Smuttynose IPA

I ordered a glass of Smuttynose IPA on my last visit to Brew House in Camp Hill. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is faint but what is there is big on lemon and pepper. The taste is very lemony with sugar with a hint of grapefruit and pepper. The finish is dry on the back of the mouth and lingers. There is also some orange too with hints of pine. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. This was a solid performer as an IPA and was very enjoyable. I like the grapefruit hints in the beer that really added to the lemon and pepper base.

Lake Placid Honey Rye

While at Brew House in Camp Hill, my sister ordered a Lake Placid Honey Rye and let me have a try. The beer pours an amber color with a filmy white head that is barely there. There is a light rye aroma with hints of honey, rye, and green tea. The taste consists of lemon and tea with some minor bits of rye. A slight dryness on the back of the mouth arrives for the finish. The alcohol content is not posted online, but I would guess it to be around 5.5% ABV. I thought that this beer had a very similar taste to lemon in honey green tea. It was very refreshing for a warm summer day but had plenty of flavor levels.

Founders Dirty Bastard

I ordered a glass of Founders Dirty Bastard while I was at Brew House in Camp Hill. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thick foamy tan head. The aroma consists of caramel, toffee, and sweet malts with some hidden hops. The taste is sweet and caramel with a light hop dryness on the finish. There is also a light orange hint in the finish. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This was a very pleasant beer with a good sweet flavor of caramel and toffee but a nice hop balance. The orange twist that arrives on the finish really makes the beer refreshing.

Lake Placid Ubu Ale

I ordered a glass of Lake Placid Ubu Ale from McGrath's in Harrisburg. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thick foamy white head. The aroma is creamy and malty. The taste is creamy and smooth with toasted malts and a light hop bite . The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. The thought the Ubu Ale was delicious, but not very dynamic. As you may be able to tell from the tasting notes, there was not a variety of flavors. However, that does not make this a bad beer. In fact, it is quite solid.

Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Furthermore Fatty Boombalatty (great name!), so I decided to order a glass. The beer pours a golden yellow color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of banana and wheat with some candisugar. The taste is full of banana and pepper, a good balance of sweet but spicy. There is also a good alcohol bite with some hidden raisin flavor. The coriander then takes over the mouth. The beer finishes with good amounts of yeast and some mandarin orange citrus. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. The really liked this Belgian Pale Ale and would definitely order another glass. It was clear that the goal of the brewer was to perfectly balance the beer with a few hidden flavors.

Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale

Another beer that was in the Duck-Rabbit sampler pack was the Amber Ale. The beer pours a golden-amber color with a lofty foamy white head. The aroma consists of caramel malts with sour hops and a hint of orange citrus. The taste is malty and sweet, with caramel providing the backbone. The beer finishes with a sour hop taste with bits of yeast on the outside of the tongue. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. Duck-Rabbit has provided a solid performer in the Amber Ale category. It was overdone, but also not too experimental. Either way, I'll still drink it again and enjoy it a lot.

Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale

As part of the variety pack that my friend Jeff brought to my Memorial Day picnic was the Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale. The beer pours a reddish-brown color with a lofty foamy off-white colored head. The aroma is malty, and smells like Cheerios and molasses. The taste is malty and bitter, mostly due to sour and bitter hops. There is also a bit of nuttiness in the taste. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. I thought that this was a well balanced and enjoyable Brown Ale. It may finish a little dryer than expected, but it did not hinder the experience.