I gotta be honest, it took me about a solid week to find a Texas beer that broke 4/5 stars for me, and I was not super impressed with the San Antonio breweries. That being said, I did end up, finding some fantastic venues and Texas beers!
In no particular order:
1) Karbach Brewing Co. (Houston, TX) - Hopadillo IPA - Middleof the road non-hazy smooth, light malt, tad caramel, good fresh hops, refreshing, citrus and mango...even though A.B. InBev owns Karbach, it doesn’t hurt that it was on special for $6.50 a liter! 3.5/5 stars
2) 5 Stones Artisan Brewing (New Braunfels, TX) - Norma Jeane - blonde ale brewed with strawberries. Vanilla and honey, light refreshing, tons of strawberry, hazy peach color. Found at Cullum’s Attagirl (best garlic fries ever “Girls Thyme Fries”, Fried chicken deviled eggs, and wings!). 4/5 stars.
3) Three Nations Brewing (Farmer’s Branch, TX) - Haze Wizard - ddh with Amarillo, tons of candy citrus, breads, super fruity, melon, drinkable. Also at Cullum’s Attagirl. 3.75/5 stars
4) Martin House Brewing Co. (Ft. Worth, TX) - Parker County Peach - like peach cobbler, sweet and peachy. Cullum’s Attagirl. 3.75/5 stars
5) Southerleigh Brewing Co. (San Antonio, TX) - Don’t Fear the Dank Side - tad sweet, honey, great fruit hop notes, Tropical, sugar, not super dank? @ the brewery in the Pearl district. 3.5/5 stars
6) Lone Pint Brewery (Magnolia, TX) - Yellow Rose - An IPA everyone is clamoring for in Texas, candy citrus, mango, tropical, melon, honey, biscuit malt. Found at The Friendly Spot, a really cool outdoor bar with lots of metal chairs and tables. 3.75/5 stars
7) (512) Brewing Co. (Austin, TX) - (512) Pecan Porter - smooth, pecans and roasty, coffee. Also The Friendly Spot. 4/5 stars
8) Ghost Pixel Beer Studio (San Antonio, TX) - Flashbang, IPA, honey, dank, medium mouthfeel, melon, juicy, brewery is a side project of Freetail Brewing Co. a total hipster location where I found this. 3.5/5 stars
9) Ghost Pixel Beer Studio - Mexican Hostel Slumber Party - a stout with spices, cinnamon, spice, lighter but sits nicely in the mouth, coffee, cocoa powder, brown color. @ Freetail’s production facility. 3.75/5 stars
10) Aquabrew (San Marco, TX) - Skyscraper Mosaic IPA - peach, citrus, lighter but good flavor, breads malt, toasty, orange, tad pine, tangerine. Cullum’s Attagirl again! Unique Beer 1900 btw, 4/5 stars
11) Guadelupe Brewing Co. (New Braunfels, TX) - Scotch Ale - a huge 8.17% wee heavy, caramel and butterscotch nailed this one! Found at The Cove, another outdoor beer spot with misters, playground for the kids, a dog “park” and while outside bar dedicated to TX taps (don’t pass up the fish tacos!). 4.25/5 stars
12) (512) Brewing Co. - Juicy IPA -peppery citrus nose, not as many hops in the flavor, lots of resin. @ The Cove, 3.5/5 stars
13) Guadelupe Brewing Co. - Texas Honey Ale- Belgian tripel, breads, really nice sweet honey finish that is a bit rich, @ The Cove, 3.75/5 stars
14) BS Brewing - Pecan Ale With Honey - braggot, honey in a glass, nutty caramelized pecans, delicious dessert beer, @ The Cove, 4/5 stars
15) Southern Star Brewing Co. (Conroe, TX) - Buried Hatchet - Stout, coffee grinds, smooth not overly roasty, sweet vanilla, sassafras, molasses, @ The Cove, 3.75/5 stars
And some honorable mentions:
16) Celia Brewery (Austin, TX) - Celia White - the original hoegaarden brewer ‘s daughter reviving his classic recipe, 3.25/5 stars
17) The Granary ‘Cue & Brew (San Antonio, TX) - Peach Ginger Shandy - refreshing, cold, peach, sweet ginger, 3.25/5 stars
18) Spoetzl Brewery (Shiner, TX) - Shiner Bock - had it before, but still a pretty decent beer, 3.25/5 stars
19) Oasis Texas Brewing Co. (Austin, TX) - El Grito Göse Lager - a mildly tart gose, dry, like a margarita beer, 3.25/5 stars
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Best of 2017
Here's the best from this year's drinking in all the categories of BJCP:
2017 Beers 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines
Beer Brewery Rating
1. Standard American Beer
1a - American Light Lager Trotwood Warped Wing Brewery 3
1b - American Lager Molson Canadian Molson Coors Canada 1.5
1c - Cream Ale Creole Cream Ale Abita Brewing Co. 3
1d - American Wheat Beer Willy Alpine Beer Co. 3.75
2. International Lager
2a - International Pale Lager Stella Artois Stella Artois 2.25
2b - International Amber Lager NA
3c - International Dark Lager NA
3. Czech Lager
3a - Czech Pale Lager NA
3b - Czech Premium Pale Lager Equinox Pilsner Northshire Brewery 3
3c - Czech Amber Lager NA
3d - Czech Dark Lager NA
4. Pale Malty European Lager
4a - Munich Helles NA
4b - Festbier Fest Helles Uinta Brewing Co. 2.75
4c - Helles Bock NA
5. Pale Bitter European Beer
5a - German Leichtbier NA
5b - Kolsch Captain Kolsch Harpoon Brewery 3.5
5c - German Exportbier NA
5d - German Pils Classic Pilsner Old Bisbee Brewing Co. 3.5
6. Amber, Malty European Lager
6a - Marzen Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen Ayinger Privatbrauerei 3.75
6b - Rauchbier NA
6c Dunkles Bock NA
7. Amber, Hoppy European Beer
7a - Vienna Lager Freddy D Lager Three Heads Brewing 3.5
7b - Altbier Amber Alaskan Brewing Co. 3.5
7c - Kellerbier
- Pale Kellerbier Zwickel Urban Chesnut Brewing Co. 3
- Amber Kellerbier Saxony Lager Jack's Abby 3
8. Dark European Lager
8a - Munich Dunkel Session Dark Lager Full Sail Brewing Co. 3.25
8b - Schwarzbier Black Beer Stone Corral 4
9. Strong European Lager
9a - Doppelbock Confiscator Dopplebock Lager Three Heads Brewing 3.5
9b - Eisbock NA
9c - Baltic Porter Ookla the Monk Thin Man Brewing Co. 3.25
Black Boss Porter Browar Witnica 3.25
10. German Wheat Beer
10a - Weissbier Zirkus Boy Magic Hat Brewing Co. 2.75
10b - Dunkels Weissbier Beer Camp Across the World Dunkle Weisse (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Ayinger Privatbrauerei) 3.5
10c - Weizenbock NA
11. English Bitters
11a - Ordinary Bitter NA
11b - Best Bitter NA
11c - Strong Bitter NA
12. Pale English Beer
12a - English Golden Ale NA
12b - Australian Sparkling Ale NA
12c - English IPA IPA (cask) Davidson Brothers 2.75
13. Brown English Beer
13a - Dark Mild NA
13b - Best Brown Ale Nordic Brown Ale Lost Borough Brewing Co. 4
13c - English Porter NA
14. Scottish Ale
14a - Scottish Light NA
14b - Scottish Heavy NA
14c - Scottish Export Kilt Lifter Four Peaks Brewing Co. 3.5
15. Irish Beer
15a - Irish Red Ale Rough & Ready No. 2 Argyle Brewing Co. 3.5
15b - Irish Stout Guinness Draught Guinness 3.5
15c - Irish Extra Stout
16. Dark English Beer
16a - Sweet Stout Eric More Cowbell! Milk Stout SingleCut Beersmiths 4
16b - Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Yeti Great Divide Brewing Co. 3.75
16c - Tropical Stout NA
16d - Foreign Extra Stout Guinness Foreign Extra Stout Guinness 3.75
17. Strong British Ale
17a - English Strong Ale Ubu Ale Lake Placid Pub & Brewery 3.75
17b - Old Ale NA
17c - Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Davidson Brothers 4
17d - English Barleywine NA
18. Pale American Ale
18a - Blonde Ale Blonde Ale Bottomless Brewing 3.25
18b - American Pale Ale X.P.A. Upstate Brewing Co. 3.75
Elaborate Metaphor Burlington Beer Co. 3.75
Glorious Lord Hobo Brewing Co. 3.75
19. Amber and Brown American Beer
19a - American Amber Ale Biffhorrific Amber Tombstone Brewing Co. 3.75
Zoe Maine Beer Co. 3.75
19b - California Common NA
19c - American Brown Ale Stumble Brown Argyle Brewing Co. 4
20. American Porter & Stout
20a - American Porter 3/4 Porter Swiftwater Brewing Co. 3.75
20b - American Stout Big Head Stout Three Heads Brewing Co. 4
20c - Russian Imperial Stout Imperial Stout Lagunitas Brewing Co. 4.5
21. IPA
21a - American IPA Nugget Nectar Troegs Independent Brewing 4.25
Does Anybody Remember Laughter? SingleCut Beersmiths 4.25
21b - Specialty IPA
- Belgian IPA NA
- Black IPA Black IPA Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 3
- Brown IPA NA
- Red IPA Stone Pataskala Red X IPA Stone Brewing Co. 3.25
- Rye IPA Two Claw Westbrook Brewing Co. 3.75
- White IPA NA
22. Strong American Ale
22a - Double IPA Consolation Prize Lord Hobo Brewing Co. 4.25
Beer Camp Across the World West Coast-Style DIPA (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Boneyard Beer Co.) 4.25
22b - American Strong Ale NA
22c - American Barleywine Bigfoot (2016) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 4
22d - Wheatwine NA
23. European Sour Ale
23a - Berliner Weisse Beer Camp Across the World Dry-Hopped Berliner-Style Weisse (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Saint Arnold Brewing Co.) 3.5
23b - Flanders Red Ale Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale Brouwerij Van Steenberge 3.5
23d - Lambic Sour Framboise Trader Joe's (collab w/Brouwerij De Brabandere (Bavik)) 3.5
23e - Gueuze NA
23f - Fruit Lambic NA
24. Belgian Ale
24a - Witbier Witte Brewery Ommegang 3.5
24b - Belgian Pale Ale NA
24c - Biere de Garde NA
25. Belgian Strong Ale
25a - Belgian Blond Ale Leffe Blonde/Blond Abbaye de Leffe 3.25
25b - Saison Saison Tombstone Brewing Co. 4.25
25c - Belgian Golden Strong Ale La Chouffe Brasserie d'Achouffe 3.5
26. Trappist Ale
26a - Trappist Single Hoppy Table Beer Allagash Brewing Co. 3
26b -Belgian Dubbel Abbey Ale Brewery Ommegang 3.5
26c - Belgian Tripel Merry Monks Weyerbacher Brewing Co. 3.5
26d - Belgian Dark Strong Ale Grande Reserve 17 (2013) Unibroue 4.5
27. Historical Beer
- Gose Key Lime Gose Westbrook Brewing Co. 3.75
Cranberry Gose Long Trail Brewing Co. 3.75
- Kentucky Common NA
- Lichtenhainer NA
- London Brown Ale NA
- Piwo Grodziskie NA
- Pre-Prohibition Lager NA
- Pre-Prohibition Porter NA
- Roggenbier NA
- Sahti Beer Camp Across the World Thai-Style Iced Tea Ale (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Mikkeller Brewing) 3.25
Specialty Beer
28. American Wild Ale
28a - Brett Beer Ameoba Mikkeller Brewing 3.75
28b - Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer Over and Out Tombstone Brewing Co. 4
Tropic Punch Ale Stillwater Artisanal Ales (collab w/Dugges Bryggeri) 4
28c - Wild Specialty Beer Anniversary 19! Ithaca Beer Co. 4
Rainbow Dome Grimm Artisanal Ales 4
29. Fruit Beer
29a - Fruit Beer Apricot Wheat Ithaca Beer Co. 4
29b - Fruit & Spice Beer Road Jam Two Roads Brewing Co. 3.25
29c - Specialty Fruit Beer Frootwood Founder's Brewing Co. 3.5
Sumo in a Sidecar Evil Twin Brewing 3.5
Milkshake Community Beer Works 3.5
30. Spiced Beer
30a - Spiced, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Stone Xocoveza Stone Brewing Co. 4.75
17 Perennial Artisan Ales 4.75
30b - Autumn Seasonal Beer Rum Barrel Aged Pumpking Southern Tier Brewing Co. 4
30c - Winter Seasonal Beer 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. 3
31. Alternative Fermentables Beer
31a - Alternative Grain Beer Excavator Big Ditch Brewing Co. 3.5
31b - Alternative Sugar Beer Indian Brown Dark IPA Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4
32. Smoked Beer
32a - Classic Style Smoked Beer S'more Stout Base Camp Brewing Co. 2.5
32b - Specialty Smoked Beer Surround Stillwater Artisanal Ales 4.25
33. Wood Beer
33a - Wood-Aged Beer Burton Baton Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 3.75
33b - Specialty Wood-Aged Beer Strong Scotch Ale Aged in Islay Scotch Casks Tombstone Brewing Co. 5
34. Specialty Beer
34a - Clone Beer NA
34b - Mixed-Style Beer Wicked Philthy Jack's Abby (collab w/SOLE Artisan Ales) 4
Calyptra Jack's Abby 4
34c - Experimental beer Even More Cocoa Jesus Evil Twin Brewing 4.75
35. Traditional Mead
35a - Dry Mead NA
35b - Semi-Sweet Mead NA
35c - Sweet Mead Savage Bois Golden Coast Mead 3.25
36. Fruit Mead
36a - Cyser NA
36b - Pyment NA
36c - Berry Mead NA
36d - Stone Fruit Mead NA
36e - Melomel NA
37. Spiced Mead
37a - Fruit & Spice Mead NA
37b - Spice, Herb or Vegetable Mead NA
38. Specialty Mead
38a - Braggot Welsh Braggot Davidson Brothers 4
38b - Historical Mead NA
38c - Experimental Mead Black Fang B. Nektar Meadery 3.25
39. Standard Cider & Perry
39a - New World Cider Boyz Aint' Playin' Cider Creek Hard Cider 3.75
39b - English Cider NA
39c - French Cider Dan Armor Cuvée Spéciale Cidre Brut Cidrerie Dujardin 3
39d - New World Perry Samuel Smith's Organic Perry Samuel Smith's Old Brewery 3.75
39e - Traditional Perry NA
40. Specialty Cider & Perry
40a - New England Cider NA
40b - Cider with Other Fruit Imperial Blizzard Embark Craft Ciderworks 3.5
Stupid Man Suit B. Nektar Meadery 3.5
Black Currant Cider Slyboro Cider House 3.5
40c - Applewine NA
40d - Ice Cider NA
40e - Cider with Herbs/Spices Vanilla Chai Nine Pin Cider Works 2.75
Harvest Fest Blue Toad Hard Cider 2.75
40f - Specialty Cider/Perry The Dirty Mayor Citizen Cider 4
2017 Beers 2015 BJCP Style Guidelines
Beer Brewery Rating
1. Standard American Beer
1a - American Light Lager Trotwood Warped Wing Brewery 3
1b - American Lager Molson Canadian Molson Coors Canada 1.5
1c - Cream Ale Creole Cream Ale Abita Brewing Co. 3
1d - American Wheat Beer Willy Alpine Beer Co. 3.75
2. International Lager
2a - International Pale Lager Stella Artois Stella Artois 2.25
2b - International Amber Lager NA
3c - International Dark Lager NA
3. Czech Lager
3a - Czech Pale Lager NA
3b - Czech Premium Pale Lager Equinox Pilsner Northshire Brewery 3
3c - Czech Amber Lager NA
3d - Czech Dark Lager NA
4. Pale Malty European Lager
4a - Munich Helles NA
4b - Festbier Fest Helles Uinta Brewing Co. 2.75
4c - Helles Bock NA
5. Pale Bitter European Beer
5a - German Leichtbier NA
5b - Kolsch Captain Kolsch Harpoon Brewery 3.5
5c - German Exportbier NA
5d - German Pils Classic Pilsner Old Bisbee Brewing Co. 3.5
6. Amber, Malty European Lager
6a - Marzen Ayinger Oktober Fest-Märzen Ayinger Privatbrauerei 3.75
6b - Rauchbier NA
6c Dunkles Bock NA
7. Amber, Hoppy European Beer
7a - Vienna Lager Freddy D Lager Three Heads Brewing 3.5
7b - Altbier Amber Alaskan Brewing Co. 3.5
7c - Kellerbier
- Pale Kellerbier Zwickel Urban Chesnut Brewing Co. 3
- Amber Kellerbier Saxony Lager Jack's Abby 3
8. Dark European Lager
8a - Munich Dunkel Session Dark Lager Full Sail Brewing Co. 3.25
8b - Schwarzbier Black Beer Stone Corral 4
9. Strong European Lager
9a - Doppelbock Confiscator Dopplebock Lager Three Heads Brewing 3.5
9b - Eisbock NA
9c - Baltic Porter Ookla the Monk Thin Man Brewing Co. 3.25
Black Boss Porter Browar Witnica 3.25
10. German Wheat Beer
10a - Weissbier Zirkus Boy Magic Hat Brewing Co. 2.75
10b - Dunkels Weissbier Beer Camp Across the World Dunkle Weisse (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Ayinger Privatbrauerei) 3.5
10c - Weizenbock NA
11. English Bitters
11a - Ordinary Bitter NA
11b - Best Bitter NA
11c - Strong Bitter NA
12. Pale English Beer
12a - English Golden Ale NA
12b - Australian Sparkling Ale NA
12c - English IPA IPA (cask) Davidson Brothers 2.75
13. Brown English Beer
13a - Dark Mild NA
13b - Best Brown Ale Nordic Brown Ale Lost Borough Brewing Co. 4
13c - English Porter NA
14. Scottish Ale
14a - Scottish Light NA
14b - Scottish Heavy NA
14c - Scottish Export Kilt Lifter Four Peaks Brewing Co. 3.5
15. Irish Beer
15a - Irish Red Ale Rough & Ready No. 2 Argyle Brewing Co. 3.5
15b - Irish Stout Guinness Draught Guinness 3.5
15c - Irish Extra Stout
16. Dark English Beer
16a - Sweet Stout Eric More Cowbell! Milk Stout SingleCut Beersmiths 4
16b - Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Yeti Great Divide Brewing Co. 3.75
16c - Tropical Stout NA
16d - Foreign Extra Stout Guinness Foreign Extra Stout Guinness 3.75
17. Strong British Ale
17a - English Strong Ale Ubu Ale Lake Placid Pub & Brewery 3.75
17b - Old Ale NA
17c - Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Davidson Brothers 4
17d - English Barleywine NA
18. Pale American Ale
18a - Blonde Ale Blonde Ale Bottomless Brewing 3.25
18b - American Pale Ale X.P.A. Upstate Brewing Co. 3.75
Elaborate Metaphor Burlington Beer Co. 3.75
Glorious Lord Hobo Brewing Co. 3.75
19. Amber and Brown American Beer
19a - American Amber Ale Biffhorrific Amber Tombstone Brewing Co. 3.75
Zoe Maine Beer Co. 3.75
19b - California Common NA
19c - American Brown Ale Stumble Brown Argyle Brewing Co. 4
20. American Porter & Stout
20a - American Porter 3/4 Porter Swiftwater Brewing Co. 3.75
20b - American Stout Big Head Stout Three Heads Brewing Co. 4
20c - Russian Imperial Stout Imperial Stout Lagunitas Brewing Co. 4.5
21. IPA
21a - American IPA Nugget Nectar Troegs Independent Brewing 4.25
Does Anybody Remember Laughter? SingleCut Beersmiths 4.25
21b - Specialty IPA
- Belgian IPA NA
- Black IPA Black IPA Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 3
- Brown IPA NA
- Red IPA Stone Pataskala Red X IPA Stone Brewing Co. 3.25
- Rye IPA Two Claw Westbrook Brewing Co. 3.75
- White IPA NA
22. Strong American Ale
22a - Double IPA Consolation Prize Lord Hobo Brewing Co. 4.25
Beer Camp Across the World West Coast-Style DIPA (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Boneyard Beer Co.) 4.25
22b - American Strong Ale NA
22c - American Barleywine Bigfoot (2016) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. 4
22d - Wheatwine NA
23. European Sour Ale
23a - Berliner Weisse Beer Camp Across the World Dry-Hopped Berliner-Style Weisse (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Saint Arnold Brewing Co.) 3.5
23b - Flanders Red Ale Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale Brouwerij Van Steenberge 3.5
23d - Lambic Sour Framboise Trader Joe's (collab w/Brouwerij De Brabandere (Bavik)) 3.5
23e - Gueuze NA
23f - Fruit Lambic NA
24. Belgian Ale
24a - Witbier Witte Brewery Ommegang 3.5
24b - Belgian Pale Ale NA
24c - Biere de Garde NA
25. Belgian Strong Ale
25a - Belgian Blond Ale Leffe Blonde/Blond Abbaye de Leffe 3.25
25b - Saison Saison Tombstone Brewing Co. 4.25
25c - Belgian Golden Strong Ale La Chouffe Brasserie d'Achouffe 3.5
26. Trappist Ale
26a - Trappist Single Hoppy Table Beer Allagash Brewing Co. 3
26b -Belgian Dubbel Abbey Ale Brewery Ommegang 3.5
26c - Belgian Tripel Merry Monks Weyerbacher Brewing Co. 3.5
26d - Belgian Dark Strong Ale Grande Reserve 17 (2013) Unibroue 4.5
27. Historical Beer
- Gose Key Lime Gose Westbrook Brewing Co. 3.75
Cranberry Gose Long Trail Brewing Co. 3.75
- Kentucky Common NA
- Lichtenhainer NA
- London Brown Ale NA
- Piwo Grodziskie NA
- Pre-Prohibition Lager NA
- Pre-Prohibition Porter NA
- Roggenbier NA
- Sahti Beer Camp Across the World Thai-Style Iced Tea Ale (2017) Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (collab w/Mikkeller Brewing) 3.25
Specialty Beer
28. American Wild Ale
28a - Brett Beer Ameoba Mikkeller Brewing 3.75
28b - Mixed-Fermentation Sour Beer Over and Out Tombstone Brewing Co. 4
Tropic Punch Ale Stillwater Artisanal Ales (collab w/Dugges Bryggeri) 4
28c - Wild Specialty Beer Anniversary 19! Ithaca Beer Co. 4
Rainbow Dome Grimm Artisanal Ales 4
29. Fruit Beer
29a - Fruit Beer Apricot Wheat Ithaca Beer Co. 4
29b - Fruit & Spice Beer Road Jam Two Roads Brewing Co. 3.25
29c - Specialty Fruit Beer Frootwood Founder's Brewing Co. 3.5
Sumo in a Sidecar Evil Twin Brewing 3.5
Milkshake Community Beer Works 3.5
30. Spiced Beer
30a - Spiced, Herb, or Vegetable Beer Stone Xocoveza Stone Brewing Co. 4.75
17 Perennial Artisan Ales 4.75
30b - Autumn Seasonal Beer Rum Barrel Aged Pumpking Southern Tier Brewing Co. 4
30c - Winter Seasonal Beer 12 Dogs of Christmas Ale Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. 3
31. Alternative Fermentables Beer
31a - Alternative Grain Beer Excavator Big Ditch Brewing Co. 3.5
31b - Alternative Sugar Beer Indian Brown Dark IPA Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4
32. Smoked Beer
32a - Classic Style Smoked Beer S'more Stout Base Camp Brewing Co. 2.5
32b - Specialty Smoked Beer Surround Stillwater Artisanal Ales 4.25
33. Wood Beer
33a - Wood-Aged Beer Burton Baton Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 3.75
33b - Specialty Wood-Aged Beer Strong Scotch Ale Aged in Islay Scotch Casks Tombstone Brewing Co. 5
34. Specialty Beer
34a - Clone Beer NA
34b - Mixed-Style Beer Wicked Philthy Jack's Abby (collab w/SOLE Artisan Ales) 4
Calyptra Jack's Abby 4
34c - Experimental beer Even More Cocoa Jesus Evil Twin Brewing 4.75
35. Traditional Mead
35a - Dry Mead NA
35b - Semi-Sweet Mead NA
35c - Sweet Mead Savage Bois Golden Coast Mead 3.25
36. Fruit Mead
36a - Cyser NA
36b - Pyment NA
36c - Berry Mead NA
36d - Stone Fruit Mead NA
36e - Melomel NA
37. Spiced Mead
37a - Fruit & Spice Mead NA
37b - Spice, Herb or Vegetable Mead NA
38. Specialty Mead
38a - Braggot Welsh Braggot Davidson Brothers 4
38b - Historical Mead NA
38c - Experimental Mead Black Fang B. Nektar Meadery 3.25
39. Standard Cider & Perry
39a - New World Cider Boyz Aint' Playin' Cider Creek Hard Cider 3.75
39b - English Cider NA
39c - French Cider Dan Armor Cuvée Spéciale Cidre Brut Cidrerie Dujardin 3
39d - New World Perry Samuel Smith's Organic Perry Samuel Smith's Old Brewery 3.75
39e - Traditional Perry NA
40. Specialty Cider & Perry
40a - New England Cider NA
40b - Cider with Other Fruit Imperial Blizzard Embark Craft Ciderworks 3.5
Stupid Man Suit B. Nektar Meadery 3.5
Black Currant Cider Slyboro Cider House 3.5
40c - Applewine NA
40d - Ice Cider NA
40e - Cider with Herbs/Spices Vanilla Chai Nine Pin Cider Works 2.75
Harvest Fest Blue Toad Hard Cider 2.75
40f - Specialty Cider/Perry The Dirty Mayor Citizen Cider 4
Honorable Mentions:
Oak-Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.75 Xocoveza Charred Stone Brewing Co. 4.75 Bourbon Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Jack's Abby 4.75
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Sunday, January 15, 2017
Breweries I Want More of in 2017
As I discover more and more breweries, some rise to the top and peak my interest. Here are 10 breweries in no particular order that I want to spend some time trying more of in 2017 (and maybe some I have never had that I want to get even a taste of...):
1) Grimm Artisanal Ales - supposed to be one of the best breweries in the country right now and they are sometimes available in restaurants and on tap here in Rochester, so I should keep my eyes out for venues nearby.
2) Peekskill Brewery - was ranked highly in the Thrillist article on the best breweries in NY state (2015 article I found here). I had one at Stoneyard American Beer Hall in Webster on New Years Eve and was really impressed. Need to find more.
3) Stillwater Artisanal Ales - been trying a few of theirs lately and haven't had a bad brew yet. Keep them coming!
4) Upstate Brewing Co. - We only get a couple of their brews regularly in stores in Rochester, but maybe just maybe I can find some other other brews elsewhere?
5) Mystic - had 2 of these so far, saw them on Beer Geeks the TV show and am really interested in how they cultivate native yeasts to create pseudo-styles.
6) SingleCut Beersmiths - I know they're hyped, but I haven't had enough yet to form an honest opinion yet myself.
7) Omnipollo - having enjoyed everything I've had from this brewery so far, I'm definitely out to get more.
8) Prison City Pub & Brewery - after much hype and winning Paste magazine's blind tasting of 247 IPAs, this is a must try.
9) Trader Joe's - ok, they're not really a brewery, but they make some amazing collaborative beers. Two I had this year were Belgian Tripel with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and a Belgian Strong Dark Ale with Unibroue. Oh, did I mention they're fairly cheap price points too?
10) Three Heads Brewing - a local favorite, with their new taproom I'm sure I miss a lot of one offs and I'd like to change that.
1) Grimm Artisanal Ales - supposed to be one of the best breweries in the country right now and they are sometimes available in restaurants and on tap here in Rochester, so I should keep my eyes out for venues nearby.
2) Peekskill Brewery - was ranked highly in the Thrillist article on the best breweries in NY state (2015 article I found here). I had one at Stoneyard American Beer Hall in Webster on New Years Eve and was really impressed. Need to find more.
3) Stillwater Artisanal Ales - been trying a few of theirs lately and haven't had a bad brew yet. Keep them coming!
4) Upstate Brewing Co. - We only get a couple of their brews regularly in stores in Rochester, but maybe just maybe I can find some other other brews elsewhere?
5) Mystic - had 2 of these so far, saw them on Beer Geeks the TV show and am really interested in how they cultivate native yeasts to create pseudo-styles.
6) SingleCut Beersmiths - I know they're hyped, but I haven't had enough yet to form an honest opinion yet myself.
7) Omnipollo - having enjoyed everything I've had from this brewery so far, I'm definitely out to get more.
8) Prison City Pub & Brewery - after much hype and winning Paste magazine's blind tasting of 247 IPAs, this is a must try.
9) Trader Joe's - ok, they're not really a brewery, but they make some amazing collaborative beers. Two I had this year were Belgian Tripel with Hardywood Park Craft Brewery and a Belgian Strong Dark Ale with Unibroue. Oh, did I mention they're fairly cheap price points too?
10) Three Heads Brewing - a local favorite, with their new taproom I'm sure I miss a lot of one offs and I'd like to change that.
Friday, January 6, 2017
My Take on the Best Beers of 2016
This list will highlight all the best beers I've had in 2016 by style. It may be that the only beer I had of a style was not very good, but at least you'll see that I consumed that beer.
I will be using the BJCP 2015 style guidelines as well that came out last year. It is much easier to categorize beer styles in the 2015 than previous versions. The new 2015 guidelines are not online yet, but is available here in pdf format. The particular difficulty with this list is that many of the beers I've consumed fall under Fruit, Spiced/Herb/Veggie, Alternative Grain, Mixed Style, Experimental, Wood Aged, etc... so they are potentially one of the base style categories, but cannot be put there because of ingredients or brewing method. So, bear in mind that this is by BJCP style guidelines. It could also be at times that I do not correctly categorize (oops!), I'm not an expert.
I rate out of 5 stars. The winning beer is listed.
Style Beer Brewery Rating
1. Standard American Beer
1a - American Light Lager Trotwood Warped Wing Brewery 2.75
1b - American Lager Niagara Lager Woodcock Brothers BC 2.25
1c - Cream Ale Common Sense Ale Upstate Brewing Co. 2.75
1d - American Wheat Ale Slammer Wheat JailHouse Brewing Co. 2.75
2. International Lager
2a - International Pale Lager Stella Artois Stella Artois 2.25
2b - International Amber Lager Traditional Lager Yeungling Brewery 2.25
2c - International Dark Lager NA
3. Czech Lager
3a - Czech Pale Lager NA
3b - Czech Premium Pale Lager NA
3c - Czech Amber Lager NA
3d - Czech Dark Lager NA
4. Pale Malty European Lager
4a - Munich Helles House Lager Jack's Abby 2.5
4b - Festbier Festbier Victory Brewing Co. 2.75
4c - Helles Bock Dead Guy Ale Rogue Ales & Sprits 3
5. Pale Bitter European Beer
5a - German Leichtbier NA
5b - Kolsch Checker Cab Blonde Ale Chelsea Brewing Co. 3.25
5c - German Exportbier NA
5d - German Pils Sunny Ridge Jack's Abby 3.75
6. Amber, Malty European Lager
6a - Marzen Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen Privatbrauerei Ayinger 3.75
6b - Rauchbier Illuminari Coelacanth Brewing Co. 2.75
6c - Dunkles Bock NA
7. Amber, Hoppy European Beer
7a - Vienna Lager Samuel Adams Boston Lager Boston Beer Co. 3
7b - Altbier Double Bag Long Trail Brewing Co. 2.75
7c - Kellerbier Kellerbier The Matt Brewing Co. 3
8. Dark European Lager
8a - Munich Dunkel NA
8b - Schwarzbier Monschof Schwarzbier Kulmbacher Brauerei 3.25
9. Strong European Lager
9a - Doppelbock Doppelbock Debockery O'Connor Brewing Co. 3.25
9b - Eisbock NA
9c - Baltic Porter Baltic Porter Three Heads Brewing Co. 4.25
10. German Wheat Beer
10a - Weissbier Hidden Rabbit Bandwagon Brew Pub 3
10b - Dunkles Weissbier NA
10c - Weizenbock NA
11. English Bitters
11a - Ordinary Bitter NA
11b - Best Bitter Fullers London Pride Fuller, Smith & Turner 2.75
11c - Strong Bitter Landlady Ale Queen City Brewery 2.25
12. Pale English Beer
12a - English Golden Ale NA
12b - Australian Sparkling Ale NA
12c - English IPA Helldiver Flying Bison Brewing Co. 3
13. Brown English Beer
13a - Dark Mild NA
13b - Best Brown Ale Brown Ale (cask) Davidson Brothers 3.75
13c - English Porter NA
14. Scottish Ale
14a - Scottish Light NA
14b - Scottish Heavy NA
14c - Scottish Export NA
15. Irish Beer
15a - Irish Red Ale Irish Red Davidson Brothers 3
15b - Irish Stout Dry Irish Stout Woodcock Brothers BC 3.5
15c - Irish Extra Stout NA
16. Dark English Beer
16a - Sweet Stout Milk Stout Left Hand Brewing Co. 3.75
16b - Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Stout Davidson Brothers 4
16c - Tropical Stout NA
16d - Foreign Extra Stout NA
17. Strong British Ale
17a - English Strong Ale Mountain Ale Shed Brewing Co. 3
17b - Old Ale Old Stock Ale (2016) North Coast BC 4.25
17c - Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Rohrbach Brewing Co. 3.75
17d - English Barleywine NA
18. Pale American Beer
18a - Blone Ale Goldie Lock Lock 32 Brewing Co. 2.75
18b - American Pale Ale Hop Leaf Project/Sapient Three Taverns CB 3.5
19. Amber and Brown American Beer
19a - American Amber Ale Samuel Adams Hoppy Red Boston Beer Co. 3.5
19b - California Common Anchor Steam Beer Anchor Brewing Co. 2.75
19c - American Brown Ale Cooter Brown Jekyll Brewing 3.5
20. American Porter & Stout
20a - American Porter Black Jack Porter Left Hand Brewing Co. 3
20b - American Stout Big Head Stout Three Heads Brewing 3.75
20c - Russian Imperial Stout Black Chocolate Stout Brooklyn Brewery 4.5
21. IPA
21a - American IPA Duet Alpine Beer Co. 4.5
21b - Specialty IPA
- Belgian IPA 5 & 20 IPA Nedloh Brewing Co. 3
- Black IPA Beer III Maine Beer Co. 3
- Brown IPA NA
- Red IPA NA
- Rye IPA Tryed And True Peekskill Brewery 3.5
- White IPA Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA Boston Beer Co. 3
22. Strong American Ale
22a - Double IPA 120 Minute IPA Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.5
22b - American Strong Ale Triple Bag Long Trail Brewing Co. 4
22c - American Barleywine Ridge Runner Rock Art Brewery 3.25
22d - Wheatwine NA
23. European Sour Ale
23a - Berliner Weisse Berliner Weisse Abandon Brewing Co. 2.75
23b - Flanders Red Ale NA
23c - Oud Bruin Gypsy Tart Bruery Terreux 3
23d - Lambic NA
23e - Geuze NA
23f - Fruit Lambic NA
24. Belgian Ale
24a - Witbier Allagash White Allagash Brewing Co. 3.75
24b - Belgian Pale Ale Lil' Devil AleSmith Brewing Co. 3
24c - Biere de Garde NA
25. Belgian Strong Ale
25a - Belgian Blonde Ale Maredsous 6 Blonde Abbaye de Maredsous
25b - Saison Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale Boulevard Brewing Co. 4
25c - Belgian Golden Strong Ale Pranqster North Coast Brewing Co. 3
26. Trappist Ale
26a - Trappist Singel Singel Hardywood Park Craft Brewery 3.75
26b - Belgian Dubbel Rochefort 6 Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy 4
26c - Belgian Tripel La Fin Du Monde Unibroue 4.25
26d - Belgian Dark Strong Ale Rochefort 8 Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy 4.25
27. Historic Beer
- Gose Cherry Gose Southern Tier Brewing Co. 3.25
- Kentucky Common NA
- Lichtenhainer NA
- London Brown Ale NA
- Piwo Grodziskie Rohrbach Iron Smoke Wheat Ale Pilot Rohrach Brewing Co. 3
- Pre-Prohibition Lager NA
- Pre-Prohibition Porter NA
- Roggenbier NA
- Sahti NA
Specialty Beer
28. American Wild Ale
28a - Brett Beer Fat Tire & Friends: Fat Funk Ale New Belgium BC/Allagash BC 3
28b - Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer Squeezer Big Ditch Brewing Co. 3.5
28c - Wild Specialty Beer Funky FLX Nedloh Brewing Co. 2.5
29. Fruit Beer
29a - Fruit Beer Fort Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.5
29b - Fruit & Spice Beer Coelia (Rosemary Wheat) Coelecanth Brewing Co. 3
29c - Specialty Fruit Beer Blackboard Series (no. 1) Agave IPA w/Grapefruit Victory Brewing Co. 3.5
30. Spiced Beer
30a - Spiced, Herbed or Vegetable Beer Symzonia Omnipollo 5
30b - Autumn Seasonal NA
30c - Winter Seasonal Saturnalia Coelecanth Brewing Co. 3
31. Alternative Fermentables Beer
31a - Alternative Grain Beer Powhatan Rye Porter Bold Mariner Brewing Co. 4
31b - Alternative Sugar Beer Stone 20th Anniversary Citracado IPA Stone Brewing Co. 3.5
32. Smoked Beer
32a - Classic Style Smoked Beer Bewitched Nedloh Brewing Co. 3
32b - Specialty Smoked Beer NA
33. Wood Beer
33a - Wood-Aged Beer Palo Santo Marron (2016) Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 5
33b - Specialty Wood-Aged Beer Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2016) Founders Brewing Co. 5
34. Specialty Beer
34a - Clone Beer NA
34b - Mixed-Style Beer Calyptra Jack's Abby 4.25
34c - Experimental Beer Bold Man Oyster Stout O'Connor Brewing Co. 4
35. Traditional Mead
35a - Dry Mead NA
35b - Semi-Sweet Mead NA
35c - Sweet Mead NA
36. Fruit Mead
36a - Cyser NA
36b - Pyment NA
36c - Berry Mead NA
36d - Stone Fruit Mead NA
36e - Melomel Jewell of the Newell 810 Meadworks 3.25
37. Spiced Mead
37a - Fruit & Spice Mead NA
37b - Spiced, Herbed or Vegetable Mead Sting - Ginger Session Mead Nectar Creek Mead 3.25
38. Specialty Mead
38a - Braggot NA
38b - Historical Mead NA
38c - Experimental Mead The Mutant Killer Zombie Manhattan Project Thingy B. Nektar Meadery 4
39. Standard Cider & Perry
39a - New World Cider Crab Series Vol. 1 Embark Craft Cidery 3.5
39b - English Cider Gold Thatchers 3.25
39c - French Cider NA
39d - New World Perry Rekorderlig Paron Abro Bryggeri 3
39e - Traditional Perry NA
40. Specialty Cider & Perry
40a - New England Cider NA
40b - Cider with other Fruit Red Barn Raspberry Harvest Moon Cider 3.5
40c - Applewine NA
40d - Ice Cider NA
40e - Cider with Herbs/Spices Woodchuck Fall Harvest Seasonal Hard Cider Woodchuck Cidery 3.5
40f - Specialty Cider/Perry The Dirty Mayor Citizen Cider 4
Honorable Mentions:
Even More Jesus Evil Twin Brewing (Russian Imperial Stout) 4.5
On Fleek Stillwater Artisanal Ales collab with Casita Cerveceria (Russian Imperial Stout) 4.5
Focal Banger The Alchemist (American IPA) 4.25
Consolation Prize Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (American Double IPA) 4.25
Monk's Blood (2016) 21st Amendment Brewery (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 4.25
Excelsior! Anniversary 18 Ithaca Beer Co. (Wood-Aged Beer) 4.5
Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Great Divide Brewing Co. (Specialty Wood-Aged Beer) 4.75
Best Beer of the Year: Symzonia Omnipollo
This was also the 1000th distinct beer I'd logged on Untappd
I will be using the BJCP 2015 style guidelines as well that came out last year. It is much easier to categorize beer styles in the 2015 than previous versions. The new 2015 guidelines are not online yet, but is available here in pdf format. The particular difficulty with this list is that many of the beers I've consumed fall under Fruit, Spiced/Herb/Veggie, Alternative Grain, Mixed Style, Experimental, Wood Aged, etc... so they are potentially one of the base style categories, but cannot be put there because of ingredients or brewing method. So, bear in mind that this is by BJCP style guidelines. It could also be at times that I do not correctly categorize (oops!), I'm not an expert.
I rate out of 5 stars. The winning beer is listed.
Style Beer Brewery Rating
1. Standard American Beer
1a - American Light Lager Trotwood Warped Wing Brewery 2.75
1b - American Lager Niagara Lager Woodcock Brothers BC 2.25
1c - Cream Ale Common Sense Ale Upstate Brewing Co. 2.75
1d - American Wheat Ale Slammer Wheat JailHouse Brewing Co. 2.75
2. International Lager
2a - International Pale Lager Stella Artois Stella Artois 2.25
2b - International Amber Lager Traditional Lager Yeungling Brewery 2.25
2c - International Dark Lager NA
3. Czech Lager
3a - Czech Pale Lager NA
3b - Czech Premium Pale Lager NA
3c - Czech Amber Lager NA
3d - Czech Dark Lager NA
4. Pale Malty European Lager
4a - Munich Helles House Lager Jack's Abby 2.5
4b - Festbier Festbier Victory Brewing Co. 2.75
4c - Helles Bock Dead Guy Ale Rogue Ales & Sprits 3
5. Pale Bitter European Beer
5a - German Leichtbier NA
5b - Kolsch Checker Cab Blonde Ale Chelsea Brewing Co. 3.25
5c - German Exportbier NA
5d - German Pils Sunny Ridge Jack's Abby 3.75
6. Amber, Malty European Lager
6a - Marzen Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen Privatbrauerei Ayinger 3.75
6b - Rauchbier Illuminari Coelacanth Brewing Co. 2.75
6c - Dunkles Bock NA
7. Amber, Hoppy European Beer
7a - Vienna Lager Samuel Adams Boston Lager Boston Beer Co. 3
7b - Altbier Double Bag Long Trail Brewing Co. 2.75
7c - Kellerbier Kellerbier The Matt Brewing Co. 3
8. Dark European Lager
8a - Munich Dunkel NA
8b - Schwarzbier Monschof Schwarzbier Kulmbacher Brauerei 3.25
9. Strong European Lager
9a - Doppelbock Doppelbock Debockery O'Connor Brewing Co. 3.25
9b - Eisbock NA
9c - Baltic Porter Baltic Porter Three Heads Brewing Co. 4.25
10. German Wheat Beer
10a - Weissbier Hidden Rabbit Bandwagon Brew Pub 3
10b - Dunkles Weissbier NA
10c - Weizenbock NA
11. English Bitters
11a - Ordinary Bitter NA
11b - Best Bitter Fullers London Pride Fuller, Smith & Turner 2.75
11c - Strong Bitter Landlady Ale Queen City Brewery 2.25
12. Pale English Beer
12a - English Golden Ale NA
12b - Australian Sparkling Ale NA
12c - English IPA Helldiver Flying Bison Brewing Co. 3
13. Brown English Beer
13a - Dark Mild NA
13b - Best Brown Ale Brown Ale (cask) Davidson Brothers 3.75
13c - English Porter NA
14. Scottish Ale
14a - Scottish Light NA
14b - Scottish Heavy NA
14c - Scottish Export NA
15. Irish Beer
15a - Irish Red Ale Irish Red Davidson Brothers 3
15b - Irish Stout Dry Irish Stout Woodcock Brothers BC 3.5
15c - Irish Extra Stout NA
16. Dark English Beer
16a - Sweet Stout Milk Stout Left Hand Brewing Co. 3.75
16b - Oatmeal Stout Oatmeal Stout Davidson Brothers 4
16c - Tropical Stout NA
16d - Foreign Extra Stout NA
17. Strong British Ale
17a - English Strong Ale Mountain Ale Shed Brewing Co. 3
17b - Old Ale Old Stock Ale (2016) North Coast BC 4.25
17c - Wee Heavy Scotch Ale Rohrbach Brewing Co. 3.75
17d - English Barleywine NA
18. Pale American Beer
18a - Blone Ale Goldie Lock Lock 32 Brewing Co. 2.75
18b - American Pale Ale Hop Leaf Project/Sapient Three Taverns CB 3.5
19. Amber and Brown American Beer
19a - American Amber Ale Samuel Adams Hoppy Red Boston Beer Co. 3.5
19b - California Common Anchor Steam Beer Anchor Brewing Co. 2.75
19c - American Brown Ale Cooter Brown Jekyll Brewing 3.5
20. American Porter & Stout
20a - American Porter Black Jack Porter Left Hand Brewing Co. 3
20b - American Stout Big Head Stout Three Heads Brewing 3.75
20c - Russian Imperial Stout Black Chocolate Stout Brooklyn Brewery 4.5
21. IPA
21a - American IPA Duet Alpine Beer Co. 4.5
21b - Specialty IPA
- Belgian IPA 5 & 20 IPA Nedloh Brewing Co. 3
- Black IPA Beer III Maine Beer Co. 3
- Brown IPA NA
- Red IPA NA
- Rye IPA Tryed And True Peekskill Brewery 3.5
- White IPA Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA Boston Beer Co. 3
22. Strong American Ale
22a - Double IPA 120 Minute IPA Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.5
22b - American Strong Ale Triple Bag Long Trail Brewing Co. 4
22c - American Barleywine Ridge Runner Rock Art Brewery 3.25
22d - Wheatwine NA
23. European Sour Ale
23a - Berliner Weisse Berliner Weisse Abandon Brewing Co. 2.75
23b - Flanders Red Ale NA
23c - Oud Bruin Gypsy Tart Bruery Terreux 3
23d - Lambic NA
23e - Geuze NA
23f - Fruit Lambic NA
24. Belgian Ale
24a - Witbier Allagash White Allagash Brewing Co. 3.75
24b - Belgian Pale Ale Lil' Devil AleSmith Brewing Co. 3
24c - Biere de Garde NA
25. Belgian Strong Ale
25a - Belgian Blonde Ale Maredsous 6 Blonde Abbaye de Maredsous
25b - Saison Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale Boulevard Brewing Co. 4
25c - Belgian Golden Strong Ale Pranqster North Coast Brewing Co. 3
26. Trappist Ale
26a - Trappist Singel Singel Hardywood Park Craft Brewery 3.75
26b - Belgian Dubbel Rochefort 6 Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy 4
26c - Belgian Tripel La Fin Du Monde Unibroue 4.25
26d - Belgian Dark Strong Ale Rochefort 8 Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy 4.25
27. Historic Beer
- Gose Cherry Gose Southern Tier Brewing Co. 3.25
- Kentucky Common NA
- Lichtenhainer NA
- London Brown Ale NA
- Piwo Grodziskie Rohrbach Iron Smoke Wheat Ale Pilot Rohrach Brewing Co. 3
- Pre-Prohibition Lager NA
- Pre-Prohibition Porter NA
- Roggenbier NA
- Sahti NA
Specialty Beer
28. American Wild Ale
28a - Brett Beer Fat Tire & Friends: Fat Funk Ale New Belgium BC/Allagash BC 3
28b - Mixed Fermentation Sour Beer Squeezer Big Ditch Brewing Co. 3.5
28c - Wild Specialty Beer Funky FLX Nedloh Brewing Co. 2.5
29. Fruit Beer
29a - Fruit Beer Fort Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 4.5
29b - Fruit & Spice Beer Coelia (Rosemary Wheat) Coelecanth Brewing Co. 3
29c - Specialty Fruit Beer Blackboard Series (no. 1) Agave IPA w/Grapefruit Victory Brewing Co. 3.5
30. Spiced Beer
30a - Spiced, Herbed or Vegetable Beer Symzonia Omnipollo 5
30b - Autumn Seasonal NA
30c - Winter Seasonal Saturnalia Coelecanth Brewing Co. 3
31. Alternative Fermentables Beer
31a - Alternative Grain Beer Powhatan Rye Porter Bold Mariner Brewing Co. 4
31b - Alternative Sugar Beer Stone 20th Anniversary Citracado IPA Stone Brewing Co. 3.5
32. Smoked Beer
32a - Classic Style Smoked Beer Bewitched Nedloh Brewing Co. 3
32b - Specialty Smoked Beer NA
33. Wood Beer
33a - Wood-Aged Beer Palo Santo Marron (2016) Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 5
33b - Specialty Wood-Aged Beer Kentucky Breakfast Stout (2016) Founders Brewing Co. 5
34. Specialty Beer
34a - Clone Beer NA
34b - Mixed-Style Beer Calyptra Jack's Abby 4.25
34c - Experimental Beer Bold Man Oyster Stout O'Connor Brewing Co. 4
35. Traditional Mead
35a - Dry Mead NA
35b - Semi-Sweet Mead NA
35c - Sweet Mead NA
36. Fruit Mead
36a - Cyser NA
36b - Pyment NA
36c - Berry Mead NA
36d - Stone Fruit Mead NA
36e - Melomel Jewell of the Newell 810 Meadworks 3.25
37. Spiced Mead
37a - Fruit & Spice Mead NA
37b - Spiced, Herbed or Vegetable Mead Sting - Ginger Session Mead Nectar Creek Mead 3.25
38. Specialty Mead
38a - Braggot NA
38b - Historical Mead NA
38c - Experimental Mead The Mutant Killer Zombie Manhattan Project Thingy B. Nektar Meadery 4
39. Standard Cider & Perry
39a - New World Cider Crab Series Vol. 1 Embark Craft Cidery 3.5
39b - English Cider Gold Thatchers 3.25
39c - French Cider NA
39d - New World Perry Rekorderlig Paron Abro Bryggeri 3
39e - Traditional Perry NA
40. Specialty Cider & Perry
40a - New England Cider NA
40b - Cider with other Fruit Red Barn Raspberry Harvest Moon Cider 3.5
40c - Applewine NA
40d - Ice Cider NA
40e - Cider with Herbs/Spices Woodchuck Fall Harvest Seasonal Hard Cider Woodchuck Cidery 3.5
40f - Specialty Cider/Perry The Dirty Mayor Citizen Cider 4
Honorable Mentions:
Even More Jesus Evil Twin Brewing (Russian Imperial Stout) 4.5
On Fleek Stillwater Artisanal Ales collab with Casita Cerveceria (Russian Imperial Stout) 4.5
Focal Banger The Alchemist (American IPA) 4.25
Consolation Prize Lord Hobo Brewing Co. (American Double IPA) 4.25
Monk's Blood (2016) 21st Amendment Brewery (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) 4.25
Excelsior! Anniversary 18 Ithaca Beer Co. (Wood-Aged Beer) 4.5
Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Great Divide Brewing Co. (Specialty Wood-Aged Beer) 4.75
Best Beer of the Year: Symzonia Omnipollo
This was also the 1000th distinct beer I'd logged on Untappd
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Best Beer Websites (Updated 2016)
Looking back at my first post, here, I've come a long way in terms of knowledge of what's out there.
My favorite beer websites that I find myself adding page counts to often are as follows:
1) Good Beer Hunting
Simply the best blog out there in terms of journalism. The imagery is wonderful and I know that these guys have done their research worldwide to represent on their blog the best in beer. Among the myriad of increasing numbers of craft breweries in the United States, if I read about a brewery on Good Beer Hunting, I know it is a brewery worth checking out. There are 'Stories' (highlighting a brewery or story about a brewery/brewer/beer), 'Sightlines' (articles about the legal going-ons in the brewery world, aka takeovers, craft vs macro, etc...), 'B-roll" (snippets inspired by trips all over the country), and 'Podcasts' (interviews with brewers and the like) to keep you drooling for more. I especially like the 'Read.Look.Drink' stories where different writers highlight an interesting article, something visual they find enticing and a solid beer they are currently enjoying. Head there now!
2) Beer Street Journal
I'm not sure any website keeps up with beer releases as well as Beer Street Journal. Want to hear about all those amazing beers that will release all over the country that you cannot get access to? Limited editions, plans to can, full retail releases--it's all here! The site is sort of broken down into three sections on the main page: 'News' (releases of notice), 'Don't Miss This' (the highlights of the pack), and 'Headlines' (brewery related news). There is also a way to sort by 'Coming Soon', 'New Beers' (future releases), and 'Seasonal Returns'. You can also enjoy all the bottle and can artwork as you peruse.
3) Paste Drink
Gotta give Paste huge credit for creating an amazing buzz over their Blind Taste Tests of various styles, released almost monthly for about the past year and a half or so now. They started with 116 IPAs in April of 2015 and crowned The Brew Kettle's White Rajah IPA, then a year later they saw a field of 247 IPAs beat out by none other than Auburn, NY's, Prison City Pub & Brewery Mass Riot IPA. There have been plenty of other styles blind tested along the way as well as tasting notes galore about seasonal releases, 'Features' and my personal favorite 'Lists'.
4) YCH Hops
I just like going to the 'Hop Varieties' section of the combined Yakima Chief and Hopunion LLC website to see the variety of hops and what tasting notes they provide for different varieties to see if my nose can pick up any new smells accurately and my taste buds are properly trained. I seldom succeed, but it's still fun to pretend!
5) My Beer Cellar
Fun website to visit. This is the Craigslist of cellared beer and old rare bottle collectors. Go and see how much a bottle of 2014 Three Floyds Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord with Vanilla Beans sold for ($465!). There's people on this site that will sell of entire collections of cellared beer for thousands of dollars!
6) Beer Flavor Wheel
My go-to Beer Flavor/Aroma identifier. It's fun to just look through the descriptions and see if they spark an idea while tasting.
7) Beer Geeks
On Ora TV, all episodes online for free streaming. Produced by the same producer as did Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Each episode highlights a brewery, makes a beer, tastes beer, cooks with beer and pairs food with beer. Definitely worth watching.
8) Untappd
If you're not one for the app or your mobile device's battery is dead, head to their regular website where you can input brews you've had, search by style a conclusive list of every beer every made EVER. EVER. And it connects to your device so you can see all the beer check-ins you've ever had as well. Wish list, badges, real time check-ins. Some prefer to not get all Geeky, but I'm at the other end of that spectrum for sure.
9) Two Brews
This was fun while it lasted, some guys in VT and then OH and VT when one of them moved away had a tasting podcast. Just ordinary guys trying to better understand the beers they were consuming. Since I love Vermont beer, this hit the spot for me.
10) Belgian Smaak
A blog site I recently discovered about Belgian beer and chocolate and haven't made a regular go at reading yet, but the immense variety of Belgian beers and breweries intrigues me to learn about some brews from the other side of the pond.
Enjoy some awesome beer reading!
My favorite beer websites that I find myself adding page counts to often are as follows:
1) Good Beer Hunting
Simply the best blog out there in terms of journalism. The imagery is wonderful and I know that these guys have done their research worldwide to represent on their blog the best in beer. Among the myriad of increasing numbers of craft breweries in the United States, if I read about a brewery on Good Beer Hunting, I know it is a brewery worth checking out. There are 'Stories' (highlighting a brewery or story about a brewery/brewer/beer), 'Sightlines' (articles about the legal going-ons in the brewery world, aka takeovers, craft vs macro, etc...), 'B-roll" (snippets inspired by trips all over the country), and 'Podcasts' (interviews with brewers and the like) to keep you drooling for more. I especially like the 'Read.Look.Drink' stories where different writers highlight an interesting article, something visual they find enticing and a solid beer they are currently enjoying. Head there now!
2) Beer Street Journal
I'm not sure any website keeps up with beer releases as well as Beer Street Journal. Want to hear about all those amazing beers that will release all over the country that you cannot get access to? Limited editions, plans to can, full retail releases--it's all here! The site is sort of broken down into three sections on the main page: 'News' (releases of notice), 'Don't Miss This' (the highlights of the pack), and 'Headlines' (brewery related news). There is also a way to sort by 'Coming Soon', 'New Beers' (future releases), and 'Seasonal Returns'. You can also enjoy all the bottle and can artwork as you peruse.
3) Paste Drink
Gotta give Paste huge credit for creating an amazing buzz over their Blind Taste Tests of various styles, released almost monthly for about the past year and a half or so now. They started with 116 IPAs in April of 2015 and crowned The Brew Kettle's White Rajah IPA, then a year later they saw a field of 247 IPAs beat out by none other than Auburn, NY's, Prison City Pub & Brewery Mass Riot IPA. There have been plenty of other styles blind tested along the way as well as tasting notes galore about seasonal releases, 'Features' and my personal favorite 'Lists'.
4) YCH Hops
I just like going to the 'Hop Varieties' section of the combined Yakima Chief and Hopunion LLC website to see the variety of hops and what tasting notes they provide for different varieties to see if my nose can pick up any new smells accurately and my taste buds are properly trained. I seldom succeed, but it's still fun to pretend!
5) My Beer Cellar
Fun website to visit. This is the Craigslist of cellared beer and old rare bottle collectors. Go and see how much a bottle of 2014 Three Floyds Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord with Vanilla Beans sold for ($465!). There's people on this site that will sell of entire collections of cellared beer for thousands of dollars!
6) Beer Flavor Wheel
My go-to Beer Flavor/Aroma identifier. It's fun to just look through the descriptions and see if they spark an idea while tasting.
7) Beer Geeks
On Ora TV, all episodes online for free streaming. Produced by the same producer as did Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Each episode highlights a brewery, makes a beer, tastes beer, cooks with beer and pairs food with beer. Definitely worth watching.
8) Untappd
If you're not one for the app or your mobile device's battery is dead, head to their regular website where you can input brews you've had, search by style a conclusive list of every beer every made EVER. EVER. And it connects to your device so you can see all the beer check-ins you've ever had as well. Wish list, badges, real time check-ins. Some prefer to not get all Geeky, but I'm at the other end of that spectrum for sure.
9) Two Brews
This was fun while it lasted, some guys in VT and then OH and VT when one of them moved away had a tasting podcast. Just ordinary guys trying to better understand the beers they were consuming. Since I love Vermont beer, this hit the spot for me.
10) Belgian Smaak
A blog site I recently discovered about Belgian beer and chocolate and haven't made a regular go at reading yet, but the immense variety of Belgian beers and breweries intrigues me to learn about some brews from the other side of the pond.
Enjoy some awesome beer reading!
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
#questforbeer1000
Recently two best friends of mine from high school and I got together for what became the #questforbeer1000. It all started on a Friday night of frolic in downtown Rochester at Lost Borough Brewing Co. and Three Heads Brewing Co., a rendezvous to sketchy Park Bench Pub on Monroe Ave. for darts and pool and a ginormous plate at Mark's Hots. The next day it continued as we toured the countryside and Keuka Lake, hitting up Abandon Brewing Co. near Pen Yan and Nedloh Brewing Co. in Bloomfield on the way back. Finally, two more days and two more nights of a dash to the finish line all in the #questforbeer1000.
What is #questforbeer1000 all about? He's not really giving the readers much to go on yet, you might descry...
It's like this. I love the app Untappd. None of my friends use it, but they marvel at how I religiously tracked each and every beer I've even tasted for the past two years. Ok, maybe marvel, maybe roll their eyes. But still, imo it's quite a feat! Anyway, at Nedloh, I was putting in my tasting notes and rating my flights thanks to a brewery that cares about providing a WIFI connection (you suck Abandon), and my friends Matt and Tim [and his Mary] asked how many unique beers I had logged. A quick count revealed that after our adventures at Nedloh I would have 959. Only 41 to go.
Sounds like a challenge? Challenge accepted!
So, a determinedly quick 15 minute trip to AJ's Beer Warehouse in Henrietta (Seriously I've never been in and out of that store so quick with that many people at one time let alone myself buying that much beer!) gave us the remaining 41 beers that I'd never tried before. Everyone checked their selections with me, we basically grabbed anything good (isn't it all good?) off the shelves in our efforts to be fast and left with one goal in mind. Before Matt left to return to Hawaii Monday night, where he now resides, they would enable me to reach my goal of 1000 beers. #questforbeer1000
I won't trouble you with every beer we tried together the entire weekend, but I will point out some highlights and even some serious highlights. The coincidental part being that beer 1000 was THE BEST of the bunch (all agreed!) and will be remembered forever.
Friday highlights:
Three Heads Brewing Sip Hop Hooray - juicy, citrus, cat pea, biscuity malt base, love me some IPL. 7.4% ABV. I gave this a 3.25/5
Saturday highlights:
Nedloh Brewing Co. Collings - I don't think I gave any of Nedloh's beers less than 3/5 rating, but this stood out as a take on I assume a tom collins, sweet but balanced, citrus peel, seltzer notes. Did I mention it's gin barrel aged? 5.3% ABV, super drinkable. I gave it a 3.5/5.
Nedloh Brewing Co. Ryder's Rye Porter - I love rye porters, so naturally a brown sugar, molasses, anise, spicy rye deep brown draught is for me. 6.5% ABV. I gave this 3.25/5.
AleSmith Lil' Devil - lovely bright citrus zest nose, bubble gum, grapefruit peel, peppercorn, herbal, spicy, floral, dry with spicy malt, not bad for my first AleSmith. 5.75% ABV. I gave this 3/5. More info here.
Bell's Brewery Oatsmobile Ale - seen this for a while, never pulled the trigger, glad I've had it now, citrus, reminds me of citra, herbal, floral, orange gold color, cereal malt, bubbly mouthfeel, just an all around modern hop pale ale that is packed with flavor. 4.3% ABV. I gave it 3.25/5. More here.
Embark Craft Ciderworks Peach Apricot Saison - see a bottle of this get it! tart, slight funk, spicy, tonic water, semi-dry, full mouthfeel, this is a nice cider and I'm more and more impressed with Embark the more I have them. I gave this 3.25/5.
Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - love me some oatmeal stout, rich, coffee, roasty, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, slight barnyard that adds nice complexity. 5.8% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More info here.
Jack's Abby Sunny Ridge Pilsner - Jack's Abby blew on to my radar with Calyptra, now I'm ready to try everything they have. citrus, honey, fluffy white foam, bready malt. An april-july release pleaser. 5.1% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More info here.
Jack's Abby Copper Legend - an oktoberfest of exception, spices, citrus, honey/orange blossom, vanilla, peach, tangerine, gold color, and caramel malt. 5.9% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Stone Brewing Co. Mocha IPA - we've all seen the trend towards coffee and chocolate in IPAs, but have you had this? Worth it. roasty hoppy nose, marshmellow, dark cocoa, pine, amber color, tastes like a black IPA, drippy legs. 9% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
Sunday highlights:
Embark Craft Ciderworks Crab Series Vol. 1 - a cider with crab apples, like old apples fallen on the ground, applesauce, straw, dry, great legs. 7.2% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here. Get it while it lasts!
Bell's Brewery Java Stout - holy cow this is a great beer! coffee, marshmellow, vanilla, seriously roasty, really dark chocolate. 7.5% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
Founders Breakfast Stout - most people would consider this the holy grail of coffee beers without going seriously heavy or expensive, coffee, chewy mouthfeel, marshmellow, vanilla, smores, roasty, more like iced coffee than anything really. 8.3% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Left Hand Milk Stout - one of Matt's favorites, had this and the nitro and loved this way more, smoky, campfire, whipped cream, balanced roasty finish, deep brown color.6% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5. More here.
Victory Brewing Co. Storm King - on a stout kick, but we had so many good ones to choose from, mineral, molasses, espresso, dark chocolate, nutty, mocha, very slow drippy legs. 9.1% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5. More here.
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. Hobo Life - a citra hopped session IPA, I'd heard good things about Boom Sauce (to come) and am glad I tried this too, pineapple, mango, citrus zest, green, grassy, melon, hazy yellow color. 4.5% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5.
Lagunitas Brewing Co. Aunt Sally - a sour with IPA sensibilities, lemon tart, drop hopped, citrus. 5.7% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Monday super highlights:
Great Divide Brewing Co. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti - wow. rich, oak, cocoa, espresso, figs, dark fruit, dark chocolate, molasses, powdery mouthfeel, dark brown color, drippy legs, vanilla, tan head. 9.5% ABV. I gave this 4.75/5. More here.
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. Boom Sauce - a whopper of a double IPA, mango, pineapple, resin, cat pee, juicy but nice bitter dry finish, tropical, melon, grapefruit, very nicely balanced, sugar. 7.8% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
B. Nektar Meadery The Mutant Killer Zombie Manhattan Project Thingy - a mead, cherry, deliciously sweet but finishes semi-dry and tart, rose colored, wine, honey, tad warming, champagne. 10% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
#questforbeer1000
The 1000th Beer
Omnipollo Symzonia - an imperial stout of 13% ABV. cinnamon, vanilla, roasty, coffee, you can only experience this, not describe it. As Matt put it, "it tastes of tan". an extra sensory mind blowing beer. 5/5. More here.
Go Get Symzonia!
What is #questforbeer1000 all about? He's not really giving the readers much to go on yet, you might descry...
It's like this. I love the app Untappd. None of my friends use it, but they marvel at how I religiously tracked each and every beer I've even tasted for the past two years. Ok, maybe marvel, maybe roll their eyes. But still, imo it's quite a feat! Anyway, at Nedloh, I was putting in my tasting notes and rating my flights thanks to a brewery that cares about providing a WIFI connection (you suck Abandon), and my friends Matt and Tim [and his Mary] asked how many unique beers I had logged. A quick count revealed that after our adventures at Nedloh I would have 959. Only 41 to go.
Sounds like a challenge? Challenge accepted!
So, a determinedly quick 15 minute trip to AJ's Beer Warehouse in Henrietta (Seriously I've never been in and out of that store so quick with that many people at one time let alone myself buying that much beer!) gave us the remaining 41 beers that I'd never tried before. Everyone checked their selections with me, we basically grabbed anything good (isn't it all good?) off the shelves in our efforts to be fast and left with one goal in mind. Before Matt left to return to Hawaii Monday night, where he now resides, they would enable me to reach my goal of 1000 beers. #questforbeer1000
I won't trouble you with every beer we tried together the entire weekend, but I will point out some highlights and even some serious highlights. The coincidental part being that beer 1000 was THE BEST of the bunch (all agreed!) and will be remembered forever.
Friday highlights:
Three Heads Brewing Sip Hop Hooray - juicy, citrus, cat pea, biscuity malt base, love me some IPL. 7.4% ABV. I gave this a 3.25/5
Saturday highlights:
Nedloh Brewing Co. Collings - I don't think I gave any of Nedloh's beers less than 3/5 rating, but this stood out as a take on I assume a tom collins, sweet but balanced, citrus peel, seltzer notes. Did I mention it's gin barrel aged? 5.3% ABV, super drinkable. I gave it a 3.5/5.
Nedloh Brewing Co. Ryder's Rye Porter - I love rye porters, so naturally a brown sugar, molasses, anise, spicy rye deep brown draught is for me. 6.5% ABV. I gave this 3.25/5.
AleSmith Lil' Devil - lovely bright citrus zest nose, bubble gum, grapefruit peel, peppercorn, herbal, spicy, floral, dry with spicy malt, not bad for my first AleSmith. 5.75% ABV. I gave this 3/5. More info here.
Bell's Brewery Oatsmobile Ale - seen this for a while, never pulled the trigger, glad I've had it now, citrus, reminds me of citra, herbal, floral, orange gold color, cereal malt, bubbly mouthfeel, just an all around modern hop pale ale that is packed with flavor. 4.3% ABV. I gave it 3.25/5. More here.
Embark Craft Ciderworks Peach Apricot Saison - see a bottle of this get it! tart, slight funk, spicy, tonic water, semi-dry, full mouthfeel, this is a nice cider and I'm more and more impressed with Embark the more I have them. I gave this 3.25/5.
Anderson Valley Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - love me some oatmeal stout, rich, coffee, roasty, cocoa powder, dark chocolate, slight barnyard that adds nice complexity. 5.8% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More info here.
Jack's Abby Sunny Ridge Pilsner - Jack's Abby blew on to my radar with Calyptra, now I'm ready to try everything they have. citrus, honey, fluffy white foam, bready malt. An april-july release pleaser. 5.1% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More info here.
Jack's Abby Copper Legend - an oktoberfest of exception, spices, citrus, honey/orange blossom, vanilla, peach, tangerine, gold color, and caramel malt. 5.9% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Stone Brewing Co. Mocha IPA - we've all seen the trend towards coffee and chocolate in IPAs, but have you had this? Worth it. roasty hoppy nose, marshmellow, dark cocoa, pine, amber color, tastes like a black IPA, drippy legs. 9% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
Sunday highlights:
Embark Craft Ciderworks Crab Series Vol. 1 - a cider with crab apples, like old apples fallen on the ground, applesauce, straw, dry, great legs. 7.2% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here. Get it while it lasts!
Bell's Brewery Java Stout - holy cow this is a great beer! coffee, marshmellow, vanilla, seriously roasty, really dark chocolate. 7.5% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
Founders Breakfast Stout - most people would consider this the holy grail of coffee beers without going seriously heavy or expensive, coffee, chewy mouthfeel, marshmellow, vanilla, smores, roasty, more like iced coffee than anything really. 8.3% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Left Hand Milk Stout - one of Matt's favorites, had this and the nitro and loved this way more, smoky, campfire, whipped cream, balanced roasty finish, deep brown color.6% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5. More here.
Victory Brewing Co. Storm King - on a stout kick, but we had so many good ones to choose from, mineral, molasses, espresso, dark chocolate, nutty, mocha, very slow drippy legs. 9.1% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5. More here.
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. Hobo Life - a citra hopped session IPA, I'd heard good things about Boom Sauce (to come) and am glad I tried this too, pineapple, mango, citrus zest, green, grassy, melon, hazy yellow color. 4.5% ABV. I gave this 3.75/5.
Lagunitas Brewing Co. Aunt Sally - a sour with IPA sensibilities, lemon tart, drop hopped, citrus. 5.7% ABV. I gave this 3.5/5. More here.
Monday super highlights:
Great Divide Brewing Co. Espresso Oak Aged Yeti - wow. rich, oak, cocoa, espresso, figs, dark fruit, dark chocolate, molasses, powdery mouthfeel, dark brown color, drippy legs, vanilla, tan head. 9.5% ABV. I gave this 4.75/5. More here.
Lord Hobo Brewing Co. Boom Sauce - a whopper of a double IPA, mango, pineapple, resin, cat pee, juicy but nice bitter dry finish, tropical, melon, grapefruit, very nicely balanced, sugar. 7.8% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
B. Nektar Meadery The Mutant Killer Zombie Manhattan Project Thingy - a mead, cherry, deliciously sweet but finishes semi-dry and tart, rose colored, wine, honey, tad warming, champagne. 10% ABV. I gave this 4/5. More here.
#questforbeer1000
The 1000th Beer
Omnipollo Symzonia - an imperial stout of 13% ABV. cinnamon, vanilla, roasty, coffee, you can only experience this, not describe it. As Matt put it, "it tastes of tan". an extra sensory mind blowing beer. 5/5. More here.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Blind Tasting #1 and #2: IPAs
I've now done 10 IPAs worth of blind tastings to try and get a better understanding of what IPAs from those highly regarded that I like the most. My own past preferences went into choosing which to compare as well.
The format:
I knew what IPAs I chose each time but my wife chose them and poured them and I only had some foreknowledge of what to expect. This was to challenge my own preconceived notions and perceptions while tasting.
The first tasting:
I had chosen 4 IPAs for this tasting: Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, Stone Delicious IPA, and Elysian Space Dust IPA.
I drank all 4 before trying to choose which I had tried and in what order.
1) Bell's Two Hearted Ale - Citrus, particulate, big off-white egg shell foam, gold/amber color, bready/biscuit, honey, peach/orange/apricot/pineapple, clean, medium-full mouth. 7% ABV, more here. I gave this a 2.75/5, down from 3.5/5 from past imbibing.
2) Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits Sculpin IPA - the legend. never having had this before threw a wrench into my plan to detect all 4 brews from taste alone. Citrus, pineapple, tropical, mango, cream colored big head, a beautiful clear light amber, smooth, more bitter balanced, grassy, dank, full mouthfeel, syrupy and juicy. 7% ABV, 70 IBU, more here. I gave this 3/5.
3) Stone Delicious IPA - Burnt hemp, gold/slight amber, white foam, tea, grass, biscuit, citrus, pepper, herbal, full mouthfeel, fresh, honey. 7.7% ABV, 75 IBU, gluten reduced, more here. I gave this 3.5/5, same as from previous tastings.
4) Elysian Space Dust IPA - Tropical, pineapple, orange marmalade, apricot, white foam, pepper, light Amber, particulate, more bitter balanced, biscuit, cat pee, basil, herbal, juicy and full mouthfeel. 8.3% ABV, 73 IBU, more here. I rated this 3.25/5, down .5 from previous.
I think I did a poor job correctly choosing which beer was which if I recall. The only admission I will make is that I compared each beer to each other and that probably took some part in my ratings. For example if I found that I liked one beer more than another that I rated the same, the beer I liked less probably lost 1/2 a point. The winner of this taste was: Stone Delicious IPA
The second tasting:
I had 6 fruit filled IPAs all new to me for this tasting, and it was done in two sittings so as to not get drunk and make my tasting more fruitful as well: Victory Blackboard Series (no. 1): Agave IPA with Grapefruit, Green Flash Tangerine Soul Style IPA, Lagunitas Citusinensis Pale Ale, Samuel Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA, Flying Dog Tropical Bitch, and Ballast Point Mango Even Keel.
1) Victory Blackboard Series (no. 1): Agave IPA with Grapefruit - minerally like an English bitter, floral, slight citrus tart, grapefruit rind, herbal, very juicy, hazy yellow color, toasty full mouthfeel, honey, coriander? 7% ABV, more here. I gave this 3.5/5.
2) Green Flash Tangerine Soul Style IPA - Very lacy yellowish off-white cream, peel, citrus, lemon peel, tangerine, hazy particulate orange color, very toasty malt, slight skunk? Fresh hop nose. 6.5% ABV, 75 IBU, more here. I gave this 3/5.
3) Lagunitas Citusinensis Pale Ale - the ABV practically makes this an IPA, though I don't know the IBU. Particulate gold color, big white foam, citrus, tart orange, herbal, slight sour, hemp, some pine, juicy, tropical. Good but not my favorite. 8% ABV, more here. I gave this a 2.75/5.
4) Samuel Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA - grapefruit, spicy, peppery, hazy orange w/cream white foam, fruit background to the beer, dank, heavy, touch sweet then balanced by a rindy bitterness. 6.3% ABV, 52 IBU, more here. I gave this 3.25/5.
5) Flying Dog Tropical Bitch - belgian yeast notes of coriander, bubble gum, smoky clove, banana, pinneapple, tea, mango, melon, spicy, smooth then a slight malty bitter end, med full amber. 8% ABV, 55 IBU, more here. I gave this 3.5/5.
6) Ballast Point Mango Even Keel - amber color, bubbly white foam, small particulate, nose of dried super ripe mango, sugar, herbal, candy fruit, citrusy bitterness, spicy, medium full mouthfeel, biscuit malt. 3.8% ABV, 40 IBU, more here. I gave this 3/5.
I cannot remember which 3 I had each time, I believe in the order they are typed, but I did a much better job choosing them out from each other and picking up the right citrus flavors. The winners for me were: Victory Blackboard Series (no. 1): Agave IPA with Grapefruit and Flying Dog Tropical Bitch.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
The Search for Beer for All Seasons
I'll hit you with the numbers. At present, I've documented trying 766 unique beers since July of 2014. That's often tastes and small samples, not full sized brews mind you. When I hit a beer fest, for example, I might add 30-40 different beers to that list.
With this amount of beer consumed, I've learned a thing or two about how I rate and taste beer.
First, festivals are the worst place, often, to rate beer. The kegs are the worst and I often get the worst tasting beer at festivals for some reason. That being said Whistle Belly, in Williamsburg (VA), was super fresh and amazing, while Rochester's Flour City Brew Fest continues to disappoint. Second, my tastes or perspective changes, sometimes based on the situation. I might not rate a beer very high one time, while another time it just hits the spot and comes together as a perfectly fresh example of that beer. My beer tasting proficiency has hopefully changed over time as well and some that I started trying at the beginning of this quest could receive higher scores now. Third, my ratings (on the scale of 1-5) are sometimes lower than they should be. I find a really good beer does not always receive as high a score as it deserves, and that might just be because I didn't find it memorable, unique or satisfying enough (or it isn't a fresh example). Some beer may not warrant my going out to buy more of it I guess is what I'm saying.
I am really into freshness too! I rarely buy a beer if it's more than 2-3 months past it's BOD. Especially hoppy beers. Maltier beers can often get away from 6 or more months, but sometimes I wonder at a place like Wegmans where they do not always refrigerate (or consistently at least) and temperatures in store are not desirable for "cellaring".
That being said, do I rate beer purely based on my personal preferences? As someone who desires to be more knowledgeable about beer and styles, I have a hard time justifying that. But, what beers are going to make me keep coming back?
That being said, do I rate beer purely based on my personal preferences? As someone who desires to be more knowledgeable about beer and styles, I have a hard time justifying that. But, what beers are going to make me keep coming back?
The latter is a growing part of my search these days. Sometimes I envy the people who can sit back and hit a 6 pack of tasteless light beer because it is refreshing and enjoyable to do so, not always approaching beer with a beer snob attitude.
It's a constant balance I struggle with. I rarely just buy a 6 pack of one beer. More often it's a mixed or "craft pack" (but not from Wegmans, their craft pack single bottle selection is where aging beer goes to die). I've had a horrible time coming up with a list of beer I want to drink all the time. Part of my "go-to" list is dedicated to beers I can't drink all the time (seasonal or just high ABV so not sessionable and/or expensive), while choosing from 50 different IPAs, pale ales, or porters is difficult when I can't really taste them all side by side.
Subsequently, I've started blind tasting beers next to each other in small batches. For one reason to see if I can truly sense their flavor profiles without complete foreknowledge. For another, to see which ones I actually like the most. Check the results out of some tastings I did like that in the near future post.
For now, here are some beers I believe are ones I would drink all the time that are available, to my knowledge, all the time:
Rohrbach Brewing Co. Vanilla Porter - my favorite of Rohrbach's beer line-up. It's available in cans now instead of just growlers, which I never liked anyway. I still prefer it at the restaurant but cans will do fine, they just need to do a nitro pour. That could take that beer to the next level.
Rohrbach Brewing Co. Blueberry Ale - another Rochester favorite, a well balanced fruit beer that is not overwhelmingly blueberry but is still my favorite fruit flavor in beer besides maybe grapefruit in IPAs. The Last time I had Ithaca Beer Co. Apricot Wheat I was also really impressed.
Samuel Adam's Boston Lager or Brooklyn Lager - I need to do a taste test between these two and see which I prefer more, but even for how much volume these two major players in the craft brewing scene put out of these two beers they are solid choices. I've seriously enjoyed Boston Lager at times and found Brooklyn Lager to be really enjoyable too.
Lake Placid Brewing Co. Ubu Ale - I've often returned to this familiar friend, and having not had it for a while I think it's time is due again, but there's something really delicious and unique about Ubu Ale.
Guinness Draught - in cans this is just pure lusciousness, I cannot deny I love a Guinness now and again.
Hoegaarden Blanche - even though A-B InBev owns this beer, it sticks in my memory as one I really enjoy. It would be fun to put this to the test against other really good witbiers (i.e. Allagash White, Dogfish Head Namaste, Sam Adams Nitro White, Westbrook White Thai, and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (yes a saison but very close to a witbier imo--I guess I've got my next six pack tasting figured out!)
Davidson Brothers Brown Ale - I want to put this one out there because I recently had it on cask and it was stupendously good, and it is now available in my area! I've also enjoyed Brooklyn's Brown Ale, Dark Horse Buffo Brown Ale, Shmaltz Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Bell's Best Brown Ale so there needs to be a taste off soon.
Citizen Cider The Dirty Mayor - as ciders go this is probably my favorite and have consistently seen it at my local beer shop too, but I have tried some really nice ciders lately with my wife participating in tastings by me choosing a bunch of ciders for her to try (i.e. Thatchers Gold, Embark Craft Ciderworks American Heirloom, Angry Orchard Old Fashioned, Original Sin Cherry Tree Hard Cider, Woodchuck Reserve: Cherry, Blue Toad Roc City Blonde or Amber, Blackbird Cider Works Premium Draft Hard Cider, and/or Cider Creek Hard Cider Saison Reserve).
The Bronx Brewery American Pale Ale - one that I've just been buying a lot lately in pursuit of a go-to session pale ale. It has hit the spot every time and that's what I'm looking for. Other Pale Ales that could be in contention for this spot could be Magic Hat #9, Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Three Heads Brewing Population Pale Ale, Butternuts Beer & Ale Porkslap Pale Ale, and/or Founders Mosaic Promise.
Goose Island Honkers Ale - before AB-InBev took Goose Island over I had no problem turning to Honkers Ale, now I feel like I need to find an alternative for ethical/moral reasons. I have not found any really great always available alternatives yet besides perhaps Fuller's London Pride.
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier - could be a beer I turn to a lot for a weissbier refreshing summer style, I doubt I've had better. Victory makes a good Mad King's Wiess too but availability is not year round. Also Three Heads Brewing Captain Banana and Troegs DreamWeaver Wheat could be solid alternatives.
Rohrbach Brewing Co. Blueberry Ale - another Rochester favorite, a well balanced fruit beer that is not overwhelmingly blueberry but is still my favorite fruit flavor in beer besides maybe grapefruit in IPAs. The Last time I had Ithaca Beer Co. Apricot Wheat I was also really impressed.
Samuel Adam's Boston Lager or Brooklyn Lager - I need to do a taste test between these two and see which I prefer more, but even for how much volume these two major players in the craft brewing scene put out of these two beers they are solid choices. I've seriously enjoyed Boston Lager at times and found Brooklyn Lager to be really enjoyable too.
Lake Placid Brewing Co. Ubu Ale - I've often returned to this familiar friend, and having not had it for a while I think it's time is due again, but there's something really delicious and unique about Ubu Ale.
Guinness Draught - in cans this is just pure lusciousness, I cannot deny I love a Guinness now and again.
Hoegaarden Blanche - even though A-B InBev owns this beer, it sticks in my memory as one I really enjoy. It would be fun to put this to the test against other really good witbiers (i.e. Allagash White, Dogfish Head Namaste, Sam Adams Nitro White, Westbrook White Thai, and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace (yes a saison but very close to a witbier imo--I guess I've got my next six pack tasting figured out!)
Davidson Brothers Brown Ale - I want to put this one out there because I recently had it on cask and it was stupendously good, and it is now available in my area! I've also enjoyed Brooklyn's Brown Ale, Dark Horse Buffo Brown Ale, Shmaltz Messiah Nut Brown Ale and Bell's Best Brown Ale so there needs to be a taste off soon.
Citizen Cider The Dirty Mayor - as ciders go this is probably my favorite and have consistently seen it at my local beer shop too, but I have tried some really nice ciders lately with my wife participating in tastings by me choosing a bunch of ciders for her to try (i.e. Thatchers Gold, Embark Craft Ciderworks American Heirloom, Angry Orchard Old Fashioned, Original Sin Cherry Tree Hard Cider, Woodchuck Reserve: Cherry, Blue Toad Roc City Blonde or Amber, Blackbird Cider Works Premium Draft Hard Cider, and/or Cider Creek Hard Cider Saison Reserve).
The Bronx Brewery American Pale Ale - one that I've just been buying a lot lately in pursuit of a go-to session pale ale. It has hit the spot every time and that's what I'm looking for. Other Pale Ales that could be in contention for this spot could be Magic Hat #9, Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale, Three Heads Brewing Population Pale Ale, Butternuts Beer & Ale Porkslap Pale Ale, and/or Founders Mosaic Promise.
Goose Island Honkers Ale - before AB-InBev took Goose Island over I had no problem turning to Honkers Ale, now I feel like I need to find an alternative for ethical/moral reasons. I have not found any really great always available alternatives yet besides perhaps Fuller's London Pride.
Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier - could be a beer I turn to a lot for a weissbier refreshing summer style, I doubt I've had better. Victory makes a good Mad King's Wiess too but availability is not year round. Also Three Heads Brewing Captain Banana and Troegs DreamWeaver Wheat could be solid alternatives.
Victory Blackboard Series (no. 1): Agave IPA with Grapefruit - a relatively new addition to the fruit laden IPA trend, and a good one. Others include Grapefruit Sculpin (duh! so good, but the price point is pretty high...), Stone Delicious IPA, Alpine Duet (been seeing this one in NY lately, had it on cask at Whistle Belly and was floored), Elysian Space Dust IPA (slightly more expensive), Rohrbach Railroad Street IPA, Cambridge Brewing Co. Flower Child IPA (if I can find it in NY), Weyerbacher Last Chance IPA, Worthy IPA (if I can find it in NY, I often see it in VT when I'm over that way), Ithaca Flower Power, Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA and/or Uinta Hop Nosh IPA.
Oskar Blues Old Chub - a solid scotch, but I'm almost sure I can find a better one. Perhaps Rohrbach Scotch Ale, Three Heads Rochestefarian, Founders Dirty Bastard (higher price point though), or definitely Davidson Brothers Scotch Ale (if it makes it's way here!). I'd love to pitch the nitro version of Old Chub against the regular one too.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Trip to VA and NC report
August has been a fantastic beer month so far, and that will continue with the Flour City Brew Fest tonight at the Rochester Public Market. I have tasted 78 distinct beers that I've never had before from Virginia and North Carolina (the Charlotte and Asheville areas mostly) from around 35 breweries, most of which are brand new to me! I attended an amazing beer fest called Whistle Belly in Williamsburg, VA that had all you could eat/drink and some of the best beer I've ever had. I was also privileged enough to tour Sierra Nevada's Mills River Brewery in North Carolina and it was a beauty.
The Beer!
I could give you a rundown on every single brew, but I think I will bring out the highlights instead from let's say 20 brews. I'll try and hit as many breweries as I can but I admit there are some true standouts and some old favorites (in no particular order).
...while in Virginia...
Parkway Brewing Co. Raven's Roost Baltic Porter - I loved this one the first time my older sister let me try it so I got another bottle later on, lots of raisin, prune, ham/smoke, milk chocolate, with a mild roastiness and a slightly sweet balance and pleasant bitterness, pours a dark brown mohagany root beer color. 7.1% ABV, more here.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Gingerbread Stout - one of the things I loved about Whistle Belly was how all the VIP hour specialty brews were still available once general admission started. Other beer festivals I've been to pulled the good brews after GA started. This Gingerbread Stout was more of a spiced ginger than fresh hot but delicious nonetheless. 9.2% ABV, more here.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Virginia Blackberry - a truly delicious white beer with loads of Virginia blackberries, exceptional, ripe, delicate fruity nose, clove, berries galore, medium light body, rose wine characteristics, reddish hue, floral with a hint of spiciness. 6.8% ABV, more here.
AleWerks Brewing Co. Imperial Milk Stout (on cask with white chocolate) - rich, sweet, decadent, very limited release, isn't on their website. 8% ABV, AleWerks here.
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery Batchelor's Delight - this rum barrel-aged Belgian quad was really interesting, with a tea aroma and strong notes of peppermint and a herbaceous nose, it hides the pretty well. 12 % ABV, more here.
Alpine Beer Company Duet (cask with Amarillo hops) - so fresh, delicious pine and citrus notes and great aroma, refreshing, on cask at Whistle Belly. 7% ABV, more here.
Founders Brewing Company Rubaeus - seen this plenty of times never pulled the trigger because beer money is precious but now I know it's definitely worth purchasing, had it on nitro, luscious and smooth raspberry puree, tantalizing and delicious. 5.7% ABV, more here.
Goose Island Beer Company Bourbon County Brand Stout - finally had the opportunity to try this at Whistle Belly, got the last bit in the tap lines! an immense stout in flavor and ABV, strong, rich, dark, smooth, not overly boozy, similar to dogfish head palo santo marron but less woody? 14.2% ABV, more here.
Foothills Brewing People's Porter - actually a NC brew, delicious, smooth, balanced with herbal hops, caramel, toffee, chocolate and espresso finish, quite sessionable. 5.8% ABV. More here.
...while in North Carolina...
Birdsong Brewing Company Jalapeno Pale Ale - had this at a fish taco restaurant and it hit the spot with its spiciness and really fresh jalapeno aroma/taste, a very different brew because it doesn't have those phenolic peppery notes but it still has a lot of jalapeno. 5.5% ABV, more here.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Audition Saison - one of five beers I tried at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's tap room, and this one really stuck out with its bubble gum, tart red berry, spicy peppercorn, pear, cider and sweat clove characteristics, it poured a straw color. 5.6% ABV.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Harvest Newly Developed Hops IPA - just out of the fermentation tank two days, this was orange, tropical, pineapple, vanilla, and says it is "cedar, cocoa, coconut, oak, orange zest, vanilla" all with the typical Sierra Nevada bitterness/malt bill. I brought back a 2 pint "Crowler" can for my bro. 6.5% ABV. More here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Berry Pi'd - a fruit beer with red, tart peel, raspberry, strawberry, jam, blackberry fruits, dry, fresh and crisp. 3.14% ABV, more here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Serenity - a golden/straw colored sour ale blended after aging in wine barrels with barnyard funk nose, medium light body, it is cidery, vanilla, oak, a mild sourness and creaminess. The brett funk is restrained and unoffensive and I actually enjoyed the whole experience of this beer. 5.5% ABV, more here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Dark Age Bourbon Stout - a russian imperial stout with strong bourbon molasses nose, a full body, notes of vanilla, bourbon, smooth bitter chocolate, espresso, it's sweet rich and lasting in the mouth. 11.9% ABV.
The Unknown Brewing Company Over the Edge IPA - from Charlotte, this IPA has pineapple, green and fresh, menthol, sappy hops, watermelon, tea, kiwi, caramel malt and smells like a Sierra Nevada brew. 6.9% ABV, more here.
Founders Brewing Company Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) - both heavy hitters in one week, this one was the real treat actually, it has a huge vanilla hit, bold coffee and chocolate, warming bourbon, roasty esspresso beans kick through, extremely rich, earthy, plum, raisin, toffee, caramel, fudge, buttery creaminess, butterscotch. Decadent. 11.2% ABV. More here.
DuClaw Brewing Company Morgazm - a blonde ale from Baltimore with a nice peely grapefruit, orange juice, citrus, balanced pine/earthy hops, floral, crisp, refreshing and sessionable, and a gold color. 5% ABV. More here.
...the after party, back home...
Flying Fish Brewing Company Exit 3: Blueberry Braggot - a delicious honey braggot with tart citrus/blueberry notes, earthy, reddish amber and a medium full mouthfeel. This comes in a big bottle and a big ABV. 15% ABV. More here.
Cambridge Brewing Company Flower Child IPA - my friend brought this from MA for us to try, super fresh, pink grapefruit, apricot, smooth, gorgeous white head that sticks to the sides, orange, pine, very floral, dextrose noticeable. 6.5% ABV. More here.
AleWerks Brewing Company Rapadou Porter - nutty, creamy, it progresses nicely from sweet sugar to smoke to roasty coffee mocha to espresso w/vanilla bean, mohagany color is gorgeous while being poured, raisin/prune, a tad warming/boozy, deep brown/black color in the glass, milkiness, molasses. 9% ABV. More here.
Lonerider Brewing Company Sweet Josie - a brown ale that is loaded with milk chocolate, peanut butter, a perfect balance of noble-esque hops that leave a sweet balanced bready malt, deep brown color with a bit tan head, super smooth and sessionable. 6.1% ABV. More here.
Well, I kept it to 22. Hopefully tonight's fest will keep the trend going.
The Beer!
I could give you a rundown on every single brew, but I think I will bring out the highlights instead from let's say 20 brews. I'll try and hit as many breweries as I can but I admit there are some true standouts and some old favorites (in no particular order).
...while in Virginia...
Parkway Brewing Co. Raven's Roost Baltic Porter - I loved this one the first time my older sister let me try it so I got another bottle later on, lots of raisin, prune, ham/smoke, milk chocolate, with a mild roastiness and a slightly sweet balance and pleasant bitterness, pours a dark brown mohagany root beer color. 7.1% ABV, more here.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Gingerbread Stout - one of the things I loved about Whistle Belly was how all the VIP hour specialty brews were still available once general admission started. Other beer festivals I've been to pulled the good brews after GA started. This Gingerbread Stout was more of a spiced ginger than fresh hot but delicious nonetheless. 9.2% ABV, more here.
Hardywood Park Craft Brewery Virginia Blackberry - a truly delicious white beer with loads of Virginia blackberries, exceptional, ripe, delicate fruity nose, clove, berries galore, medium light body, rose wine characteristics, reddish hue, floral with a hint of spiciness. 6.8% ABV, more here.
AleWerks Brewing Co. Imperial Milk Stout (on cask with white chocolate) - rich, sweet, decadent, very limited release, isn't on their website. 8% ABV, AleWerks here.
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery Batchelor's Delight - this rum barrel-aged Belgian quad was really interesting, with a tea aroma and strong notes of peppermint and a herbaceous nose, it hides the pretty well. 12 % ABV, more here.
Alpine Beer Company Duet (cask with Amarillo hops) - so fresh, delicious pine and citrus notes and great aroma, refreshing, on cask at Whistle Belly. 7% ABV, more here.
Founders Brewing Company Rubaeus - seen this plenty of times never pulled the trigger because beer money is precious but now I know it's definitely worth purchasing, had it on nitro, luscious and smooth raspberry puree, tantalizing and delicious. 5.7% ABV, more here.
Goose Island Beer Company Bourbon County Brand Stout - finally had the opportunity to try this at Whistle Belly, got the last bit in the tap lines! an immense stout in flavor and ABV, strong, rich, dark, smooth, not overly boozy, similar to dogfish head palo santo marron but less woody? 14.2% ABV, more here.
Foothills Brewing People's Porter - actually a NC brew, delicious, smooth, balanced with herbal hops, caramel, toffee, chocolate and espresso finish, quite sessionable. 5.8% ABV. More here.
...while in North Carolina...
Birdsong Brewing Company Jalapeno Pale Ale - had this at a fish taco restaurant and it hit the spot with its spiciness and really fresh jalapeno aroma/taste, a very different brew because it doesn't have those phenolic peppery notes but it still has a lot of jalapeno. 5.5% ABV, more here.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Audition Saison - one of five beers I tried at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's tap room, and this one really stuck out with its bubble gum, tart red berry, spicy peppercorn, pear, cider and sweat clove characteristics, it poured a straw color. 5.6% ABV.
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Harvest Newly Developed Hops IPA - just out of the fermentation tank two days, this was orange, tropical, pineapple, vanilla, and says it is "cedar, cocoa, coconut, oak, orange zest, vanilla" all with the typical Sierra Nevada bitterness/malt bill. I brought back a 2 pint "Crowler" can for my bro. 6.5% ABV. More here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Berry Pi'd - a fruit beer with red, tart peel, raspberry, strawberry, jam, blackberry fruits, dry, fresh and crisp. 3.14% ABV, more here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Serenity - a golden/straw colored sour ale blended after aging in wine barrels with barnyard funk nose, medium light body, it is cidery, vanilla, oak, a mild sourness and creaminess. The brett funk is restrained and unoffensive and I actually enjoyed the whole experience of this beer. 5.5% ABV, more here.
Wicked Weed Brewing Dark Age Bourbon Stout - a russian imperial stout with strong bourbon molasses nose, a full body, notes of vanilla, bourbon, smooth bitter chocolate, espresso, it's sweet rich and lasting in the mouth. 11.9% ABV.
The Unknown Brewing Company Over the Edge IPA - from Charlotte, this IPA has pineapple, green and fresh, menthol, sappy hops, watermelon, tea, kiwi, caramel malt and smells like a Sierra Nevada brew. 6.9% ABV, more here.
Founders Brewing Company Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) - both heavy hitters in one week, this one was the real treat actually, it has a huge vanilla hit, bold coffee and chocolate, warming bourbon, roasty esspresso beans kick through, extremely rich, earthy, plum, raisin, toffee, caramel, fudge, buttery creaminess, butterscotch. Decadent. 11.2% ABV. More here.
DuClaw Brewing Company Morgazm - a blonde ale from Baltimore with a nice peely grapefruit, orange juice, citrus, balanced pine/earthy hops, floral, crisp, refreshing and sessionable, and a gold color. 5% ABV. More here.
...the after party, back home...
Flying Fish Brewing Company Exit 3: Blueberry Braggot - a delicious honey braggot with tart citrus/blueberry notes, earthy, reddish amber and a medium full mouthfeel. This comes in a big bottle and a big ABV. 15% ABV. More here.
Cambridge Brewing Company Flower Child IPA - my friend brought this from MA for us to try, super fresh, pink grapefruit, apricot, smooth, gorgeous white head that sticks to the sides, orange, pine, very floral, dextrose noticeable. 6.5% ABV. More here.
AleWerks Brewing Company Rapadou Porter - nutty, creamy, it progresses nicely from sweet sugar to smoke to roasty coffee mocha to espresso w/vanilla bean, mohagany color is gorgeous while being poured, raisin/prune, a tad warming/boozy, deep brown/black color in the glass, milkiness, molasses. 9% ABV. More here.
Lonerider Brewing Company Sweet Josie - a brown ale that is loaded with milk chocolate, peanut butter, a perfect balance of noble-esque hops that leave a sweet balanced bready malt, deep brown color with a bit tan head, super smooth and sessionable. 6.1% ABV. More here.
Well, I kept it to 22. Hopefully tonight's fest will keep the trend going.
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