For more information visit Breckenridge Brewery
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Breckenridge Lucky U IPA
For more information visit Breckenridge Brewery
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Great Divide Hibernation Ale
Whether it's a trend or coincidence, once again I am tasting a malty brown/amber ale. This time it is Great Divide's "Hibernation Ale". As part of their seasonal line, Hibernation is an English-Style Old Ale. This robust, malty complected ale is available October through January and has three GABF medals to it's credit. Hibernation pours a deep rich amber color with modest two finger, off-white head. It's aroma is a roasty warm malt with a hint of nuttiness. The complex taste features are of roasted chocolate malt with a hint of vanilla and brown sugar. Hibernation packs a punch at 8.7% ABV, but still reflects a deep rich character found in many well balanced barrel-aged beers. I detected notes of a piney hop, possibly Chinook, but nothing is listed. The beer is dry-hopped though. All-in-all I very much enjoyed Hibernation Ale and would recommend that you give it a try. Well, maybe come October.
Cheers!
For more information visit Great Divide Brewing Co.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Smuttynose Old Brown Dog Ale
For more information visit Smuttynose Brewing Co.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Magic Hat Ravell
Had an opportunity to pick up the winter seasonal variety pack from Magic Hat called "Winterland". The pack contains three bottles each of four different Magic Hat selections. Included in this pack are: "Howl" a Black Lager, "Encore" a Wheat IPA, "Ravell" a Vanilla Porter and their flagship "#9" an English Style Pale Ale. For this tasting I'll talk a bit about Ravell, which is a done in the traditional English Porter fashion and an "Oliver Twist" thrown in with the use of whole Vanilla Bean. The beer pours a deep dark brown, almost black as most Porters do, with a bone off white color head. Retention was rich and frothy, but quickly dissipating. The aroma was very much of roasted malt and vanilla. The roasted malt carried on through to the taste and became very chocolatey. This is likely from the use of Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malts. It's at this point that I lost the Vanilla aspect of the beer, which was a bit of a let down. Although tasty, it would have been nice for the Vanilla to have carried through. I should fess though, I have a strong bias toward Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter, which is on my five star list. As is with most Porters you shouldn't expect much in the way of hop character, but it should be noted that Magic Hat list this beer as using only Apollo hops. Which would technically make it a "single hop" beer. With an ABV of 5.8% Ravel is quite sessionable. And while there is still a chill in the air, it's also a nice beer to enjoy until the temperatures begin to warm. Just a reminder, Winterland is a winter seasonal variety pack, so it may not be long for the shelves at your favorite beer merchant. Cheers!
For more information on Ravell visit: Magic Hat Brewing Co.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Hoppy Brewing Co. Stony Face Red Ale
Our first sampling of the New Year comes from Hoppy Brewing Co. out of Sacramento CA. We're trying their "Stony Face Red Ale". The beer pours a murky light brown, not really red, with a fluffy off-white head. The aroma is musty with a tinge of sweetness. It's flavor is a blend of roasty bitterness, coming from the use of Dark Caramel and Chocolate Malts, and the infusion of Nugget and Cascade hops. The malt blend was initially interesting but the hop bitterness quickly overpowered the flavor of the beer. The lack of traditional hop aromatics and rounded hop flavor will likely not appeal to hop heads. This is a good beer but not what I would expect from a hoppy Red Ale. The encouraging aspect of Stony is that it's quite sessionable at 5.6%ABV. Hoppy Brewing doesn't list the IBU's and it's hard to tell whether the bitterness is coming from the hop or the malt roasting. I'm leaning toward the malt. Unfortunately the name of a beer sets up an expectation. For me Stony Face Red Ale drank much more like a bitter Brown Ale rather than a Red Ale. So give it a try and judge for yourself. Cheers!
For more information on Hoppy brewing and their beers visit: Hoppy Brewing Company
For more information on Hoppy brewing and their beers visit: Hoppy Brewing Company
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Thanks to everyone for your support during 2011. We have a lot more Attitude planned for 2012, so keep checking in. Don't forget to "like" us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/Beerattitude and follow Beerattitude on Twitter. As always we welcome your comments and suggestions at: beerattitude@gmail.com .
Cheers!
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