Brewer : Cigar City (Tampa)
Style : Sour Ale
ABV : 10%
Well, I had the grand chance to escape the clutter and confusion of South Florida for the weekend, so what better way to escape then to travel up to Daytona where my "other" family resides. It's actually Kim's family, but I consider them family. I always count on two things happening when I travel up that way. 1. Consuming alcohol and food in gross amounts and 2. making a beer haul from Knightly Spirits in Orlando.
I was especially excited about this trip because before leaving I got word that they received a shipment of Vuja De, Cigar City's collaboration beer with Saint Somewhere. I didn't make it up to the Jupiter Craft Beer fest this year and I heard that Cigar City was pouring this beer, among other delicious brews which I will have to sniff out in the coming months, so I was pretty jazzed about getting this one.
This being a sour beer I was more then excited, but also a little hesitant drinking the whole bomber by myself, which I knew I was gonna have to do. No one in the Daytona extended family seems to like the sours, as of yet, but I'm working on it. The pour was dark and brownish. Slightly hazy and cloudy with a thick bubbly head. It had a good amount of lacing left around the rim of the glass, spotty and a tad bit oily. The aroma was quite pungent and strong to say the least. I was expecting a good amount of that sour funk that I'm use to from sours, which I got, but it almost seemed a little acidic as well. I could tell this would be no daunting task. The flavor was a tad boozy with hints of cherries, lemon zest with an acidic kick to it.
I was a little wrecked at this point in the night, but I decided to man up and finish the whole bomber. Probably not a great decision because I woke up with a headache the next morning (first time in a long time). Did I enjoy the beer?
Yes and no. The sour experience was great, but I should have waited to open it for two reasons.
1. To let it mellow out a bit. It delivers quite a punch
2. I didn't have anyone to share the bottle with, hence the headache the next morning.
Oh well, you live and learn, but this was a great beer and I'm glad I snagged two bottles of it.
Grade A
Song of the Day: John 5 -- Welcome To The Jungle
Brewer : Dark Horse Brewing Co. (Michigan)
Style : Sweet Stout
ABV : 7%
I just can't seem to get away from these beers from Michigan, they're all just so good. Some day I'm gonna have to make a trip up that way and do a little exploring for myself.
I pulled this one out of the cellar for a certain, and not just because I was craving a stout. This stout in particular has blueberries in it. Why is that so special? Well earlier on that day I was having an early dinner with my girlfriend Kim, her sister Kiki (answers to Christie, but I only know her by that name), and my buddy Pat. We were eating some BBQ at Texas Hold Em BBQ, which has a pretty good craft beer selection, and Kiki wanted a "fruity" beer. I suggested a Magic Hat #9, but she didn't seem to like that. Long story short she opted for a Heini Light, but I was determined to find her a good fruity beer. I know that she loves Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat, but that has since been removed from the South Florida market for reasons unbenounced to me. We met back at my place for a few more drinks and I decided to pick up a six pack of Blue Paw for her to try. She described the beer as tasting like blueberry pancakes. I then let her taste some of my Dark Horse Tres, to which she replied. "This is like blueberry pancakes, but with syrup on top".
I guess her short description of Dark Horse Tres pretty much summed up this beer in one sentence. It is extremely dark and syrupy. Sweet aroma of chocolate and malts with a good amount of blueberry backing. The flavor is sweet as well, just like pancakes with syrup. I probably couldn't see myself drinking more then one of these though as the sweetness could probably beat my palate into submission.
Needless to say though I really enjoyed this tasty, after dinner beverage. Most definitely a desert beer.
Grade A
Song of the Day : John Denver : Thank God I'm a Country Boy (RIP John)
Brewer : Arbor Brewing Co. (Michigan)
Style : Wild/Sour Ale
ABV : ?
My first big kick into craft beer was DIPA, then it was imperial stouts, now I'm on a sour/wild kick. Since I'm a brand new sour head I just reach for about any sour/wild I can find. That goes without saying that some will be good some will be bad. Most of the sours that I've tried so for, Seabass, Cable Car, have been great but I just came across my first bad sour. Well not bad, but I probably wouldn't get it again, given a sour option.
I made a trade for a few beers, including this one. This one was a sour red ale, so I was expecting a reddish tint to it, and that's what I got. The appearance was sort of hazy and cloudy, no real lacing to speak of though. The aroma had a tad bit of a sour funk to it, but it was pretty bland. The flavor was a little better then the aroma. Had hints of cherries and a slight tartness to it. That being said, I can't really say too much more then that. It was a good experience to try something new, as always.
Grade C
Song of the Day : Children of Bodom--Bodom Beach Terror
Brewer : Short's Brewing Co. (Michigan)
Style : Belgian Strong Ale
ABV : 7%
After my long hard move on Saturday I was totally beat and needed to unwind with a beer. I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for but my experiences with Short's as always been great. Knowing that I had a few new ones in my fridge I grabbed the first one I saw.
This one seemed like a promising, delicious brew. The commercial description says that it's brewed with honey and apple cider. That seems like a winning combo to me. Sounds like something I might have drank when I was a toddler, however.....
The color is dark goldish brown, slightly hazy and cloudy. The aroma does have the honey, apple zest to it, but the combo didn't really impress me all that much. It just seemed somewhat unbalanced and strange. The flavor had that sweet honey touch to it, but that was about it. The body was pretty light, even though this clocked in at 7% ABV.
I just wasn't super impressed by this one, but then again I have 5 more Short's in my fridge to change my mind, or refresh my palate in the future. This beer was a Good Samaritan, but definitely not the best.
Grade C+
Song of the Day: Nonpoint---Double Stakked
Alright people I know that I've really been slacking on the updates and reviews but I have good reason. I just moved into a new place, as of a yesterday, and I just got my internet working. So sometime this week, hopefully Monday I'll be back with my reviews and get the ball rolling again.
Cheers,
Casey
Brewer : Short's Brewing Co. (Michigan)
Style : Barley Wine
ABV : 11%
Time for another quick review before I have to run out the door.
Short's, from Bellaire, MI, makes some incredible beers. If you follow, or track down their beers, you've probably heard of their famous Key Lime Pie beer. I mean come on, how could someone not want to try that? Beer lover or not that just sounds tasty. I love beer and love desert (as a kid, not so much anymore, because I want to keep my slim girlish figure) so it would only be nature to want to combine the two. But unfortunately I haven't been able to try this one yet, but rest assured that I will hunt this one down and beat it to the ground.
OK, I've lost my train of thought. On with this beer, The Wizard.
The commercial description about this beer says that it's brewed with raisins and boiled for 6 hours and 66 minutes. I'm no math wizard here, no pun intended, but wouldn't that make it a boil of 7 hours and 6 minutes. But I see where they are going with this. Keep the evil factor involved and the people will eat it up. I don't worship the dark lord, even though I have a bottle of one, but like gimmicks like this keep me interested in beer and it's good for a laugh or two.
The beer itself is loaded with barley flavor. Mostly malts and barley prevail but you do get those raisins as well. The ABV was a tad high, not that I'm a wimp or nothing, but it made for quite a boozy drink. I found myself taking smaller sips then normal and cleaning my palate in between with a cracker here and there. Don't get me wrong I loved it, but I'm not the biggest fan of barely wines. I suppose I just haven't been totally knocked off my feet by one yet.
Grade B
Song of the Day : MetallicA --Mercyful Fate Medley (Evil, just like this beer)
Brewer : White Birch Brewing (New Hampshire)
Style : Imperial Stout
ABV : 11.6%
OK, another busy day, but I've got a few minutes, so let's knock out another review.
I've heard some piss poor things about White Birch and have actually tasted one of their beers before. I believe it was their Oak Aged Tripel that I had at The Funky Buddha for a tasting, and that thing was just an utter disgrace. So needless to say I was a little bit hesitant to try another beer from them, but I went with my better judgment and decided to make a trade for a bottle of the Natasha imperial stout.
This was a super dark imperial stout. Big foamy head with an off brown color to it. So far, it looks good. The aroma had a good bit of smokey qualities, sort of woody with malts and dark chocolate. Again, so far so good. The flavor was also smokey and chocolaty. The flavor was a tad bit heavy but lucky for me I had my brother here to help me finish the bomber.
Was it good? Yeah it was a pretty solid imperial stout,
but I wasn't expecting all that smoke in the aroma and flavor, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Maybe their beers aren't that bad, but it will take more then just 2 to make a good proper judgment.
Grade A
Song of the Day : Chet Atkins -- The Entertainer (check out that shirt)
