Mother Earth Brewing Silent Night

The final beer I tried at the Mother Earth Brewing Farm to Table tasting event at Blind Tiger in New York City was the Silent Night. The beer pours a bubbly black color with a tan frothy head. The aroma consists of chocolate, coffee, and molasses. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with good accents of toasted malts, molasses, and coffee. I noticed a light cardboard flavor on the transition from sweet chocolate to the alcohol bite, but it was very forgivable. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be around 9.0% ABV. Overall, the Silent Night was a good beer with a wonderful collection of sweet flavors, all balanced with a tremendous alcohol bite.

Mother Earth Brewing DWBB Blackberry Sour

Another beer I ordered at Blind Tiger in New York City as party of the Mother Earth Brewing Farm to Table tasting even was the DWBB Blackberry Sour. The beer pours an orange color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma is blackberry through and through with a good sweetness about it. The taste is loaded with blackberry and is only slightly sour on the front end before transitioning into a mostly sweet finish. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would guess it to be around 7.0% ABV. This sour beer was extremely delicious and I didn't talk to one person that day that did not rave about how delicious it was. If you have a chance to try this beer when in North Carolina, do not pass.

Mother Earth Brewing Sisters of the Moon IPA

On my visit to New York City to do a beer trade with Lee from Hoptopia, I met up with him to at Blind Tiger for the Mother Earth Brewing Farm to Table sampling. The first beer I had was the Sisters of the Moon IPA. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, and pine and floral hops. The taste is smooth and caramel with a lemon and pine bite and a smooth and creamy finish. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. The Sisters of the Moon IPA was a very enjoyable beer with fresh earthy hops and a great smooth creamy finish.

Speakeasy Imperial Common (Whiskey Barrel Aged)

My girlfriend ordered a glass of Speakeasy Imperial Common (Whiskey Barrel Aged) from Blind Tiger in New York City, and was kind enough to let me try it. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma is sweet with sweet whiskey and fresh sharp hops. The taste is smooth and sweet, a nice warming whiskey flavor on the front end, a bitey finish that stings the tongue, and a dry after taste. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. The sweetness that the whiskey added to this beer was impeccable and the peak was very mild and not overpowering. I really enjoyed the complexity the whiskey added to a usually simple and light bodied common.

Troegs Scratch 37- India Pale Ale (1 of 4)

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to pick up a case of Scratch 37- India Pale Ale. This beer is the first of four India Pale Ales that Troegs will be testing to perfect the recipe for the Perpetual IPA. The Perpetual IPA is to be released approximately 14 months from now, one of the first beers from the new Hershey plant. In fact, the label was leaked from the TTB and no one on the brewery knew about the beer's development until the Troegner brothers were forced to reveal the details due to the amount of questions received about the beer.

Scratch #37 features Warrior and Cluster hops with a touch of Columbus hops as well. The beer pours a golden yellow color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of several citrus fruits including grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and lemon. The taste is smooth and sweet with tangerine and grapefruit coming to the forefront before a bittering pine and spruce hop accent. The alcohol content is 7.7% ABV. I really enjoyed how smooth drinking Scratch 37 was while still providing a nice hop accent. This beer does not bitter or dry on the finish, but has a nice little bite.

Harpoon Glacier Harvest 2010 Wet Hop Ale

I have been meaning to try the Harpoon Glacier Harvest 2010 Wet Hop Ale for a while, and while at Blind Tiger in New York City they had it on draft, so I gave it a try. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma is fresh with pine hops and accents of caramel. The taste is light and smooth with a nice caramel base and a light lemon and pepper bite on the sides of the mouth. On the finish, the hops come alive and dry out the mouth a little bit. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. While the beer is light bodied and bubbly on the tongue, the fresh lemon and pepper hops provide enough dimension to the beer to make it complex and not just about the hops.

Stone/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker El Camino

I ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/21st Amendment/Firestone Walker collaboration El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale from RattleNHum bar in New York City. I am noticing the Stone really likes to get around an

d collaborate with other brewers (a bit risque?). The beer pours a black color with light red hues and a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of caramel with fresh hops and oak. The taste is big on oak and has a good caramel accent, fresh hops, licorice, and peppermint. I likened the taste to Good N Plenty candy. The beer then has a light coffee finish. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. I thought the beer had a good balance and an excellent dry finish.

Stone/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner

My friend Jeff ordered a bottle of the Stone Brewing/Brew Dog/Cambridge Juxtaposition Black Pilsner at RattleNHum bar in New York City. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy head. The aroma consists of oak and strong with raisins, vanilla, and milk chocolate. The taste is big on raisin with some chocolate, vanilla, brown sugar. The beer also has a dry finish, and a little tobacco in the after taste. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I really enjoyed this black pilsner, a new style to me. The dark flavors such as chocolate and raisins went down smoothly and drank like a pilsner.

Bosteels Pauwel Kwak

I ordered a glass of Bosteels Pauwel Kwak from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours an orange amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of wheat, alcohol, earthy hops, apple, and pear. The taste pops out with sweet fruits, apple, pears, honey, and earthy hops. The finish has a strong alcohol content the bites the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. This beer has an excellent flavor with a big explosion, and a good, but not overpowering, alcohol accent.

Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale

I picked up a bottle of Tommyknocker Imperial Nut Brown Ale from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, toffee, and maple syrup. The taste is smooth at first with caramel and toffee but quickly transitions into a beer that bites the tongue. In the bite is alcohol and a light hop flavor. The final transition into the finish reveals the nutty background and brings the smooth and sweet flavor of maple syrup, an ingredient that is brewed with the beer. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I really enjoyed the well-balanced sweetness with the Imperial Nut Brown Ale. I had a fear that the maple syrup might make this beer too sweet, but it was perfectly balanced with alcohol and hops.

21st Amendment Fireside Chat

While at The Ginger Man in New York City, I ordered a glass of 21st Amendment Fireside Chat, their winter warmer. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin tan head. The aroma is malty with cinnamon and nutmeg and some mahogany. The taste is toasted malts, caramel, vanilla, and honey with a good cinnamon and nutmeg accent. There is a dry finish that is bitey followed by a Belgian spicy aftertaste. The alcohol content is 7.9% ABV. A big mix of flavors come with this beer and none overpower the other, all while providing a smooth and warming finish for those cold winter nights.

Bavarian Barbarian-Bullfrog Gothika

My coworker Jack stopped into TJ's in Paoli when he was in the area to pick up a growler of the Bullfrog/Bavarian Barbarian collaboration Gothika. To set the mood, watch the YouTube video about this beer:

The beer pours a dark red-brown color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of sweet malts with raisin, chocolate, smoke, cherry, and oak. The taste is smooth at first before a flavor explosion of alcohol, cherry, dry dark Belgian chocolate, and raisin. Then the smoke sets in and slightly dries out the finish. 9.2% ABV. Devious, check. Evil, check. This beer is just as good as advertised and comes alive (back from the dead?) in the mouth. Lots of flavors for the tongue to process, going from a sweet cherry and chocolate to a dry smokey finish. The best part? The cherry comes back on the finish. Despite it's evil label, this beer is like a Belgian chocolate delicacy.

Springfield Brewing Company Mueller Pale Ale

I was given a bottle of Springfield Brewing Company [Facebook link] Mueller Pale Ale by my coworker Jack to try. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of sweet malts and sour hops in a good balance. The taste is smooth at first with a sweet malt start before turning a little bitter with sour hops. The finish on this beer is dry and bitter, and leaves a lingering sour hop flavor. The alcohol content is not available online, but I would assume it is around 6.0% ABV. This was a solidly performing pale ale with a great sour hop flavor that overbalances on the sweet malts.

Troegs Scratch 36- Bruce Wit

I stopped in to the Troegs tasting room to pick up a case of Scratch 36- Bruce Wit. This beer is a white beer with Belgian spices and a Belgian yeast. The beer pours a pale yellow color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of lemon and light Belgian yeast and spices. The taste is sweet and lemony with a good creamy accent. The beer finishes with a Belgian yeast and spice accent that dries out the mouth a bit. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. The sweet to dry transition of this beer plays nicely on the tongue and I really enjoyed the amount of spices present in the beer. Too bad this beer arrived at the end of October as opposed to the beginning of May.

Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No.1 Pumpkin Ale

I picked up a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela No. 1 Pumpkin Ale from Al's of Hampden. This is Jolly Pumpkin's first pumpkin beer, despite their name, and they added a new twist by making it a sour beer. The beer pours a golden-orange color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of sour pumpkin and a soft wheat background. The taste is sour at first before a sweeter pumpkin flavor comes through with spiced finish and a hint of chocolate in the after taste. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. I really enjoyed this fresh approach to a pumpkin beer. It really mixes up the somewhat tired offering from every brewing company that has pumpkin and spices. The sour beer may not be or everyone, but I really enjoyed this offering.