204. Great Lakes Rye Of The Tiger IPA

"Like tigers creeping through tall grass, hopheads will stalk this majestic golden brew, rising to the challenge of its bold flavor attack.  Full-bodied and loaded with hops, our Rye of the Tiger IPA is brewed with rye malt, adding a spicy complexity to every sip.  It's an ale meant to inspire feats of strength and skill, a worthy contender in the bout against the flavorless.  If you can step into the ring with this hopped-up cat, you've earned your stripes."  7.5% ABV

I ended up having this with my dinner.  I think the best-by date had already come and gone, but I've found that IPAs still tend to be pretty good, even after the fact.  Still, I understand it will always be best when fresh.  I poured the contents into a pilsner glass.  It had a murky copper color with some brown highlights.  Two fingers of off-white head.  Average retention, little splotches of lacing on the glass.  I detected aromas of dark fruit, biscuit, rye, and alcohol.  Really impactful on the nose after it warms.

Like most IPAs, the initial taste has a caramel sweetness from the malt, then the hops kick in.  This particular brew seems to be more forward with the pine and resin, but I did detect some citrus notes as well.  There's a spiciness that comes from the rye that is a nice complement and gives the IPA a slightly different character.  No complaints here.  The brew is medium bodied with medium carbonation.

Even past the due date, I found this beer to be quite enjoyable.  Still, as a fan of the citrus forward IPA, I can't give this one as high a score as it simply isn't as good as those.  Still, a worthy beer to drink and I wouldn't hesitate to have another in the future.

Grade: B

Price Paid: $1.90 (12 oz bottle)

176. Great Lakes Burning River

Early in August, I went on a road trip with family and friends to go see the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.  Of course, if we were going to drive the 7-8 hours to get up there, we were going to make a weekend of it and cram in some other events.  So including the Football HOF, we decided to go to a Cleveland Indians baseball game and a Pittsburgh Steelers pre-season football game.  While we were watching the Indians lose to the LA Angels, I wandered around to get a craft beer (and it took about 15 minutes and we passed the stand twice), and ended up getting a Great Lakes Burning River APA as a result.

The beer was poured into your standard 20 oz plastic cup.  I was able to get one finger of soapy off-white head and had light retention, and little to no lacing, although I imagine that I would get something different if I was the one doing the pouring.  The beer had a copper color to it, with solid carbonation from the movement in the glass.  I detected aromas of biscuit, caramel, brown sugar, grass, pine, and orange zest. 

The beer starts sweet with the caramel coming through first, then the hops rush in, more pine and grass than citrus.  It finishes dry, with a light lingering bitterness that fades fast and makes you want more.  The malt is a little more forward than I've been used to, but that's not a bad thing at all.  It's absolutely a good thing.  Medium body, with a moderate to high amount of carbonation, confirmed from the beer's initial appearance.  This is a very good representation of the APA.  I guess for my palate, it suits me just great.  For others, it may not be as hop forward or the malt might come on too strong.  Still, if you like APA style beers, you should give this one a shot.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $10.50 (20 oz draught) (Gotta love those stadium prices..)

164. Great Lakes The Wright Pils

Still playing catch up.  I feel like I'll never catch up.  Nevertheless, when all feels hopeless, I just have to keep pushing on.  I will persevere!  I will review as much as I can without trying to consume less beer!  There's nothing special about how I ended up drinking this one.  Had one after work, with some dinner.

The beer was poured into a pilsner glass (how appropriate).  Had a very light gold color, which is a color I don't see very often.  I've been favoring a lot of darker beers, so seeing a light colored brew was a refreshing change of pace.  I always pour aggressively, ended up getting over two fingers of white head.  Had some decent retention to it, with some light bits of lace on the glass.  Considering the style, I wasn't expecting much for aroma but was able to pick out some grassy and citrus notes to go with the familiar aroma of grainy malt.

The taste is subtle, but it's there.  This is no adjunct lager.  There's a minor note of sweetness that comes through with the malts, but then the hops come forward and helps keep the finish dry.  It also will hit your nose, making it more noticeable than your watery beers.  I think it's a little hoppier than I'm used to for the style, but I don't have any complaints.  Light bodied and highly carbonated.  Drink this cold, it doesn't do as well when it warms.  Still, a very sessionable beer that would work great in the summer.

Grade: B-

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)

100. Great Lakes Conway's Irish Ale

Number 100!  Woo!  While I know I've actually drank more than 100 a while back, I'm just glad I made it to 100 here on my blog.  It's a milestone moment, and I'll celebrate by drinking scotch.  Or whisky.  Yeah, I'll celebrate by drinking something that's not beer.  When I go long spells without a review or without drinking beer, it's probably me subbing in a liquor or a bottle of wine.  Nice to mix it up sometimes.

Now where was I?  Oh yes, for #100, I wanted to drink something that would be slightly relevant to the times..and since we're so close to St. Patrick's Day, I thought it'd be a great time to bust open Conway's Irish Ale.  The beer was poured into a pilsner glass.  Copper colored with three fingers of off-white head.  Light retention, light lacing.  The aroma is quite neutral, but I could pick out some malts, grains, caramel.  

There's a light sweetness that starts on the tongue, then it opens up into some lighter hop notes.  I also can detect a metallic taste and I'm instantly reminded of Red Oak.  And I love me some Red Oak.  This one, being quite similar, made me a fan.  Light to medium carbonated, the mouthfeel was a little slick.  I think this beer would make for a great session beer, and I'd be glad to have many a session with this one.  Solid beer, this one would be a keeper for me!  Would it be a keeper for you?  Feel free to let me know!

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $1.90 (12 oz bottle)

17. Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold 2012

I was with some friends from college at Kickback Jack's when I decided to try the Dortmunder Gold from Great Lakes Brewing Company.  It was one of the handful of beers that I didn't recognize or had tried right off the bat.  Great Lakes (http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com) is based out of Cleveland, OH.

I remember my first reaction when trying this beer.  The nod, the pursed lips as if deep in thought, telling myself that this is a pretty good beer.  The lighting made it difficult to properly assess the color of the beer.  When I received it, there was about one finger of head in the pint glass.  I also remember making the mental note that I would have this again if it was available.  Aside from that, it didn't stand out as an "OMG, best thing evar!"  It's a solid beer, one worth having if your other other choice is Bud/Coors/You get the point.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $3.95 (Draught Pint)