Green Pine's Ghost Face Killah

Terrifying that at the time of this post I have 666 page views. That's because this brew is straight from hell! Enjoy this silly, first time video blog!

Ok, so I have a little catching up to do...

I did a lot of posting over the weekend. I was on vacation, after all, and did enjoy a few different beers. That being said, I have missed a couple in the last few days, and I don't want my loyal readers/mom/random spam bot sites to miss a thing! So here you go folks, a few more brews for you to read about, make an informed decision about, and then seek out!

First up to bat: Ithaca's Apricot Wheat! I had a stash of Ithaca beers from my trip up to NY, and had yet to try them all. Apricot Wheat was just what I was looking for the other day; something light, low in alcohol, and refreshing. Also I wanted to test out the crazy fancy glassware my neighbors purchased for me. Killed two birds with one stone (No animals were harmed in the creation of this blog). Poured into my (see photo) glass, this beer is a hazy (surprise) apricot color with no head to speak of. Could be normal, could be a bad pour. Who knows. Anyways, the nose is very fruity, smelling strongly of citrus and apricots. The apricots are just as strong and forward in the flavor, with some sweet wheat flavors to round it our. All in all a good brew, but I think I would have preferred this earlier in the year, and it is too sweet for me personally to have more than one.

Now that that parenthesis-filled paragraph is over...


Next up is my first experience with Hoppin' Frog Brewery. A brew with a heck of a name, Hop Master’s Abbey Belgian-style Double IPA was certainly a good ambassador for the company. Pouring a clear gold in my IPA glass, this IPA has a thick, pillowy off-white head that leaves great lacing behind. A sniff reveals sweet, candy malts. As expected, those sweet malts were very forward, followed up with some light, bitter hops. I am not sure if it is a character of the Belgian IPAs as I have only had a couple, or if I purchased an older bottle, but the hops seem a bit receded here; not in a bad way. The balance is great and the result is an incredibly smooth drinking beer that I wish were available in 12 ounce six packs. Wish away, right?

Last is a beer that I have had before, but not since the birth of this wonderfully strange blog: Dogfish Head's 61 Minute IPA. By now, most people have tried or at least heard about Dogfish Head's 60, 75, 90, 120 Minute IPAs, but the 61 Minute is new this year, and it stands out from the pack. It is their 60 minute IPA with the addition of grapes, and the result of this combination is fantastic. Poured into my IPA glass (which I purchased from the Dogfish Head brewery, FYI), the 61 Minute pours a nice, ruby red with a just slightly off-white head. Sweet grapes hit the nose and remind me of a glass of good, sweet wine. The taste is where the magic truly lies, though. The sweet grapes take the lead on this wine/beer hybrid, followed by a smooth transition into nice, light hop flavors. None of the flavors are overpowering. The balance is as perfect as can be expected from such a strange beer. I expected either big bitterness or cloying sweetness, and I was happy to find neither. This is an incredibly refreshing brew, a fantastic hybrid, and I cannot praise Dogfish enough for a job well done!

Well there you have it folks; you're all caught up. One more thing though. Dogfish Head does have two new brews coming out next month! American Beauty, the Grateful Dead beer project, and Kvasir, their latest ancient ale, will both be available soon in 750mL bottles. Sound like a DFH double-feature is in the near future? You bet! Cheers!

Russian River's Pliny the Elder

There are some beers with so much hype behind them it makes me skeptical. I am one of those guys who watched Donnie Darko after the hype and because of that it just didn't meet my expectations. Sure, it was interesting, but it didn't live up to my pumped up expectations. So when I completed my first beer trade for some Pliny the Elder, I was afraid I would feel similarly let down. Not even close.

Pliny pours a very light gold for the style, but it was clear with a two finger white head. I insisted on putting this legendary IPA in my IPA glass. I knew I had something special just by smelling this beer. Fresh citrus and pine notes hit the nose and foreshadow the taste to come. The taste encompasses all that I want from a hoppy, double IPA. Nice, light malts hit the tongue first. The taste smoothly flows into citrus hops and follow through with a nice, light bitter tinge. The light lacing wraps this beautiful brew up until the end. I can tell Russian River really took their time to take all the things we love about double IPAs and perfected them. I have had beers that have wowed me before, but this one is just exactly what I never knew I was craving. Unfortunately not readily available on the East Coast, I will share my second bottle with a friend, and keep my eyes out for another opportunity to get some more. This is a statement I do not take lightly: This is my favorite IPA thus far; perhaps my favorite beer all together... 

Cerveza de Los Muertos Immortal Beloved Hefeweizen

Ok, this blog is a bit hard for me to type right now. Why you ask? Because I have my very first Pliny the Elder chilling in the fridge right now and I am super stoked. But I had this over the weekend and I need to share, right? Right...

I snatched this one up because it is a Mexican import craft beer and that alone seemed very interesting. Most of the brews I got in SC were IPAs, so I snatched up this Hefeweizen to mix it up. I popped the top and was instantly concerned. Twist off, it seems. Now, I'm not saying good beer cannot come in a twist cap bottle, but in my experience it tends to be less than impressive. This one, though nothing out of the ordinary, certainly was not disappointing. Poured into a plain old pint glass, this beer is a hazy gold with a white head that diminished almost immediately. Light banana and wheat notes on the nose. The taste follows the nose as expected, with a little bit of light citrus flavor added to the bananas and sweet wheat notes. This is a nice, light beer that I could see being a solid session beer, and though a bit sweet, it is a solid Hefeweizen. I enjoyed it enough to be interested in trying their other beers when I get the chance. Guess I need to learn not to judge a beer by its twist cap.

Thomas Creek's Up the Creek "Extreme IPA"

I am currently on a mini vacation down in South Carolina, so I naturally checked out the beer store to see if there were some southern brews that I had never seen before. Among others, I picked up a four pack of Thomas Creek's Up the Creek. It boasted of being an extreme IPA, and at 12.5% ABV, I sure believed it. And with a catch phrase of "Sink the status quo" I was pretty sure this was a brew for me. I was right, but it was not at all what I expected.

Poured into your every day pint glass, Up the Creek pours a dark burgundy with a thin beige head. One whiff of this reveals intense, sweet malts on the nose. Taste follows the nose in a big way! The malts are the core of this brew, with some nice fruity notes throughout. Pretty significant booze taste in there too, but not overwhelming and certainly not as much as it could be for its content. Here is my dilemma. Where are my hops? Hidden within all that malty goodness there are hints of piney hops, but not what you would expect from an extreme IPA, or even a less than extreme IPA. In their attempt to sink the status quo with their IPA, I think Thomas Creek accidentally made a really great Barleywine instead. Not a bad thing by any means, just not what I was expecting. BUT, it is their beer, so I will let them make the call on what category it belongs in. Try this IPA if it is available around you. If not, maybe ask for it in a trade. It is worth a taste for sure. Now, since this IPA breaks all the IPA rules, I am going to break one as well, and stash one or two of these away to see how they age. My guess: As gracefully as Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot.

Green Flash's Green Bullet and Heavy Seas' Loose Cannon

Here I am once again getting into the habit of posting a couple days late. Not sure that there is a real issue with that, but if anyone has any qualms with that feel free to say so in the comments below. Anyways, the other day I decided I wanted something with some serious punch to it in the hop department. By now it is very clear that I am an IPA man, so these hop cravings are nothing new. So I decided on two brews: Green Flash's Green Bullet and Heavy Seas' Loose Cannon (Disclaimor, I am not certain I am using that apostrophe correctly. Any grammar Nazis are free to correct me in the comments below...).

First up was Green Flash's Triple IPA, Green Bullet. Poured into my IPA glass, this brew is a clear gold with a big off white head. Now, some people take the time to smell their beer and appreciate the odors prior to tasting. Others don't think its worth bothering. It doesn't matter which of the two you are in this case, because the big floral and citrus hops are on the your nose as soon as you pour it! Tasting this brew will reveal a quick tingle of sweet malts before huge, bitter hops kick you square in the teeth. There is a slight hint of grapefruit here and a notable booze kick at the end. As your taste buds adjust, later sips will reveal a little more of the sweet malt character at the front. Take the time to enjoy Green Bullet, because at 10.1% ABV, it could catch up to you real quick!

Later in the evening, once I had allowed my taste buds some time to recover, I cracked open a Loose Cannon from Heavy Seas. Pouring a dark, clear gold with a white head, Loose Cannon had some sweet malts on the nose along with a hint of floral hops. Though quite appealing, the nose revealed I certainly wouldn't be up against the intensity that I was with Green Bullet. Sweet malts are on the forefront, followed by a nice combination of citrus and piney hops. The balance here is great, and if you are not into extreme bitterness, this is a good IPA for you. All in all, a very refreshing beer, and would make a good choice if you are searching to enjoy more than one in an evening.

Old Dominion/ DuClaw Double Feature!

First and foremost... It's the weekend! Kick back folks! Crack your favorite craft brew and relax. You've earned it! Tonight I had a hankering for some darker brews, so I snatched a couple of brews I purchased on a recent beer run out of the closet in hopes of being satisfied.

First up was Old Dominion's Morning Glory Espresso Stout. This was my second Old Dominion brew this week, and I was just hoping it held up to the quality of Double D. In my humble opinion, this was even better! With a one finger, chocolate head that faded pretty quickly, this brew is as black as they come. Take a moment to waft this brew before you take your first sip. The roasted malt and coffee nose are just great. The taste follows the nose, with even more coffee flavor than expected. I shared a sip with a person who is not a fan of dark beers, and he enjoyed this one just because it tastes so much like a well brewed coffee. The flavor is so balanced I assumed the alcohol content must be on the lower end. Dead wrong, it is 9%ABV and you would never know if it weren't for the label. In conclusion, if you don't like coffee, pass on this, because that is the bulk of the flavor. For me, however, this is one of my new favorite stouts, and I intend to make it a go-to beer in the future. You've won me over, Old Dominion. Consider me a loyal customer.

There was a pattern in tonight's brews: I had DuClaw's Serum, a double IPA, recently and tonight I enjoyed a dark porter of theirs: Sweet Baby Jesus. This brew had caught my eye because it was a chocolate peanut butter porter. I love peanut butter so much and firmly believe it should be incorporated whenever possible. I was on the fence until I posted my Serum blog on Twitter and DuClaw responded to it. They chatted back and forth for a couple messages and then suggested Sweet Baby Jesus. Any brewery that cares enough about their products to take the time to respond to my posts (several have) shows me they really care about what their customers think of their brews. That's a big deal to me, so I took their advice. But enough of that, onto the beer! Sweet Baby Jesus pours solid black with a thin tan head. One sniff of this makes me start to believe I am about to drink a blended Reese cup, which I am totally down for! Not as intensely sweet as expected, you get a solid chocolate malt base in this porter followed by a smooth peanut butter finish. If I were to express a gripe with this brew, it would be only that it gets pretty rich about half way through the glass. All in all, its a great beer worth trying and to share with friends. I wouldn't recommend bringing a six pack to a party with the intention of drinking them all yourself, but bring them to share and your friends will love you. Cheers!