A January ride and of course....

some beer!!!!!

First, I got out for a ride today...a pretty short ride, just an hour, but a ride nonetheless. With the exception of commuting, this is the first time ever that I've gotten in a road ride in January....and man did I feel out of shape! But that's besides the point. It was good to get out for a ride that wasn't a commute. Sometimes, commuting can seem like a bit of a chore, which is why getting out for just an hour was worth it.

On the beer front, I've finally gotten around to drinking my Samuel Smith beers. Actually, I should say that I've finally gotten around to writing about them. I had 3 styles to try out: an old brewery pale ale, a nut brown ale and an oatmeal stout. These beers are very distinct from one another, and very good!

 The pale ale has a nice aroma and flavour, balanced between sweet and bitter. It definitely has a finish that's more on the bitter side of things, it lingers, but it's not too intense.
  
The nut brown ale has a nice toffee and chocolate aroma and flavour that gets better as the beer warms up a bit. Like the pale ale, it has a bitter finish, but it's not overpowering at all.








Lastly, the oatmeal stout, like most stouts, has a chocolaty and coffee flavour and aroma, with a hint of smokiness. This beer also has a bitter finish that's not too intense.

You can see that there was a bit of a common theme...nice flavour and aroma with a bitter finish. Overall, very good beers, and the other bonus is that the bottles were a true pint, 550mL of beer goodness!