Lilja's Hop Nest Monster - Pangaea Brewing Company

I love the name of this beer - hoping that the taste will be the same. I've never in my life heard of Pangaea Brewing Company, but it must be a Wisconsin brew since I got it from the Old Fashioned BYO 6-pack

Vitals:

Name: Lilja's Hop Nest Monster

Style: American IPA

IBU: 77

ABV: 7.0%

Gravity: 17 deg. Plato

Purchased at: The Old Fashioned (BYO 6-Pack)

Descriptions:

Appearance: The beer pours a dirty straw color, lighter than I would expect from an IPA. The head on this beer is bone-white and reminds me on a meringue topping on a pie. This may be the most unfiltered beer I've ever seen or else it might be infected (yeast problem...insert jokes here)

Smell: Slightly floral smell with mostly grassy hops and toasted malts; maybe a bit grainy. The smell was not what I expected, much less strong than a normal IPA.

Taste: WOW! Full on frontal assault with the grassy hops, this beer certainly lives up to its name in that respect. The bitterness lingers for a long time, though I must say there's not much actual hop flavor, just the bitterness, which is a detractor since you get no complexity. The beer isn't very balanced at all, which is surprising given the grainy malt smell. Lemon and flowers come through a bit as the beer builds to the hop bitterness; you only get a small taste of the toasted malts (thus the imbalance).

Mouthfeel: This beer is medium bodied, but extremely oily and astringent. The beer really dries your mouth out AS you're drinking it, while most astringent beers I've had do that after you finish your sip. I really wonder if this beer is filtered AT ALL - there is a TON of debris that is suspended in the beer.

Overall Grade: B-

Comments: I LOVE LOVE LOVE hops, but this beer just had no balance and wasn't doing it for me. I would drink this every once in a while to see if there's any degree of consistency to this beer, especially to see if the debris thing remains a problem. There are definitely better IPAs out there, go and find one!

Cheers,

Hurls

In-Heat Wheat - Flying Dog Brewery

Summertime = hefeweizen time, plain and simple. As much as I love pale ales and other hoppy beers, there's no denying it's not quite as satisfying when you're drinking a heavier beer in the summer heat. As a result, there will most likely be a flux of wheat beers that I try out and review here on the site. If you're looking for a good one to check out in the meantime; check back to one of my earlier posts for Dancing Man Wheat by New Glarus. Fantastic, though I do admit that it's tough to try something that good early in the process; everything else seems unable to meet the bar, since it was set so high.

Vitals:

Name: In-Heat Wheat

Style: Hefeweizen

IBU: 12

ABV: 4.7%

Gravity: 12 deg. Plato

Purchased at: University Ave. Liquor Store

Descriptions:

Appearance: Surprisingly, this beer was not nearly as hazy as most hefes I've had. There were about 1.5 fingers of head when I made the pour (as seen in the picture above), but the beer had almost no head retention (makes sense from the low hop levels of this beer). Literally, in less than a minute all of the head you see in the picture was GONE. The beer is a nice straw colored gold and you can see tons of carbonation bubbles rising. A sign of good things to come!

Smell: The wheat and yeast in the beer comes through more than most hefes do, but by far the aroma is dominated by bananas and some kind of spice. My guess is probably either a.) cloves or b.) coriander. Either way it smells pretty good, albeit somewhat predictable. I am starting to think this will be a solid, but not totally spectacular, hefe.

Taste: Bananas up front and throughout the experience here; the yeast comes through somewhat slightly and you definitely get a nice clove taste. You can taste a subtle sweetness in the background, a honey-ish flavor I think. It's a nice touch at the end of the drink. There isn't too much about this beer that sticks out (in a good or a bad way); not too complex, which can definitely be a plus (and with wheat beers it often is). Overall a solid taste, confirming my suspicions from the smell.

Mouthfeel: The beer is definitely heavier on the mouthfeel than it looks. Not seeing a hazy appearance lulled me into thinking this would be super light, but the 12 degrees Plato is a solid gravity and definitely fits with the mouthfeel. Medium carbonation, not quite what I expected after seeing so much carbonation after the initial pour, but a respectable amount that adds a nice element. Again, nothing stands out as being incredibly different about this beer.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: So, though non-Wisconsin beers are few and far between here, this is a solid effort that you can most likely get throughout the country. It's a solid hefe that I would definitely drink again, and a good summer beer if you're laying out in the sun. Nothing stands out too much other than the cloves, but try it out and see what you think. A solid hefe on a hot summer day can never be a bad thing!

Cheers,

Hurls

Gumballhead - Three Floyd's Brewing

So, when I was visiting my aunt and uncle in Highland, IN we were discussing beer and they brought up Three Floyd's (FFF) in Munster, IN. Apparently this place is a small craft brewpub that ships out relatively locally. I hadn't given in a second thought until a person in my program at school gave me some Alpha King (to be reviewed later) to try out. As a preview, Alpha King was fantastic, so I had to check out some of the local liquor stores to see if they carried any more FFF beer. Luckily, both the liquor store on University Ave and Trixie's Liquor (formerly the Liquor Baron) on the East side (right up the street on East Washington, actually) carry a few different kinds. I decided to try out Gumballhead first...

Vitals:

Name: Gumballhead

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

IBU: 28

ABV: 5.5%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: University Avenue Liquor Store (6 pack)

Descriptions:

Appearance: This beer pours a brilliant yellow-gold-straw color, with limited head that disappears quickly and leaves very minimal lacing on the glass.

Smell: This beer smells great - citrus (grapefruit maybe), orange, and wheat come through. Doesn't smell too hoppy (and with 28 IBUs that's no surprise)

Taste: WOW! You can definitely taste the wheat malts, which balance out the hops in this beer SO well. The hops are citrus-y, grassy, and slightly piney as well. You really get a taste of maybe peach coming through along with the grapefruit and orange mentioned in the smell. The finish on this beer is somewhat bitter, but not overly so.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel on this beer is very light and extremely carbonated, which I thought would be a turnoff but it fits SO well with this beer. I am sure that the gravity is pretty low on this beer, due to how light I am sensing it to be.

Overall Grade: A+

Comments: As evidenced by my FIRST A+, I am completely in love with this beer. GO BUY SOME RIGHT NOW! This beer drinks like a wheat but has the taste of a pale ale as well. You could seriously drink this all day, and the ABV is not ridiculously high to prohibit you from doing so on a fine summer day :-). This beer just fits well...its elements come together very well to form a nice cohesive experience. I definitely cannot say the same about most beers I have had (or reviewed) thus far in life. Do yourself a favor and find a local store that sells this and go get some. You can thank me later!

Cheers,

Hurls