1/7/09 Greenwich Time Business Reporter Jim Zebora Must Have Been Hiting The Bars After He Lost The Greenwich Time Managing Editor Job

Worried Town Residents Are Saying If Ex-Greenwich Time Editor Jim Zebora Isn't Carefull He Could End Up In The GPD Drunk Tank !!!!!

Forget About Some Reading Some Business News

In The Greenwich Time, Because Jim Zebora Is

Probably Recovering From A Massive Hangover.

Ex-Greenwich Time Business Editor Jim Zebora

Files His First "Business" Report

The Displaced Zebora Must Of Drank A Lot Of Beer

While Preparing This "News" Story

Greenwich Time Publisher John "I Can't Pick A Winning Team" Dunster Must Be Looking On In Disbelief As His New Hearst Newspaper "Regional Business Reporter" Files A Lifestyle Report

What's brewing: Dark beers

By Jim Zebora

Business Editor ??????
Posted: 01/07/2009 At 1:00:00 AM Just As The Bars In Greenwich Were Closing

If you're seeking this January to drive the cold winter away or otherwise perk up your spirits, the dark, black beers of winter are just the thing.

Porter and stout on the ale side, and bock on the lager, bring unique, warming qualities to a beer glass or mug. Sometimes thick and oftentimes mysterious, it might seem amazing that they're kin to the golden beers of summer. These brews are yet another manifestation of the brewmaster's art.

Here are five black beers I've recently had the pleasure of drinking as I so diligently researched this column. Don't drink them right out of the fridge, but give the bottles 20 minutes to mellow so the flavors fully reveal themselves.

Samuel Adams

Chocolate Bock

A wintry ale for sure, Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock is a fruity black brew that has a startling blast of cocoa on first quaff, especially if it's refrigerator-cold.

As it warms, it mellows out to a rich panorama of flavors - roasted and caramel malts, a subtle apple- or pear-like fruitiness, and a bit of bittersweet chocolate.

It's a sophisticated beer that's been well crafted, including being aged on a bed of cocoa nibs from Swiss chocolatier Felshin.

Smooth and rich to sip, SACB is gently kraeusened for mild fermentation and a low but long-lasting head. SACB is average in alcohol content at 5.5 percent. It's a beer that would pair well with highly flavorful cheeses, sausage, turkey - even lasagna.

Redhook Limited Edition

Double Black Stout with Coffee

Adding flavors to most beer styles actually takes something away from them, but the opposite is true with stout.

This revived beer from Redhook, a Washington state micro that also brews these days in Portsmouth, N.H., is a hearty black beer that dances on the tongue.

Complex malts and sugars are stirred by a rich yet restrained level of carbonation that releases bursts of flavor as you first sip, then enjoy the lingering taste and physical presence of this brew.

In some ways, Redhook Double Black is reminiscent of a deliciously peaty Scotch, with enough substance to satisfy you from first sip to last. Like the Sam Adams, this bold wintry beer is one to savor as the season unfolds.

Bluegrass Brewing Co.

Dark Star Porter

This Louisville, Ky., microbrewery and brewpub chain in the heart of horse country makes Dark Star Porter a regular offering, and I can taste why.

Dark Star, which the label refers to as a "traditional English-style robust dark ale," is an elegantly crafted brew that is velvety in mouthfeel yet sits on the tongue with a long, roasted finish, like good barbecue.

Despite that, it is not a bitter beer, emphasizing instead the several malts that dominate the flavor profile and deliver balance with a little bite. There's enough flavor here to put this brew in a blind tasting of stouts and have it come up in the top ranks, though it is not as opaque and chewy as a Guinness.

Overall, it's a good beer to pair with fun food like a plate of wings or ribs. Dark Star Porter was a 1997 Real Ale Fest Winner and is named after the 1953 Kentucky Derby winner, not the Grateful Dead song (too bad).

Otter Creek

Stovepipe Porter

Brewed in Vermont, Otter Creek Stovepipe is a mild, translucent-black porter with classic balance. This brew is malty and rich, yet not heavy or very complex.

The hop level is higher than you might expect in a porter, adding a light, piquant bitterness that finishes gently on the sides of the tongue.

Compared with the Dark Star Porter from Bluegrass Brewing, Otter Creek's is more strictly in line with a ........ BLAH ....... BLAH ......... BLAH ......... BLAH ........ BLAH ....... BLAH ....... BLAH ........ BLAH ........ BLAH .......... BLAH .........

WOW!!!!!

Ex-Greenwich Time Managing Editor Jim Zebora's

Been Drinking A Lot Of Beer Lately

Poor Little Ole John "I Can't Pick A Winning Team" Dunster Has To Now Explain To The Corporate Suits At Hearst Newspapers Why He Doomed The The New Regional Business Section To Failure By Putting Zebora In Charge.

PLEASE SEE:

12/05/08 When Greenwich Roundup Types Hearst Newspaper Corporate Suits Listen: Jim Zorba Is No Longer The Greenwich Time Managing Editor

1/5/09 Greenwich Roundup's Campgain To Have Hearst Newspaper's Rid Greenwich Of Jim Zebora Has Been Successful - Sort Of

Hearst Newspaper Employee And Greenwich Citizen Editor Don Harrison Must Have Been Out Drinking With Jim Zebora, Because The Greenwich Citizen Has Not Been Updated Since Last Year.

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