This is the only Thanksgiving beer I'm doing up this year. It's one that I saw on the shelves last year, but my Maple Month lineup was pretty set in stone by that point. As the holiday season waned, I saw it leave store shelves and figured that I'd missed my chance.

But! In February of this year, I found a lone can left in the build-your-own sixer section of a local bottleshop. I built a pack just to include it. Turns out that I didn't need to worry because the beer came back this year anyway. Or maybe retailers have found a few more packs of the stuff in their backrooms. Regardless, I have a slightly-aged can to crack into today. I'm calling that a treat.

Oh, and the beer's R. Shea's Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes (I should've included a spoiler here for those of you who didn't read this post's title).

How's your January been? Cold? Yeah, ours too. We're just now starting to emerge from that polar vortex that's wrapped New England and the Midwest up tight the last few days.


All that cold's been making me sleepy. I get home from work, pull on my sweatpants, light a fire, and veg out while trying to stave off bedtime until a reasonable hour. Tonight, I'm thinking a little kick might help. That kick is coming in the form of Wiedemann's Wake Me Up (which, by the way, may make for an exceptional breakfast beer, if you're into that sort of thing. This is, and has been, a judgement-free zone--unless you happen to be a beer).

Over three years ago when this blog--along with my beer knowledge--was in its infancy, I did up a post about Saugatuck Brewing Company's Neapolitan Milk Stout (be prepared for a super early post if you click that link). It was a beer that, a short time before my writing about it, my dad had tried for the first time. He was duly impressed with it and, while making a beer run my uncle, managed to track down an extra bottle for me.


I give you that brief history of my dad, my uncle, and Neapolitan Milk Stout to say that when, for my dad's birthday, I went to Saugatuck's 2018 Barrel Aged Bootleg Bash with him, my uncle, and brother (although he doesn't factor into the tale I just briefly recounted) and we all tried Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Neapolitan Milk Stout for the first time, it was something special. This evening, I'll attempt to recapture some of that magic with my review of the stuff. Here we go: 2018 BBA Imperial Neapolitan Milk Stout.

It's Friday! And that's great because I have today off and have spent most of it watching the second season of Master of None, which is great (please note that this post isn't sponsored by that show) (please also note, Aziz, that future posts could definitely be sponsored that show). I've been tempted to crack into this post a few times today but I really thought it'd be best to wait until evening.

I like Sundays. Sundays (now that I no longer have to intern on Sundays) are when I embrace my drinking school Ohio University roots, throw caution to the wind, and drink when I want. Usually this manifests around 11 a.m. or noon after I return to my apartment after a long run. Today, though, if I run it'll be later on. I have something very important to drink right now, while it's still breakfast time.


That something important is Dogfish Head's Beer for Breakfast. The bottle at hand is my final bottle of the stuff--I've been saving it for a post just like this on a day just like today. If you don't want spoilers, you may as well skip to the next paragraph (or hit the jump if it's applicable). If you don't care about spoilers, allow me to indulge myself by saying at the top that I love this beer. It's a good thing (for my wallet) that it's released pretty sporadically.

I've talked about Saugatuck Brewing Company before, way back in the early days of the blog--nearly year and a half ago. That was for a flavorful, somewhat oddball milk stout inspired by, and containing, the three unique flavors of neapolitan ice cream. I liked that beer.


Now I have on hand another of the brewery's somewhat oddball milk stouts. This one's inspired by, and is made to taste like, blueberry pancakes. Does it? Well, yes. I tried a bottle of it before and fell in love immediately. However, I'm ready to sit down and give the brew the full-fledged John Likes Beer treatment. Let's get it.

Let me start this brew with full discretion: I have never had a milk stout before. They're pretty pricey. Too pricey for my meager monthly beer allowance, at least. However, my dad's been taking up Saugatuck Brewing Company (SBC)'s Neapolitan Milk Stout since he first tried it months ago. According to him the beer actually contains all three flavors found in neapolitan ice cream, which (unless your Homer Simpson) you probably know are as much vanilla and strawberry as it is chocolate.

I shouldn't have to say this but I didn't create, nor do I own, The Simpsons. That'd be Matt Groening and 20th Century Fox, respectively.

Since he first tried it my dad's been on the lookout for the Neapolitan whenever he's around Saugatuck (located within the state of Michigan) but he's never been able to find it bottled, and every time he's bought a growler of it I've never been able to make it up to visit before its expiration date (don't worry, he always polishes it off before it goes bad).