Hoptimum

Hoptimum
Whole cone Double IPA
10.4% ABV
100 IBUs

    12 oz bottle, about a month old, poured into a snifter. Pours rust-amber hued with some haze and a good head. Decent retention and good lacing. Aroma is signature Sierra Nevada at first... seems bigger Torpedo but a much diverse bouquet soon opens. Reading the description of the beer on the brewer's website, I could oddly relate to rose. Fruit is present, some pine and grass.

    The taste is much more aggressive than taste... strongly bitter, almost challengingly so with plenty of juicy notes carrying it... malts did contribute to the body but sweetness is minimal. Perfect feel, thick, silky, but not cloying. Overall quite good... perhaps I have laid off the IPAs for a while but this sure is coming off a little strong. Will drink again, that's certain.

4, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 4

Edit: On second thoughts, the taste was not all that good. Discordant hop notes I think.

Bam Biere

Bam Biere
Jolly Pumpkin
Farmhouse Ale
4.5% ABV
750 ml bottled 2-23-2011, drank 03-28-2012. Poured into a wine glass.

    Very clear, brilliant golden colored with abundant effervescence. I suspected that the head won't last but I was wrong. Aroma is very reminiscent of 3F Oude Gueuze to me, with extra sweetness perhaps. Cellar and basement funk... intriguing.

    Taste is almost a polar opposite of what I was expecting... the aroma was so close to Gueuze that I was already tasting dry sourness in my head, of which there's none in this beer. Not right now anyway. The taste is funky, yes, but without the tartness. A clean bitterness that I sometimes associate with pilsners and saisons, except that it's very mild... in fact I wouldn't have called it bitter had I not been expecting tartness. Apple, certainly. Obscure hints of grape peel. What else? Not much of anything... like a dry white wine but diluted in taste?! I have been fishing for interesting notes because this is a craft beer and what not but I am having a hard time telling it from... let's drop that.

    Mouthfeel is bursting with carbonation on a light body. Very dry and cleansing without being abrasive. Seems like an ideal companion for foods it can stack up to.

    I have been typing my thoughts as I drink and read about it... just found out that it's 4.5% ABV as opposed to the 8% I had stuck in my head. Now it is starting to make a far better impression on me. Also, the warmth is helping. Let's get this straight... this beer highlights the yeast and everything else takes a back seat. Now that it's almost room temperature, and I am burping Gueuze, it's beginning to grow on me. The grape peel character is much stronger and it's getting well into the white wine territory from the diluted white wine territory. There's a welcome astringency at the end although I can't say if it's the acid or the tannins. The mouthfeel carries the flavors excellently and I find it amusing that it was bland to me about 10 minutes ago. Long story short, I am loving it. However, I feel the need to add that the low ABV has influenced my scores significantly. I mean, this is no Fantome, not even close.

4.5, 4, 4, 4.5, 4

Few reviews

5 Barrel Pale Ale
5.2% ABV
Best by 06/20/2012

Clear and amber golden with a medium head and medium retention. Malty, fruity, mildly hoppy sums the aroma up alright. Not bitter per se, but has a good hop flavor going on, if rather mild. Wonder if any darker malts are used because there is the slightest nuttiness somewhere, or I am just crazy. Quite clean. Perfect carbonation, lower than most of its kind. A medium body carries things nicely. Overall a good option, especially at the ABV. Although I imagine why couldn't it be even lower.

4, 3, 3, 4.5, 4

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Peaotch

Ale brewed with peaches. Thanks josefiak
7.2% ABV

Copper red with a bubbly head that recedes real fast... looks clean, clear, and rather thin. Aroma is strong on peach but there's not much else to be found. Alright flavor... full of peach with some balancing bitterness but an odd tannic note... as if not just the flesh of the fruit but the seed too. Disappointingly thin and just weak and unsubstantial overall.

3, 4, 3, 2, 3

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Moo Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout
6% ABV (thankfully!)

Dark! Doesn't smell of much at first but chocolate and campfire come through soon. An excellent, excellent taste of silky chocolate and slight char carried perfectly by a medium, smooth body. No coffee. Reminds of campfires... very comforting and luxurious and at this ABV?! You gotta be kidding me. A very very good beer! Will drink again.

4, 4, 4.5, 4, 4.5

Mo

Mo
American Pale Ale
Maine Beer Co.
6% ABV

500 ml bottle poured into a pint glass, thanks islandboi8204!

    Hay golden with a pronounced haze, very good head and good head retention. Aroma is hops AND malts upfront with a generally light, floral-fruity character. Drinks closer to an AIPA in terms of bitterness even if the distinction is rather arbitrary... firmly bitter that I like but without much of a malt backbone, and therefore quite empty and watery feeling.

    Strangely not as dry as it could have been with all those malts missing, but crisp enough. Light and easy drinking but with its own flaws, mainly in the taste and feel departments. For reference, not even close to Zombie Dust or Daisy Cutter.

4, 4, 2, 2.5, 3.5

Titan IPA

Titan IPA

    12 oz, not the freshest bottle, poured into a pint. I have never seen this beer fresh, I guess they just send the old beer out here :-/

    Amber colored, moderate clarity, thick sediment, medium head, good retention. Smells of malt and tastes such... quite delicious in that department. Sweet, toasty and caramel like. Very good. There presence of old hops in aroma and taste in undeniable but not not assertive. The fruitiness is absent but some earthy/grassy notes remain. Like an aged American Barleywine diluted with an equal amount of water to take the edge off.

 

That said, as far as the description on the label goes, this is mostly fail.

4, 3, 3, 3, 2

Geuze Mariage Parfait

Geuze Mariage Parfait

    2007 vintage corked and caged bottle. Split with a friend. Looks good, clear and golden with good head and retention. Aroma is funk, sweat and metal with no softness at all. Tastes is simply horrible with very little tartness, lots of sewage and cheap vodka, and an off putting bitterness at the end. Ridden with metal and yuck. The aroma was inviting before I tasted it, and a few sips ruined the beers I drank before and after this one.

    I am positive that something must have been wrong with my bottle because the beer in it was simply disgusting. Drainpour!

4.5, 2, 1, 3, 1

Daly Double

Daly Double
American IPA
Half Acre Brewing Co.
7% ABV

    Thanks Dan! Bomber split with a friend. Burnt amber hue, medium clarity, good head and retention. Fruity and floral aroma, lush and juicy. Tastes good with peach and apricots but has its faults: an odd nuttiness and a watery finish spoil an otherwise flavorful and respectably bitter IPA. Apt body and carbonation... not bad but not great either.

4, 4, 3, 4, 3

Smoked Vanilla Gorilla

Smoked Vanilla Gorilla

    By the label and by its very name, it's clear that this ale might have a lot to offer. Let's find out. Pours a very thin looking dark brown with some bubbles. Smells disgusting: stale coffee and... urine? There definitely are some restroom notes in here. Barrels? Vanilla? Smoke? Negative on all counts. Sour as hell and that's about it... raw mangoes? This is one of the few unintentionally infected beers I have run into. The bugs have taken over everything this might have had to offer. A major fail.

3, 1, 1, 1, 1

Thumbprint Barleywine

Thumbprint American Barleywine
New Glarus

12 oz poured into a snifter. Split with a friend.

    It's a blondie! Much lighter color than others of its kind with a good head. Fleeting malts and citrus hops in the aroma... certainly sweet and somewhat fruity. Smells like a malty pale ale to me.

    Tastes fruity, slightly bitter, slightly boozy... like an ordinary DIPA. Not the beast as it proclaims to be. Disappointingly thin with no particular highlights. Seems like a beer to age on barrels if highlighting barrels is the objective. Thoroughly ordinary and not memorable in any way.

4.5, 3.5, 3, 2, 3

Doggie Claws

Doggie Claws
12 oz. bottle from 2011 sent generously by Ron. Thanks! 11% ABV. Poured into a snifter.

    A good combination of malts and hops, Doggie Claws smells sweet and caramel like, yet floral-fruity at the same time... much like honey? Swirling lets the nuances of hops come forward and the pungent character of American hops is felt.

    Taste is only moderately sweet and bitterness is medium but lingering. Age will certainly treat this beer well as the label claims. Having been on a barleywine kick for a while now, I find myself short of adjectives but suffice it to say that it's good. Notable and somewhat distinguishing features are: a sweetness that holds its own against hops that sometimes seem to overwhelm fresh American versions; strong citrus peel; and a floral character that is probably from honey. I am no expert on braggots but I have enjoyed whatever I have had, so I am certainly digging this floral sweetness. Hints of booze are only welcome.

    The body is good but carbonation seems a tad high. Regardless, swirling and warmth will take care of it. I like this beer.

4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L'Ancienne

Tilquin Gueuze
6% ABV

    Poured from 11.2 oz cork and caged bottle into a Gueuze tumbler at The Avenue Pub, New Orleans. Peach colored with uncompacted sediment that could have been because of excessive agitation. Alabaster colored medium head with very good retention.

    Aroma is lactic but vinegary too with hay and general gueuze funk. Taste is similar but strongly lemony. Good funkiness and grainy character to support the strong tartness that dominates this beer. A slightly bitter and woody note at the end keeps things interesting. Clean, crisp and almost abrasive --- quite sour and likable.

4, 4, 4, 4, 4