227. Anderson Valley The Kimmie, The Yink and the Holy Gose Ale

"The refreshing tartness in this divine, bright golden-colored ale gives way to earthy undertones and hints of citrus followed by a slight sea salt-like dryness and tangy, effervescent finish."

This was the 3rd of 4 beers that I got to enjoy while on my Florida trip.  I ended up getting this beer from Locale Market in downtown St Pete.  Awesome place by the way, I could just live there.  Anyway, back to the beer.  This is one of the few beers that I've had that's characterized as a gose.  They always seem to sell out where I live, which is why of the reasons I was quick to snatch it up when I saw it in the store.  Or maybe people are enamored with the name of the beer.  I dunno.

Like the others, this was consumed straight from the can so I couldn't judge the pour characteristics.  In the aroma, I detect meyer lemon, some grassy notes, cracker, and coriander.  

I wonder how close a gose is to a sour, because they share some of the same qualities.  I would guess that a gose is a hybrid of a sour and a wheat beer.  I taste lemonheads, salt, wheat, and some kind of funky taste that reminds me of a saison.  Might be just a combination of flavors that are giving me that idea.  It might make you pucker a bit.  It'll definitely leave you to drink more, and the sharp flavors mellow a bit after you get through the initial shock.  Light bodied with light carbonation.

When it comes to goses and sours, I'm still trying to get a feel for what I like and what I don't like.  I did like this beer enough to finish all of it, but it sometimes feels like such a departure from what I expect from beer that I don't know what to make of it.  That said, I did find it to be pretty tasty and I appreciate the fact that it has a low ABV, which makes this stuff very sessionable.  I could see it get mixed into some lemonade without a hitch.  I'd love to sample goses side by side.  For now, I'll give this one a decent grade and look forward to trying more of the style.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $2.99 (12 oz can)

226. Two Henrys 7 Mile Bridge English IPA

"In 1905, Flagler embarked on what many called impossible and his biggest folly, a ridiculously difficult to build railroad line from Miami to Key West.  After 7 years, millions of dollars, many terrible hurricanes, and deaths of dozens of unsuspecting laborers, Flagler prevailed and his 7 Mile bridge still stands today.  This beer is audacious like Flagler.  We brew this IPA with six different hops giving it a complex robust herbal and citric hop flavor.  Strong Simcoe hop nose, Medium bodied with a reddish amber color."

2 reviews in two days!  Feels like I'm on a bit of a roll.  Hopefully I can keep up with the momentum.  I had the opportunity to sample this brew while on my Florida trip.  I was able to get this brew from the same place I got the Jai Alai.  Must've been in an IPA type of mood, or maybe the Florida weather put me in that type of mood.

I drank straight from the can, so I didn't get to judge the pour and the look of the contents.  I do like the can design a lot better than the Jai Alai.  I could pick up aromas of pine, pummelo, and some caramel sweetness.  

I find English IPAs to be milder than the American counterparts and this was the case here.  Tastes of brown sugar and baked bread are not overpowered by citrus and resin flavors.  Still has that lingering bitter kick that's expected from an IPA.  Lightly carbonated, medium bodied.  

I found this to be more enjoyable than the Jai Alai.  I don't know if I have a discerning preference between American IPAs and English IPAs yet, but hopefully I start to get there.  I wasn't amazed by this beer, but it was definitely satisfying.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $1.99 (12 oz can)

225. Cigar City Jai Alai

"Jai Alai, the "merry game," is a game native to the Basque region of Spain.  Tampa was once home to this high speed game, but sadly all that remains here is this India Pale Ale that we brewed in tribute to the merry game.  Pair Jai Alai India Pale Ale with Empanadas, Deviled Crabs and other spicy dishes."

Man, how many of these do I have sitting in draft status?  I know I've been AWOL for a while.  Wanted to make a better effort to get these out there, preferably in a reasonable amount of time.  

Anyway, I had the opportunity to go to Florida for work and met up with my wife's cousin and her husband.  After dinner, they took me by a beer store they frequent and I had the chance to pick up a few cans of beer that I can't find in NC.  I always heard good things about Cigar City and Jai Alai, so I picked up a can and brought it back to my hotel to enjoy it.

Since I didn't have a glass to use, I drank it straight from the can.  Didn't get the chance to see how well it poured.  I could detect some tropical aromas with papaya and orange, but the dominating aroma was pine.  

Since I had read other reviews about this beer, I was expecting this pop of tropical, fruity goodness.  Nope.  I tasted a beer that was more akin to a Sierra Nevada Torpedo.  It had that bitter IPA bite, with the pine notes coming through.  There was a bit of a malt backbone to it, but that was it.  Pretty one-note, not overly complex.  The other flavors didn't come through for me.  It was medium bodied with medium carbonation.

Maybe I got a bad can or an older can.  Granted, based on the feedback I got from the owners, they tend to cycle through these pretty quickly.  It was just underwhelming and I'd be hard-pressed to try another, not when there are better options out there.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $2.99 (12 oz can)

Haul for 4/14

I'm obviously behind on the times and keep telling myself that I'll update a whole bunch of things that I haven't done in a while.  Easier said than done.  Anyway, I tend to keep track of my receipts and purchases to maintain a budget and ran across some older receipts and thought I'd post about some of my purchases in the last couple of months.  Anyway, here goes, this was from a quick beer run to Tasty Beverage:

• Highland 20th Anniversary Weizenbock - I believe this is the last of the special releases that Highland put out in honor of their 20th anniversary.  I can't remember if I purchased them all or just 3 out of the 4.  Either way, I picked this up in my effort to be a completionist.  $8.99
• Ballast Point Habanero Sculpin (x2) - I think Ballast Point Sculpin is awesome.  I've had the luxury of trying the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin.  I've also enjoyed pepper beers although I've never seemed to get the heat index to do anything for me.  I've read the reviews on these and just had to buy some.  $3.71
• Ommegang Hop House - It's been a while since I grabbed something from Ommegang.  I'm not interested in their Game of Thrones series.  I also needed to fill out a small 4-pack.  $2.78
• Foothills IPA of the month - March - It's April, this beer was discounted since it's older, I knew I would drink it pretty soon.  $5.94
• Foothills IPA of the month - April - I also snagged the April one as it was available.  Unfortunately, no discount for this one. $6.99
• Crispin Venus Reigns - Haven't had a unique cider from Crispin in a while, word on the street is that they had issues with distribution in my area to some of my favored haunts and that they'll hopefully get back into the swing of things soon. $7.99
• Lonerider Tombstone Reserve - A Lonerider brew I haven't had the pleasure of drinking yet.  Easy decision to fill out that small 4-pack. $5.99

224. Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager

"It's the most wonderful time of the year, with the kids jingle-belling and everyone yelling "brew us new beers!".  And so we did.  In celebration of the season, Moylan's presents our White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager.  Malty and smooth with a light tart and zesty finish, this year's Lager contains holiday spices, Curacao, Mace, Cinnamon, Coriander and White Pepper.  This Holiday Lager will warm you and your sweetie inside and out.  Share the love and make it a White Christmas.  You'll get a kick out of it.  Happy Holidays, and Slainte'!"

I'm not sure if I explained how I got my hands on this one.  Went into Total Wine, found it steeply discounted, decided to pick it up.  Since it was steeply discounted, I figured it had to do with the fact that this had Christmas on the label and we were in February.  I cracked it open a couple of days later.  The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  It had a pale yellow color (not like the picture I used).  I got about three fingers of white head that had medium retention and little lacing on the sides of the glass.  I get aromas of baked bread, orange peel, peppercorn, clove, cinnamon.  

The combination of aromas do not play well in the taste.  The base seems rather uninspiring, but likely consistent with what I'd expect from a lager.  There's a light hop presence that goes with the orange, pepper, and Christmas spices.  I'm finding the flavors to clash instead of harmonize.  It's light bodied, a little watery, with moderate carbonation.  At 6.0% ABV, it's not difficult to hide the alcohol.

Overall, the beer lacks balance and something else to tie all the flavors together.  I'm not sure if the beer gets worse as it ages and needs to be consumed fresh.  Even at a steep discounted price, I think I'd pass on trying this one again.  I barely finished drinking the entire bottle.

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $2.99 (22 oz bomber)

223. Doc's Draft Pumpkin Hard Apple Cider

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." Henry David Thoreau

A unique, hand-crafted pumpkin hard cider.

Made from pressed NY state apples and fresh pumpkins, fermented with champagne yeast and alic acid to excite the action.

I'm catching up on some older entries and decided to go with a cider as my next entry.  I've had some Doc's ciders before and wasn't terribly fond for it, but I've warmed up a bit to them since then.  I love Ace's pumpkin cider, so I was hopeful that this would be more of the same goodness, just in a bigger bottle.  The contents were poured into a pilsner glass.  It has a clear, yellow color to it with a quick dissipating head.  I picked up aromas of pumpkin, apple, ginger, cinnamon.  Doesn't smell too sweet.

This beer has some tart and tang to it.  Not too sweet.  The spices are most prominent with the ginger and cinnamon.  Pumpkin comes next, although the apple comes through towards the end.  As the base, it's masked pretty well by the other flavors.  Light bodied, a little slick.  Moderate carbonation.  

If I compared this to Ace, this doesn't match up.  It's a little more lacking in flavor, a little more watery.  Still, a solid effort from Doc's and depending on the price point, I'd pick it up again.

Grade: C+

Price Paid: $2.00 (22 oz bomber)

Haul for 2/23

After my wife's monthly pregnancy checkup, we stopped nearby at Whole Foods to look around and get a couple of things (Whole Foods = Whole Paycheck).  I didn't realize that there was a Triangle Wine Company store that was right next door.  They advertised craft beer along with the wine and I just had to venture in and see what their selection looked like.  It wasn't too shabby, and I found myself unable to leave without picking up a thing or two.  Here's the haul:

• Smuttynose Frankenlager - This was offered as a special for a steep discount, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.  Price paid: $2.99
• Coronado 18th Anniversary - Never had any beers from Coronado before, just thought I'd try something different on a whim.  Hoping for good things..!  Price paid: $6.99