Beer Reviews and Lots of Them

We will break away from our traditional review style to do a quick and dirty review of 6 beers. Recently, we visited the twin cities and stumbled across a wonderful bottle shop on the way to the dog park. The bottle shop: Blue Max Liquors. The contents: 1,2oo+ varieties of beer and 300+ varieties of whiskey. Two purchases we are particularly proud of were several six packs of Magners/Bulmers Irish Cider that we could previously only find in Ireland, and a 2006 Bigfoot Barleywine from Sierra Nevada to compare to the 2009 variety. We also bought a mix six of several styles and brands which will be reviewed below.

Here are some reviews of what we bought (keep in mind these reviews were compiled in the same day and may come with some grammatical errors):

Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale (7.6% ABV) - California
This beer pours dark red/amber with a light head. The nose is a toffee with light biscuit and a faint citrus. The delicious taste conjures thoughts of an IPA, maybe even a lighter version of an IPA. Because of this distinction, the heavy use of malt on the front end is balanced very well with the abundance of hops on the back end. Citrusy hop taste seems to linger on the back of the tongue for a good while. Higher alcohol content is not apparent in the taste, but is in the feeling after.
Would we buy it again: Hell yeah, great beer! All year beer.

Victory's Golden Monkey Trippel Ale (9.6% ABV) - Pennsylvania
This trippel pours honey pale with a light white head. The nose has loads of spices with some banana and bread hints. It actually almost reminds me of the aroma of fresh baked banana bread (weird, I know). The taste is a little more robust than other traditional trippels we've tried. Honey shines through as a dominant flavor with banana and clove taste as well. The alcohol is very well hidden on the back end, but once again felt internally.
Would we buy it again: Ehhh... maybe, but only because trippels are lower on our list. Great Spring beer.

Founders Red's Rye P.A. (6.6% ABV) - Michigan
This rye pale ale pours a deep red and very clear with a heavier head that dies fairly quickly. The nose is of deep rye and some hints of citrus hops. The taste initially was similar to the Laguntas Imperial Red Ale but with the subtlety of rye on the front and almost overwhelming flavor of citrus hops on the back end. The hops play such a large part in this beer that it almost takes away from the rye malty flavor I'd love to delve deeper into. The citrusy hops hide all signs of alcohol and leave a bitterly delicious flavor long after the initial taste.
Would we buy it again: Yes, but we would not seek it out individually. Great for the Summer or dead of Winter.

Lagunitas Censored (The Kronic) Rich Copper Ale (5.9% ABV) - California
This copper ale pours an invitingly clear and reddish copper with a thin head that dies quickly. The nose is rich malt and toffee/caramel with subtle nutty hints. The hops are very very subtle or almost non-existent. The flavor is sweet and malty and nothing short of delicious. Hearty malt flavors do eventually subside and give way to citrusy hop flavors on the back end.
Would we buy it again: Definitely, we loved the heavy malt character. Great for late Summer through Winter.

Brau Brothers Cream Stout (5.0% ABV) - Minnesota
This cream stout pours about as black as any beer can with very little head to speak of. The nose of roasted, almost burned barley with very little chocolate or coffee. The hops are subtle and provide very little support to the body of the beer. The roasted barley creates a great mouthfeel on the front with a nice toasty flavor but soon falls quickly with a semi-watered down finish on the back end. No hint of alcohol present at all.
Would we buy it again: Probably not, partially because we've had so many other better stouts. Good for many occasions, not including special beer tastings (similar to Hamms).

Lake Superior Brewing Company's Sir Duluth Oatmeal Stout (?% ABV) - Minnesota
The oatmeal stout pours black, as far as I can tell, with a very thin head. The nose is of roasted but not burned barley with a slight nuttiness. The hops are subtle here as well but shine through a little on the end. A little coffee flavor comes through with some cola as well. Oat creaminess is kind of lacking considering this is an oatmeal stout. Flavor is a little flat towards the finish but not as much as the previous Brau Cream Stout. No hint of alcohol.
Would we buy it again: Probably, although its no on the top of the list. Good for many cold season days.

That's all we have and we are done... beer is delicious.
Slainte!
Taxford