I try to avoid the bad when I can, but sometimes you gotta just try.

12welve Eyes Brewing, St. Paul, MN. Clout Chocula. Cereal milk stout. 4.9% ABV.  12 IBU. Canned on 10/18/18.

Solid blackness, with nice brown head.

In the nose: some sweetness, which starts small and grows and grows until the adjunct addition of sugary cereal is quite apparent. Not bad, actually.

In the mouth: more sweet and malty from the top. Body’s on the lightish side, minor hop presence, just a little unbalanced. Actually, it’s fine for a milk stout, but if they really did add Count Chocula to it, there were no improvements. They’d have been better off using real chocolate instead of a gimmick adjunct.

Breakfast Cereal beer? Pass.