A Tale Of Two Ghosts

Alright, I'm back.  It's been a while, but I couldn't pass up the perfect opportunity to bring back the BR Beer Scene... two bottles of Parish Brewing's Ghost In The Machine.  One is 11 days old (not as of this post, but as of opening them) and the second is 44 days old.  Everyone knows that hops fade, but conventional wisdom and general industry standard is that an IPA will still be good for up to three months.  With Parish starting to release Ghost In The Machine on a monthly basis, and thanks to a friend for offering up a bottle from the 1/13/16 batch, I had the perfect opportunity for a side by side comparison.

First... take a look at that juicy hoppy goodness:

As you can see... they pretty much look identical in color, clarity, and head.  I didn't use any filters on that picture to try to show the color of the beer as true as possible.  Upon a really close up to the light inspection the 2/15/16 batch (on the right) is very very slightly lighter.  You'd never be able to pick that up by memory unless you have some sort of photographic memory, because even side by side it's damn near impossible to differentiate. It also might look like the volumes were off, but it turns out the glasses from the last two Grand Reserve days aren't identical, so rest assured, they were both full bottles. 

On to the aroma... I started to notice a difference here, with the newer batch having more of a dank funky piney aroma and the older batch being strong with tropical fruits and the dankness in the background. Don't get me wrong, there is a LOT of overlap in the flavors coming through, but each seemed to have a different flavor come through the strongest.

On to the taste... the older batch (1/13) was still very tropical up front, but there was more dankness coming through than on the nose. The lingering flavor on the tongue at the end was more piney than fruity, but all the hop flavors mesh so damn well. The newer (2/15) batch was still more dank than the newer batch, but there were some tropical notes coming through before it faded to the resinous follow-through.

As I kept going through the tasting (rinsing with water between batches) I couldn't make up my mind which I preferred, but there were definitely slight differences.  My wife actually preferred the older batch, but that's likely due to the tropical fruit dominance.  I would probably take the newer batch, but I like piney resinous IPAs.  These are brewed the same way with the same water treatment, same malts, same mash schedule, same hop schedule, so I attribute 99% of the variance in flavor to the age difference.  

One thing is for sure, whether it's 11 days old or 44 days old, Ghost In The Machine is fucking delicious.  

Feature Beer Friday! - The Alchemist Heady Topper

Alright, time for a real treat, well, for the reviewers at least. The Alchemist is a small brewery in Vermont that specializes in one beer, Heady Topper. They do put out some other releases these days, but for the most part, it's all about the Heady, which has developed a cult-like following and a reputation as one of the best double IPAs in existence. Thanks a bunch to Gabe for bringing a handful back for all of his beer friends!

Heady is only available in the Vermont area, and it used to be only available in short bursts when a batch was ready, but I believe it's more readily available these days, but still limited to Vermont.  The beer checks in at around 8%, with something like 120 IBU. They say to drink from the can, but when sharing with friends, that's just not very hygenic is it?

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), Brenton Day (The Ale Runner), Chuck Pierce (Me And My Big Mouth), and Buddy Ethridge (Baton Rouge Adventures in Beer).

Serving: Poured from a 16 oz. can.

Appearance: A murky deep gold, very hazy..

Aroma: Hoppy as fuck, lots of grapefruit and Jay picked up some papaya? Tropical fruit hop notes dominate, and it smells insanely fresh.

Taste: Super hoppy, with that grapefruit coming through strong again. Chuck said it was a, "hopsation on the senses" whatever that means! 

Mouthfeel: Perfect, no lingering weird bitterness and extremely easy to drink despite the abv and IBU.

Overall: It lives up to the hype as one of the best DIPAs in the world. If you are ever in the area, grab some, and bring one back for me!

Overall Rating: 93.6
My Rating: 97

Feature Beer Friday! - New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA

Picture taken from
www.brewbound.com

And finally, after appearing in the Louisiana market in early April, it's our first Feature Beer Friday! to feature New Belgium Brewing.  Most people think about Fat Tire when they think New Belgium, but they are about far more than just their signature amber ale. They have put several other year-round releases into the local market, as well as seasonals and several of the Lips Of Faith series.  The Rampant Imperial IPA is one of their year-round offerings, and probably the "biggest" of the year-round beers.

Their take on the 85 IBU, 8.5% abv beer: "A burly and bitter Imperial IPA, Rampant pours a pure copper and carries the sheen of a rightly hopped beer. The Mosaic and Calypso hops bring stonefruit to the front seat, and the addition of Centennials nod towards citrus for a well-rounded aroma. The taste expands these hops with heavy peach tones and a profoundly bitter bite. There is some malt sweetness to stand this beer up, and Rampant's finish is bone-dry."  

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

Serving: 12 oz. brown bottle.

Appearance: Deep gold to amber color, thin white head.

Aroma: I just wrote "hoppy and delicious." Brenton thought it was "citrusy, a touch of cat piss." Dustin thought it was piney more than citrusy.   

Taste: I was let down by the taste... the nice hoppiness on the nose turned into a more harsh bitterness on the tongue without a strong malt backbone to support it.  Dustin agreed, writing, "not as flavorful as I hoped.  Just bitterness." 

Mouthfeel: Too harsh on the bitterness for me.  I like hoppy beers but this one was too out of balance even for me. 
 
Overall: I want to give this one a chance to redeem itself, but this tasting wasn't impressive at all.  We all agreed that it was a little TOO far on the bitter side, and enough so that we didn't want to drink any more of the Rampant.  I feel like it's deserving of another shot though, as taste buds change and sometimes get really distorted when we're sitting down reviewing multiple brews. 


Overall Rating: 63.67
My Rating: 59

New Releases: Stone RuinTen IPA and Abita Select Strawator

First off, releasing TODAY is Stone Brewing's RuinTen IPA, a re-release of last year's hugely successful Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA.  I mentioned it back in April, but it appears the time is now.  Well, probably not exactly now, but LA is on the release list so we should see ours before too long.  They describe the beer as "A stage dive into a mosh pit of hops." Yes please!  

 

Also, look for Abita's new select series, the Strawator starting next week.  Or this weekend at WYES! Next week in town it will be at a handful of places... Chimes East at 4:30 on Wednesday (the 26th) then Pelican House at 6:00 the same day.  Then on Friday the 28th The Bulldog will have it from 6-7 and Red Zeppelin from 7-8.  Plenty of chances to try this new one, which seems like a combination of Strawberry Harvest and Andygator.  They describe it as: 

"Strawator is a take on our most popular Harvest Series beer, Strawberry Harvest Lager. It is a strong golden lager made with malted barley and wheat. Despite being strong, it is still light in color. It is hopped with German Perle hops to give the beer a delicate hop flavor. After filtration, generous amounts of fresh Louisiana strawberry juice is added, giving the beer a pleasant sweet taste and aroma, as well as a nice golden color and slight cloudiness."

It comes in at 8% abv, the same as Andygator.  Worth trying?  Sure.  The last Select series brew, the Mayhawk, was one of Abita's best in recent memory so hopefully this one follows that trend.

Feature Beer Friday! - Russian River Pliny The Elder

Last night I had a couple of beer friends over for some tasting / reviewing for my Feature Beer Friday! series.  Typically I try to stick with locally available beers and throw in a mix of regionally available beers from TX or Alabama, but when Brenton Day of TheAleRunner.com offered to bring over a Pliny, who was I to say no?  (I also stole the picture from him... he'll have to get over it.) So we're going a little out of the region today, but check back the next few weeks for some Southern Tier reviews, which just recently came to Louisiana!

A little more about Pliny The Elder from Russian River Brewing... it's the third highest ranked Double IPA on BeerAdvocate, and it also has the 2nd highest amount of ratings in the top 50.  So basically, a lot of people have tried it, and a lot of people love it.  Russian River is from Santa Rosa, CA in wine country, but they make some of the best beers in the world.  In addition to some awesome IPAs Russian River has a killer line of sour/wild ales that are among the best in the world.  Pliny The Elder is their year-round DIPA available on draft and in bottles, and for those looking to try it I would recommend one of several websites that offers beer shipped to your door, or talk to a friend on the West coast or in Colorado and see if they'll help you out!

On to the review... 

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

Serving: 1 pint, 1.25 fluid ounce bottle.

Appearance: "Copper color with copious amounts of head," was Dustin's comment.

Aroma: Floral & citrus hops, I picked up some pine as well.  Brenton said it was like a "cat pissed on the Christmas tree."  He has cats, and he gave it a 23/25 so I guess that's a good thing.

Taste: Brenton and I both thought it was pine dominant with the hops, but it was never so out of balance that I thought it was bitter for the sake of bitter.  

Mouthfeel: Easy to drink for such a big beer.  

Overall: This is a world-class beer and it lives up to the hype.  One of the best DIPAs around, if you get the chance, give it a try! 


Overall Rating: 89
My Rating: 89

Stone Is Bringing Back Ruination Tenth Anniversary!

It's a happy day for all the double IPA lovers out there, Stone Brewing is bringing back their fantastic 10.8% Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA for another year!  This one came out initially in Summer 2012 (here's my review from that batch!) and now it looks like it will be back for Summer 2013, under a slightly difference name.  I've seen two different label variations dubbing the new release as either the "RuinTen IPA" or simply the "Ruination Anniversary IPA."  Either way, I'm a fan.  Thanks to Dan for bringing the BeerStreetJournal article to my attention, and here's the full press release:

RUINING PALATES SINCE 2002 n June 2012, we celebrated the 10th birthday of our notoriously mega-hopped double IPA, Stone Ruination IPA, with the release of a very special version that was even bigger and, incredibly, even hoppier than the original. If Stone Ruination IPA is “A Liquid Poem to the Glory of the Hop,” then Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA was an amped-up heavy metal version of that ode delivered with the force of a sledgehammer. Luckily for us, our fans love loud and aggressive brews, specifically when copious amounts of humulus lupulus are involved. The original release of this beer was so instantly beloved by those who dared try it [particularly us] that there was no way we could relegate it to one-hit wonder status. You are holding in your hands a veritable hop monster. We dropped the word “Tenth” but the decidedly indelicate recipe is the same as the one first unleashed in 2012. This belligerently delicious ale has the substantial malt backbone needed to stand up to the whopping five pounds of hops packed into each barrel. If all the hyperbole hasn’t frightened you away by now, we know you’ll love this audacious gem of hoppy splendor just as much as we do.

 

Chafunkta Brewing Release Party - Thursday at The Barley Oak!

Alright, Zapp's is over with, I survived, and it's time to get excited for the next beer event!  You don't even have to wait long, as the Chafunkta Brewing release party starts at 7:00 this Thursday, April 11th, at The Barley Oak in downtown Mandeville.  If you made it to Zapp's then you might have tried their beers, but if not (and even if you did) this will be their official commercial release.  

They will be starting out with two beers that will only be available on draft on the north shore to start out so if you want some you're going to have to drive a little.  The two beers are the Voo Ka Ray IPA and the Old 504 Porter.  It's awesome to see a new brewery coming on board with a little more aggressive styles, I know Tin Roof's last two seasonals have been a Coffee Porter and an IPA, but it's always good to see more of these beers coming along locally.  

And if you can't go on Friday, they will be at Mellow Mushroom in Covington Friday night for night #2 of the official release. 

Feature Beer Friday! - Karbach Rodeo Clown DIPA

Time for only our second Feature Beer Friday! trip to Texas, where we have previously seen Shiner Bock put up a respectable 60.67 overall score.  Unlike Shiner, this feature beer from Karbach Brewing is not commercially available in Louisiana.  Karbach is a relatively new brewery in the Houston area located near 290 and 610 fairly close to the old Saint Arnold brewery.  Despite their relative youth, they have blown up in the region and have quickly moved to canning their normal releases and packaging their seasonal and special releases in 22 oz. bombers.

The featured beer is one of their year-round favorites, the Rodeo Clown Double IPA.  It's available throughout the Houston area in 4-packs of cans, so next time you're in Spec's or even the grocery stores over there, you'll be able to find some.  As stated it's a Double IPA in style, coming in at 9.5% alcohol and 85 IBU.  

Reviewers: Eric Ducote (BR Beer Scene), Jay Ducote (Bite And Booze), James Lawson  (Whiskeybomb.com), and Charles (BigMouthPodcast.com).

Serving: 12 oz. red & blue can.   

Appearance: Caramel, a little on the dark side for the style. 
 
Aroma: Rich, hoppy but not overbearing, Jay picked out some molasses as well.  

Taste: I thought the taste was a little muted on the hops compared to the aroma, but still very nice.  Jay agreed as far as the hops go, but we both gave high scores for a well balanced taste. 

Mouthfeel: Creamy, no bad aftertaste.
 
Overall: Karbach impressed us all with this DIPA, giving us a very well balanced and tasty brew.  James, who isn't an IPA fan, thought it was a "tastier beer than it is hoppy" and I wrote that it was an excellent local-ish Double IPA. 

 
Overall Rating: 76.75
My Rating:80

NOLA Mechahopzilla Cans, Check It Out!

Alright, it's old news by now on NOLA's Facebook page or on The Beer Buddha, but here's a preview of what the upcoming NOLA Mechahopzilla cans are going to look like!  

Pretty bad ass if you ask me... and just another sign that the guys over at NOLA Brewing are headed the right direction.  Irish Channel Stout year-round?  Check.  Irish Channel Stout coming in cans as well?  Check.  Mechahopzilla coming in cans?  Check!  I havent' seen a can design for the Irish Channel Stout, but NOLA puts out some of the best beer graphics around, so I'm confident they will be just as cool as this guy.

Keep up the good work guys, and I'll be looking to stock my fridge pretty soon.

NOLA Irish Channel Stout Is Going Year-Round!

Good news from the NOLA Brewing facebook feed, Irish Channel Stout is going to be a year-round beer, with cans also expected sometime in 2013! I've always thought that Irish Channel Stout was one of the best Louisiana craft beers, so this is very exciting news.  It's been slow to make it into Baton Rouge this year, but I know it'll be popping up in some places around town soon.  Hopefully it will be here for good when it makes it!  I've also heard they are going to keep on putting out Mechahopzilla, plus NOLA is looking at a few more special beers this year.  I had a pint of Mechahopzilla last night at Bulldog, so I know it's still around.  

Irish Channel Stout year round, Irish Channel Stout in cans, more Mechahopzilla, and more to come.  Things are definitely looking up for NOLA, and this is very good for Louisiana beer drinkers.

Coming Soon: Stone 4-Packs!

Well alright Stone Brewing (facebook - twitter) fans, 4-packs of three of their "bigger" beers are on the way, including the Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, the Ruination DIPA, and the Oaked Arrogant Bastard.  Oaked Arrogant Bastard and Ruination have been available before in 6-packs, but the Sublimely Self-Righteous was only available in bombers before.  Now it's hard to really be excited about getting 4-packs instead of 6-packs for the first two, since I know damn well that they are really good beers and don't mind getting them six at a time.  

Sublimely Self-Righteous though, that's one I'm excited to see in 4-packs!  I think the different packaging has a number of pros and cons, but buying in 4 or 6 packs is almost always cheaper per ounce than buying bombers and that's just fine for a beer that I know I really like.  For beers that I don't know much about though, I don't usually want to take the plunge and go straight to the packs.  If it's a terrible beer, then I have 3 or 5 bottles that I don't want to drink and have to pawn off on friends.  And I don't like giving friends bad beer, even the ones that claim to not care.  

So... you can bet your hop loving ass I'll be adding some Sublimely Self-Righteous 4-packs to the beer fridge regular rotation when they get here.  It's one of the best black IPAs around and there's nothing wrong with a good black IPA.

 

Review: Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA

It's been a while since I threw out a straight up simple beer review, so when I recently finally got to try the Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA from Stone Brewing (facebook - twitter) I thought it would be the perfect beer to mention here!  Unlike my last two of my last three beer reviews, the Dogfish Head 120 Minute and the Bell's Hopslam, this Stone offering IS available in Louisiana!  Like those two, though, the Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA is a palate destroying hop bomb of a beer. 

It poured a copper color... no haze to it and a finger or so of off-white head.  A very nice looking beer, and I went with the Spiegelau tulip for this one.  In all reality I find that the tulip works with just about any beer style.  It's nice to have a pilsner or hefeweizen glass on the shelf for those styles but the majority of the time a tulip will do the trick. 

The aroma on this one is the first thing that really grabs your attention, and it's outstanding.  A grapefruit and pine hop assault on the nose and a hint at things to come, the description of the beer reads that they amount of hops used in this beer versus the regular Ruination went from 2.5 pounds to 5 pounds per barrel.  And two of those pounds of hops are in the dry-hop variety which is just killer on the nose, and leaves me excited about that first sip. 

And that first sip does not disappoint, as the pine hops come out even more on top of a substantial caramel malt base.  Even though the hops used were increased by 100% the malt used in this one only increased the alcohol content from 7.7% (regular Ruination) to 10.8% in this anniversary batch.  The result is a definite hop-forward beer but it doesn't lose the malt required to finish out a beer this hoppy.  They could have just doubled the amount of hops and left the grain bill alone, but the result would have probably been overly bitter and tough to swallow.  Instead, Stone put together one hell of a nice beer, and I'll be looking forward to trying another bottle soon.

As I said before, this one is available in Baton Rouge, but it's a one-time release and it will go fast, so if you see it on the shelves and you like hoppy beers... do yourself a favor and get one.  Or two. These aren't meant to be aged but I bet you'll want another.

Happy IPA Day Everyone!

It's that time of year... the first Thursday in August... so it's time to celebrate another International IPA Day!  This is actually only the 2nd Annual IPA Day, the brainchild of a fellow beer blogger who took social media by storm to make the first one happen.  I hosted a tasting last year that went very well... a little too well in fact!  I think I need to petition to make IPA Day a Friday instead of a Thursday, but I'm sure I'll be able to tough it out tomorrow at the office.  

I have a few good ones lined up for tonight as well... some Austin Beerworks (facebook - twitter) Fire Eagle IPA thanks to twitter friend and beer lover Lynell (@hopslover) and also three selections from Three Floyds (facebook - twitter) that I picked up in Indianapolis during the Beer Bloggers' Conference.  I have the Dreadnaught DIPA, Apocalypse Cow DIPA, and the Blackheart English IPA... yum! 

So cheers everyone out there, and be sure to try a new IPA today!

Review: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Oh goodie, it's time for another beer review, although one that we unfortunately can't get in Louisiana.  I've tried the 120 Minute a couple of times now, first at a little dive bar in San Antonio and again on tap at Hopjacks in Pensacola.  Wait... I need to write a Hopjacks post... mental note.  Well not long ago I found myself in Delaware and needless to say some Dogfish Head (Facebook - Twitter) was on the menu, and the 120 Minute was out and available.  Jay and I picked up plenty, tried one while we were there and the rest made it back to BR for Mandi, beer nerd friends, and a few for myself!

Well... after letting the inebriation from the Delaware trip pass (more on that in a later post...) I decided that Mandi and I needed to break out one of the 120 Minute IPAs and give it a proper review. 

I poured into a couple of smaller snifter-style glasses, and noticed immediately that there was very little head on this beer.  I wonder if that's a factor of the insane amount of hops that go into this beer?  Not that it's a big deal at all, the smaller head is going to take away absolutely nothing from my enjoyment of the rest of this brew.  

The first thing on the nose is booze.  This is one hell of a boozy beer, but also rich with hops and an underlying malt base that can't be ignored.  To get 18% alcohol in a beer and still have it appear hoppy is amazing without using adjuncts to increase the alcohol content.  

The taste is more of the same... alcohol, malt, and hops all blend together pretty well all things considered.  It's hard to really look at this as an IPA with such a strong abv and so much malt, but it sure is delicious either way.  It's one all craft beer drinkers should try at some point in order to cross it off their bucket list.  

 

Mandi and I both enjoyed this one and I have a few more age... hey, it even says on the bottle that it ages well and the bottle never lies, right?

Review: Bell's Hopslam Ale

Alright, time for another review, this time the Bell's Hopslam Ale... a beer I really wish was available in Baton Rouge but no such luck.  Sometimes I try to avoid writing too much about beers we can't get in the Red Stick, but this one stuck out so much that I felt compelled to let everyone just how awesome this beer is.  There, that's a little foreshadowing for you all, this is a good one so if you see it, buy it!

Bell's Brewery (facebook - twitter) is probably best known for their Two-Hearted Ale, a superbly balanced IPA that is released year round and typically easy to find for those traveling to the Alabama or Florida beaches, or places like Atlanta for say, and SEC sporting event.  The Hopslam is their double IPA, is released seasonally, and is much harder to track down unfortunately.  Brenton of TheAleRunner was kind enough to hook me up with one, so here goes!

I decided to go with a Delirium tulip glass for this one, which fit the 12 ounces of beer perfectly!  It's a deep amber color with a finger so of white head. It has some really nice lacing as well as the head fades away.  This beer looks exactly like what a DIPA should look like, not too dark, not too light, and well carbonated.

The aroma is all hops... a bouquet of hoppiness with just a subtle hint of sweet malt and honey. It's definitely an IPA though, no hiding anything about that with the malt.  The sweetness is a little more present at the front of each sip, before it gives way to a hop assault. It's still very balanced and absolutely delicious.

It's slightly thin, but nothing bad there... good carbonation, hoppy bitter aftertaste but what else would you expect? Honestly... it's world class. There's a reason it's a 99 (or was at the time!) on BeerAdvocate... awesome DIPA.  If you're traveling around in the Midwest or East coast and see some of these in bottles or on tap, try it.  You won't regret it one bit... well, unless you don't like hops.

Cheers everyone!

Brewery Review: Left Coast Brewing Company

Alright, time to talk about a brewery instead of a specific beer!  Left Coast Brewing started distributing to Texas back in August, so if you're ever at Spec's over there look for a few of their regular lineup plus maybe a seasonal or two!  The first one I tried was the Hop Juice Double IPA, probably their signature beer, and it was well received among all of the IPAs we had lined up at the IPA Day tasting!  I need to try it again in a more isolated setting and really appreciate a good beer.

Since then I've also had the chance to try the seasonal Una Mas Amber Lager and the year-round Voo Doo Stout.  Both beers also impressed, but especially the Una Mas which really had a lot of flavor for the typically less than powerful style.  The Board Walk Saison, a summer seasonal was also a pretty solid beer and the year-round Trestles IPA was good but not quite as impressive as the Hop Juice Double IPA.

 














The next chance I get I'd like to try their year-round Asylum Tripel and the other two seasonals, the Wedge Black IPA and Ale Epeteios Imperial Stout really look appealing to me.  Maybe one day these guys will be in Louisiana.  Expansion from California to Texas is a step in the right direction.

Cholula Hot Sauce & Nogne O Imperial IPA

A few weeks ago I received a set of four hot sauces from Cholula, a Mexican company claiming to be the "flavorful fire" so I figured it was time for a little cooking and beer pairing.  The 4-pack of sauces came with the original flavor, chili lime, chipotle, and chili garlic.  I had some fajita beef on hand, so I figured a garlic and jalapeno beef fajita with some chili garlic hot sauce would be pretty tasty... especially paired with the right beer!

The recipe itself was pretty simple, diced up pieces of beef with some olive oil, minced jalapenos and garlic, Cholula chili garlic sauce, and a little Slap Ya Mama cajun seasoning.  I blackened the beef in a cast iron skillet while I debated which beer would be good with some fajitas.  With the hot sauce, another round of hot sauce coming, and the cajun seasoning, I anticipated a bit of a spicy fajita, so I opted to go for a Nogne O Imperial IPA (@nogneo).  I figured a big hoppy beer would counter the spice well and help quench a little bit of burning between bites.

 After the meat was done cooking it was fajita time... a few black olive slices, a generous helping of shredded cheese (4 cheese Mexican blend!) and a little more garlic chili Cholula hot sauce completed each one.  They ended up really nice, spicy and flavorful which was complimented well by the extra hoppy Nogne O beer.  

Cheers, and always remember to drink well when you eat well!

Beer Travels: Bozeman Brewing Company in Bozeman, Montana.

Alright, time to finish off one of my New Year's resolutions with brewery trip #6 on the year, a visit to the Bozeman Brewing Company up in Montana!  After flying in, and a quick rest stop for lunch at Mandi's aunt's place, we headed to the brewery for their nightly open house.

 Apparently law in Montana allows the brewery to sell three pints per person (or one growler refill) per night directly, but only between the hours of 4 to 8.  I guess that's an interesting way to allow breweries to sell direct, but only in smaller quantities, or give daily growler fills to the locals.  So,  we picked out a table in their tasting room, and headed to the bar for the first round, the Amber Ale and Belgian Dubbel.

The space was a little small but it is a small town, and they had 8 of their beers on tap, some of the regulars it seemed plus a few special releases. I did like the atmosphere of the bar area / tasting room a lot and they had a handful of tables with barstools plus some popcorn available.

The beers were outstanding, and cheap! The regular pints were $3.50 and snifters of some of the special releases like their Imperial IPA and Barrel Aged Imperial Stout were only $5. I really liked the Imperial IPA a lot, and Mandi loved the Barrel Aged Imperial Stout which was aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels for a very different and interesting flavor.

The standards were quite good as well, and one of the real highlights was the fresh hop ale made from local hop varieties. It was a real treat and the epitome of drinking local.  Apparently Montana is a real hotbed for hops farms... I did not know that.

All in all a great experience and if I'm ever back in Bozeman I'll be stopping in to see what's new on tap. A must-try for any beer lover stopping through. And with that, I'm am done with another New Year's resolution!

Review: Dogfish Head Squall IPA

Alright, another quick review, this time of the Squall IPA from the now-famous Dogfish Head Brewery (@dogfishbeer) up in Delaware.  Unfortunately these guys don't distribute to Louisiana yet but they can be found all over Texas, including Spec's where I found a bomber of this beer.

It's a hazy amber color with a finger and a half of bubbly white head. This beer is described as a unfiltered bottle-conditioned version of the 90 Minute IPA which is one of the standards for imperial IPAs everywhere. 

It has a nice grapefruit hoppy smell, with a little caramel malt base to it. The taste is more of the same, a well balanced hoppy IPA with a solid base and lots of flavor.

Another good one from Dogfish Head, although I really feel like I'd rather spend my money on a 4-pack of the 90 Minute IPA than a bomber of this one.  It's not remarkably better in my opinion, but I'll have to try them side by side sometime in the future to really make a final call.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A-

Review: Thomas Creek Up The Creek Extreme IPA

Alright, thanks to Roy Bergeron for bringing one of these back from Florida for me.  I'm not sure I'd ever heard of Thomas Creek Brewery out of South Carolina before, but after a little research it seems they also contract brew the BottleTree Blonde Ale that I tried a while back and didn't really care for.  Interesting... hopefully that contract brew isn't indicative of their own beers!

For this one, I served it from a 12 oz. bottle into a Homer Brewing Company snifter.  It's a very deep red color with a small tan head. The retention on the head is great, though, and very nice pooling and lacing on top of the beer.

The nose is very alcoholic and warm, with hints of toffee and then bold hop flavors. This is almost a barleywine to my nose, but that's a good thing. It's fantastic.  It's 12.5% alcohol, so the alcohol notes don't surprise me, but the toffee flavors do.

The taste is also very barleywine-esque in nature with a little more hops but still a warm alcohol kick and definite toffee notes. I really like it, but this isn't quite spot on for the style.

Delicious, just a little misleading to me.  I'm okay with breweries experimenting and not brewing exactly to style but it also can be confusing when they try to label their beer something that it's really not.  At the same time though, many times styles can be blurred and it's not like this isn't plenty hoppy enough to be considered an IPA!  

I'd absolutely drink it again, is the main point.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B+