(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Oh, Hill's, why do we so often forget to mention you? Even more so, why do we so often forget to eat your food, when we often stop by for your beer selection?

Really, food aside for a second, Hill's has a tendency do something special with the special beers. Like when the Abyss '11 hit and they brought out kegs of not just it, but the '10 edition also. That was pretty great, and those kind of vertical tastings are rare around these parts. Hell, during our last visit they still had Black Butte XXIII on tap. Seriously!

And this time we didn't forget about the food, thankfully. There are plenty of reason to visit for it alone.

The prosciutto and mushroom plate, for example, is just what it says it is; sautéed mushroms and prosciutto in a flavorful sauce, served with phillo. Simple and tasty.

I tried the elk burger, which was perfectly cooked and served on a camelina seed spelt bun. Too often the bun is the downfall of the burger, but this one had the quality of a good loaf of bread, and I could probably have eaten it by itself. The mustard, too, added a nice kick to the overall picture.

All of this is, as most know by now, house made, and it shows. It's in the details, just those little things you don't see at the many, many (many) places around town that choose to go the Sysco route.

Finish the meal up with the s'mores and you'll leave on a happy note. These are unlike any we've seen before; the marshmallow served in a large square, with crackers there for dipping. All, of course, covered in chocolate.

We like Hill's. You probably should stop by soon, if you, like us, have forgotten how good they are.

Once in a while, just once in a blue moon, something comes along that is such a bad idea, I can't help but wanting to try it. More often than not these ideas come from Taco Bell, and yet, with their history of abusing Mexico's culinary history, I really didn't think it would come to this: Doritos Locos Tacos.

What is this, exactly? 

Well, the actual filling is simply that of a Taco Supreme, so we're talking ground beef here. Real ground beef at that -- sure, Taco Bell had to be taken to court to prove the meat was actually meat, but we can rest assured the state of California's legal system decided once and for all that the meat in Taco Bell tacos can, in fact, be classified as beef.

We can only assume the brain thrust at Taco Bell became somewhat desperate when they decided the best way to improve the Taco Supreme was to come up with a Doritos taco shell. 

How does it taste? (Yes, I took that bullet for you.) Pretty, pretty bad. You should know what to expect as far as the Taco Supreme part goes -- a meat-like substance with flavorless lettuce and tomatoes. It's the shell that surprises. Not in a good way, mind you, it's more a surprise that it's worse than you'd fear.

I had expected it to taste like Doritos, but it doesn't. Instead it tastes exactly like a regular Taco Bell shell -- in other words, not like much at all -- with a light dusting of a Doritos spice mix added. It's pretty grotesque.

Really, I doubt many people reading this would care much about a Taco Bell taco, but the Doritos Locos Tacos... Good grief... Making a Taco Supreme taste worse than it already did takes some talent, and Taco Bell managed to do it. That is, if nothing else, proof of human ingenuity being alive and well.

I keep being sort of spellbound by Trader Joe's beer. I mean, having a store-branded beer is kind of rare in itself, yet here Trader Joe's has a wide selection of it, some brewed by established breweries, others by their own "JosephBrau".

I have no idea if JosephBrau only exists in name only or not, but their Stockyard Oatmeal Stout is very good. This is definitely not another Simpler Times Lager and for a buck a bottle, it's a great deal.

It pours a deep dark brown, though not quite black, with about a finger or so of tan head. Lacing and retention are good. The nose is quite pungent, with roasty notes and a delicate sweetness lingering in the back. 

That roastiness carries over to the flavor, and dominates pretty heavily at that. Somewhere toward the back there's a bitter taste of chocolate alongside a sweet creaminess. In fact, the mouthfeel here is surprisingly creamy. I guess I had expected something thinner -- that tends to be the case with more generic stouts -- but this is one of the creamier ales I've had in a while. In that sense, the Stockyard lives well up to its oatmeal label.

There's no way around it, this is a very good ale. It's a steal for the price. You may or may not have your issues with Trader Joe's, but frankly, you should check Stockyard Oatmeal Stout out if you like good beer.

Some are having quite the love affair with Green Flash, a San Diego brewing company, but I haven't quite managed to muster up too much excitement for them. What I've tried has been just fine, but not earth shattering.

The grand exception seems to be their Double Stout; this is a beer I certainly can be excited about, enough so I will keep checking out Green Flash's goods.

A double stout will by definition be a big beer, and at 8.8% ABV you will find exactly what you'd expect here. Luckily you can find 12 oz bottles of the stuff, making this a sipper that probably won't send you to the floor.

A quick glance will reveal the Double Stout to be an inviting, good looking beer. The Anderson Cooper of beers if you'd like. Just dark, not albino-like. Anyway! The head consists of a good two inches of tanned foam, suggesting a good thickness to the beer.

Give it a whiff, and roasty malts melded with bitter chocolate reveal themselves straight away. This is pretty much what an imperial stout should smell like.

Flavor carries over as expected -- heavy on the malts, and notes of coffee mixes into the chocolate. The high ABV is hidden away in the thick, creamy body, and if you search, you might just find some hoppy touches in there.

There are better imperial/double stouts out there, but a bottle of Double Stout will put you back only a couple of bucks, so this is a good deal. Definitely worth checking out if you like big beers.