Great Divide’s Hibernation Ale has finally made its way to cans, and this classic has never seemed more drinkable. The beer pours with an extremely dark brown to ruby coloration and a good amount of decent amount of off-white head that rapidly dissipates. Hibernation Ale goes down incredibly easy, a dangerous proposition when one considers the 8.7% ABV of the brew.
Pouring with an extremely dark brown to nearly black color, the Bourbon Barrel edition of Buffalo Sweat, Tallgrass Brewing Company’s oatmeal cream stout has a nose that is sweet with hints of coffee and chocolate. The aging that Buffalo Sweat goes through imparts hints of vanilla and a spicy bourbon bite to the conclusion of each sip. While the beer is light on the alcohol (5.8% ABV) when compared to…
The Hop Harvest Oktoberfest by Peak Organic Brewing (Portland, Maine) is a marzen that pours with a dark brown color that has a slight touch of orange. The head of the beer is off-white to yellow with a good finger’s worth of foam. The initial nose yields hints of malt and sweetness, trends that are just part of the complex set of flavors that one will experience when cracking into…
Oskar Blues has placed an eponymous IPA into their year-round rotation. The beer pours with a dark yellow /light orange coloration and a good amount of foamy white head. The initial nose of the IPA ties together citrus fruits, grain, and a small bit of malt. The raspberries, pineapple, and a bit of an alcohol burn makes this IPA into something that is just as exciting at the conclusion as…
Smuttlabs Oktoberfest (marzen) pours with a yellow-orange color and a small amount of white head that sits on the top of the beer. There are hints of grain and wheat discernible from the nose of the beer, while one will be immediately impressed with the eminent drinkability of this beer. Smuttynose has hit the mark here, as the resulting Oktoberfest has a good amount of malt, a small hint of…
Fordham Brewing’s Rosie Parks Oyster Stout is built upon oyster shells from the Chesapeake Bay, and it is a wonderfully complex brew that cuts down on the sweet side by inserting a little umami flavor into the mix. The stout pours with a dark brown to black coloration and a decent amount of tan head that rapidly dissipates. This Fordham effort possesses a nose that links together toasted malt and…
Snake River Brewing (Jackson, Wyoming) has created an eponymous Pale Ale which pours with a yellowish-orange coloration and a ton of beige head. Floral and hoppy sides are present in the initial nose on the beer, while the first sip that an individual takes will showcase perfume and rose elements. There is a good amount of grass and wheat notes that make their presence known at the beginning of a…
Samuel Adams’ Fat Jack is the rare example of a pumpkin-themed beer that showcases the natural flavor of the gourd rather than taking up a set of flavors more akin to a pumpkin pie. The beer is a hazy orange-brown color and pours with a small amount of yellowish-tan head that will create lacing down a glass. The initial nose of Fat Jack provides imbibers with some idea about where…
Along with the brewery’s Trippel, Colorado’s New Belgium has also revisited their Abbey, a Belgian-style dubbel. The beer pours with a mahogany brown and a large amount of off-white to beige head. The beer has hints of Belgian yeast and a decent amount of cinnamon and nutmeg. The alcohol content of this Dubbel is perfectly hidden, making for a malty beer that is perfect for the increasingly cold winter months.…
Kansas’ Tallgrass Brewing Company has just released a canned run of their Big RICC, a 10.5% ABV Russian imperial stout (RIS) that includes coffee and chocolate. Big RICC pours with a dark brown to black coloration with a substantive amount of tannish head. The beer laces its way down a glass, while providing imbibers with a good amount of bitterness (both from the inclusion of coffee and the 65 IBUs…
Bocks (or their imperial variant) are a hard beer style to do correctly; a number of bocks end up being toasted sugar bombs without much depth. Cleveland, Ohio’s Portside Distillery has crafted something special in their Gambrinus Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Bock. There is a good amount of malt that is immediately present, a taste that is quickly muted with hints of vanilla and bourbon granted it during its time…
Toaster Pastry marks the previous life of 21st Amendment’s facilities; this effort is described by San Leandro’s 21st Amendment as an “India style red ale”. The beer’s name is a bit of a misnomer, but what ultimately results from Toaster Pastry is an eminently drinkable beer that takes the best points of the IPA and red styles and melds them together seamlessly. There is a good malt presence that imbues…
Left Hand Brewing Company (Longmont, Colorado) has released their latest seasonal, Oktoberfest. The beer is a marzen with a dark yellow / light mahogany coloration. There is a decent tannish to brown head that laces its way down the glass, with has good amounts of sweet and malt elements. The 6.6% ABV of Left Hand’s Oktoberfest calms down the sweeter elements of the beer; instead of taking on a more…
Bergamonster Imperial Wheat is the latest offering in Two Roads Brewing’s Road Less Traveled Series. This unfiltered wheat ale pours with a light yellow coloration and a small amount of whitish head. Lacing is pretty thick along a glass. Two Roads’ imperial wheat ale packs a kick at 8.2% ABV, blending together a strong alcohol bite with sweeter (the titular Bergamot, lemon, and orange) and hoppier elements.
The inclusion of coffee into the latest Maui Brewing Company seasonal, Doppelshot Doublebock does a good job at hiding some of the overly sweet elements that can sometimes be discerned from the bock style. Doppelshot pours with a hazy dark brown – light orange coloration and a small amount of wispy white head that trails its way down a glass or mug. The ABV (8.2%) is similarly well hidden with…
Great Raft’s Commotion APA pours with a yellow/gold coloration and a solid amount of fluffy white head. Lacing traces its way down the glass, showcasing the progression that one has on the beer. The ale’s nose is heavy with mango, pine, and caramel.
The Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale pours with a hazy coloration and a good amount of whitish head. One can easily taste rthe different sides of Blue Moon’s latest seasonal; the hazy hefeweizen-esque notes of the Blue Moon poke through while the cinnamon notes are much more strongly noticed. There is a bit of creaminess that puts the beer more in line with a nitro mouthfeel.
New Belgium has thought long and hard, reformulating their Trippel. The beer pours with a gold/yellow color and a small amount of head that laces its way down the bottle. The nose of this trippel is sugary and sweet, something that is moderated well by wheat and malt elements when one takes their initial sip. The high-ABV of this beer is hidden perfectly through these bold flavors of banana, cereal,…
Aspen Brewing Company’s 10th Mountain is an imperial oatmeal stout, an absolutely delectable beer that pours with an extremely dark brown to black coloration and a good amount of tannish head that is slow to dissipate. There is little that is given up with the initial nose of this imperial oatmeal stout, but the silken mouthfeel and bold tobacco, chocolate, and barley elements make for a dangerous combination. The beer…
Upland’s (Bloomington, Indiana) Oktoberfest offering pours with a light orange coloration and a small amount of offwhite head. The good amount of malt present in Upland’s take on the typical Oktoberfest offering is matched perfectly with a decent alcohol bite. A small amount of hops are included in the overall flavor profile to stave off the sweetness present in the marzen style. The crispness of this beer is unheard of…