Weissbier - Franziskaner

Vitals:

Name: Weissbier

Style: Hefeweizen

IBU: ??

ABV: 5%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a cloudy honey/straw color, with about 2.5 fingers of billowing white head. Low retention and barely any lacing on this one, with a very thin cap left over. Looks to have a good amount of carbonation and is pretty hazy.

Smell: Somewhat typical hefe smell...bananas, yeast, lemon, clove. Much less typical is some very faint (but present) scents of apple and grape. This is, as I said, a fairly typical hefe...but the extras that are thrown in there make it a slightly better smelling hefe than most.

Taste: Immediately you get wheat and yeast up front and slowly the banana, clove and spice work their way into the taste. You actually get more of a fruity finish with apple and grape to pair with the typical banana and other citrus taste. I absolutely love the complexity of this beer and how the taste shifts across the tasting. This is how a hefeweizen should taste.

Mouthfeel: This brew is creamy as hell, but also gives you a little bit of a juicy feel and some definite thirst-quenching drinkability. Not too much carbonation, which is nice...just a great overall mouthfeel for the style.

Overall Grade: A

Comments: This is everything a hefe should be. If you want a hefeweizen and this is available then this should be your choice. End of story. Get out and find it!

Cheers,

Hurls

Torpedo - Sierra Nevada

Vitals:

Name: Torpedo

Style: American IPA

IBU: 65

ABV: 7.2%

Gravity: 17.3 degrees Plato

Purchased at: Harris Teeter (Herndon, VA)

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a pretty, clear amber color with close-to-bone-white head (half finger). Minimal carbonation from the look of it, but solid lacing. The retention is quite poor with a moderate cap. Nothing particularly special here.

Smell: This beer smells very sweet with citrus hops and malt right there for you. You get some piney hops too, but the smell (in general) seems muted. Don't get me wrong, this beer smells pretty darn good, but it's just very faint and not totally impressive.

Taste: This is VERY hop-forward. You get a tiny bit of grapefruit up front, but it's mostly sweet caramel and molasses malt at the outset to counter some of the hops. Citrus and floral hops hit early and linger with piney hops as well. This beer is mouth-puckeringly bitter, with the malts barely coming through toward the end. Having said that, it hides its ABV reasonably well.

Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied beer...a little heavy for an IPA but with adequate carbonation. It really coats your mouth and dries you out quite a bit; definitely makes your mouth pucker quite a bit.

Overall Grade: B+

Comments: So I would've typically graded this as a B, and the only reason I bumped it up to a B+ is that it's pretty much a macro that you can get almost anywhere. It's a solid beer with a pretty good taste...maybe a bit more bitter than most IPAs out there, but for a macro it is solid. So, in sum, based solely on the beer it'd be a B, but the fact that it's a macro (and thus available in most locations) it gets bumped to a B+.

Cheers,

Hurls

Stone IPA - Stone Brewery

So, after a HUGE delay, I am back to posting (hopefully on a regular basis). I basically was trying to finish up getting work done in the summer, then I upgraded to Mac Lion OS, which is somehow incompatible with my camera, so I put it off and put it off and finally uploaded some pics.

So, the story behind this one is my best buddy, Pat Fichtner, told me about how I needed to try this incredible IPA from Stone Brewery. The only problem...Pat lives in California and, if you haven't looked at a map recently, California is sort of out of the way from Wisconsin. Luckily for me, I was heading to California for my buddy Reid's wedding so, true to form, Reid and I pick up some brew to enjoy while we chatted and caught up late into the night (errrr...make that morning). You can't get much better than that...catching up with one of your best friends over some quality micro-brews! Enjoy and cheers!

Vitals:

Name: Stone IPA

Style: American IPA

IBU: 77

ABV: 6.9%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Ralph's (grocery store near Los Angeles, CA)

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a brilliant translucent orange with about a finger of off-white (slightly orange, actually) foamy head. OK retention, sparse lacing, but a nice cap up top. Moderate carbonation from the look of it and lots of stuff hanging in suspension in the beer.

Smell: Grapefruit, orange, peach, and citrus hops mostly. You can sense the malt poking its way through, though, so you can expect a decent malt backing. You get piney hops as well - not going to lie...this smells fantastic!

Taste: The grapefruit comes through with a nice juiciness up front with the malt sweetness. There is more of a spice when the hops kick in, as opposed to what normally seems like a hop "bite." It's a nice feel but I can't place that taste completely. There is INTENSE bitterness with this beer. You get hit with citrus hops first, but it tastes pinier as you go through the taste experience. This hides the ABV incredibly well and leaves you with a mouth-coating, lingering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Juicy, yet crisp; not overly astringent and just the right amount of the hop oil quality to coat your mouth. This is somewhat light for an IPA; pretty drinkable but will put you on your butt if you have more than a few. 

Overall Grade: A

Comments: One of the very best IPAs that I've ever had; if you can find it, buy it hopheads! You won't regret this one.

Cheers,

Hurls

White Hawk Select IPA - Mendocino Brewing Company

Vitals:

Name: White Hawk Select IPA

Style: American IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 7.0%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: You get a deep amber color on the pour, almost light-brownish. Carbonation is barely detectable to the eye, but this beer is hazy hazy hazy! You get a half finger of head that is slightly off-white with a weak cap, low retention, but pretty solid lacing, actually.

Smell: HEAVY pine and citrus hop notes mix with a faint hint of toasted malts here, leading me to expect something much much less than a super balanced beer. This beer smells quite good, but it's nothing unique or special, ya know?

Taste: This beer is extremely sweet initially, providing a surprising balance (given the smell). Unlike many IPAs, which have an aggressive, sharp, bitter bite, the hop flavor and bitterness builds in strength and then rolls off into the aftertaste. Brilliant tasting experience. The taste itself is comprised mostly of piney/grassy hops, a little citrus up front (grapefruit, anyone?), and the malt sweetness that kicks it all off. This beer actually hides its 7.0% ABV better than most.

Mouthfeel: Medium body and not as astringent as most IPAs are. You really get no carbonation in this beer, which always makes me feel like the beer is stale or something, even though I know it's not. Overall this is a pretty smooth drink, but nothing really stands out in this section.

Overall Grade: B-

Comments: This is a solid American IPA with a great drinking experience. There are a lot of beers I'd choose over this one, but by the same token I'd choose this over a lot of others. The issue is that the taste isn't quite up to par with the actual experience of the taste. By saying that I mean that I enjoy how the hop profile and bitterness is cumulative rather than just an errant spike in the experience...makes for a smoother drink and would probably be less offensive to those who are not quite as big on hops. If someone hands you one of these, don't turn it down, but if you're paying for something you can most likely do a bit better if you know what you like and what to look for.

Cheers,

Hurls

Aprihop - Dogfish Head Brewery

Vitals:

Name: Aprihop

Style: American IPA

IBU: 50

ABV: 7.0%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Riley's Wines of the World

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a deep garnet color, slightly brownish even (depending on the light). A finger of tan head that has decent retention, lacing, and cap. The color seems somewhat unique and the beer is translucent with little visible carbonation.

Smell: As indicated by the name, apricots and citrus hops (only slightly for the hops) are on the nose. There is a very strong malty presence in the background. Overall this smells like it will be quite balanced, and not quite as hoppy as most IPAs usually smell. I'm thinking this will be an interesting beer to drink.

Taste: I didn't think I'd ever say this about an American IPA, but this beer is slightly imbalanced in favor of malts and I actually LIKE it! The sweetness persists throughout the beer with the apricots and malts. Citrus and piney hops linger on your tongue when you're finishing up the drink. One of the biggest things about this beer is it hides the 7.0% ABV SO well. This is an extremely well-balanced solid tasting beer - I wouldn't drink it all night, but it's a refreshing take on an American IPA.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, even somewhat creamy...perhaps a tiny bit heavier than the style usually is. Not much carbonation, which gives you very smooth drinking. Slightly resinous, but not too much that it'd detract from people who don't like that sort of thing.

Overall Grade: B+ (A- on inventiveness)

Comments: This is a very nice American IPA; a nice change from the normal hop bombs that largely define the style. Too bad they (Dogfish Head) don't distribute to WI anymore :-(. This is definitely worth a try if you want something different, and if you want to try an IPA that's not too hoppy!

Cheers,

Hurls

Prima Pils - Victory Brewing Company

Vitals:

Name: Prima Pils

Style: German Pilsner

IBU: ??

ABV: 5.3%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a bright gold with a finger of bone-white head. Decent lacing, but low retention...leaving a nice thin cap. This beer is translucent and seems to have a relatively low level of carbonation, at least to the eye.

Smell: Mostly grassy/citrusy hops and some biscuit malt in the background. It's interesting because the hop profile is much more pronounced than most pilsners I've had, which is amazing. The malt takes a backseat and you get a nice whiff of lemon along with the hops.

Taste: You get bitterness as soon as it hits your palate. Citrus hops completely dominate the taste here, with some grassiness in there as well. The lemon flavor is mild, but not muted. The malt doesn't ever really "come through" except maybe a tiny bit up front, but you still get a pretty balanced feel here, despite the hop dominance. This hop bitterness will stick on your tongue for quite a while. Hides the higher-than-normal (for the style) ABV very well...not a big ABV number, but you can't tell it's even 5.3%, as it is very drinkable.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied and refreshing; you get a somewhat dry finish but it's not too much of a detractor at all. Overall this is a very drinkable beer that is just SLIGHTLY too high on the ABV scale to be a session beer.

Overall Grade: A

Comments: This is a reminder that the grades incorporate a consideration of the style and this is by far the best pilsner I have ever had. Those who don't love hops may not like this, but if you prefer pilsners then you need to give this a try - go pick some up...if they ship to Wisconsin from PA then you can probably score some at a local store wherever you're at!

Cheers,

Hurls

Hop Wallop - Victory Brewing Company

So, this beer has the tough task of living up to the Dreadnaught from Three Floyds Brewing...NOT an easy task...let's see how it stacks up.

Vitals:

Name: Hop Wallop

Style: American IIPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 8.5%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a golden copper color; 1.5 fingers of bone-white head. Decent/moderate retention and a nice cap. No noticeable carbonation from the look of it.

Smell: I barely smell any malt; mostly floral and piney hops and maybe some citrus hops as well. Smells uber hoppy, which is exciting.

Taste: Hop-forward doesn't even begin to describe this beer. The hops wash over your entire mouth and it feels like your tongue is being attacked. Mostly piney resinous flavors here. This beer has virtually no balance, which is OK for an extreme hop head like me but will punish anyone other than that.

Mouthfeel: Oily and resinous; medium body and not any carbonation. Attacks your taste buds and sticks with you long after you finish the drink. This beer completely coats your mouth.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: Does it help that this beer followed up my A+ Dreadnaught review? No. But in all honesty I feel this is a valid rating for this beer. I like this beer, but it's simply too imbalanced to warrant a higher grade. If you're not a huge hop head you will most likely hate this beer. Experiment with this brew accordingly.

Cheers,

Hurls

Dreadnaught - Three Floyds Brewing

And now for the third, and most anticipated (on my part) offering from FFF's brewing. I'm expecting a great deal out of this beer, both because of the cost $11 for 22 oz., and because of the disappointment of Rabbid Rabbit lingering on my palate. 

Vitals:

Name: Dreadnaught

Style: American IIPA

IBU: 99 (YES!)

ABV: 9.5%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Riley's Wines of the World

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a deep, dark copper color with 1.5 fingers of head. INCREDIBLE lacing with a thicky creamy white head (shut up and get your head out of the gutter). Minimal carbonation bubbles, which is odd for FFF's beers, as they are usually highly carbonated.

Smell: This smells heavenly to a hop head such as myself. Citrus hops dominate here with piney hops as well. Grapefruit and mango smells here as well; the beer also offers some sweet malty smells (caramel I think).

Taste: The caramel malt backbone is perfect throughout, not too much or too little. The Taste follows the nose with grapefruit, mango, and citrus hops rolling into a duo of earthy/piney hops to finish out the experience. You can't taste the 9.5% ABV almost at all in this incredibly hop-forward big IIPA. This is truly a hop flurry on your tongue; magnificent, but not for the faint of heart.

Mouthfeel: This beer is very crisp and even on the light side of medium body (surprisingly); low carbonation, but it's there nonetheless. It has an oily mouthfeel with a puckering bitterness. However, it's worth noting that this beer doesn't scrape your palate like a lot of big IIPAs, which is awesome.

Overall Grade: A+

Comments: This is one of my favorite beers...a true hop head's dream. It is bursting with hop flavor and doesn't disappoint at any point in the experience. Surprisingly light for an IIPA. Holy crap, I wish this were cheaper because it's fantastic. If you like hops you MUST TRY THIS BEER.

Cheers,

Hurls

Pride and Joy - Three Floyds Brewing

So, I think it's somewhat rare to find a brewery that will provide you with solid beers with each effort they make. Three Floyds definitely fits into this category. I've already reviewed Gumballhead and Robert the Bruce, and would like to get hold of some more Alpha King so I can throw that one on here as well. For now, this is the first of three successive reviews of Three Floyds Beers. Pride and Joy is a "mild ale" and, not unlike the late great Stevie Ray Vaughn's song (which shares its namesake), I am expecting great things.

Vitals:

Name: Pride and Joy

Style: American Pale Ale

IBU: 30

ABV: 5.0%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Riley's Wines of the World

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a brilliant dark orange/copper color; a finger of ever-so-slightly off-white head. Decent retention, with nice lacing and a good cap. Lots lots lots of carbonation bubbles racing up through the beer - looks delicious.

Smell: Citrus hops dominate here and mingle with orange and grapefruit. There is a sweet pale malt smell to it as well, but by far the citrus wins the day on the smell. This beer has a great smell to it IMHO.

Taste: The malt sweetness is fleeting, but delicious nonetheless. This beer is what you'd call "hop forward" meaning the hop flavor and bitter bite rolls over the sweetness earlier in the taste. You get the grapefruit with the citrus hops at the bite but the orange smell seems muted in the taste. You actually end up with a piney hop finish that lingers. Not as balanced as FFF's beers usually are but it is still solid.

Mouthfeel: Light and refreshing; highly carbonated that tickles your tongue as many FFF's beers do. Bit of a dry finish, which is a little more accentuated than usual for the style, but is still good.

Overall Grade: B+

Comments: Very good beer; definitely the best APA I've had as far as being a SESSION beer goes (see my post on Session Beers for more). I'd recommend this to anyone who likes hops; you truly cannot go wrong with any FFF's beer in my experience. Two more FFF's reviews to come in short order!

Cheers,

Hurls

Two-Hearted Ale - Bell's Brewery

So I must admit, I have had Bell's Two-Hearted before. They are home to the best beer I've ever had (I will most definitely review it in the winter because it's a seasonal). This is a very good beer and my review will reflect that.

Vitals:

Name: Two-Hearted Ale

Style: American IPA

IBU: ??

ABV: 7.0%

Gravity: 1.064 OG (translation: 16 deg. Plato)

Purchased at: left at our BBQ :-)

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours an awesome coppery-orange color with about 2.5 fingers of head (see picture). Very translucent; head is slow to leave and leaves thick lacing and a nice bubbly white cap.

Smell: Orange and lemon give the fuitiness in the background, but the piney hops will be the superstar here. Not too much malt on the nose, and it's possible some citrus hops play in the orange/lemon bouquet. Possibly a small bit of spice, though I'm not sure what.

Taste: I don't taste any lemon really and only faint orange. The fruit is mostly grapefruit on the front end with some citrus hops. You get a nice sweet malt taste up front that rolls over very nicely with a pretty big bite and a piney tastefully bitter finish. Can barely detect the 7.0% ABV, which is nice. You basically get: grapefruit/citrus hops --> malt sweetness --> a piney resinous/bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: This beer is on the lighter side of a medium body with adequate carbonation. There is a dry finish here but it's not a big detractor. You get a thin coating in your mouth from the hops, with a slightly oily feel.

Overall Grade: A-

Comments: This is VERY drinkable for an IPA; I would think it's an APA without knowing otherwise. This is definitely a go-to beer for me, right up there with Hopalicious. The high ABV will preclude you from having a bunch of these, but this is a good one for sure. Not a complete hop bomb, but it's close. Try it out if you're a hop head!

Cheers,

Hurls

312 Urban Wheat - Goose Island Brewing Company

So I had my bachelor party in Milwaukee this past weekend - no details will be provided :-) but that has definitely slowed my beer consumption since and posting of previous reviews. Milwaukee is definitely a fun little city and I had 5 of my very best friends with me; had an amazing time.

Vitals:

Name: 312 Urban Wheat

Style: American Pale Wheat Ale

IBU: 20

ABV: 4.2%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor BYO 6-pack

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a bright straw-colored yellow. Slightly hazy with about a finger of bone-white head. Surprisingly good retention/lacing and leaves a thin bubbly cap. A moderate amount of carbonation bubbles are readily visible.

Smell: Lemony, yeasty smell with a grainy maltiness. You also get a bit of the wheat smell. Slightly citrusy/grassy hop undertones are present, but just barely. This is a very pleasant smelling beer; nothing too overpowering - it is just right.

Taste: You get pale malt up front which plays nicely with citrus hops and the lemon flavors. The slight grassiness pairs well with these flavors as well. You really only get the hops as the beer fades off your palate. The hops don't really have a bite to them, but you do get a slight mild bitterness. This is a nice traditional wheat ale, and is a nice change of pace to the banana/coriander/clove hefes that are out there.

Mouthfeel: VERY light bodied with moderate carbonation. This beer is only slightly dry at the finish, which is perfect. This has a very smooth mouthfeel with no detractors. EXTREMELY high drinkability

Overall Grade: B+

Comments: Based on everything but mouthfeel this beer would get a solid B from me. However, it's a great beer in that it has (much more than most I've reviewed) a thirst-quenching drinkability to it with the super-light body. There is a nice balanced quality to this beer, which makes it a very solid choice if you want a light beer that has a pretty solid flavor. Enjoy in the sun!

Cheers,

Hurls

Hopalicious - Ale Asylum

Ah, so many good memories with Hopalicious. Regrettably it has taken me quite a while to review this one, though it is one of my very favorite Wisconsin beers. Cheers to Marc for leaving a few of these as a leftover from the movie night we hosted back in the fall - that really got me turned on to Ale Asylum in general, and Hopalicious specifically. I also distinctly remember loving the fact that Ale Asylum provided fresh cascade hops to go with your beer at Quivey's Grove, which was fantastic. I will be trying to organize a big group for Quivey's this year and it should be even better than last year! Anyways, once Sarah got me a kegerator I knew the first beer that had to go in there...now on to the good stuff...

Vitals:

Name: Hopalicious

Style: American Pale Ale

IBU: ??

ABV: 5.8%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: where HAVEN'T I bought Hopalicious? Hmm....

Descriptions:

Appearance: Pours a delicious looking golden orange color, almost to the point of being copper. Medium carbonation is evident from the tons of little bubbles excitedly rising to the top. The head content was less than I anticipated, despite being familiar with the beer, and it wasn't for lack of a good pour. All in all there was maybe slightly less than a finger of bone-white head, which surprisingly lacked retention but left a beautiful thick lacing on the glass.

Smell: Surprisingly, given the name, the smell is somewhat understated (especially compared to a lot of Pales out there). You get floral and citrus hops on the nose and a bit of sweet malt hiding in there. There may be a little fruitiness to it (grapefruit if I had to guess, but I'm not completely confident in that) but not too much.

Taste: This beer is very well balanced - you get sweet malt up front (not too much or too little) and you get the hop bitterness that hop-heads crave on the back-end of the beer. The hops are surprisingly piney with a citrus flavor as well. What's surprising to me here is that Ale Asylum prides themselves on putting in ELEVEN (yes, you read that right, as in ten plus one) separate additions of cascade hops to the boil. I am just becoming familiar with the brewing process, as I'm looking to try it out with Marc, but basically you boil the wort (will explain this in a later post) with hops for a long time (typically an hour, but some beers such as DogFishHead 90 and 120 minute IPAs, appropriately named by the way) boil for longer. The hops immediately added (and thus boiled the longest) are for bittering purposes, so you can get a lot of the bitter resins out of the hop cones. The later additions (boiled less) provide the main aromas and flavors. So, basically, with that long (yet quite abbreviated) explanation the puzzling thing to me is that Cascade hops typically impart citrus and floral tastes and aromas, yet I'm getting a lot of piney flavor here. It makes me wonder what the tight-lipped folks over at Ale Asylum are up to with this beer that they don't advertise. My guess is something like Chinook hops added with 15-20 minutes left in the boil but this is just pure speculation, since Chinook are known for being very piney. The key here is the smoothness of the bitter finish; you really get a sweet taste up front from the malt, then a pretty bitter piney bite, and then a surprisingly smooth bitter finish to bring you through. It glides off your palate rather than getting that scraping feeling that a lot of bitter, hoppy brews can give you.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with decent carbonation. I will say that the body is more on the light side of medium, so you could drink this all day (as I can personally attest to). You get a nice thin layer of residual resin on your palate, which is just right for this type of beer. You don't want your mouth to feel completely coated and overwhelmed, but this beer leaves you at just the right place: wanting to come back for more!

Overall Grade: A-

Comments: I consider this to be a close-to-perfect beer for year-round drinking; its versatility is very nice. I think it's light enough to be able to drink in the summer and give you a hopiness if that's what you crave. However, it's also bold enough of a taste, and not completely light bodied, so you can enjoy it when the weather gets cold. Most people know of my love for Ale Asylum beers (if you have a chance check out my post on Bedlam! and try that one out too). Also, as a teaser, I have a bottle of Ambergeddon (what a great name, by the way) in the fridge, awaiting tasting and review. This beer is available practically everywhere in Madison, on tap or for sale in 6 and 12 packs. If you consider yourself a hop-head, or have any interest in hoppy beers, this is a must-have staple of your beer drinking rotation. Go out and enjoy one and see if you agree with my assessment!

Cheers,

Hurls

Summertime - Goose Island Brewing Company

After scrubbing my palate of the Wild Blue fiasco that just occurred (see previous post) I decided to try a little redemption in the form of a summer beer that shares the season's name. First Goose Island to be reviewed and I would like to give a special thanks to Sarah W. for leaving this behind after our BBQ :-)

Vitals:

Name: Summertime

Style: Kolsch

IBU: 20

ABV: 4.7%

Gravity: ??

Purchased at: Left behind after BBQ

Descriptions:

Appearance: Beer pours an enticing golden yellow, with plenty of carbonation drifting quickly to the top. This is a welcome sight, and Kolsch is a good choice, as I've been drinking mostly wheat (i.e. hefe) summer beers, so it'll be nice to have something a bit more filtered, less cloudy, etc.

Smell: Nice citrus-y and grassy smells with a hint of bread from the grain they've used here. Smells like most Kolschs I've had, nothing really stands out here but it seems that this will be a solid beer.

Taste: Grainy/bready and malt flavors stand out here with some lemon tartness. There's a faint taste of grassy hops on the back-end, but obviously hops are not the focus of a Kolsch so it's an appropriate level. This beer is not very complex but has a nice balance to it and certainly does justice to the style.

Mouthfeel: Light and carbonated on the palate with a nice crispness to it. There's a minimal bite, but nothing too noticeable in that department. This is a very light-bodied drinkable beer.

Overall Grade: B

Comments: This is a very drinkable beer for your various summer festivities - it would be good on a boat while you're enjoying the water or out at a BBQ just getting some sun. More so than hefeweizens, which are heavier in body and typically with a yeastier and breadier taste, this beer could be enjoyed all day long. You get what you expect here, with nothing particularly eye-opening, but a pleasant tasting beer nonetheless. Make sure to keep drinkability in mind here; if I'm doing less than 3-4 beers I'm probably going with a hefe to grab the good flavors, but if I'm going to be out all day enjoying the weather and some beer with friends this is a solid choice to roll with. Happy drinking!

Cheers,

Hurls

Imperial Weizen - New Glarus Brewing Company

After the last two posts being somewhat lackluster, I decided to revert back to my old fail safe - New Glarus beers. This is part of the Thumbprint series, and is only available for about 3 months. With the Thumbprint series, New Glarus turns Dan Carey, one of their owners (and a master brewer, I might add) loose with whatever he wants to create. Dan considers brewing beer his own personal form of expressing himself in art, so cheers to innovativeness and passion in the brewing process!

Vitals:

Name: Imperial Weizen

Style: Hefeweizen

IBU: ??

ABV: 9.7%

Gravity: ~20 deg. Plato

Purchased at: Trixie's Liquor

Descriptions:

Appearance: THIS BEER IS GORGEOUS! Pour reveals an extremely hazy light orange, and probably the cloudiest beer I've ever had. About 2.5 fingers of bone-white fluffy head (I had to skim some off the top because I couldn't finish pouring the beer), which has extremely good retention. All of this makes sense when you think of the hops they've put into this baby, combined with the fact that it's a hefe.

Smell: Bananas and cloves are strong on the nose here; the beer has a very sweet smell. This is somewhat offset (in a good way) by a biting citrus hop smell and a slight burn of alcohol on the nostrils (reminds me of Anchorman and Sex Panther..."it STINGS the nostrils", but most definitely does not smell like "pure gasoline" :-P ).

Taste: This beer is extremely well balanced with sweet vs. bitter. The wheat, bananas, and maybe grapefruit give you all the sweetness you need. There is a certain clove spiciness to the beer, which is nice. Lastly, the bitter citrus hops roll over top of the sweetness about halfway through the taste and continues on through the finish. The ONLY complaint I have is that the alcohol taste is slightly overstated and detracts a little bit from an otherwise amazing taste.

Mouthfeel: Heavy body (as evidenced by the nearly 20 deg. Plato, which is HUGE for a hefe of any sort). The beer is highly carbonated it seems and it tickles your tongue, turning slightly astringent as the bitterness takes over.

Overall Grade: A-

Comments: First of all I need to just sit back and recognize that this is SUCH an innovative beer. A+ on the creativity and effort piece, so cheers to New Glarus and Dan Carey. I love how the wheat is combined with citrus hops to provide a well-balanced taste. Most hefes could not pull off the hop aspect to the degree that this one does. Try this out NOW if you like hefes and hops. The 4 pack that the beer comes in will be more than enough for you; I suggest one per drinking session, and no more than 2 or else it'll put you right on your butt with the 9.7% ABV it boasts. Seriously, go pick up a 4-pack, you know you want to!

Cheers,

Hurls

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

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