Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from the Great Lakes sampler pack thingy purchased in IL; 2012 

Style/ABV: Robust Porter, 5.8%

I'm wrapping up Great Lakes Brewing for now with their Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American freighter used to ship iron ore across the Great Lakes. The ship sunk in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975, during a massive winter storm that had near hurricane-force winds, and waves up to 35 feet high. The crew of 29 all perished, and no bodies were found. With the brief history lesson out of the way, let us talk beer:

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

If you check out the Edmund Fitzgerald page at Great Lakes, you can read up about the beer in more depth. The beer is named after the famous ship, the Edmund Fitzgerald that tragically sank in Lake Superior in 1975. The Porter style originated in Great Britain, and according to Great Lakes' history blurb, "Porters" were named after the porters who carried goods from wagons to the stands at the English open air markets. There's much more history to be had with Porters, and much discussion and debate regarding Porters vs. Stouts. But that's for another time, another day. What I will mention is that today's beer is a Robust Porter according to the BJCP. This is probably a meaningless distinction, but the BJCP wants to suggest that this beer is substantial, malty, and dark, with complexy and roasty characters. 

This beer is brewed with 4 malts, Harrington 2-Row Base Malt, Crystal 77, Chocolate, and Roasted Barley. The addition of Chocolate malts and Roasted Barley will supply those darker flavors, like coffee, chocolate, and roast. The beer also uses Northern Brewer (bittering hop), Fuggle (English hop; earthy and woody aromas and flavors), and Cascade (citrus) hops. This beer clocks in at 5.8% ABV, and packs 37 IBUs. Let's dig in and see what this beer is about.

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

It's always good news when you crack open a bottle of beer and smell rich roasted malts before you even make an effort to smell them. I also want to comment that while subtle, the bottle artwork for this beer is nice. I'm kind of so-so on the Great Lakes bottle artwork. The good news is that the Great Lakes bottle labels look like they fall right off, so hello home brewers. And their beer tastes great...so helllloooooo home brewers.

Anyway, the pour reveals a dark brown, almost black, beer with 3-fingers worth of khaki/tan head. The head is creamy, and has the consistency of a root beer float. Head retention seems to be pretty solid, and there is lacing as the head pulls away. In bright light this beer is definitely ruby red on the edges, with a ruby red/brown body. You can't see through the beer, so we will just have to wait to taste it to determine how carbonated it is. I'm guess moderate to high based on the head.

The aroma on this beer is deep roasted, woody notes. I'm picking up really nice roasted malt, wood, hint of campfire, sweet aromas (chocolate, vanilla, Java coffee), hints of coffee, and a hint of hops (citrus, earth, and mild tones).

The taste on this is creamy, smooth, and moves from lighter malts to a big roasted malt finish. The back end is roasted malts, with some burnt malts and campfire. I'm getting some hops up front with some citrus and earth, there are some sweet caramel and molasses notes, hints of coffee and chocolate, and then you get hit with that woody, roasted, and slightly burnt and drying back end.

The mouthfeel on this is medium-light, very drinkable, smooth, and supported by fine carbonation. This is a touch rowdy in the middle, with some viciousness and maybe even a moment of chewy body. This has solid palate depth, and great complexity. There are nice hop and malt flavors in here. Up front you get some earthy hops and burgeoning malts; the middle has sweet flavors like caramel, chocolate, vanilla, and some more echoing hops; the back end is all about the malts with some burnt molasses, campfire, roast, and wood. It's slightly drying. Really nice but somehow pretty balanced, light and drinkable. You could pound these away at 5.8% ABV.

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 91%

This is really good, and I imagine I'll want to revisit this down the line. This has a nice progression of malt flavors, and the entire palate is supported by hops. This is also very complex, with lots of sweet flavors, roasted flavors, woody flavors, and burnt flavors. I imagine you will see lots of variation among reviews for this beer in terms of flavors extracted. When all is said and done, this is just another dynamite brew from Great Lakes brewing. My experience with their beer has been a net positive so far, and I would encourage people to check them out. 

Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from the Great Lakes sampler pack thingy purchased in IL; 2012

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 6.0.%

I'm continuing with my Great Lakes Brewing conquest, which has kind of been part of a recent effort to drink all the familiar and readily available beers around me that I have not tried before.

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

Burning River Pale Ale is an assertively hopped, citrusy, and piney American Pale Ale. The beer is named after the Cuyahoga River, which apparently burst into flames in 1969 and sparked the Clean Water Act of 1972. Great Lakes gives some info on the history of the Pale Ale: the style evolved from the English town, Burton-upon-Trent, that was known for its hard water supply and tendency to brew lighter-colored beer. The American Pale Ale is well hopped, and indeed this beer features citrus and piney flavors from the hops. This beer uses Northern Brewer hops (bittering hop for English-style ales), and Cascade hops (citrus and grapefruit aroma and flavor). Clocking in at 6.0% ABV and packing 45 IBUs, we might expect a big, bold American Pale Ale.  

Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale

The appearance is what you might expect for this style. 2-fingers worth of wonderful, white/slightly-off-white head, and a body that is a darker amber/bronze color in low light. The head is foamy, but it has a slight dish soap complexion as well. Head retention is nice, and as the head pulls away I am getting lacing on my tulip glass. There is quite a bit of carbonation in the form of small rising bubbles, and this beer is transparent and filtered. In bright light, this beer takes on a wonderful golden-amber color. 

The aroma is bright citrus, grass, lawnmower, and some malt. There is a hard biscuit note from the malts, orange, tangerine, light and pleasant English-hop note, and some other suggestive fruity flavors. I'm pulling an orange note out of this that smells like the orange filling in these chocolates I used to have as a kid. I wasn't particularly fond of the filling because it was not overtly sweet or orange, but it smells good in this beer. There is some pine and wet leaves in here for good measure too, hints of caramel, hints of gum, and some grass/lawnmower.

Again with the great palate depth...something is in the Great Lakes Brewing water or something, because all of their beers are a great experience across the palate. This hits you with hops up front, but immediately balances the hops with big malts. The back end is bittering, but immediately balances the bitter flavors with more malt kick. I'm tasting mild and pleasant orange, tangerine, bitter grass and burgeoning bitter tangerine, biscuity and caramel malt supporting the hoppy flavors, bitter grass, bitter floral, and bitter wet leaves, and some bitter greens. This is sweet, balanced, hoppy, and appropriately bitter.  

This is medium-light, generously carbonated, smooth, and drinkable. Above all else, this is balanced, with a nice play of sweetness, hoppiness, and bitterness. The finish is citrus and slightly drying. This is very easy to drink, and you do not feel any burden from the 6.0% ABV. The palate depth on this is fantastic, with some really nice contrasts in the front, middle, and back palate. The complexity is high as well. Up front you get carbonation, hint of malt, and citrus hops with burgeoning malts; this rolls into a hoppy and malty middle; the back is bitter, hoppy, and balanced by lingering malts. The finish is dry citrus. There is actually a touch of hop spice in this beer, almost a peppery note.

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 92%

 

Everything that I want in an American Pale Ale is right here. Drinkability, balance, good hop flavor, and wonderful malt balance. And the palate depth is spectacular. This beer actually evolves as it transverses from front to back palate, and it remains equally hoppy and balanced along the way. I am really enjoying what I have tried from Great Lakes Brewing so far, and I have one beer left to review: the Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. So until then, cheers. 

Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 7.5%

Who is Commodore Perry? He is Oliver Hazard Perry, and he was a United States Navy Commodore famous for leading American forces in a definite victory at the Battle of Lake Erie, in the War of 1812. This victory was a turning point in the battle for the west in the War. Today's beer is an English India Pale Ale as per the Fuggle hops used to brew this beer. This is one of Great Lakes' year-round offerings.

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

If you roll over to the Great Lakes Commodore Perry page, you can find some information about the beer. The beer is brewed to honor Commodore Perry, and the beer is described as both "distinctive and highly decorated." Great Lakes gives a brief history of the style, stating that the India Pale Ale originated in The Bow Brewery in London, and was exported to British soldiers in India. The beer's high alcohol and hop content reduced the likelihood that the beer would spoil, and made it ideal to be shipped across the world. This is basically the accepted history of the IPA, although there is certainly some debate depending on which source you seek out. This beer is brewed with Simcoe (bittering), Fuggle (English hop flavor), and Cascade (citrus/grapefruit) hops, and is described as tasting medium-bodied, well hopped, dry, and fruity. This beer clocks in at 7.5% ABV, and packs 70 IBUs. Let's dig in and see how this stacks up.

Great Lakes Commodore Perry IPA

In terms of appearance, I'm kind of reminded of the Ranger IPA I recently reviewed. This beer pours with 3-fingers worth of super foamy, thick, white head. The head is made up of small bubbles, and is much more foamy than soapy. As the head pulls away, there is a ton of lacing on the glass. In low light the head is eggshell colored, in bright light it is white. In low light the beer is more of an amber/golden color, but when held to a bright white light the beer is a wonderful golden-yellow color. There is quite a bit of carbonation rising upwards in the form of tiny bubbles, and the beer is transparent. Head retention and lacing are great.

The aroma is fruity, spicy, and citrusy. I'm pulling out pine, orange, tangerine, some Simcoe notes that aren't pee, a very mild and pleasant fresh orange note that reminds me of orange candies, some pale or grain malt that is playing off the oranges creating a bready and sweet note, and some earthy and mild English hop notes. There is some pungent or oily bitterness in here, but overall this smells fruity and fresh.

Wow, this is quite bitter and pungent, but in a good way with huge hop flavors that really dominate your front and middle palate. The back palate is awesome, with a huge malty finish that is reminiscent of bread, toasted bread, and candied oranges. The finish is bitter and dry, but malt balanced (oddly enough). I'm pulling out pungent and slightly oily grapefruit, orange, tangerine, candied oranges on the middle, pine, hints of mint, mild English hop bite, and some woody and dry notes. This is bitter, but smooth and creamy and balanced by malts. You pick up toasted malts on the back.

This is bitter and sweet, but the palate depth on this is amazing. It really is a palate depth experience. The flavors just assault your palate up front, and never really let up. In terms of mouthfeel, this is medium-full, well carbonated, and smooth. The finish is drying and bitter, but it is not bone dry. Aside from the great palate depth, complexity is medium. Up front is a citrus wallop with some additional hop flavors; this rolls into that sweet middle, with more hops and burgeoning malts; the back end is bitter, pungent, toasted malts, bitter orange hops, and a bitter and dry finish that leaves an aftertaste of malts and hops. At 7.5% ABV, this is very drinkable, and you really don't feel the 70 IBUs.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 88%

I expend many words to describe the beer I am drinking. To simplify, I would describe this beer as: fruity, balanced, pungent and bitter but pleasant, and easy drinking for the style. And man is that palate depth something. 

Considering that this beer packs 70 IBUs, this drinks incredibly light. This is bitter, but I don't feel like my palate has been assaulted. And that's a good thing. I plan to drink this again, and I'm having a great time trying Great Lakes beers because so far they all have been beyond good. So with that said, until next time, cheers.

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Dortmunder Export, 5.8%

Let's talk about Great Lakes Brewing Company, since tonight I am continuing my journey with their beer.

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

The Dortmunder Gold is in fact a "Dortmunder" beer. If you check out Great Lakes' Dortmunder Gold page, you will see that this beer is named after the Dortmunder style, which originated in Dortmund, Germany. This style originated during the mid-19th centruy when several breweries in Dortmund, Germany began breweing beers in the same manner; these beers became known as "Dortmunder" beers. This beer is described as a smooth lager with a balance of sweet malt and dry hop flavors. The beer uses Harrington 2-Row Base Malt and Caramel 60 malt; and the beer is brewed with Cascade (bittering hop) and Hallertau (U.S. version of the German noble hop - mild bitterness, aromatic) hops. This beer clocks in at 5.8% ABV, and packs 30 IBUs. 

If you consult the BJCP, you will see that this beer is actually an example under the Dortmunder Export category. Dortmunder Export appears to be the BJCP's categorization for Dortmunder beers. The BJCP describes this beer as balanced, smooth, and malty like a Helles, hoppy like a Pils, and slightly stronger than both. Hell is a German adjective for "light," and Helles is a noun used to describe "a light one [beer].". The Helles style is only light in appearance, and not in flavor. The style is known to have a definitive mild malt-forwardness, a satisfying palate, and light hops in the mix. A Pils or Pilsner is a blond, clear, effervescent lager, with noteable hop flavor, that originated from the Czech city of Pilsen in 1842 (Source 1, Source 2).

In case you are wondering why any of this matters, it doesn't. Ratebeer has pegged the Dortmunder Gold as a "Dortmunder/Helles". So now that you are a savvy beer drinker, you know that a Helles beer (or Munich Helles) is a light-colored, German beer, with nice supporting malts. BeerAdvocate has pegged this beer as a "Dortmunder / Export Lager," which is basically equal to the BJCP with a "/" thrown in because they are going through some sort of rebellious emo phase. Let's see how this beer stacks up. 

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

This is a beautiful looking Lager. The beer poured with 3-fingers worth of super creamy, foamy head. The head is made up of tiny bubbles, and has that creamy consistency of a Guinness head. The head is white with hints of gold or orange. The body of the beer appears to be golden/bronze/orange/amber color, well-carbonated, and transparent in lower light. When held under a bright white light, this beer is a beautiful golden-orange/yellow color, with a ton of carbonation. The head is maintaining like a beast.

The aroma is grainy, and hoppy. You pick up on the Hallertau, with that mild, earthy, pleasant, spicy, herbal, English hop note. Really nice clean graininess, a touch of honey, a touch of bread, sweet (caramel), sweet bread, and maybe some DMS.

The taste on this is really, really good, with huge palate depth and a medium-full body. After my first two sips, I can say for sure that there is a lot of carbonation, quite a bit of malt, quite a bit of grain, and some mild and spicy hop balance. There is almost a dry complexity that drives this beer, and the finish is malty and super dry, with tons of lingering malts. I'm tasting grain, sweet malts, biscuit, and 30 IBUs worth of surprisingly bitter (but pleasant) spice, hints of citrus (lemon), and herbal/earth. There is also a ton of lacing on my glass.

This is incredibly easy to drink, and super refreshing despite the sort of drying finish. The finish is drying, but there is a ton of lingering malt and grain that you just want to go back for another sip, or a 6-pack. The 5.8% makes this an extreme session beer; this will get you drunk. And maybe, just maybe, cheers to that. The palate depth on this beer is "get da fuck outta here." It's that good. This beer just bombs your palate with that whirlwind of malt presence and hop balance. The hop bitterness is perfect at 30 IBUs, and you still feel like you are drinking a Lager. This is smooth, well-carbonated, and medium-full. Complexity is high. On the front you get crisp hops and sweet malts; this rolls into sweet malts, hop balance, and grain; this rolls into that drying back end of grain and malts. I'm sad to see the bottom of my glass right now, but isn't that the best kind of sadness? 

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 97%

 

Well, I guess this is the bar. Say "hi bar," because bar just got a raise. This is a fantabulous beer, and I just want to drink 12 of them right now. You might think that is my crippling alcoholism talking, but in fact this beer is actually delicious. Okay, so maybe this beer is delicious and my crippling alcoholism is talking. This is a splendid display of balance, and the palate depth is spectacular. This beer grabs your palate and demands attention. I feel like I could pair this beer with pizza and die a very happy person. And that is where I will leave that.

New Belgium Fat Tire

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from New Belgium's Spring Sampler from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: American Amber Ale, 5.2%

Alright, tonight I'm wrapping up the New Belgium Spring Sampler. I've already reviewed Fat Tire for myself, so to keep this interesting I am going to re-review the beer right now, and compare my old notes and score with this current review. Before I talk about Fat Tire:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

Fat Tire is one of those classic beers that is available everywhere, and just about everyone has tried. The beer is up there with Guinness, Sam Adams, and Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale in terms of infamous craft beers. Fat Tire is a beer named after co-founder Kim Jordan's bike trip through Europe. The beer is described as balanced with toasty and biscuit-like malt flavors balanced with hoppy freshness. The beer uses Willamette (spicy, fruity, floral, earthy), Goldings (mild aromatics and bittering), and Target (English hop aroma) hops; and Pale, C-80, Munich, and Victory malts. Clocking in at 5.2% ABV, the beer has 18.5 IBUs and packs 155 calories per bottle. Let's dig in.

New Belgium Fat Tire

The pour reveals a brown-gold, copper/amber beer with 3-fingers of slightly off-white head. The head is made up of large bubbles that have a thin, dish soap quality. The head is slightly foamy. There is moderate carbonation, and this beer is super filtered and transparent. There is some lacing on my nonic pint.

The aroma on the Fat Tire is pleasant earthy and herbal hop notes; English hops. There are roasted malts, and hints of biscuit on the nose as well. I'm picking up a touch of stale biscuit, and maybe a hint of citrus.

The taste is about the same as the nose. Lots of mild hops, and a biscuit-like and grainy finish. There are hints of fruit from the hops up front, earthy, and herbal hop notes. Grain, biscuit, earth. There is a really hard flavor on the front of the palate: I can't tell if it is toffee or fruit, it reminds me of hard water.

This is light, non-assertive, well-carbonated, smooth, and super drinkable. This is a session beer, and a beer that you could use to convert someone to craft beer. The finish is refreshing and biscuit-like, and the beer reminds me very much of Spring. Palate depth is full, and complexity is moderate to low. You get smooth carbonation up front, with that hard note, biscuity malt, and pleasant English hops; this rolls into a grainy and biscuit-like middle, with English hop balance; the back end is trailing hops that opens up to that biscuity and refreshing finish. This feels good in the mouth, and is well-carbonated. There is also nice lacing on the glass.

Rating: Average

Score: 73%

 

So, I dug through my old review notes. Last time I drank this beer (some time in 2011) I gave it a 76%. I think that it is pretty fucking impressive that I only deviated by 3%. Even more impressive is that I rated it "Average" both times. I guess I am reliable.  

Fat Tire was one of the beers that popped my craft beer cherry. It was also one of the first craft beers I really enjoyed. I remember a turbulent journey to craft beer. My journey included Dogfish Head's 60 or 90 Minute IPA (I can't remember), Guinness, Old Rasputin, and Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale. I'll be honest, I thought most of those beers tasted like shit when I first had them. It takes time to adjust your palate to big hop flavors and big roasted and burnt malts. At any rate, Fat Tire was one of the first craft beers that I remember really enjoying. I drank the beer at a very memorable time too: it was on a beautiful warming Spring evening in Chicago during my Freshman year of college. I have very fond memories of Fat Tire, and I was a fan way before I became a craft beer geek. 

You cannot do wrong with Fat Tire. This is an incredibly balanced and refined beer. This beer is a simple pleasure: nice mild hops balanced by some lovely biscuity malts. The best part is that this beer is available everywhere (and in bomber form!) and it doesn't cost very much. If you are familiar with craft beer, you've probably had Fat Tire. If you are new to craft beer and happen to stumble upon this review, do yourself a favor: go check out Fat Tire. It is the perfect gateway beer.

New Belgium Ranger IPA

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from New Belgium's Spring Sampler from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: India Pale Ale, 6.5%

Tonight I am continuing with New Belgium's spring sampler pack thingy. It's been beyond solid with the very enjoyable Dig, the balanced and interesting 1554, and of course the old standby, Fat Tire. I actually have not reviewed Fat Tire for this blog, but I have taken a shot at it on my old review Excel Sheet. I'll probably do a blind review of Fat Tire and see how my past and future scores stack up. I also reviewed the Ranger IPA in the past, today's beer, so I'm going to dig up my old score and see how it stacks up compared to the score I give the beer today. Before we proceed:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

Ranger IPA is a pretty acclaimed IPA within beer circles. This is a bargain beer that has awesome flavors and great balance. If you check out New Belgium's Ranger IPA page, you will see that this beer is brewed with Cascade (citrus), Chinook (floral/citrus), and Simcoe (fruity) hops. The beer is also dry hopped with Cascade hops to add some nice hop aromas. In addition, the beer is brewed with pale and dark caramel malts, packs a pretty impressive 70 IBUs, and clocks in at 6.5% ABV. Simcoe hops are awesome, and have a pretty distinct flavor profile. You see Simcoe used in a lot of big American IPA-style beers. Simcoe has some strong flavors, and is the "cat pee" hop. I haven't really tried any single hop beers to isolate flavors, but Simcoe is pretty easy to pull out.

New Belgium Ranger IPA

The pour reveals a clear, golden-amber beer with moderate amounts of carbonation. If this beer did not have a head, you might mistake this for a Lager. There are 3-fingers worth of foamy, fluffy head. The head has big and small bubbles, and it is a mix of thick foam and dish soap bubbles. The head is just a touch off-white. There is lacing on the glass, and the carbonation bubbles are on the small side. This beer does not look like a 70 IBU monster in a glass.

However, this beer smells like a 70 IBU monster in a glass. There are a ton of fruity hop notes on the nose, pine, and some hints of supporting, sweet malts. I'm picking up orange, grapefruit, tangerine, honey, pine (but NOT forest), a touch of earth, and that defining Simcoe note. This is more of a fruity smelling beer than a herbal and earthy one. There is definitely some hop oil or resin on the nose.

My impression upon the first sip is: hoppy, bitter, oily, and balanced by a touch of darker caramel. This is a pleasant but bold IPA for sure, with some huge hop flavors and a pretty big 70 IBUs. This is a bit more earthy and herbal than the aroma would have you believe (and that makes sense: the super sweet citrus notes are often more evident in an IIPA). I'm getting pine, oily and slightly resinous peach, orange rind, lemon skin/rind, grapefruit, dark caramel (probably the result of the bitterness), and a very bitter back end with dryness.

This starts creamy, smooth, and moderately carbonated, with some fresh hops notes. The mouthfeel on this is medium-full and slightly oily. The finish is bitter and dry. Drinkability is good at 6.5%, but I would rather enjoy one or two of these, versus sessioning them. Palate depth is okay, maybe a touch thin; but complexity is moderate to high. The front end is smooth, and soft, with some hints of sweet hops; this rolls into bitterness, pine, oily peach, orange/lemon rind and malt; the back end is hints of malt and a bitter and drying finish that in my palate tastes like grapefruit. Pretty nice.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 85%

 

I consulted my Excel Sheet that I used to keep track of the beer I drank before I started this blog. I gave the Ranger IPA an 80% back when I originally reviewed it. I wrote that review almost one year ago, which is a testament to how far I have come as a beer drinker. I'm not super concerned with the percentage score, which I stated a long time ago when I created my scoring system. This is an Above-Average beer, and that is all you really need to know. 

Really, the price, availability, balance, big hop flavors, and big bitterness really bring this beer home for me. This is a pretty easy beer to drink, and all the flavors line up. The only thing that falls a tad short is that the palate depth on this beer stretches a tad thin. But otherwise, who am I to complain? New Belgium have crafted a dynamite IPA, and this could easily be a standby or go-to for the style. I actually would recommend this beer for people new to beer. This beer is a great example of a balanced IPA, and this beer makes great use of those Simcoe hops. Highly recommended and delicious.

Great Lakes Eliot Ness

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Vienna, 6.2%

Tonight I am taking a spiritual and flavorful trip to Cleveland, Ohio to check out Great Lakes Brewing Company. Someday I might have visit them in real life. You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery. Once upon a time in 1870 to be more exact, Cleveland had 30 breweries. By the 1980s, all of those breweries had closed their doors (probably due to the post-prohibition micro brewery buy out: watch Beer Wars). On September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel opened Great Lakes Brewing Company. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America).

Tonight's beer is described as an amber lager with rich malt flavors that are balanced by crisp noble hops. This beer is actually a Vienna Lager, a style probably most famously known in terms of Sam Adam's Boston Lager. If you roll over to the BJCP you will see that the Great Lakes Eliot Ness is actually listed as one of the recognized commercial examples for the style. It is also noted that the Eliot Ness is unusual as it clocks in at a pretty high 6.2% ABV and formerly 35 IBUs. This is a style with big German malt aromas, malt complexity in the taste, and some hop bitterness to balance out the finish. The Eliot Ness uses Munich malts, Caramel 30 malts, and Cara 45 and Harrington 2-Row Base Malts. In fact, I really recommend you check out the brewery's page on the beer. The brewery gives out very clear ingredient information, and how the ingredients are used in the beer. The beer uses Hallertau hops, a U.S. version of the classic German noble hop. Now here is a slight revision or inconsistency: the 2012 version of this beer clocks in at 27 IBUs, while past years this beer hit 35 IBUs. This beer packs 6.2% ABV. Let's see how it looks and tastes.

Great Lakes Eliot Ness

The beer pours an amber/red/orange color. There were 4-fingers of moderately foamy, dish-soap like head, made up of medium bubbles. The head is an amber/orange color. Head retention is nice, and there is nice lacing on my glass as the head pulls away. There is a moderate stream of rising bubbles, so I'm guessing this is moderately carbonated. The beer is transparent and you can see right through it.

The aroma on this is undeniably German, with huge Oktoberfest-esque malts that are rich and heavy. I'm getting those rich toffee aromas that manifest as raisins and twizzlers, similar to a Doppelbock. There is a hint of faint noble hop that is earthy, and hints of really really overripe bananas or banana bread; probably a play on the toffee. A touch of booze.

Wow, this beer has a huuuuge amount of flavor and depth, but it drinks exactly like a Lager in terms of heaviness (or lack thereof). I'm pulling out a ton of noble hop bite: pine, earth, herbal, lemon skin and lemon rind. There are a ton of caramel and toffee malts in here as well, with hints of bread and alcohol grain. The finish is impressively dry, but light, with some bitterness softened by malt roundness. I'm also getting touches of twizzler and banana bread. This is really interesting and flavorful....

...but surprisingly light! Drinkability on this is huge. I mean the mouthfeel on this is medium-light to medium-full with huge palate depth, but this drinks like a lighter Lager. You do feel the impact of the 6.2% a little bit in the grainy-boozy back, but this is super easy to drink. This has a lot of complexity for the style with complex hop notes balancing out the big malts. You get smooth soft carbonation on the front, along with toffee and burgeoning hops; this rolls into a middle of complex hops and toffee malts; the back is bread, lingering hops, grain, alcohol, dryness, and a slightly dry finish. This has that soft Oktoberfest type carbonation. This is slightly sticky and sweet, but the hops really keep those characters in check.

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 95%

 

Move over Sam Adams. This is clearly a superior beer in every way except availability, and maybe in terms of subtle flavor nuances. The Boston Lager is a touch more hoppy with some hints of orange notes from the hops. This beer is all about the huge toffee malts, with some really nice earthy and herbal hop balance. I love this beer. This is also insanely drinkable, which means you could make a few of these disappear pretty easily. But the flavors in this are really nice: I would totally eat this with some spicy hotdogs or bratwurst, or with some barbeque. Props to this beer, this was a nice introduction to Great Lakes Brewing. I'm looking forward to drinking more of their beer.

New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from New Belgium's Spring Sampler from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Belgian Specialty Ale, 5.6% 

So I was feeling the New Belgium vibe after drinking their Dig, which I reviewed the other day. I decided to pick up their Spring Sampler, which features their Dig, Ranger IPA, Fat Tire, and this 1554 Enlightened Black Ale. Before I break down the 1554:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

There is a lot of mystery around this 1554. This beer is brewed with Lager yeast, so technically it is a Lager. But it is based on an old Belgian recipe, and according to the BJCP guidelines, this beer is a Belgian Specialty Ale. If you go to New Belgium's 1554 page, you can get their interpretation of what this beer is supposed to be. The recipe for this beer is based off a centuries-old Belgian recipe. This is a dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel, and is brewed with lager yeast and dark chocolaty malts. In fact, this beer clocks in at 5.6% ABV and packs 21 IBUs. The only hops in this beer are Target hops, which have a pleasant English hop aroma, but are quite intense. The beer uses Pale, Carapils, Black, Munich, and Chocolate malts. These should impart some nice dark colors in the beer, and some nice dark malt flavors. Let's get this beer in a glass and see how it looks, smells, and tastes.

New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

Thanks to my over-sized snifter, I gave this an uber aggressive pour. I worked up 3-fingers worth of tan/khaki, silky head. The head is silky, super thick, and root-beer-float-like. It is made out of small bubbles, looks creamy, is sustaining, and leaving lacing on my glass. The body of this beer looks to be black in low light, but in reality this is probably a very dark-brown beer. You cannot see through this beer, but head retention is good and there is some lacing.

Right up front on the aroma you get some woody notes, some chocolate, milk chocolate, and vanilla chocolate. I'm also pulling out a bit of nuttiness, and some very pleasant and mild English hop notes. There are hints of roast on the nose, and there are hints of smoke as well. The smoke is just smoke, it is not meaty at all. There is also a touch of sweet caramel.

The taste on this is smooth, full, and malty. I've worked my way through a number of Belgian Ales this past year, and I know all about big malty beer. This beer reminds me of the big Belgian Ales, but with a clean and light Lager profile. I'm tasting chocolate, toffee, vanilla, wood, a hint of smoke, caramel and molasses, roast, and some earthy and bright English hops. There are almost some manifestations of fruit in here, probably from the sweet caramel malt notes and the hops. The finish is slightly dry and woody, and you really want to take another sip.

This has a medium-medium to medium-heavy mouthfeel, but this is very smooth and well supported by the carbonation. Despite finishing slightly dry and roasty, this is sort of refreshing on the palate. At 5.6%, this drinks light. It's gotta be the Lager yeast. This has outrageous palate depth that extends deep from front to back, but this has low complexity. You get smooth roast and chocolate up front; this leads into more roast and chocolate, with some sweet malts and hints of hops and fruit; the back end is lingering hops, and that trails off into a roasted and dry finish. There is nice lacing on my glass, and the head is hanging around.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 81%

 

This is a very pleasant beer. As far as Lagers go, I actually prefer this to say...Sam Adam's Chocolate Bock. By quite a bit, in fact. There are some very nice chocolate and roasted malt flavors in here, but they are supported by this really clean and light Lager body. I would possibly suggest drinking this beer with some barbequed food, or a cheeseburger. This is actually a wonderful transition beer from the huge Belgian Ales that dominate the winter months, to something lighter and more balanced for the Spring. All in all this is an enjoyable beer, and a great addition to New Belgium's Spring Sampler. 

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California
Purchased: Single 12oz bottle from a six-pack, bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Rye Ale, 6.6%

 

Keeping up with reviewing the big brewery's new Spring beers, I will now take a stab at Sierra Nevada's new seasonal, their Ruthless Rye IPA. 

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010.

Ratebeer has dumped this beer into their IPA category, and BeerAdvocate's website is down right now (Nelson: HA HA!). My guess is that BeerAdvocate put this beer into the Rye Ale category. As discussed before, Rye Ales are basically American IPAs with the addition of rye as a malt. These are bitter and hoppy beers, but they are supported with that nice rye backbone.

If you go to Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye page, you can get some info on the beer. They say that the Ruthless Rye IPA combines the peppery spice of rye and the bright citrus flavors from hops to create a complex ale for the transition to Spring. This beer clocks in at 6.6% ABV, packs 55 IBUs, and is described as being "deep red." The beer is not only brewed with rye, but also Pale, Caramel, and Chocolate malts. The beer uses Bravo hops for bittering, and Chinook hops are dry hopped and used for aroma. This beer is also dry hopped with "Experimental Hops." The Chinook hops are known for their spice, pine, and grapefruit qualities. I believe Bravo hops are cleaner and more pleasant than some of the other more aggressive hops. With all that said, let's dive in and see how the Ruthless Rye stacks up.

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA

The beer pours like an IPA, with a nice foamy and thick head. I poured 4-fingers worth of amber/off-white head. The head is thick and cloudy, but the bubbles are medium and thin like dish soap. It is leaving lacing on the glass as it pulls away. The body of the beer is an amber/orange/brown color, with hints of red. There is just a touch of haze in this beer, but it looks filtered, and there is moderate carbonation. 

The aroma is a very nice contrast of spicy and earthy rye, and spicy, herbal, and citrus hops. The aroma is actually very biting and earthy, and reminds me of the wild west and rattlesnakes. I guess this aroma qualifies as "ruthless." I'm pulling out a lot of spice: you get that twang of rye spice, herbal spice, and a bread spice. It's not quite pepper and it's not quite cinnamon, but it is spicy. I'm also pulling out grain, pine, and hints of grapefruit or orange rind. This nose is very sharp and spicy, but clean. I'm not picking up a ton of sugars or sweet malts on the nose, which differentiates this from many IPAs and Rye Ales. 

This is very well carbonated, and smooth. The fluffy and sustaining head is providing some smoothness and creaminess. As I said with the aroma, there is not a ton of sugar in here. You get a lot of that rye - sharp, clean, earthy notes. I'm tasting rye bread, hints of sour rye, herbal hops, earthy hops, pine, hints of grapefruit and orange rind on the back end of my palate. The rye is sharp but smooth, and the 55 IBUs are pretty biting. You also pick up on some malts in here, with hints of grainy caramel or chocolate. 

The mouthfeel on this is medium-heavy, and this is pretty bitter and finishes bitter and dry. However, this is not super sweet, and it is well carbonated. This is definitely drinkable for something that clocks in at 6.6% ABV, and this is nowhere near as sugary as some of the other IPAs out there. This has good palate depth, and moderate to high complexity. The front of the palate is smooth, carbonation, rye, burgeoning hop bitterness; this rolls into the middle, which is big rye, rye spice, hops and hop spice, and burgeoning orange and grapefruit sweetness; this rolls into the back palate which is bitter hops, and orange and grapefruit rind. The finish is bitter, and dry, with an aftertaste of rye and some puckering in the mouth from the 55 IBUs. This beer also leaves epic lacing on your glass.

Rating: Above-Average

Score: 90%

Man, I love this beer. But then, I have a thing for Rye Ales. I really enjoy the use of rye as a malt. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is a Rye Ale and not an IPA. IPAs are typically about the interplay between the pale malt flavors and the big hops. This beer is really driven by the huge rye flavors, and has some nice accompanying hop spice. This is actually a pretty mean beer, but it is also surprisingly smooth and drinkable. This is a great new addition from Sierra Nevada, and I'm hoping that this beer will stick around for a while.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

Brewed By: Boston Beer Company in Boston, Massachusetts
Purchased: Big Ass Bomber (22oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Kellerbier, 5.5%

I'm excited to review the new Sam Adam's spring seasonal, the Alpine Spring. Before I dive in, some back story on Sam Adams and the Boston Beer Company:

Samuel Adams was founded in 1984 by Jim Koch, and currently the Boston Beer Company is the largest American-owned beer company in the United States. Sam Adams is also the largest craft brewer in America, with over a million barrels of beer being produced annually. You can check out the Sam Adam's website for more info.

Today's beer, the Alpine Spring, is a bright, citrusy, unfiltered lager - at least according to the Sam Adam's website. The beer description says that this beer has the balanced maltiness and hoppiness of a Helles, the smoothness and slightly higher alcohol of a traditional spring Bock, and the unfiltered appearance of a Kellerbier. The beer is brewed with Tettnang Tettnanger Noble Hops, and Honey malts. This is a spring seasonal available from January to March, and packs 19 IBUs and 5.5% ABV. 

I was trying to figure out how to categorize this beer. Ratebeer has dumped this into their "Premium Lager" category, which is kind of a catch-all category. BeerAdvocate is a little more brave, categorizing this as a Keller Bier/Zwickel Bier. Let's quickly break everything down. 

The BJCP does not have a Keller Bier/Zwickel Bier category. But they do have a Helles Bock category. A Helles Bock is a strong, pale, malty lager beer, with some notable spicy and bitter hop qualities. This style also clocks in around 6.3% - 7.4% and packs 23 to 35 IBUs. Now, Sam Adams compares this beer to the Helles Bock in terms of balanced hoppiness and maltiness. But they also clearly define this beer as a Keller Beer. 

"Our brewers have always admired the excellence of a small group of German lagers, with their soft underlying maltiness, clear notes of Noble aroma hops, and clean bitterness. As a Kellerbier, Alpine Spring grants access to the privilege that all brewmasters share: the taste of great beer straight from the tank. Our drinkers will not be too far behind, as Alpine Spring goes to keg and bottle as a young beer, only a few weeks old, resulting in an unfiltered haziness and soft fruity esters of a beer fresh out of the fermentation tank."

So what is a Kellerbier? Since the BJCP does not have a category, I went over and checked out the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines. According to them, a Kellerbier is an unfiltered German-style Altbier and  Kölsch (an Altbier or Kölsch is a beer that is warm fermented and aged at cold temperatures; crisp, soft, fruity). What differentiates a Kellerbier from a straight up Kölsch is that it is bottled with low to moderate yeast, resulting in an unfiltered beer containing yeast sediments. These are hazy beers with yeast characters, along with other flavors typical of the Kölsch style. The Sam Adams website suggests that this will taste crisp, slightly sweet, and with bright citrus and spicy hop notes.

I confess I already had this beer on tap, and it was very enjoyable with some very fresh citrus and a very clean profile. I'm excited to get it into a glass and really scrutinize over it, so let's get to reviewing. 

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

I gave the beer a pretty aggressive pour, and wound up with a lot of head. I poured 5-fingers worth of foamy, white head. The head has medium-sized, soapy bubbles, and is actually sustaining. There is lacing on my glass as the head pulls away. This is a golden/yellow beer with hints of orange; that holds true in both lower and bright light. This beer seems to have moderate to high carbonation. Considering that Sam Adams is calling this damn thing a Kellerbier, this is almost completely filtered in appearance. There is a slight haze. Sam Adams has a habit of filtering the crap out of their beers, so I'm not surprised, just surprised given the style of beer this is. (It's been a few minutes and head retention is still nice, and there is a ton of lacing). 

The aroma on this is very nice, with some nice citrus-spice and some yeast. This is a clean yeast, maybe slightly grainy or biscuity. There are hints of super clean and dry lemons and oranges, some spiciness (maybe coriander), maybe a touch of earthy and herbal hops, and some clean honey. This is a super fresh, clean, inviting nose that certainly reminds me of Spring.

The taste is a pretty good follow through of the nose. You taste a wave of very clean honey, grain, and yeast. This is creamy and smooth, with light carbonation. Between the honey and yeast you pull out some light hops that are earthy and spicy, and you also get some refreshing and light citrus and lemon. Very clean and balanced, and super drinkable. 

This is light, smooth and creamy, super drinkable, and perfectly supported by light carbonation. This has wonderful palate depth, but moderate to low complexity. You don't feel the 5.5%, but the beer has some density and sustenance. The beer also remains very drinkable. You pull out smoothness, honey, yeasts, and burgeoning hops on the front; this rolls into that sweet middle, balanced by pleasant hops; the back end remains sweet and some of the grain notes pop up. The finish is refreshing, mellow, and maybe a touch dry.

Rating:  Above-Average

Score: 85%

I believe this was a touch more grainy and had slightly brighter citrus on tap. All things considered, this is an incredibly tasty beer. The smooth body and the light carbonation coupled with the honey notes and the 5.5% ABV give this beer a certain heaviness. This is not a light lager by any means, and still has some really bright flavors. I enjoyed drinking this on tap, and I'm enjoying drinking this now. This is sessionable, and affordable, so I will likely pick this up again in the future to enjoy as a lighter beer. This is a bright new addition to Sam Adam's lineup, and welcome Spring beer for 2012.

New Belgium Dig

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado

Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: American Pale Ale, 5.6% 

Cooool. I get to break new ground with New Belgium's new spring seasonal, their New Belgium Dig (holy shit, I said "new" like 14 times...). I'm looking at the hops used in this brew, and it is making me excited to review it. I know it isn't even close to Spring yet, and just a few days ago I reviewed the New Belgium Snow Day, but whatever. The beer industry is like the retail industry, seasonal beers come out 3 months before the season. On that note, about New Belgium:

New Belgium is based out of Fort Collins, and opened in 1991 when founder Jeff Lebesch took his home-brewing into the commercial world. For reference, New Belgium is the thrid-largest craft brewery in the United States. You can read more about New Belgium if you check out their website.

If you check out the New Belgium Dig page, you can find out all about the beer. This is a Pale Ale brewed with Sorachi Ace hops for "a fresh Spring zing with incredible lemon aroma," and Nelso Sauvin hops for "bursts of passion fruit, mango and peach." Also, you forgot the Oxford comma, New Belgium. The full list of hops for this beer include: Target (pleasant but intense), Nelson Sauvin (relatively new, this imparts grape-like and wine flavors; passion fruit), Cascade (pleasant, flowery, spicy, and citrusy with some grapefruit), Nugget (heavy and herbal), and Sorachi Ace (also relatively new, this has a lemon flavor and is used for bittering). This beer clocks in at 5.6% ABV, and packs 36 IBUs.

The Nelson Sauvin hops were used in Stone's 15 Anniversary Ale, and I very much enjoyed the flavor they imparted the beer with. So let's jump in and review the New Belgium Dig.

New Belgium Dig

The pour reveals a big amber-caramel colored beer, with a big 4-finger and slightly off-white head. The head is colored with hints of amber, and is very foamy with big, thick bubbles. When held to bright light you can see that this beer is still very amber. This is a filtered beer with good carbonation. The head is pulling on the glass, and there is already some lacing. Head retention is nice as well.

You pretty much immediately pull some of the Nelson Sauvin hops on the nose. I'm getting resiny grape, passion fruit, mango, and melon on the nose. The Nelson Sauvin hops have a kind of earthy and woody note, almost tobacco-like. I'm also getting some herbal notes in here: herbal and earthy hops. And maybe a touch of lemon or citrus.

Oh man, wow. Yeah, the Nelson Sauvin hops are really big in the body, with big woody and earthy grape-hop notes driving the palate. I'm getting some malts that pop up in the back end, followed by bitter and drying. I'm tasting tobacco, grapes, bitter orange and lemon, woody complexity, a slightly toasted or bready malt flavor, and lots of earthy and herbal hop flavors. I get hints of a Pledge-lemon, but any lemon flavors in here are getting masked or enhanced by the other hops (specifically the Nelson Sauvin).

This is kind of a strange beast. It drinks medium-light, and has that slightly crisp, thin, and watery body you might expect with a Pale Ale. But this also has some really bold hop flavors, and the 36 IBUs hit pretty hard. I don't know how balanced this is per se, but I don't really care. This is very drinkable for 5.6%, and the Nelso Sauvin hops are rapidly becoming one of my favorite hop varieties. This is moderately complex with medium palate depth. You get some smooth carbonation and hop bite on the front; this rolls into a woody and earthy middle with hops and malts; the back end is lingering hop bite, woody, and dry.

Rating:  Above-Average

Score: 83%

 

The more I drink this, the less impressive the middle becomes. There is a lot of bitterness in this beer, and there are a lot of potentially big flavors from the Nelson Sauvin hops. There's a slight drop off somewhere where the big flavors sort of drown out due to a thinner middle, and that sort of disrupts the continuity of flavors. This isn't a huge complaint though, and it sounds a lot worse than how I'm rating this beer. Again, I'm really digging the Nelson Sauvin hops, and this is a drinkable and refreshing Pale Ale. I'll probably pick up a sixer of this some point down the line. This is another enjoyable beer from the fine folks at New Belgium. Check it out.

Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen

Brewed By: Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland 

Purchased: Single 12oz bottle bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: German Hefeweizen, 4.7%

Yes, I am returning to Flying Dog. I cracked open their Gonzo Imperial Porter a few days ago, and found it to be pretty enjoyable. It's not really Spring yet, but it has been a mild winter. So why not drink a wheat beer in the early days of February. 

Flying Dog was founded by George Stranahan, who is known as being a bit of a rebel and adventurer. The company began as a brewpub in Aspen, Colorado, which eventually became a brewery in Denver, Colorado. As Flying Dog expanded, they opened a second brewery in 2006 in Frederick, Maryland. In 2008 the brewery shut down their Denver location. Flying Dog is known for their controversial beer labels, courtesy of Ralph Steadman, and founder George Stranahan is known for his friendship with the late Hunter S. Thompson. 

The In-Heat Wheat is an American-made, German style Hefeweizen. It clocks in at 4.7% ABV and packs 12 IBUs. It is brewed with German Perle hops (pleasant and spicy), and is described as having "huge banana and clove notes." This beer took home a Bronze in 2006 and a Silver in the 2003 Great American Beer Festivals. The bottle art features a provocative dog in heat. Let's see how this Hefe stacks up.

Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen

Well this definitely pours like a Hefeweizen. You get 5-fingers of big, cloudy, fluffy, slightly orange/yellow-white head. The head is hanging around, as it should, and it is super bubbly, foamy, and cloudy. The body of this beer is leaning towards the darker side of the style. This is a hazy, golden/straw/amber/brownze color in low light. In bright light this beer has gold and straw on the edges, and a hazy bronze-orange center. Lots of carbonation.

It looks like a Hefeweizen...and it smells like one too. I smell banana, sugar, clove, vanilla, sugary orange esters, some grain, and some nice funk. I get a shot of fresh aroma on the nose: maybe lemon or orange.

The taste is interesting. I'm not really getting a ton of funk. I'm picking up grain, sweet grain, caramel, sugar, orange and grass, and wheat. The body has that slightly watery, but crisp and refreshing quality that you often get with this style. I'm maybe picking up a hint of vanilla in here as well.

Light, juicy, watery; this is light and refreshing as the style should be. The carbonation and funk I typically like to see in a Hefeweizen are not popping for me with this beer. The palate depth is fine for the style, but complexity is low to moderate. You get some bananas and clove on the front; the middle rolls into grains and fruit; the back is grain, hints of vanilla, and a refreshing finish. As per the style, this is stupid drinkable. I love grabbing a 6-pack of a good Hefeweizen to session. 

Rating: Average

Score: 55%

 

I have yet to experience an American take on the German Hefeweizen that rivals the authentic German Hefeweizen experience. Having said that, this is a fine, middle-of-the-road beer. This is not palate challenging, and is very drinkable and refreshing. There are some good flavors in here, but I wish the funk popped a bit more. On the plus side, this doesn't palate-rape you with bananas, so this is a very grounded beer. There's not a lot to complain about or praise here, so if you need a drinkable Hefeweizen and you see this beer for a reasonable price, have no fear.