Three Floyd’s Brewing Dark Lord Days

By our nature, we covet.  And how do we begin to covet, you may ask?  Do we seek out things to covet?  Sure, we love the unusual and the eclectic; we find beauty in rare things and seek out that one of a kind piece.

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West Sixth Amber Ale

5.5% ABV

Formerly known as the Deliberation Amber, Lexington’s West Sixth Brewery is canning its second beer now simply known as the Amber Ale. This beer has been on tap at the brewery since its inception, but February marked an expansion in both where and what they distribute.

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Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada – Rhizing Bines

Dogfish Head/Sierra Nevada Rhizing Bines

ABV: 8%

IBUs: 70

Rhizing Bines is the delightful product of a mind meld between the kings of innovative hopping processes: Delaware’s Dogfish Head and California’s Sierra Nevada. What happens when two craft brew heavyweights from each coast combine their powers for good? Well, pretty fantastic beer, of course. This Imperial IPA is the second installation in these breweries collaborations, the first of which – the dark, maple brewed “Life & Limb” – debuted in 2009. Though I feel that more diehard hops fans will be left wanting for a bigger punch of bitterness, this is a beer that will please even those on the fence about IPAs. Read More

Odell Brewing Company – Deconstruction Ale

ABV: 10.5%
IBU: 26

In the dead of winter, there is a kind of cold that seeps deep into your bones. It chills you and won’t let you go unless you combat it in a very special way. So what’s a freezing Porch Drinker to do? Why grab a barrel-aged Deconstruction Ale from Odell Brewing Co. This golden ale has a complex, unique flavor that is hard to compete against.

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3Beans Sixpoint Brewery

Remember Four Loko? Well, while I definitely don’t remember the nights I drank this fruity poison, I definitely remember the hullabaloo it caused in the news, for parents, and for the general public. And after only a few years of availability, it was no surprise when this drink was permanently banned from store shelves. Although the taste wasn’t all that great (kinda a mix of gasoline and Capri Sun) it was indeed a great concept. After all, it was a drink that got you drunk after one can (probably a little too drunk) and it gave you enough energy to stay up the entire night. However, I think we can all agree that Four Loko needed to be taken down at least one notch. Well, prayers have been answered, and whether one of my new favorite breweries, Sixpoint in Brooklyn, NY, meant to or not, I believe they created a more natural (and less terrifying) version of a Four Loko beverage. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, 3Beans. And don’t worry, it taste NOTHING like Four Loko.

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Cascara Quad – New Belgium

10.00%

When I looked outside at the forming white blanket my only concern was what brew could satisfy my cold spirit? I want big + I want malty + I want boozy. Luckily, I had a New Belgium Cascara Quad in my fridge. I’d been saving this (inexpensive) gem for the right time and today’s much needed snow offered a sweet reason to make it mine.

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Upland Brewing Co.-Komodo Dragon Fly Black IPA

Spring is in the air today in Cincinnati. It’s nearly 50 degrees out there, the sun is shining and the future is looking bright. A day like today is no time for a step back into wintery stouts and my usual heavy beer of choice. It’s time for something refreshing, like the taste of spring that’s teasing us today. Read More

Oskar Blues Brewery – Ten Fidy Imperial Stout

A spontaneous road trip from Denver to Estes Park may turn into a random brewery trip if you’re lucky. More than 15 breweries sit between the two and it’s always a good idea to take advantage of that. On Saturday, I stopped at Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont. The colder weather out here in Colorado has opened up a lot of stout options over the last month. Hearing that Oskar Blue’s had one called Ten Fidy Imperial Stout left me intrigued. Read More

Heileman’s Old Style

If you live north of the Mason-Dixon Line, chances are the weather still stinks. But instead of listening to the overgrown rodent we call a “groundhog” for our meteorological forecasts, we can turn to an equally non-scientific sign that spring is just around the corner: pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training.

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Trappist Achel Extra Brune

 9.5% ABV

Having just gone to the Cincy Winter Beerfest the evening before, I had a plethora of beers from which to choose for this review; however, there was a beer on hand that I have been waiting to open since Christmas, a gift from my brother in-law, who also has a predilection for good beers and a gives the best gifts: Trappist Achel Extra Brune. Read More

Fort Collins Brewery Doppel Bock

10.2% ABV

A few weeks ago, Fort Collins Brewery hired a Marketing Director for the first time. Honestly, I was pretty surprised a brewery with such a huge facility and a giant reach across the country didn’t have an in house marketer. I was lucky enough to be invited to meet the new director, Charles Stanley, over a pint of Fort Collins Brewery Doppel Bock.  Read More

Crystal Springs – South Ridge Amber

Crystal Springs Brewing Company – Boulder, CO

ABV: ~6%

South Ridge Amber pours a beautiful deep amber color with nice reddish hues streaking through the glass when held to the light. The beer has high clarity and proudly displays a dense aromatic head. Aromas of grapefruit, ripe bartlett pears, pine and fresh cut wild flowers are present.

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Amarcord – La Putena

Rating

It’s February and that means, it’s the beginning of award-season. Since the 2013 Grammys have come to a close, we can all start getting over Taylor Swift’s uncomfortable attempt at a fake British accent, JLo’s risque mid-life crisis dress, and the return of LL Cool J. Ok, I was a little excited about the return of LL Cool J. Anyway, it’s time to move on and get ready for the Oscars. In honor of award season, I am introducing an interesting, yet delicious, foreign brew from Italy: Amarcord’s La Putena. This beer is named after the Oscar Award-winning film “Amarcord,” which was directed by the late Italian film director Federico Fellini, who won four Oscars during his lifetime. Read More

Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. – Exposition

IBU: 28

ABV: 5.0%

In honor of Cincinnati Beer Week,I decided to showcase a gem from the Queen City herself: Moerlein’s Exposition Vienna Style Lager. According to Moerlein Lager House, this beer is “a tribute to Christian Moerlein’s first brews displayed at national expositions and crowned wherever exhibited,” so you know it’s gotta be good. Read More

21st Amendment – Marooned on Hog Island

ABV: 7.9%

IBU: Not Available

Wild Woods Brewery’s Berry Patch Wheat

Wild Woods Brewery’s Berry Patch Wheat is exactly what I’ve been looking for. You see it’s a gateway beer.  It’s the perfect beer to convert any tepid beer novice. Whenever I hear people casually sputter out the phrase “I don’t like beer” it feels like a mini heart attack turned mega aneurism. It’s like saying I don’t like cheese, or ice cream or America.

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Lindsay’s Smore’s Porter Nitro – New Belgium Brewery

ABV: 8.5%
IBU: N/A

You know one of the worst things about cold, miserable weather? Lack of camping. Experiencing the great outdoors, taking in some fresh air and cooking makeshift delicacies over an open fire. Camping is really the only time I ever eat marshmallows by choice (Easter Peeps not withstanding). There aren’t many better things than being with friends, drinking a cold beer and whipping up a batch of warm, gooey s’mores. So when I discovered Lindsay’s Smore’s Porter Nitro on my latest visit to New Belgium Brewery, I was pretty excited.

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New Belgium – Springboard

New Belgium’s Springboard is trying to pull a Jordan. Retired prematurely, away from the game – can it come back and regain the form it once had? Preliminary answer is yes.

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Jolly Pumpkin – Bam Biére

IBU: 25

ABV: 4.5%

Once upon a time I wrote for a beer blog. And then I drank the Westy 12  and my mind blew up and I stopped drinking or writing about beer. My brain can only take so much amazing… until I met Jolly Pumpkin Bam Biere

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Big Woods Brewing Co. – Busted Knuckle Ale

27 IBU

7.2% ABV

The first time I went to Big Woods Brewing Company in idyllic Nashville, IN, I was seriously ill. Okay, not SERIOUSLY, but I did spend the previous night puking thanks to a winding car ride through Brown County, and a dinner of crab cakes. Sorry for that visual. Anyway, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to check out some new beer, but unfortunately I wasn’t really able to enjoy it either, so I was super excited when I heard my boyfriend’s parents were bringing us home a growler from their recent trip. Read More