Battleground is Mantra Brewing’s farmhouse ale, an effort that pours with a hazy dark-yellow to gold color. There is a solid amount of whitish head that laces its way down the glass. The head (and lacing) is tenacious, but does ultimately fade. The nose of Battleground has heavy amounts of grain and floral elements present, while the initial sip of the ale is surprisingly dense in terms of flavors. Bits of…
Over the course of the last few years, the microbrewery scene in Akron has caught fire. It makes sense that Akron would have a celebration about these breweries, and on Saturday (6/25) at The Trolley Barn (47 N. Main Street), the first Akron Ale Fest will take place. A variety of long-time and newer microbreweries will be serving at the event. Thirsty Dog, Mucky Duck, Aqueduct Brewing, R. Shea, Hoppin’…
Shenanigans Summer Ale is Indeed Brewing’s latest seasonal, and it looks to capture the lawnmower beer market. At the base level, there is no denying that Shenanigans is able to revamp the wheat ale format in a fashion that few beers can. The ale has a good amount of wheat and grain elements that are married to a small hint of bitterness at the conclusion of each sip.
Moon Phase, from Fort Point Beer Co (San Francisco, CA) pours with a bronze to moderately brown coloration with a fair amount of slightly off-white head. The nose of the brew is fairly mysterious; light hints of brown sugar and malt can be discerned. Individuals will not receive their first full experience with the brew until their first sip, which comes forth with hints of dark fruit, toasted malt, brown…
Canis Mexicanus is a spiced version of Wolf’s Ridge Russian Imperial Stout, Dire Wolf. The beer pours with a dark brown coloration and only the smallest in the way of head. The initial nose of Canis Mexicanus is heavy with chocolate and a hint of cayenne pepper. The first sip of the RIS will yield an assertive cinnamon, cayenne, and black coffee set of flavors. After a few moments to open…
Chubna is one of the tastiest efforts that we have received so far in 2016. The brew links together a sharp alcoholic nose with hops and more sweet-forward elements into an incredibly complex and fulfilling effort. The linking together of Old Chub (Oskar Blues’ scotch ale) with Gubna (their Imperial IPA) is already an interesting proposition, but the brewery has placed the resulting brew in Buffalo Trace barrels to impart…
Nadia Kali is the latest seasonal from Great Divide, and showcases a bright, crisp, and dry set of flavors. The beer pours with a moderate brown color with a slight hint of reddish coloration. An initial nose yields floral hints along with a small amount of sweet smell. When one has their first sip of Nadia Kali, they will be greeting with citrus hints along with strong wheat / grain…
Many times, individuals are locked into a specific beer for four or six bottles. It was surprising to us that Summit Brewing offered two distinct threads of beers in their Unchained 21. This means that one is given a shot at a unique session IPA and an India Pale Ale.
We are continually impressed by what’s Minnesota’s indeed Brewing is putting out on a regular basis and their LSD beer may be the best canned effort that we have received from them. After a long run, receiving their IPAs and Imperial Stouts I must admit I was a little trepidatious when I received this beer from the brewery. Indeed’s Lavender Sunflower Date is a honey ale. The style seems to…
Richmond, Virginia’s Strangeways Brewing has created four distinct variants of their Ape Armageddon Imperial Stout, all which have been aged in different barrels. We received the set – a Caribbean Rum barrel-aged, Kentucky Rye whiskey barrel-aged, Tequila barrel-aged and a Kentucky bourbon-barrel aged variant.
We have had ample opportunities to cover Smuttynose beers in the past but I think few of their efforts have been as big and as bold as their Imperial Stout aged in wine barrels, The Stallion. Smuttynose’s The Stallion Imperial Stout possesses a robust dark and intensely dense set of flavors immediately become prevalent after one opens a bottle.
Taming the Savage Heart, the latest release from Austin, Texas’ Oddwood Ales (a subsidiary of Adelbert’s) is a great entry into the subset of sour beers, a blend of younger and older barrel-aged efforts. The brewery does well to provide a nuanced and varied flavor profile here, avoiding the tendency by some breweries to create something akin to sucking on a warhead. As a result the brewery is able to go…
The base Yeti Imperial Stout is one of Great Divide’s (Colorado) most popular beers and as a result, the brewery has created a bevy of different variants of the stuff. The Oak Aged Yeti is fairly straightforward in that it is the base beer that has been aged for some time in Oak barrels. We cracked open a bottle and were greeted with a brown to dark brown coloration and…
Igor’s Dream is an always-highly anticipated Russian Imperial Stout from Connecticut’s Two Roads Brewing. The beer pours with a dark brown to nearly black coloration and only the smallest in the way of a head lays on the top of a poured glass.
A number of the previous experiences that NeuFutur had with barleywines were not overly impressive. The beer tasted grainy and boozy without much in the way of other flavors that came into focus. It was very nearly enough to go and keep us from purchasing any other beers in that style. We received a bottle of the 2015 edition of Two Brothers’ Bare Tree, having such a dense and detailed…
Slipknot IPA, the latest effort from Oregon’s Full Sail Brewery is a well-balanced India Pale Ale that will provide individuals with a good amount of hops as well as enough malts to cut down on some of the bigger elements that tends to be present with a great many IPAs. Slipknot has a bit of wheat and grain that provides further variety to the beer ensuring that one will be…
Flight of the Angry Beast is a blended beer utilizing equal amounts of three different Clown Shoes brews; Blaecorn Unidragon aged in scotch barrels, Billionaire in scotch barrels, and Undead Party Crasher in bourbon barrels. This means that the resulting effort succeeds completely with its unification of barley wine and imperial stout styles.
Anger is a black India Pale Ale from Michigan’s Greenbush Brewing, a rare example of a Black IPA done right as it actually has the bitterness that is required to make a solid foray into the style. Where a number of black IPAs suffer is in the blends of malts and hops, something that is mastered by Greenbush. The beer pours with a dark brown to black coloration and a…
Smistletoe, Smuttynose’s take on a biere de garde, pours with a vibrant pink coloration. Smuttynose is celebrating winter with a delectable beer that possesses a number of sweet, tart and refreshing aspects. Smistletoe is the perfect sort of festive beer in that no two sips will be exactly alike. There is a light body to this that ferries a wide set of tastes whether by cherries, white grapes and even…
Coronado Brewing Company’s Bobble Head Red IPA has a perfect blend of malts and hops, creating a richness to the effort that is hard to deny. Despite a pretty heavy amount of hops (65 IBU), Bobble Head is not too bitter nor is it too wheaty; there is something that fans of the India Pale Ale (IPA) style can appreciate. What results in this Coronado effort is a great balance,…