Ski-Trip Friday Night

Stranahan's Well Built ESB (7.8% ABV) - Bottle No. 6828
Breckenridge Brewery
Breckenridge, Colorado

After a day on the slopes for most of the gang and a day running around trying to find an Urgent Care clinic in a small mountain town and then trying to fill a new antibiotic for the munchkin at a grocery store where I've never filled a prescription before, we were all eager to crack open a few of the fantastic beers my sister had been stockpiling in her house waiting to bring on the trip to share.

First up, Stranahan's Well Built ESB.  Produced and bottled by Breckenridge Brewery (coincidentally one of my least favorite breweries in the world).  According to Breckenridge Brewery, "This extra special brew was well built intentionally. In team effort with our neighbors and Colorado's own, Stranahan's Whiskey Distillery, we combined the warming malt notes and pronounced hop characteristics of our Small Batch ESB with their ambrosial whiskey flavors to create the first ever collaboration of its kind. Aged for 6 months in Well Built Oak Whiskey Barrels."

Normally I think that the aftertaste of an ESB reminds me of the aftertaste associated with the first few bites of bubble gum.  Not Trident bubble gum -- I'm talking about legit Bubble Yum Bubble Gum.  But this ESB was different and much better than most I've had.  You definitely taste the whiskey, but not in a bad way. And not in a hits-you-in-the-face kind of way either. In a good way.  A very good way.

On The Sly Again #21
Ska Brewing Company
Durango, Colorado

Tropic King Imperial Saison (8% ABV)
Funkwerks
Fort Collins, Colorado