Double Daddy

This is a double IPA from Speakeasy Brewery. It's a coppery brown color with a fruity bitter nose. The taste is very nectary with a late fruity burst before a dry finish. It is also not overly carbonated, which might be because it was poured into a warm glass.

Christmas!

This is a holiday beer purchased because its a holiday ale and because it has a cool label (elves pouring beers for a bear and a reindeer). I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of this imperial stout. Not too strong to knock my socks off. But not a watery stout that was too weak to catch my attention. Nice chocolatey nose. Thick dark pour with a creamy tan head. Love these holiday ales.

Hop hog

I have bought beer for a number of reasons -- label, brewery, recommendation -- and this falls in the "label" category. I like the hop hog on this label. The beer, well, it wasn't too bad. With a name like hop hog, I expected a high IBU that would blow my socks off. It didn't. And, it was bitter, but not with a citrusy or floral hops taste. I will look up what hops they used, for my own edification, but I'm not sure I'd brew with them. If I brewed.

Coffee stout

When I left Chicago, Lagunitas was preparing to open a brewery outside the city. I thought that was pretty cool because I like a Little Sumpin Sumpin, if you know what I mean. Although I don't drink coffee, I like coffee ice cream and beer. This is no exception. If a beer bills itself as a pumpkin, coffee, smoked or chocolate ale, I expect to taste it. Not just subtle undertones of flavor. I want to be bit over the head. Knocked out. This did not knock me out, but it had substantial cappuccino flavor. Laudable.

Sly fox

I've tried a number of Sly Fox ales (pre-blog), but I don't think I've tried this one before because I'm relatively new to the IPA world. I liked this -- thought it was pretty citrusy, and it reminded me of a Six Point Resin, which I also like. I have three saved in the fridge and I'm pretty sure I will make good use of them!

New picture, new blog entry

I remember the first time I tried Mad Elf - circa 2006, center city, on tap, pre-Flyers game. Well, a lot has changed. First, no hockey this year. (Boo.) Second, I'm no longer living in Philadelphia. (Neutral.) Third, this one is in a bottle rather than on tap. It is labeled as an ale brewed with honey and cherries. It tastes a little like a trippel with some extra spices. At 11% abv, it's pretty enjoyable. Of the Troegs offerings, I think it's my favorite.

Hippie

I may have blogged about this beer before, but this picture is worth another entry. I still enjoy the beer as much as the name and label. Although its called flower power, it has a nice citrusy hoppy taste. This is a light enjoyable hoppy IPA. I really liked this and I was happy to get up to NY to pick up another six-pack.

Still more pumpkin

Out in the stix for 36 hours, I was able to pick up a four-pack of this Allentown ale. It had a pretty good pumpkin nose, but right past the first taste, it had a funny bitter taste--almost like someone forgot to wash the suds out of the bottle before they poured in the ale. If they remove that weird sharp bitterness (which seems out of place in a pumpkin ale), then I think I would like this ale.

More pumpkin ales

This is a Rogue Pumpkin Patch Ale. I abandoned my quest for a pumpkin ale after Thanksgiving (and finding Elysian), but could not resist this bottle at the Wegman's over the holiday weekend. The bar was low and this exceeded it, by quite a bit. I liked the pumpkin taste, but could have used a bit more. I got a good blast of the spices, though, so overall, I found this pretty good. Glad I picked up a spare bomber.

Yards IPA

Yards brews two of my favorite ales (Brawler and TJ Tavern Ale) plus a rising favorite (Ben Franklin Spruce Ale). When I last tried the Yards IPA, I was in my trippel phase, so I did not enjoy it. Now that I've been expanding my palette, I thought I'd give it another shot. This IPA seems like a British style IPA--not as overly hopped and citrusy as a west coast IPA, but more like a slightly over-hopped ESB. I liked it, but not if I were looking for a high IBU ale.

Toasted

Before you leap to any conclusions, the toasted describes the beer, not the drinker. I like smoked beers, which is how this was described to me, but I like really toasted beers. This had a mild smoky taste on top of what seemed to me to be a non-offensive lager. I found it acceptable, but not something I would seek out on my own.

ESB

This is my first Alesmith, as far as I can remember. It's a brewery from California, but southern Cali (San Diego). This has a sharp bitterness on the nose and the taste. It seems pretty balanced by the malts, but the bitterness persisted throughout the taste. I think this wasn't bad, but the $4.99 per bomber bottle seemed too cheap for a real beer?

Omitted

After a lengthy break from blogging, but not from sampling, I'm back in action. I picked this beer based on the simple label. I was fooled. This is a Widmer Bros. beer. Confession, I've never been a Widmer fan. But I found this not too objectionable. It has the nose of an English bitter and the taste, too. Nice malty profile with a hefty bitterness on the front followed by a sweet mellow finish. The color is a deep amber. I wouldn't seek it out, but it beats the macros, in my opinion.

More pumpkin ales!

Ok, this might be the best pumpkin ale I've had this year. I think the brewery is Elysian, but the bartender pronounced it- el-uh-shun. I always thought it was like Elysian Fields, but I don't have a dog in that fight. The Schay glass was a surprise, and included for a friend.

I have been on a quest for a pumpkiny pumpkin ale. I think I've found it. This is brewed with a massive amount of actual pumpkin (according to the label) and tons of spices. I really liked this ale. It had a malty base, but not too heavy to drown out the wonderful chorus of spices. I'm going to look for this one again. I don't think I've heard of this brewery before.

More pumpkin ale

This is a Crooked line oak aged imperial pumpkin. I managed to pour it with an oversized head, as I usually do. It had a mild pumpkin smell, but a more overwhelming imperial (alcohol) taste, which, at 10.x abv, does not seem necessary. This pumpkin was ok, but there was a better pumpkin ale at the table.

Namaste, bit€#e$

The subject for this post is a line from a tv show, one of my guilty pleasures. If you know it, I'll buy you a beer. Now on to my thoughts about the beer. I not so carefully poured a glass and the light foamy head erupted like a volcano. After cleaning up the mess, I sat down to taste it. This is a witbier, brewed with coriander and orange. I don't know what type of yeast they use, but it tastes a little Bretty to me. It's fairly crisp for a witbier, but, despite the coriander and orange, I thought it was missing something. The only way I can think to describe it is hollow. Maybe the taste escaped when it overflowed my glass.

Burton Baton

I'm an occasional fan of Dogfish head--I think some of their ales are pretty good, but I think some others have too many different flavors and/or too high an alcohol content. This oak-aged ipa was pretty good. It has a reddish brown color and an oaky taste that balances the bitter hops. The 75-minute oak aged ipa that I had at the brewery last December is still my favorite DFH ipa, but I also enjoyed this.

Pumpkin fest 2012

Fall is here and I have been in search of a good pumpkin ale or lager. This is a Starr Hill Boxcar porter. Before I comment any further, I have a disclaimer--I like pumpkin (except pie, but thats another story). And, if I'm having something pumpkin, I'd like to taste the pumpkin. Having said that, this pumpkin porter was pretty good. I got a good scent of pumpkin on the nose, but slightly less on the taste. It had a creamy rich head topping a deep chocolate color. I liked this, but I'm not ending my quest just yet.

German blonde

After a week on the cruise ship, we discovered that one of the bars had this German blonde lager. So we tried it. Verdict - mediocre. It was a little too sweet for my taste. And it did not have a lager taste to it. I assumed it was an ale, until I read the label.

Alaskan Oatmeal Stout

I'm a new fan of Alaskan Brewing. And this oatmeal stout did not disappoint. It poured with a creamy but thin head. I'm too congested to tell what it smelled like, but I think I got a good taste. It started with a high octane type of taste, which I'm not sure how to describe, and finished with a smooth, sweet mocha taste. Two thumbs up for this oatmeal stout.