Three Floyds Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale

As part of a beer trade with HopHeadRed, I received a bottle of Three Floyds Robert the Bruce Scottish Style Ale. The beer pours a dark brown color with for a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of caramel, toasted malts, and grass. The taste is very roasted and sweet with plenty of caramel underneath, but the toasted toffee really takes precedence. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I enjoyed the roasted flavors in this beer, with their flavors balanced well with the malty and caramel sweetness.

Ninkasi Brewing Total Domination IPA

As part of a beer trade with AJ, I received a bottle of Ninkasi Brewing Total Domination IPA. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head that looks like the top of a jacuzzi. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, sugar, caramel, lemon, pine, and pepper. The taste is bold and bitter with plenty of caramel and toffee right up front before the citrus flavors come out to play. There is tangerine, grapefruit, and lemon before a pepper and pine finish rounds out the flavor. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. This was a well put together IPA, but don’t think it to be an oily IPA, but definitely a bitter and citrusy one with a solid caramel and toffee base.

Port Brewing High Tide Fresh Hop IPA

My fiancee picked up two bottles of Port Brewing High Tide Fresh Hop IPA from Al’s of Hampden for me. The beer pours a golden color with some orange accents and a very lofty and frothy white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of orange, pine, tangerine, lemon, sugar, and a hint of caramel. The taste is bitter but very fresh tasting with tangerine, orange, and lemon bringing a citrus punch at first before an oily and dry finish comes out to play. This finish is very bitter, and the after taste leaves some caramel behind to linger. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. If you are a fan of bitter hops that leave some oily resin behind on the tongue, this is the beer for you. It has great bittering components, but just enough citrus and caramel to balance it out.

MateVeza Brewing Morpho Herbal Ale

My fiancee picked out a bottle of MateVeza Brewing Morpho Herbal Ale due to it being organic while we were in Denver, and I was excited to try it. The beer pours a very red-tinted amber color with a frothy white head that makes a lot of noise as it sizzles away. The aroma consists of flowers, hibiscus, rose petal, thyme, and lemon. The taste is dry and very floral with plenty of hibiscus coming up in the front end before a light finish brings out some lemon. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. If you are looking for a floral beer, this is the one for you. It is very hibiscus forward with a nice lemon accent.

BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Cuvee Alex Le Rouge

Another bottle my buddy Adam brought over to share was BFM Brasserie Des Franches-Montagnes Cuvee Alex Le Rouge. The beer pours a black color with a thin filly tan head. The aroma consists of cherry, chocolate, some caramel, and a hint of vinegar. The taste is sour and bitter with tart cherries, chocolate, vanilla, black pepper, and tea. The alcohol content is 10.28% ABV. This was a great beer with slight sourness built upon a chocolaty and heavy beer. Some of the flavors seemed a bit scattered, but it did come together somewhat well.

Uinta Crooked Line Labyrinth Black Ale

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle of Uinta Crooked Line Labyrinth Black Ale to share. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of licorice, caramel, bourbon, and vanilla. The taste is chocolate, licorice, caramel, toasted malts, and vanilla. The alcohol content is 13.2% ABV. This beer was shockingly smooth but had some great toasted flavors as well. I think the bourbon helped mask the bitterness of the toasted malts, all while hiding itself rather well in the beer.

The Bruery-Lawson's Finest Liquids Acer Quercus

As part of beer trade with The Beer Club for Men, I received a bottle of The Bruery-Lawson’s Finest Liquids Acer Quercus. The beer pours a a dark brown color with a frothy beige head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of smoke, maple syrup, caramel, toasted malts, and oak. The taste is smokier than expected and very dry, nice maple syrup sweetness that comes out. Roasted malts area big factor, and the finish has a nice oak flavor with some maple wood. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. The wonderful smoked flavor with wood accents in this beer really played well with the sweet maple syrup flavors. I highly recommend this beer and completely fell in love with it.

Monday Night Brewing Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale

My buddy Ed grabbed a growler Monday Night Brewing Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale while he was in Atlanta and brought it back for me to try. The beer pours a dark brown color with red hues with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, toffee, caramel, pepper, and grass. The taste is smooth and sweet with plenty of caramel and toffee right up front before a toasted malt flavors comes through strong. The finish brings out a nice peppery flavor with some hop spice. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. I enjoyed the sweetness in this beer, but the real treasure was in the finish with the warming spiciness.

Iron Hill Bourbon Pumpkin Patch Porter

Another beer I ordered at Iron Hill Lancaster’s Great Pumpkin Harvest Party was the Bourbon Pumpkin Patch Porter. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin tan bubbly head. The aroma consists of toasted malts with caramel and bourbon accents and the faintest hint of cinnamon. The taste is oaky with a warming bourbon taste on the front end. I thought the toasted malts take a back seat before some pumpkin, caramel, and vanilla come out on the finish. The after taste leaves hints of chocolate. The alcohol content is 8.8% ABV. For a bourbon barrel aged porter this was a wonderful beer. However, the toasted malts and bourbon were way too overpowering to focus on the pumpkin flavor. Not to say I didn’t like this beer, but I don’t think the addition of the pumpkin was necessary.

Iron Hill Belgian Harvest Ale

The final beer I ordered at Iron Hill Lancaster’s Great Pumpkin Harvest Party was the Belgian Harvest Ale. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of pepper, grass, pine, lemon, and candi sugar. The taste is lemony and citrusy with dry grassy hops. Pepper and a nice spice accent comes out before a dry hay after taste. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. The Belgian Harvest Ale provided a great finish to the meal, as it was refreshing, light-bodied, smooth, and has some sweet characteristics to it. I left the event very satisfied.

Iron Hill Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel

I went to Iron Hill in Lancaster for their Great Pumpkin Harvest Party. The first beer I ordered was the Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel. The beer pours a murky brown color with a thin filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of cherry, sweet bourbon, fresh pumpkin, and raisin. The taste has raisin and molasses right up front with some sweet pumpkin accents and a dry cinnamon accent. Overall, the flavor was comparable to a mincemeat pie or hot spiked cider. The finish has a light warming bourbon flavor that was just wonderful. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be about 8.0% ABV. This was my favorite beer of the evening, as it had such wonderful fall-like qualities to it, including pie and cider. There is nothing I would rather be drinking as the leaves change color than this Bourbon Pumpkin Dubbel.

Crabtree Brewing Chunkin' Pumpkin

As part of a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I received a six-pack of Crabtree Brewing Chunkin’ Pumpkin. The beer pours a copper color with a frothy beige head that lingers for a while. The aroma consists of spicy cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg with a faint background of pumpkin and caramel. There is even a faint hint of graham cracker crust in the background. The taste is dry and full of spices, a large contingent of which is allspice and nutmeg. There is a cinnamon dryness before some caramel and pumpkin sweetness come out. The finish has a graham cracker taste to it with bits of sugar. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. This was a rather solid autumn seasonal that really popped with spices. The pumpkin and caramel were subtle, but provided the necessary balance for this spicy beer.

Weyerbacher Rapture

I went to Weyerbacher to pick up a case and split it with my buddy Ed on its release day. The beer pours a a dark cherry color with a filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of tart raspberries and cherry, vinegar, biscuits, and sugary fruit filling. The taste is nicely sour with plenty of tart cherry and raspberry. There is a large vinegar pucker to the beer and it has a dry oaky finish with a grape accent. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. This is one of the better sour beers that I have had, with its great fruity profile and wonderful vinegar pucker to it. This is the pinnacle of sour beers, and it stands its own against Russian River and Cantillon. Maybe not quite as good, but very close.

Troegs Scratch 50- Belgian-style Brown Ale

I picked up a case of Troegs Scratch 50- Belgian-style Brown Ale from the brand new brewery in Hershey. The beer pours a dark brown color with ruby hues in it and a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, caramel, malts, yeast, and candi sugar. The taste is smooth and roasty with a solid caramel and raisin base, some fig, and grassy hops. The alcohol content was not available online at the time of this writing, but I would guess it to be about 7.5% ABV. I like how this beer had a nice roasty flavor disguised very well underneath some yeast and caramel.