Saturday, April 30, 2016

Short's ControversiALE IPA

This is a 6.5% ABV India Pale Ale, that was formerly know as Hangin' Frank (see the "controvesial" story HERE).  It is from Short's Brewing of Elk Rapids, Michigan. 

The beer pours a hazy dark apricot and amber in color. There is a solid half-inch of thick, almost creamy, white, foamy head that leaves thick and sticky lacing on the glass. The aroma is dank, citrus, tropical fruit and musk, with mango skins and passion fruit. The taste follows the aromas note for note. This has dankness levels nearing Huma, but adding in more citrus and tropical fruit. Those additions make this one even better. The finish is dry, moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth and soft.  


Three Floyds Rabbid Rabbit Saison

This is a 7.4% ABV Franco-Belgian farmhouse style ale from the Three Floyds Brewing Company of Munster, Indiana.

The beer pours hazy, the color of honey and burnt orange. There is nearly an inch of white, foamy head. The aroma is sweet, floral, yeasty, bread dough, honey, and very ripe melons and tropical fruits. The taste follows the aromas, hitting all the same notes, but with the floral more intense, and the fruit less, than in the aromas. The finish is very dry, with a moderate floral bitterness. The beer drinks smooth, with the soft and fine, yet intense, carbonation of bottle conditioning. This is a well done take on the style.   


Sunday, April 24, 2016

People's Brewing Moundbuilder IPA

This 6.5% ABV India Pale Ale has 88 IBU's and is from the People's Brewing Company of Lafayette, Indiana. 

The beer pours a hazy dark amber with tints of dried apricots. There is a relatively short head of light tan foam. The aroma is oranges, sweet malt, caramel and tea. The taste follows the aromas, loads of orange and malt, with a dry and quite bitter grapefruit finish. The beer drinks smooth and easy. This combines the best of an English IPA with the best of an East Coast American IPA for a nice take on the style.


New Belgium Hoppy Blonde

This 5.7% ABV blonde ale hopped with Mosaic hops is from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado. It is a new spring seasonal from them.

The beer pours an orange tinted honey golden in color. There is a half-inch of white foamy head. The aroma is a blast of ripe tropical fruits, mango skin, with earthy, musky dank. The taste follows the aromas, blasts of mango and musky dankness, very ripe tropical fruits. The finish is quite dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth with tingling carbonation. This is full of flavor and damn it tastes good.You can really taste those Mosaic hops.


Fountain Square Workingman's Pilsner

This 5.0% ABV Bohemian style pilsner is from the Fountain Square Brewery of Indianapolis, Indiana. 

The beer pours a hazy yellow golden in color. There is a short-lived head of white foam. The aroma is hay, straw, grain, honey, bread dough. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes. The finish is dry with a light, grassy bitterness. The beer drinks very easy with tingling carbonation. This is a straightforward lager, pleasant.


Three Floyds Wig Splitter Coffee Stout

The Three Floyds Brewing Company is in Munster, Indiana. This is a 7.7% ABV oatmeal stout brewed with fresh ground espresso. 

The beer pours a pure black in color. There is about an inch of thick, foamy khaki head. The aroma is very strong fresh roasted cold coffee. The coffee is foremost, but behind is some dark roasted malt with char and dark chocolate. The taste is a rich infusion of coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, and a bit of pleasant char. The finish is dry with a light to moderate bitterness. The beer drinks smooth and round with a light tingle of carbonation. This is a very, very nice coffee stout.  


Short's Brewing Huma Lupa Licious IPA

This India Pale Ale has 7.7% ABV with 96 IBU's. It is from Short's Brewing of Elk Rapids, Michigan. 


The beer pours a hazed honey orange golden in color. There is nearly an inch of thick, foamy, white to off-white head. The aroma is dank, dank, dank. If Snoop Dogg offered you a plastic baggy of a sticky green leafy substance and you opened it up and smelled it, it would smell like this beer. The taste follows the aromas, dank, dank, dank of the sticky-icky, earthy, over a toasted malt base. The finish is very dry, shall we say cotton mouth dry, with a moderate herbal bitterness. The beer drinks smooth and easy with a light carbonation.

Fountain Square Hop for Teacher Pale Ale

This 5.4% ABV pale ale is from the Fountain Square Brewery of Indianapolis, Indiana. 

The beer pours a hazy orange honey colored. There is a half-inch of white, thick, foamy head, a touch of whipped egg white consistency. The aroma is grassy with light citrus, a touch malted grain. The taste follows the aromas, the taste is fuller and richer than the aroma. The finish is dry and moderately bitter. The beer drinks smooth and easy. This is closer to an English pale ale than an American, but it is quite tasty and refreshing to drink.  


Saturday, April 23, 2016

Three Floyds Live a Rich Life

The Three Floyds Brewing Company is in Munster, Indiana. This is their 9.5% ABV Belgian-style Double India Pale Ale. It has 100 IBU's. It is brewed in memory of Rich Sheppard, a deceased employee.

The beer pours a hazy to cloudy amber and apricot in color. There is a tall, thick, foamy head of off-white. The aroma is yeasty, fruity, tangy, malty, bready, doughy, floral, oranges, and ripe melons. The taste follows the aromas, lots of different flavors going on, but all well balanced with each other into a nice whole. There is sweetness, but the finish has a moderate floral bitterness. The beer drinks smooth and round. This is quite nice.


Champale Golden

Champale comes from the Pabst Brewing Company. It is a malt liquor that uses a yeast more commonly used in wine production.  It has been brewed since 1939.  I remember seeing it in the liquor store in the early 1990's.  I never got around to trying it, and I though it had disappeared.  So when I saw a bottle in a liqour store in Michigan, I snatched it up. The original was Extra Dry, then came Pink and this, Golden, which is 5.4% ABV.

The beer pours golden and yellow in color. It pours fizzy with the white head immediately bubbling away. The aroma is partly malty, partly vinous, a little sweet, a little tart, lightly fruity, apples, pears and green grapes. The taste follows the aromas, like an old traditional non-flavored wine cooler meeting a light adjunct lager. The beer drinks fizzy, both syrupy and light at the same time. This is odd, but not terribly off-putting, and oddly compelling for brief moments. Well, I waited a long time to try this, glad I did, but won't be running out to find more any time soon either (that said, if I ever see the Extra Dry or Pink I will try them).


  


Stone Pataskala Red X IPA

The Stone Brewing Company is in Escondido, San Diego County, California. This is a 7.3% ABV red India Pale Ale.

The beer pours a deep, dark amber, with red and brown tints. There is a relatively short head of tan foam. The aroma is malty, roasted, sweet, fruity, caramel, orange, with a bit of pine or dankness. The taste follows the aromas, hitting the same notes, adding in strong tea. It is sweet, yet with a dry and bitter finish. The beer drinks smooth and round. This is very enjoyable, tasty and refreshing.  


Friday, April 22, 2016

Grain Belt Premium Light

Grain Belt makes "The Friendly Beer."  Now brewed by the August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm, Minnesota, it was originally brewed starting in 1893 by the Minneapolis Brewing Company.  In the 1960's it became Grain Belt Breweries and was sold in 1976 to G. Heileman.  In the 1980's Grain Belt was taken over by Minnesota Brewing Company who brewed it until 2002 when Schell's took over. This is the light version of Grain Belt Premium.

 This 110 calorie beer pours a very pale champagne golden and straw colored, as if sun bleached.  There is a half inch of pure white fizzy head that rapidly dissipates and leaves some very light and spotty lacing on the glass.  The aroma is light grain, some apple, lightly sweet, lightly tangy.  The taste is very light in flavor with a mild cooked grain or vegetal flavor, and a light tanginess, with a clean, slightly zesty finish.  The beer drinks light and fizzy. Not a lot of flavor here, but no bad flavors either.


The 2010 bottle:

Lagunitas The Waldos' Special Ale

This 11.5% ABV is from the OneHitter series from the Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma, California (and now with a brewery in Chicago, Illinois). The bottle says this is the dankest and hoppiest beer ever brewed by Lagunitas. It has over 100 IBU's.

The beer pours orange golden in color. There is a tall head of white foam. The aroma is dank, musky, mango skin, passion fruit, with big, sweet, ripe tropical fruits and melons. The taste follows the aromas, massive dankness and big, overripe tropical fruits, throwing in some pine. The beer drinks smooth, full, round, with a moderate bitterness on the dry finish. This is massive in every way, but put together very well, very tasty.



Tallgrass The Grizz Imperial IPA

This 9.5% ABV Imperial India Pale Ale has 85 IBU's and is from the Tallgrass Brewing Company of Manhattan, Kansas. It is part of their new Explorer Series. It uses Cascade, Citra, Magnum and El Dorado hops.

The beer pours a light amber and burnt orange in color. There is an inch of white foamy head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma is citrus, light tropical fruits, and toasted malt and caramel. The taste is a strange meld of toasted malt and intense passion fruit and guava. They don't really mix well together. The finish is spicy and moderately bitter. The beer drinks full and smooth. Overall, I'm not sure what to make of this one, but it did in fact get better as it warmed up.




Sunday, April 10, 2016

Avery IPA

The Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado was established in 1993. This is their simply titled India Pale Ale, and it has 6.5% ABV. 

The beer pours a hazed deep golden in color. There is a very tall, thick, foamy white head. The aroma is both bright and citrusy, and musky, earthy with light dankness. The taste follows the aromas, bright citrus, followed by passion fruit and mango skin, ending with a light musky dank note. The finish has a moderate bitterness. The beer drinks smooth and easy, with tingling carbonation.


Mikkeller Better Half

Mikkeller is a brewery based in Denmark. It beers its brews in breweries all over the world. This beer was brewed at Sly Fox in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. It is a 6.8% IPA.

The beer pours a hazy dark amber in color. There is an inch of thick, foamy, off-white head. The aroma is citrus, tropical melons, orange, and caramel. The taste follows the aromas, hitting note for note. The finish is dry, with the astringency of grapefruit peel, along with a moderate bitterness. The beer drinks very smooth and soft, with tingling carbonation.  


Great Divide Barrel Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

This 12.5% ABV stout aged in whiskey barrels is from the Great Divide Brewing Company of Denver, Colorado. 

The beer pours a viscous looking black. There is a half-inch of dark brown head. The aroma is chocolate, dark and dried fruits, light whiskey, wood and coffee. The taste follows the aromas, but much richer and more intense, adding in far more coffee and chocolate than the aroma. The beer drinks full and smooth, with a light tingle of carbonation. Great flavor on this one!  


Avery Brewing Company Raja Double IPA

The Avery Brewing Company of Boulder, Colorado was established in 1993. This is the 8.0% ABV "Prince" of a double IPA to their kingly Maharaja

The beer pours a hazy yellow golden in color. There is about an inch of white, foamy head. The aroma is dank, musky, citrus, almost minty. The taste follows the aromas, much citrus along with dankness and musk. There is also a bit of pine, and all of these merge at a spot that causes a light minty effect. The finish is dry and quite bitter. The beer drinks smooth, very easy (hard at that point to believe it is 8.0% ABV), with light carbonation.  


Saturday, April 9, 2016

Tallgrass Top Rope IPA

 This 6.0% India Pale Ale is from the Tallgrass Brewing Company of Manhattan, Kansas. It is inspired by the 1980's professional wrestlers, thus the name. The can says "Let me tell you something, brother..." I imagine in the voice of Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

The beer pours burnt orange and amber in color. There is a very tall, thick, foamy, head of off-white to very light tan. The aroma is fruity, apricots, citrus, tea and lemon. The taste follows the aromas, mild flavored, drinking like an English-Style IPA, ending dry with a moderate to fairly strong bitterness. The beer drinks easy and smooth. Drink this if you are looking for an English-Style IPA, but not if you want a West Coast style hop bomb.  




Samuel Adams Nitro IPA

The Samuel Adams line of beers are from the Boston Brewing Company of Boston, Massachusetts.  This 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale is one of their three new canned nitro beers.

The beer pours a clear orange honey golden, after the initial cascading surge clears. There is a half-inch of creamy, creamy off-white head that leaves thick curtains of lace down the glass. The aroma is a blast of citrus, lemon, orange, tangerine, lime. The taste is a blast of citrus, bright, oily, with a lingering hint of pine. The beer drinks beyond smooth, creamy. The finish is moderately to strongly bitter. This is an interesting beer, and I would say it exceeded my expectations, but on the other hand, I don't know how many of them I would want to drink.




Weihenstephaner 1516 Kellerbier

This 5.6% ABV unfiltered Kellerbier is from the Weihenstephaner brewery in Freising, Bavaria, Germany. It is brewed to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Bavarian Purity law mandating only water, hops, malt and yeast in German beer.

The beer pours lightly hazy, dark honey golden in color. There is a tall, and very thick, head of white foam. The aroma is bread, honey, straw, wildflowers. The taste follows the aromas, very bready, a touch of sweetness along with the flavor of honey, a light dusting of straw, before coming to a dry and fairly bitter, grassy, finish. The beer drinks exceptionally easy, with a sharp tingling of carbonation. This is a delight for lager lovers.  


Founders Mango Magnifico

This is a 10.0% ABV mango ale with habanero from Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids, Michigan.


The beer pours a clear orange and golden in color. There is a tall foamy, white head. The aroma is fruity, mango, toasted grain, no discernible hot pepper. The taste is sweet, fruity, mango, toasted grain, then a wave of pepper heat. The beer drinks very smooth. I had this a few years ago and loved it. This time round it has an overly artificial taste to the fruit, the pepper adds heat, but not flavor, and the base brew is blah. I was really excited for this, but this version is a disappointment.  


Sunday, April 3, 2016

Founders Mosaic Promise IPA

This 5.5% ABV and 55 IBU India Pale Ale is from Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It takes its name from its main ingredients, Mosaic hops and Golden Promise malt.


The beer pours a deep golden in color. There is ample carbonation, and nearly an inch of white foamy head. The aroma is big tropical fruits, with lots of mango, and also a pleasant muskiness. The taste follows the aromas, putting big tropical fruit, mango and muskiness over perfectly toasted malt. The finish is dry, and moderately to strongly bitter. The beer drinks refreshing, smooth, but with a good bite to the carbonation as well. This beer is a burst of flavors and a real joy to drink.


Kona Koko Brown

This 5.5% ABV brown ale with toasted coconut is from the Kona Brewing Company of Kona, Hawaii (although now brewed on the mainland as they are part of the Craft Brew Alliance). 

The beer pours brown, dark chestnut brown, and dark ruby in color. There is a relatively short head of tan foam. The aroma is roasted malts, coconut, caramel and nut. The taste follows the aromas, a toasty, nutty, malty brown ale with a good amount of cocounut. The finish is lightly bitter. The beer drinks very easy. If you like brown ales and you like coconut, they are well blended here.


Founders Azacca IPA

This India Pale Ale with 7.0% ABV and 70 IBU's is from Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is named after the Azacca hop used in the beer, which takes its name from the Haitian god of agriculture.

The beer pours amber and burnt orange in color. There is an inch of thick, foamy, off-white head. The aroma is very ripe, rich tropical fruits and melons. There is also citrus and sweet caramel. The taste follows the aromas, rich, deep, lush, ripe tropical fruit and melon, some citrus, all on an ample base of caramel malt. There is sweetness, before a moderately bitter and dry finish. The beer drinks smooth and round. This is definitely a lush beer all around.