Saturday, November 27, 2010

Mother Earth Brewing DWBB Blackberry Sour

Another beer I ordered at Blind Tiger in New York City as party of the Mother Earth Brewing Farm to Table tasting even was the DWBB Blackberry Sour. The beer pours an orange color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is blackberry through and through with a good sweetness about it. The taste is loaded with blackberry and is only slightly sour on the front end before transitioning into a mostly sweet finish. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be around 7.0% ABV. This sour beer was extremely delicious and I didn't talk to one person that day that did not rave about how delicious it was. If you have a chance to try this beer when in North Carolina, do not pass.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Mother Earth Brewing Sisters of the Moon IPA

On my visit to New York City to do a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I met up with him to at Blind Tiger for the Mother Earth Brewing Farm to Table sampling. The first beer I had was the Sisters of the Moon IPA. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and pine and floral hops. The taste is smooth and caramel with a lemon and pine bite and a smooth and creamy finish. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. The Sisters of the Moon IPA was a very enjoyable beer with fresh earthy hops and a great smooth creamy finish.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Speakeasy Imperial Common (Whiskey Barrel Aged)

My girlfriend ordered a glass of Speakeasy Imperial Common (Whiskey Barrel Aged) from Blind Tiger in New York City, and was kind enough to let me try it. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma is sweet with sweet whiskey and fresh sharp hops. The taste is smooth and sweet, a nice warming whiskey flavor on the front end, a bitey finish that stings the tongue, and a dry after taste. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. The sweetness that the whiskey added to this beer was impeccable and the peak was very mild and not overpowering. I really enjoyed the complexity the whiskey added to a usually simple and light bodied common.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Troegs Scratch 37- India Pale Ale (1 of 4)

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to pick up a case of Scratch 37- India Pale Ale. This beer is the first of four India Pale Ales that Troegs will be testing to perfect the recipe for the Perpetual IPA. The Perpetual IPA is to be released approximately 14 months from now, one of the first beers from the new Hershey plant. In fact, the label was leaked from the TTB and no one on the brewery knew about the beer's development until the Troegner brothers were forced to reveal the details due to the amount of questions received about the beer.

Scratch #37 features Warrior and Cluster hops with a touch of Columbus hops as well. The beer pours a golden yellow color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of several citrus fruits including grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and lemon. The taste is smooth and sweet with tangerine and grapefruit coming to the forefront before a bittering pine and spruce hop accent. The alcohol content is 7.7% ABV. I really enjoyed how smooth drinking Scratch 37 was while still providing a nice hop accent. This beer does not bitter or dry on the finish, but has a nice little bite.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Harpoon Glacier Harvest 2010 Wet Hop Ale

I have been meaning to try the Harpoon Glacier Harvest 2010 Wet Hop Ale for a while, and while at Blind Tiger in New York City they had it on draft, so I gave it a try. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma is fresh with pine hops and accents of caramel. The taste is light and smooth with a nice caramel base and a light lemon and pepper bite on the sides of the mouth. On the finish, the hops come alive and dry out the mouth a little bit. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. While the beer is light bodied and bubbly on the tongue, the fresh lemon and pepper hops provide enough dimension to the beer to make it complex and not just about the hops.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Stone/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker El Camino

I ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker collaboration El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale from RattleNHum bar in New York City. I am noticing the Stone really likes to get around an
d collaborate with other brewers (a bit risque?). The beer pours a black color with light red hues and a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of caramel with fresh hops and oak. The taste is big on oak and has a good caramel accent, fresh hops, licorice, and peppermint. I likened the taste to Good N Plenty candy. The beer then has a light coffee finish. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I thought the beer had a good balance and an excellent dry finish.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Stone/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner

My friend Jeff ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner at RattleNHum bar in New York City. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy head. The aroma consists of oak and strong with raisins, vanilla, and milk chocolate. The taste is big on raisin with some chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar. The beer also has a dry finish, and a little tobacco in the after taste. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I really enjoyed this black pilsner, a new style to me. The dark flavors such as chocolate and raisins went down smoothly and drank like a pilsner.