Pizza Boy Brewing Test Batch Mango Triple IPA

I made it a point to ordered a glass of Pizza Boy Brewing Test Batch Mango Triple IPA while at Al’s of Hampden. This beer was the winner of a homebrewing contest, and will also be brewed by Troegs. The beer pours a cloudy and unfiltered orange color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is strong on mango, tangerine, orange, and bitter grapefruit. The taste is extremely smooth and fruit forward. The mango flavor is sweet on the tongue before orange, tangerine, and grapefruit bitter up the finish. Hints of pepper linger in the finish. The alcohol content is 9.1% ABV. The mango sweetens up the flavor and really balances the bitterness without masking it. This beer was also very thick in the mouth feel, as it was not filtered and it allowed the mango to take over the properties of the beer.

Pizza Boy Brewing Test Batch Porter with Vanilla Bean and Kopi Luac

I gave the Test Batch Porter a sip from Pizza Boy Brewing and was about to order a glass when I saw that Al had tapped a firkin of the Test Batch Porter with vanilla bean and Kopi Luac. The beer pours a black color with a frothy beige head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma is big on coffee with some chocolate and vanilla hanging out in the background. The taste is smooth and silky with a chocolate flavor up front before a big coffee push takes over the tongue. The coffee flavors taste completely fresh like a coffee shop. A sweet vanilla finish overtakes the bitter coffee flavors. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. Wow, was this beer excellent. I know the base of the beer was quite tasty, but adding the Kopi Luac and vanilla beans just took it over the edge. It was one of the better coffee infused beers that I have tasted.

Pizza Boy Brewing TB9 Pale

On a recent visit to Al’s of Hampden, I decided to order a glass of the Pizza Boy Brewing TB9 (Test Batch #9) Pale, a Belgian Pale Ale. The beer pours a golden color with a light frothy white  colored head. The aroma consists of light tangerine and grapefruit with some banana and pepper as well. The taste is bitter with pepper on the front end before it smooths out with banana. Bitter grapefruit and tangerine hops pop out on the finish and dry the beer out nicely. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. For a Belgian Pale Ale, this was quite delicious and definitely on the bitter side, which made it pretty enjoyable for me.

Pizza Boy Brewing TB8 Lager

I visited Al’s of Hampden to try a new beer from Pizza Boy Brewing called TB8 Lager (Test Batch #8). The beer pours a pale golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is faint but has some caramel and lemon. The taste mostly caramel with a bit of toasted toffee, lemon, and pepper. The alcohol content is 3.8% ABV, making this a very sessionable beer. The TB8 Lager was a good flavored lager that is easy drinking and flavorful. I liked the caramel punch, but once Al force carbonates his beer, this will be even better.

Pizza Boy Brewing TB7 Cream Ale

The first beer I tried from Pizza Boy Brewing was the TB7 Cream Ale (that’s Test Batch #7). The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, pine, and pepper. The taste is rounded with a creamy mouth feel and plenty of dry lemon flavors. There is a pine finish with a hint of grapefruit. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This was a light bodied that was easy drinking and has a nice bitterness to it. It was a little light on the carbonation for now, but Al stated that he hasn’t forced carbonated the beers yet.