Brouwerij Bavik-BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Camaraderie Ale

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Brouwerij Bavik-BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse Camaraderie Ale that he received as part of the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club before I joined. The beer pours a pale golden color with a frothy white head that leaves a little bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, grass, barnyard funk, hay, and earth. The taste is very carbonated with plenty of lemon on the front end, almost candy-like. Grass, hay, and earthiness poke through and dry out the finish. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I enjoyed the citrus flavor in this beer, especially with the large candy-like lemon flavor. It is balanced well with grass and hay flavors, but the carbonation may be a little too high.

Jester King Mad Meg Farmhouse Provision Ale

I ordered a bottle of Jester King Mad Meg Farmhouse Provision Ale from the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club. The beer pours a dark gold color with an extremely lofty and frothy white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of grass, hay, funk, lemon, caramel, and pepper. The taste is light, refreshing, and citrusy with caramel, lemon, orange, hay, and barnyard funk. Pepper and grass come out on the finish and it leaves behind a sweet yeasty flavor. The alcohol content 9.6% ABV. I enjoyed the citrus and wild flavors contained in this beer. Everything was pretty well balanced and it came together to form a dry and sweet beer.

21st Amendment Lower Da Boom

I ordered a glass of 21st Amendment Lower Da Boom from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy beige head. The aroma consists of caramel, cherry, malts, and chocolate. The taste is smooth and malty and very caramel forward. There are accents of chocolate, raisin, and a light grassy hop accent mixed in with a dry toasted malt finish. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This was a peppery and spicy barleywine that took the tongue for a ride. However, the caramel profile of it is very overpowering and dominates the other flavors, leading somewhat to its demise.

Ballast Point Tongue Buckler Summit Hop Cask

On a day in which Al’s of Hampden tapped a ridiculous amount of beer including KBS, I ordered a glass of Ballast Point Tongue Buckler. This was served on cask and was dry hopped with Summit hops. The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy beige head. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, and spruce. Overall, a faint aroma, but I credit that with the cask serving. The taste is really dry with lots of spruce and pine on the front end. There are hints of caramel in the background before a warming finish with some pepper and oak finish. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This was a really dry and well-hopped beer that focused the Summit hop nicely. I think the cask serving helped round out the edges of the beer and made it that much more drinkable.

Epic Brewing Brainless on Peaches

My buddy Adam opened a bottle of Epic Brainless on Peaches for his birthday while I was at his house. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is big on peach with cream, apple juice, lemon, and grass mixed in as well. The taste is dryer than I expected from the aroma. Peaches, lemon, hay, grass, banana, and oak all make a presence, and it is the hay, grass, and oak that really dry out the mouth. The alcohol content is 10.8% ABV. This beer was way different than I expected. I went in assuming a light-bodied citrus flavored beer with lots of peach accents to it, but instead I encountered a beer that was almost like a dry wine. There was a light sweetness in the background with a funk to it that make it extremely interesting, but much more complex than I expected.

New Glarus Road Slush Stout

Another beer my buddy Bob gave me was New Glarus Road Slush Stout. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy tan colored head. The aroma consists of chocolate, milk, oatmeal, toasted malts, and caramel. The taste is dry and chocolaty with lots of toasted malts making up the backbone. A milky finish sweetens the beer up a bit, and an oatmeal flavor is left behind on the tongue. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. This was a decent stout, but it also wasn’t overly memorable. If I saw it, I’d drink it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get it either.

New Glarus Thumbprint (Unplugged) Cherry Stout

My buddy Bob gave me a bottle of New Glarus Thumbprint (Unplugged) Cherry Stout while we were on our beer tour. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy cream colored head. It poured lighter and thinner than I expected. The aroma consists of fresh cherries, syrup, chocolate, toasted malts, and coffee. The taste is tart and very cherry forward with fresh cherry taste as well as a cherry syrup. There is a chocolate and toasted malt undertone, and the beer finishes with a nice coffee flavor. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. I was pretty impressed with the flavor in this beer, as the tartness was on the front end and the coffee finish was a nice touch.

Jester King Farmhouse Wytchmaker Rye India Pale Ale

I elected to receive a bottle of Jester King Farmhouse Wytchmaker Rye India Pale Ale from the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club. The beer pours a dark golden color with a lofty and frothy off-white colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of rye, orange, lemon, bread, and caramel. The taste is light and citrusy with orange, lemon, hay, funk, and earthiness. The finish brings out some rye and pepper that dry out the mouth. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV. I loved the refreshing nature of this beer with its large citrus profile, rye accents, and the light funk added makes this a winner in my book.

Jester King Farmhouse Black Metal Imperial Stout

I ordered a bottle of Jester King Farmhouse Black Metal Imperial Stout from Michael Jackson’s Rare Beer of the Month Club. Note the photo is of the non-Farmhouse version. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, barnyard funk, vanilla, and lemon. The taste is full of toasted malt flavor and plenty of dark chocolates. There is a light funk about the beer before some caramel and hay come out on the tongue. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. This was a delicious beer and it had a great flavor, but I definitely liked the original version of this beer compared to the Farmhouse version. The light funk was great, but it definitely killed the milky chocolate goodness of the original.

Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary Old Ale

 received a bottle of Karl Strauss 23rd Anniversary Old Ale from my friend Rich in San Diego in a beer trade. The beer pours a caramel color with a with a frothy beige colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, oak, vanilla, bourbon, raisin, and fig. The taste is smooth at first before a strong bourbon bite kick in on the tongue. It is built upon caramel, fig, and raisin, but the vanilla, oak, and bourbon really shine. It had a little more carbonation than I expected from an Old Ale, but I think it still worked really well with the beer. The alcohol content is 12.2% ABV. I liked the mix of flavors in this beer and the strong presence of bourbon, and it did not take over the flavors in the beer.

Stillwater Oak Aged Folklore

I ordered a glass of Stillwater Oak Aged Folklore from Devil’s Den in Philadelphia. This beer was a firkin served from a beer engine.The beer pours a black color with a foamy brown colored head that linger for a little while. The aroma consists of chocolate, smoke, earth, fig, and oak. The taste is light and chocolatey before a nice smoke presence takes over the mouth, leading to an oak finish. Hints of spicy yeast and toasted malts also are present. The alcohol content is 8.4% ABV. This beer gave off the experience of drinking a wine, as the body was light and the oak and smoke were largely present. I absolutely loved this beer and would love to have another glass.

Evil Genius Good 'N Evil

For Session Day, I went to Devil’s Den in Philadelphia because I had to drop the fiancee off for a hair appointment. I ordered a glass of Evil Genius Good ‘N Evil, a Kolsch. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, grass, and buttered crackers. The taste is light and buttery, but overall a good clean taste. Hints of grass and pepper provide the accents and there is a little buttery finish. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. For a Kolsch, this was really well put together and very clean. I was very impressed with it and I would definitely order another glass.

Troegs Scratch 61- Imperial Stout

The moment the text came that Troegs Scratch 61- Imperial Stout went on tap, I rushed over to the brewery to try a glass. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves a film on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, cherry, vanilla, bourbon, and toasted malts, all combining to make a wonderful nose for the beer. The taste is smooth and sweet with a great chocolate base and a wonderful cherry accent. Bourbon, vanilla, and oak come out to shine from the background, and toasted malts are pushed onto the tongue with light carbonation bubbles on the finish. The alcohol content is 9.1% ABV. I was totally impressed with this beer and the cherry accents provided by the bourbon aging. Everything was subtly put together, but made enough of a presence to make this beer shine.

Central Waters Illumination

While at Devil’s Den in Philadelphia, I ordered a glass of Central Waters Illumination, an Imperial IPA. The beer pours a golden color with orange hues and a lofty and frothy white head that leaves a streak of foam on the glass. The aroma consists of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, pine, hop oils, and resin. The taste is bitter and creamy on the mouth feel. Lots of tangerine, orange, and grapefruit attack the tongue and leave an oily residue behind. Into the after taste the bitterness continue with pine, spruce, and pepper providing a nice punch on the tongue. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. This was quite the Imperial IPA. It had a wonderful bitter profile to it with plenty of citrus flavors, all while finish with a nice spiciness that really lingered behind in the mouth for several minutes.