Saturday, August 29, 2015

Widmer Hefe Shandy

This 4.2% ABV shandy (normally lager and lemonade) is from Widmer Brothers Brewing of Portland, Oregon. It uses their Hefe and adds lemonade flavor.

The beer pours a hazy yellow golden in color, a bit the color of lemon meringue pie filling. There is a tall half inch of pure white foam, like whipped egg whites. The aroma is lemony, lemonade, lemonade concentrate, and lemon meringue pie filling, with a bit of toasted wheat, crumbled graham crackers. The taste follows the aromas note for note. The beer has a dry finish and drinks easy. This is like drinking lemon meringue pie with a graham cracker crust.




Wasatch Last One In Lager

This 5.6% ABV lager is from Wasatch Beers, from the Utah Brewers Cooperative of Salt Lake City, Utah. I love the recommended food pairings on the bottle: potato chips, pretzels, and more beer.

The beer pours a clear golden in color. There is an inch of white, foamy head. The aroma is sweet grain, straw, hay, some grass. The taste follows the aromas directly. The finish has a light to moderate grassy bitterness. The beer drinks with a very refreshing crisp and stinging carbonation. This is a very tasty American lager.


Friday, August 28, 2015

The Hobbit: Bolg Belgian Style Tripel

This 9.5% ABV Belgian-style tripel is part of the line of beers inspired by the Hobbit and made by Fish Tale Ales, the Fish Brewing Company, of Olympia, Washington. If you have not read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you are really missing out (and the movies aren't too bad either).

The beer pours orange and amber in color. There is a short and thin head of off-white foam. The aroma is fruity and estery, banana, rock candy, oranges, with a bit of off-putting band aid. The taste follows the aromas, but thankfully omits the band-aid note. This is very full, fruity, estery. It is sweet, but the finish is fairly dry, with a light bitterness. The beer drinks full and smooth. It is not boozy, but there is a definite and distinct warming effect from the ABV


Green Flash Citra Session IPA

This 4.5% ABV session India Pale Ale is from the Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, California. It has 65 IBU's and features only the Citra hop. 

The beer pours a deep orange golden. There is an inch of thick, foamy, white head. The aroma is tangy citrus, musky dankness, and mango skins. The taste is reflective of the aromas, lots of citrus tang, and musky, earthy dankness, with tropical mango on the end. The finish is quite bitter. The beer drinks easy, with a crisp, throat-burning carbonation that refreshes. This is one very nice session IPA!


Baraboo Fireworks Blood Orange IPL

Baraboo Beers are a proprietary brand of the Hy-Vee chain of Midwestern supermarkets.  The beers are contract brewed by Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. This was their summer "Fireworks" release (last year was a blueberry ale). It is an India Pale Lager brewed with blood red orange juice, and using Tettnang and Hallertau hops.

The beer pours a lightly hazed amber and burnt sienna in color. There is a tall, thick, foamy head of off-white. The aroma is zesty, citrus, deep orange, atop some caramel malt. The taste is deep orange, zesty, pithy, tangy, yet sweet, over toasted malt. The finish is dry and lightly to moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth with a light tingling of carbonation. A nice try, but this one doesn’t really work for me (although the Baraboo beers tend to be pretty decent overall for store brand beers).



Sunday, August 23, 2015

Point Apricadabra

This 5.0% ABV apricot wheat ale is from the Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. 

The beer pours a slightly hazed dark golden in color. There is an inch of densely foamy white head. The aroma is apricots, apricot nectar, and toasted wheat. The taste follows the aromas, a wallop of apricot nectar followed by toasted wheat. There is a sweet fruitiness in the apricot, but the finish is dry. The beer drinks easy, nicely carbonated, and refreshing. If you like apricots,  you’ll like this, if you don’t like apricot, then avoid at all costs.


Exile Flatbed Midwest Pilsner

This is a 4.8% ABV pilsner beer from the Exile Brewing Company of Des Moines, Iowa. 

The beer pours clear golden and yellow straw in color. There is about an inch of pure white head. The aroma is sweet grain, bread, grassy. The taste follows the aromas, lots of sweet grain, but also much more amped up on the grassy bitterness, which brings it to a dry end. The beer drinks crisply carbonated, easy, refreshing. This beer is definitely quaffable. 


Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Dark Apparition

This is a bourbon barrel aged 11.5% ABV stout brewed with brown sugar, from Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio.

The beer pours black in appearance. It pours nearly still, with just the slightest, thinnest bit of brown head bubbling up at then end, in a single layer that does not cover the top of the beer.  The aroma is sweet and dark roasted, black molasses, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla, a bit of dark cherry. The taste is smooth, sweet, rich, dark roasted, with all the notes of the aroma, plus coffee. The beer doesn’t drink boozy, but some bourbon enters the nasal cavities, and it certainly drinks with a warming effect. It is sweet, but finishes dry, with some oak astringency. The beer drinks very smooth, round and full. This is fine, fine, fine.


Sunday, August 16, 2015

Bell's Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity

This is a 8.0% ABV brown ale. It is one of a seven part series of beers inspired by Gustav Holst's musical composition "The Planets." It is from Bell's Brewery of Comstock, Michigan. 

The beer pours brown, dark chestnut to light mahogany. There is an inch of tight, thick, creamy, light tan head. The aroma is roasted malt, dark fruits, a bit nutty. The taste is well roasted malt, nutty, some toffee, sweet, but not sweet. The finish is dry, a bit tangy, with a light bitterness. The beer drinks very smooth and round. Every aspect of this beer gels into an excellent whole, one of the best brown ales you’ll ever run into. It drinks so smooth and easy, hard to believe it is 8.0% ABV, although it does have a slow-building warming effect on the throat.


Saranac Summer Pils

This pilsener beer is from the Saranac Brewing Company (Matt Brewing Company) of Utica, New York. It is self-described as a German-style pilsener with an American hop twist.

The beer pours a clear yellow golden in color. There is an inch of white, bubbling, foamy head. The aroma is mild, lemony, over toasted golden grain. The taste is lemony, grassy, toasted golden grain. It finishes dry with a mild bitterness. The beer drinks clean, with a refreshing carbonation. There is not a lot going on here, not much of a pils really, but the clean grain and lemon makes for a nice, light, summer beer.


Obolon Extra

This is a 7.1% ABV strong lager from the Obolon brewery in the Ukraine. The beer pours a clear and deep yellow golden in color. There is an inch of white, creamy, foamy head that is not particularly long lasting. The aroma is honey, bread dough, with a bit of hay. The taste follows the aromas, sweet and bready, with floral honey and a touch of hay. There is just enough grassy bitterness to make the finish dry. It drinks with a tingling carbonation. The beer does not drink boozy, but it does leave an alcohol burn down the throat. As far as the high ABV Eastern Euro lagers go, this one is quite drinkable.


Lagunitas Equinox

This is an 8.0% ABV pale oat ale from the Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma, California (and now with a brewery in Chicago, Illinois). It has 50 IBU's. They first brewed this beer in 1995.

The beer pours a very light amber in color. There is about an inch of tight, white, foamy head that leaves curtains of lacing down the glass. The aroma is fruity, redolent of oranges, tangy, passion fruit, all over toasted malt with a light caramel tinge. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes, but upping the passion fruit and adding in guava. The beer drinks much more ripe and lush than the aromas. The finish is lightly to moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth and round, with a tingle of carbonation. This is a nice American pale ale.


Victory Kirsch Gose

This is a 4.7% ABV take on the German-style gose from Victory Brewing of Downington, Pennsylvania. This one adds cherry to this tart beer style.

The beer pours salmon pink in color. There is a tall, bubbly, white foamy head with a very light pink tinge. The aroma is tart, salty, with some cherry. The taste is intensely, and I mean intensely tart, followed by a wave of kriek-like cherry, with a tinge of tangy saltiness on the finish. The beer drinks easy with a tingling carbonation. This is a nice take on the gose, combining it with a kriek. 




Saturday, August 15, 2015

Door County Biere de Seigle

This 7.0% ABV farmhouse style ale is from Door County Brewing of Bailey's Harbor, Wisconsin (with contract brewing at Sand Creek Brewing in Black River Falls, Wisconsin). It is brewed in the French and Belgian farmhouse style. 

The beer pours honey golden in color. There is a half inch of white head, not particularly long lasting, breaking down to a single thick layer. The aroma is sweet, floral, with some fruity yeast esters. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes, ending in a light floral bitterness, quite dry despite the sweetness in the beer. The beer drinks medium-bodied, smooth, with a tingle of carbonation. This is a nice take on the farmhouse style.


Squatters Bumper Crop Honey Ale

This is a 5.5% ABV ale brewed with honey and lavender from Squatters Beers. They are part of the Utah Brewers Cooperative out of Salt Lake City, Utah. 


The beer pours the color of honey, with a light haze. There is a short and thin white head. The aroma is honey, tangy, herbal, strong on the lavender. The taste follows the aromas, smooth, sweet honey, lots of lavender, toasted grains in the back, with a tangy finish. The beer drinks with a distinct smoothness, but also has a distinctly tingling carbonation, that highlights the tanginess in the beer, leaving a sting on the tongue. This makes for an interesting beer, but one is fine for me, thanks.


Rogue Farms Fresh Roast Ale

This is a 5.7% brown ale from Rogue Ales of Newport, Oregon. They roast their own malt at the brewery and transport it a whopping 273 feet and immediately brew with it.

The beer pours very dark brown, mahogany and dark ruby in color. There is nearly an inch of tan head. The aroma is very roasted and toasted malt, nutty, rye toast, some chocolate. The taste follows the aromas, toasted, dark roasted, chocolate, toast, rye toast, nutty, as deep, dark and rich as you can get without turning into a stout. The beer drinks smooth and round, with a light tingle of carbonation. The finish is dry and lightly bitter. This is one really nice roasted malt ale.


Friday, August 14, 2015

Prost Dunkel

This is a 5.9% dunkel or "dark" German-style lager, in this case brewed in the Frankonian style, a little stronger and drier. It is from Prost Brewing of Denver, Colorado. They brew all German style beers. 

The beer pours a dark brown, mahogany, in color. There is a short head of light tan foam. The aroma is dark roasted malts, but light, light char, nutty, a touch sweet, a touch smokey. The taste follows the aromas, nicely dark roasted, toasted, nutty, bit of char. The beer drinks very easy, smooth. There is a mild bitterness on the finish. This is a very nice take on a dunkel beer.


Tecate Michelada Diablo

This is Tecate's take on the Michelada; beer, tomato juice, lime, salt and spices. It is brewed in Monterrey, Mexico.

The beer pours the color of beer cut with tomato juice, not surprisingly. It is very carbonated, with a fizzy head that bubbles quickly away, even before a picture can be taken. The aroma is lager beer and the tang of salt, lime, and tomato juice, all individually discernible. The taste follows the aromas, standard lager, with all the ingredients making their mark, and lightly spicy. The strong carbonation adds a bite that adds to the spicy note. The beer drinks easy and refreshing. It is what it is, sure not fancy, but tasty and refreshing.


Sunday, August 9, 2015

Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Wood Ya Honey

This is an 11% ABV wheat wine made with local wild flower honey from Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio that they have aged in bourbon barrels. 

The beer pours a cloudy very dark brown. There is a short, thin, and short-lived head of tan. The aroma is bourbon, honey, vanilla, and toffee. The taste is rich and sweet, floral honey, bourbon, caramel and toffee, some nutty roasted malt, with an oaky astringency on the finish. The beer drinks smooth, round, full-bodied, with just a light touch of tingling carbonation. This is a divine beer.


Door County Silurian Stout

This milk stout is from Door County Brewing of Bailey's Harbor, Wisconsin. It takes its name from the Silurian Sea that used to cover the area 425 million years ago.

The beer pours black in color. There is a half inch of light brown head. The aroma is dark roasted malts, hazelnut, chocolate, milky. The taste follows the aroma, hitting the same notes, adding in even more dark roast with some char. The finish is dry, with a moderate bitterness. The beer drinks smooth and easy, with a tingle of carbonation. Great taste, could use just a touch more body, but like how it drinks easy. 


Surly Todd the Axe Man IPA

This is a 7.2% ABV India Pale Ale from the Surly Brewing Company of Brooklyn Center (and now Minneapolis), Minnesota. Surly is the "Beer For A Glass, From A Can" or in this case "Beer to Shred Your Face, In A Can." This beer was first made in collaboration with the Amager Brewery of Denmark. It is named after Surly's head brewer Todd, as a nod to his guitar playing in his band.

The beer pours the color of dried apricots. There is about an inch of white, foamy head, not particularly long-lasting. The aroma is passion fruit, guava, mango skin, very ripe, with some yeasty fruit esters. The taste is tangy, citrusy, loads of very ripe and lush tropical fruits. There is a moderate pine needle bitterness on the finish. The beer drinks smooth and round, but with a very tingling carbonation. This is a really enjoyable IPA.



Bull Falls Holzhacker Lager

The Bull Falls Brewery is in Wausau, Wisconsin. This is their 5.5% ABV German-style lager.

The beer pours golden yellow. There is nearly an inch of pure white foamy head. The aroma is French bread, honey, floral, and a touch of citrus. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes, adding in a shining metallic note that is surprising at first, but then blends in with the flavors of the beer. The beer drinks easy, smooth, yet well carbonated. The finish is lightly dry, with a light bitterness. This is a decent American lager, I certainly would rather drink it anytime over the Miller/Bud/Coors triumvirate.

Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Oil of Aphrodite

This is the 11.5% ABV double stout brewed with walnuts from Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio that they have aged in bourbon barrels. In addition to the locally harvested black walnuts, it also uses Belgian candied syrup.

The beer pours pitch black with just a touch of dark brown at the edge if held to the light. There is a short, thin and not long lasting head of dark cappuccino brown head.  The aroma is toasted walnuts, dark roasted malt, sweet, bourbon, vanilla, dark cherry, and a bit of wood. The taste follows the aromas, hitting all of the same notes, nutty, sweet, dark roasted, with the bourbon boozy, but never taking over the flavor. It drinks smooth, full, round, warming. It is very sweet, yet never too sweet. This is really good.



Confluence Rock Dodger DIPA

The Confluence Brewing Company is in Des Moines, Iowa. This is a limited release double India Pale Ale.

The beer pours golden orange honey in color. There is a bit more than a half-inch of white, foamy head. The aroma is overripe tropical fruit, lush, mango skin, guava, passion fruit. The taste hits all of the same notes as the aroma. The finish is smooth, with light bitterness. The beer drinks full and round. This beer is ripe and lush from beginning to end, definitely worth trying if you see it around, and worth repeating once you've had it!



Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Brick Kiln Barley Wine

This is an 11.8% ABV barley wine from Jackie O's Pub & Brewery in Athens, Ohio that they have aged in bourbon barrels. It takes its name from the 1800's brick industry in the area.

The beer pours cloudy, a very dark brown. There is a short, thin head of very light tan. The head is not long lasting. The carbonation is low. The aroma is currants, oak, raisins, light vanilla, bourbon. The taste is rich, caramel and toffee, currants, bourbon, vanilla, with oak that is lighter than the aroma. The beer is sweet, but the finish has the dry astringency of oak. The beer drinks smooth and round. The alcohol is present, warming, but not boozy, fitting in well with the overall beer. This is very, very nice.