A Hoppy Brewing Trio!

Time for another 3-in-1 review... this time three brews from the Hoppy Brewing Company out of Sacramento, CA.  I picked up three bombers of their brews at Tipple's Brews in Gainesville way back in January, but it turns out 30 new beers goes a decent way!  I had never heard of Hoppy Brewing Co. before... certainly never seen them in Louisiana and I don't ever remember seeing them in Houston either so they made an easy choice as a few to add to the beer run.  

I started off with the Stony Face Red Ale, a5.6% alcohol American amber/red ale that I poured from the 22 oz. bottle into an imperial pint glass.  It's a bubbly deep copper color, no haze at all, with a creamy light head. Not a big head, but good retention and lacing.  Wine has "legs" and beer has the lacing of the head on the sides of the glass to add to that visual effect.

The smell is malty, a little metallic, not much hop presence. Unfortunately there's not a lot going on in the nose.  The taste is even more metallic to me... malt flavor dominates as it should for the style but it's a little rough around the edges. The balance is way off to me... just not very good.

Unfortunately I don't have another one of these on hand to see if this was just a bad bottle... I do have two more from Hoppy Brewing so I guess I'll see if I like them any better.  Not a good start, but we'll see where these CA guys go from here.

My Rating: C-

BeerAdvocate: B  (but the last 5 are all in the C range...)

Amber/Red Ale

 

Up next was the Hoppy Claus Holiday Ale... okay, this one should be better as I'm generally a fan of the Winter Warmer style of beer.  And it might be warm outside now but it was a lot cooler last week when I drank this one!  As usual... poured from a 22 oz. bottle into an imperial pint glass.

This one pours a deep orange color... hazy with a two-finger or so head. It has good retention and lacing. Definitely a good looking beer, but the Stony Face Red Ale looked good but tasted pretty bad. Don't want to get my hopes up yet.  There's not a very strong aroma... what is there is the typical winter warmer spice bouquet. Ginger and nutmeg and a little malt and hops but nothing is too powerful.

Fortunately the flavor is a lot more full... the spices come through, with a hint of floral hops and honey malts. Very good, certainly a step up from the weak aroma.  I really like the creamy thicker mouthfeel... just a hint of bitter aftertaste leaves it a mark or so down. I'd definitely give this beer another try, a very nice winter warmer.  A definite step up from the last beer.

My Rating: A-

BeerAdvocate: B-

Last up in this threesome of brews was the Total Eclipse Black Ale... an American stout with a pretty badass label in my opinion.  Guess what... I poured it from a 22 oz. bottle into a imperial pint glass to drink and review.

It's a dark brown beer, fairly impenetrable with a light brown bubble head. Good retention and lacing. All the Hoppy Brewing beers I've tried have been pretty good looking beers, that's for sure.

The smell is faint of chocolate and roasted malts... a little metallic twinge to it. The taste is a little subdued too... mostly a roasted flavor to it, like charred malts. There is a charred aftertaste and really no hops to speak of. It's alright, but nothing special.

It's kinda thin, not much body to speak of... I'd drink it again, but I wouldn't hunt it down.  

 

My Rating:  C+

BeerAdvocate: B

Stout

 

All in all I was left a little disappointed with the Hoppy Brewing Company.  Also a little surprised that they didn't focus more on pale ales with a name like Hoppy!  Still, part of this 365 in 2011 goal was to expand my horizons to new breweries and new styles.  I knew they weren't all going to be my new favorites, but as much as I'll know which breweries and style to seek out when I'm done, I'll know a few to avoid as well!

The Bulldog BR - 3 New Beers

There really aren't too many good options when it comes to a variety of draft beer in Baton Rouge.  There are a lot of places with the standard Mockler Beverage 4-beer lineup, some places like Ivar's, Schlitz & Giggles, Happy's, and a few others with a better tap range of around a dozen beers, and then a few places like The Chimes and The Bulldog that actually put together a pretty good tap lineup.  

Last Thursday I met up with Jay at The Bulldog for happy hour before we headed over to Monjuni's for a muffoletta tasting for one of his upcoming articles.  I knew Abita had a vanilla porter as their select brew, so I wanted to give it a try before it was too late!  I also knew they had the NOLA Irish Channel Stout on tap, and was looking forward to giving that one a try.

Unfortunately I was already too late for the Vanilla Porter... apparently it went quick!  Oh well, on to the new Abita Select, an Imperial Stout.  Poured into a shaker pint glass from the tap... it a good looking stout, dark body with a finger worth of creamy off-white head.   This is basically what a brewer should be shooting for with the appearance of a stout beer.

This one packs a rich malty-chocolate aroma and a taste to back it up.  It's a little sweet up front then finishes off with a bitter roasted kick. The 8.5% abv isn't too apparent in the flavor of this one, it doesn't kick or have a warm burn like a strong beer usually would.

My biggest complaint would be that it's a little thin but it's still a solid imperial stout. As usual, Abita's select series outperforms their flagship brands.

 

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: B

After trying the Abita Imperial Stout, it was on to the NOLA Irish Channel stout... a seasonal brew from the guys at NOLA that I didn't want to miss out on.  I know their next seasonal, the "Flambeau Red" is about to roll out so it was now or never for this one.  First off, that picture really is a second picture, not just a different photo of the Abita Imperial Stout.  They really look that similar!  Which is a good thing, considering this is what a stout should look like.

This one didn't have a strong aroma to it. A little bit of sweeter malts come through, and just a hint of chocolate. The taste is much more rich and bitter, chocolatey and strong.  The flavors hit a lot harder on the taste than in the aroma.  This is definitely not a dry stout despite the Irish in the name.  I'm not a New Orleanian, but I'm pretty sure the Irish Channel is one of the many neighborhoods of the city?

Good full bodied mouthfeel, not boozy at all... another solid beer from NOLA.  These guys continue to impress and represent Louisiana craft beer well.

My Rating: B+

BeerAdvocate: A

After that I had time for one more, and scanned the beer list and new additions for something new... voila, the Saint Arnold Christmas Ale was still on tap!  I've tried a handful of beers from Saint Arnold, but never the Christmas Ale... so the seasonal offering was the perfect beer for adding a third new one to my list.  It's a clear amber color, small head, nothing to look at here folks, move on.  In all reality it's a pretty mediocre looking beer.  Maybe it's just the pour from the bar, but not impressive.

The smell is spicy with a hint of pine.  From a Christmas Ale I tend to expect a little cinnamon and ginger and other Christmas spices, but they aren't here... at least not in any abundance.  The taste is more subdued, mild hops but they are there.  There are fruity flavors mostly, pear and grape? This one confuses me more than any beer I've had in a while. I'm still not getting any typical winter warmer spices.

It's a good beer, one I'd definitely drink again, but a confusing beer.  It's not very consistent with the style, or at least this one didn't measure up.

My Rating: B-

BeerAdvocate: B

And from there it was on to Monjuni's to take some pictures for Jay's next article.  They even surprised me by having a beer in bottles that I'd never tried before!  That'll have to be the next blog post, coming tomorrow!  

Count at the end of this post: 19 out of 365.

Sam Adams Winter Classics in Review...

The Sam Adams Winter Classics lineup... from left to right, Winter Lager, Holiday Porter, Boston Lager,White Ale, Chocolate Bock, and Old Fezziwig Ale.  I mentioned the lineup a week or so ago and have had the chance to try all of them and here are a few bullet point thoughts on the mixed 12-pack.  

1. The clear winner in my opinion was the Old Fezziwig Ale... a nice Winter Warmer with a good blend of spices, malts, and hops.  The hype on this one wasn't far off at all.
2. The regular old Boston Lager is an underrated beer.  I never seem to order Sam Adams when I'm out, but this is a much better lager than I remembered.  It's hoppier than I expected but still with a decent malt balance to it.  Unlike some lagers, there is actual flavor in this one.
3. The Chocolate Bock missed the mark for me.  It had more of a coffee flavor to it and what hops were there conflicted with, rather than blended with, the malt flavors.  
4. The other three beers are all solid "B" beers and definitely pleasing to the palate but nothing too special about them for the styles.  The Winter Lager can be found on its own but the White Ale and Holiday Porter are only available in this pack.
5. The pack is definitely worth getting for a party or something of that nature where you're intending to share, but I'm not sure I'd want to regularly buy them for myself.  Part of that is because I like to try new beers, but also I wasn't thrilled by half the beers in here.

I'm glad I gave it a try, if for nothing else than I had forgot how solid of a beer the regular old Sam Adams Boston Lager is.  Cheers!