Captain Lawrence Rosso e Marrone Batch 3

I received a bottle of Captain Lawrence Rosso e Marrone Batch 3 from my friend Tim in a beer trade. The beer pours a reddish-tinted amber color (with the yeast addition it looks like apple cider) with absolutely no head. The aroma consists of lots of vinegar, sour cherries, grape, Belgian yeast, and oak. The taste is very puckering and sour with plenty of sour cherry and vinegar on the front end. The grapes sweeten out the finish with hints of sour apple and oak dries out the after taste. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would estimate it to be around 6.0% ABV. Once the initial pucker of this beer is gone, it is overly enjoyable and not too intense. However, it does keep you on your toes with the grapes and sour cherry playing very well together.

Sierra Nevada Best of Beer Camp Double IPA

I picked up a case of Sierra Nevada Best of Beer Camp for poker, and the first beer I had was the Double IPA. The beer pours an amber color with a lofty frothy white head that laces to the glass. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, passion fruit, lemon, and pine. The taste is smooth and sweet with caramel and sugar at first before the hop bitterness kicks in and dries the tongue. It leaves citrus flavors of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and orange before a bit of pine arrives. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This was a solid Double IPA to come out of Beer Camp, and I really enjoyed the citrus notes as well as the slight sweetness.

JoBoy's Raspberry Summer Ale

One night for dinner, I went back to my favorite BBQ place JoBoy’s Brew Pub and I ordered their Raspberry Summer Ale as my first beer. Jeff, the owner/brewer, indicated that he took his normal Summer Ale and added raspberries for a refreshing take on the beer. The beer pours a hazy golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma is light and consists of wheat with a hint of raspberry. The taste is light and refreshing and is not too sweet or watered down, a trait of some raspberry beers. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. The mixing of the wheat and raspberry flavors was played out nicely without being too fruity of a beer, and this was quite a refreshing beverage.

JoBoy's German Wheat

Another beer I had at JoBoy’s Brew Pub in Manheim was the German Wheat (sorry for the lack of a picture- I apparently did not take one). The beer pours a golden orange color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of wheat, orange, lemon, and pepper. The taste is smooth and full of orange with a light wheat base and a strong pepper accent. The pepper bite carries through the finish and dries out the mouth a little bit. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. The German Wheat had a great citrus and spice balance and is definitely worth ordering another.

AleSmith X Extra Pale Ale

I picked up a bottle of AleSmith X Extra Pale Ale from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an extremely pale golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, spruce, and pine. The taste is dry and bubbly on the tongue with a light pale malt flavor, tangerine, lemon and grapefruit citrus, and an peppery finish. The after taste is dry and has a little bit of caramel. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. The X is a light bodied beer that packs a big punch of citrus flavor and a peppery finish. It is quite refreshing and not too heavy, perfect for imbibing during those warm summer months.

New Belgium Lips of Faith Dunkelweiss

I picked up a bottle of New Belgium Lips of Faith Dunkelweiss while in Colorado and shipped it home to myself to review. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy off-white colored head that laces to the glass. The aroma consists of raisin, sweet malts, fig, and earthy hops. The taste is sweet and smooth with a nice amount of fig and raisin giving it a front end sweetness. Lots of malts are at play here bit a slight twist of caramel. A little bit of earthy dryness comes in to play on the finish. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. The most impressive part of this beer is that the finish and after taste was not watered down like some can be. The sweetness and earthy hops carry through all the way to the end of the experience.

Dogfish Head Hellhound on My Ale

I picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head Hellhound on My Ale from Al’s of Hampden.The beer pours a golden color with a very lofty and frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of lots of lemon, pepper, earthy hops, and pine. The taste is smooth a slightly bitter with plenty of hops and lemon right up front on top of a caramel backbone. There are lots of hop oils that stick to the tongue on the finish and bring out the earthy notes and pepper. The after taste leaves some -cracker and butterscotch. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I really enjoyed the large profile of the lemon in this beer, as it made it very refreshing, but also the bitterness of all of the hops added, topping 100 IBUs. While I wouldn’t say this was better than Bitches Brew, it still was an excellent beer and is worth seeking out if you get the chance.

New Belgium-Allagash Lips of Faith Vrienden

I picked up a bottle of New Belgium-Allagash collaboration Lips of Faith Vrienden while in San Diego and I shipped a bottle home to review, and it became my 500th beer on Untappd. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy off-white colored head with some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of wheat, sour cherry, and vinegar. The taste is slightly tart, hints of vinegar, sour cherry, sour wheat, and lemon. The finish brings out a floral flavor of hibiscus that dries out the mouth a little bite. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. The Vrienden was a lightly tart beer that had some nice sour accents that would be a nice transition for people not into sour beers yet. I really enjoyed the light sweetness and delicate sour twist, all working together as one.

Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout

I picked up a bottle of Karl Strauss 22nd Anniversary Vanilla Imperial Stout while in San Diego and shipped it home to review. The beer pours a dark brown color with a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, vanilla bean, oak, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and milky with lots of chocolate, similar the flavor and consistency of a dark hot chocolate. The alcohol and toasted malts then jump out of the beer and prickle the sides of the mouth. On the finish, some warmth and soothing vanilla is present to complete the experience. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This has to be one of the smoothest drinking imperial stouts that I have ever had, and I really enjoyed the milky chocolate flavor with the pinch of alcohol.

Fort Collins Maibock

Before leaving Denver, I picked up a bottle of Fort Collins Maibock and shipped it back to myself for review. The beer pours a caramel color with a bubbly off-white colored head with a light lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of sweet malts, banana, and pepper. The taste has a sweet base before a bite of pepper kicks in on the tongue. There are plenty of sweet caramel malts setting up the base of the beer with hints of pepper and banana. The alcohol content is 6.3% ABV. This was a well put together maibock and is very smooth and sweet with a nice spicy accent. The hints of banana really added to the beer and gave it that nice sweet and fruity twist that the maibock needs.

Mikkeller Beer Geek Bacon

On a recent visit to TJ’s Restaurant & Drinkery, I ordered a glass of Mikkeller Beer Geek Bacon, or Rausch Geek Breakfast. It is known as the latter in the States due to the fact that it contains no actual bacon and the FDA will not permit the beer to be advertised that way. It’s flavors comes from the smoking of the malts, not by adding bacon. The beer pours a black color with a thick frothy tan head. The aroma consists of bacon, toasted malts, smoke, chocolate, and molasses. The taste is thick and heavy with plenty of chocolate flavor and lots of smoke. Toasted malts also appear up front before the bacon comes in on the finish with molasses. The after taste has a vanilla sweetness that removes the smoke from the mouth. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. The Beer Geek Bacon had a really good flavor without providing too much smoke or bacon flavors and I would definitely seek this beer out again.

Hometown PA Lager

While waiting for the doors to open for the Manchester Orchestra concert at the Theater of the Living Arts, we stopped in to the Blarney Bar & Grill and I ordered a Hometown Beverages PA Lager. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head and lots of bubbles line the edge of the glass. The aroma consists of sweet malts with caramel and grassy hops. The taste is caramel and lemon with some butterscotch. It has a dry hoppy finish. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. I thought the PA Lager had somewhat of a watered down flavor and was not the best lager I’ve had, but it was a little refreshing. However, I needed some water to remove the after taste from my mouth before going to the concert.

Firestone Walker Walker's Reserve Porter

I was visiting a friend in Manayunk, and we went out to Union Jacks for dinner and drinks. It may look like a dive bar, but I highly recommend checking the place out, as it has excellent wings and a really good beer selection. I ordered a bottle of Firestone Walker Walker’s Reserve Porter. The beer pours a dark brown color worth a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, caramel, and vanilla. The taste is dry and chocolaty with some vanilla accents. The finish is dry and oaky, mostly bringing back the chocolate flavors. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. As my first Firestone Walker beer, I thought the Reserve Porter was delicious and dry, yet nice and toasty for an overall enjoyable experience.

Samuel Adams East-West Kolsch

My buddy Chris picked up the Samuel Adams summer sampler pack, so I decided to try the East-West Kolsch, the only beer out of the pack that I have not previously had. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, pepper, wheat, and grass. The taste is foamy and sweet with wheat, hints of lemon, and a grassy finish. The alcohol content is 5.01% ABV, a nice session beer. Overall, the Kolsch was a decent beer, but is not among my favorite kolschs of all time. I think the mouth feel being foamy put this behind it’s competitors, but I would still recommend this beer.