Alaskan Double IPA

While at Falling Rock Tap House in Denver, I ordered a glass of Alaskan Double IPA. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, sugar, tangerine, and lemon. The taste is smooth and bitter with grapefruit, sugar, caramel, and plenty of tangerine. The finish is dry with pine and spruce, and the after taste brings out some toasted toffee and lemon. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This Alaskan offering was a really solid double IPA and I would seek this beer out again, be it on draft or in a bottle. Everything I have previously heard in the positive nature about Alaskan Brewing Company was validated with this beer.

New Belgium Metric 10/10/10

I ordered a glass of New Belgium Metric 10/10/10 at Falling Rock Tap House in Denver. The beer pours a golden color with a lofty bubbly white head. The aroma consists of banana, pepper, Belgian yeast, and Belgian spices. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots of banana and plantains, a light pepper accent, and plenty of yeast. The finish is spicy and warms the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. Overall, I would place the Metric 10/10/10 as a pretty decent beer, but nothing over the top.

Black Fox Somnambulance

I ordered a glass of Black Fox Somnambulance while out to lunch at Freshcraft in Denver. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin tan head. The aroma consists of vanilla, liquid chocolate, molasses, and cookie dough. The taste is smooth and chocolaty, toasted malts that bite a little, and lots of vanilla smoothness. Other flavors that come out are molasses and brown sugar, which help sweeten the beer. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. This was such an amazing beer with so many flavors, and I was not expecting it to be so delectable. It boarded on being cookie-like, and was very much the perfect dessert beer.

New Belgium Lips of Faith Le Terroir

My friends and I went to Freshcraft in Denver for lunch and one of the beers that I ordered was the New Belgium Lips of Faith Le Terroir. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head that laces to the glass. The aroma consists of pear, pineapple, grapefruit, vinegar, mango, and passion fruit. The taste is sour and puckering right up front with vinegar. Following the pucker, the taste profile was similar to fruit flavors found in a fruit salad; pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and grapefruit all come out to play. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I was overly impressed with the variety of flavors included in this beer and how perfectly sour it was. It was the perfect beer to start the day off with a great lunch.

Bull & Bush Man Beer

The final beer I ordered at Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery was the Man Beer (had to be ordered to keep up my reputation). This English IPA pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lots of caramel and toffee with light lemon accent and some hints of rye. The taste is smooth and sweet, again with lots a caramel. There is a refreshing lemon accent and some earthy, dry, and bitter English hops that come out in the finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. This was a great example of an English IPA in my book, and if you are ever in the Denver area, I suggest you stop in and order a glass.

Bull & Bush A Lotta Cougar

Another beer that I ordered at Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery was A Lotta Cougar. The beer pours an opaque brown color with an almost non-existent head. The aroma consists of toasted malts with lots of bourbon accents and vanilla as well. The taste is smooth with a bite of bourbon that dries the mouth, a light cherry twist, and some raisin and toasted malts. A balancing vanilla flavor comes out in the finish with oak as well. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be approximately 10.0% ABV. Despite being aged in bourbon barrels, this beer comes out smooth and is excellently crafted.

Bull & Bush 40th Anniversary Wheat Wine

My buddy suggested highly that we go to Bull & Bush Pub & Brewery while in Denver, and the first beer I ordered when we went was the 40th Anniversary Wheat Wine. The beer pours a reddish amber color with thin bubbly off-white head. The aroma is sweet with raisin, wheat, and fig. The taste is rounded on the tongue and smooth. There are raisin, fig, wheat, and Belgian yeast flavors that all come out to play. There is a nice Belgian spice kick on the finish. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be approximately 9.0% ABV. I thought the 40th Anniversary was an excellent example of a wheat wine and I would definitely have another glass of it.

Trinity Slap Your Mammy

On the way back from Pike's Peak, my friends and I decided to stop in to Trinity Brewing Company. I ordered a glass of Slap Your Mammy. The beer pours an orange-golden color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is strong on lemon and sweet grapefruit flavors with lots of sugar and some caramel and orange peel accents. The taste is bitter and sweet all at once with lemon, grapefruit, orange, and tangerine flavors. There is a burnt caramel flavor that comes out in the finish. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. The Slap Your Mammy was a little more bitter than most double IPAs that I have had, but I enjoyed it immensely, and it was nice to see a brewery not simply copy another recipe.

Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne

While in San Diego, my friends and I went to Craft & Commerce and I ordered a glass of Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne Duchesse de Bourgogne. The beer pours a red amber color with a frothy off-white head. The aroma consists of light vinegar, sour cherry, and Belgian yeast. The taste is big on the sour cherry with sugary accents, red wine vinegar, and a dry and bubbly finish. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. I thought the the Duchesse de Bourgogne was an amazing sour beer and simply ranks among one of my favorites. It was too puckeringly sour and provided great vinegar flavor.

Uerige Sticke

Another beer I ordered at Nobel Experiment in San Diego was the Uerige Sticke. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of sweet caramel malts with a sour cherry and orange accents. The taste is big on the aforementioned caramel malts with some light orange and cherry accents. I thought overall it tasted like a strawberry candy, similar to those hard candies that were wrapped in the strawberry wrapper. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. While this beer erred on the side of sweetness, it was quite an enjoyable brew and brought back memories of childhood, eating candies, and general good times.

Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet

My group of friends and I went to Nobel Experiement in San Diego. The first beer I ordered there was the Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet. The beer has a very active pour with a lofty and foamy head and is a golden color. The aroma consists of grassy hops, lemon, and a light hint of Belgian yeast. The taste is light on the tongue with banana, lots of Belgian yeast, and a good pepper spice balance. There is a dry finish with a good amount of earthy hops. The alcohol content is 8.4% ABV. The Tripel Karmeliet had a great balance overall and the earthy hop accents really dulled down the sweetness that came out early in the tasting.

Stone Oaked Bastard

While at Stone World Bistro and Gardens, I ordered a glass of the Oaked Arrogant Bastard. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of lots of caramel, pine and lemon hops. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel on the front end with pine and lemon hops. The finish brings out the oak flavor. The alcohol content is 7.2%. The beer has excellent balance and the oak adds the perfect amount of dryness, balancing out the sweet caramel and further drying out the hops.

Big Sky Ivan the Terrible

While at the Stone Brewery and World Bistro Gardens, I noticed that the bottle list had Big Sky Ivan the Terrible on it, so I decided to order a bottle. I must have been distracted by my friends that I have not seen in years, and I totally forgot to snap a picture. The beer pours a black color with a thin bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, lots of alcohol, slight coffee accents, vanilla, and caramel. The taste is smooth with vanilla and chocolate before the alcohol kicks in and dries the mouth and plenty of coffee. The bourbon accents are amazing on the finish and there is a caramel after taste. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. Ivan was not terrible, but overly amazing. The smoothness to the beer just before the bourbon alcohol kick was rather impeccable and quite enjoyable. The amount of flavor was limitless, about I would love to have another bottle.

Lost Abbey Red Barn

Another beer I tried while at the Lost Abbey Brewery outside of San Diego was the Red Barn. The beer pours a golden color with a thin foamy white head. The aroma is light and has some wheat, lemon, and pepper smells. The taste is lemony and smooth with a great pepper bite on finish. Out of the finish comes some orange peel and ginger, making it a dry finish that dries out the mouth. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. Overall, the Red Bar is excellent and a very clean beer, which makes it overly enjoyable.