Odell Brewing Bouquet Array IPA

A few months ago, I was asked by Brent Cordle of Odell Brewing Company if I wanted to brew a beer on their pilot system with them. Of course I said yes. After a few emails back in forth with Cordle, the pilot system brewer, we decided on a floral IPA.  I had recently had Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp No. 53, Floral IPA, and fell in love. The inspiration was rose petals, but we decided to also throw in hibiscus and lavender.  For our hop additions we went we varieties that have more floral characteristics, Chinook, centennial, and a little cascade. Most of the hops were added later in the boil, adding more aroma and flavor than bitterness.

Read More

Petrus Aged Pale Ale – Bavik Brewery

If there’s one thing I love about Belgium, it’s their ability to brew incredibly good beer. And of my favorites, Belgian or not, are sours. When you’re mouth uncontrollably puckers is about the point where I like my sour ales to be, and Petrus Aged Pale Ale from Belgium’s Bavik Brewery does a damn fine job of making your mouth implode (in a wonderfully pleasant way).

Read More

Wild Woods Brewery: Jake vs. Erin

Wild Woods Brewery is one of my new favorite places in Boulder. In my initial visits to the brewery, I was very impressed with their six core beers (check out the review). But when the opportunity presents itself, I must try the small batch options. In my most recent trip, both Erin and Jake brewed Pale Ales individually and each showcase a different single hop variety. I got to try both beers head-to-head and here are the results of Jake vs. Erin. Read More

Harpoon Brewery – Celtic Red

ABV 5.4%

IBU 26

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I decided to pick up a 6er of Harpoon Celtic Red. I’m no Irish Red Ale savant, but this is definitely one I haven’t seen before. It’s only fitting though that it comes from Harpoon. They’re the largest craft brewery in New England, and they’ve been brewing in South Boston since 1987. Read More

Anchor Steam – Anchor Brewing

Anchor Steam – Anchor Brewing

ABV: 4.9%

Need a beer that will help convert your dad to the craft brews that we know and love? If I were you, I’d throw him an Anchor Steam and be on my way. Read More

Deschutes & Hair of the Dog – Conflux #1

ABV 11.6%

The craft beer industry is a collaborative world. When the great minds of two breweries come together, the results are often twice as good. The barrel aged project between Hair of the Dog and Deschutes that results in Conflux #1 is an excellent example of this collaborative style.  Read More

Mt. Carmel Springtime Ale

Most of the Midwest just got what (we hope) is the last snow of the season. Not that we had that many to begin with. Before the storm, I went to my local grocery in search of something dark and delicious, and ended up bringing Mt. Carmel’s Springtime Ale instead. That’s not to say that it wasn’t delicious; however, this was the darkest beer I could find, so I was severely let down by my grocer’s selection.

Read More

Lexington Brewing Company Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout

Lexington Brewing Company’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout – (8.0% ABV)

A snow day has allotted me the time to bring you another beer review this week (lucky you). And, as optimism amongst most writers on and readers of this blog spikes about the impending Spring, my job, nay, my duty is to drudge everyone back down into the pragmatic and dark depths of Winter. So hold your daylight savings horses one minute, while the white still blankets the ground because the only green I see on the horizon is that of St. Patty and his drunken band of rabble rousers. What does all of this mean? It is only quarter to Spring and we still have a good fifteen minutes of darkness before the wheats inundate our gustatory cells and leave those forlorn Bocks, Stouts, and Porters to hibernate for the summer.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More