(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

We've said it before, and we'll keep saying it, because that's what we do: Stone is probably the greatest purveyor of sub-$10 beer out there. Yet, this time I will admit to feeling just a tad disappointed. Maybe I've just become jaded, who knows, but this year's Old Guardian doesn't quite live up to last year's vintage. Feel free to disagree -- it just means you're wrong or that you're reading this a year or two after it was written.

Because yes, I suspect a year or two in the cellar would take care of my main complaint, but more about that later.

It certainly pours nicely -- a hazy amber with a delicate head. The whole thing kinda glows from the glass. Very nice looking.

The nose, too, is quite excellent. Fruits and hops marry citric hints in a ballet of scents. At hefty 12% ABV it should be advised that this is a Black Swan type of ballet, however. Don't be fooled by the deep delicate nose. There's a fist waiting for you in here, and you might start growing feathers if you drink it too quickly. (I'm pretty sure that's what that movie was about -- Natalie Portman drinking strong ales and paying the price for it.)

And it does hit you. When you take the first sip, all the greatness from the nose carries over, and there's an almost IPA-like hopiness to the experience. For being a barley wine, the amount of hopiness really comes as a surprise here, albeit not an unwelcome surprise. Sadly, here is also where the ABV kicks in.

Other great barley wines, be it Nøgne Ø's #100 or Deschutes' Mirror Mirror, have similar amounts of alcohol in them, yet they never seem downright boozy, even when not aged. Old Guardian, meanwhile, has a borderline unpleasant aftertaste of alcohol to it. 

"But Mr. Salmon," you cry, "shouldn't you cut them some slack and age the beer for a while?!" Granted, aging would likely mellow the flavors, but this could likely also affect the hopiness.

Let's just say that most of us will crack open a bottle at time of purchase, and I'm issuing a fair warning here: This is all very good until the booze hits you.

Pick up a few bottles for cellaring, then see what happens this time next year. The potential is here, definitely, but I can't ignore the fact that last year's vintage was better at time of purchase.

We like spicy foods here at ye olde Team SpoCOOL, and we also like Jones Radiator. In that sense, what better way to combine said loves than to kick off The Great Hot Wing Chase. It will be magical, for sure.

Much as we do enjoy Jones' selection of good beer -- and we do -- we weren't quite sure how their kitchen would fare. With all respect to good ale houses, we're not exactly running down The Blue Spark or The Viking's doors to sample their haute cuisine, or anything other than popcorn or beer nuts for that matter.

Jones, however, stepped it up. This place could be a contender, and as far as hot wings go, they did an admirable job.

The regular spicy wings were only so-so, mind you. Fairly nicely flavored -- turmeric was one of the spices our Expert Panel suggested, and probably cumin -- though not particularly spicy. All in all, pretty average.

However, if you're getting wings at Jones, go with the PB&J ones. Peanut butter and jelly? Well, yes. In a sense. These are actually pretty ingenius, and points have to be rewarded for creativity.

It is, of course, not PB&J in the traditional white-bread sense. The wings are coated in a sort of sweet, sort of spicy peanut sauce, not unlike something you'd find in Pad Thai. To give them a bit of kick, you have the jelly, a spicy kind, that pairs nicely with the peanut sauce.

Is it super spicy? No. But it's tasty and it's different, and I'm definitely a fan.

In the words of the great poet: "It's peanut butter jelly time!!!"

I'm honestly not that much of a hamburger guy, seeing most of them taste pretty much the same. Am I saying burgers generally are dull? Yes, I believe so, and I stand behind that statement!

Wolffy's, however, is one of the good ones. Here the meat was juicy without being overly greasy, and there actually was a bit of flavor to the patties. A step up from most burger spots in other words.

My sandwich came with jalapeños, which gave the whole thing a bit of a kick, as well as pepper jack cheese. The latter tasted like one of those prepackaged slices, and was kind of a let down when compared to the actual burger. Same could be said about the rather dull buns.

Fries were served by the bucketload, almost literally, and they were fine. Not awesome, and definitely in need of salt, but still did the job after a bit of doctoring.

The 1950s interiors were cool enough, and overall Wolffy's is anything but a shabby burger spot. Do I love it? No, but I at least like their burgers.

We're all about presidents here at Team SpoCOOL, thus we'll be celebrating Presidents' Day hardcore, yo. Until we're done, here are a couple of tidbits by Mack Salmon to hold you over:

The Sante team will be running the Sapphire Lounge in Hotel Ruby. My impression was that this had been public knowledge for a while now. If you didn't know, though, now you do. The spot will open in a few months, and will probably be pretty awesome.

Rømmegrøt is, despite what Sons of Norway seem to think, breakfast, not dessert.

And that's all, kids!