Beer Group May Tasting

We had four people get together yesterday (May 1st) for a great tasting of nine different brews, a good way to start out the month I'd say.
Here's what we tasted:

1) Lost Coast Brewery Tangerine Wheat (fruit wheat beer) - Hazy orange color, tastes a bit of seltzer water, juicy, tangerine peel/rind, drying. This would be a decent summer brew and rings in at 5.5% and 15 IBU. More here.
2) North Coast Brewing Company Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale (red ale) - I just picked this up on a whim because I've heard a lot about NCB and had Old Rasputin before as well. This had a nice tropical fruit hop nose, cereal malty base, was a clear red/copper, maybe overly carbonated, sugary and a touch sweet, medium mouthfeel, and slippy legs. The Red Seal Ale is 5.4% with 42 IBUs. More here.
3) Ellicotville Brewing Company Mow Master (ultra pale ale) - Light golden/yellow color, grassy, dank, hemp notes, almost tastes like it contains adjuncts to thin it out, also smells like oats, has a smooth finish with an earthy bitterness, medium full mouthfeel and sugar taste is noticeable too. 5% with 36 IBU. More here.
4) Belhaven Brewery Twisted Thistle IPA (american ipa) - Belhaven is owned by Greene King, is citrus, dank, with some tropical fruit and pineapple, but it is supposed to be grapefruit and bright so we think that it was old and the hop acids faded, it also had quite the caramel malt presence and was super smooth. At 5.6%, the IBU is not known. More here.
5) Weyerbacher Brewing Company Last Chance IPA - found this one really enjoyable with a complex nose of fruity hops, grapefruit, honeydew, lemon/lime, mango, grassy and herbal, pineapple, it was amber with a malt backbone that trickled in as the beer resided on the palate. A portion of every sale of Last Chance IPA goes to animal shelters. Comes in at 5.9% with 60 IBUs. More here.
6) Omnipollo Fatamorgana (imperial ipa) - this is the second of Omnipollo's brews I've had, a company from Sweden that does brewing all over the world at different breweries, this one at Pub Dog, so it's fresh, hazy unfiltered, dank, citrus, herbal, bitter with resinous sap notes, the lemon grew and grew on my palate, uses belgian sugar perhaps?, iced tea resemblance almost like an arnold palmer (just not so juicy). Love the minimalist artwork by Karl Grandin. This brewery has the potential to become one of my new favorites. Has 8% and 100 IBU. More here.
7) Dark Horse Brewing Company Boffo Brown Ale - this is a rich complex brown ale with distinct flavors, molasses, ham/smoky, has a roasty nose, vanilla, and a pure brown color. Arriving at 7% this is seriously drinkable. More here.
8) Stone Brewing Company Smoked Porter with Vanilla Bean (smoked beer) - one sip and I was smiling with delight, so delicious, smooth, smoky/ham notes are not overpowering, the roasted coffee and chocolate notes are balanced, has roasted barley perhaps?, great legs, dry semi-dry and a deep brown color. At only 5.9% a bottle of this could go quickly, it also has 53 IBU. More here, including Mitch Steele's tasting notes.
9) Innis & Gunn Scotch Whiskey Porter (barrel aged porter) - whiskey flavor hits you right off, has a grapey juice notes, oak, raisin, rum, molasses, drinkable but on the sweet side, a slight woody funk, always felt like Innis & Gunn's barrel aging is not a long process, it tastes too fresh or non-complex. Comes in at 7.4%. More here.

My favorite of the night was: Stone Smoke Porter w/Vanilla Bean. Sold from the first sip.