Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat and Hazed & Confused Dry Hopped Ale

A few more enjoyed at Lagerheads in Coal Center, PA.

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat:



I first bought this brew with a friend about 4 summers ago.  We bought a case for around 13 dollars!  Started drinking about 1-2 in the afternoon and convinced ourselves that we had better go back out and get another case.  At the time I was living with my parents, and my father was not happy with our foolish second trip.  As a result, a huge fight broke out between myself and my parents, and my buddy started mowing the grass to repair his standing with my folks.  Kind of funny to look back on, but definitely an important experience in regards to learning about responsibility.  Oh, and I emitted blueberry-infused gas from the behind for the next 12-14 hours.  On to the beer...

12 oz bottle poured into frozen 9-10 oz mug, little by little.  Cloudy wheat beer, contains plentiful traces of mashing.  Golden-Amber color.  Fizzy lacing!

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat tastes like early morning blueberry muffins on a little hoppy trip.  Can't really taste the wheat.  It definitely doesn't have the evident wheat content like that which is found in Bell's Winter White Ale.

The brew is very refreshing, any time of the year.  Today happens to be a sunny day towards the end of winter, and the brew really counters the temperature outside.

Sunset Wheat smells like an unpeeled orange or a vegetable crisper (in the fridge) stuffed with fresh fruits.  Snowflake foam!  Pleasantly stable feel to the brew with an unquestionably medium body.

Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale (Boulder, CO)



Solid-brown look, malty-brown taste on over drive.  A little hops come through to offer a bitter note.  Dark chocolate taste with raisins.  A bock-like view from the top of the pond.  A very nice carbonation-lacing relationship, pretty active.

Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale has a very balanced taste for a roasted malt, somewhat hoppy take on this style of beer.  It stands as one of the few I could have several of.

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils

Unfortunately I have a sizable Anthropology exam to continue studying for tonight, so I'll keep this one brief (I couldn't help but have a beer, and I really wanted to review this one):



Tastes like a European Pale Lager, similiar in taste to Pilsner Urquell, but far less robust in body and IBU's than the classic from the Czech Republic.

Pikeland Pils smells of cloves, wheat, and yeast. One might also suggest that corn was brewed in the wort, but I'm giving Sly Fox the benefit of the doubt and guessing it's just yeast. Looks like Miller Lite, Bud Light, or Coors Lite, but with better ingredients as evidenced by the quality foam/head retention.

The brew definitely has a slightly sour taste, but the hops balance it all out. Pikeland Pils is very sessionable. My one and only complaint would be the yeasty-corn smell that kind of gets to me after a few good sips. Other than that, I'm fine. Final word: Pikeland Pils definitely stands as effort enough to interest me in trying another from the brewery from Royersford, Pennsylvania.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

I've finally gone ahead and picked up a single of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale, a curious brew I first noticed in six packs a year or two ago.



Sierra Nevada's brews almost always have an unmistakable hops smell. The only brew from this outstanding brewery that doesn't have the smell, to my knowledge, would be the recently released Glissade, a pretty distinct bock that is light in color and pilsner-style sharp in hop character.

This barleywine style ale is up there with Sierra Nevada's Estate, a tasty beverage a friend and I had the pleasure of enjoying several weeks ago while sharing a 24 oz bottle.

Not that I'm an expert, but I was thinking loudly, "Cascade!" when I got my first whiff and taste of Bigfoot. Turns out I was right, partly. Cascade hops are at work with Centennial and Chinook, all engaging in a variety of quality tactics. Just check the Sierra Nevada website to find out more.

The foam is always a half-inch thick, and the lacing is hefty.  In fact, the lacing actually drys up on the glass.  It gives you a good idea of how bitter the hops actually are in this brew.  The color is amber-red, and the smell is outstanding.

Gosh this stuff is delicious!

Druken Blueberries: Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

I'm generally a fan of blueberry-infused beer, so when I saw Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout I was instantly convinced that I needed to buy one, or maybe it was the Buffalo Bill name, a brewery I first read about in a Michael Jackson book from the 1980's.



It's a dark looking brew, nothing less of what you'd expect from a brew that carries the stout title. I'll be honest and say my pour was a little off, so I've had to shake the beer up a bit to develop a healthier head, but for what I lack, the brew itself makes up for my mistakes with decent head retention.

The malts in the brew are really thin, giving into the bitterness of hops and alcohol. The blueberry taste is there and coming on pretty strong. I was hoping for a thicker take, just shy of a milkshake, but I can't let my expectations trump the identity of the brew.

The smell emits alcohol and fresh concord grapes. One could say blueberries, but it might only be because they expect it to smell that way after they look at the label.

My one complaint, and yes, this is rare for me to have a complaint, unless I'm drinking something fizzy and yellow-golden: too much alcohol coming through on the taste. Once again I'm going back to the thin issue, but I don't think I'm way off in saying that whatever one must do to thicken this brew up (add more malted barley?), it would really improve on the idea of tossing blueberries in a stout. Make it a milk stout with the delectable fruit, lessen the hops level, and I'll really like this beer. Nonetheless, it's a good brew.

Another 3 at Lager Heads: Sierra Nevada PA, Bud Light Golden Wheat & Dogfish Head 60-Min IPA

On Monday afternoon I drove the short distance to Coal Center, PA again to stop in and have a few at Lagerheads. Here are the notes I jotted down:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

Appearance - Golden Amber-Orange. A little cloudy but in no way opaque. Very little head retention, slim lacing. Healthy carbonation, but not as bad as some that I've seen.

Taste - Hops & maybe a bit of grapefruit far in the back. Finishes very light body-wise, but the hoppy finish may dissuade a light beer drinker from ordering another.

Smell - Grapefruit, bitter orange & hops.

Body - Light-Medium on the palate, lighter on the finish.


Bud Light Golden Wheat:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

A lot of carbonation. 3/4 inch head disappeared as fast as a soda, probably less than 20 seconds.

Amber-Orange look. Really sweet smell. Smells of coriander, orange, Zebra gum (Fruit Stripe), maybe a little Juicy Fruit gum.

Taste is kind of dry-hoppy, some of the coriander & fruit.

Look is cloudy & opaque. My palm creates a shadow when around the glass, darkening the look of the brew.

Absolutely no head, no lacing after a few minutes. I'd dare to say no lacing even in the beginning. A few carbonation pellets pop up, nothing more. Stirring the beer up helps for a small fraction of time, but the brew returns to its disposition shortly after.

Bud Light Golden Wheat is basically an unenthusiastic Blue Moon Belgian White Ale.


Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

Golden brown look. Sweet, floral hops. Decent head retention. Bitter hops.

A more lively style of IPA - makes use of more aromatic, brazen hops.

Very silky feel the body of the brew. Bitterness of the brew makes it hard to discern a body-type, but I'm leaning towards medium.

Island of head and 3/4 lacing rim remains til the end of the serving.

Some grapefruit in the smell and taste as well.

One could definitely assume a bit of roasted malt in this brew, something I've rarely pulled from IPA's. Malts all together are typically absent from IPA's according to my tastebuds.