127. Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot Ale

So I'm pretty much caught up with my most recent drinks.  I went with the Lagunitas on Friday because I hadn't had anything to drink the previous three days and wanted something to go with dinner, which consisted of some teriyaki pork loin, rice, and salted edamame.  This is labeled as an American strong ale, and based on my blog, this is a first for me.  We'll see how it turns out..!

The beer poured a nice chestnut brown color with ruby highlights along the edges.  I poured vigorously into a pilsner glass and was able to get three fingers of off-white head out of it.  Solid retention with the head, leaving spotty sheets of lace all over the glass.  Really good looking beer.  Aromas of malt and piney hops comes to the forefront.  I'm not used to getting the hop aroma unless I'm dealing with an IPA.  

The taste provides starts with the bitter hop taste, then finishes on the sweet side as the malts forces its way into the equation.  The bitter finish lingers after the sip.  Majority of the taste is malt and hops.  Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.  This is a different beer for me, an odd combination that I'm trying to figure out if I like or not.  It has some characteristics of a brown ale, an amber ale, an IPA, and a barleywine.  For now, I'll take that this was pretty good, but I may need to retry again as I build up more experience.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $4.49 (22 oz bomber)

126. Uinta Punk'n

So it looks like I still have a few pumpkin ales from October.  I was in the mood for something that wasn't a stout or an IPA.  Seems like everything I've picked up lately has been one of the two.  I'm actually really in the mood for a lager or wheat beer, but I don't have any sitting in the fridge.  This would do.

I poured the beer with moderate intensity into a pilsner glass.  It poured a nice orange copper color, with about a finger of white head.  Light retention, little lacing.  Aromas of pumpkin, malt, clove, and nutmeg.  Smells kind of sweet.  It's amazing how obvious the pumpkin smell is when you've been drinking IPAs and stouts for so long.  It smells refreshing.

It may have smelled sweet, but it didn't come off as too sweet.  The malt and pumpkin blends together to give an impression of pumpkin pie.  Not too heavy on the spices.  Slightly sour and bitter finish on the end.  Pretty refreshing.  I thought the beer was light bodied with moderate carbonation.  Easy to drink.  If you like pumpkin beers, this is a pretty good interpretation.  What's the best pumpkin beer?  You tell me!

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $2.00 (12 oz bottle)

125. Highland Devil's Britches IPA

Ok, so I had enjoyed this one last weekend, I just haven't gotten around to make any reviews until now.  It's been a pretty hectic week.  Now that the weekend is once again upon us, I can catch up.  Believe it or not, I didn't do a lot of drinking this week, so there's not even a lot of beers that I have to review (aside from the backlog..it still exists).  

The beer was poured vigorously into a pilsner glass.  It has a very appealing deep amber color and I was able to get about three fingers of off-white head out of it as well.  Great lacing all over the exterior of the glass.  I could detect aromas of malt, floral hops, and citrus hops.

There some malt body to the taste.  Instead of citrus hops, I tasted more floral and piney hops.  It tastes a little sweeter than some of the IPAs I've had lately.  Light bitter aftertaste to finish it off.  I found the beer to be medium bodied with moderate carbonation.  It's a pretty good beer.  It doesn't taste like a true IPA, but I'm not sure if it's because I've had so many DIPAs that my palate is a little skewed.  I'd have to put this one between an APA and IPA.  Still, APA is your best gateway to IPAs.  I think it would do well as a session beer.  Think I'm dead on or out of my mind?  Let me know.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $2.00 (12 oz bottle)

Haul for 4/20

Ah yes, 4/20.  For some people (mary jane aficionados), this date is near and dear to their hearts.  I'm not one of those people, so 4/20 is just any other day.  Yeah, I recognize and remember that it's also Hitler's birthday, and Columbine happened on this particular day, but you could probably and find a relevant story for any day of the year.  Anyway, I decided to drop by the Beer Dispensary in Apex to reload on some 12 oz bottles (I actually started to run under 30 there bottles there for a bit) and get a few more bombers to hold onto.  So here's what I was able to get..!

• Highland Little Hump Spring Ale - It's Highland Brewing's next seasonal, so I decided to pick it up. Price paid - $1.90
• Bell's Oberon Ale - I was interested in picking this up last year when I first started to get into beer, but didn't do it.  This time, it was in my sights and I was ready to capitalize.  Price paid - $2.00
• Natty Greene's Elm Street IPA - I can usually tell what are the normal beers for Natty Greene's and which ones are the seasonals.  Either this is a new year-round release or it's a seasonal, judging by the orange colored six pack case it came in.  Haven't had it before, so I had to try it. Price paid - $1.80
• Sweetwater Road Trip - I was talking to someone the other day who raved about this beer, so I had to pick it up and see if he knew his stuff or if he was full of crap.  Price paid - $1.80
• Great Lakes Rye of the Tiger IPA - Another seasonal from the folks in Ohio, I really liked the Conway Ale, so I'm hoping for more goodness out of this IPA. Price paid - $1.90
• Bison Honey Basil Ale - I'm actually pretty sure I've had this before at the Busy Bee Cafe in Raleigh, but that was before I started this blog.  I decided to pick it up so I could put it to the test, especially now that my beer palate has changed significantly.  Price paid - $2.40
• Sweetwater 16 Anniversary - I believe this one is a wheat wine ale that's packing 11% ABV.  I'm crossing my fingers, hoping for good things out of this one. Price paid - $8.00
• Highland Imperial Kashmir IPA - It's like Highland's Kashmir IPA, except they use a ton more malts and hops to create the beer.  The description on the side of the bottle got my attention and made me want to pick it up. Price paid - $8.50
• Mother Earth Windowpane Series: Raspberries - I have peaches, was too late in the game to get blackberries, and never saw fig come along.  Of all the beers, why is fig the hardest to find?  Who would want fig beer anyway?  Not that it's bad, but you'd think that purely on the fact that it's made with figs that people would opt for the peach or the raspberry.  Anyway, I wanted to get the last 3, I only have 2 of the last 3, and I'll wander around some of the other beer stores next week to see if I can find the last one and hold onto it for a while.  I did pay a premium for this one, so I hope it's worth it.  2 out of 3 aint bad, right?  Price paid: $16.50

This will hold me until the end of the month.  Next haul should be in a couple of weeks.

124. Foothills Bourbon Barrel Aged People's Porter

I have to admit, I've had a beer about every day this week, and it's not often for me to drink more than four days in any given week.  That said, that didn't stop me from getting something tonight, and probably won't stop me from drinking something tomorrow.  If anyone asks, I'm just working to reduce my inventory, and I'm sure the wife will appreciate that.  Anyway, I decided to enjoy this beer with dinner and was looking forward to trying the BBL aged porter..I kind of wished that I had a regular People's Porter for comparison, but I didn't have one on hand.  Maybe I'll use it as an experiment in the future.  

The beer poured a nice, healthy dark brown into a pilsner glass.  I gave it a pretty vigorous pour and was able to get two fingers of cappuccino colored head out of it.  Nice and fluffy, it's a good looking beer.  It had moderate retention and left sheets of uneven lacing on the sides of the glass.  Now I know I picked this beer up in November, and now that I'm enjoying it in April, some of the taste profile might have changed.  For instance, the aroma I get out of this is some caramel and toffee, but the two obvious aromas are vanilla and bourbon.  Lots and lots of bourbon.  That is not a bad thing, but I have a feeling that the balance of the beer might end up being skewed as a result.

Yup, it's a little unbalanced.  It goes down initially as a porter.  You can taste the malt and caramel.  Then you get tastes of dark fruit, oak, vanilla, and bourbon.  The bourbon also leaves a slight bitter and boozy aftertaste.  It finishes a little dry.  That said, I like bourbon.  I really like bourbon.  So having a beer that's unbalanced in bourbon's favor is a net-positive for me.  I'm not complaining one bit.  The carbonation was on the light side and wasn't overpowering.  Medium bodied brew.  I have to say, I found this one to be very good.  Nevertheless, the beer feels like it's missing just that little extra something.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Either way, it's definitely an enjoyable brew and I'd be glad to have it again.  Bourbon fans agree?  Bourbon haters disagree?  Let me know!

Grade: B+

Price: $6.99 (22 oz bomber)

123. Green Man Porter

It ain't easy being green. Okay, so I'm probably butchering the song made famous by Kermit the Frog.  Anyway, in my last post, I talked about having Alchemy Hour with some tasty tuna fish tacos.  I follow that great performance with Taco Bell the next night.  Taco Bell.  Yo quiero Taco Bell.  I really wanted Moes (not much better mind you, but still not Taco Bell), but the wife was tired and didn't want to get out of the car to order food.  I had to settle.  To go with my chaulpa and nachos, I decided to go with Green Man Brewing's Porter, which was just recently released in bottle form.  

The beer was poured into a snifter glass.  It poured a nice cola color with about a half finger of tan head.  Light retention, not a lot of lacing, but I also didn't have a lot of glass to get lacing..the beer was almost to the brim.  The aromas were pretty standard, roasted malts and coffee.  I didn't really get a lot of chocolate in the nose, it was more predominantly coffee.

The beer itself was pretty tasty.  The coffee dominated and even lent a type of sour bitterness to the beer, similar to drinking old coffee.  I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but I could at least find it acceptable and not detracting.  There was just a small touch of sweetness as well and not an overly bitter finish.  I found the porter to be medium bodied, with average carbonation.  This wasn't a "blow me away" porter.  I found it to be average and tolerable, but that was about it.  Did I review it just right?  Am I a fool?  Let me know!

Grade: C

Price Paid: $1.90 (12 oz bottle)

122. Great Lakes Alchemy Hour Double IPA

Yesterday was a day for Alchemy Hour!  As part of an extended present for the wife, we decided to have a home cooked meal for dinner.  Dinner ended up being fish tacos.  Tuna medallions, cooked medium rare and covered in sesame seeds, with tomato, slaw, bbq blueberry chipotle mayo, and salsa made out mango, shallots, cilantro, lime, and jalapenos.  Mouth watering yet?  I bet it is!  I wanted an IPA to compliment my tacos and I fortunately had Alchemy Hour sitting in the fridge.

I poured the beer into a stemless goblet and was able to get a finger of head out of off-white head out of it.  It had a nice burnt orange color to it, a little darker than I expected.  There was light retention, with not a lot of noticeable lacing.  Now I just had the Jade IPA the day before, so comparing the two was going to be interesting.  The aroma..wow.  This had more pop than the Jade IPA and it was heavenly to smell.  Heavy on the citrus, but a little sweeter, more tangerine and orange than grapefruit.  Some malt aromas also showed up.  Since this is a DIPA, I knew to expect that little twist.  

The bitterness hits you right up front with the cirtus and pine tastes intermingling together again.  You can taste some malt on the backbone..this is just a very full flavored brew.  It doesn't take much to drink to feel the bitterness as it sticks to you for a good while after you take a drink.  As the beer warms, the alcohol within is also a little more evident.  I nursed this bad boy because I was distracted while playing video games (MLB The Show 13!).  It's a medium bodied brew with moderate carbonation.  With it's high alcohol content, (9.4% ABV) you can be content to sip and enjoy.  Did I find this one to be better than the Jade?  Yes, but just barely.  Sometimes I think I would prefer a more sessionable IPA, not one that'll drop you after throwing back a few.  Still, the taste was great in this, and even if the booze came out as it warmed, that's not a deal breaker.  It's not Hopslam, but it'll do, it'll do.  If you agree or have issues with my review, let me have it!

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $3.60 (12 oz bottle)

121. Foothills Jade IPA

My wife's birthday was a couple of days ago.  As part of the celebration I tried to take her out to eat.  But nooooo.  Didn't happen.  Instead, I was ordering takeout from Tyler's Taproom and I knew that I was going to have a little something to drink while I waited for the food to come through.  I had noticed the Jade IPA in previous visits but never got around to ordering it.  I knew that Foothills had Hoppyum, also had Seeing Double IPA.  Three different IPAs from the same brewer?  I figured that Jade IPA was probably one of the more special beers out there.  As soon as I ordered and got my beer, I looked at the taps and noticed Sexual Chocolate on draught.  Crap!  Oh well, I'll just have to live with this one.  I think I'll manage.

The beer was served in your standard pint.  Poured a golden yellow with streaks of orange mixed in.  A nice finger of white head aligned the top.  Moderate retention, light lacing on the sides of the glass.  The aromas were very pleasant, full of citrus.  Tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit.  The best part is that it had pop, which really adds to the appeal.

Now my taste buds might have been screwing with me, but when drinking the beer, I didn't get a lot of citrus hops.  I got more woodsy hops.  The bitterness came through in a very pronounced way.  I was in somewhat of a rush to drink, so I think that I didn't allow the tastes to subside, and everything tasted more woodsy than anything.  Still, there was some citrus on the front end, had a lingering bitter taste at the end that was bearable.  Medium bodied with medium carbonation, but still nice and slick and easy to drink.  This IPA is a winner and is one of the better ones I've had.  Better than Hoppyum.  Haven't had Seeing Double yet, but I'll get there.  Agree that this is the best IPA from Foothills?  Think I must be out of my mind?  Let me know!

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $5.75 (Draught pint)

120. Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro

Milk..milk..!  So I finally got around to getting over my need to avoid dark beers and decided to go with something on the light side, something like Left Hand's milk stout nitro.  Left Hand is a brewery based out of Colorado (http://www.lefthandbrewing.com) and I had heard great things about this particular beer.  It's why I picked it up a few months back.

The dark chocolate colored brew was poured lightly into a stemless glass.  There was about a finger of light tan, everlasting head that comes with a nitro.  The aroma isn't all that complex, just some roasted malt and some light sugar, probably from the lactose.  

The taste was a little unexpected.  I expected the beer to be a little sweeter, but I found it to be more bitter than sweet.  The roasted bitterness comes through at the end.  If I wasn't paying attention, I would have missed the sweet part.  I was curious if the fact that I took so long to drink the beer caused the lactose to break down.  I thought the beer was a little light bodied and watery, but with plenty of carbonation.  Without the lactose kick, I thought the beer was incredibly average.  Maybe I took too long to drink it up, I don't know.  Still, based on first impressions, this was just an okay beer.  Do you think I'm wrong?  Was I actually drinking what was expected?  Let me know!

Grade: C

Price Paid: $2.40 (12 oz bottle) 

119. Crispin Bird on a Wire Hard Cider

I had this late last week to go with dinner, still on my kick to avoid stouts and other dark beers.  I've had this one in the fridge for months, justifying ways to avoid it, knowing that it was a special cider and I didn't want to get around to drinking it.  Of course, I didn't even pick a special occasion, it just felt like it was time.  Four types of cider, aged in whiskey barrels, then stuck in some other barrels and mixed with some honey.  A lot going on with this one.

This cider was poured into a pilsner glass.  It was a cloudy, golden yellow.  It's obvious that this cider was unfiltered just by looking at it, with the little bits of floating about in the glass.  It's a cider, so there's no head, no retention, no lacing.  The aromas were amazingly complex.  Apple, bourbon, vanilla, oak, molasses.  My wife decided to stop drinking alcohol..this one smelled so good that she took a taste.  She also hinted that if I could find another bottle, she'd be glad to have it for her birthday.  I don't get this type of response from her..I knew this one would be a treat.

The taste is as expected, with all the aromas coming through in the taste.  I did notice that it wasn't as sweet as I thought it might be.  It may be sweeter than other ciders that's made my Crispin, but the sweetest Crispin isn't as sweet as the least sweet Woodchuck.  Does that make sense?  Don't know, but you know what I'm getting at.  Slick mouthfeel, light to medium body, dry finish.  This now takes the reign as the best cider I've had.  It'll be tough to top.  Too bad it was a rather expensive bottle of cider, and the fact that it's a limited release means that I'll probably never find it again.  Good while it lasted!  Agree or disagree or maybe you have access to more bottles?  Let me know!

Grade: A

Price Paid: $4.99 (12 oz bottle)

118. Yazoo Gerst Amber Ale

Another dinner, another beer to go with it!  Still not in the mood to get a dark beer, I turned to Yazoo's Gerst Amber Ale.  Like all the beers I have from Yazoo, I picked it up while vacationing in Tennessee.  That was back in November.  The beer probably would have tasted better had I gotten around to drinking it much sooner, but I've concluded that I'll accept the good with the bad with the way it takes me forever to get around to drinking some of these beers.

The beer poured a nice amber color with a small finger of head into a pilsner glass.  Light retention, not a lot of lacing left on the glass.  The aroma is pretty one-note, just roasted malt and bread notes for the most part.

The taste is similar to the aroma, with malt and bread notes the primary taste in the beer.  There's also a light fruity taste to it..just a little something that keeps it from tasting just like any other beer.  In my labeling, I basically borrow the beer type from sites like Beer Advocate and they have this one labeled as an Altbier, which is new to me.  For an amber ale, I think this could definitely pass as one.  The beer itself is pretty easy to drink.  Light bodied, with moderate carbonation.  Overall, I found the beer to be average.  Pretty good, something I'd be willing to drink again, but not something I'd actively seek to drink.

Grade: C

Price Paid $1.89 (12 oz beer)

117. Terrapin Oak Aged Big Hoppy Monster

So I'm catching up with my blog, posting on a few beers that I enjoyed over the latter half of the week and the weekend.  I think I had this beer on a Saturday.  I had a ton of stouts sitting in the fridge and was really wishing that I had a pale ale on hand.  Since the beer was described as a red ale, I figured that it would work.  At least it wasn't a porter or a stout.  Now as far as what I keep in the fridge, this is my method.  I keep eight beers in the fridge, don't bother to reload until I'm down to 3 or 4.  Rest of my beers sit in the closet.  I just grab randomly and stick them in the fridge, then when I want a beer, I take a look at what I have available and pick from there.  

The beer poured a murky amber color with barely half a finger of beige head.  Decent retention on the head. The beer looks heavy.  I detect aromas of caramel, some vanilla, molasses, raisin, other dark fruits, and booze.  I'm not getting the impression that this is a red ale..more like a barleywine.

The beer has a very sweet taste to start.  Heavy with the caramel, dark fruit and some oak.  Towards the end, a light hop taste appears, but it's hard to pick out with the boozy aftertaste that's much more evident.  Yeah, this one tastes more like a barleywine.  Heavy body, but lightly carbonated.  I honestly couldn't get myself going with this one.  I think I'm finding the dark fruit taste to be more off-putting the more I drink it.  I let it sit out for a while, and the overpowering sweetness was also a deterrent.  I didn't finish the beer, and that's something that rarely happens with me.  I figure I just need to work on getting more adjusted to barleywine, much like I got used to IPAs.  For now, I have to chalk this one up as a disappointment, especially for the price paid.  Agree with me?  Think I'm a blithering idiot?  Let me know!

Grade: D

Price Paid: $3.80 (12 oz bottle)

116. Bison Organic Gingerbread Ale

If you couldn't tell, Bison Gingerbread is a holiday/Christmas beer, that I'm finally getting around to drinking here in early April.  No special occasion, just wanted to have a beer with my dinner.

The beer poured a very dark brown into a pilsner glass.  Cappuccino colored head, about a finger worth.  Light retention, decent lacing.  Aromas of gingerbread stand out the most, per the name, which is a good thing.  I could also discern some coffee and cinnamon notes.  

The taste is mostly roasted malts, with some spice characteristics added in.  It's a little disappointing that it's not as complex.  No bitter finish.  Light bodied, maybe even a little watery.  Moderate to high carbonation which was actually offputting for this type of beer.  This might qualify as a decent holiday brew, but I've certainly had better.  I wonder if it has anything to do with being organic.  Agree, disagree?  Let me know!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.19 (12 oz bottle)

Haul for 4/4

Okay, I had planned to do this later, but I'm going through a ton of receipts and decided to get this knocked out so I could put it in the Ziploc baggy with all the rest (yes, I keep hold of my receipts...you never know!)  I dropped by the Beer Dispensary in Apex to get my goods, and I was primarily on a "buy local" kick, so the majority of the brews come from right here in NC.  Here's the list:

• Duck Rabbit Milk Stout - I was torn between this and the Russian Imperial Stout, but I went with the "safer" choice.  Price paid: $1.80
• Green Man ESB - Green Man Brewery is based out of Asheville and at first, all I could ever find from them were growlers.  They're not available in bottles!  And since that's the case, I made sure that I picked some up to see what they're all about.  Price paid: $1.90
• Green Man Porter - See words above.  Price paid: $1.90
• Terrapin Hopzilla - If I remember right, this actually came out in the past as part of Terrapin's Alchemy series, and it must have done well enough to warrant a re-release.  I'm hoping for good things!  Price paid: $3.80
• Big Boss Saucey Pants - This is a limited release saison from Big Boss.  So far, I've had Aces & Ates, Big Operator, and The Dutchess.  Still keeping up with the times.  Price paid: $2.00
• Founders Old Curmudgeon - Founders is one of my favorite breweries, so I will go out of my way to pick their goods up, even if I'm focused on buying local.  The description sounded too good to pass up.  Price paid: $3.80

115. Ommegang Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

It was one of those days where I wanted to enjoy a beer with my dinner.  Tonight, that consisted of some leftover Easter ham, broccoli, potato salad, and a crusty roll.  I haven't reloaded my fridge selection, so I was down to about 3 beers to select from.  

The beer poured a nice golden yellow into my snifter glass.  About two fingers of nice frothy head.  Decent retention, not a lot of lacing though.  Slightly cloudy.  I could pick up some banana, spice..I'm thinking clove, and some grassy notes.

The taste is incredibly pleasant.  Citrus tastes pick up on the front end, slightly sweet.  More orange and lime.  There was also the grassy notes, the wheat-like taste and body, and some spice on the back end, which I suspect to be the coriander.  Also has a dry and slightly bitter finish.  At 7.7% ABV, I don't get any type of booze or alcohol in the taste.  Medium bodied, with light carbonation.  This beer was a brow raiser, which is definitely a good thing.  The low carbonation was a bit of a downer for me, but I'd still be interested in picking up this beer if available.

Grade: B

Price paid: $3.00 (12 oz bottle)