Scurvy - Tyranena Brewing Company

First of all I'd just like to say that I love the name of this beer - SCURVYYYYYY. If the newest Pirates of the Caribbean didn't suck ass so badly I would make a POTC reference here, but alas...'tis not to be.

However, to lay a little history on you, the real reason that people first started adding hops to beer is because hop resin acts a very powerful preservative for beer. This was extremely helpful in trying to transport beer on long sea voyages, because otherwise it would spoil. From this usage sprung the Imperial Pale Ale (IPA), which is typically loaded with hops. So, hopefully now you have a bit better of an appreciation for the Scurvy beer name, quite fitting if you ask me.

Vitals:

Name: Scurvy

Style: American IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 7.5%

Gravity: ??

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

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a deep amber color, very pretty looking with an off-white, almost tan head on it (about 1.5 fingers worth). The lace retention is very good on this beer - spotty in places with thin strips of thick lace in others.

Smell: The aroma you get is mostly floral with a little citrus mixed in there. Smells good but nothing sticks out incredibly to me.

Taste: First tastes give you a blast of orange and lemon, and a bitter finish with some caramel malt sandwiched in between. Does a so-so job at hiding it's 7.5% ABV.

Mouthfeel: This beer drinks relatively light for being an IPA, but definitely leaves you with the resinous/sticky hop feeling coating your mouth (not a bad thing IMHO). There is some carbonation but not enough to detract from the beer.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: This is a pretty solid IPA, nothing more, nothing less. I would recommend that any hop-head try this beer because it is a good showing from Tyranena, but I wouldn't drink this more than every once in a while simply because I believe there are much better options. Go out to the Old Fashioned, get a Beer Tour of Wisconsin card and give this one a try once you'd have a beer or two - you won't regret it, but I wouldn't lead off with it either...

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

Cream City Pale Ale - Lakefront Brewery

Vitals:

Name: Cream City Pale Ale

Style: American Pale Ale

IBU: ??

ABV: ~5.7%

Gravity: ??

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

As with many beers, the more detailed stats (IBU, Gravity) are nowhere to be found on this one. Not much of a real concern, just bothersome to me.

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours quite a bit darker than I expected, without much head (what was there left very quickly), which was bone white in color. The beer itself is amber-ish as you can see in the picture, maybe a dark copper.

Smell: The smell on this beer is EXTREMELY weak; I could barely even pick up a hint of anything. It seems to be a bit citrus-y and maybe slightly floral. When you think of pale ales (or at least when I do) I think of a huge aroma that leaves your mouth watering...this doesn't quite do it for me but obviously I will give it a shot.

Taste: The beer comes across very sweet from the outset and then has a slightly citrus-y bitterness that lingers a bit. The contrast is good, but the tastes are not quite up to par for me. There is some sort of unpleasant lemon taste in this beer that just doesn't do it for me. The malts are bland to the point of barely coming through and there just isn't the hoppiness that I'd expect from a pale ale. This beer honestly tastes like the brewer was really short on supplies so he threw in the rest of what he had and then tossed a couple of lemons into the mix. Not a fan. The 5.7 ABV is not noticeable, but if I'm going to drink a lot of this type of beer I'd rather have something that either hits you with good taste and hops or is quite a bit less alcoholic.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel on this beer is very watery, an extremely light body and it seems to be quite carbonated. You could definitely sit back and drink a bunch of these on a summer day if you wanted, if you can get by the taste.

Overall Grade: D+

Comments: This beer (I believe) is brewed year-round, so you can try it at any point. I have heard that the Lakefront Brewery tour is quite good and am going to try it out at my bachelors party in a few short weeks. Apparently they give you a bunch of free beer and it's a really good tour. If this beer is any indication, they are shooting for quantity over quality, but maybe I just had a bad bottle. Honestly, I would not have pegged this as a pale ale if I hadn't seen the label prior to drinking it. Nothing really stands out about this beer to me, in a good way at least. I wouldn't waste your time on this one, unless you are doing the Old Fashioned 150 beers Wisconsin Beer Tour - then you have no choice :-P. Which reminds me, I have to drink another one of these for that...damn.

Cheers,

Hurls

Bedlam! - Ale Asylum

So, as previously mentioned in my Craft Beer Week post, I was able to sample Bedlam! at the tapping/Beer Wars party at Argus Bar & Grille. I made sure to add a bottle of it to my BYO 6-Pack at the Old Fashioned just to make sure I had a chance to sit down and really enjoy this beer and see what I tasted.

Vitals:

Name: Bedlam!

Style: Belgian IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 7.5%

Gravity: ??

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

As an editors note, I completely love Ale Asylum but am nonetheless completely frustrated by their secrecy that they have regarding their beer. They are apparently (after reading some online posts) notorious for not releasing IBU and Gravity information about their beers (most likely for fear of someone reverse engineering the beer and, thus, figuring out the recipe). At any rate, that's why I don't have the information above.

Descriptions:

Appearance: This beer pours a deep hazy orange, with a few inches of cloud white head on it. Most of the head subsided but there were little patches of it hovering on the top of the beer, which was nice. Not much lace is left by this beer in its wake.

Smell: The aroma you get from Bedlam! is quite floral, slightly citrus-y and somewhat bread-y. Mostly on the citrus you're getting orange and grapefruit I believe. Smells absolutely great and you can also detect some herbs/spices in there too, as it is brewed with clover and coriander.

Taste: This beer tastes very good - everything seems well balanced and compliments each other note that you get on your tongue. You get a great deal of orange and grapefruit, with a little light bread taste. You also get a hint of the clover and coriander, which is awesome because it's so well done it is not overstated in the least...just gives it a little bit of spice and a distinct flavor that sets it apart. It's not too hoppy either, so if you're not into hops you can still enjoy this beer. The malt, as with most Ale Asylum brews, is well done and gives a nice background/backbone for this beer, though the breadiness still comes through well. By the way, this beer hides the 7.5% ABV VERY WELL...BEWARE OF THIS BEER!

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel on this beer is very smooth, medium to light body, almost juicy. However, it definitely has enough resin from the hops to stick on your tongue and teeth after you begin drinking. There is a small amount of carbonation, but it's not overstated and is not a detractor.

Overall Grade: A

Comments: I absolutely LOVED this beer and would recommend it to anyone. It is citrusy enough that many non hop-heads would like it, yet it still has enough hop flavor to cater to a true hop-head. Get out and try this beer now - it is on tap at a lot of local places, including (but not limited to) two of my favorite spots: The Old Fashioned and Argus Bar & Grille. It is a seasonal brew, so make sure you get it while it's around. It is a great summer beer and should be enjoyed over the upcoming months!

Cheers,

Hurls

Double Dog Double Pale Ale - Flying Dog Brewery

I can't believe I lived in Northern Virginia for so long and never ventured up to Frederick, MD (well...it IS Maryland...one never really WANTS to go there) to visit the Flying Dog brewery. I think that this is a brewery that I will do a lot of reviewing for in the future.

I will make a quick note about the situation that led to me purchasing this beer. Sarah and I typically buy our alcohol from the Liquor Baron right up East Washington, which is conveniently located about a mile away. Bottle Stop Liquors, which is where this beer was purchased, is probably .9 miles from here. I would rather CRAWL the extra tenth of a mile to get to the sweet sweet Baron than to go into Bottle Stop. The place is filthy, has weird people hanging out next to it, and has people working there who are not the friendliest bunch. At any rate, I have now established my preference. Problem was, the Liquor Baron was changing management or something and we were forced to go to Bottle Stop. There was some ghetto little sign at the cash register that for the bargain price of $199.99 you could obtain a bottle of wine from Charles Woodson's (Packers CB) vineyard. I inquired about it (not to buy) and the manager said that a case was "accidentally dropped off there." Something tells me there was nothing accidental about it - it seems like a Sopranos break-your-knees type deal that went down so I paid and go the hell out of there. The Baron is back open by now, thank God. Honestly, never go to Bottle Stop Liquors. Awful.

Anyways, now for what you really came here to read...

Vitals:

Name: Double Dog Double Pale Ale

Style: American Double Pale Ale / Imperial Ale

IBU: 85

ABV: 11.5%

Gravity: 24 Plato

Purchased at: Bottle Stop Liquors (4 pack)

Descriptions:

Appearance: This pours a pretty dark brown - you could almost mistake it for a brown ale if you didn't smell or taste it. As you can see in the picture the head on this beer was bursting out of my mug, probably about 3 fingers or so in total. This quickly receded but left a very heavy lace on the glass that was left up the whole side as I drank the beer. Very sticky/resinous.

Smell: Smelling this beer seemed to be quite distinct in three places for me. It started off with a very floral aroma, then moved to citrus briefly, and then the piney hops smell to finish it off. This beer smells great to a hophead like me.

Taste: OK, so before I tell you what this beer tastes like, I will say that the main hop variant that is used in this beer is Warrior Hops...enough said. This beer is completely overpowering in every sense of the word. It is more malty than a lot of other PA's I've had recently, and you can taste a little bit of sweet caramel in there, but man, these hops absolutely beat you over the head. Definitely one of the hoppiest beers I've ever had. Some orange and lemon come through but mostly you get grapefruit in this one. You get a long aftertaste as well. The hops are somewhat spicy, or that may just be the warmth of the beer as it builds, but you get some of the piney hop flavor that the aromas promise. It doesn't hide the high ABV, but I don't think it's a detractor with a beer that you know will be this powerful. This beer is WAY bitter and I love it!

Mouthfeel: This definitely leaves a sticky resin coating your mouth after the beer goes down. The mouthfeel is a little on the thicker side for me, which is predictable given its 24 deg. Plato gravity rating. However, it ends up being a smooth drink and builds up some warmth as it goes down, not quite a burn though.

Overall Grade: A-

Comments: I think the best way to describe drinking this beer is that it assaults you. This beer is certainly not for the faint of heart. If you can handle a big beer, big bitterness, and big hoppiness then try this thing out for sure. If not, you probably won't enjoy it, but hey...at least you'll only need a few to get to feeling good with that 11.5% ABV that it boasts. Flying Dog really hit a home run with this beer - I just wish it had a lower ABV so I could have more than a few at a time! Try this out if you're a hophead!!

Cheers,

Hurls

Snake Hollow IPA - Potosi Brewing Company

So, the whole pesky finals thing has kept me from making entries in quite some time, and I've built up quite a backlog in notes since then, so I'm going to do my best to unload them all in rapid succession over the next few days.

This beer came to me in a BYO 6-pack at the Old-Fashioned and will ultimately be drank again during my Beer Tour at the Old Fashioned.

Name: Snake Hollow IPA

Style: IPA

IBU: 70

ABV: 7.0%

Gravity: 15 Plato

Purchased at: Old Fashioned Craft Beer Week "Build Your Own 6-Pack"

Now on to the good stuff...

The Descriptions: I'm breaking down my descriptions now that I have looked back and seen that they are a jumbled mess :-) Hopefully this will make for easier reading...assuming anyone actually reads this thing...

Appearance: Pours a pretty amber/copper-ish color, more straw like and light than a lot of IPAs I have seen recently. About a 1.5-2 finger head on the top that recedes very quickly, leaving some semi-heavy lace around the glass.

Smell: Honestly, the first smell I got was metallic, which is NOT a good sign of things to come. However, this was fleeting and was quickly replaced by a surprising and pleasant smell. This definitely smelled fruitier than I thought it would and less piney (than I thought it'd be - pine is still the main smell other than citrus here). You can smell some lemon, orange, and maybe grapefruit in there I think, and it doesn't smell quite as hoppy as a lot of other IPAs or pale ales in general. Very pleasant smelling unless you get that metallic smell up front...very odd.

Taste: So this beer was quite odd...I thought the citrus smell came through more than the pine smell, which surprised me. Also, you get the hop feel without a lot of hop taste here...there is a big grassy hop taste that comes through briefly, but I feel like the citrus and malts overpower that. I actually find it interesting that it seems more grassy than piney. It does not hide the ABV very well and gives you a bit of a spicy taste to it with a very bitter finish. My biggest issue with this beer will now be stated: before you hit that hop bitterness I got a HUGE wave of a metallic taste (granted it was only slightly metallic, but it seemed to linger forever before the hop bitterness kicked in). I am not sure if this is an issue with just getting a bad bottle or if that's just how it tastes based on their brewing equipment, etc. Either way it was not pleasant. This beer just wasn't quite as balanced as I like...something (besides the metallic taste) seemed off.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel was also surprising, as it was quite a bit lighter than a lot of IPAs that I've had, but still had that resinous feel to it, that it coated your mouth and sort of stuck there. This beer definitely dries your mouth out as you're drinking it.

Which brings me to the overall conclusion...

Overall Grade: C+/B-

Comments: Don't get me wrong, aside from the metallic aspects this beer is not bad, it is quite decent. However, if I'm going to pay money for a craft beer, I expect something more. Also, pale ales are my specialty, my absolute favorite type of beer. With so many good pale ales out there I just can't see myself buying this one again over a number of the others...up to you to decide whether to try this one, but I can't guarantee you'll like the results if you do. If you can get it in a single bottle then give it a shot I suppose if you're a BIG IPA fan; otherwise, keep your eyes moving down that beer list before ordering.

Cheers,

Hurls

Back in Business!

So, I haven't posted anything in the past week and a half, due to finishing up spring semester...finals and all that good stuff. However, in the interim (prior to finals) Craft Beer Week 2011 went down in good ol' Mad-town. Events ran, conveniently, April 29 - May 8th (aka, in plenty of time before my finals on the 12th and 13th of May). I managed to find time to take part in a few choice events at the Old Fashioned and Argus Bar & Grille (on Webster & Main).

The first event was a build your own 6-pack at The Old Fashioned - $12.50 for any 6 of their 112 or so bottles of Wisconsin-brewed beer. Quality deal when you compare to Riley's (pricey) or the University Ave Liquor Store (poor selection) BYO 6-Pack deals.

The second event entailed me, that same day, heading out on my bike to Argus Bar & Grille to attend Ale Asylum's tapping of their new Belgian IPA (Bedlam!) and "Beer Wars" from 8-9pm. Beer Wars essentially entailed tallying up the number of Hopalicious pints that were bought and comparing against how many pints of Bedlam! (yes, it has an ! in it's name...though I am also really excited about this beer, so it works out quite well) were bought. Bedlam! won quite handily (of course, it was it's preliminary tapping), and I won a sweet Ale Asylum shirt to boot!

The last event that I went to was another Old Fashioned, where we (Amanda, Mike, Blair, and I) signed up for their Beer Tour, where you have to drink 150 Wisconsin-brewed beers that are on their beer menu. You get a t-shirt, bragging rights, and a goblet trophy that you get to drink your final beer out of! Mike and I have a gentlemen's bet as to who will finish first.

Anywho, that was Craft Beer Week, which was awesome. I will obviously be posting about my progress through the 150 and will be clearing out my notes, which have gotten a bit backed up through finals week!

Cheers,

Hurls

Texas Speedbump IPA - Great Dane Brewpub

So, the other night Sarah and I went out to the Great Dane to get dinner and a beer before settling in to do some homework (I know, right?). It made sense at the time.

As a quick aside, I would like to (from a past visit to the Dane, but this visit reminded me of it) emphatically recommend that people NOT get the Tri-Pepper Pilsner. I got it a few months prior in a sampler platter at the Dane (Downtown) and was utterly disgusted. It was like drinking peppers soaked in Coors Light and urine. I could not stomach it. Unless you love peppers do not get that beer.

At any rate, I asked my server which was better, the Texas Speedbump IPA and the Potter's Run IPA. He recommended the Speedbump, so that's what I went with. He gave me a sample of the Potter's Run, which only confirmed his recommendation and my selection. I found the Potter's Run to be flat. It came with absolutely no head, left no lace, and while it did smell good (like cinnamon and/or ginger) it just didn't resonate at all. I expect a beer to evolve as it hits different parts of my tongue and this beer was completely static throughout the entire experience. Maybe I just got a bad batch but I would definitely not recommend this beer.

On to the real stuff (apologies that the Dane doesn't have any stats on their beer):

Name: Texas Speedbump IPA

Style: IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: ??

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Great Dane (Downtown) - Pint

The Descriptions: This IPA was a deep amber/orange when it arrived at our table, with about a finger of light, white head that stuck around as a nice lace for a while. The beer smelled very strong, as most IPAs do, of citrus and pine, but also had a minty smell to it. The beer was full-bodied with a grapefruit aftertaste. One of my favorite things about this beer was that it "built" nicely from the beginning of the sip until the finish. The bad part of this beer was that it was not very well-balanced with malts; the bitterness came through a bit more than was necessary, or expected.

Overall Grade: B-

Comments: This was not a bad beer, per se, just not quite as balanced as I'd like, and there are so many good pale ales (APA, IPA, IIPA, etc.) out there. It was actually a decent beer for the Dane, and I would buy it again there (if I don't get their Old Glory APA, or the Crop Circle Wheat). In my experience, I would go to the Dane for some Wisconsin Style Cheddar Mac and wash it down with one of their decent brews.

Cheers,

Hurls