The Bruery Cuir

As part of a beer trade with the BeerClub4Men, I received a bottle of The Bruery Cuir. The beer pours a cloudy brown color with a lofty and frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of raisin, fig, alcohol, caramel, and grass. The taste is sweet with lots of raisin up front, molasses, caramel, and fig. There is a very boozy finish that warms the back of the mouth, and the after taste leaves some pepper and grassy flavors behind. The alcohol content is 14.5% ABV. This was a very sweet beer that was mostly balanced with an alcohol burn and warmth. I really enjoyed it and thought that it was well balanced and had just the right amount of dark fruits.

The Bruery Batch 300 Tripel

I received a bottle of The Bruery Batch 300 Tripel from the BeerClub4Men in a beer trade. The beer pours a hazy pale golden color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of passion fruit, fruit cocktail, banana, pepper, candisugar, pineapple, and lemon. The taste is lightly sour with passion fruit flavor, hints of fruit cup oil, with pineapple, tangerine, and lemon. The finish brings out some candisugar and yeast that really sweetens the mouth, before a peppery after taste dries out the mouth and lingers in the throat. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. I was amazed at the amount of fruit flavor included in this beer without actually having fruit added to it. It was nice and sweet like a fruit cocktail, but definitely dried out in the finish.

Troegs Java Head Float

As part of the grand opening celebration, I stopped in to the new Troegs brewing facility (T2), and I decided to order a Java Head float. Yes, Java Head with ice cream. The beer pours a murky color with vanilla brand hanging to the lacing and frothy white head. The aroma consists of light chocolate but plenty of milk and vanilla. The taste is large on mocha and is milky smooth in the mouth with plenty of coffee. There are hints of chocolate on the finish that dry the mouth out a bit. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV, as with the regular Java Head. This was a wonderful concoction that Troegs serves up for an extra $2. If you stop in to check the place out, I suggest you give this drink a try, especially when it gets warmer out and you can sit on the new patio.

Lost Coast 20th Anniversary Ale

While out at dinner with my sister and grandfather, I ordered a glass of Lost Coast 20th Anniversary Ale to share with my sister. The beer pours an amber color with a thin foamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of fig, raisin, candisugar, yeast, pepper, and a hint of orange. The taste is sweet and malty, lots of raisin and fig, and some candisugar adds to sweetness. There is some orange and citrusy finish with a pepper after taste. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was quite a nice and smooth beer. Overall, it was a solid strong ale with nice citrus accents on the finish.

The Bruery 4 Calling Birds

As part of the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club, I received a bottle of The Bruery 4 Calling Birds. The beer pours a dark brown color with a tall and frothy beige head. The aroma consists of oak, roasted malts, gingerbread, chocolate, and vanilla. The taste is spicy and robust with a chocolate and caramel base. Plenty of gingerbread comes out and livens up the tongue with some toasted malts rounding out the flavor. Some oak and vanilla linger on the tongue. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. I think The Bruery really nailed the spirit of winter and the holiday season in this glass of beer. A lingering sweetness with hints of licorice really sweeten the flavor of this beer and make it an overly enjoyable beer.

Troegs-Fat Head's Scratch 51- Fat Scratch 51

I stopped in to the new Troegs tasting room to try Scratch 51- Fat Scratch Fever, the collaboration with Fat Head’s. The collaboration came about by Troegs letting Fat Head’s take the old brewing equipment for a spin before it was moved to Fat Head’s. When I arrived, the keg had just kicked, but thankfully my friend Justin gave me some of his beer to try. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head that leaves a little lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and pepper. The taste is dry and bitter and is grapefruit forward before some tangerine and orange come out as well. The finish has pepper and pine with the slightest hints of caramel. In the after taste, there is some lingering hops oils on the tongue. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a wonderful beer and I would hope that Troegs and Fat Head’s get together again to make this beer, as it was the hop heaven I would expect from these two brewers. Note: I stopped back in to the tasting room when another keg was tapped and got myself a full glass.

Short's Brewing Bludgeon Yer Eye India Black Ale

I received a bottle of Short’s Brewing Bludgeon Yer Eye India Black Ale from HopHeadRed. The beer pours a black color with a frothy cream colored head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass, like a milkshake. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, spruce, and toasted malts. The taste is bitter and dry with plenty of lemon, pine, and spruce flavors that come up front. There are hints of chocolate and toasted malts that linger in the background, and some vanilla peeks out in the finish. The alcohol content is not online, but I would estimate it to be about 6.5% ABV. This was wonderful beer with plenty of chocolate sitting in the base, with roasted accents, and a bitter hop accent. The lemon provides a nice citrus accent, and the pine really rounds out the flavor.

Stillwater-Brewer's Art Debutante

My buddy Matt opened a bottle of the Stillwater-Brewer’s Art collaboration called Debutante to share with me ans some friends. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a frothy white head that lingers for a while. The aroma consists of heather, lemon, yeast, hay, and grass. The taste is yeasty with candi sugar, lemon, hay, grass, heath, and some peppercorn that lingers around for a while. The alcohol content is 6.4% ABV. The Debutante’s best aspect was its dry finish with a yeasty sweetness and some great peppery accents, although the lemon citrus accents made it quite the refreshing beer.

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale

I ordered a glass of Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale on a recent visit to Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and pine. The taste is bitter and dry with lots of citrus including orange, grapefruit, and tangerine. There is a pepper and pine finish, with hints of toffee lingering behind. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. I really enjoyed the Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale, but I would say that I preferred the Southern Hemisphere version from Sierra Nevada a little bit more. However, if you love bitter and citrusy hops, this is the perfect beer for you.

Kirkland Belgian-style White

The final beer my buddy Jack brought for me to try from Costco was the Kirkland Belgian-style White. The beer pours an orange-tinted amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head that fades rather rapidly. I expected the head to be foamy, linger for a while, and leave some lacing, but that was not the head experienced with this beer. The aroma consists of orange peel lemon, wheat, and pepper. The taste is light and fruity with plenty of orange and a hint of lemon. There is a wheat finish with a bit of pepper and hay. The after taste brings back a bit of orange, but fades rapidly. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. The rapidly dissipating head was a little off-putting for me, but the flavor was better than expected. It may fall a little on the sweet citrusy side, but it was somewhat enjoyable.

Kirkland Pale Ale

Another beer my buddy Jack gave me to try was Kirkland Pale Ale, found at Costco. The beer pours an amber color with bubbly cream colored head that doesn’t leave any lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, pine hops, and lemon. The taste is big on caramel with some toffee as well. There is a hop presence to the effect of some pine and lemon, but it mostly impacts the beer with its bitter finish. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. I’d say this was quite an easy drinking pale ale that is pretty solid. While it isn’t a world changer, it is a nice beer to have or share with friends, especially for the price.

Kirkland Amber Ale

My buddy Jack brought over a bottle of Kirkland Amber Ale from Costco for me to try. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy off-white colored head that leaves a hint of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, and a hint of cardboard. The is dry and roasty with hints of caramel and a bit of nuttiness on it. The finish has a hint of cardboard that lingers before some nice malts come out and clean up the flavor. The alcohol content is 5.7% ABV. I wouldn’t say I was a huge fan of this beer with its cardboard like properties to it, but it also wasn’t terrible. The roasty nuttiness of it helped it along with a bit of caramel sweetness.

Kern River Brewing Class V Stout

I received a bottle of Kern River Brewing Class V Stout from RealStormKing as part of a beer trade. The beer pours a block color with a finger-thick frothy tan head that leaves some nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, milk, caramel, and molasses. The taste is bold with lots of dark chocolate and roasted malts coming right to the surface. There is a dryness that takes over the mouth due to the roastiness and has some hints of coffee before some sweet caramel and vanilla peek through. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This was solid stout that had plenty of wonderful flavors and was plenty warming for a cool fall night. There was just enough sweetness to balance out the dryness without overdoing it.

Surly SurleyFest

As part of a beer trade with Leon M Fountain, I received a can of Surly SurlyFest. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy off-white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, lemon, resiny hops, and pepper. The taste is bitter and rather hoppy for a marzen with a great solid caramel base. The finish brings out dry tangerine, lemon, and leaves an oily hop residue on the tongue. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a surprisingly hoppy marzen beer with a strong bitter flavor and plenty of hop oils. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to get another can or two of this.