Brew Free or Die IPA

This is a brew from 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, California. They are one of the craft breweries that I know of (alongside Oskar Blues) that distributes their beer in cans.



The beer offers an amber color; shadow fingers on the other side of the glass, so, it's close to opaque, but not quite.

The bittering units are incredible. Their presence was one of the first things I noticed, so I decided to look on the can for the possibility that their quantity would be mentioned. The can lists 70 IBU's! From what I've heard, that's about 7 times the amount found in a light beer.

The lacing and head retention is quite impressive. I'm 3/4's of the way into this brew and I've still got a half inch of head hanging around. It's happy, and is showing no signing of giving in.

The smell is profound. I closed my eyes and racked my brain trying to pin point the ingredients. The smell reminds me of the hybrid juices my grandmother used to keep in the fridge. Pineapple & grapefruit is coming out to the delight of anyone around.

The taste is extremely bitter, with a malty character following the initial notes. This IPA definitely has a uniqueness about it. The brewer certainly made a point of bringing out hops & malts to create a more complex set of abrasive contents. Cheers!

Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale

12 oz bottle poured into nonic pint glass.


This beer first let me down once I poured what looked like a golden lager, instead of the amber-orange hue I was expecting. But, that aside, I thought that if it tasted good, I could get over my expectation and appreciate the brew still.

The smell isn't bad, but it's a little over the top, personally, and a slightly on the artificial side, regardless of whether artificial flavors were used or not.

The head retention and lacing is probably the most honorable mention in respect to this brew.

As a result of the taste, which I can only describe as two beverages that have been thrown together without offering a thought into the direction of balance, with one of the beverages being a skunky frat beer & the other being a cheap orange soft drink, this beer doesn't hold a lot of weight in the area of drinkability. Still, I respect the attempt from Buffalo Bill's.

FURTHERMORE:
If my suggestions were to matter, here are a few that I think could improve on this brew:
I got too much of an 'Orange Slice' taste and smell from this brew. I think a little more body, a little less carbonation, would not only improve on the taste and feel, but also might cut back on the overwhelming smell of oranges.

Guinness Extra Stout for St. Patrick's Day

I'm normally not one for tradition, but I picked up a 24 oz bottle of Guinness Extra Stout today in honor of St. Patrick's Day.



Guinness Extra Stout is not the Guinness usually seen at bars all over the U.S.  The stuff myself and everyone else is used to seeing is Guinness Draught, and from what I've read, the Extra Stout is a lighter brew.

I've also read that the Extra Stout is what used to be Guinness' porter up until the end of the 18th century.  According to Todd Alstrom of BeerAdvocate.com, "This is the real Guinness, in my opinion. Known and labeled as their "Original," and actually, originally, their Porter product during the 1700's (becoming their Stout in 1799). An exceptional Stout! The 60/40 nitro-injected stuff you get at the pub today is fairly new to this world (1961) -- it hardly stands up to this brew."

I haven't had a Guinness Draft in a few years, but I can definitely remember enough about its quality to recognize the body difference between the Draught & the Extra Stout.  This brew really does look and taste more like a porter.  There's an unmistakable bitterness that reminds me of Yuengling Porter, but I think Guinness' Extra Stout has a remarkably cleaner finish.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

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.

Lagerheads in Coal Center, PA

Monday is a long day at school for me. I have 4 classes at California University of Pennsylvania, and a 2 hour window between the 3rd and 4th. Yesterday, I decided I'd drive the mile or so down the road to Coal Center and stop in at Lagerheads, a bar a few friends and I occasionally would drink in when we were working toward our Bachelors Degrees.



Lagerheads is a red brick building on the corner of Spring St & Water St in Coal Center, PA. The establishment is a split with one side being the bar, the opposite being the restaurant. It has a log cabin look inside, but modernized, and mixed with brick & painted walls. There is a rectangle bar with 3 sides of seating available, offering about 18 stools at the bar itself.

Surrounding the bar are around 8 bar stool tables with 4 stools to each table. The place has a bunch of flat screen tv's, but I didn't find them terribly distracting. On to the beer!

Back in 2005-2006, when I was working toward my B.A. in History, Lagerheads was a typical dive, offering nothing but the most popular macros. Of course, they did have Yuengling Traditional Lager so I typically went with that. If I recall correctly, they used to offer it on tap for a buck.

Well, times have certainly changed, and so has Lagerheads. I was pleasantly surprised by the beer on tap I didn't recognize, and the Samuel Adams, Sierra Nevada, Terrapin, & Rogue in the cooler. I first went with the mystery brew on tap after I was told it was Shock Top, a beer I had heard of before, but had yet to try.

Shock Top Belgian White (Anheuser Busch, St. Louis, Missouri)



On-Tap, poured into what must have been a 10 oz mug (I'll explain later).
Shock Top Belgian White is a cloudy witbier. Rimmed top, not a lot of foam/head. Couldn't really smell anything at first, but the mug was frozen. The look: Orange-hue White

Tastes like sweet citrus--sort of like Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy meets Blue Moon's Belgian White. It offers a tiny bit of lacing, nothing to brag about. Wheat tones dry the mouth while citrus refreshes & body (medium) rounds it all out. The citrus is probably an orange, either a navel or valencia.

My brew was served at what felt like 40 degrees F. As it warmed it smelled like a peeled orange 4-5 feet away.

Next was a brew from Terrapin:

Terrapin Golden Ale (Athens, GA)



Poured 12 oz bottle into a....what the hell? The mug is without a doubt less than 12 oz. I'm willing to bet it was only a 10 oz mug because I had around 2 oz in the bottle that I couldn't fit into the mug. Head did not play a role in that dilemma. Moving on:

Golden look. Extremely malty smell and taste. Plenty of toasted malts. The qualities of the smell and taste are very contrasting in the face of the golden look of the brew.

It tastes like it smells, and smells like a beer kit with additional hops. The hops offer a dryness to the heavily malted taste. Maybe some chocolate raisin in the malted taste.

Not a lot of head, not a lot of lacing. A very pleasant feel to the beer. The alcohol doesn't get angry if lounging in your mouth for a few seconds.

Lastly, a brew from Rogue:

Santa's Private Reserve (Newport, OR)



Poured a 12 oz bottle into an insufficient 10 oz mug. Trust me, I'm right on that assertion.

Amber brown look. Excellent foam! Smells like X-Mas hops and friendly malts. Very roasted/hoppy flavor. A good amount of bitterness. Definitely a Christmas beer. I'd call it a Christmas version of an IPA.

A seething mouth feel; any sip demands to be swallowed. Bage-nougat looking foam. More on the taste: chocolate raisin covered in bitter, floral hops. Solid medium body. Respectable rim retention.

I couldn't drink too many, but Rogue's Santa's Private Reserve is a quality beer.

Stoudt's American Pale Ale

Whoa! The IBU's in this beer must be through the pint! I'm pretty happy I found a few rack spots offering a few brews from this brewery. I only read about Stoudt's brewery/restaurant & pub a few days ago and assumed it was sit in/take out only, not distributed. Glad I was wrong.



The APA from Stoudt's is amber-orange, and forms a strong, egg white, robust head with excellent lacing. The smell is a tiny bit sour, a little more sweet. The taste is pretty bitter, with a lot of hops handling their business. They're more dry than floral, with some grapefruit characteristics coming through in the finish.

The head retention is one of the most notable elements to this brew. The taste and overall feel is unquestionably first in line. Cheers!

Terrapin: Ryle Pale Ale

I was at a bar called the Castle Tavern when I first saw a beer from Terrapin.  It was only a few months ago, the beer was on tap, and it tasted like it was brewed with grapefruit and a lot of hops.  Long story short, I really liked the beer, although I can't remember which brew from Terrapin it was.



I picked up Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale at GunTown Beer just yesterday.  Into my nonic pint glass (english pub pint glass) the beer went, threatening to never reveal a foamy top.  At the end of the pour a tiny, thin as string foam came up, if only to offer a rim.

I like the look: cloudy amber color; pretty much what I would assume a honey mead beverage to look like (I still haven't had the pleasure of seeing one for myself).

I like the smell: a little aromatic hoppiness, a little sweet malt, a little roasted malt, maybe even some raisin.

The taste is balanced: a good level of bitterness, hops, and malts to round out the body.

The top of the beer has begun to be a bit more active and less tepid than the initial impression.  Not even halfway through the 12 oz portion, head retention is showing some guts relative to it's condition, and a little lacing has entered the building.  This beer looks to be unfiltered, too, which is a big plus in my opinion.

Terrapin's Rye Pale Ale: if you see it, try it out.  Cheers!

Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock

I was in my local 6-pack shop looking for randoms to pick up when I saw this:  Leinenkugel's 1888 Bock.  I'm a fan of Leinenkugel Brewery (Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery to be exact).  Based out of Chippewa Falls, WI, the only beers of theirs that I'm either opposed to drinking or haven't thought were that great were Berry Weiss & Classic Amber.  Berry Weiss is close to wine in sweetness/intensity, and Classic Amber is earthy and unflattering.  But try them both and decide for yourself.



Today was the first day I've ever seen 1888 Bock.  The beer is dark brown, maybe mahogany.  Lacing does not exist in this beer's world.  As you can see in the picture, a healthy head establishes itself at first, but it turns out only to be a card carrying bluff.  There is a rim of foam after a few minutes, but it's quality is similar to that of a settling soda.

The smell emits sweet malts, a little alcohol, and an oak barrel.  The taste is about the same, with sweet malts coming out the most, but balanced with an alcohol bite.  I would assume the bite is also derived from hops, but I can't really distinguish hops from alcohol in this beer.  Bitterness is present, but nothing overwhelming.  If you like bocks you shouldn't be disappointed or taken aback.  It goes down nicely without a fuss, and the body is a standard medium.

I'm happy to say that this is another Leinenkugel brew that I approve of.

Side Note: I bought this beer for 98 cents.  It had acquired the cardboard box dust around the shoulders of the bottle, a condition that always makes me question whether my purchase will be satisfying or just plain disappointing.  I'd have to say that although this one example doesn't prove anything 100%, dust on the bottle doesn't necessarily mean the beer has been sitting around too long for it to be consumed.

Howl!: Magic Hat's Black as Night Winter Lager

I read about this beer through a review in Beer Advocate Magazine.  What struck my curiosity was the description that said it smelled like "old coins and fresh bloody steak."  I also have had very little experience with schwarzbier's (black beer) so I wanted to try my hand on this one; the last schwarzbier I tried was in the Saranac Winter Pack, 2009.



The look of this beer is definitely black as night.  A nice foam sits on top with pretty good head retention.  The lacing is healthy.  I smell toasted bread, possibly burnt.  It also smells like a smoked beer.  The taste is similar, with burnt coffee notes, raw meat, and smoky firewood.

The mouthfeel and finish is outstanding.  Who would have thought that a brewery could develop a beer with this kind of smell and taste and still pull off a lighter, less offensive finish?  And no I'm not that uneducated.  I'm very much aware that that is the point of schwarbier: to offer dark notes and tones while sticking to a lighter body and overall taste.

This beer is just another example of why I'm really starting to fall in love with winter offerings.  If you haven't tried this one, do yourself a favor and do so before it's gone.  Cheers!