McKenzie Brew House Melody Nelson

Another beer I ordered from McKenzie Brew House on my way home from the beach was Melody Nelson. The beer pours a copper color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of sweet orange, yeast, malts, and light pepper. The taste is bitey with pepper and light smoke, sweet malts, lemon, and orange. Molasses comes out in the finish with a faint alcohol burn. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I liked the variety of flavors in this beer, but wouldn’t rank it among my favorites of McKenzie’s brew. It was also a little difficult to finish an entire beer due to it sweetness.

McKenzie Brew House The Chronic

On the way home from Ocean City, I stopped in to McKenzie Brew House in Chadds Ford. I first ordered a glass of The Chronic, an IPA. The beer pours an orange amber color with a frothy white head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, grapefruit, grass, smelling very much like a saison. The taste is bitter with a bit of smoky charcoal, orange, grapefruit, lemon. Plenty of pepper comes out in the finish and it has a grassy after taste with some hay. The alcohol content is 6.25% ABV. The Chronic was like no other IPA that I have ever had, with its smoky and charcoal flavor. I really enjoyed the depth and complexity of it though, and I suggest ordering one if you get a chance to stop in to McKenzie.

Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head Limb and Life Volume 2

When I returned to the Dogfish Head Brewpub for the Life and Limb Volume 2 tapping, they also had the other Sierra Nevada collaboration Limb and Life Volume 2 on tap, so I decided to give it a try. The beer pours an amber color with a thin filmy off-white head. The aroma consists of light maple syrup, caramel, coffee, and spruce. The taste is malty with caramel notes and light coffee accents. There is some maple flavor that makes up the dry finish. In a way, this beer almost reminds me of an Oktoberfest. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I liked how light and refreshing the beer was, and considering it was sessionable, it could be drank all day. However, if both beers are on tap at the same time, I am steering my order to the Life and Limb first.

Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head Life and Limb Volume 2

While in Ocean City, Dogfish Head tweeted that they had just tapped their collaboration with Sierra Nevada, Life and Limb Volume 2. I previously had the first version, but I was rather excited to see this beer on taps again. The beer pours a black color with a thin tan head. The aroma consists of maple, birch, chocolate, coffee, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots if maple on the front end before some toasted malts, coffee, and chocolate come to light. There is a biting and bubbly finish. The alcohol content is 10.2% ABV. I recall this beer being just as good as the first batch with its wonderful maple flavor. This was the first time I had the beer on tap and I hope to acquire a bottle or two for my cellar.

Brooklyn Summer Ale

My buddy Matt picked up a case of Brooklyn Summer Ale for our trip to the beach and we needed to have cans on the beach. The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of wheat, lemon, pepper, grass, and funk. The taste is smooth and sweet with yeast and lemon, a grassy hop accent, and a pepper spice. The finish is slightly sour, but not a pucker sour. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. This is a nice, light, and refreshing beer to drink on the beach, and has a nice sour twist to it.

Mikkeller Barrel-Aged Black Hole Series (Part II)

I previously reviewed the first four Black Hole beers from Mikkeller, those being the Bourbon, Whiskey, Red Wine, and Rum barrel aged beers. I picked up two more, the White Wine and Tequila, from Stateline Liquors, leaving only the Cognac for another time. As with the previous beers, the Black Hole pours a black color with a frothy tan head, and both versions here looked very similar.

The Black Hole in white wine barrels has an aroma that consists of chocolate, vanilla, toasted malts, grapes, and sugar. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots of chocolate and toasted malts. There is a faint dry white wine accent before the alcohol warmth kicks in and a coffee finish. Overall, this was similar to the red wine barrel aged Black Hole in that the wine isn't overbearing and difficult to detect. It only adds a slight accent of grapes and sugar, while helping dry out the finish.

The Black Hole in tequila barrels is a completely different story. The aroma is not as tequila-y as I expected but it was there and covers most of the flavors in the nose with some faint coffee and chocolate in there as well and a slight sweetness with agave fruit. The taste is wonderful and might be my favorite of the versions I have tried. The chocolate and tequila go well together, a sort of Heaven and Hell mix. The tequila version allows a dry coffee finish to come out and is overall pretty dry as well.

21st Amendment Hop Crisis Imperial IPA

Since I had to pick up a case of cans to drink on the beach, I went to Westy’s in Camp Hill and came out with a case of 21st Amendment Hop Crisis Imperial IPA. The beer pours a honey color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of resiny fresh hops, tangerine, grapefruit, passion fruit, orange, and pine. The taste is bitter and oily with lots of citrus flavors including orange, tangerine, grapefruit, hints of pepper, and pine. Oak comes out in the finish and a lightly sweet orange flavor lingers in the after taste. The alcohol content is 9.7% ABV. The Hop Crisis was a refreshing beer for the beach with an excellent bitter hop flavor to cut through the extreme heat and plenty of hop oils to aid in making you sweat even more.

Dogfish Head Fort (2007)

I was recently on vacation in Ocean City and we decided to drive up to the Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth. While at the brewpub, my buddy Matt and I decided to order a vintage bottle of Fort, vintage 2007. The beer pours a cloudy amber color with lots of red hues and a thin filmy white head. The aroma is warming with alcohol, a most notable presence, and raspberries, yeast, and raisin aromas as well. The taste is big and bold with plenty of raisin comprising of the base of the beer. On top of the raisin, the raspberry comes to life and provides a tart finish with a warming alcohol after taste. The alcohol content is 18.0% ABV. I had heard good things about Fort, and I was most impressed with the flavor profile of this beer. It kept itself from truly tasting like a “fruity” beer by having a prominent alcohol flavor, but the yeast base and tart raspberry finish were the most enjoyable parts of this beer.

Jailhouse Brewing Reprieve French-style Ale

Another bottle I received in a trade with Lance Martin (Beers of the Night) and Alfred Hugh Leonard III was Jailhouse Brewing Reprieve French-style Ale. The beer pours a straw yellow color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of lemon grass, earthy notes, hay, cream, and has some floral hops as well. The mouth feel is very carbonated with the taste consisting of lemon, hay,grass, and lemon. It has somewhat of a barnyard flavor to it before bits of cream come out on the finish. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. The Reprieve is a delicious beer that is light on the tongue, prefect for drinking in the summertime months.

Jailhouse Brewing Breakout Stout

In a trade with Lance Martin (Beers of the Night) and Alfred Hugh Leonard III, I received a bottle of Jailhouse Brewing Breakout Stout. The beer pours a black color with a finger-sized frothy tan head. The aroma consists of mocha, toasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, and a smoothing vanilla accent. The taste is dry and chocolaty with lots of coffee and mocha on the front end. There is some tobacco that mixes up the flavor, but the focus is on the tasted malts. Vanilla sweetens up the finish, which is quite enjoyable. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. While I typically am not a fan of tobacco flavoring in a beer, it complimented all of the other flavors well in the Breakout Stout and I really enjoyed drinking this one.

Alpine Beer Company Pure Hoppiness

I received a bottle of Alpine Beer Company Pure Hoppiness from the Beer Club 4 Men in a trade. The beer pours a golden color with a thin foamy white head. The aroma consists of caramel and lots of it with other accents such as grapefruit, pine, and sugar. The beer has a bubbly mouth feel when drank and the taste is bitter and hoppy with lots of grapefruit, tangerine, and orange peel. Pine, spruce, and pepper come out on the finish with a dry caramel after taste. Some hints of lemon also linger through the after taste. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. Pure Hoppiness was an excellent hoppy beer with plenty of bitterness to dry out the mouth, but also plenty of citrus flavors on a massive caramel base to keep the tongue happy.

Widmer Brothers X-114 IPA

As part of #IPADay, I ordered a glass of Widmer X-114 IPA at O’Reilly’s Taproom in Harrisburg. The beer pours an orange-tinted copper color with an orange tint with a frothy white head that leaves a light lace on the glass. The aroma consists of a solid caramel base with orange, tangerine, lemon, and grass. The taste is rather sweet up front with lots of caramel flavor before some bitterness comes out to play in the form of grapefruit, tangerine, and lemon. There is a light grassy hop bit with some pepper as well. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. I was surprised at how smooth and sweet this IPA was, rather than being overly bitter and hoppy. It was a rather nice beer to drink and celebrate the world of IPAs.

Nogne-o Two Captains

In celebration of #IPADay, I ordered a glass of Nogne-o Two Captains from O’Reilly’s Taproom in Harrisburg. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, pine, and tangerine. The taste is extremely bitter and biting on the tongue, providing plenty of punishment. Citrus flavors appear in the form of lots of lemon with pine and pepper spices. On the finish, there are hints of caramel as a base for the beer. The after taste is very dry with some spruce accents as well. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. Wow was this a bitter hop bomb to drink. I enjoyed is resiny goodness, as well as the citrus notes that accompanied. The flavor of this beer will linger for a while long after you are done drinking it.

Jailhouse Brewing Mugshot IPA

I received a bottle of Jailhouse Brewing Mugshot IPA as part of a beer trade with Lance Martin (Beers of the Night) and Alfred Hugh Leonard III. The beer pours a golden color with an extremely lofty and frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, pine, caramel, tangerine, and orange. The taste is rather smooth at first with caramel before a drier toasted toffee flavor kicks in on the tongue. Lemon, tangerine, pine, and pepper come out on the finish of this beer and bitter the tongue a bit. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. This was a well done IPA that I could drink all of the time if it was available in Pennsylvania, and I recommend trying it.

Jailhouse Brewing Midnight Special India-style Black Ale

As part of a beer trade with Lance Martin (Beers of the Night) and Alfred Hugh Leonard III, I received a bottle of Jailhouse Brewing Midnight Special India-style Black Ale. The beer pours a black color with a lofty and frothy tan head that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, pine, chocolate, toasted malts, and pepper. The taste is really smooth and chocolaty at first with a nice creamy mouth feel. There are some mocha, chocolate liquor accent, and bits of coffee. On the finish, pine, pepper, and lemon dry the mouth and the after taste is warming from the alcohol, which is 10.0% ABV. This is one of the finest Black IPAs /Black Ales/Cascadian Dark Ales that I have had. The mouth feel is so creamy and chocolaty with plenty of sweet and bitter flavors all wrapped into one.