Samuel Adams/ Ithaca Brewing Co Brown Ale Double Feature!

Tonight I decided to try a couple of brown ales that I had in the fridge, Samuel Adams Hazel Brown and Ithaca Nut Brown. This style is always a nice, sort down and relax beer, and as we approach the fall seasons, it is time for me to consider ( ::sigh::) to drink something other then IPA's. I apologize, once again, for the photos being at the end; the phone limits me a bit.

Let me start by recommending you go out and get the Samuel Adams fall variety pack. Though I didn't blog on all of them, know that this pack is full of winners. Now, the Hazel Brown. Poured into my trusty pint glass, the clear, medium brown ale had a one finger, off-white head that sustained until the last drop. Light, nutty notes on the nose. A sip reveals pretty common brown ale flavors: toasty malts and nice, subtle nutty flavors followed by a slight bitter tinge. As I finished this ale I snapped a picture off the great lacing left on the glass (see @brewsatthebeach on Instagram). All in all, a very tasty offering from the big guys from Boston.

Edit: Apparently the content that I posted about Ithaca's Nut Brown did not save. I apologize for that. Luckily, I saved my notes. This beer poured a dark, hazy brown with a thin off white head. Big, nutty notes on the nose. Taste was similar to Sam Adam's offering but with much more emphasis on the nuttiness. Still closed out with toasty malts. A solid brown ale, however I found the sweet nuttiness in this one just a little too much for my palette. I enjoyed it, mind you, but I wouldn't want more than one

21St Amendment's Hell Or High Watermelon

Once again, I must ask you to forgive any typos, weird photo placement, etc as I am posting from my phone for a couple days. My computer is In the shop, so I will be using Android blogger.

There, that's out of the way. Now to the beer. When I was walking through my beer store, this one made me double take. I've seen many fruit beers, but this is the first watermelon one I've encountered. I hesitantly poured this watermelon wheat wonder into your average pint glass to reveal a hazy yellow beer with a thick white head that slowly faded into a thin cap. Not much on the nose here, just slight hints of wheat. I took a sip and... Wow watermelon! I hate artificial watermelon. With a passion. There is none of that here. The forward taste on this is as if you cut a hole in a watermelon, poured your favorite wheat beer in, then poured out the contents. Its phenomenally refreshing without being too sweet. This is followed by a light hint of banana wheat. As strange a beer as this one was, it has just taken the spot as my second favorite fruit beer, beaten only by Dogfish Head's Aprihop. Get some before summer is over or you'll have to wait until next year for this seasonal brew.

Great Lakes Brewing Company's Lake Erie Monster

Well will you take a look at that, Corey got himself another IPA. I promise I have some other interesting brews to try, but for now you will have to settle for hearing about my Saturday night IPAs!

I found this particular IPA while up in NY a couple weeks ago. I am not sure if Great Lakes Brewing Company distributes here in Virginia Beach, but I know that I have never seen this eye catching bottle art before. This beer poured with a monster, 4+ finger head that faded slowly into a more reasonable 1 1/2, and it leaves a nice, light lacing. It is a golden orange in color and is quite clear. I am punched in the nose with huge malt odors immediately. Expecting these malts to be very forward in taste, I was pleasantly surprised to by the forward taste of light, fresh hops. But wait. Give it a second. BAM! There ya go! Big bitter aftertaste and a slam of malty sweetness round this beer out. This is a strange balance, because with a beer this big (9.1% ABV), usually intense hops are used to balance out the big malts. This one eases you into the intense flavors, starting you out with those nice, citrus hops then hitting you with the intensity. To wrap it up, this is different, delicious, and I will actively seek this out in the future. Good work, Great Lakes!

Stone Triple Play - Enjoy By, R&R Coconut, and 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung

Before we get into the brews, let me give a quick shout out. There is a place here in Virginia Beach called Grape and Gourmet. It is a small beer and wine shop that carries nothing (I assume, I know little about wine) great wines and (I know!) even better beers! The great thing is when they get something new in they post in on Facebook. A simple comment and they will hold one for you. If your from this area or are every here visiting, check them out! They're located on Virginia Beach Blvd. Anyways, they announced these three, and I am headed out to a Less Than Jake show tonight, so I figured what better way to get ready for the night then to split a few great bottles with a friend!

Now to the goods! Because it demanded it was enjoyed immediately, he first beer of the evening was Stone's Enjoy By (9/13/13) IPA. Poured into my IPA glass, this beer is a golden copper nectar with just about a half finger head. Huge notes of pine and almost grass clippings on the nose. Tastes of incredibly fresh, piney hops with a nice, malty sweetness throughout. This IPA is a nice change up from your average IPA that is much more citrus-like in flavor. The incredibly fresh flavor could be because this beer was bottled (on the other side of the country) less than two weeks ago. Go grab yourself a bottle, and enjoy it... NOW!

Next in line was from Stone's Collaboration Series, R&R Coconut IPA. Pouring the same color as Enjoy By with a slightly larger head, this one has a bit less on the nose. Just a hint of hops on the nose with a bit of tropical sweetness, though I would not necessarily say I smell coconut. This one shocked me with how bitter it is. Very hop forward with lots of fruit flavors to back it. If you get a hold of it, check out the label, it has a slew of fruits in it including apricot, orange and melon. The after taste hints of toasted coconut, but it is very light, so don't let it deter you if you're not a fan of coconut. 

Tonight we wrapped it up with Stone's 17th Anniversary Götterdämmerung. First of all, what a freaking name. Slightly lighter than the other two in color, and with a one finger head, this one was the most surprising of the evening. When I smelled this beer, I noticed mostly forward malt smalls with a hint of hops. Expecting big hops, I took a small sip and BAM! Super sweet malts! and there, in the distance, if I really push for them, are the hops. In my most humble opinion, I would not call this an IPA. Mostly because I have this impression that IPA's should be intense and hoppy. I'd call it the best pale ale I've ever had. A bit bitter, but very malty, this one left me a bit confused. Could have been the other two beers impacting me, but I am having a hard time classifying this one. Just go grab yourself a bottle. Put it into your own special category. I certainly liked it, despite my confusion.

Quick closing, Stone, you killed it tonight! Three great (though strange) brews! Now I'm about to go enjoy an amazing show. Cheers!

21st Amendment Brewery's Hop Crisis

It appears I have fallen into the habit of posting a couple days after drinking a beer. Fear not, my more easily concerned, motherly readers, I am not drinking at noon on a Tuesday. Saturday evening I had a hankering for a big, flavorful IPA (Surprise!), so I cracked into 21st Amendment's Hop Crisis (9.7%ABV, 94IBU's).

Poured into my IPA glass, the first thing I noticed was this thing had a monstrous, 3+ finger head that faded very slowly. This thick, heavy head left the most lacing I have ever seen. The lacing remained clinging to the sides of the glass long after I finished the beer! This beer is a lighter gold than your average IPA, resembling some of those less desirable, light beers. That is where the similarities end. A sniff of this beast (be sure not to dip your nose in the head) reveals a light, fresh citrus odor. Tasting Hop Crisis reveals a complex "sweet-Bitter-Sweet pattern. At first taste you get the nice, fresh, and sweet citrus flavors that the odor would suggest. This is quickly followed by intense, bitter hops and then quickly by heavy sweet malts. This beer's citrus notes and complexity are absolutely fantastic. I would rate this as one of the top Imperial IPA's I have tried in a long time. If you can find some, get it!

Founders Devil Dancer

Once again I am posting a bit delayed on this one. Here's why: The evening that I enjoyed Founders Devil Dancer, I followed it up with one of my homebrew 90 minute IPAs. When I cracked open said IPA, my brute man strength not only took the cap but about half the neck of the bottle with it. Bleeding followed. Long story short, I received a nice little cut that PROBABLY should have received stitches and that is why I was a bit distracted from posting. But I digress...

Every once in a while I get a beer that is so insanely intense that even I am not sure how I feel about it. Devil Dancer is a forerunner in this category. I poured this monstrous Triple IPA into my trusty IPA glass to reveal a hazy, caramel nectar with a thing head that quickly faded to a thinner cap. The huge, intense malts on the nose caused me to take a closer look at the bottle before tasting. Boasting 12%ABV and 112 IBU's, I knew I was dealing with something on the level of Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA. Dancing with the devil, however, is apparently much less subtle. One sip of this bad boy reveals big, over the top bitterness from the hops. You get a quick tinge from the alcohol content before going right back to the bitterness in the aftertaste. Though the flavors are solid, this is should be a one and done beer. I certainly would not try a new beer after having this because my taste buds were pretty well shot. It had my 90 minute (a pretty flavorful beer in itself) tasting like water. So, in conclusion, if you manage to get your hands on one of these, and you are willing to bite the bullet on around $5 for a 12 ounce bottle, be prepared for a ridiculous intensity that will overwhelm any other flavors. This beer is not for the faint of heart or those will a weak palette. 

Samuel Adams Double Feature!

Ok, so it has been a hot minute since my last post. I have had a couple of beers since then, so I will give you a quick run down of those two before I get to a special one that I will be having later this evening. The other day my father in law was in town, so I picked up a Sam Adams variety pack (fall seasonals). I have not dabbled too much with Samuel Adams beers because I have always thought of them as beers produced for mass appeal, thus not as extreme as some other beers. Be that as it may, it sure was nice to try a couple to remind me why this is the biggest craft brewery in the US.

The first from this collection that I tried was the Harvest Pumpkin Ale. Before trying this, I had not had a pumpkin ale since I first delved into the world of craft beer. Though I do not recall what ones I tried at a craft beer festival, I remember finding them too sweet and not all that enjoyable. I can say now, though, that either my tastes have evolved (quite possible, I did, after all, once drink Keystone Light...) or I was drinking the wrong pumpkin beers. Anyways, poured into a plain old pint glass, this dark, caramel colored beer had a thin, tan head that faded rather quickly. On the nose was mostly spices and a slight pumpkin sweetness. The taste pretty much followed the nose. Spices are very forward with a slight pumpkin flavor, followed up by mild sweet malts. All in all, though it is not something I will anxiously wait to see on the shelves, Harvest Pumpkin makes for a light, enjoyable experience.

Next from this collection came Latitude 48 IPA. Being my favorite style, and because of my previous presumptions about Samuel Adams brews, I did not expect to enjoy this brew as much as I did. Pouring a nice, dark gold into my treasured IPA glass, this beer boasted a huge, thick, slow fading head that created lots of great lacing. Just a slight citrus odor on the nose for this one. The flavors followed suite. A nice, light, sweet citrus flavor with mild hop bitterness were at the forefront, followed by just a tinge of grapefruit aftertaste. Though certainly not an intense IPA, the flavors here are spot on, and I could see myself enjoying a couple of these at a summer/fall outing.

So what is the lesson learned? Don't assume you won't enjoy a beer just because it is from a main stream company. I should have known this since I enjoy both Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, but it is what it is.

Cheers folks!

New Belgium/Red Rock's Lips of Faith- Paardebloem

First and foremost, please forgive any serious typos in this post. I am posting from my phone, which is notorious for correcting me at unnecessary moments. Anyways, I am back in NY once more to celebrate another wedding. Though I will certainly be grabbing some more beers from Ithaca Brewing Company while in town, tonight I enjoyed New Belgium+ Red Rock's Paardebloem.

If you have had a beer brewed with dandelions before, you know there is only one good word to describe them: refreshing. Poured into your every day pint glass, this beer was a hazy gold with a very thin head that quickly dissipated. On the nose are sweet wheat notes. These notes follow through on the taste, accompanied by that unique fresh taste that dandelions give a beer. The most surprising thing about this beer is its strength. Don't be fooled by its light, fresh flavor; this bad boy weighs in at 9%ABV! It does an incredible job at making its alcohol content. If you are looking to break a friend into the world of craft beer, you could certainly do worse than Paardebloem. Its fresh, light taste should be universally enjoyed, and will show fans of light beers that there are better options out there.

Boulevard Brewing Company Double (Tripel, Quadrupel) Feature!

Despite my by now clear obsession with IPAs, one of my favorite styles is Belgians. Though not as versatile as an IPA, I cannot get over the subtle, sweet hints of banana that comes with Belgian yeasts, and it doesn't hurt that they are surprisingly strong either. So here I was, trying to decide between a Tripel and a Quad from Boulevard Brewing Company when I decided I didn't want to choose! So, because I got to enjoy both, you do too!

First, came Long Strange Tripel. Before I begin, let me just shout out to Boulevard on once again killing it with the labels/ naming. When I am pa-rousing (correct usage? oh, who cares) through my local Total Wine, it helps to have something stand out among the mass variety of beers. Anyways, poured into a tulip glass, Long Strange Tripel had a three finger, big bubbled head that quickly dissipated. It was a beautiful gold in color. Not much on the nose for this one, just a slight hint of bananas that comes from these awesome Belgian yeasts. The bananas follow through on the flavor, followed by a sweat wheat flavor and a slight alcohol tinge (9.2% ABV). All in all, this was a very solid Belgian Tripel.

My second glass of the evening was The Sixth Glass. Poured once again into a tulip glass, this beer had a two finger head with the biggest bubbles I have ever seen in a beer. These bubbles dissipated quickly leaving a very thin head with minimal lacing. Dark mahogany in color, The Sixth Glass has an even slighter banana smell than Long Strange Tripel. Upon tasting this quad, the first thing I was hit with was super sweet malts. After I got over that intensity, I got to enjoy a hint of those lovely banana flavored Belgian yeasts. Weighing in a little heavier (10.5%ABV), this quad takes second to LST, but just barely.

So in conclusion, Boulevard Brewing Company is now three for three for me. Considering I had no idea who they were a few weeks ago, I'd say that's not too shabby. I'll have my eyes out for more great beers from this company!

Terrapin's Hopsecutioner

I know what you're thinking... Two posts in one night. Woah, slow down there buddy. Do we need to talk? Haha, to which I say, "Shut up, it's Friday." Anyways, I finally got to try that Hopsecutioner, and in it I discovered something...unexpected.

This beer poured a nice golden color with about a finger and a half wide head. Take a moment to breathe in this one and BAM, there are piney hops and pretty much nothing else. So I'm thinking, big, bitter hop flavors to come, right? Well, sort of. The pine/ slight citrus hop flavor is as forward as you expect at first taste, but it's the after taste that gets you. At this point, I'm looking for a big bitter after bite, as any hop head would be. That's not the case here, though. The pine and a little sweet after taste is all you get. While I enjoyed the beer, I found myself expecting a little more bang with each sip. I have had beers from Terrapin before, and they do hops as well as the next brewery. This one was just strange to me. But strange is not bad, and I always prefer to be surprised (and a bit confused) rather than disappointed. So here's to you, Terrapin, for throwing me off completely in the IPA department. Cheers!

Founders Rübæus

After a nice, relaxing day at the beach, I decided to get a little homework done. You know what goes great with homework? If you answered, "Why, a refreshing beer goes just swell with homework, Corey!" then you are absolutely correct. Perhaps less compatible, however, is a big, high ABV beer. So tonight, the choice was Rübæus by Founders.

So, as anyone who has been following this can tell, lighter, sweet beers are not in my regular wheelhouse. I prefer big, powerful, bitter beers. There is something to be said, however, for someone who can make a fruit beer and do it right. And Founders nails it. Poured into a tulip glass, this beer is a nice, dark red. It has a very thin head that diminished almost faster than I could take a picture. Once gone, one could easily mistake this for a wine or juice. A good sniff of Rübæus reveals the sweet aroma of raspberries. I have to admit, at this point I was a bit concerned that this would be overly sweet. I was happily surprised, however, to find that the sweetness was very well balanced with a nice tartness. This beer showcases raspberry flavors very well without that cloyingly sweet flavor that many fruit beers posses. Still, I would not find myself drinking more than one of these, as I find myself wishing for some bitter notes despite myself.

To wrap things up, this is a very enjoyable raspberry beer, and I would recommend it both to beer drinkers and those who enjoy fruity malt beverages. I don't think either group would be disappointed.

Legend Brewing Company's Hopfest

Happy IPA Day everyone! I was excited to find out that it was today, and as any avid reader of this blog knows (aka my Mom), I love IPAs (By the way Mom, it's IPA Day! IPA= India Pale Ale). If the is a "Lager Day," I sure as heck don't know when it is. Now that that parenthesis filled paragraph is complete, to the good stuff...

The IPA I decided to try today was Legend Brewing Company's Hopfest. Legend Brewing Company is located about two hours West of Virginia Beach in the city of Richmond, Virginia. I have had a couple of beers from this local brewer and had high hopes for this one. Now, before I get into the details let me just say that I did enjoy this beer. My description may seem a little negative, and here's why: This beer is entirely misrepresented by its name. Though not as blunt as a beer such as Terrapin's Hopsecutioner (which I am hoping to try later this evening), Hopfest implies a celebration of hops; a jovial cacophony of  intense bitter flavors. This is not the case...

This beer pours a dark, copper color with about a one finger wide head. When I took a moment to take a whiff of this festival o' hops, I caught the aroma of piny hops blended with a very forward malty sweet smell. The malty sweetness is equally forward in taste as well. Hops come second and faintly behind this powerhouse of malt. Like I said at the opening, I did, in fact, enjoy the flavors. It was just not what I expected. In a world of big, hoppy IPAs, I expected this one to be very forward with hops as well.  In closing, though it is not my favorite offering from Legend (which is, thus far, their incredible Barely Wine), I certainly would not say no to the question, "Hey, would you like a Hopfest?"