Saturday, January 28, 2017

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale

 This 5.5% ABV pale ale is from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado.  You probably won't be surprised to know it uses eight different hops. It is one of several new year round beers they are offering.


The beer pours a dark golden in color. There is over an inch of thick white head. There is a large amount of very fine carbonation. The aroma is tropical fruit, mangos and mango skin, passion fruit, with some earthy dankness and citrus. The taste follows the aromas note for note. The finish is dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks with a soft, yet intense, refreshing carbonation. This is really excellent, get out and try it.


Sunday, January 22, 2017

Madhouse Wee Heavy

The Madhouse Brewing Company originated in Newton, Iowa, and now have a new location in Des Moines. This is a 13.5% ABV imperial Scotch ale that was aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels.


The beer pours very dark brown to black. There is a half-inch of tan foam. The aroma is caramel, toffee, vanilla, oak and bourbon, with a bit of maple syrup and dark roasted malt. The taste follows the aromas, hitting all the same notes, very rich with the sweet, malty, caramel, and dark fruit, with bourbon and breakfast layered on top. The beer drinks very smooth with little carbonation. It is warming, but not at all boozy. This is rich and delicious. This is damn near perfect; excellent!  


Green Flash Soul Style IPA

This 6.5% ABV India Pale Ale is from the Green Flash Brewing Company of San Diego, California. It uses Citra, Simcoe and Cascade hops.


The beer pours a deep and bright golden. It is well-carbonated with a half-inch of white, foamy, thick head. The aroma is light tropical fruit, passion fruit, citrus. The taste follows the aromas, with a quite bitter finish, astringent, like biting a grapefruit. The beer drinks smooth and easy, with a tingling carbonation, both soft and intense at the same time.  


Green Fog Organic IPA

This 6.5% ABV India Pale Ale is from the Green Fog Brewing Company of Ukiah, California. I got this at Trader Joe's and I think it is one of their proprietary contract brewed beers.

The beer pours a bright amber in color. There is a half-inch of white head. The aroma is citrus, zest, passion fruit, over toasted malt. The taste follows the aromas, but is overwhelmed by a very intense bitterness on the finish. The finish is dry, astringent, and very bitter. The beer drinks smooth, with a soft carbonation. This would be a decent drinker if they toned down the bitterness, it is heavy even for the style. 

E40 Malt Liquor

E40 is the 10.0% ABV malt liquor made for the rapper of the same name, E40 from Vallejo, California.

The beer pours a deep golden, almost a light amber. There is a half-inch of white head, not long-lasting. The aroma is sweet, yet tangy, a bit vinous like a cheap white wine. The aroma is toast with honey, along with cheap white wine. The taste follows the aromas, adding in some wet cardboard. It is a sweet, tangy, vinous, toasted abomination. The taste is really bad. The beer is medium bodied with moderate carbonation. The beer has a nice color...beyond that, nothing good to say.


Icehouse

Icehouse is a 5.5% ABV ice lager from the Plank Road Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (I don't know why they pretend it's not from Miller Brewing). 

The beer pours a very clear golden in color. There is a tall head of white foam. For the style, it is relatively longer lasting. The aroma is grain, grass, with just a bit of green apple. The taste follows the aromas, a bit less tart than in the aroma. Pretty basic adjunct here, but no off-notes, so, well built for what it is. The beer has a decent body for the style, and drinks with a crisp refreshment. This is decent for a BMC adjunct ice beer; and by decent, I mean mostly inoffensive.


Saturday, January 14, 2017

Surly Damien Child of Darkness Ale

The Surly Brewing Company originated in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, and now also has a destination brewery in Minneapolis. This black IPA is made using the second runnings of Darkness, their annual special Russian Imperial Stout release. How do you like the creepy doll face on the bottle? 

The beer pours black, with a half-inch of thick, somewhat creamy light tan head. The aroma is dark roast, light char, light black licorice, and a bit of dark chocolate. The taste follows the aromas, but is heightened, more flavor than aroma, with the char bumped up a notch. There is a light note on the finish of dark fruits. The finish is mostly dry, with a moderate bitterness. The beer drinks nice and smooth, with a refreshing tingling of tight, intense bubbles. This is a really nice cascadian ale.






Firetrucker Burnout Brown

This 5.3% ABV brown ale is from the Firetrucker Brewery of Ankeny, Iowa. They are located in a former fire station, and thus the theme of their brewery and beer names.

The beer pours a very dark brown with highlights of dark, glinting, ruby. There is nearly an inch of somewhat creamy light tan head. The aroma is toasted, nutty, with a bit of dark fruit, dark berries. The taste is dark roasted, a bit of char, light notes of dark fruit and berries, some sweetness, but with a moderately bitter finish that is mostly dry. The beer drinks smooth and soft.   



Mickey's Ice

This is the 5.8% ABV ice version of Mickey's malt liquor. 

The beer pours a crystal clear golden in color. There is a tall, foamy head of white. The aroma is grain, dried corn in a metal bucket, grassy, with a touch of damp cardboard. The taste generally follows the aromas, but is a bit sweeter. There is essentially no bitterness on the finish. The beer drinks with a moderate carbonation. So, a workable, barely decent malt liquor, not compelling, but not disgusting.



A 40-ouncer from 2010:

Founders PC Pils

This is a 5.5% ABV American hopped pilsner. It is from Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 


The beer pours a hazy, light yellow golden in color. There is an inch of foamy, bubbling white head. The aroma is bright, lemony, with some mango and passion fruit skins. There is some breadiness underneath. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes. The finish is dry, with a fairly light bitterness, particularly for the style.  


Friday, January 13, 2017

Lucky Bucket Brewing Pre-Prohibition Style Lager

The Lucky Bucket Brewing Company is in La Vista, Nebraska. This is their 4.0% ABV pre-prohibition style lager.

The beer pours a dark amber in color. There is a half-inch of white to off-white head, not particularly long-lasting. The aroma is malty, caramel, sweet, but also with a grassy bitterness. The taste follows the aromas, toasted malt, caramel, hint of dark fruits, sweet, but with a lightly bitter, grassy finish. The beer drinks smooth, but with some crispness of carbonation. This is a nice full-flavored amber lager.  

From 2011: This beer pours a glowing and crystal clear orange-copper in color with a small and rapidly dissipating head.  The aroma is malty and slightly roasted.  The taste is nutty, malty, roasted and toasted.  This is a very flavorful lager with a nice clean and refreshing finish.


Empyrean Domino Effect

The Empyrean Brewing Company is in Lincoln, Nebraska. This is a 5.6% ABV "transition" ale, whatever that means.

The beer pours a dark copper and very dark amber. There is a short head of very light tan. The aroma is very floral, full of geraniums and herbs. The taste is massive liquid geraniums with a bit of root beer barrel candies. Man, you better like flowers to drink this. The finish is mostly dry, with light to moderate bitterness stemming from the strong floral notes. The beer drinks smooth with a light tingle of carbonation.


Firetrucker Brigade Ale

This 5.6% ABV Pre-Prohibition Style Golden Ale is from the Firetrucker Brewery of Ankeny, Iowa. They are located in a former fire station, and thus the theme of their brewery and beer names.

The beer pours a clear golden in color. There is a half-inch of white head, not long lasting. The aroma is honey, grain, light floral/citrus, with a light grassy note. The taste follows the aromas, adding in a bready note. This drinks bright and smooth, with a sweet, bready note. There is a tingle of grassy bitterness on the finish.  


Saturday, January 7, 2017

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout - 2016

This is the 2016 vintage of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout. It is a 13.8% ABV stout aged in bourbon barrels. 

The beer pours opaque black. There is a short, and short-lived, head of dark tan/light brown. The aroma is sweet, maple, bourbon, vanilla, with lighter notes of dark roast and char. The taste follows the aromas, hitting all the same notes, but the char is bumped up a notch in the flavors. The aroma is all about sweet maple bourbon, the taste blends that equally with dark roast and char. The beer is sweet, but the char and barrel oak add enough astringency to put a bit of dryness near the finsh. It is warming, but not hot or boozy. The beer drinks very smooth, almost a silky feel in the mouth. There is a light, soft, tingle of carbonation. This is well-done, tasting nice this year, and I will enjoy putting a bottle away and tasting it in a couple of years.


Schell's Snowstorm 2016 British-Style Ale

This is the 2016 winter offering from the August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm, Minnesota. They were established in 1860 and they are the second oldest family owned brewery in the United States, behind Yuengeling. Every winter they release Snowstorm, featuring a different style of beer every year. This year it is a British-style ale.


The beer pours a gleaming copper in color. There is a short white head. The aroma is sweet, caramel, toffee, nutty, with some dark, ripe plum fruit. The taste follows the aromas, toffee and caramel, nutty, with a quite bitter finish. The beer drinks light, smooth and easy, with a tingle of carbonation. This is very good, but a bit overwhelmed by its bitterness. 

(I later had a second bottle of this beer. I don't know why it seemed so bitter the first time I drank it.  The level of bitterness was completely appropriate to the style the second time I drank it, and this shined through as a really good beer.)




Monday, January 2, 2017

Samuel Adams Hopscape

The Samuel Adams line of beers are from the Boston Brewing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. This is a 5.5% ABV wheat ale brewed with West Coast hops.


The beer pours a hazy dark yellow and apricot. There is a half-inch of thick and fluffy white head. The aroma is tangy, fruity, citrus and light passion fruit. The taste follows the aromas, adding in light pineapple notes. The finish is dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth with soft carbonation.  


Lucky Bucket Hoodang Wheat

The Lucky Bucket Brewing Company is in La Vista, Nebraska (just south of Omaha). This is a 4.0% ABV wheat beer with a touch of citrus. Explaining the name, the bottle says that the beer will make you holler "hoodang!" when you drink it.


The beer pours a very clear light amber in color. There is very little head, what is there is short-lived. The aroma is toasted wheat, a touch nutty, with light citrus tang and fruit. The taste follows the aromas, the toasted wheat is rich and full-flavored, but not heavy, with the fruit as mellow and sweet as tangy. The beer drinks easy and smooth, but with some tingle of carbonation. The finish is dry with a light bitterness. This makes an excellent session beer.