12oz.
7% abv
A very crisp and sharp IPA, from nose to finish. It is a bit thick and turbid, with a light syrup feel that coats the glass well. Carbonation isn't very strong, but it doesn't feel flat. If anything, it feels very fresh and young.
Lots of good hop aroma that also has hints of a light bitterness. That bitterness dominates the body, but not in a bad way. It isn't a super pucker bitterness, more of a crisp bitterness that is pretty mellow. It is very enjoyable, which says something, since I typically dislike a bitter IPA. And luckily, it stays mellow through the finish too, but keeps the great taste it offers up front.
Possible my favorite bitter IPA I've ever had.
C'
12oz.
4.5% abv
A light brown lager with some added sweetness done right. The hint of smooth honey awesomeness mixes well with the light nutty body. :Giggle: It isn't so overpowering with the honey flavors that it oveirrides the malty brown, so you still get all the great flavors you would expect. Just a bit lighter, and a bit smoother. Pretty light on the booze taste, which makes sense with only 4.5% abv. But it's better than a Bud Lite! Actually, it is a lot better. Pretty darn tasty actually.
C'
12oz.
5.6% abv
I'll blog about this tomorrow. Time for ice cream.
Edit: I apparently overdosed on Ice Cream, and forgot to blog about the Abita, as Sean pointed out. Thankfully, it was so darn good, I still remember it. As you can see from the pic, it poured out quite dark, with a nice head and good cling. Fairly mellow nose leads to a strong malty body, although somewhat lacking in the typically brown nutty flavors. It is very smooth and hearty, without feeling overpowering. But like I said, not super nutty. So I would call this a very nice dark ale.
C'
12oz.
4.4%
This is one of the best beers I've had in a while. An awesome hoppy Ale through and through. Unfortunately, I never snapped a picture of the glass. So you can't enjoy the thick hoppy head that I enjoyed. Not a lot of malt flavor, but the hops never felt massively overpowering. If you like hops, you'll enjoy this. Zero bitterness, and zero aftertaste. Actually, the aftertaste managed to still have some great light hops flavors that lingered off. So again, I loved it all the way to the end.
C'
12oz.
7.6%
I was pleasantly surprised by this Belgian style ale. I typically dislike anything resembling a sourish Belgian or Bavarian ale or heff. This one wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, therefore I managed to guzzle it down tonight. It still had a malty sourness, but it was tolerable. It was fairly light too, so it went well with tonight's risotto with sun-dried tomatoes and scallops. Mmm.
C'
12oz.
6.1% abv
This is the first of several "catch up" posts. Apparently I drank several beers after getting snipped, but never blogged. Luckily, they were all very tasty so my mental notes are well defined.
Red tail was a wonderfully malty ale, bordering on an amber/red. It poured very flat, without much head or cling. But it had plenty of carbonation mixed with the malty sweetness. Not a lot of hops, but the malts were well balanced. If that makes sense.
C'
12oz.
6.2% abv
Quite possibly the best can of beer I've ever had. As I've mentioned before, I love a good hoppy beer without the bitterness on the aftertaste, and Big Swell falls into that category. In fact, it climbs to the top even if one discounts the fact it came from a can. For reals.
Extremely hoppy nose that poured out highly carbonated with a thick head. Even the empty can oozed out sharp hoppy notes. The fresh hop taste is very robust in the body, yet it smooths out and takes on a mellow malty sweetness on the finish. I let the last bit warm up too, and it continues to surprise me. So much hop goodness without any funky aftertaste. Mmmmmmm.
This came out of a can?
C'
12oz.
7.5% abv
For some reason, I never blogged about this, despite having enjoyed it nearly a month ago. As far as reds go, I really enjoyed this. It had a well balanced mixture of malts and hops. Neither were overpowering, yet both were strong enough to enjoy on their own. It also had a perfect level of alcohol warmth. Again, just enough to know it has a kick, but not so overpowering that it leaves a bad aftertaste.
C'
12oz.
8.2% abv
I was very pleased with this Black Ale. It poured with a super thick head that had a ton of flavor on its own. As it name suggests, it is very dark, thick, and smooth. But it has enough body and robustness to give it some meat and bite. It had some sweet notes too, which meant I chugged it down quicker than I wanted. Or, I really should have had a 22oz bottle of this. Hint.
C'
12oz.
4% abv
What goes good with a pain pill and some grub? A cider of course. A nice crisp, tart, sharp cider with a subtle raspberry hint of flavor to it. This isn't overly flavorful, which means it isn't overly sweet either. So if you like a nice dry cider, this would be a great choice.
C'
11.2 oz.
9.0% abv
Now this was a nice surprise. I had no idea what this was, in fact I thought it was a stout or porter before reading the label. It poured out quite thick, with a very strong malty and sour aroma. But sour in a good way. It has a very syrupy feel to it, as it coats the glass with a quick swirl. The taste is unique, again bringing together a great combination of malts, a hint of sourness, and smooth alcohol notes. This was a great sipping beer tonight.
C'
