234. Shmaltz Brewing Reunion Ale '12

"Teaming up with Terrapin Beer Co. for the second time, Shmaltz Brewing returns as a production partner for Reunion '12.  We brew Reunion each year in memory of our dear friend and partner in this venture - Virginia MacLean.  Virginia lost her battle with Multiple Myeloma in 2007.  It was her wish that we continue to raise funds and awareness on behalf of The Institute for Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research (www.imbcr.org)

This year's beer is a dark ale brewed with cocoa nibs, vanilla and cinnamon.  It was inspired by a fantastic dessert that we used to share with Virginia at our favorite restaurant.  This brown ale leads with a sweet and subtle cinnamon aroma  Complex malt overtones quickly give way to a chocolate and vanilla mix of satisfying bliss.  

Many thanks to all who have supported this project and have helped us honor Virginia's memory.

Cheers - Pete & Alan"

With the cooler weather and infinitely gray clouds and rain in my neck of the woods, I felt the need to get my hands on a darker beer.  Since this was a beer from 2012, I felt it was time to cycle through this bad boy and get it out of my collection.  I opted to have this for dinner and dessert, pairing it with a flatbread pizza.  No, it wasn't a match made in heaven, but I did my best to make the best of it.

This was poured into a stemmed snifter glass.  It had a nice cocoa color and provided 2 fingers of frothy, tan colored head.  It had average retention, leaving splotches of lacing on the glass and a thin film layer on top.  I could pick up aromas of roasted malts, cinnamon, cocoa, milk chocolate, and a hint of vanilla.

This beer was not what I expected.  I could taste milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla.  The cinnamon must have faded with time.  That was the good part.  The not so good part?  It had this tart bite to it.  Not bitter, just a little sour.  The beer was light to medium bodied with average carbonation, clocking in at 7.9% ABV.

First thing I ask myself is if I let this thing sit too long.  It was probably meant to be consumed within a year or two, tops, and here I was at year 3.  It wasn't overly sour or off-putting to the point that this became a drain-pour.  Call me stubborn, but I didn't have much of a problem drinking and finishing.  Still, I do have a Reunion 13 and I'll probably consume it within the next couple weeks and see if I get a better result.  That said, if you still have some of this stuff, go ahead and consume now!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $8.50 (22 oz bomber)

184. Terrapin So Fresh And So Green Green

Since Terrapin's So Fresh & So Green, Green was identified as a fresh hop beer, I figured I would be doing a disservice if I didn't drink this relatively quickly.  As part of my after-dinner "dessert", I popped this baby in the fridge for a couple of hours, then cracked it open.  This is the 2013 version, if anyone is wondering.

The sunset orange colored liquid was vigorously poured into a pilsner glass.  I was able to get 3 fingers of beige colored head that had decent retention and left a nice ring of lacing around the sides, along with splotches randomly distributed around the glass.  I detected a noticeable wet hop aroma that included aromas of citrus (orange peel, pumelo) and pine/resin.  There's a little bit of caramel and bread as well, but the hop flavors dominate.

I could taste the sweetness of the bread and caramel at the beginning, followed by the spicy hop rush of citrus and pine, the pine lingering a bit more in the bitter finish.  It's not overly bitter and long-lasting, it'll ease off.  The fresh hops seem to give the beer a fresher flavor, the body seems to be more oily as a result.  Moderate bodied with light to average carbonation, it toes the line of being a sessionable beer.  Depends on what you like, I suppose.  

For an IPA, this was pretty good, but I wasn't floored or wowed as I've been with other beers of the similar variety.  There's just so many good ones out there, it's hard for a special one to stand out.  I'm glad I was able to try this one, but I'll probably not buy again, primarily due to the huge influx of other opportunities out there.  Think I should give it another go?  Have a better IPA I need to try?  Let me know!

Grade: B

Price Paid: $7.99 (22 oz bomber)

174. Terrapin Moo Hoo Stout

Could you believe that I decided to go with this one with as simple an occasion as dinner?  Yup, I did it.  In my echelon of Terrapin greatness, Moo Hoo Stout < Wake N' Bake.  Still, I was really looking forward to enjoying this beer with dinner.  If I recall, I actually had breakfast for dinner and thought this would be a perfect compliment.

The beer was poured into a stemless brandy glass.  It poured a dark brown color with two to three fingers of tan head.  Great retention.  Lots of lacing on the sides of the glass.  A very attractive looking beer.  I could detect aromas of roasted malt, chocolate, brown sugar, something akin to Hershey's syrup.  Smelled delightful.  

I continued to taste lactose, milk and dark chocolate, oats, with just a hint of booze.  The brew was medium bodied with light carbonation.  With the oats, it lent a very smooth, creamy, taste.  It's a great milk stout, I'd be glad to enjoy again.  

Grade: A-

Price Paid: $2.60 (12 oz bottle)

149. Terrapin Wake N' Bake

The weekend is upon us and it's time for me to play catch-up!  I have about half a dozen new beers to review, starting from the longest to the most recent.  We start with Terrapin's Wake N' Bake.  I like to think of it as Terrapin's turbo-charged Moo-Hoo stout.  I know it's not the same thing, but I like to take creative license in a lot of things, and I'm doing it here.

The beer poured a near black into a pilsner glass, with a finger and a half of sticky, mocha colored head.  Plenty of lacing along the sides of the glass, with long retention. This is one attractive looking beer.  It even pours with a viscosity that suggests a medium to full bodied brew.  Aromas of coffee dominate the beer, with a hint of oat and dark malts.  The coffee doesn't take on a sour, stale component, nor does it taste overpowering like an espresso.  I'm thinking more cold-press coffee.

The taste is as expected, getting hit with coffee, coffee, and more coffee.  The creaminess that comes from the oats and the light sweetness that comes through at the end makes me think milk stout.  I'm not sure where the sweetness is coming from, whether lactose is added or not, but it does a great job of easing the bitter finish of the coffee.  The mouthfeel is as expected, medium to full bodied and creamy.  Light to medium carbonation, which is perfect for this style of beer, in my opinion.  Ladies and gents, this one is a winner.  The best part is that I know where to go to find some more (it sold out quick in most stores, but there's a couple of places still hiding them..!).  To me, this is just as good as Founder's Breakfast Stout, and that's saying something.  Agree or disagree, let me know!

Grade: A

Price Paid: $3.50 (12 oz bottle)

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)

106. Terrapin Side Project #19 Mosaic Red Rye Ale

Ok, so my beach experience was soooo two weeks ago, and I know I need to catch up, so I plan on spending Easter weekend doing exactly that!  I ended up cracking open the Mosaic while playing bucket pong.  If you've never heard of bucket pong, it's like beer pong, except you use five gallon buckets filled with water, tennis balls instead of ping pongs, and everything is on the ground.  Pretty different experience and pretty fun.  

Again, poured into your standard pint glass, I was greeting with a amber and garnet colored brew, with two fingers of beige head.  Retention was excellent, with the lacing sticking along the sides of the glass in nice big splotches.  I detected aromas of earthy hops, light citrus hops as well, including tangerine, maybe some mango.  I also detected some spice, maybe from the rye.  There's also a light caramel undertone.

A lot of the same aromas came through with the taste.  The spice and graininess from the rye, the caramel malts, the earthy hops.  There's a light hop kick at the end, but I could compare to the pale ale variety, not extremely bitter at all.  It doesn't taste like your typical amber, but I'm sure it wasn't meant to taste like your typical amber.  Medium carbonation and medium bodied, I thought it sat just right where it needed to be.  I thought this one was pretty good, but it didn't wow or blow me away.  Not bad for a side project though.

Grade: B-

Price Paid: $7.99 (22 oz bomber)

35. Terrapin Monk's Revenge

Is this really the first time that I've reviewed a beer from Terrapin?  I guess so.  I've certainly drank a few from them, so I'll get around to reviewing the rest eventually.  Anyway, Terrapin (http://www.terrapinbeer.com) is one of those breweries that I tend to enjoy.  They're based out of Athens, GA (When I see Terrapin and the fact that they have a picture of a turtle, I'm constantly reminded of the University of Maryland..would have thought the brewery was up there or something) and can compete with Sweetwater for the best brew from Georgia.  

For this review, I'm judging Monk's Revenge, a beer I picked up a little while ago.  Considering the fact that it's an IPA, I knew I wanted to drink it quickly.  First things first, I thought I was ready to embrace the IPA.  I was wrong.  I can embrace it, but I can only embrace it so much.  The hops was strong in this one.  So was the alcohol content (9.6% ABV).  The brew poured a hazy orange color with little to no head.  Little retention as well.  Grapefruit presence was definitely there and left a bitter finish.  Compared to the Bison I had a while back, I think I can now tell the difference between an American IPA and a Belgian IPA, and I think I prefer American at the moment.  I'll have to do more sampling before I make up an official opinion.

This wasn't my favorite, but I didn't pour it down the drain.  I did drink the entire bottle, and realized that my tastes are changing.  I would have poured it down a year ago.  Onto the next one!

Grade: C-

Price Paid: $3.00 (12 oz bottle)