Archive for Beer a Day
Brooklyn Lager
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I’m pretty “thumbs down” on most lagers. To me, the lager stereotype seems to hold true — that they aren’t much for taste, have too much of an unpleasant yeasty quality, and are generally fairly weak and light-bodied.
But the Brooklyn Brewery’s Brooklyn Lager puts its best foot forward. This lager is strong on hops and has a big caramel malt taste. It’s actually a pretty good beer, even with that “LAGER” name so prominently displayed on the label. How’s that for a back-handed compliment?
I knew I was in for something different as soon as I poured the beer. Brooklyn Lager isn’t a fizzy yellow beer — it’s a coppery, amber lager with a plump cushion of white head that looks thick and almost meringue-like.
Great Divide Titan IPA
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It’s IPA Monday, so let’s start with the bottle description of tonight’s IPA:
“Titan IPA is a big, aggressively hopped India Pale Ale brewed for hop disciples. It starts out with piney hop aromas and citrus hop flavors, and finishes with a nice rich, malty sweetness that is balanced with crisp hop bitterness.”
Hey, that sounds pretty good. But I’ve heard lots of boasting about hops, and only rarely does the actual beer come through on those pre-built expectations.
I’m pleased to report that Great Divide’s Titan IPA has a fair amount of hop taste — but by no means will this beer induce a hop-attack. Instead, the emphasis in the description should be placed on the word “balance”; flavorful hops and robust malt push against each other like some sort of team-building, trust exercise.
Smuttynose Summer Weizen
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Summer has kicked off its shoes and settled in across New England, and it looks as though it may stay a while. Most of today was in the upper 80′s and, even with the windows open and the fans blowing, it was certainly what the natives call “a Scorcha!” So it only seemed fitting that I fight off the heat with a summer ale from New England.
Smuttynose Brewing Company is just a short drive from me, in Portsmouth, NH. Their summer seasonal, called “Summer Weizen” is a wheat ale “brewed with chamomile flowers”.
Southern Tier Mokah Imperial Stout
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I’m not the sort of person who skips to the end of a book when he can’t bear the suspense. And yet, here I am, hastily thumbing ahead.
Perhaps you remember my brief but torrid love affair with Choklat back on February 14th? That sweet, chocolaty stout from Southern Tier Brewing Company is part of the Blackwater Series of Imperial Stouts — and it set my chocolaty beer standard for many months to come. I knew the Blackwater Series boasted a creation called Jahva — a coffee stout brewed with Jamaican roasted coffee — but I simply never got around to grabbing a bottle. Instead, I picked up Mokah.
Samurai Rice Ale
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Great Divide Brewing Co. is responsible for the great YETI Imperial Stout I enjoyed a few weeks ago, and I have several of their beers waiting for me.
Tonight, the Samurai “Rice Ale” caught my attention and reeled me in.
What does Great Divide say about this beer? According to both the label and their website, they opine:
SAMURAI is an easy drinking, unfiltered ale that changes the status quo for unfiltered beers. The addition of rice gives Samurai a slightly fruity, crisp, refreshing and clean taste. This is definitely not your everyday unfiltered beer. 5.1% ABV
This makes it sound like a delicious take on Budweiser, but only tasting it will tell the tale.
