Double dragonfly, a double ipa, by upland brewing in Indiana (Taken with instagram)
I have been working on getting this accomplished now for a while. A vertical of Cigar City’s Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout. Thats right, I landed a solid trade and now have 2010, 2011, and a 2012. I cant wait until the 2013 release :)
Pliney the Elder, an Imperial IPA, from Russian River Brewing Company based out of California. This is a super hyped up beer and there is a reason why. I have tasted this now like 4 times in bottle (between 4 days and 3 weeks old) and out of a fresh keg when I was in San Diego. This bottle was 12 days old. It poured a nice deep yellow with a thicker consistency then most IPAs. The head was minimal but did keep a nice lace ring and had almost wine like legs when drinking. The nose was was great with an floral and citrusy scent and a mild sweetness. When drinking you could pick up the sweetness on the tip of my tongue and the bitterness on the back. After taking a sip and breathing in I could easily get all of the hop aromas and would continue to repeat my actions until the bottle was done. :)
ABV: 8.0%
BS: A
Double trouble, an imperial ipa, from Founders brewing company from grand rapids. I have reviewed this brew before but was pretty content with the way this picture turned out. If you get a chance to try this beer, I would recommend it. Def one of the better ones out there in my opinion.
Heady-topper, a double ipa , from The Alchemist outta Vermont. I ended up acquiring this brew in a trade with a buddy and I am glad I did. It was super fresh and one could tell by the characteristics of the beer itself. As you can tell, it pours a lighter orange almost straw colored with almost no head. The nose was all hops, floral and aromatic all the way! A bit of a straw/grass scent was present but nothing to deter the hoppiness. As for the taste, it is great! Exactly what I would expect from a DIPA. Its got a nice mouthfeel with a drinkable bitterness and a solid hoppy flavor. The grassiness comes through as well but as I said, it is what I would expect from this type of beer. (note: it says to enjoy in the can which I did but I poured some out to see the color and there was def some trub present).
ABV: 8.0%
BS: A
Bigfoot ale, a barley wine, from Sierra Nevada. I have had a few different years of Bigfoot and was excited to try the 2012 when I could. I enjoyed this with Ryan in a little brew shop in Ft. Lauderdale and it was a great way to shock my palette. This barley wine pours a rich amber color with a small head that retains itself around the side of the glass and laces pretty well. Up front I get a lot of malty, almost caramel, scents with some nice piney/herbal hop notes and an almost woody/barrel overtone. Also present is a nice booziness (I get this from a lot of newer barley wines). The taste matched up pretty well with the nose with it being pretty malty with a subtle bitterness and the woodiness coming through. Also, on the end a sweet alcohol taste lingers. Once again, Bigfoot steps up to the plate and wins me over. Im looking forward to let a bottle of this sit around for a few years :)
ABV: 9.6%
BS: B
Alpha king, an American pale ale, from Three Floyds out of Indiana. I’ve had this brew a few times already and have enjoyed it every time. As you can see from the picture, it pours a deep amber color with a frothy head that quickly dissipates. Up front I smelled bitter citrus with a sweet malty overtone. The tasted proved the same with a solid bitterness and malty character that balanced everything out. All in all, this is a solid example of an APA and if you get a chance to get your hands on one, please do.
ABV: 6.0%
BS: A-
Dukes Cold Nose, a brown ale, from Bold City Brewery out of Jacksonville Fla. I have had this both on tap and out of a bottle and I feel the bottle does it the most justice. It pours a nice dark brown color with a nice head that laced pretty well. I drank this a bit colder then I normally would drink my beers but still felt that all the flavor of malt and some roastiness came through nicely. The mouth feel was medium and the bitterness low but while grilling it made for a nice darker beer to consume in the sun.
ABV: 6%
BS Rating: 6.5/10
This is Double Trouble, a double ipa , from Founders Brewing Company out of Grand Rapids MI. This beer poured a nice hazy golden amber with a subtle head. The aroma was of citrus and when I say citrus its a lot of citrus with almost a wet grass undertone. The taste was definitely had a bite of citrus and some pine with a lasting boozy taste, that some might not prefer (I didnt mind it at all), that lingered. All around this beer was great and as other Founder’s beers I have had I would gladly drink one again.
ABV: 9.4%
BS: 8.5/10
This is Daisy Cutter Pale Ale, an American pale ale, from Half Acre Beer Company out of Chicago Illinois. This was given to me courtesy of Kos in a haul that he got. This beer poured a hazy golden-amber color with an ice head that laced down the glass. The smell was interesting. It was super floral with a nice citrus burst that followed through in the taste. The bitterness was citrusy as well with a little bit of a pine flavor but once again the floral aspect of this did come through. I wouldnt mind consuming this one again. :)
ABV: 5.2%
BS: B+/A- (7)
This is a 2008 Marshal Zhukov, an imperial stout (one of my faves at that), from the Cigar City Brewing Company based out of Tampa Florida. This bottle was courtesy of Brewsoski while we brewed a batch of 80 schilling scotch ale and man was it good. As you can see it poured a dark dark dark, did I say Dark! black with an awesome espresso head that chilled for a bit and laced nicely (also had some legs probably due to the age). The smell was great and carried a roasted nose with faint hints of sweet dark fruits, chocolate and a lot of coffee. The taste was the same and while still boozy it was smooth and enjoyable through the end. This has been one of the better beers I have tried recently and I am honestly looking on getting my hands on another one soon :)
ABV: 11%
BS Rating: A+
This is Jose Marti, an American style porter, from the great folks at Cigar City Brewing in Tampa Florida. This poured a deep color with a slight head that laced a bit down the glass as I consumed it. The scent was of smoked malt with a robust coffee, malty, chocolaty scent that was pretty appealing. The taste was pretty similar with the coffee/chocolate taste coming through and a slight bitterness from the hops and it finished dry. I enjoyed this a lot courtesy of Buena.
ABV: 8%
BS Rating: B+
This is Piranha, an American style pale ale, from BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse (the one I went to was in South Florida but they are located various places. This beer was a solid pale ale to be honest. It has a clear amber color with a nose of floral and citrus hops and a slight sweetness. The taste was more subtle than I was expecting. The hoppy bitterness was there given the description of it being brewed with Yakima hops and then dry hopped with Cascade hops I was expecting a bit more bitterness. Still an all around good beer to enjoy with dinner.
ABV: 5.8%
BS Rating: B-