Blatz Market & Liquor

Big Sky Trout Slayer Available at the Blatz Market & Liquor

Ok! Beer blog time! That means I get to give my two cents about another beer. Some consider my opinon worth more than two cents, but they are very few. Now I was planning on reviewing a beer by Rush River… but that will have to wait until later. By special request, today’s beer will be “Trout Slayer” by the Big Sky Brewing Co from Missoula, Montana. I’ve been a fan of the guys at Big Sky since I first tasted “Moose Drool”. It’s probably neccessary to mention that Moose Drool is another Big Sky Beer — and that I don’t have some weird thing for animal saliva.

Its hard to say what I typically drink when it comes to beer — I’m pretty all over the spectrum. I suppose you could have guessed that by just walking into the Blatz Cave. But I can tell you what I typically don’t drink and that would be plain old ales. So aside from the interesting name and the brewery it came from, I wasn’t super excited about drinking more of my inventory before I opened this guy up. BUT! Then I thought about all of my blog readers and realized, “they NEED me to review this beer, if I don’t do it, who will?!” and that was all the self rationalization I needed to pop the top off and take a swig.

After my first gulp I waited for a second or two and… Bonus: not a single hint of trout! To be perfectly honest I was kinda happy about that. As a matter of fact, the Trout Slayer definitely has a nice crisp taste with the perfect amount of hops. It’s got a really well balanced flavor that isn’t overpowering to the point that people who don’t like pale ales and IPA’s wouldn’t enjoy it. For a plain old ale, this one rates pretty far up the list… And the colorful mural on the label will almost make you neglect that I used a triple negative in that last sentence.

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Furthermore Knot Stock available at the Blatz Market & Liquor

So as I was standing in front of the 150 or so different micro, craft and imported beers I have, I was presented with a tough decision. What beer should I write about? Then I came to a beer I had never tried before so I figured, new store… new beer… Perfect! So I grabbed my bottle opener and popped the top off of a “Furthermore Knot Stock”

This particular beer caught my attention for a very simple reason, “Beer brewed with black pepper” was written just below Knot Stock. After opening it I didn’t notice a very strong aroma of pepper which was a relief, so I took my first sip, and it tasted like beer! I know what your all thinking… “great review Joe” or “gee thanks” or something along those lines. HOWEVER! The hint of pepper corn really only gets you on the back of the tongue as the beer finishes. Furthermore (I had to slip it in somewhere) the pepper flavor is not overpowering or obnoxious — it’s just the right amount to perfectly compliment that great steak your going to eat with it.

I would definitely recommend this Wisconsin original, its a great beer to accompany a steak, burger or obviously anything “pepper crusted.” I can’t wait to review their “3 Feet Deep” and “Oscura” both of which I have as well, but I think next week it will be something from the “Rush River Brewing Company”, another Wisconsin brew!

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