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

Beer Review - Surly Furious

A friend of ours had been down to the twin cities a few weeks ago and brought back some Surly Furious for us to try. Surly, a brewing company out of Brooklyn Center, MN cans their beer and tries to break down the stereotype that good beer only comes in bottles. Admittedly, we were a little put off by the can at first, but its about the beer inside right?

So here goes...

Style: American I.P.A.

ABV: 6.2%

IBUs: 99

Color: Amber-red

Hops: An American blend

Malts: Scottish Malts

Appearance: Cloudy appearance. Pours with a large thick head the diminishes after a few minutes. Head about a finger thick reducing down to a 1/4 finger that stays on top. Great lacing.

Smell: Nice, big aroma featuring loads of citrusy hop tones. However, the hop aroma does not overshadow the wonderful caramel malts.

Taste: While there are tons of hops that go into this brew, a near-perfect balance is produced with a beautiful caramel malt backbone. This is one beer that tastes just as it smells, a very good thing in this case. The hop tones represented in the Furious are both citrus and pine origin with some piney bitterness that lingers.

The Skinny: Wow. Now, ales are our specialty and even though we appreciate all of the ale varieties, the I.P.A. is not usually our favorite. This beer, however, provides a whole new perspective on the that whole branch of styles. Past I.P.A.s we've tried (ones that we've really liked) have not been able to strike the balance that this 99IBU monster has. Its highly drinkable and refreshing enough to have during the summer.

IN A Word: Encore

Beer Reviews - Pere Jacques, Big Sky IPA

While shopping at Happy Harry's (one of the best bottle shops we've ever seen), we came across two brews that we hadn't previously tried, one of which we didn't know existed. The first is Goose Island's Pere Jacques. Named after the Abbot of a Belgium Trappist brewery toured by Goose Island brewmaster, Greg Hall, Pere Jacques is a big, malty, Belgian Strong Ale. The second is Big Sky Brewing Company's Big Sky I.P.A.. Big Sky Brewing Company is based out of Missoula, MT and produces Moose Drool, the best selling craft beer in Montana. Full review notes below.

The following review notes were compiled with the aid of the beer tasting guide outlined in Beach Brewings Tasting Brews blog post.

Pere Jacques - Goose Island Brewing Co.

Style: Belgian Style Abbey Ale

ABV: 8-9%

IBU: 26

Color: Amber and Caramel

Hops: Saaz

Malts: 2-Row, Wheat, Caramel, Rye Flakes, and Special B

Appearance:

Slightly cloudy while maintaining a good level of clarity. Pours with a thin creamy head about half a finger thick. Fairly poor lacing.

Smell:

Slightly fruity with heavy malt tones. Low levels of hop bouquet.

Taste:

Initially a medium thickness with the sense of becoming more full over time. The flavor is reminiscent of fig and dried apricot with very subtle anise tones. Yeast flavors come through initially and then fade quickly. A fairly high alcohol burn on the back end, although it is covered up by lingering maltiness. Warming sensation (9% ABV) as it goes down.

The Skinny:

All in all this is a very Delicious beer with big, robust maltiness. While Belgian Strong Ales are not our specialty, I would rank this up there with some of the better Belgian Ales we've tried including Tripels and Dubbels. While fairly heavy and full of flavor, Pere Jacques is very drinkable. Even though it is highly drinkable, at roughly 9% ABV, Pere Jacques does eventually lead to misspelled words and shortness of attention span.

IN A WORD: FIGGY

Big Sky I.P.A. - Big Sky Brewing Co.

Style: India Pale Ale

ABV: 6.2%

IBU: 65

Color: Light Amber

Hops: Simcoe

Malts: unknown

Appearance:

Pours very clear. Thin creamy head less than half a finger width thick. Poor lacing.

Smell:

Light malt aroma. Citrus and pine are prevalent while remaining separate from the malt tones.

Taste:

Wow. This I.P.A. has a complex flavor with medium body. Big Sky I.P.A, while very hoppy, does have a light maltiness that shines through to balance out the bitterness of Simcoe. Initially the flavor is very slightly reminiscent of the smell of a sea breeze with a hint of saltiness (in a good way). Sounds odd but that is the only thing that comes to mind right away. A more traditional grapefruit juice flavor comes next with a bitter rind flavor following that. Finally, a subtle juniper, piney flavor lingers on the tongue long after swallowing. Little to no alcohol burn is present.

The Skinny:

Being a hops powerhouse, Big Sky I.P.A., still has an accessible flavor that is refreshing and crisp. This medium bodied I.P.A. is moderately high in ABV but is very drinkable and ranks up there with some of the higher rated names on the market. Although very delicious, this complex beer should be consumed moderately as the hops start to overwhelm your taste buds (in the most flavorful way possible).

IN A WORD: GRAPEFRUIT