Tuesday, January 31, 2012

ROGUE Juniper Pale Ale

On a cool winter day in Florida I decided to pop the top on a brew I have been wanting to try for several months.  A juniper beer has always intrigued me, a beer with flowers.  I mean it's not far fetched, flowers, herbs and spices are what ancient brewers used long before hops! As many readers of the blog probably know, Rogue Brewing Co, is located in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon.  Rogue started as a 10bbl brewery in the basement above a 60 seat brew pub and has grown into one of the nations largest craft breweries.


The beer pours into my pint glass and is a light copper color with a thin white head that does not last, and has minimal lacing.  The aroma of this ale is different to say the least.  There is a mild hop aroma, and juniper pours through in the nose, followed by a touch of apple and pear, and an ever so subtle citrus note.  The first thing I notice is the tingle of carbonation on my tongue, followed by the sweetness of the juniper.  I also detect slight pine dryness.  Followed by a nice malt backbone bringing up the rear Crystal malt is what I taste the most of..  Overall I would say this beer would be very refreshing on a summer day.  I believe I would buy it again! This is a solid B+ beer!

Disagree with my review?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Cheers!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Cigar City Humidor Series IPA

Well, lets keep the reviews moving along in 2012!  Over the weekend I had the pleasure of coming across a beer from my favorite (almost local) brewery.  Cigar City Brewing Company, they are located in Tampa Florida, roughly 200 miles from me.  Every single offering I've had from CCB has been TOP NOTCH!  So needless to say I was pleased coming across the Humidor Series IPA which is a special edition of sorts of their Jai Alai IPA.


The 'Humidor Seris' ales are aged with Spanish Ceder added to the tanks!  For those of you that are not cigar smokers, Spanish ceder is the wood used to line all humidors for storing cigars.

Moving on the ale pours into my snifter with 1.5'' of nice slightly offwhite head, that does not dissipate quickly, the ale is a beautiful amber/copper color.  The aroma of this IPA is wonderful, floral notes, followed by wonderful citrus hop notes, grapefruit if you will with ceder tones from the wood.  The first sip is smooth with sweet malt up front followed by more floral and citrus hop notes, and finishing with a slight woody tase from the ceder. The carbonation is crisp and this ale feel light in your mouth and flavorful to the last drop.  This beer also is no slouch coming in at 7.5% ABV.  Great beer to enjoy a basketball game with on a crisp Saturday afternoon!

I will rate this beer a solid A- minus!  One of the better IPA's i've ever had.  It is not one sided, the malt/hop balence is great!  This is not HOP JUICE as some IPA's tend to be!  Grab one when you see it! You'll be pleased I think!

CHEERS!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout

Moving along here in 2012, and hoping to come across a much better brew after the last review.  Grocery shopping at the organic market I cam across look looked like a gem!  Bell's Special double Cream Stout!  I have reviewed Bell's Brewing Co's beer before and have been impressed!  Bell's is located in Michigan and have been brewing up goodness since 1985.


Pouring the stout into my glass it pours smoothly and appears to have light carbonation, a rather vigorous pour resulted in a 1" loose khaki color head that disparates rather quickly.  The aroma of the ale is sweet with notes of chocolate, caramel, coffee, and roasted barley! The stout is very dark of course, holding my glass up to light I cannot see any light passing through.  The flavor and mouth are fantastic!  Smooth, and silky on the tongue with light carbonation.  The name for the beer "Cream Stout" does not come from any sort of dairy product within the beer, it's simply to reference the smoothness, or creaminess of the beer.  The flavor however is wonderful, the notes of chocolate from the aroma come through, followed by caramel, then roasted barley, with hints of spices and wood.  The stout has a robust and slightly smokey taste as well.  I cannot taste any alcohol for it to be 6.1%ABV.

This is a solid beer! I rate it a B+ very nice, enjoyable!

This beer can be obtained locally at the Earth Fair Market in Tallahassee FL.

Disagree with my review leave your own in the comments!

Cheers! 


Friday, January 6, 2012

Sea Dog Hazelnut Porter

So, I have been wanting to get back into blogging and reviewing beers, but have just been swamped.  So now, here I am a few months later rejuvenated from vacation, about to change jobs, feeling like a million bucks.  So I thought lets get back on the horse and maintain this awesome slice of the internet in 2012.

Now, let the beer flow!  I will start the New Year with a new beer to me, Sea Dog Hazelnut Porter.  I'm a huge fan of Hazelnuts and porters, what could be better right?  WRONG!  Before we get into that lets talk a bit about the brewery.  The Sea Dog brewing Company is a microbrewery located in the Atlantic north east in Maine.  They have 3 locations throughout the state.  Sea Dog has one numerous awards, and their hazelnut porter has even won several on it's own!  Sea Dog has been brewing since 1993.


As I pour the porter into my glass, I am able to produce a 1/4" khaki colored head.  The ale is a very dark ruby color.  Most likely around 45 SRM.  Overall a great looking porter.  The aroma in my opinion was not very strong slight coffee, and caramel notes.  Hints of spice and very little hazelnut.  The flavor is very malty, with even more coffee notes, it almost tastes like scorched coffee with a hazelnut flavor to cover it, I also detect a slight buttery taste on the back-end and again more hints of hazelnuts.  The mouth feel was pleasant,  with light carbonation.  Overall I was disappointed with this beer. I didn't even finish it.  The burnt taste was jsut more then I could bare with about 4 ounces of the beer left.

I will rank this beer a solid C....I was not impresses with this particular beer from Sea Dog I will look into others they offer to see if my opinion can be swayed.

This beer can be had locally in Tallahassee from any ABC Liquor store.

Disagree with my review?  Leave your own in the comments!
Cheers!