Troegs Scratch 49- Fresh Hop Ale

On the last day of the original Troegs tasting room, I stopped in to pick up a case of Troegs Scratch 49- Fresh Hop Ale. The beer pours a pale golden color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, caramel, and grass. The taste is all about the fresh hops, bringing out some grapefruit, tangerine, sugar, and orange. The taste is very bitter but quite enjoyable, and pepper, grass, and pine comes out in the finish. The after taste leaves a hint of caramel behind. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. This beer was advertised as a Fresh Hop Ale, and it delivered. The base of the beer was lightly malty with hints of caramel, but the beer was completely focused on the bitter and citrusy hops.

Surly Hell

I received a can of Surly Hell in a beer trade with Leon M. Fountain. The beer pours a a pale yellow color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of light caramel malts and a hint of grassy hops. The taste is sweet and smooth with a good lemon and caramel flavor right up front. The finish brings out grassy hops with a hint of pepper. The after taste is dry with some toffee and earthy flavors. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV. This was a solid and refreshing beer with a nice citrus twist on top of a sweet caramel base.

East End Brewing Old Nebby Stock Ale

I picked up a growler bottle of East End Brewing Old Nebby Stock Ale from the brewery. The beer pours a murky brown color with a bubbly off-white colored head that turns into a foamy head. The aroma consists of caramel, malts, grassy hops, yeast, fig, and raisin. The taste is smooth and sweet with caramel, raisin, fig, and yeast. The finish brings out some grassy hops and the after taste is toasted toffee. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. This was a wonderful beer that had a nice sweetness to it, but it was balanced with some grassy hops. It left a nice dry toasted toffee flavor in the after taste as well.

Crabtree Brewing Peachtree Cherry Wheat

As part of a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I received a bottle of Crabtree Brewing Peachtree Cherry Wheat. The beer pours a pale yellow color with champagne-like bubbles and a frothy white head. The aroma consists heavily of peach with some cherry, grapes, wine, wheat, and lemon. The taste is dry and light with lots of lemon and wheat coming out in the front end. There is a grassy and peppery hop bite before the peach and cherry flavors finally shines through, and the after taste is oaky with wine. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. I liked the light body to this beer that was packed with flavors, including peach, cherry, and grape. The addition of oak on the finish really helped this beer a lot and I would definitely drink it again.

Hill Farmstead Edward

I was excited to see Al’s of Hampden tap a keg of Hill Farmstead, so I ordered a glass moments after it was tapped. The beer pours a surprising cloudy orange-gold color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of mostly grapefruit with some tangerine and pine in there as well. The taste is dry and bitter with lots of ruby red grapefruit, tangerine, and a hint of sugar and caramel. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. Edward was really dry and bitter, but plenty of citrus was there to sweeten up the mouth just enough. It solely focuses on the grapefruit flavor, but you won’t hear any complaints from me on that end, as I love the flavor of grapefruit. This beer is a must try.

Green Flash West Coast IPA

Al’s of Hampden had on a fresh keg of Green Flash West Coast IPA, so I decided to order a glass. The beer pours a copper color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, lemon, pine, caramel, passion fruit, and reminded me of orange gummy candies. The taste is smooth at first with citrus including grapefruit, tangerine, orange, lemon, some passion fruit. There is a bitter finish with pepper and pine accents. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV. This was a great IPA and the freshness spoke for itself, as the amount of citrus packed in to one glass was awe-inspiring.

The Bruery-Cigar City Marron Acidifie

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of The Bruery-Cigar City collaboration Marron Acidifie to share with me. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin filmy beige head that surprisingly leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of vinegar, sour cherries, and oak. The taste is nicely sour but not too puckering with plenty of vinegar and tart cherry flavors. There is a nice yeasty finish and the beer leaves a very dry and oaky after taste in the mouth. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This is a wonderful sour beer and actually isn’t overly sour, but it is dry and very oaky. After the sour flavor fades, all that is left is the oakiness.

Weyerbacher Autumn Fest

I ordered a glass of Weyerbacher Autumn Fest at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly beige head. The aroma consists of sweet caramel malts and sour grassy hops, simple but impressive. The taste is smooth and sweet that starts off with plenty of caramel before a sour hop accent kicks in to play. There is grass and pepper on a dry finish. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. This was a decent beer with very drying characteristics on the finish, just like an amber ale should be.

Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout

I picked up a bottle of Odell Bourbon Barrel Stout while I was in Denver. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves a good bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, vanilla, bourbon, oak, and caramel. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a good roasted malt flavor leading the charge. A warming bourbon finish comes out and burns the back of the mouth before vanilla sweetens it out. There is a lingering oak taste as well. The alcohol content is 11.5% ABV. The flavors in this beer are smooth and well balanced, and it provided a nice warming finish to get rid of the chill on those winter nights.

Crabtree Brewing Syzygy Barrel-Aged Black IPA

I received a bottle of Crabtree Brewing Syzygy Barrel-Aged Black IPA from Lee of Hoptopia in a beer trade. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan head with a light amount of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, lemon, oak, and caramel. The taste has a solid toasted malt and chocolate base with a slight sour lemon pucker on the side of the mouth. There is some pine and pepper that comes out in the finish, and the after taste leaves some caramel and oak behind on the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was a solid Black IPA that definitely benefited from the barrel aging process, as the dry oakiness really added a nice complexity to the beer.

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

I felt fortunate to secure two bottles of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout, one from Carson Street Deli and one from Smokin’s Joe’s, both in Pittsburgh and both for $35 per bottle. The beer pours a thick viscous liquid that is black in color with a finger-sized frothy tan head. The aroma consists of milk chocolate, maple syrup, sweet bourbon, vanilla, molasses, and coffee. The taste packs a chocolate punch right up front and hangs around for a while before the other flavors get their chance to shine. A slight toasted malt undertone and a dry coffee flavor come out first before sweet maple syrup coats the mouth. This coating is broken down with a dry bourbon flavor on the finish, and hints of vanilla linger in the after taste. The alcohol content is 10.6% ABV. I had a one ounce pour of this beer at Great American Beer Festival in 2010, and it is everything I remember it to be. The sweetness in this beer is spot on without being too sweet, and the bourbon and maple flavors come in to play at different times, but are very complimentary. Was it worth the price? I’d say yes, but I don’t know how many more bottles at $35 I would acquire. If I was dropping $18-20 per bottle, I would stock up on a few of them.

Goose Island Pepe Nero

I grabbed a bottle of Goose Island Pepe Nero while I was in Denver and brought home to review it. The beer pours a black color with an extremely lofty tan head that rushes out of the glass and leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, bready yeast, chocolate, and oak. The taste is smooth and creamy with plenty of toasted malts. Hints of dark chocolate linger in the background with some caramel, vanilla, and oak. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. It was surprising how smooth the beer was with the toasted malt flavor. The creaminess of the beer with roasted flavor was enlightening and amazing.

Stone-Baird-Ishii Green Tea IPA

I picked up a bottle of the Stone-Baird-Ishii collaboration Green Tea IPA while I was in Denver. This beer was made to benefit the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head that lingers for a while with no lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, orange, green tea, pepper, and candi sugar. The taste is really bitter with plenty of orange and tangerine flavors right up front with pine hops pushing through. There is a caramel and green tea base that provides some nice sweetness with a candi sugar finish. The after taste leaves some pepper and alcohol burn on the tongue. The alcohol content is 9.2% ABV. The amount  of orange, tangerine, and green tea flavors in this beer are amazing, and it is quite the bitter IPA to boot. I certainly would like to find a few more of these bottles to drink, as it is a wonderful IPA with a wide variety of flavors.

Avery Immitis Barrel-Aged Sour Ale

As part of a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I received a bottle of Avery Immitis Barrel-Aged Sour Ale. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head that receded rapidly. The aroma consists of vinegar, chocolate, cherry, and toasted malts. The taste is extremely puckering with sour cherry, vinegar, grapes from the zinfandel barrels, and a hint of toasted malts. There is a bit of chocolate on the finish that barely pokes through due to the sourness, and a dry oaky after taste. The alcohol content is 9.87% ABV. I was extremely surprised as to how sour and puckering this beer was, but it was phenomenal. The sourness lingers with a tart cherry flavor for quite a while, and I loved the chocolaty background that this beer was built upon.