IPA

Hill Farmstead Double Citra IPA

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One of the beers I didn’t get to try during the Hill Farmstead event during Philly Beer Week was the Citra Single Hop Pale Ale. As luck would have it, Hill Farmstead had another event at the same bar a few weeks later. This time, things were far less hectic, and one of the beers available was the Double Citra IPA… which has to be, like, twice as good as the regular ol’ Citra Pale, right?

Funny thing about this beer: I’ve had it before. I didn’t realize it until I started drinking, but something in the depths of my brain flashed recognition or something, so I looked in one of my old-fangled notes on my phone, and sure enough, I’d hastily tapped in some notes from that initial tasting. The freaky thing is that it appears that my previous tasting occurred exactly 1 year prior to this tasting (maybe a few hours difference, if the timestamp on my image is to be trusted). Now, one might be tempted to think that forgetting to post about this first tasting means that it was a lackluster beer (i.e. forgettable). But I had rated it an A- back then, and I’m pleased to see that the old tasting notes pretty closely matched these new ones. I won’t claim to have a particularly attuned palate, but I’m apparently somewhat consistent.

Hill Farmstead Double Citra IPA

Hill Farmstead Double Citra IPA – Pours a cloudy yellowish color with a finger of white head… Smell is pure pine and citrus, very… Sniffable. I feel kinda dumb doing so in public, but it seems worth it. Taste is very sweet, lots of that pine flavor giving way to light citrusy fruit hops as the taste moves into a light, well balanced bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, tightly carbonated, and goes down real easy. Ok, this is superb. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass on 6/30/12.

Hill Farmstead has quickly ascended to the highest possible level of respect here at Kaedrin. I’ve pretty much resolved to buy as much of their beer as possible whenever I see it. Alas, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bottle of the stuff, and even kegs don’t make their way down here that often. Hopefully that will change soon. Otherwise, I’ll have to make the 9 hour trek to Vermont. Might even be worth it.

Mikkeller 1000 IBU

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Beer is quite sweet. Even highly attenuated beers still end up with a fair amount of residual sugars, and to counteract all this sweetness, brewers turn to our lovable friend: the hop. Among other trivial things like flavor and aroma, hops provide a bitterness that makes beer palatable, and one way to measure hop bitterness is through a system of International Bitterness Units (or IBUs for short). On the low end of the scale, you’ve got beers like industrial light lagers (of the macro-brewer kind), clocking in at around 8-12 IBU. This is apparently pretty close to the lower taste threshold for us humans. When you get into pale ales, you see stuff in the 35-50 IBU range, and IPAs go well beyond that. The theoretical limit of the human ability to detect bitterness is around 100 IBUs.

Now, the stronger the beer, the more malt sweetness there is to be balanced. Thus IBUs alone don’t tell you very much about a beer. A monster 13% ABV imperial stout with 100 IBUs won’t necessarily be the most bitter beer you’ve ever had. In fact, it’s likely to be pretty darn sweet. On the other hand, a simple pale ale with 50 IBUs may hit you in the face like a sledgehammer. Brewers use various ratios comparing IBUs to Original Gravity units (BU:GU ratio), but now we’re venturing into the dreaded mathematics territory, so we’ll just leave it at that.

Mikkeller 1000 IBU Packaging

Now, if the taste threshold of bitterness is around 100 IBUs, what the heck is Mikkeller doing making something with ten times that amount of bitterness? I have a few theories. One is that Mikkeller is the leading edge of an insectoid alien race that craves bitter foods and drink, having a much higher threshold for bitterness than us puny humans. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. But I digress. Another completely baseless speculation is that Mikkeller has some crazy palate that can actually detect higher IBUs in weird ways. Sorta like how audiophiles claim that records have superior sound quality or how MP3s (which basically compress music by getting rid of frequencies that are recorded by our equipment, but not detectable by the human ear, amongst other techniques) ruin music. Perhaps there’s something too that, but I’m certainly not qualified to say for sure. Finally, it’s almost certainly a gimmicky stunt or marketing fluff. Extreme beer always gets people talking, even if approximately half of the discussion is purists condemning the extremists. On the other hand, for a gimmicky beer, this thing is pretty darn spectacular:

Mikkeller 1000 IBU

Mikkeller 1000 IBU – This is another beer with one of them fancy paper wrappings, though it’s especially useful for this particular beer given the high hop content and green glass it was bottled in (I will never understand why good breweries insist on green glass). Pours a thick, very cloudy orange brown color with a little less than a finger of head with nice retention that leaves a bunch of lacing on the glass as I drink. The aroma is a dream. Tons of citrus and pine resin character in the nose (and when I say tons, I mean this literally), lots of other hop notes from earthy to spicy, along with a pronounced sweetness. I could sniff this stuff all night long. The taste is surprisingly balanced. There’s a lot of sweetness, but it’s all balanced by the massive hop character. Lots of that citrus, pine, and resin in the middle of the taste, followed by a solid bite of bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is thick, chewy, and full bodied, but well carbonated. As it warms, it starts to go down reallly easy, which is surprising for such a big beer. Overall, this is an impressive beer. If only all gimmicky beers were this good. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 9.6% ABV bottled (375 ml capped). Drank out of a snifter on 7/7/12.

It appears that this Mikkel guy knows what he’s doing. You’ll have to pay an arm and a leg for his stuff, but in most of my experience, it’s worth the stretch. I’ve got a few more Mikkeller beers in the pipeline, including one brewed with weasel poop coffee. And another stout that’s been aged in red wine barrels. So yeah, lots more Mikkeller to come on the blog in the coming months.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

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Back when my beer nerdery was going into overdrive (let’s say 2009ish), I saw a few bottles of this at the store and balked at the high price tag ($8 for a 12 ounce bottle). Little did I know that I wouldn’t even see another bottle of the stuff for two years (this delay was apparently exacerbated by a bad batch that had to be dumped, as portrayed on the short-lived Brewmasters tv show). So when Dogfish Head started releasing the new batch last year, I jumped on the opportunity. I had some on tap and picked up a few bottles, price tag be damned*!

I don’t always love Dogfish Head’s wacky shenanigans, but I usually find their stuff interesting and worth a shot. And say what you will about their shameless gimmickry, but Dogfish Head knows what it’s doing when it comes to IPAs, and their “minute” series is a sorta rite of passage amongst hopheads around here. I’ve already talked about the history of the massive 120 Minute IPA, but one thing I never quite understood was the beer nerds’ dismissal of this beer when it’s still “young”, claiming that it’s “undrinkable” unless it’s been aging for at least two years. When I had it on tap, I had no idea what these dorks were talking about, but now that I’ve cracked one of my bottles, I may have an idea what they mean (even if “undrinkable” is an overstatement).

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA – Pours a beautiful, mostly clear golden orange color with a finger of white head. The smell is filled with caramel malt and a ton of hoppy citrus notes. The taste is very sweet, plenty of that rich caramel malt going on and again with the citrusy hop character, but not a ton of bitterness. What there is a ton of, though, is alcohol. Very boozy stuff, moreso than I remember from last time, though it’s not undrinkable or anything, just different. Mouthfeel is full bodied, almost chewy, and again, there’s a very boozy heat here. This is actually pretty easy to drink, but it’s still just a sipping beer due to the booze. Overall, a very complex, interesting beer that’s well worth seeking out. Like last time, I find it hard to rate something this weird and experimental, but for now I’ll give it a B+, a slight downgrade, but I have a few more bottles of the stuff in my cellar, so we’ll see how this ages. I think that age would mellow all that booze out a bit, making this a much better beer…

Beer Nerd Details: 18% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a snifter on 6/2/12. 2011 vintage.

I’ve got two more of these 2011 vintage bottles that will most likely sit in my cellar for those two years (or more) the nerds were talking about. This is generally made easier by the fact that it’s such a high ABV beer. I’m looking forward to it, as well as the bottle of 2010 World Wide Stout I’ve got sitting around (another 18% monster). Alas, most of Dogfish Head’s recent releases have not seemed very attractive to me…

* Is it sad that I now find this to be only moderately priced? Still, I probably made the right decision when I was in my beer nerd infancy, as I don’t know if I would have appreciated it as much as I do now…

YuleSmith Summer Holiday Ale

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In an effort to confuse and confound their customers, Alesmith makes two different beers with the same name: YuleSmith Holiday Ale. One is a hoppy red ale released during the winter holidays, which makes a certain sorta sense. The other his a double IPA released in June, which… doesn’t. The word “Yule” is derived from a Germanic winter festival that was absorbed by Christmas (like a lot of holiday traditions), so the summer one doesn’t really fit unless you consider the dubious holiday of Christmas in July an event worth celebrating. And if you look at the bottle, it seems to be portraying the 4th of July, what with the fireworks and all (and Christmas in July is usually celebrated on the 25th of the month). Alesmith makes good beer though, and this one has quite the reputation, so who am I to complain?

Alesmith YuleSmith Summer

YuleSmith Summer Holiday Ale – Pours a hazy orange color with almost no head. A little worried about that, as the bottle didn’t seem to have much pressure going on when I popped the cap. Aroma is very nice though, lots of pine and caramel malt character. The taste is sweet, caramel malts with a ton of resin and pine hop flavor coming out in the middle, and some citrusy goodness coming out to play a little too. That resin is the dominating flavor though, and it seems to be driving the bitterness in the finish. It’s actually quite nice, and reminiscent of a lighter version of Alesmith’s Old Numbskull (their barleywine). Mouthfeel is a little too light on the carbonation, as feared, and it comes off a little sticky, especially in the finish. The carbonation is at a cromulent level, but it could really use a little more of a kick in that respect. It gets better as it warms, but I’d still like to see some more carbonation in this. It’s got the markings of a great beer, but it didn’t quite get there even if it’s certainly very good even like this. Truth be told, once I started drinking, the stuff went down awfully quick! B or B+ (I can’t seem to make up my mind…)

Beer Nerd Details: 8.5% ABV bottled (22 oz. bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 7/3/12.

Looking closer at the bottle, the text on the back of the bottle sez that this is YuleSmith Holiday Ale 2011? This is actually printed in the description – there doesn’t appear to be a bottled-on or best-by stamp on the bottle, so I don’t know if this is actually from 2011 or if Alesmith just neglected to update the text on the back of the bottle this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if I accidentally bought a year old bottle, as perhaps that would explain the carbonation issues…

Regardless, Alesmith continues to be one of the more interesting breweries out there, and I will most certainly be exploring more of their catalog!

Update: I have it on good authority that the bottle I had here actually was from 2011. Poop. But at least it explains some things about this beer…

Double Trouble Feature: Founders IPAs

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Despite the fact that the IPA style seems to be my most reviewed style on the blog, I do find that you need to strike a bit of a balance with drinking them. At the extremes – drinking only IPAs all the time or barely drinking any – the style seems to get a bit… samey. But if you find the right balance, they can be a revelation. One of things that I’ve found most interesting about IPAs is drinking two of them back to back (I find diminishing returns after two though). This gives you an opportunity to compare and contrast, and if you choose your beers right, you can discover a huge variation in the style. So here we have two Founders IPAs, one their basic, year round Centennial, and the other being their souped up Double IPA. In some ways, this isn’t really fair, as DIPAs generally pack in a lot more flavor, but it’s still an instructive exercise.

Of course the point of these posts is to pair beer with movies, and in this case I took in a Walter Matthau double feature: Charley Varrick and Hopscotch. Both are fun little 70s and early 80s flicks about things like crooks and spies. Neither really blew me away, but I had a blast with my IPAs and viewing material…

Founders Centennial IPA

Founders Centennial IPA – Pours a cloudy orangish color with a finger of whitish head and plenty of lacing. The smell is filled with floral hops, maybe some sweet citrus too. The taste starts sweet, with some of that citrus character giving way to more pungent, spicy, and floral hop flavors, followed by a nice bitter bite in the finish. Mouthfeel is great, medium bodied, a little bit of a bite to it, but well carbonated. Overall, a very well crafted IPA. Unfortunately, Centennial hops don’t seem to jive that well with me, at least in this formulation. I like this beer, but it’s not my preferred IPA… B

Beer Nerd Details: 7.2% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/11/12.

Founders Double Trouble

Founders Double Trouble IPA – Pours a golden yellow color, lighter and a little more clear than the Centennial, with a finger of white head and plenty of lacing. Smells strongly of sweet hops, a ton of grapefruit character. At this point, I’m guessing Simcoe hops. Taste starts off sweet with an immediate bitter balance, both of which intensify through the middle, finishing with a little bit of extra bitter dryness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with plenty of tight carbonation, and maybe just a hint of booziness. Overall, very nice, better than average double IPA, though not quite best in class. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 9.4% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/11/12.

As usual, Founders doesn’t disappoint… and there’s still quite a few of their beers that I haven’t yet tried either. Nothing else in the immediate pipeline, but I’m sure we’ll get our hands on some more of their beers at some point…

Deviant Dale’s IPA

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I don’t know how excited I should be about a beer made by someone named “Deviant Dale”. What kind of deviance are we really in for here? Am I going to pop open the can to find a toy snake springing out? Is the liquid inside actually beer (jeeze, I don’t even want to joke about possible alternative liquids…)? Has Dale invented a Ghostbuster-like grid that can store evil spirits in beer cans? The suspense was killing me, but the only deviant thing about this beer is possibly the amount of hops used in its production (and even that isn’t that bad). I don’t know whether to be relieved or not. Perhaps the deviance is slow acting and will hit sometime next year, like an acid flashback.

In any case, you’ll also note in the picture that this is a 16 ounce tallboy can, so I poured out a glass and kept the remainder cool with my fancy new Beerbecue beer cozy (get yours here). Thanks Scott!

Oskar Blues Deviant Dales IPA

Oskar Blues Deviant Dale’s IPA – Pours a golden orange color with a couple fingers of white head and plenty of lacing as I drink. Smells of sugary sweetness and citrusy hops, with a little pine and resin poking through as well. Taste is very sweet with tons of that citrus and pine hop flavor and just enough bitterness in the finish to balance out the sweet start. Mouthfeel is really nice, smooth, almost creamy, light but well balanced carbonation. Overall, really wonderful beer. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV bottled (16 oz.) Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/25/12.

Yeah, I’m still a month behind on reviews. After Philly Beer Week, consumption has slowed a bit though, so we’ll catch up eventually, though I’ll probably have some of my more recent reviews up soon too.

Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale

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According to Beer Advocate’s Top Beers list, Sculpin is the 46th best beer in the world. Whatever the virtues of automated lists based on aggregate ratings, one of the biases of such an exercise is that “extreme” beers tend to get a disproportionate amount of attention. But Sculpin is a “regular” IPA. Clocking in at 7% ABV, it’s at the upper end of that spectrum, but it’s a pretty standard beer. It’s not seasonal or super rare or hard to find, and while Ballast Point has a generally good reputation in the beer nerd community, I don’t think of them as anointed in the way of, say, Russian River or The Bruery. And in fact, there’s only 4 regular ol’ American IPAs on the list (and no English varieties either). Now, Double/Imperial IPAs? That’s a different story. There are 4 DIPAs in the top 10 alone. So Sculpin must be something pretty special, eh?

Ballast Point Sculpin

Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale – Pours a clearish golden color with a finger of head and decent retention. Smells strongly of sugary sweet malts with a big citrus hop component, very aromatic, I could just sniff this stuff all night. The taste hits with that sweetness up front, followed by a ton of citrusy hops, with perhaps a little more floral components coming out in the taste, and a well balanced, barely even bitter finish. In fact, that bitterness emerges earlier in the taste than I’m used to, but it’s not nearly as strong or overwhelming as it normally is in an IPA. It’s a 7% ABV beer, so I don’t expect it to be small, but it drinks like a higher ABV beer – not in a boozy or bad way, but in a depth and balance of flavor way. Mouthfeel is smooth, carbonation is light and tight, very well balanced and easy to drink. But it’s something you want to relish, not gulp down. Overall, a really nice IPA, and I can see why it’s got such a reputation. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (12 oz.) Drank out of a tulip on 5/19/12.

I may have to make myself better acquainted with Ballast Point. Incidentally, if you’re looking for another example of a “normal” style making a surprising appearance in the top 100: Live Oak Hefeweizen. Of course, I don’t think that one gets a particularly big distribution, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a spectacular beer – something you don’t hear much of when people talk of Hefeweizens…

The End of Weyerbacher Hops Infusion

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I bought a bottle of the stuff, and then Weyerbacher discontinued it! In all seriousness, Weyerbacher has been talking about a new IPA for a while now, and they recently launched their new Last Chance IPA (for which they’ll donate a portion of the sales to local animal shelters). Well, I don’t have any of that stuff (yet!), but I tried some of the retired brew recently:

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion – Pours a clearish dark orange color (copper?) with a finger of head and some decent retention. Smells of earthy hops, with a little citrus and maybe some sugary malt. There’s a bit of a tinny twang here that I detected at first… not overpowering or anything, but perhaps I got a bad bottle. Taste also has a light caramel malt flavor, with a fair amount of earthy, floral hops and maybe just a hint of citrus. Not getting a ton of bitterness, but it’s there in the finish, along with that same tinniness from the nose. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and it goes down easy. Overall, I may have gotten a bad bottle, but I have a feeling that this would be a rather straightforward IPA in any case… C

Beer Nerd Details: 6.2% ABV bottled (12 oz). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/25/12.

Well, I can’t say as though I’ll be upset that this is no longer available… Even if I didn’t get a bad bottle, I suspect it would have been somewhat underwhelming. But I do love me some Double Simcoe, and Weyerbacher is releasing their anniversary beer soon too, which is always worth checking out…

Another Dispatch from Philly Beer Week

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One of the great things about Philly Beer Week is that you can sometimes get a taste of beers that aren’t really distributed around here. Hill Farmstead technically distributes to Philadelphia, but their production is so limited that this distribution is effectively limited to Philly Beer Week (with maybe one other event per year). And if Saturday was any indication, I’m guessing there isn’t any Hill Farmstead beer left in the area…

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the venue, but it was an absolute madhouse when I got there. I could barely walk in the place, but managed to get some beer (as per usual, beer nerds seem to be friendly folk, so it wasn’t difficult). After a couple hours, things thinned out considerably, allowing me to get a seat and even order some food. Because this was likely to be my only exposure to Hill Farmstead, I ended up drinking more than planned, but I was fortunately able to spread that out over a long period of time. But I was really happy to get my hands on some of this stuff, and I’m pleased to report that Hill Farmstead’s reputation is well deserved.

Hill Farmstead What is Enlightenment?

Hill Farmstead What is Enlightenment? – When I asked the bartender for this beer, he looked back at me with a quizzical look, as if I were hoping to ponder existential conundrums, but after repeating it a few times, I think he finally understood that I was asking for the beer, not transcendence. That’s what Hill Farmstead gets for brewing a series of beers inspired by philosophy. Anywho, this is their second anniversary beer, a “simple” pale ale… brewed with Simcoe and Amarillo hops (in other words, my favorite hops). It sounded like the perfect start to the day, and I think I was right.Pours a cloudy golden yellow with a finger of white head… Smells of huge pine aromas with some citrus notes. Taste is lightly sweet with huge pine flavor hitting in the middle, followed by a mild bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, with ample but tight carbonation. Quaffable, well balanced, outstanding beer. A-

Beer Nerd Details: 5.4% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass.

Next up is Hill Farmstead’s most hyped and popular beer, the double IPA Abner:

Hill Farmstead Abner

Hill Farmstead Abner – Part of the Ancestral Series, this beer was made in honor of the brewer’s grandfather, named Abner. Pours a darker golden orange color with a finger of white fluffy head and lacing abound. Smells of a more complex array of citrus aromas, with some pine. Taste is very sweet, but balanced out by those big, complex hop flavors of fruity citrus and pine, followed by a well matched dry bitterness in the finish. Really nice med to full body, plenty of tight carbonation… Not quite quaffable, but it goes down easy. Fantastic beer! A

Beer Nerd Details: 8.2% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass.

At this point, I was really hoping to sample the Citra Single Hop Pale, but the keg kicked just as I got to the bar (I believe it was the first to go). I suspect that after the previous two hop bombs, this one may have suffered from an over-hopped palate on my part, so I wasn’t too upset, and drowned my sorrows in a glass of what turned out to be my favorite beer of the day:

Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude 2

Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude #2 – Another from the Philosophical series, this is actually a sub-series exploring big, hoppy beers. They call this an Imperial Black IPA, and boy is it a doozy – certainly the best of the style I’ve ever had. Beers of this style usually make me crave a really good DIPA or Imperial Stout, rather than enjoy what’s in front of me… but not here. This is exceptional. Pours a black color with minimal head. Smells of bright, citrusy hops. Taste starts very sweet and rich, with a really nice, well matched roastiness in the middle, followed by a strong chocolate note and lots of citrusy and piney hops emerging quickly and lasting through a relatively dry finish. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, and almost chewy… but that relatively dry finish is what really sets this apart. No booziness at all, though it feels like a big beer. Utterly awesome, complex, well balanced, amazing beer! A

Beer Nerd Details: 9.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass.

I figured I should continue with the series, and I drank this one slowly, whilst also taking in a meal. I was worried that my palate would be shot by this point, and I would certainly like to try this next one under better circumstances, but my feelings on this seemed to be in line with the beer dorks around me… Basically, I thought it was very good, but Abner was better:

Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude 3

Hill Farmstead Society and Solitude #3 – Pours a cloudy golden orange color (lighter than Abner) with a finger of larger bubbled head and some lacing as I drink… Smells of sweet citrusy hops. Taste starts very sweet, with those bright citrusy hop flavors (little bit of pine) coming through strong… Mouthfeel is a little lighter than expected… Having this after the complex flavor bomb of #2 was probably a mistake, but even compared to Abner, I found this a bit lacking. Well, still a great beer, better than most DIPAs, but if given the choice between this and Abner, I’d go for Abner. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 8% ABV on tap. Drank out of a wine glass.

So I thought I was done at this point, and took a walk around the neighborhood to clear my head (another gorgeous day) and do some shopping, but I figured that these beers wouldn’t be around again for a year and I was feeling ok, so I plopped down for another one – the only beer I had that day that wasn’t assertively hopped:

Hill Farmstead Everett

Hill Farmstead Everett Robust Porter – Another Ancestral Series beer (I think named after one of Abner’s brothers)… Pours a dark brown color with a lighting brown head. Huge roast in the nose. And the taste follows the nose – tons of roast from the get go. Very nice chocolate character opens up as it warms, even some caramel emerging as I drink more… Very well balanced flavors. Mouthfeel is deep and full, a slight richness, well carbonated but smooth. Exceptionally well crafted porter, a style I don’t normally go for… B+

Beer Nerd Details: 7.5% ABV on tap. Drank out of a tulip glass.

Phew. It was a long day, but this was some of the best beer around and I had a pretty good time. Here’s to hoping Hill Farmstead starts increasing their production capacity and distributing their exceptional beers more… I have to admit, at this point, I’m a bit beered out. I may take the drinking a bit easy for the next couple weeks, but don’t worry, I’ve got quite the backlog of reviews built up…

June Beer Club

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Tonight was beer club, a meeting of beer minded individuals from my work who get together for a meal and lots-o-beer (and the occasional cider or wine) once a month. A very big turnout this month, and lots of good ol’ fashioned pizza place BYOB fun (I actually had a sandwich whose description was: “It’s like a cheesesteak and an Italian hoagie had a baby… it was very good, but the most popular dish of the night were these deep fried stromboli-like things that were amazing.) Good times were had by all…

June 2012 Beer Club

(Click for bigger image)

For the sake of posterity, some thoughts on each beer are below. As usual, these were not ideal conditions, so these notes are probably not very reliable. Or rock solid. The point is that I have thoughts about these beers, and I’m going to share them, and you’re going to like it. I hope. Ok, fine, maybe not, but I’m putting them here anyway. In order of drinking (not in order of the picture above):

  • Prism Bitto Honey IPA – An offering from a relatively new, relatively local brewery called Prism (which, for whatever reason, always reminds me of the premium cable channel from way back when that eventually turned into Starz, I believe). Anywho, I actually got a taste of this stuff at the Philly Beer Week preview a couple weeks back. It is basically a very nice, sweet IPA, with a pleasant floral citrus hoppiness that is offset by a prominent honey character. I would not call it a favorite, but it’s a unique take on the style, which I certainly appreciate. B
  • Kaedrin Earl Grey Bitter – My homebrewed English Style Bitter, brewed with Earl Grey tea and bitter orange peel. The taste actually continues to evolve, though it remains a highly drinkable, light, citrusy take on the traditional English Bitter. Believe it or not, the tea-like character seems more prominent now than ever. Beer club peeps seem to enjoy it, and I’m glad I’ve got an ample supply leftover for summer drinkin… B+
  • Magic Hat Elder Betty – A wheat beer brewed with elderberries, it came off a bit on the muddled side. It didn’t particularly have a strong wheat feel to it, and the elderberry was there, but not super strong. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t knocking my socks off either. A nice alternative to macro swill, for sure, but not something to go out of your way for… B-
  • North Coast Blue Star Great American Wheat Beer – Now this one is a little more like it, though it’s not exactly a spectacular beer either. Still, I got that nice wheat character out of this, and it was a really solid take on a standard style. Again, not something that will melt your face, but it’s pretty good! B
  • Victory Summer Love – I had this beer a few times last year and I have to say that I was not impressed. However, trying it again tonight, I was quite surprised with this one. It was much hoppier than I remember, sorta like a lighter ale version of their classic Prima Pils. We weren’t outside, but that’s what this beer is made for… B+
  • Fegley’s Brew Works Monkey Wrench – A very solid take on the Belgian Saison style, a little sweet, very spicy, but not overwhelming the palate. A relatively full mouthfeel, yet it still leaves you with a light impression, which is strange, but nice. A well crafted take on the standard sweet and spicy version of the style. B+
  • Weyerbacher Blasphemy – My other contribution for the night, this is a bourbon barrel aged version of Weyerbacher’s Quad. I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of the Quad, which I found a bit too sweet and boozy for my tastes. I mean, it’s good and all, but not among my favorite quadrupels. Unfortunately, the bourbon barrel aging treatment hasn’t improved things as much as I’d thought it would. It comes off as being extremely boozy, with that bourbon really dominating the finish and aftertaste. But I’m not getting the richness or vanilla oak flavors out of this that I normally get out of bourbon barrel aged beers. It’s still good, but I was expecting a bit more… At 11.8% ABV, we didn’t actually finish off the whole bottle, so I may take another sample of this sucker soon, so perhaps I’ll have a better idea of this then… B
  • Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA – Holy weirdness Batman! This thing was the weirdest beer of the night. Granted, we probably should have cracked this before Blasphemy, but even still, it had a very strange floral note, almost like perfume, in both the nose and taste. Presumably, that’s the Jasmine that’s dominating the beer. As I drank, I gradually got more of the floral hops, but nothing really seemed to mesh with this beer. It was sorta a mess, definitely not my thing. C+
  • MacTarnahan’s Spine Tingler – A Belgian style Tripel, and a pretty well crafted one at that. It’s perhaps not perfect, maybe a bit too sweet, but still eminently drinkable stuff. Very nice spicy, bready Belgian yeast character, lots of sweetness, a very good beer. B+
  • 5even Helles Bock – My friend Dana’s homebrewed beer wasn’t quite ready, but we tried it anyway. It was actually pretty good, nice and sweet, malt-forward beer. She things it will clear up with some more conditioning time, but it seemed quite nice to me, though I’d like to try it in another month and see where it’s at…

And that just about covers it. Good times were had by all, and as usual, I’m already looking forward to the July beer club!