Brewer : Terrapin Beer Company (Georgia)
Style : Double IPA
ABV : 9.3%
Before I begin today's review I'd like to share some good news with everyone. I was just recently chosen to write about craft beer in the Ft. Lauderdale area for www.examiner.com I'm pretty jazzed about it and hopefully I can hash out a few good articles here and there. Hopefully by next week I'll have my first article up for viewing. I'll keep everyone posted on the links and such.
Well today's beer is from our neighbors up in Georgia, the one and only Terrapin. I was walking around Knightly Spirits in Orlando a few weeks ago making my final selections and saw this one standing alone in a box. Knowing that Terrapin can make a fine beer I whipped out the old iphone and did a little research. This one is a smoked double IPA. Sounds like quite a trip in a glass if you ask me. Smoky beers have never been my favorite style but I decided to take a leap of faith and give it a shot.
This is quite an intriguing beer and not for the faint of heart. It's got all the hopiness one might expect from a DIPA but with the smokiness of a small forest fire, not to mention the malts that backed everything up. The hoppiness and malty flavors were great, no problem there, but it was a little hard for me to get past all the smoky flavors. This is just another prime example of a beer that demands acquired taste buds. I love stepping outside my comfort zone and trying different beers as much as I can but this one just had too much smoky flavor and it somehow reminded me of eating burnt wood chips. Oh well, maybe in time I'll develop a more in tune palate to handle a beast like this.
Grade C
Song of the Day : Explosions in the Sky --Your Hand In Mine
Brewer : Short's Brewing Co. (Michigan)
Style : American Strong Ale
ABV : 9.5%
Well in my post yesterday I mentioned that my day started off pretty bad with a ticket in the early morning hours. I figured that the worst was probably behind me at that point, but I was wrong yet again. Later on that day my car decided to overheat, but lucky for me I was stranded at a gas station and was able to acquire the help of the service technician there. I thought my day was about to be shot down in flames before it could even begin but thankfully I made all my lessons and nothing was lost.
Now that I've vented a little let's move on to this wonderful beer from Short's.
I bring up another beer from Short's for two reasons. One, because I read about this beer a while back and saw that Short's has not brewed it in a few years, but the customer demand wanted it back so they went ahead and brewed some more. Second, I enjoyed this past Saturday pool side with my buddy Shook (his last name but everyone refers to him as if it was is first) from NY who vacations in Lake Ann, Michigan often, well his parents do at least. After many cocktails and a few hours in the blistering sun, we got on the topic of Short's in Michigan. I was mainly trying to talk about craft beer at the time but since they are in Michigan quite a bit I asked if they had heard of Short's. My question was answered with an emphatic "yes!" We talked about Short's a little bit, but my big point here is that Short's must be doing something right when people who aren't even into craft beer know about them and/or their company.
Well just a short story to lead into this review, so here we go.
This one was described by Short's has having a pecan, maple flavor to it. Sounds like breakfast in my house on a Saturday morning as a kid. I'm not much a sweet's guy but maple seems to grab my attention on my styles of beers. This one definitely delivered the goods.
The aroma is pretty damn boozy for only 9.5%, but is swiftly complimented by the maple pecan flavor. It also had some brown sugar qualities to it as well. The flavor is was boozy and buttery with hints of pecan and maple. Much like a pancake minus the booze, but hey, if you like booze on your pancakes, then you may just fall in love with this beer.
I'd love to see how this one ages. I'd give it about a year to let it mellow out and see how the taste is then, but still a treat of a beer.
Grade A
Song of the Day : AFI -- End Transmission
