Bullfrog Brewery El Rojo Diablo

As part of a cellar clearing/tasting, my friend Deuane pulled out a bottle of Bullfrog Brewing El Rojo Diablo to share with everyone there. There beer pours an amber color with an bubbly off-white head. The aroma consists of vinegar, caramel, flowers, and a hint of cherry. The taste hits the tongue right up front with rose petals. There is an alcohol taste, caramel, grass, slight vinegar, and a warming Bourbon finish. The mouth feel is very bubbly on the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. The El Rojo Diablo was a really intense beer with a wonderful blend of flavors, especially the rose petal that greets you as you open the door to this excellent beer.

Three Floyds-Mikkeller Hvedegoop

My friend Deuane pulled out a bottle of Three Floyds-Mikkeller Hvedegoop while clearing out his cellar and shared it with friends. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of caramel, bubble gum, and toffee. The taste is sweet with plenty of caramel for the tongue and has accents of toffee, and bubble gum. Some grassy hops come out in the finish, but I would think that some of the hops have faded over time with this beer. The alcohol content is 10.4% ABV. Having been aged for about three years, this beer was sweet and wonderful. I enjoyed the slight bubble gum aroma and flavor, but the caramel and toffee are what made this a solid beer.

Sly Fox Odyssey

On the cellar bottle list of Harris Grill in Pittsburgh, they had the Sly Fox Odyssey and I decided to order a bottle. The beer pours a caramel color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of pine, lemon, caramel, and pepper. The taste is both bitter and sweet, starting off with toasted caramel, lemon, and pine. The finish dries the mouth with pepper and the after taste leaves some apricot to pair with extreme bitterness. The alcohol content is 8.4% ABV. The nice addition of apricot on the finish to sweeten everything out made this beer, as it complimented the citrus bitterness very well.

Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

While out at dinner on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh at the Grandview Saloon, I ordered a Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale to go with dinner. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, and pine hops. The taste is sweet with caramel making a great base for the beer. There is a good pine and lemon citrus accent with some orange and tangerine mixed in as well. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a wonderful pale ale and I would definitely order it again. It goes very well with crab meat, which was part of the meal that I ordered. It has a great bitters and a complimentary sweetness that was much better that I had expected.

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA

I ordered a glass of Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA at Harris Grill in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of pine, grapefruit, tangerine, and lemon. The taste is bitter with lots of grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and orange all built upon a sweet caramel base. There is a bitter pine finish with pepper, and a warming alcohol bite. The alcohol content is 13.6% ABV. The bitterness of this beer is top notch and has plenty of refreshing citrus flavors, but the caramel base is strong enough to hold up all of those flavors. This is a high quality Double IPA and a must try for hop heads.

Cantillon Classic Gueuze

I picked up a bottle of Cantillon Classic Gueuze from Al’s of Hampden and decided to open it for Belgian National Day. The beer pours a orange-gold color with a bubbly white head that rapid fades away with the hissing sound of carbonation. The aroma consists of lots of vinegar, Belgian yeast, lemon, orange, hay, and barnyard funk. The taste is smooth at first with a solid yeast base before a very funky sour takes over the tongue. There isn’t too much vinegar associated with this beer, but I picked up a lot of hay, barnyard funk, lemon peel, and orange. The finish brings out a peppery spice that hits the back of the mouth and lingers for a while. The after taste is a sour lemon, but not a fruity lemon taste, and slight oaky remains. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. Overall, I liked the Classic Gueuze, but I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite Belgian lambic. It really has a barnyard taste to it which takes some getting used to, but the citrus notes make up for it.

Weyerbacher Blasphemy Ale

I had my buddy Jeff pick up three bottles of Weyerbacher Blasphemy Ale in New Jersey for me since they haven’t seemed to make their way into the Central Pennsylvania area. The beer pours a orange-tinted, dark amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of raisin, orange, malts, alcohol, brown sugar, fig, and cherry. The mouth feel of this beer is smooth and rounded with a slight creaminess to it and tiny carbonation bubbles that tickle the tongue. The taste is sweet and malty with lots of raisin, fig, and brown sugar on the front end. A sharp alcohol bite transitions into the finish with a slight sweetness of orange. The after taste brings out a quick cherry flavor before dry malts, chocolate, and biscuit flavors come out. The alcohol content is 11.8% ABV. The smoothness of this beer was impeccable, but the alcohol bite really makes its presence known. I like the brown sugar and raisin malt sweetness, all with a light orange twist. If you can locate this beer (I had to get it outside of PA, go figure), I recommend it, and I really look forward to the two bottles I placed in my cellar.

Boulder Hazed and Infused

I picked up a mixed case of Boulder Brewing, and I decided to review the Hazed and Infused. The beer pours an orange-tinted amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. Lots of carbonation bubble rapidly float to the top of the glass. The aroma consists of sweet caramel, lemon, pine, tangerine, and orange. The taste is smooth and not too bitter, which would be good news for someone who is not a hop head. There is a light lemon and pine hop flavor on top of a malty and caramel base. The finish has a little pepper dryness to it. The alcohol content is 4.85% ABV. This is a very good beginner beer for those shy of hops, and it is pretty easy drinking. I wouldn’t say it’s an intense beer, but it is solid.

Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged

I ordered a bottle of Full Sail Black Gold Imperial Stout Bourbon Barrel Aged from Northwest Liquid Gold. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma has lots of sweet and dark chocolate, toasted malts, caramel, vanilla, and a great bourbon accent. The taste is smooth and chocolaty before a warming bourbon flavor comes out. It has a silky mouth feel with an alcohol tinge that pricks at the tongue. Vanilla and caramel sweeten on the finish, and the beer leaves a dry toasted malt after tastes. The alcohol content is 11.4% ABV. I thought the Black Gold was well blended with no low points in the drinking experience, all while maintaining an excellent bourbon accent.

Blue Point No Apologies Imperial IPA

My friend Greg brought home a growler of Blue Point No Apologies Imperial IPA from visiting his parents in Long Island and decided to share it with me. The beer pours an amber color with a thin bubbly off-white head. The aroma consists of caramel, pine, lemon, grapefruit, and tangerine. The taste is bitter and biting with lots of tangerine, some grapefruit, lemon accents, and a caramel base. There is some bitter lemon and pine on the finish. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. The No Apologies comes with an excellent bitter flavor, and will be most appreciated by those that love bitter IPAs, myself included.