Weyerbacher Hops Infusion

Notes from 4/7/12

Amber-brown with an orange tint. Sticky off-white head sits happily. Lacing.

Grapefruit aroma. Pineapple.

Flash of hops up front with a creamy feel. Peppery hops flavor lingers a bit. Caramel malts hold up and balance the bittering flashes. Alcohol in the back end adds some heat to the picture.

Stoudts Heifer-in-Wheat

Notes from 4/6/12

Cloudy, orange-amber gold body with a slim head that doesn't stick around. A thin, white, soapy rim remains.

Bright and cool clove & banana aroma. Warm esters. Floral. Pleasant in the nose.

Deliciously crisp up front with fruity yeast, over-ripe banana and wheat bread. Wood-like tone far in the back end.

This brew throws long and dry on the taste buds. What I discern to be some booze lingers in a friendly way. Exceptional!

Notes: quite possibly the tastiest hefeweizen I've had to date. I threw this down with pleasure in no time.

Ballast Point Brewing Co's Calico Amber Ale

Notes from 4/5/12

Bubbly brown with an amber glow. Nougat colored head slims to a rim with spotty bubbles.

Smell is deep with milk chocolate and rich, dark malts. Haven't smelled brown malts on their own before, but an educated guess tells me they're in there. Floral hops round out the aroma. Good to the nose; doesn't ask one to sniff too aggressively to experience what it's offering.

Good blitz of spicy hops flavor throws in immediately, followed by a near-chewy, amber-dark malt bill. A welcome lingering quality from the finishing hops.

Notes: most of this brewery's offerings are considerably more costly by the bottle than your average microbrewery's.  Calico Amber Ale was the cheapest I came across at $2.25 a bottle. Taste-wise, it almost crosses over into brown ale territory.

Thirst Dog Brewing Co's Labrador Lager

Appearance: pseudo opaque amber with an egg white head. Sticky lacing. Looks good.

Smell: toasty sweet in the nose. Honey, caramel, maybe a splinter of diacetyl, floral moments, and flashes of bitter-sweet fruit tones.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Light, sweet and a touch bitter up front. Honey-like sweetness. Fairly balanced with malts just barely weighing in heavier. Delicate. A peppermint spice hops flavor sits quietly in the middle, almost unannounced. Honey is king of this brew.

Notes: A bit too sweet for my current interest in drier German-style lagers. I was hoping for a little more bittering hops.

Great Lakes Blackout Stout (Russian imperial stout)

Notes from 3/28/12. Bottle indicates this one's best to enjoy before 4/20/12.

Dark as night with a cola-beige head. What else can one say? Head sticks around with lacing stuck to the nonic glass.

Thick, malty aroma. Milk chocolate. Strawberry notes. Faint coffee.

Warm up front with a taste like hot cocoa cooled off...plus hops! Booze is present, with enough malty body to make it an element to savor and enjoy. Spicy hops flavor throws in.

Feels warm, smooth and balanced. Not overhopped, at least when imbibed 3 weeks prior to its "best before" date. This one's been sitting in my fridge for about 2 months. Finally yanked it out with no regrets.

Great Divide Brewing Co's Nomad

A pretty, yellow-gold body. Cloudy, with a fluffy egg-white head up top. Excellent head retention. This one's a keeper.

Lemon & salt in the nose. Grassy pilsner aroma. Citrus acidity. Dry biscuits with a clean nuttiness.

Fresh hoppiness up front with light malts, roasted almonds, herbal hops flavor (leafy), and a smooth back end.

Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen

1 pint, .9 fl oz bottle (500 ml). Amber-brown appearance. Off-white head. Good retention. Rim holds steady.

Estery aroma with yeast & over ripe banana. Smooth & fruity. Floral & spicy. Bubble gum. Excellent smell; hard to describe better than that.

Lovely taste. Bright flavors. Bananas, peppery hops, wheat bread. Cloves. Hints of ginger. Bitterness level is just right; absolutely masterful. A bit of booze shows.

Notes: glad I grabbed this one. Schneider Weisse is greatly revered in decades-old beer books I own so it was only a matter time before I tried what they've been offering since before I was born. In this case, definitely a brew worth imbibing.

Full Pint Brewing Co's RumpelPilsen

Another local...support quality local beer!

Yellow-golden appearance with a nice white head that recedes, but an attractive rim & lacing sticks around. Carbonation bubbles. Looks good!

Bready, yeasty & lightly citrusy in the nose. Lime peel, boiling hops, sour dough aroma. Floral.

Taste is light, somewhat sour, with a bit of yeast flavor. Hops throw in with a mild astringency. Sour dough bread. A touch of peppery hops flavor trails towards the end.

Light-medium bodied. Easy to take in. Clean, refreshing. Enough dry breadiness to make one want more.

Notes: I like the new label design, however, I've got Full Pint's Coffee Porter in my fridge and the lady with the backbreaking cleavage on the label is just another example of cheesy, cheap, pandering artwork.

Rock Bottom (Homestead) Brakeman's Breakfast Stout

Another local beer packaged in a 22 oz bottle, bottle conditioned.

Lively brew pours pitch black with a big nougat colored head. Foamy & fluffy up top. Awesome head.

Smells roasted. Very dark. Smooth & relatively non-abrasive. Coffee notes, freshly ground. Sour note.

Grainy crispness up front with dark malts & a coffee-like finish. Smooth roast texture. Hops & roasted flavors work well together. Dark chocolate dryness. Booze tingles the taste buds.

Hops/roasted character carrys this one. Not too heavy and very drinkable, setting aside the ABV which I can only assume is between 6-8%.

Genesee Cream Ale

Golden-hay appearance with a bright white head provided its given the right pour (slims down of course, but retained). Not at all bashfully carbonated.

A grassy, spicy hops smell that I expected shows itself. Grapes/wine aroma. Light malts.

Dry, earthy graininess up front. Splash of hops. The palate becomes acclimated and this brew flaunts a favorable creaminess. A touch of bread. Light in flavor.

A sweet roundness to this brew. Further along and that creaminess I stood by becomes a bit cloying. Lingers at times.

Overall, a decent brew. I had this out the bottle and into a Czech pilsner glass. Cost me $0.80 at my favorite bottle-shop, Guntown Beer.

Great Lakes Conway's Irish Ale

Notes from 3/4/12:

Label denotes "Best before 4/14/12." Brownish-red appearance. Off-white head slims down, but a thin rim holds steady. Clear with very little carbonation bubbles.

Fruity hops & sweet caramel in the nose. Clean, smooth & inviting.

Prickly bite up front. Carbonation, subtle sweetness & bittering hops. Tart apple. Spicy hops flavor. Caramel malts.

Fairly balanced with a touch more hops to boost. Medium-bodied with a sharp, yet not intense hoppiness.
 

Abita Abbey Ale

Notes from 3/3/12

22 oz bottle cost me $4.95, poured into the widest wine glass I own (took about 3 pours to finish the bottle).

Dark-maraschino cherry red body with a a sticky beige head. Good retention. Lively carbonation with bubbles still visibly rising to the top.

Rich in the nose with warm phenolic yeast, fruity & spicy esters. Hard candy, sticky sweetness. Overripe banana. Fragrant, burnt brown sugar & toasted vanilla. At 8%, this brew hides the booze exceptionally well.

Crisp and prickly up front with toasted notes, yeasty sweetness, spicy hops, clove, leaf texture. Very smooth hops bitterness washes away nicely with a friendly yeast flavor that lingers. Hangs around like a tasty wine, only better. Grows creamy as it warms. Depth & character shines through this one.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

Cloudy amber-brown in appearance with a bubbly egg head up top. An orange hue comes through as well. Head slims to a rim.

Smells a touch peppery; bready with a citrusy/lemon edge. Hints of burnt rubber at times (odd, but not gross). Light and refreshing in the nose. Both spring & summer seem like appropriate seasons for imbibing this judging from the aroma.

Dry biscuit cuts in the taste pulling itself up front. Spicy hops flavor throws in. Peppery; lemon juice. Lime. Bittering hops lie in the middle, allowing this one to wash away clean.

I'll try it on-tap next.