Stoudt's Blonde Double Mai Bock

I picked up a bottle of Stoudt's Blonde Double Mai Bock from the brewery on my way home for working in Reading. The beer pours an unfiltered golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is sweet with lemon and apricot. The taste is dry and sweet with lemon and a bit of lemon meringue/ There is a a bit of sour hops on the finish and also a pepper bite. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was a thoroughly delicious brew and very satisfying. It left a great citrus after taste in the mouth and was very refreshing.

Stoudt's Old Abominable Barley Wine Ale

I picked up a bottle of Stoudt's Old Abominable Barley Wine Ale from the brewery on my way home from working in Reading one day. The beer pours a dark amber color with a foamy tan head. The aroma consists of fig and toffee with a light hint of pine. The taste is is sweet with caramel and toffee. The beer finishes dry from the alcohol and pine hops. There is also a bit of fig and apricot and a bit of oak on the outside of the mouth. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. Stoudt's has provided a fantastic barley wine that could not be better. This barley wine fit the style perfectly, and the oak accents round out the beer nicely.

Long Trail Brewmaster's Series Winter White

I picked up a bottle of Long Trail Brewmaster's Series Winter White from Barley's and Hops in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is orange and citrus with a mint background. The taste is heavy on orange and other citrus, such as lemon and tangerine. The beer then foams with a lot of carbonation and finishes with a bit of a mint hop bite. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. The beer was great with the fruit accents without being too sweet, thanks to the carbonation. It was a very pleasant beer, even if I consumed in the spring season.

Abita Abbey Ale

I picked up a bottle Abita Abbey Ale from Barley's and Hops in Pittsburgh on my last visit. The beer pours a reddish amber ale with a lofty, foamy, and creamy colored head. The aroma consists of sweet malts, yeast, and alcohol. The taste is sweet that comes from a caramel flavor. There are lots of malts and it is very very bready. Underneath the caramel, there is banana, green apple some dark fruits and cloves. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. This was a delicious Abbey Ale and I really enjoyed it. The sweetness was there, but not too overpowering. The clove and alcohol toned down the sweetness on the finish, and made drinking this beer a very pleasurable experience.

Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot

I picked up a bottle of Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot from Barley's and Hops in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a brown-amber color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of raisin and malts, with some underlying caramel. The taste is filled with raisin and fig with some caramel and toffee sweetness. There are also hints of apricot and orange peel. It finishes with some bitter chocolate and a some flowers and pine. The alcohol content is 7.83% ABV. I thought that the flavors in this beer were very random but worked really well together. It was a truly enjoying brew that kept the tongue guessing through the entire experience.

Cricket Hill Reserve Ale- No. 3 Barleywine

Another bottle that my friend Jeff picked up from Cricket Hill for me was the Reserve Ale- No. 3 Barleywine. The beer pours brilliant amber color with a frothy white head that sticks to the side of the glass. The aroma is malty and sweet, with bits of orange peel, caramel, and toffee. The taste is sweet and malty with a good dose of raisin, toffee, and caramel. It has a slight orange zest on the finish with a modest compliment of dry hops. The alcohol content is not posted online, but I would guess around 8% ABV. This barleywine is everything that a barelywine should be, and I highly recommend checking it out. The orange zest that came with the drinking of this beer was a pleasant surprise and really rounded out the flavor.

Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA

I ordered a glass of Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA when I was last in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon and pine. The taste is lemon and pine with bits of caramel, pineapple, and grapefruit. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that the Head Hunter was a delicious IPA and really well done. This is a quality IPA and should be tried by those of you who like hops.

Maredsous 8- Dubbel

I ordered a glass of Maredsous 8- Dubbel at Fat Head's in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a brown color with a tan bubbly head. There is raisin and fig in the aroma with some hints of chocolate. The taste is smooth and creamy, which I found surprising. The beer was heavy on fig and raisin and had a smooth and sweet chocolate finish. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I thought that the 8 was overly delicious and would definitely order this beer again.

Weyerbacher Juliet

Another beer I ordered while at Fat Head's in Pittsburgh was Weyerbacher Juliet. The beer pours a dark amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of cinnamon and raisins and a faint hop accent. The taste is very malty with apricot, dark fruit, caramel, and toffee. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. I thought that the Juliet was delicious and satisfying with many levels of flavor. The apricot and toffee played with each other nicely. This beer was fantastic and I hope to be able to have another glass of it.

Green Flash Le Freak

While in Pittsburgh, I went to Fat Head's and they had Green Flash Le Freak on draft. The beer pours an orange amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma has orange and lemon with some pepper. The taste has banana with orange and lemon, and some clove and green apple is mixed in there as well. The beer has a nice hop bite, as it finishes with pepper on the back of the mouth. The alcohol content is 9.3% ABV. I thought that the Le Freak was delicious and exactly what I needed on a warm spring day. The temperature was 81 degrees, and the beer paired really well with the weather.

Cricket Hill Reserve Ale- No. 2 Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter

I had my friend Jeff in New Jersey pick me up a bottle of Cricket Hill Reserve Ale- No. 2 Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter. The beer pours a dark brown color with a foamy tan head that is about a finger thick. The aroma has bits of chocolate and an underlying bourbon alcohol bite. The taste is full of chocolate and toasted malts with some cream rounding out in a sweetening manner. The beer finishes with a bit of a bite from the bourbon aging. There is also some oak accents and a hint of black licorice. The alcohol content was not available online, but I would guess it to be around 5% or 6% ABV. This was a delicious porter that goes above and beyond the call of duty. The bourbon barrel aging really brings a new dimension to this beer with a nice alcohol bite and bits of oak laced in with the chocolate and toasted malts.

Troegs Scratch 30- Bock

I stopped by the Troegs tasting room during American Craft Beer Week and picked up a case of Scratch 30- Bock. This beer was created by one of the brewers on Troegs' staff. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. There were bubbles noticeable on the bottom of the glass. The aroma has an orange and citrus hint with a light hop background. The taste is malty with some biscuit-like flavor and sweet with a sour hop bite on the back of the mouth. The beer has a bit of an orange and lemon citrus bite as well. There is also a bit of dryness on the finish. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. Troegs variation on the bock beer with the addition of extra hops really made the beer more dynamic and much more enjoyable. It was just the malty sweetness, but a rounded out citrus dryness that completed the experience.

Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve Imperial India Pale Ale

While in New Jersey on my last visits, I picked up a bottle of Captain Lawrence Captain's Reserve Imperial India Pale Ale. The beer pours a beautiful golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of lemon and wheat grass with a slight hint of orange peel and pepper. The taste is full of lemon and caramel and has a nice bitter hop finish, mostly of the pine descent. The back of the mouth with receive some punishment from the hops in this beer. After the beer has dissipated, the mouth is left with a the aftertaste of eating mustard. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I thought this was a better than moderate Imperial India Pale Ale. There was plenty of helpings of hops in this beer, but they were balanced out nicely with the caramel and citrus flavors.

Defiant Belgian Style Tripel Ale

I picked up a bottle Defiant Belgian Style Tripel Ale on my last visit to New Jersey. The beer pours a pale, straw yellow color with a bubbly and overly lofty head. The aroma consists of banana with some candisugar and apricot in the background. The taste is very hefty on banana and has a strong pepper kick. The beer finishes with a dryness and the alcohol really punches the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I was surprised as to how light colored the beer was, but it was not short on flavor. The alcohol really kicked into high gear, not being masked at all by the banana or pepper flavors.

Brew Dog Chaos Theory Predictably Random Ale

I picked up a bottle of Brew Dog Chaos Theory Predictably Random Ale when I was in New Jersey. The beer pours an orange brown color with a foamy tan head that sticks to the edge of the glass. The smell is sweet and consists of caramel and heavy on toffee. The taste is very hoppy on the front with flowers and pine. It finishes with caramel and toffee and a a little bit of orange peel in there as well. The alcohol content is 7.1% ABV. The taste didn't exactly follow what the aroma was, so I was a bit surprised at the taste. I enjoyed the beer and it was pretty random.