Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Rogue Brutal IPA: If when you ask yourself, 'Self am I  a man?' and you reply 'Damn Straight.' You get your ass off the couch and buy this beer.  It's not for the faint of heart.  It's for the man who just went and chopped down 6 trees with his leatherman.  Why? Just to say F*ck you tree, and F*ck your tree friends too.  This is my spot.  It's got hops out the wazoo, and the fact that you have to drink it 22 ounces at a time reinforces the fact that your'e a man.  A.  

Knee Deep Hoptologist DIPA: It's big big Hoppy, DIPA, it's got Citrus, Pine, and a small amount of Malt.  It's so hoppy that you think the green guy on the front was the actual brewmaster.  It's pretty good, I seemed to have dropped off my hop binge, and don't necessarily require the same slap in the face hoppyness that I once longed for.  It is certainly a quality product, and I enjoyed it greatly.  B+.  

In clockwise Order from Upper left corner:  Staff Hendricks: Brods Tripel, Dogfish Head Noble Rot(sour), Dogfish Head Red and White(wit), Dogfish Head Aprihop(american IPA), Carolus Xmas(belgian dark), Stone 2010 Old Guardian(barleywine).
Brods Tripel: Not bad, not exceptional.  It's a tripel that I'll remember fondly, though I doubt I'll look for it again.  The true triple for me is the Bosteels.  I don't think that this is quite up to par on that...  Good, but not my tripel.  B-.

Dogfish Head Noble Rot: This is their Wine/Beer creation.  It's got a cool amount of work done to it.  A couple kinds of grapes, and a neat flavor, almost sour, but sweeter, and smoother than any sour I've had.  I thought it was a deliciously easy drinker, and definitely something I'd buy if I saw it...  A.

Dogfish Head Red and White:  Wit with coriander, Orange peel and Pinot Juice!  DFH has been one of the coolest breweries I've ever seen.  They constantly produce cool shit all of the time.  I loved this, it was nice soft, with the pinot juice not slamming you in the face, and the coriander coming in nicely.  A+.

Dogfish Head Aprihop:  Hops, Hops, Hops, and Apricots.  This thing is awesome. The apricot is subtle, but comes in nicely.  There are 3 hops in here, the last is dry hopped, and so you get the intense hop flavor off the bat, and the fruit is slow rolling but delish.  It's a good A-IPA, certainly worth the purchase if you see it... A-.

Carolus Christmas: Anis seed.  That's all that comes to mind.  It tasted like anis, black licorice was intense here.  The rep for these belgians was in Vegas when I was drinking this beer, and he agreed that it was an overly intense batch this time.  I liked it, but it was too thick and sweet for me.  Hopefully the next batch doesn't have as much anis in it... C.

Stone Old Guardian 2010:  Malty masterpiece.  I like stone, I like most things they do.  This was no exception. It had an initial taste of almost a brown sugar, and sweet like it too. Then the hops were there immediately after the malt.  It was interesting, you can taste the alcohol off the bat.  I don't know enough about Barleywine's to really compare. But my taste buds enjoyed it.  B+. 

Hopulent DIPA: I thought I'd had hoppy beer.  I was wrong.  I think this is one of the hoppiest beers I've had.  It was Hoppy.     Not like a friendly kind of hoppy, but more menacing, and put you in your place hop.  It certainly had all the goods of a big DIPA, and I liked it.  But I'll be damned it had hops.  I enjoyed it, and I'd certainly do it again...  B+.

Jordan Beeskau et al. Java Haze Porter:  My cousin made this.  It was surprisingly delicious.  I'd never had a nut coffee porter, so it was a nice new try for me.  The smoothness of the hazelnut softened the coffee flavor, and added a nice sweet smooth taste.  It was a really good beer, and aside from the low carbonation a great drink.  The low carbonation wasn't a loss, the nice thick flavor of the beer lent itself to the lack of bubbles, making it smoother, and allowing it to roll down the gullet.  B+.  

Kasteel Rouge: It's got Cherries!  It's a surprisingly delicious Cherry Belgian.  Not a Lambic, but a cherry Belgian.  It's 8.6% or something, and flat out delicious.  It's a desert beer for sure.  It'd be hard to have more than one.  It's got a very sweet tart nose fully of cherry, and the taste is hard to believe.  A.
Mother Earth brewing Weeping Willow Wit: I love wits when it's cooler outside, and I can enjoy all the spices as the beer warms up in my hand.  It was started a little too cold so it took a while to really ramp up.  The allspice was nice, and there were smooth other catchy notes.  It wasn't overly spiced, nor under.  I was impressed.  B+.
Not Pictured: 
Double Dog Imperial Pale Ale: Hoppy.  Almost to the point of unpleasantness...  B.
Lips of Faith from New Belgium-Sour, mildly non-descript.  It's also been a while.  C+...
Mendocino Brewery: Redtail Red, Blue Heron pale, Eye of the hawk, Oatmeal Stout. I wasn't overly impressed with any of them, they are nice.  But I'd look for something with more intriguing notes...  B-

This is that flurry of action I eluded to.  Definitely a flurry.  No other word to describe it...