201. Lonerider Trick Shot Impy India Wit

While I was still at the Lonerider tap room, waiting for dinner time, I decided to give a go with this collaboration brew from Lonerider and Trophy Brewing.  Trophy Brewing (http://www.trophybrewing.com) is one of the newer breweries to show up in the Raleigh scene.  Trickshot is labeled as an imperial india wit, which I guess translates to an Imperial White IPA.  

Again, I ordered a half pint of this particular brew.  It came with a half finger of off-white head.  Decent retention.  A sheet of lacing surrounds the interior of the glass.  Nice.  It has a hazy golden color to it with some orange highlights.  Aromas of wheat, lemon, pine, and tangerine stand out, along with a biscuit malt base.  Not bad.

Tastes of citrus and pine dominate and clash with the taste of the wheat and the biscuit malts.  It's not very synergetic, unfortunately.  The malt sweetness doesn't play nice with the wheat, and the very bitter aftertaste doesn't do the wheat any favors either.  It is a full bodied brew, with moderate carbonation.  This wasn't my favorite, but I did end up drinking it down.  Just a lot of conflict within the beer, I think some adjustments to the ingredients might do this one good.  I also think it would be better as a White IPA instead of an Imperial White IPA.  The malt base is a little much.  Agree or disagree?  Just let me know!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.50 (8 oz draught)

200. Lonerider Peacemaker Nitro Pale Ale

"Don't let the badge fool you - Peacemaker is popular with lawmen and outlaws alike.  This well-rounded West Cost-style pale ale uses several hop varieties and a special blend of American and European malts for a unique and bountiful hop aroma with a balanced bitterness." 5.7% ABV

I was getting with my friends and college buddies to enjoy a dinner together and watch some football.  The gang was supposed to meet late for dinner, and I had some time to burn, so me and my buddy went to the tap house within the Lonerider brewery to have a beer or two before dinner.  I think I've had the Peacemaker Pale Ale before in the past, but they were offering the nitro version and I wasn't going to pass it up.  

I ordered the half glass, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of an 8 or 10 oz pour.  The beer poured a murky golden yellow color with a finger of off-white head.  Since it's a nitro, that means the head goes on for near forever and it doesn't really go away.  I detected odd aromas of yeast, malt, with a little bit of hop presence.  

It doesn't taste much like your prototypical American Pale Ales.  Maybe it's closer to a European version, I don't know.  The malt flavors come in heavy, the hops are quite mild by comparison.  I tried a sample of both the nitro and the regular version to compare the tastes to each other.  The nitro is medium to full bodied with low carbonation.  Very creamy mouthfeel, but when paired with the APA taste profile, it doesn't hit its mark.  I prefer the non-nitro version better.

If you find it in nitro form, give it a try if you'd like, but it's just not really my thing.  Agree or disagree?  Just let me know!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.50 (8 oz draught)

179. Lonerider Sweet Josie Brown

Another beer I brought to the football draft was Lonerider's Sweet Josie Brown Ale.  You've heard me talk good things about this one before.  Now comes the review!  For this particular review, I poured this beer into a pilsner glass.  It has a nice chocolate brown color with ruby highlights.  I was able to get two fingers of latte colored head.  It had moderate retention, leaving sheets of lacing on the side of the glass.  Primary aromas of roasted malt, caramel, and nuts were present.

The brew has a slightly sweet taste to go with heavy roast flavors.  Roasted malt, roasted toffee, roasted walnut, caramel.  Just a slight hop finish at the end.  It's medium bodied with light to moderate carbonation.  When it comes to American Brown Ales, this is one of the ones I favor, mainly because I haven't consumed many of the type.  Still, even if I've had 100 different types, I can come to this one and know that I'm getting a very, very good brown ale.  If you think I'm crazy or you can identify a better brown ale, let me know and I'll go hunting for it.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $1.25 (12 oz bottle)

142. Lonerider True Britt ESB

Lonerider's True Britt is one of their seasonal releases that I hadn't seen before.  Looks like Lonerider is ramping up with their different beer offerings and their intention to bottle more than just their year rounders.  Not complaining one bit, I always want to see local NC breweries able to step out and do more.  I ended up enjoying this beer with dinner.

The beer poured a nice amber color into a pilsner glass.  I try to pour aggressively to get a nice head, was able to get two and a half fingers of off white head to show.  Not a lot of retention, not a lot of lacing.  The aromas were simplistic, some caramel, malts, bread, and a little bit of hops..after all it is an ESB, right?

The beer reminded me of an amber to start, then the bitter finish reminded me that this was an ESB.  For what it is, it's pretty simplistic.  The beer is very sessionable, light bodied with moderate carbonation.  It's not going to wow you with complex flavors and some people may be disappointed with that.  If that's how the style is supposed to be, I can't knock it.  Comparing this to Green Man's ESB, which I only had a little while before this one, I liked this one better.  Agree with me?  Disagree?  Let me know.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $1.89 (12 oz bottle)

87. Lonerider Deadeye Jack Porter

"A wandering Lonerider, never staying in one place too long.  Deadeye Jack represents our seasonal porter consisting of a strong malty background with hints of roasted chocolate, subtle sweetness and low hop bitterness."

The second (and last) beer I had while visiting the taproom at Lonerider Brewing Company was their Deadeye Jack, their GABF silver medal winner.  I didn't pick this one because it was an award winner..I'm just partial to porters.

The beer poured a near coffee black in color.  Again, because of the pour, I had little to no head.  (Edit 1/9/14, when I poured out of the bottle, I nearly had four fingers of cappuccino colored fluffy seafoam head with lots of sticky lacing on the sides of the glass.  Lovely.)  Aromas of coffee and dark chocolate was heavy, along with roasted malts.  

Tastes of roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate come to the forefront, with coffee notes in the backdrop.  Light bodied with a surprisingly clean finish.  Didn't get a bitter bite, but the beer wasn't overly sweet either.  It's a solid porter, very representative of the style.  Nevertheless, this is one of the better porter's I had, because of the great balance.  If they do more limited bottle releases, I might take another crack at this one.

Grade: B+

Price Paid: $2.50 (8 oz draught)

86. Lonerider The Preacher Saison

I was able to go to the tap room of the Lonerider Brewing Company (http://www.loneriderbeer.com) as part of a work/group function and wasn't about to stop by and chat without helping myself to a couple of brews.  The location is tucked away, near the Brier Creek area, and I missed the turn the first time around and drove very slowly down the road, unsure which building was actually the one I was looking for.  I ultimately ended up guessing and found myself to be lucky, but the folks drinking and smoking outside also gave me a pretty good clue.  I know I can find their standard stuff (Peacemaker, Shotgun Betty, Sweet Josie Brown) in the grocery stores, so I decided to zone in on their seasonal selections this time around.

One of those seasonal selections is called "The Preacher".  It's of the saison style, and I have helped myself to some black saisons, so I was ready to figure out what a standard saison might be like.  The beer poured a golden yellow color, slightly cloudy.  Not much head, but that was because of the pour.  I did what I could to pick out the aroma, but it was a little tough.  Some sweet malt, maybe a little bit of spice, but that was all I could discern.  

The taste was also different and hard to determine.  At first, I wondered if I got the wrong beer.  My first impression was that it tasted pretty good, but I couldn't figure out what I was tasting.  I could get the malt sweetness, with a light bitterness.  A little bit of spice.  I hear that farmhouse ales have "funk".  Was I tasting funk?  The impression I had was that I was drinking a wheat beer.  Heavy on the wheat or the yeast or something, but it gave it a unique taste.  Medium bodied, it had a creamier mouthfeel, maybe because of the yeast.  I definitely to try this one again, when I have more saison experience under my belt.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $2.50 (8 oz draught)