Rare and Obscure at Max's

Stopped in for my typical Wednesday, and discovered some delightful brews.

First off was a Japanese beer: Hitochino Classic. This IPA was very smooth and a little sweeter than what I normally drink. Not much of a hoppy backbone, but the hops were there. I would drink all night long and enjoy it.

Next, I grabbed a Nogne O IPA. This Norwegian beer had the "typical" (I guess the word expected would work better) dry, bitter hop backbone that I expected. The beer was very nice. I would love to have it again.

Last, but expecially not least, I had the Harviestoun Ola Dubh (18 Year). This Scottish dark beer was delicious. Definately not a beer to drink the entire night, but the sweet tasting ale would be great for after dinne/ late night. The alcohol comes through heavily in the nose as well as in the taste. I am happy I tried it, and hopefully in the future I can get some again.

"Ola Dubh" means Black Oil. (Harviestoun also produces a beer called Old Engine Oil that is the basis of Ola Dubh.) The beer is aged in whiskey barrells (from Highland Park Distillary), which is where the 12/18/30/40 numbers come from. The age is the age that the whiskeys were in the barrels. This also is the cause of the