Sunday, February 12, 2017

Samuel Adams Rebel Juiced IPA

The Samuel Adams line of beers are from the Boston Brewing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. This is a variant on their Rebel IPA line, adding in mango flavor.


The beer pours a clear and deep golden in color. There is a very tall, thick and foaming head of white. The aroma is a blast of fruit, nectar of mango and citrus juices. The taste is toasted wheat, mango nectar, and a mix of citrus flavors. The finish is quite bitter. The beer drinks smooth and easy with soft carbonation. Like the Mango Mosaic from Breckendridge, this is a nice concept, but in practice it is just mango nectar over toasted wheat, with a too bitter finish. It just doesn't gel.  


Wasatch Snap Down IPL

This 4.0% ABV India Pale Lager is from Wasatch Beers, from the Utah Brewers Cooperative of Salt Lake City, Utah. 


The beer pours a lightly hazy yellow and golden. There is a relatively short head of white foam. The aroma is citrus, tropical fruit, mango skin, passion fruit, with a touch of pine. The taste follows the aromas, adding in even more mango. The finish is lightly dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks very easy and refreshing. By God, this is quite good, and one of the better IPL's I have had.  


Schell's Schmaltz's Alt

This is a 5.1% ABV doppel alt beer from the August Schell Brewery of New Ulm, Minnesota. They are the second oldest family owned brewery in the United States (over 150 years and counting).  

The beer pours a very dark brown and dark ruby, nearly black, in appearance. There is a half-inch of light tan head. The aroma is roasted malt, a bit sweet, a bit of dark roast, chocolate, with a mineral tang. The taste follows the aromas, lightly charred, a bit of sweet, bitter chocolate, with a dark fruit/mineral tang. The finish is mostly dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks easy, smooth, with tingles of carbonation. This is a nice drinker of a beer.  



Goose Island Preseason Lager

This is a 5.8% ABV lager with grapefruit and pine aromas. It is from the Goose Island Beer Company of Chicago, Illinois (now owned by AB-InBev).


The beer pours a dark amber and copper in color. There is an inch of light tan head. The aroma is very mild, just a touch of malt and tanginess. The taste is caramel malt with grapefruit and pine bitterness. The finish is both sweet and dry, with a prominent bitterness. Some pine comes in as it warms.The beer is smooth and drinks easy. This has almost no aroma, and its mild taste is overwhelmed by bitterness. This gets better as you drink through it, but it is not very good.


Red Stripe

This 4.7% ABV lager is from Desnoes & Geddes of Kingston, Jamaica. 

The beer pours a clear golden in color. There is a tall head of white foam, which settles down to a short layer. The aroma is tangy cereal grains, light green apple, with a bit of straw and grassy hop. The taste mirror the aromas, but is a bit better, as it is not so tangy. The finish has almost no bitterness. The beer is very light, nearly watery, but with moderate carbonation. For best effect, drink it out of the bottle while washing down some jerk.


Saturday, February 4, 2017

Toppling Goliath MoZee IPA

The Toppling Goliath Brewing Company is in Decorah, Iowa. This takes their Zeelander India Pale Ale that features the Nelson Sauvin hop from New Zealand, and adds in Mosaic hops as well. 

The beer pours a hazy golden with dark orange tints. There is a tall, thick, foaming head of white. The aroma is a blast of tropical fruits and earthy dankness, guava, mango, passion fruit, citrus; with all the fruits having their flesh, skins and peels, and juice. The taste follows the aromas, rich, fruity, tropical, earthy, musky, delicious. The beer drinks both smooth and tingling. The finish is nicely dry, with a moderate bitterness, and a grapefruit quench. Another delightful winner from TG!


Toppling Goliath Double Dry Hop pseudoSue Pale Ale

This is pseudoSue pale ale that features Citra hops, from the Toppling Goliath Brewing Company of Decorah, Iowa, that is double dry hopped. pseudoSue is one of my favorite beers of all times, and I can't wait to try this version. As you can see from the bottle, they have paired up with the Field Museum in Chicago, home to the fossilized skeleton of the T-Rex Sue.


The beer pours cloudy, lemon meringue pie filling in color, with golden and orange tints. It looks like grapefruit juice. There is a tall, thick, foaming head of white. The aroma is a blast of citrus, juice, flesh and zest, along with a pleasant, lightly musky earthiness. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes, coming to a mostly dry and moderately bitter finish, with some grapefruit intensity to it. The beer drinks smooth, with pleasant tingling of fine carbonation. A fresh delight from TG!


2019 can:

Breckenridge Mango Mosaic

This 5.5% ABV ale brewed with mango flavor is from the Breckenridge Brewery of Denver, Colorado.

The beer pours a lightly hazy deep golden, with apricot tints. There is a relatively short, but long-lasting, head of white foam. The aroma is mango nectar, passion fruit, toasted wheat. The taste follows the aromas, adding in a bitter finish. The beer drinks with a crisp and intense carbonation. Good potential here, but it just tastes like mango nectar poured into a mediocre pale ale. 


Friday, February 3, 2017

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA

This 7.0% ABV India Pale Ale is from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado. It uses Mosaic and Amarillo hops. It is one of several new year round beers they are offering.


The beer pours a dark golden. There is an inch of white head. The aroma is tropical fruit, mango, citrus. The aroma is fairly mild, the taste is a big blast of tropical, lots of mango, mango skin, guava and passion fruit. The finish is mostly dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth and soft, with a tingle of carbonation. This is pretty tasty.  


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo

This 6.7% ABV India Pale Ale is from Sierra Nevada Brewing of Chico, California.


The beer pours a gleaming dark golden and amber. There is a tall, thick head of white to off-white foam. The aroma is tropical fruit, mango, citrus, pineapple and passion fruit, over toasted malt. The taste follows the aromas, the tropical fruit is present, but more subdued in the flavor. The finish is mostly dry and quite bitter, like biting a grapefruit. The beer drinks both smooth and tingling.  


Sierra Nevada Sidecar Orange Pale Ale

This 5.3% ABV pale ale is from Sierra Nevada Brewing of Chico, California. It is brewed with orange peel.


The beer pours dark golden and light amber in color. There is a very tall head of white foam, rising from the carbonation. The aroma is citrus; orange, fruit, zest, peel, pith, and fresh-squeezed pulpy juice; over toasted malt, with a bit of dank earthiness. The taste follows the aromas note for note, coming to a very dry and fairly bitter finish. The beer drinks smooth, but crisply carbonated. This is tasty and refreshing.  


Oranjeboom Lager

This is a 5.0% ABV lager from Oranjeboom of Breda-Rotterdam, Holland (although contract brewed in Germany). 

The beer pours a dark honey golden. There is an inch of pure white head. The aroma is hay, straw, bread dough, honey. The taste follows the aromas, fresh farm smells and home baked bread dough. There is some sweetness, but the beer finishes mostly dry, with a light bitterness. The beer drinks easy and smooth, with tingling carbonation. This is a better than average Euro lager.