Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic

I was very excited to see that McGrath's in Harrisburg brought in a keg of Stone 09-09-09 Vertical Epic. The beer is black with a tan frothy head. It has a slight slight chocolate aroma. The taste is malty and consists of a sweet chocolate with hints of vanilla. The finish is slightly dry with a hop kick on the back of the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.6% ABV. I thought that the 2009 version of the Vertical Epic is very good and I hope that the keg is not kicked by the time I get back to McGrath's, as I definitely want another glass of it.

Bare Knuckle Stout

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Bare Knuckle Stout. I did not know until after drinking it that this beer hails from Anheuser-Busch. The beer is dark brown with no head. There isn't much of an aroma at all. It has a bitter taste with no flavor. The make up of the beer is very watery. I could not locate an alcohol content, but I would guess it to be around 5% ABV. Overall, this beer is not very good and I do not recommend it. As far as stouts go, this is a very poor one in my opinion.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Loose Cannon

The final (fourth) beer I had out of the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack was Loose Cannon. It is described as hop-cubed ale, as it is a hoppy ale. It has a copper color and a very flowery aroma. The taste is all about the hops. It is sort of unrelenting in its hop bite, but has accent of citrus, most notably grapefruit. It has a crisp and slightly dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. Although this beer is very hoppy, the citrus accent makes it somewhat enjoyable. Be prepared for a hop kick in the tongue when trying this beer.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning

Out of the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack, the third beer I tried was the Small Craft Warning. This beer is labeled as an “Uber Pils.” For all of you It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fans, when I read uber pils I think “pass, super pass, uber pass!” The beer is golden in color, cloudy and smells sweet with hints of lemon. The taste is slightly malty at first, and then the hops hit in the middle. It finishes a little dry with an accent of lemon and coriander. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was an excellent pilsner with fresh and crisp hop accents. It is very refreshing due to the lemon and coriander and not overly hoppy.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Peg Leg

The second beer that I tried from the Clipper City Heavy Seas sampler pack was the Peg Leg. The beer is dark brown in color with a light tan head. The aroma consists of roasted malts and dark chocolate. The taste is mostly dark chocolate with hints of roasted malts and coffee. From the aroma, I would have thought that the roasted malts would have been the front runner for taste, but it was the dark chocolate that came out as the winner. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I really like the Peg Leg and like the dry dark chocolate finish.

Clipper City Heavy Seas Red Sky at Night

I picked up a four-pack sample of Clipper City's Heavy Seas brand. The Heavy Seas brand consists of Clipper City's higher alcohol content beer. My first beer out of the sampler pack was the Red Sky at Night, which is a saison. The beer is pale yellow in color with a light head. It has a sweet and fruity aroma. The taste is slightly peppery with lemon accents. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I thought that the Red Sky at Night is an excellent saison with great fruit hints and spicy finish. After trying the whole pack (reviews yet to come), this was my favorite one in the pack.

Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine

At McGrath's I ordered a 22-ounce bottle of Avery Hog Heaven Barley Wine. The beer has a cloudy copper color and smells sweet and fruity. The taste is sweet at first before punching your taste buds with an alcohol kick. The sweetness consists mostly of caramel, and the beer finishes very dry due to the alcohol. The alcohol content is 9.2% ABV. I very much enjoyed the Hog Heaven, but beware as the alcohol can sneak up on you quickly. However, with every sip, you are reminded of the amount of alcohol that is in the Barley Wine. This was my first Avery beer, and I look forward to trying others.

Appalachian Brewing Company Rauchbock

I stopped by Appalachian Brewing Company for a friend's birthday celebration and ordered a Rauchbock, which is the September specialty. The beer is dark amber in color with no head. It has a sweet aroma with hints of the malts included. The taste is roasted malts and sweet with a light dry finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I love the roasted flavor, as it adds another dimension to the bock beer. It was very interesting how my tongue reacted to the sweetness and the roasted flavor.

Cervejaria Sul Brasileira Xingu Black Beer

Another new beer that Katie at McGrath's suggest was the Xingu Black Beer from Cervejaria Sul Brasileira. The beer hails from Brazil and the website says that the beer is “Light & Dark, Smooth As Silk.” It is dark brown in color with absolutely no head. There also is no aroma associated with the pour of this beer. Surprisingly, the beer has a sweet malty taste complete with caramel accents with a minor bitter undertone. It finishes a little dry. The alcohol content is 4.7% ABV. I thought that the Xingu Black Beer was a very surprising beer. It does not taste how it looks, as I anticipated it to taste like a porter, but it drinks more like a sweet lager. The website accurately depicts the drinking of the beer when it says “Smooth As Silk.”

Weyerbacher Autumnfest

We were informed by Katie at McGrath's that they had just received Weyerbacher Autumnfest in bottles, so I ordered one to give it a try. The beer is golden in color with almost no aroma. What is there in the aroma is a slight sweetness. The taste is sweet and malty with a slightly sour after taste. This beer goes down very smooth and dries the mouth out a little bit on the finish. I thought that it left a nice film in the mouth that contained different flavors than I tasted directly in the beer. The alcohol content is 5.4% ABV. I feel the Weyerbacher have perfected the Oktoberfest and this how an Oktoberfest should taste and drink.

Breaking News: Troegs Mad Elf

Troegs Mad Elf is available at the brewery in 22-ounce bottles. If you can't get to the brewery, look for it soon on store shelves.

Blue Point Toasted Lager

On draft at McGrath's, they tapped Blue Point Toasted Lager. This beer has won many awards and I have previously had a case of it, but I have not officially reviewed it yet. The beer is copper-amber in color with a thin head. There is no aroma, which is somewhat surprising for a toasted beer. The taste is bitey and fresh, consisting of burnt malts. It has a dry after taste. The alcohol content is 5.3% ABV. I think that this beer is very good and high quality. The toasted taste is not overpowering, but provides a nice accent to what would be a sweet beer.

Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

The final beer I tried from the Major Canis pack from Flying Dog was the Horn Dog Barley Wine. The beer is reddish brown in color with a sweet aroma. The taste is very sweet and malty with hints of raisin and vanilla. There definitely is a alcohol bite to the beer, as the alcohol content is 10.2% ABV. I thought that the flavors were intense and the alcohol was present but not overwhelming. I really like this Barley Wine and suggest you try it if you like barley wines. It would rank up there with my favorite barley wines and I really like the vanilla accent.

Flying Dog Kerberos Tripel

The third beer out of the Major Canis sampler pack from Flying Dog that I tried was the Kerberos Tripel. The beer is golden orange in color with a fruity aroma consisting mostly of banana. The taste is sweet consisting of banana and spices. I thought the balance of the spices in the beer were perfect. The beer then hits with some hops and and finishes dry. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV with is very detectable in the dryness. I liked this Tripel and though that the fruit accents were perfectly blended with the spices.

Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale

The second beer I tried out of the Major Canis sampler pack from Flying Dog was the Double Dog Double Pale Ale. The beer is orange in color with no head. The aroma is slightly sweet hoppy. There is also a note of freshness. The Double Dog tastes very hoppy and has a sweet finish with hints of coriander. The alcohol content is 11.5% ABV. I thought that this beer was surprisingly sweet on the end for the amount of hops included and very enjoyable. It has moved up on my list of favorite Pale Ales and is a must try.