Kulmbacher Eisbock

My roommate Adam picked up a case of Kulmbacher Eisbock and I decided to barter for one of them. The beer pour a deep dark brown with minimal head. The aroma is sweet and malty, with a hint of alcohol. The taste is smooth and sweet with accents of dark chocolate. The beer has a bitter finish due to the dark chocolate taste. It also finishes a little bit dry. The taste of alcohol isn't too prevalent even though the aroma hints at it. The alcohol content is 9.2% ABV. I think this beer was excellent and of high quality. The chocolate taste and dark color is getting me in the mood for the winter seasonals, and I think this would be a great beer on a blustery cold night.

Troegs Nugget Nectar

I picked up two bottles of the limited run off-season production of Troegs Nugget Nectar. Typically, I picked up a growler, but this run was bottled days prior to me purchasing it. The beer is golden in color and has a sweet aroma that hints at the hop content. It smells fresher than I remember, which is a good thing. The taste is hoppy and clean, with a hint of citrus and pine. The hops are an excellent compliment to the citrus and pine. The tastes are much more vivid in this special run than I remember, most likely due to the freshness. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. All in all, this special run was well worth the money spent and I look to grab more bottles of these while they last.

Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA

At McGrath's, they just tapped a keg of Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA. I have heard a lot of good things about Dark Horse, but have not tried any beers from them yet. The IPA is an opaque gold color with light head. There is a floral aroma, as with almost any IPA. The taste consists of a sweet malty flavor with a bit of a spice. The hops are reserved for the after taste and hit with moderate punch. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. I really enjoyed drinking this IPA, as it was not too overpowering and had a delicate balance of hops, malts, and spice. The spice is what puts this beer over the top and makes it more enjoyable.

Carlow Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Ale

While at McGrath's, my coworker Mike ordered a Carlow Curim Gold Celtic Wheat Beer. I was so intrigued by the aroma, that I ordered one myself. The beer is gold in color and has a sweet smell, consisting of a strong hint of caramel. The taste was malty and had a powerful taste of caramel. I also picked up a slight banana flavor. There is a minor hop after taste. The alcohol content is 4.3% ABV. I was very surprised at the Curim with the caramel accent. I had not previously heard of it, but it is very high quality. Everyone that tried it that night really liked it. I suggest picking up a bottle and trying it.

Appalachian Brewing Company- ESB Cask

I stopped by Appalachian Brewing Company last night and they had an Extra Special Bitter in the cask. I have not previously had an ESB from ABC, nor is any ESB listed on their website. The beer is amber in color, and has a thick frothy head. There is not too much aroma to the beer, but what is present hints at malts. The beer is creamy and warm in temperature, due to the fact it is served from a cask. The taste is mostly malty and not really bitter at all. I believe that the cask has really rounded out this beer and removed the bitter finish. There is a faint hop accent on the end. The alcohol content is around 5.5%, according to the bartender. While I thought that this beer was decent, I would like to try it not in the cask. I feel that the cask may have softened the bitterness too much, not really making this beer an ESB by definition.

Stone Thirteenth Anniversary Ale

My coworker Ben asked if I wanted in on a case of Stone Thirteenth Anniversary Ale and I agreed. The beer pours a dark brown with reddish hint. The Ale is very opaque with a thick head after the pour. The aroma is floral and strong, warning of the hop content in the beer. This beer has hops all around on many levels. There is the minor hop bite at first, then a strong and powerful hop accent, and finally a hop finish, all complete with a slight chocolate under tone (it is very subtle and easier to pick up the warmer the beer is). The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I had last year's anniversary ale, the Bitter Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and was a huge fan. This year is a little more difficult to fall in love with, as the beer has a bitter taste, plenty of hops, and finishes with an alcohol kick. The beer attacks your taste buds and leaves them unable to taste anything for a couple of hours. I did find the overall experience enjoyable, but the beer is a little too high for my hop liking.

Troegs Java Head Oatmeal Stout

My 200th post!

Yesterday I picked up a couple of 22-ounce bottles of Troegs Java Head Oatmeal Stout. This product was released for the first time on August 25 (yesterday). It was an awesome experience, as they workers were literally pulling bottles off of the line and putting them into the refrigerator. I waited 10 minutes until they started to bottle, but it was well worth the wait. The beer is dark black with a chocolate aroma with a hint of coffee. The taste is smooth, milky, and slightly bitter. The coffee taste is not overpowering, but provides a nice accent. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I think Troegs hit a home run with their new coffee stout. The taste is bitter, but not in a bad way. There is a complimentary hop accent and the coffee rounds out the experience. The only thing Troegs has left to do is create a pint glass with the Java Head Oatmeal Stout logo, which I will immediately buy. Your move Troegs!

Bell's Oktoberfest

To my surprise, McGrath's in Harrisburg added Bell's Oktoberfest to their draft line-up. I had not previously been aware that Bell's had an Oktoberfest beer, but I was not reluctant to give it a try. The beer is copper in color with minimal aroma. I was not able to pick up any scent. The taste is smooth and malty with a subtle bite. It is very clean and smooth. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that Bell's delivers a very solid and enjoyable Oktoberfest. The quality that is put into their other beers has carried over to this one and leaves the drinker satisfied.

Troegs Breaking News

I stopped by Troegs today and picked up 22-ounce bottles of Nuggest Nectar (special release for this time of the year) and Java Head Oatmeal Stout (new seasonal release). They are available starting today, August 25. Be sure to stop by and pick up a bottle for yourself. Stay tuned for a review.

Weyerbacher Merry Monks

McGrath's in Harrisburg just added Weyerbacher Merry Monks to their draft list. The beer is gold in color with a sweet and spicy aroma. The taste is sweet at first with a spicy and dry after taste. The finish hints at bananas, which was very enjoyable. The alcohol content is 9.3% ABV. I thought this was a very enjoyable Belgian Triple, as it is multi-dimensional and the beer changes character as it gets acclimated to room temperature. The beer is light enough to drink in summer and has enough spice and alcohol content to warm you in the winter months. I feel it is a year round beer.

Southern Tier Crème Brulee Imperial Milk Stout

Furthering my love for McGrath's in downtown Harrisburg, they recently added Southern Tier Crème Brulee Imperial Milk Stout to their draft lineup. The beer is black in color and smells very sweet, mostly consisting of vanilla. The taste is very similar to the dessert (if you've had it, that's a good reference). The taste consists of vanilla and carmelized sugar with a light spice after taste. The finish is creamy and tasty. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. I was very impressed with the Crème Brulee Imperial Milk Stout. It is difficult to drink several of them, as the beer is very sweet, but this is the perfect dessert beer. I will order this again!

Sea Dog Apricot Wheat Ale

The final beer I tried out of the Sea Dog sampler pack was the Apricot Wheat Ale. The beer is pale yellow in color and itt has a sweet apricot aroma. This beer tastes immediately like apricot, but the taste falls off quickly with a water-like after taste. The beer is very smooth, but flavorless on the end. The alcohol content is 3.5% ABV. My opinion on the Sea Dog beers (at least the fruit ones) is that they concentrate too hard on the fruit additions and not enough on the beer ingredients. For fruit beers, their alcohol content is extremely low, even lower than Miller Lite. I feel like they substituted beer ingredients with fruit. While the beers are fresh, smooth, and clean, I am not a big fan of this brewery.

Sea Dog Blue Paw Wheat Ale

The second beer I tried out of the Sea Dog sample pack was the Blue Paw Wheat Ale. The beer is light yellow in color with a sweet blueberry aroma. The Blue Paw Wheat Ale has a good initial blueberry taste with a bitter taste in the middle. On the finish, the taste sours and disappears on the end. The alcohol content is 3.5% ABV. I wasn't overly impressed with this beer, as the blueberry taste is the only flavor included in the beer and it is fairly light and tastless overall. There is no finish to the beer; it seems like I was drinking water instead of beer.

Sea Dog Raspberry Wheat Ale

My sister and I decided to split a case of Sea Dog sampler pack. The first beer I tried out of the bunch was the Raspberry Wheat Ale. The beer is golden in color with a hint of redness. It has a sweet aroma consisting of fruit and sugar. I got an immediate raspberry taste, with a clean refreshing after taste. The Raspberry Wheat Ale was dry with slight bitterness on the end. The alcohol content is 4.5% ABV. I thought the beer wasn't terrible, but tasted a little too much like water for me. It was very light in the beer flavorings (malt, hops, yeast) and focused too much on the fruit, which was not multi-dimensional or satisfying.

Bear Republic Hop Rod Ale

The other night I ordered a Bear Republic Hop Rod Ale at The Brewhouse Gille. The beer is dark brown in color, which surprised me for an IPA (I realize that I have been reviewing a lot of IPAs lately, which is not usually my favorite style of beer). The beer has a light floral aroma. The taste has a minimal sweetness with a hop overtone. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. Despite the amount of hops included in this beer, I thought the overall taste was enjoyable. It is slightly too hoppy for my liking, but I would order it again.