Gruut Belgium Amber Ale

I tried a bottle of Gruut Belgium Amber Ale at the cookout. The beer pours a nice dark amber and has a spicy and strong aroma. Initially, it has a malty and smooth taste, but the after taste is lacking something. It seemed empty and unsatisfying. The alcohol content is 6.6% ABV. Overall, I thought this was an ok beer, but not really worth another purchase.

Ellicottville Blue Berry

As part of the Fourth of July weekend festivities, I attended a cookout with a bunch of friends in New Jersey. The best part about the cookout was the selection of craft beers that my friends picked up for the holiday. The first beer I tried was the Blue Berry from Ellicottville Brewing Company. The beer is very light in color and had a slightly sweet aroma, but there was not too much to the aroma. The taste was very crisp and clean with a subtle hint of blueberry. The alcohol content is 4.2% ABV, which I feel is pretty low for a fruit beer. I don't think there are a lot of blueberries used in the brewing, which is why the beer only has a subtle hint of blueberries and does not have high alcohol content. However, it is a very refreshing beer and a great way to kick off a cookout.

Troegs Hopback Amber Cask Ale

While at Troegs yesterday, the employees opened up a keg of a special brew. This was a special run and an experiement, but they took a keg's worth of Hopback Amber Ale and conditioned it in a cask prior to putting it in a keg for serving. The result was miraculous. The aroma mostly comprised of the Hopback with a floral scent, but there was a hint of oak. I felt that the conditioning in the cask really rounded out the flavor and smoothed the hop bite. The beer took on a different character all together. I would assume the stats are the same as the Hopback, which has an alcohol content of 6% ABV. I would really like for Troegs to try this again, as I thoroughly enjoyed this special brew.

Troegs Scratch 20- Apollo Imperial Ale

I went to Troegs yesterday for happy hour and decided to try Scratch #20- Apollo Imperial Ale. Troegs brewed this batch for The Drafting Room as their Anniversary Ale for 2009. It pours a dark amber color and has a sweet floral aroma. The scratch has a malty taste with a crisp hop bite in the after taste. It was noted by my coworker Ben that it is almost creamy in taste. The alcohol content is 7% ABV and the it's bitterness is 115 IBUs, making it a little on the hoppy side, but it was still a very enjoyable beer. I took home a growler of the beer.

Ithaca Partly Sunny

The final brew I have in my Ithaca sampler pack is Partly Sunny. The beer has a light amber color that is semi-transparent. Its smells of lemon with a hint of spice. The Partly Sunny tastes sweet and creamy at first, but a slightly sour after taste, coming from the lemon addition to the beer. The spices in the beer are very subtle and compliment the beer nicely. There is not any hint of hops with this beer. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. Overall, this is a decent beer for the warmer months.

Ithaca Pils

Continuing with my Ithaca sampler pack after vacation, I opened a bottle of the Pils. It has a very nice medium amber color and a nice floral aroma. The taste is fresh and smooth at first, with a slight hoppy finish. It is a refreshing summer time beer and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The alcohol content is 5.5%. Just be careful taking this one out of the fridge as it likes to explode out of the bottle.

Outer Banks Brewing Station

On our last day in the Outer Banks this year, we popped into the Outer Banks Brewing Station for dinner and a few brews. I had been here previously and I remembered the beer was decent.

The first beer I ordered was the Lemon Grass Wheat. The beer comes in a 22-ounce bottle rather than on draft. I had read about it on the brewery's website and was very intrigued. It pours an opaque yellow-amber color. The aroma is very sweet and inviting with a citrus undertone. It tastes of lemon and is very clean, with a smooth after taste. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. I thought this beer was very refreshing and enjoyable to drink and I ordered a second bottle to finish off the meal.

I sampled my boy Adam's glass of Iron Binnacle Baltic Porter. It came in an 8-ounce glass because it's alcohol content is 9.3%. The porter is very dark and smells sweet. The alcohol is noticable in the aroma is well. The taste is very intense, both sweet and strong. The alcohol really gives the porter a bite making the Baltic Porter a very enjoyable beer.

The second beer that I ordered was the Hurley Burley Brown Ale. It had a nice dark amber color to it and a sweet aroma. The taste consisted of toasted malts with a healty addition of hops. I thought that for a Brown Ale it was extra hoppy, but not unenjoyable. The alcohol content is 7.1% ABV. I thought the Brown Ale was a very strong and powerful beer.

Lastly, I sampled Adam's Hugh Hefeweizen. It had a citrus aroma. It tasted sweet and citrus-like. Overall, It was very crisp, clean, and refreshing. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. I thought it was similar to most hefeweizens and did not really stand out. But that is not to say this it wasn't a good beer, because it definitely was. If they bottled this beer, it would be excellent for the beach.

As far as the food, it was excellent. I ordered the barbeque sandwich, and it was phenomenal. I highly recommend checking out the Outer Banks Brewing Station if you are in the Outer Banks. I should also note that I sampled the Liquorice Stout (no picture) and thought it was decent but decided against a whole glass due to it not pairing with my food and due to the hot weather. I think the stout would be better in the winter months.

Beach Bum Blonde Ale

Call me crazy, but I am a fan of Beach Bum Blonde Ale from Michelob. The beer pours a medium amber color. It has a nice hop aroma, hinting that it has some flavor. The taste is malty and sweet. Overall it has a very clean and smooth taste. The after taste is accented by hops, but only subtly. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. I am a fan of this beer, and it makes for good summer drinking.

Samuel Adams Imperial White

My boy Adam picked up two four-packs of Samuel Adams Imperial White for us to share at the beach. When I poured the beer, I expected to see a white beer, but it came out dark amber. The beer smells sweet and malty. The taste is very spicy and warm. It was a little sweet with a citrus undertone. It had a smooth after taste. The alcohol content is 10.3% ABV and you can taste the alcohol with the spices. I thought this was a very good beer, but I was thrown off by it not being white in color.

Carolina Blonde

I picked up a six pack of Carolina Blonde. The beer has a nice light amber color and slightly hoppy aroma. I thought there would have been a little more hop punch with the beer, but there was not. It was very light tasting with minimal flavor. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. I thought that the beer was good for the beach, as it is very light, but might not be as good at other locations. It could use a little more flavor in my book, but was still decent.

Sunset Ale

After dinner tonight, we stopped by Sunset Bar & Grill in Duck, NC. The bar has a house brew called Sunset Ale. I inquired as to who made the beer for them, knowing they did not have a brewery. The bartender responded with St. George Brewing Company in Richmond, VA. The beer is a dark amber and smelled very sweet with a bit of a floral accent. The taste was also sweet with a nice hop after taste, rounding out the flavor. I was not able to locate any information on the alcohol content of the beer. I liked the beer enough to want to try more St. George beers.

Weeping Radish Fest

At dinner tonight, I ordered a bottle of Weeping Radish Fest (I apologize about the picture, but the restaurant was dark and my good camera broke...only a phone picture). The beer pours a beautiful amber color. The aroma is sweet smelling. The taste is also sweet with a minor hop compliment. The after taste is very clean and fresh, as the beer is organic without any preservatives. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV.

New Belgium 1554

The next New Belgium beer that I picked up was the 1554. The 1554 is an “enlightened black ale.” It pours very dark, almost black. The aroma smells of oak and chocolate. It drinks very smooth and tastes of chocolate, oak, and toasted malt. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. While this may not be the perfect summer beer, it's quality is evident and is worth drinking whenever. New Belgium is becoming a favorite brewery of mine.

New Belgium Mothership Wit

The Brew Thru right across the street from where I am staying has stocked up on New Belgium products. I picked up the Mothership Wit, a certified organic wheat beer. It pours almost white and opaque. The aroma hints at the spices with a bit of citrus undertone. The taste is refreshing, clean, and citrus-like. The spices accent and balance the sweetness of the citrus. It has a slightly dry after taste that only makes you want to take another sip. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I highly recommend this beer for the summer months by the pool or on the beach, as it is very light and refreshing.

New Belgium Fat Tire

When I was in Las Vegas, I had this New Belgium Fat Tire. I learned that North Carolina had been added to their distribution area, and the Outer Banks was my vacation destination. Destiny? Maybe. The beer pours a deep amber color with minimal head. It has a sweet and slightly hoppy aroma. The taste is slightly spicy with a little bit of sweetness. The after taste is a little spicy and hoppy as well, but it is the perfect balance. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. This has become one of my favorite beers. All-in-all, it embodies what a beer should be, utilizing hops and malts to create a perfect brew.