Magic Hat Brewing’s HI.P.A

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Brian Allen

Maqic Hat Brewing’s HI.P.A is a part of the I.P.A. On Tour series. This beer was a part of the “Night of the Livingdead” variety 12 pak. The bottle was missing the freshness date.

The appearance is nice with a little bit of haziness and a light golden amber color.

The hops presents nicely in the aroma with some malts in the background.

The flavor is very untypical for an I.P.A. There is lime taste in the finish, which is not too strong. I wouldn’t say that it is a full flavor I.P.A..

The beer overall is enjoyable, but I wouldn’t want a six pack of it. The ABV is not too high at 6.7%, which will let you enjoy a number of them before the ABV becomes a problem.

Phantom Canyon Brewing Co’s Cascade Amber Ale

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Brian Allen

Phantom Canyon Brewing Co’s Cascade Amber Ale pours up with minimal head. But, it presents very nicely.

The head fades with very good lacing. The color is a deep amber that is light amber color around the edges of the glass.

The aroma is strong initially, but faded to a mellower malty hop blend as the glass sat.

The taste starts with hops right at the front of the mouth. The malt flavors come in behind to give a malt flavor filled with hops. The flavors finish with a strong hops flavor coming from the Cascade hops thus the name.

Overall, this is very enjoyable beer from this microbrewery. You need to be a fan of hops for this beer to a peal to you. I would not consider this beer as session beer with it’s strong taste profile. But, it is still very enjoyable.

Bristol Brewing Company

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Brian Allen

Bristol features a wide variety of beers. Their flagship beer is their Laughing Lab Scottish Ale.

Today, I’m trying their ESBee firkin, which is very enjoyable. It was released just a few weeks ago at the Golden Bee pub.

Bristol’s other standard beers are Beehive Honey Wheat, Mass Transit Amber Ale, Red Rocket Pale Ale, and Compress India Pale Ale.

Bristol is located in Colorado Springs next door to Blue Star restaurant.

The brewery has a tap room as shown in the photo. They provide growlers, kegs, bottles, and fill your contain for to go beer.

Dogfish Head Red & White

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Brian Allen

Dogfish Head Red & White pours up very nicely with a head that fades slowly without lacing.

The aroma is filled with spices.

The tastes are very influenced by the Pinot noir juice and Pinot noir barrel aging.

The appearance is a medium amber and SRM of somewhere between 20 and 24, but the restaurant lighting is throwing off the color.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable beer. The 10% ABV is lost in the flavors.

Dulle Griet

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Bama Jay

Dulle Griet is a very enjoyable Belgian Dubbel from De Scheldebrouwerij. Dulle Griet (“Mad Meg”) takes its name from a medieval cannon in Ghent, as pictured on the label.

The appearance is caramel dark brown with off-white head. The beer exhibits good lacing.

The aroma is of sweet malt, but the taste is predominantly robust malt without the same sweetness.

Saint Arnold Spring Bock

Posted on May 29, 2011 by Brian Allen

Saint Arnold Spring Bock poured up with minimal head. The color is nice, but hazy and full of particulates.

The aroma has a rich maltiness, but it is not over stated.

The taste has a mild sweetness. There is very little bit of bitterness in the finish.

Overall, it is very enjoyable summer beer as it is not too heavy and not too sweet as a spring or summer bock should be.

Victory HopDevil Ale

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Brian Allen

Victory HopDevil Ale pours up with a nice head that slowly fades with nice lacing to a minimal head that holds on for awhile.

The aroma is strong with hops while beer is being poured up. The aroma fades to a mellower version of the initial bouquet, but still very hoppy.

The appearance is very nice and clear with a SRM value between 12 and 15.

The taste starts with the bite of the hops with a light maltiness behind it. The hops builds through the finish.

Overall, it is an enjoyable beer, but I think I would have liked it colder. The beer’s flavor was likely affect by being warmed when the refrigerator lost power. The 6.7% ABV makes this beer every drinkable as a session beer, but the strong hops profile could push some away.

Yellowhammer Brewing

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Brian Allen

Yellowhammer Brewing’s IPA pours up with minimal head here at Huntsville’s Mellow Mushroom. Citrus flavors are very present in the initial tastes of the beer. I would say it is bias to grapefruit. In the finish, a little bit of the malt shows through in the flavors. The color is likely somewhere between 11 and 14 on the SRM scale.

Yellowhammer Brewery’s Miracle Worker Tripel pours up with a nice head as the photo shows that fades to small head that holds on for a while. The Delirium tremens glass takes away from the experience, but what can you say to a bar back at a Mellow Mushroom. The yeast presents very well in the nose and continues into the taste in an enjoyable way. The mouth feel starts crisp fading into a sweetness that coats the whole mouth. The tastes are a mixture of sweetness and floral yeast flavors. The color is between 3 and 6 on the SRM.

Yellowhammer Brewery’s UberAlt pours with little head and fades to no lacing and minimal bubbles around edge of the glass. The color is in the 28 to 30 SRM scale. The initial taste is a deep sweet malt flavor that has hints of coffee and dark malts.

Bison Brewing’s Organic Imperial Brown Ale

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Brian Allen

Bison Brewing’s Organic Imperial Brown Ale pours up with a minimal head, which fades quickly.

The aroma is very mild and with little alkalinity. I expected a stronger hop profile.

The colors is a deep amber, which can still be seen through.

The tastes starts out with malty flavor mixed with hints of dark chocolate. In the finish, the chocolate flavors become stronger. The hop flavors are lost in this beer.

Overall, I am not that impressed with this beer. I have had brown ales with fuller richer tastes, but I expected more from this beer with it being an imperial brown ale. The ABV is 7%, which means it is not too strong.

Tallgrass Brewing Co.’s Ale

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Brian Allen

Tallgrass Brewing Co.’s Ale pours up nicely with a good head that wades to a little bit of foam and good lacing.

The aroma reminds me of a dark malt or brown ale. There are light chocolate tones.

The mouth feel is very watery, which surprises me. It has a very little body, which doesn’t have much a negative to the overall presentation.

The taste is a light amber malt flavor, which holds on throughout the taste. But, the finish has a little hint of chocolate.

This is a great beer and a very good session beer due to the 4% ABV, but the flavor could be too much for some.

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