Things Mengel Gave Me...

Here is a new segment on The CBE called, "Things Mengel Gave Me..."  Generally there is an Untappd Badge involved.  Other times, it's just a random beer that he's already Untappd, so he has not a single need to open a second one.

Today's segment, starts with James Page Brewing Casper - A White Stout.  I know, it doesn't make any sense, because stouts are not white.  Ever.  But let's concede that there is a thing as a White Stout.  Let's also concede that in the World Beer Cup categories, it could potentially slide into a few categories.  Like Category 10: Chocolate Beer.  Or Category 18: Experimental Beer.  Maybe even Category 76: Sweet Stout or Cream Stout.  But also, there's not White Stout Category.  So it's cheating, and this could potentially be the first red flag.


Instead of letting anymore "Facts" effect my opinion of this beer, I decided to pop it open and take a few sips before I continued to do any additional Landsburying.  Hmm.  Smells pretty great.  The first thing that came to mind was a vanilla latte from Starbucks.  Pours like a consistently cloudy wheat beer.  A little thick.  And it tastes pretty good.  Lots of white chocolate.  Velvety mouthfeel.  It's not bad.  It's not life changing, but it's different and enjoyable.  "Different and Enjoyable" is not quite the kind of copy that you would run out and put on a can, but it's a fair assessment of something that I tried to discover very little about.  Now the dirt.

This can be a short story.  It appears that these are contract brewed at Stevens Point.  That, I care not one bit about.  You can contract brew your beer in many ways, and it doesn't necessarily have an impact on your quality or taste.  I have had one Stevens Point beer, and it was the Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale.  Spoiler Alert, I really liked it.  They also use a weird code for their bottle dating, and according to Fresh Beer Only, they use the same code for JP's.  Which means that this Casper,,, was canned,,, on,,, the 42nd day of,,, 2015.  Wait.  That can't be right, can it?  uh oh.  Yep, it's well over a year old.  So I guess it's held up ok.  There it is.  It's still great in the nose.  Like a shot of vanilla in a mocha.  As it warms though, the oxidation jumps out quite a bit.  Is that because of my research, or would that have happened anyway?

So, in summary, Mengel gave me a White Stout called Casper.  It's Different, and Enjoyable, and Holds Up OK."