250. Southern Tier Creme Brulee

Merry Christmas folks!  Now's a pretty good time to come back to my own lil' blog here after being inactive for quite some time, right?  Work and life has left little time for smaller hobbies and time spent blogging has been next to none for some time now.  That said, travel related to work gets a little easier, family gets healthier, kids get older, and time becomes more available.  How about that?  Anyway, I have some bottles sitting out that need to be recycled and have my tasting notes, so I figured I'd put fingers to keyboard and get these things sent out so I can get ditch the bottles!

"The British founders of burnt cream & from Spain, crema catalana, both stand by their creative originality & we respect that.  But it was the French creme brulee that survived history.

A stout of great contention.

How would a brewery determine a likeness to hard-coated custard?  Our response is simple: resilience & finesse.  Pour Creme Brulee into a glass.  The incredibly dark & opaque beer reveals a thick head.  Aroma leaps forward; sweet, creamy & uncannily true to the namesake dessert.  Enjoy with - or as - your favorite after-dinner treat."

Ended up having this beer on Halloween to celebrate the holiday (why I have a beer bottle from Halloween still around is not to be questioned..)  I heard good things and wasn't sure what to expect since it had been a while since I had a dark beer.  The beer was poured into my Mystery Brewing snifter glass.  Almost black color with a finger of mocha colored head with average retention.  Leaves nice amount of lacing on the glass.  Aromas of toffee, vanilla, maple syrup, and milk chocolate.

Tastes of vanilla, burnt sugar, coffee, and milk chocolate come to mind upon tasting the beer.  I had pumking before and thought it would be incredibly sweet; I was pleased that it wasn't as sweet as expected.  Certainly not cloying in any way.  Even the sweetness plays out more on the finish.  Coupled with the very smooth body, it's a very satisfying finish.  Lightly carbonated.

It was easy to drink the entire bottle; I tried to share, but no one really likes dark beers - their loss.  It's the best beer I've had from Southern Tier so far.  I know they're not a one-trick pony with these dessert-type beers, so I'll try to get more of their other stuff when I get the chance.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $8.99 (22 oz bomber)

249. Brueprint Brue 32

"A pro bowl creamy pale ale finishing with a refreshing audible."

On a late Saturday night, I decided to have a beer, even though I was sleepy and probably should have went to bed without one.  Ah well.  Anyway, I had one beer still in the refrigerator, so I went and grabbed it.  Lo' and behold, it was Brueprint's Brue 32, which I believe is one of their seasonal offerings.  Brueprint is local, at least for me, based out of Apex, NC.  I've bought several of their beers, but I think this is the first time I've actually gotten around to consuming one.

The beer was poured into a Sam Adams perfect pint.  Got two fingers of soapy head that had low retention and left some film at the top and small random bits of lacing on the sides.  It has a dark golden color to it.  Mild aromas of biscuit, brown sugar, and a combination of grassy and piney hops.

Tastes are as expected, with more biscuit and grassy hops on the forefront, with a slightly sweet finish on the back end.  Goes down easy - light bodied and with light carbonation.  Crisp, clean, par for the course for a pale ale.  

It was a good beer, but it wasn't a 'wow' type beer either.  At 5.7% ABV, it would be pretty sessionable to drink during a football game.  Too bad I drank this one well after the Super Bowl, and the football motif probably doesn't translate all that great now that we're in the midst of March Madness.  I'm sure someone has already made a beer that references that wonderful two week stretch of college basketball.

Grade: C

Price Paid: $1.67 (12 oz can) 

248. Asahi Super Dry

On another night where I spent my evening with several co-workers, we ended up heading over to Red Ginger where I could enjoy some sushi goodness.  Since I was at an Asian restaurant, I thought I'd get an Asian beer.  That was after I talked myself out of a mixed drink to 'mix it up', as it were.  I have very limited information on Asahi, but my understanding was that like Kirin and Sapporo, they were comparable to Miller/Coors/Bud.  

The beer was offered up in the standard pint.  It had a nice lookin' golden color to it with a half finger of white head.  Low retention, it did manage to leave a few splotches of lacing upon the glass.  Mild aromas of biscuit, starch, and some light grass notes.  

Tastes of rice, malt, almonds, and light hops come to mind.  Light bodied, with moderate carbonation, it's clean, crisp, and lives up to the super dry mantra.  

For its style, I think it's a pretty worthy offering.  I thought it tasted better and had more personality than the typical Miller/Coors/Bud.  It paired great with my Sushi and when I'm in the mood for something light on the flavor spectrum, this one won't be too shabby.  

Grade: B

Price Paid: $5.00 (16 oz draught pint)

247. Magner's Irish Cider

My second drink from the aforementioned Murphy's Kitchen & Tap was a cider.  Just happened to be in the mood for one and it was a cider I haven't sampled yet and was still part of the $3 draught pint offering, so why not?  Also, it took me a while to drink the Sierra Nevada sidecar and it's easier for me to drink down a cider fast to catch up with my co-worker who was further along with his second beer.  

Served up in another pint, it had a dark amber color to it.  Aromas of well, you guessed it, apples.  Ok, not just apples, but apples and brown sugar.  Has a sweet essence to it.  

The taste is semi-sweet on the cider scale.  Not sweet upon first taste, it starts just a touch dry but finished with a sweet aftertaste.  Average body with average carbonation.  

I've leaned away from sweeter ciders in favor of drier ciders, but this one felt like a great balance between the two and would be a great go-to.  It's funny, I never heard of Magners before seeing it, but if I know that it'll be prevalent at most Irish restaurants, then I think I'll be getting my fill of corned beef and cabbage and shepherd's pie on a more frequent basis.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $3.00 (16 oz draught pint)

246. Sierra Nevada Sidecar Orange Pale Ale

While working in Charlotte, I went with a co-worker to this Murphy's Kitchen & Tap in Uptown.  They were serving $3 draft pints, which meant I was going to help myself to a couple beers.  For the first one, I decided to go with the Sierra Nevada seasonal at the time, which happened to be the Sidecar.  

The beer was served in the standard pint with a half finger of head.  Average retention, leaving a few splotches of lacing on the glass.  I detect aromas of tangerine, pummelo, orange peel, and grassy hops.  Bitter finish lingers but not for too long.

The taste is less muted with the tropical essence, but the taste of tangerine, pummelo and grapefruit peel are still there, paired with some pale malts and some grassy and piney hops.  Average body with average carbonation.

It was a good beer, but not a great beer.  I've liked many of the offerings from Sierra Nevada and this one didn't strike me was anything memorable or special.  As someone who prefers more tropical flavors with my hoppy beers, this one should be right in my wheelhouse.  Instead, I'm just a little underwhelmed.  Can't quite put my finger on it.  Ah well, maybe it's the fact that I'm drinking it in the beginning of March.  Probably more quaffable in the Spring and Summer months.

Grade: B-
Price Paid: $3.00 (16 oz draught pint)

245. Lenny Brewing Burn Down Brown

I was at Cowbell Burger Bar in Uptown Charlotte for a dinner meeting and decided to get a beer with my meal.  I had initially ordered a sour beer, but this is what was brought to me.  I quickly figured out it wasn't a sour and figured that it was confused with this beer.  The sour was from Legion Brewing and this other L brewer was one line down.  Anyway, I figured I'd just drink what I received and go from there.  

The beer was provided in your standard pint with half a finger of off-white head.  Moderate retention, leaving some film on the surface.  Aromas of toffee, burnt toast, caramel and milk chocolate were prominent.  

The taste, which let me figure out it wasn't a sour, was more reminiscent of a brown ale.  Roasted malts, some caramel, some chocolate notes.  I also detected some coffee notes as well.  Light bodied and very smooth with light moderation, it was pretty easy to drink.

Even though it was listed as a Brown Ale on the menu, I could tell there were some subtle differences that didn't make it taste like other beers that are more reminiscent of what I think is the style.  It was pretty good overall, but it wasn't as good as some of the other offerings I've had.  I'd like to try again when I'm actually ready and wanting a brown ale instead of being disappointed that I was getting something that I didn't want.  Oh well, another time.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $6.00 (16 oz draught pint)

244. Bombshell Starlight Ale

"A crisp, clean, light colored ale, perfect for any occasion!"

Look at that, two posts in a week!  Told you that I was trying to get back on the right track!  I've got another beer here in front of me as I type up this review while idly watching the Bulls beat the Cavaliers.  I'm really not interested in the game, it's just there for background noise.  I'm paying more attention to apps on my phone.  

That said, I was a little torn between beer or root beer, but I've had a good brewski on the mind since this morning, so it won out.  The beer was poured into a Sam Adams' perfect pint.  It poured a pale, straw color with two fingers of soapy, white colored head.  With light retention, the head dissipated to a thin ring on the surface, leaving no lacing on the side of the glass.  Aromas of grass and buttered bread come to the forefront.

The taste is pretty simplistic, as expected.  Light malt flavors with a slight hop presence, providing a slight bitter finish.  I'm used to more flavor forward beers, which makes this one seems watery by comparison.  Light bodied with light carbonation, it's an easy to drink brew.  At 5.0% ABV, it's meant to be pretty sessionable.  I'd gladly take this over your typical macrobrews, but this one was just average to me; nothing overly memorable that would make me go back to it.

Grade: C

Price Paid: $1.67 (12 oz can)