It's a
"big ass" New Beer Friday! We haven't had one of the these in a while, so strap in, it may get bumpy.
Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum: Mikey wait long time for this one! Sweet caramel tones quickly give way to BIG aromas of floral, piney, and
citrusy hops, hints of resin, orange, grapefruit, lemon and grass make
for a BIG nose. The BIG hoppy flavors of citrus, pine, and grass all
carry over onto the pallet before blending very well with a sweet
caramel malty backbone, hints of alcohol linger in the finish. Hopitumum
is well balanced for a staggering 100 IBU brew, and features a
medium-full body and moderate levels of carbonation. BIG, BOLD, DELICIOUS!
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale: The nose is a tropical fruit hop bomb with rich, malts beneath. The taste is aggressively tropical-hoppy at first, but
has a sweeter, maltier finish than an IPA would have. The mouthfeel is
fairly heavy and well-carbonated. Overall, this is a solid hoppy red. Very, very tasty!
@Beerhive
Widmer Hefeweizen: Yeasty aroma of wheat, floral notes, dough, and lemon cookies. Tastes of
lemon cookies, wheat, floral notes, dough, yeasty, citrus juice and a
bitter, dry finish with a yeasty coating comes through. Medium body,
creamy with light carbonation. A wonderful Hefe.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Widmer Drop Top Amber: A bit of bready malt in the nose, with some vaguely tart fruity character, accompanied by a balanced, freshly
herbal hop presence. The taste has a somewhat biscuity flavor up front with some caramel sweetness. Surprisingly tart in the end, although not over the
top. Hop bitterness is middle-of-the-road, with a balanced fruity and
herbal flavor. Not bad.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Widmer Rotator IPA (Shaddock): Made with grapefruit peel, it has light grapefruit in the nose with a
sweet grainy malt is present. Seems rather spicy and earthy as well. The hop bitterness balances well with the lightly
sweet caramel and biscuity malt. Pine, grass, and earthy hops are up
front, and yet finish with a nice citrus and spicy punch. A very tasty offering.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Kona Longboard: The nose is very clean with slight notes of grain and grass. The tastes follows suit with notes of bread and grain, light herbs and a little bite of hops to even things out. Mouthfeel is pretty good and refreshing. A very nice light-bodied lager.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale: The nose is of bread/biscuit-like malt and some subdued hop aromas. Taste
is of citrus zest and floral hops up front with a solid malt backbone.
Mild bitterness on the palate after each sip. This beer has a good level
of carbonation with a crisp and clean mouthfeel. Overall, this is a
good pale ale with a nice balance between the malt and hops in the
taste.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
RedHook ESB: You may have had this in the past and thought, "this ain't so great". It's worth revisiting, a lot of the previous flaws have been fixed. The nose has faint aromas of floral/fruity hops with a
little bit of toasty malts in the background. Pretty nice balance, but
just not enough of either one really jump out. Caramel malts are
frontrunners on the flavor. This finishes with a pretty decent bitter
hop flavor. Again, this one is pretty balanced. The feel is light with good lively carbonation. Overall not bad.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Long Hammer IPA: The nose is hoppy, floral with some grassiness and lemon notes. The
taste definitely has the hops come out strong. The mouthfeel is well
carbonated and medium bodied and finishes with some of the grassiness
and hops. Overall, not a bad IPA, and for an IPA, I would have this
again.
@Beerhive & Liquor stores in the coming weeks
Full Sail Phil's Existential Alt: Malty nose with some caramel notes; it's heavier on the biscuit/bread
than on the caramel/sweet side. There is also a dash of earthy/noble hop
character. The taste is a
creamy concoction of bread and caramel, with a little bit of biscuit at
the end and a balanced bitterness. More tilted to the caramel side than
the aroma, I rather like the flavor. Mouthfeel is medium with a good, creamy carbonation. I like it.
@ Liquor stores now
Angry Orchard Apple Ginger: I judged this at the Mountain Brewers Festival. We gave it a gold medal. Good ginger notes that don't overpower the base cider. Quite tasty and different.
@ Liquor stores now
Angry Orchard Crisp Cider: We gave this one the Silver Medal. The names says it all. Crisp and dry apples. Very tasty.
@ Liquor stores now
Go get 'em!
Cheers!
Also in the news today, former Squatters Brewmaster Jennifer Talley, who had moved to Washington to take over as brewery production manager at Redhook Brewery is leaving there to take on the role of lead brewer at Russian River Brewing. Talley will be starting in May and eventually will be
taking over the brewery’s barrel program. Jenny's technique used in many of Squatters' barrel aged beers came from a close relationship with Russian River Owner, Vinnie Cilurzo. I guess it's just fitting that she'd end up there. Congrats Jenny!
