Feature Beer Friday! - Terrapin RecreationAle

Alright alright alright, Terrapin Brewing is back up on Feature Beer Friday! for the second time. About a month ago we featured the Terrapin Hopsecutioner, their flagship IPA, and it received generally good scores, with a 77 from yours truly. Terrapin has been one of my favorite additions to the Louisiana market in recent years.  I find that their year-round beers are all worth buying and I've for the most part enjoyed their seasonals and special releases.

Up today is their RecreationAle, which they describe as a "Session Ale" without labeling it as an IPA or pale ale.  I guess it's really up to you as to how it fits, but I'd consider it a pale ale personally. Most importantly, it's only 4.7% abv, which is ideal for tailgating season! In fact, I think it's become my tailgating beer of choice, with affordable 12-packs of cans available around Baton Rouge.

Enough blabber, let's review...

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Brenton Day (The Ale Runner), Chuck Pierce (Me And My Big Mouth), and Buddy Ethridge.

Serving: 12 oz. can.

Appearance: Deep golden, a little more hazy than Hopsecutioner I think. Hopsecutioner probably gains a little clarity through a longer secondary dry-hopping? Just a guess...

Aroma: Hoppy, with grapefruit and citrus dominating.

Taste: More hoppy, with those grapefruit notes still coming through. There is a little malt base sweetness, but at only 4.7% there really shouldn't be too much.

Mouthfeel: Ridiculously easy drinking.

Overall: An excellent session pale ale/IPA. I imagine this being in my tailgating rotation for years to come.

Overall Rating: 72.5
My Rating: 78

Feature Beer Friday! - 3 Floyds Zombie Dust

And we have a first-time brewery to the Feature Beer Friday! reviews, but one you probably all should have heard of, 3 Floyds Brewing out of Indiana.  They are probably best known for their Dark Lord, which is only available from the brewery during a special release party known as Dark Lord Day.  It's generally considered one of the best beers in the world, and I can promise that the beer lives up to the hype.  As does 3 Floyds in general, I've been able to try several of their brews and not a single one let me down. 

Today's Feature Beer is unfortunately not the Dark Lord, but it is the Zombie Dust, their take on the American Pale Ale. It clocks in at 6.2% and 50 IBU, so pretty big for a pale ale, certainly not a session beer but not a strong beer either.  Let's see what we think...
 
Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jeff Herman (Tiger Deaux-nuts), and Dan Fisher.

Serving: 12 oz. bottle.

Appearance: Hazy copper color, just right for the style. 

Aroma: Pale Ale my ass!  This aroma is bursting with hops, Dan described it as hop pellet candy. It's potent.  

Taste: Resin, pine, not much to balance it out, this is straight up hoppy.  Dan said "not a pale" and I agree, but that doesn't mean it's not delicious. 

Mouthfeel: Bitter, and a little creamy.

Overall: This deserves a spot in any IPA tasting, which reminds me that IPA Day is next Thursday!  I think in a blind tasting of pale ales I would pick this one out every time due to it's extra hoppiness, but that said, it's outstanding.  Zombie Dust is hoppy, delicious, and worthwhile of a selection if you're ever traveling up in the Midwest.

Overall Rating: 86.67
My Rating: 85

NOLA Brewing Launches Rebirth Pale Ale to Benefit Roots of Music

Hey readers... I know I've been slacking lately.  I have no good excuses, just a bunch of lame ones, but here's some good news for all you Louisiana beer fans!  NOLA Brewing will be releasing their latest creation, the Rebirth Pale Ale, next Wednesday the 16th at the brewery tasting room.  Cans in 6-packs will be following sometime this summer, just in time for canoeing and tailgating I hope!  Plus it has a pretty badass tap handle... picture below.

Update: I have confirmation from NOLA's publicist that this beer should be hitting taps in Baton Rouge about a week after the initial release, so late April.  That's exciting!  

Here's the full press release:

BEER & BRASS

NOLA Brewing Introduces Rebirth Pale Ale Benefiting The Roots of Music

Official Release Party Wednesday, April 16

For the past five years, NOLA Brewing Company has been bringing the history and tradition of beer back to New Orleans. Founded on the concept of helping rebuild and develop commerce in post-Katrina New Orleans, the NOLA based brewery offers a variety of beers made with the finest available hops, malts and unique yeast blends.

Continuing in this tradition, NOLA Brewing is proud to unveil its latest brew – Rebirth Pale Ale on draft – benefitting The Roots of Music.  The company’s first pale ale pays tribute to the Rebirth Brass Band while supporting music education for New Orleans’ youth through the non-profit organization, co-founded by Rebirth drummer, Derrick Tabb and Allison Reinhardt.

“We decided to name the brew Rebirth for a number of reasons,” explains Kirk Coco, CEO of NOLA Brewing. “A big part of the meaning comes from the rebirth of the city post-Katrina and being a part of that process. Another is that the Rebirth Brass Band is a shining example of music from our city. We wanted to give back to the community with our beer, and The Roots of Music was a perfect fit – helping kids in the city where music education is vital, and supporting the music everyone at the brewery loves!”

Derek Tabb adds, “We're excited and honored that NOLA Brewing would pick us to represent them in its latest beer, while also supporting an organization that's most near and dear to our hearts.” 

In celebration of the release, the brewery invites imbibers to sample the new beer on Wednesday, April 16 at 5 p.m. in the taproom at 3001 Tchoupitoulas Street.  Admission is free and open to the public (21+up) and will feature complimentary light bites, live entertainment
and $3-$7 beers. In attendance will be the talented kids from The Roots of Music Marching Crusaders along with Derrick Tabb and members of the Rebirth Brass Band.

Rebirth Pale Ale is a sessionable, American-style pale ale that uses five different malt varieties and desirable hops including Cascade, Simcoe and Citra. The pale ale is wonderfully balanced
and its flavorful hop taste and aroma allows for more than one indulgence at a time, coming in at only 5% ABV.

To help raise money for The Roots of Music’s mission to teach, support and empower New Orleans’ youth through music education, a portion of all beer sales at the release party, as well as a portion of ongoing retail sales of Rebirth Pale Ale, will be donated to the organization. Stay tuned for a soon-to-be released 6 pack 12 oz. can set of the Rebirth Pale Ale to debut this summer. For more information on NOLA Brewing visit www.nolabrewing.com.

Interviews with NOLA Brewing or Roots of Music are available upon request.

About The Roots of Music

Co-founded in 2007 by Rebirth Brass Band drummer Derrick Tabb and Allison Reinhardt, with programming beginning in 2008, New Orleans-based non-profit organization, The Roots of Music’s mission is to teach, support and empower New Orleans’ youth through music education, academic support and mentorship, while preserving and promoting New Orleans’ unique musical and cultural heritage.  The Roots of Music provides year-round free music education to low income kids 9-14 years of age aiming to teach students the necessary skills to continue New Orleans’ unique musical tradition.  Free academic and musical instruction is provided, as well as all instruments, transportation and daily hot meals.  The Roots of Music annually serves more than 100 children living all across Orleans Parish and attending over 40 different schools. www.therootsofmusic.org

Feature Beer Friday! - Southern Tier Live

It's time for part 3 of 3 featuring Southern Tier Brewing in Feature Beer Friday! Last week was the 2XIPA and two weeks ago featured the Hop Sun Summer Wheat Beer.

Just like the 2XIPA, the Southern Tier Live is available in bottles year-round.  I've also seen it on draft at the Bulldog and I'm sure they aren't the only ones to pick up a few Southern Tier beers for their taps.  The Live is a bottle-conditioned American Pale Ale, coming in at a sessionable 5.5% abv.  I know most people consider 5% the cutoff for a session beer, but that extra .5% isn't going to do you in.  Especially not the beer nerds out there used to imperial everything.   

Live is named due to the "alive" nature of beer as yeast consumes sugars and converts them into alcohol.  While the wort is turning into beer it is indeed alive with millions of living yeast organisms.  Some beer is filtered and maybe even pasteurized to kill off or suspend the yeast prior to bottling but with the Live they add a little more to produce a secondary fermentation and give this the bottle conditioning they advertise.  See, this is an educational blog!  

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Brenton Day (The Ale Runner.com), and Dustin Davis.

Serving: 12 ounce bottle.

Appearance: Kind of like the other two Southern Tier beers, this one was clear and a deep gold.  I expected more haze from a bottle conditioned ale, oh well.  

Aroma: We all liked the aroma a lot, I picked up some grapefruit, and Brenton was all about the pine.  

Taste: Just like the aroma, almost bordering on an IPA hop balance but that was just fine with us.  It really had a good hop flavor without an overpowering bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Nice carbonation, good lingering hoppiness... very nice.   

Overall: Of the three Southern Tier beers we tried this was the unanimous winner. I'd pick up another 6-pack of this one for sure.


Overall Rating: 80.33
My Rating: 75

Feature Beer Friday! - Tin Roof Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale

Alright, and I'm back.  Sorry about missing this post last week, but sometimes life happens and it turns out Beer Blogging isn't my full-time job.  Up today we have the third of four consecutive Louisiana beers that we featured on Jay Ducote's Bite And Booze radio show.  We started with the Abita Lemon Wheat, went to the NOLA Brown, we're on the Tin Roof Voodoo Bengal, and next week (in theory!) will feature the Covington Bayou Bock. 

The Voodoo Bengal Pale Ale from Tin Roof Brewing is as it claims, an American Pale Ale. "Generously hopped, this brew draws on pale, honey and caramel malts to provide the perfect balance between bitterness, aroma, and malt character. Pairs well with anything spicy…especially crawfish, gumbo, and jambalaya." Amazingly this will be the first Tin Roof beer to make it on Feature Beer Friday!, but I doubt it will be the last. 

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (BiteandBooze.com), Charles Pierce (Me And My Big Mouth podcast), Brenton Day (The Ale Runner.com), and Ross Marcotte.

Serving: 12 oz. can.

Appearance: Dark amber, decent head with good rentention.

Aroma: Hoppy with a nice malt base, Brenton and Jay both picked up some citrus notes in the hops and Charles thought it had a slight syrup aroma, which makes sense considering this beer uses Steen's cane syrup in the brew process.


Taste: I thought it was a pretty solid hop-forward pale ale.  It has a nice balance of citrus hops and malty syrupy sweetness.  Brenton described it as "pleasingly bitter" which is a great thing in a pale ale. 

Mouthfeel: A little lingering bitterness, but that's not a bad thing.  Decent body too, good mouthfeel for the style.

Overall: This is better than I remembered and I really commend Tin Roof for improving their recipe and making this isn't a really well-rounded APA.  Available in cans all over Baton Rouge, I can see myself drinking plenty of this over the Summer. 


Overall Rating: 77.2
My Rating: 72

Feature Beer Friday! - Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale

Alright, I know, another Feature Beer that isn't locally available.  That's one of the problems with Louisiana, but it does make traveling a little more exciting to pick up beers that aren't locally available, right? Sweetwater hails from Atlanta... now I HATE Atlanta, but it's because of their sports teams, not their beer.  Atlanta, from all I've heard and read, has one of the best craft beer scenes in the South, so they have that going for them.  Which is nice.

Sweetwater Brewing has been in Atlanta since 1997, which is fairly old in the craft brewing world.  The 420 Extra Pale Ale (named for the interstate that goes around Atlanta, right?) has been one of their regulars since 1997, and they list it as their most popular beer.  I know it's pretty easy to find wherever Sweetwater is distributed, even at places like the Atlanta airport. Needless to say based on the name, it's an American Pale Ale, brewed more in the west coast style, as the founders of Sweetwater were both Colorado/West Coast trained in the brewing arts.

Now, on to the review!      

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), James Lawson (Whiskeybomb.com), and Blake Winchell (Brasseurs A La Maison).

Serving: 12 oz. bottle.

Appearance: Light in color, white head that fades quickly.

Aroma: Hoppy, but nothing amazing, Jay thought it had a slight cantaloupe quality to it. 

Taste: Hoppy as well, Jay said it was totally drinkable and could go for more without being offended or having some taste overload.

Mouthfeel: Just alright... like Jay said before, it's a very easy drinking pale ale.

Overall: I thought that this one was a decent flagship brew, and Blake really thought it was better when he's had it before on draft.  Of the four of us, James was the least impressed, saying, "a road sign that says "IPA 20 Miles That Way," only a point in the right direction."  I can see where he's coming from, but I think that's what makes this one a lot more of a session beer than a bigger IPA would be. 

Overall Rating: 60
My Rating: 62

Review: Parish Envie Pale Ale

Would you look at that locally brewed goodness?

Thanks of course to Andrew for giving a few of these to Brenton Day of The Ale Runner and then to Brenton for passing one on to me!  This beer isn't out in the Baton Rouge market yet, but we should see tap handles before too long.  With all the success of Canebrake in Louisiana I'm sure it has been hard for Parish Brewing (facebook - twitter) to keep up with its demand let alone work on two other flagship brews and a limited release, but they have somehow done it.  So, without further ado, here's a sneak preview of the Parish Brewing Envie American Pale Ale!

First up, the pour... I went with the Spiegelau tulip glass, and I don't really care that it's not the "right" glass for the style.  Mostly I like that the shape allows the light to get through different depths of beer to really bring out the colors.  This beer is an orange-red brew with a bit of a white head... appetizing for sure.

On to the aroma... the first hit is mostly malt with a biscuity feel to it and some caramel in there as well.  A good swirl though, and the hops come alive and dominate but with a subtle flavor as opposed to an aggressive pine or grapefruit nose.  It's a really nice blend of hops and I think it leans a little toward the citrus and slightly floral range of things.  Very well done!

The taste is really a solid follow through on the impressive nose.  The malts probably come through a little more here than before, but each sip brings another whiff of hops to the nose that keeps it interesting.  

I'm a huge fan of this one, I dare say even more my cup of tea or, mug of beer, than the Canebrake.  This isn't a final recipe though, and Andrew has plans to tweak it even more on his new bigger brew system.  I know he still plans on going even hoppier and I have to say that I agree and would probably like this beer even more than I already do with a more aggressive hop profile.  So... until then, I'll keep drinking the Canebrake and looking forward to the future versions of the Envie APA and the South Coast Amber Ale.

Celebrate Father's Day With Zea and Beer!

Uh oh... Father's Day is coming soon, did it sneak up on you too?  Father's Day is almost always a struggle for me, because I never know what to get my Dad.  He has all the tools he could possibly need, and his go-to beer is Bud Light.  In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen him drink a beer that wasn't Bud Light?  If your Dad likes new beers though, then Zea's might be just the ticket, as they are once again running their Father's Day FREE BEER! special.  All you need to do is head in on Sunday, order two entrees, and every father should receive their own 4-pack of Zea's own beers.  

They have four of their own brews, the Clearview Gold Lager, Zea Amber Lager, Category 5 Pale Ale, and the Pontchartrain Porter!  For more detailed info about the beers, I reviewed all of them for Father's Day 2011.  It's a good deal, and could be a good way to try some new beers.

Cheers!

Beer Travels: No Label Brewing in Katy, TX

Alright folks, time for a new installment of "Beer Travels" which is all about the fun places to drink beer outside of Baton Rouge.  I'd say the majority of these lately have been from Houston, and this one is only technically an exception as the ironically named No Label Brewing is located in Katy, a western suburb of Houston.  Last Saturday Mandi and I decided to go take in their 1-3PM tour/tasting and were met there by my cousin Philip.  

The place is a little tough to find if don't have good directions, located in an old grain silo compound just on the north side of Hwy. 90 in old-town Katy.  After we figured it out, and parked in the large open lot the "brewery" was right there in front of us.  It was a beautiful day and I was excited to try some beers and make it 5 brewery visits on the year!

The tasting was free, so after showing some ID (yes, Mandi is over 21) we had to wait a few minutes for 1:00 to roll around.  They were selling shirts and pint glasses, so we each bought a No Label pint glass for the tasting.  Similar to other tastings if you purchase a pint glass they will fill that up instead of the 4 ounce or so standard tasting.  I'm not sure I saw a single person without a pint glass in hand!  At 1 PM the beer started to pour so I started out with the Ridgeback Amber Ale, one of the two No Label Brews I hadn't tried before.

Not a bad beer at all, a murky extremely sessionable tasty amber ale.  I'd go back for more of these without thinking twice... and in fact I did!  After that I went for the other beer that I hadn't tried before, the Black Wit-O, a dark wheat beer with a hint of anise for a bit of a licorice kick.  It's also a 7% alcohol beer so only one was enough of this guy.  

After that one I tried two that I've previously tasted at The Petrol Station... the El Hefe Hefeweizen and the Pale Horse Pale Ale.  Both are fine examples of the style and equally refreshing on a warm summer day depending on your tastes.  The really neat thing about the whole tasting/tour was the laid back tailgate atmosphere of it all.  People were showing up with pop-up tents and bag chairs and lawn games as they chilled and drank some brews.  And there were also a good many LSU fans present as is typical with the Houston area.  All in all it was a great time and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something to do on a Saturday in the Houston area.

Thanks No Label for a great time at brewery visit #5 on the year, and I'll definitely be back.

Review: Left Hand Stranger American Pale Ale

First off, I love the name.  Someone over at Left Hand Brewing (@lefthandbrewing) has a great sense of humor with this one... very subtle.  My good friend Danielle Wheeler brought me this bottle from either the Atlanta area or Nashville... I really can't remember but I know she was up that way!  The closest places to find Left Hand to Baton Rouge are Texas, Alabama, or the Florida panhandle.

I've tried and written about several Left Hand beers before, notably a post earlier this year about the Warrior IPA, Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout, and the Chainsaw Strong Ale.   I enjoyed all of those and I've enjoyed previous beers from Left Hand that I never got around to writing about.  This one, though... I did not enjoy.  

 

As I typically do, I poured from the 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass.  The beer is a hazy deep golden color, which is much lighter than expected for an APA. Not much head and there's really not much retention either.  So far, this one is weak.

This beer smells a little off... it's grassy and not much malt to it. The hops aren't even too strong. It's very odd for an APA, and not tasty at all.  

This must be misbottled or gone bad, the taste is nothing like an APA at all. Tastes a little skunked, and more like a light lager than anything else. Bizarre, I have to assume this one is bad, because Left Hand is better than this.

My Rating: D

BeerAdvocate: B (More evidence I got a bad one...)

 

I need to find another one of these in Houston so I can compare... some things in life get three strikes, but for me, beer gets two.  If I grab a second bottle and it's like this first one, then I'll never need to pick up a Stranger APA again.

Celebrate Father's Day With Zea Rotisserie & Brewery

Apparently Zea restaurants are stepping up their Father's Day game this year, with FREE BEER!  Yeah, that's right, apparently for every father that comes in, they receive a free 4-pack of the Zea custom beer with two entrees ordered.  Zea offers four unique beers in their restaurants, and I recently received one of these 4-packs to give them a try.  This offer is good at all the New Orleans area locations, as well as Covington, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette.  Sounds like a pretty cool promotion to me, but now let's look into the beers themselves...

I had previously had an opportunity to sample the Zea lineup at the Top Of The Hops festival in Lafayette, so unfortunately these aren't new ones for me, but this is a good chance to give them a proper reviewing.  It's hard to accurately review beers at a large festival... it was tough enough to keep track of all the beers I tried, let alone critique them.  I suppose if I wanted to take each sample, sit down and examine the characteristics, take in the aroma and savor the taste I could... but that would require WAY too much effort.  The point of a beer festival is to have a good time with friends and enjoy a lot of new and interesting beers, not make it a study session.  So, thanks again to Emily with Gambel Communications and Zea Restaurants for a chance to give these beers the proper write-up!

I decided to try these from lighter to darker, and up first was the Clearview Gold Lager, a light kölsch-style lager that's a definite step up from the domestic adjunct lagers we typically see.  It had a bit of a pear flavor, and the heavy carbonation almost gave it a cider feel.  I think this one would be a big hit among beer drinkers looking to get into craft beer but afraid of the dark side.

The second beer I tried was the Zea Amber Lager, a Vienna-style lager with a strong caramel malt base and a lot of biscuit flavor. There still wasn't a lot of hop profile, but the malts packed quite a flavor punch and gave this beer a good solid amber lager flavor.  All in all another good beer, and a slight step up from the Clearview Gold in my opinion.

As a side note... all of these beers are brewed by Heiner Brau over in Covington, but according to the Zea original recipes.  Unfortunately a true "brew-pub" where one entity brews their own beer for sale at the pub is illegal in Louisiana.  We need to work on that.

Beer #3 was the one I was the most excited for, the Category 5 Pale Ale.  American Pale Ales are one of my favorite styles currently, so I was interested to see how one of the locals would stack up.  There are a few other local pale ales, the Abita Restoration Ale, the Bayou Teche LA 31, and the Tin Roof Voodoo Bengal being three examples, but there's nothing wrong with another local example of a classic style.  The aroma is strong with caramel malts but not too hoppy. It really could use a little more hops to achieve the desired balance.  The flavor has a better hop profile and much more balance. The caramel malt is still strong but there's enough hop flavor to call this a solid pale ale. 

Last but not least, the Ponchartrain Porter, not to be confused with Covington's Ponchartrain Pilsner.  It's a dark brown color with a finger or so of off-white head.  It had a great porter aroma, coffee and chocolate and roasted malt notes. Spot on with the nose.  The taste was a little muted like a lot of porters, but still quite nice. The roasted malt notes came out the strongest, lending a thick bitterness to the end of the sip. It was surprisingly my favorite of the four Zea beers.  Very well done.

All in all, some good beers.  They aren't going to blow the real nerds away but if your Dad is tired of drinking the same old crap, bring him to Zea and he just might enjoy a few of these local brews.

Review: Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale

Alright ladies and gentlemen... time for a quick one-beer review of the Southern Star Pine Belt Pale Ale.  This one comes to me from Southern Star Brewing in Conroe, Texas... I picked it up at Bet-R but just about place that has a good craft beer selection in BR will have it.  Most notably though, what we have here is craft beer in a can!

 

The canning of craft beer is a bit of a trend lately, with more and more breweries either going from kegging to canning, or adding a canning line in addition to their bottling lines.  Several breweries like New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, and local guys Tin Roof are all in on the canning trend.  I can see some definite advantages... for one, cans don't allow any light in to skunk the beer, which is vulnerable in even the darkest color bottles.  Cans can also go places where bottles are illegal, like down the river or at the beach.  The primary concern seems to be the danger of a metallic taste coming from the aluminum... this beer had a bit of that but I've had many canned beers with no trace.

On to this beer... I poured it from the 16 oz. can into an imperial pint glass... yeah, it's a 16 oz. can.  Nice touch, if you ask me.  I know this kind of defeats the purposed of drinking a canned beer, but it's best to pour into a glass for a review.  If it's good in a glass, it'll still be pretty good straight from the can on a hot day with LSU football going on.

It's a nice copper color with a bubbly off-white head. It has an earthy hop aroma with a little metallic twinge... see, there's that little off-taste you get from an aluminum can sometimes.  I've gotten this from bottled beer stored on its side before as well, though.

The taste is mostly hoppy, piney as the name indicates. There is a little malt kick but mostly hops. It's tasty, but not one of the best APAs I've had recently. Great mouthfeel. Bubbly carbonation, no bad aftertastes. Feels good. Overall I'd say it's a notch above average.  Quite refreshing and one I'd definitely bring on a canoe trip or to the tailgate party.

My Rating: B-
BeerAdvocate: B+

American Pale Ale

Smuttynose Brewing - 5 New Reviews

This is one of the last installments from the trip to Gainesville a couple of months ago... 5 different beers from Smuttynose Brewing out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Before this trip to Gainesville I had heard of Smuttynose but never had a chance to give them a try.  They aren't available in Louisiana unfortunately, and also aren't available in Houston which is my second most likely place to find new beers.  Fortunately for me, they had several different varieties in Florida!  

Up first, the Smuttynose "Finest Kind" IPA:

This is a fantastic example of a regular IPA, in my opinion.  The aroma is a little on the weaker side but the taste is bold and in your face.  More of a west-coast piney feel to me, and really easy to drink.  It's a 6.9% brew so you'd feel it after a few but it's not overwhelming.

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: A-

Next up... the Shoals Pale Ale!

American Pale Ales are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles due to their intended blend of hoppiness and malt sweetness.  This example is high on the list when it comes to my favorites of the style.  It's a little hop forward for a pale ale, but still has a good caramel malt sweetness on the sip too.  Easy drinking and at only 5% this could be a fantastic session beer... if only I could get it in a pitcher at the Chimes.  Maybe some day...

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: B+

The third Smuttynose brew I tried was the Big A IPA...

Mmmmmm, another IPA.  This time it's an imperial IPA originally created for Smuttynose's "Big Beer Series" and carried over into their regular rotation.  I wish Abita would take this approach with their select series... take the most popular and put them into regular rotation!  Anyway, back to this beer... it's a good looking bubbly beer with a great hop blend on the nose.  It wavers on the edge between floral and pine notes in my opinion.  The taste is a little more on the pine side and the 9.6% alcohol is hardly noticeable.  A fantastic IIPA and another I would love to have more readily accessible.

My Rating: A

BeerAdvocate: A-

Hitting clean-up for Smuttynose... the Old Brown Dog Ale!

Okay, back to a more tame style, the American Brown Ale.  This flagship brew clocks in at a strong 6.7% abv though so I expect a little more flavor than a more mundane example of the style!  The smell did not disappoint, with note of molasses and toffee and a little roasted note to it.  Even the alcohol comes through a little, which is strange for a brown ale.  The roasted notes come through more in the taste... it's a little thin though. I like the sweet malt flavor on the tip of the tongue as a compliment to the roasted flavors at the end.  It's insanely easy to drink... just a little thin on the mouthfeel.

 

My Rating:  A-

BeerAdvocate: B+

And last but not least... the Smuttynose Robust Porter!

This is another of the Smuttynose flagships... a dark porter with a couple fingers worth of off-white head.  The smell is as expected as well... notes of coffee, roasted malts, and a little dark chocolate come through.  The flavor is a little more substantial than the aroma... the coffee flavors come through the most to me, with a bitter roasted aftertaste. Good mouthfeel, pretty easy to drink for a porter.  I think the problem is that I'm just not really a fan of porters... this is a good example of the style, has good ratings overall but in my opinion it's just an above-average beer and not great. So I guess I lied... this actually is the "least" among these five Smuttynose beers.  It's not BAD, by means, just not quite as tastebud stimulating as the four before it. 

My Rating: B

BeerAdvocate: A-

And that's it for my foray into the world of Smuttynose Brewing Company... a few that I'd love to try again and a few that I would take a pass on.  Overall the beers were well above average though, so I'd definitely check out any new Smuttynose brews I came across and would highly recommend them to someone with the chance to drink a few.

 

India Pale Ale (IPA)

American Pale Ale

Brown Ale

Porter

Review: Mikkeller All Others Pale

I'm going to skip over the Saint Somewhere beers I tried before this one and save some time to cover all three in one post... which means I'm on to the Mikkeller All Other Pale, a pale ale from the guys over in Denmark.  I picked this one up at Martin Wine Cellar over on Perkins Road.  One of the odd things about Mikkeller is that they don't have their own brewery!  All of the beers are created by the now single-man operation and contract brewed by different breweries and collaborators around the world.  Even on the website they refer to themselves as a "gypsy brewer" which is a pretty interesting concept to me.  Enough about that... on to the beer!

First off, this is a good looking beer! I poured it from a half-liter long-neck bottle into an imperial pint glass. It's a cloudy amber color, bubbly white head with great retention and lacing. Attractive brew that makes me want to dive in.

It has a delicious malt aroma with a honey caramel smell... not too bold on the hops but there are a little there. The sweet honey smell is what really grabs you.

The taste is more of the same except that the hops come out a little more. Wow... a potpourri of malt flavors and hop hits and roasted flavors. What really stands out here is the burnt malt flavor on the aftertaste. The honey malt is first, then the bitter hops, then a burnt caramel flavor. Really a nice complexity to it.

I only wish I'd bought a few more of these... APAs are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles and this is a top notch example.  Next time I see them I'll grab several, as this is now my favorite new beer of 2011!

My Rating: A+

BeerAdvocate: B+

American Pale Ale

Four New Beers @ Front Porch Pub In Houston

Time to get back to a few beer reviews... I have 10 new beers for 2011 that I haven't had a chance to write about yet.  Last weekend I made a trip to Houston, and spent the Friday night with my friend Allison and her friends at a fun place called Front Porch Pub in I guess what they call midtown Houston?  It was a fun place, really good atmosphere and a decent beer list.  Fortunately a "decent beer list" meant they had a few new ones for me to try.

 

 

I started off with a "Broken Halo IPA" from Widmer Brothers, a very typical American IPA, not too bold on the hops and easy to drink.  A good starting point for the night and a beer I'd recommend for someone not certain about how they like hoppy beers.  Similar to a Jockamo IPA, it's a good one for craft beer novices.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B

 

India Pale Ale (IPA)

Next up was a Drop Top Amber, also from Widmer Brothers.  It had a nearly identical amber color to the IPA (they are the two beers on the left in the picture) and gained a little character from the honey malts, but was otherwise a pretty basic beer.  Easy to drink though, and a step up from the pale lager category.

My rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B-

 

Amber Ale

The third beer I tried was from Boulevard Brewery out of Kansas City, MO.  It was their Unfiltered Wheat and I've heard good things about Boulevard so I was disappointed that this was their only beer available here.  I did pick up another one at Spec's the next day, but I'd have liked to try more.  This beer was an easy to drink wheat beer... hints of noble hops and a strong wheat base made for one I could put back in a hurry.  And at only 4.6% abv, why not?

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B-

 

Wheat Beer

The final beer of the evening was another from Widmer Brothers, their Drifter Pale Ale.  This was my favorite of the evening, with a nice blend of amber and caramel malts with the hops.  This was the best one of the night, and I finished off the evening with a few more of them.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+

 

American Pale Ale

And with that... four more new ones on the list.  As of publishing this post (Super Bowl Sunday) I am dead even with my 365 in 2011 pace.  And I'm certain to try a few new ones later during the game!  

Cheers!  And...uh... go Packers I guess?

Review: Swamp Head Stumpknocker Pale Ale

This past weekend I ended up in Gainesville, FL to visit my friend Diane.  I don't like UF, but I don't hate it either like I do Ole Miss or Auburn or Alabama... and really there's not a whole lot to Gainesville other than the university.  The University of Florida has an enrollment of over 50,000 (according to Wikipedia) and the Gainesville metro area is somewhere around 250,000.  For comparison, Baton Rouge has a metro population approaching 800,000 and LSU's enrollment is closer to 25,000!  That's a pretty big difference, but it also made getting around town pretty easy.  

After a beer run to a fantastic beer store called Tipple's Brews, we made our way to a college hangout called The Swamp.  We weren't too hungry after a large breakfast, but it was definitely time for a beer.  I'd read previously about a local brewery called Swamp Head and was happy to see that they did have one on tap, the Stumpknocker Pale Ale.  It came out a copper color, with a creamy white head with good lacing.

The beer had a floral aroma, with a little fruit in there as well.  It was definitely hoppy for an APA, but I still enjoyed the smell a good bit.  The taste is similar, definitely hop dominated and not much of a malt presence. Pretty good, but it seemed to me that this one was bordering on a darker colored IPA flavor profile.  I like IPAs, so that's fine by me, but this one definitely was a hop-forward APA.  As for the mouthfeel, it was creamy, with a slight bitter aftertaste due to the hops.  Very easy to drink, I ended up going through 4 or 5 of them! 

A good local brew... unfortunately I wasn't able to try any of Swamp Head's other beers on the trip, but maybe one day I'll be back or they'll make it over here.  As it was, this one made number 23 on my list!

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A

American Pale Ale