Destihl Strawberry Blonde

Brewed By: Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works in Normal/Bloomington, Illinois   

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Fruit Beer, 5.2%
Reported IBUs: 15

Mmmm...strawberry beers. About Destihl: 

Destihl is a brewery (Bloomington) and brewpub (Normal, IL & Champaign, IL) based out of the Midwest. Specifically, the middle of Illinois in the middle of the United States. Daaaa midwest. The brewery was founded by CEO & Brewmaster, Matt Potts, in 2007. Like many brewery founders, Potts started out as a homebrewer, and would eventually trade his law school education and law practice for those sweet barley suds. Destihl currently brews a myriad of regular and barrel-aged beers, including an increasing portfolio of tasty sour brews. For more info, check out their website. 

The Destihl Strawberry Blonde is an, "American-Style Blonde Ale with whole strawberries added." This one won the bronze medal at the 2012 World Beer Championships, and a bronze at the Great American Beer Festival in the fruit beer category.

Destihl Strawberry Blonde

Much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry, this beer pours into a hazy, orange body. This one is slightly darker than the Abita, and slightly less hazy too. I kicked up a couple of fingers of golden-tinged head, and the head retention is nice. The head looks to be creamy, and sustaining nicely. There is also some lacing.

The aroma here is much more nuanced than the Abita Harvest Strawberry...I'm getting strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, honey, and some bready biscuit notes. As I dig a little further, I'm getting some strawberry pie filling notes. It's very nice...simple, elegant.

This tastes very nice, and it does live up to its name. You get bready, honey-cereal, honey-biscuit, honey-cracker malt notes, with nice layers of strawberry jam, strawberry preserves, and slightly tart strawberry astringency (similar to what you might find in pie filling that isn't overly sweet). There also appears to be a pretty big hop note in here, with some floral hops showing up in the aroma and on the taste. I'm getting some pretty strong floral bitterness that almost veers into citrus.

This is pretty nice...albeit simple, much like the Abita Harvest Strawberry. This is light to medium-light bodied, with good palate depth and low complexity. At 5.2%, this is still crushable in the 6-pack format. Up front: hops, strawberry juice, strawberry jam, preserves, bready malts with honey; that rolls into more jam, slight hop bitterness, some fruity strawberry notes, strawberry fruit roll-ups, honey; the back end trails with malts, grain, cereal, lingering bitterness, and lingering strawberry candy.

Rating: Above-Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this...I guess we will call it a tie with the Abita Harvest Strawberry. Although, this one is a bit more full in terms of the malt presence, which adds much-needed body. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I like it, and you should pair it with warm weather, any dessert that has strawberries in it, or a nice fruit salad. 

Random Thought: TGIF...I'm ready to sleep of the last parts of this cold I have this weekend.

Finch's Golden Wing Blonde Ale

Brewed By: Finch's Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois 

Purchased: 16oz CAN from a 4-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: American Blonde Ale, 5.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

I'm still not sold on Finch's, but they are local so there's that. And I'm not if anything but a nice guy. Har. About Finch's:

The Finch's Beer Company is a brewery based out of Chicago, Illinois. These guys really want you to take their brewery tour. Finch's was founded back in 2009 by Benjamin Finch, Paul Finch, and Richard Grant. And that's about all the information you are going to glean off their crappy website. For a brewery about advertising, their website is a bit bare bones. 

The Golden Wing Blonde Ale comes in a can, and while I wish it was unassuming, I am getting rapey vibes from the bird artwork on the can. Yeesh. 

Finch's Golden Wing Blonde Ale

For a blonde, this one pours out into a hazy, honey-yellow body, kicking up a finger and a half of wispy, clingy, white head. The head retention is fantastic, leaving webs of lacing as it drops off. In bright light, the beer is almost yellow-gold, with orange tones, and a glazed honey appearance. There's nice carbonation, but I attribute a lot of that to the teku.

The aroma is malty and sweet, and surprisingly so. I'm also getting some faded hops...that could be on me or the age of the can...with some tea, herbal hops, hemp, pine, pine sap, and aged American Barleywine notes. It's actually a really nice, melded aroma, if you're into that sort of thing. And I am. I love those piney and forest-like hops. It reminds me of crushed leaves and camping trips.

The taste mirrors the nose...you get bready and honey malts as the backbone with big iced tea and aged American Barleywine hops on the forefront. I'm getting pine, crushed leaves, forest, pine sap, maple syrup, hemp, tobacco, and resin. This is fairly simple, and has nice bitterness. I enjoy the hop profile here, I just wonder if it is past the expiration date. 

This is medium-bodied, well-carbonated, crisp, and clean. As it warms up a bit, a drying, cracker-like character emerges. Palate depth is good for the style, but this is simple in terms of complexity. More or less, you get iced tea and pine-like hops up front; that rolls into some of the bread and honey body, with more iced tea and crushed leaves; the back end lingers with forest-like hops, and you get some drying cracker notes on the back end. It's hard to say if this would be more vibrant fresh, since it has a similar character to the Threadless IPA. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. This isn't bad, it isn't good...it actually has a nice resin character that sort of reminds me of Sixpoint's Resin. Only that beer was way better. You could pair this with a leafy burger, chicken, or even some heavier meats...maybe a gyro even. This has some malt heft, and it fills out nicely for a 5.0% beer. I will have to revisit this one, but I just can't see myself picking this up regularly. 

Random Thought: I should stop busting Finch's balls...they seem alright. 

Uinta Sum'r Summer Ale

Brewed By: Uinta Brewing Company in Salt Lake City, Utah  

Purchased: 12oz CAN from a 12-pack bought at Binny's in Naperville, Illinois; 2014

Style/ABV: American Blond Ale, 4.0%

Reported IBUs: 17

The Uinta Sum'r/Wyld 12-pack is an awesome little bundle. I picked this one up to crush while moving this weekend. How did these two 4.0% session beers hold up? Well, pretty good, actually. About Uinta: 

Uinta Brewing Company has been around since 1993. The brewery started out in a small, renovated mechanic's garage, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The brewery began to build reputation by distributing beer to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. By 1996, the brewery installed a bottling line. In 2001, the brewery outgrew its original building, and Uinta relocated to a 26,000-square-foot facility. The Uinta name comes from an east-west mountain range located in northeastern Utah. The brewery names many of its beers after Utah's landscape, including their Cutthroat Pale Ale (after the state fish) and their King's Peak Porter (after Utah's highest peak). An additional note: since 2001, Uinta has been 100% wind-powered, and in 2011, the brewery installed solar-electric paneling. Uinta continues to grow, and continue to produce some stellar, award-winning beer. For more info, click HERE.

The Sum'r Summer Ale is brewed with Sorachi Ace hops and light malts. This one punches in at 4.0% and 17 IBUs, and is available between May and July.

Uinta Sum'r Summer Ale

This one pours into a hazy, yellow-straw-urine body -- cloudy like Gatorade and golden showers -- kicking up two fingers of fluffy, white head. The head is sustaining nicely (suck it, adjunct lagers), and the beer has mean streaks of carbonation. Clingy lacing webs the glass and this is inviting from the get go.

Initially, you might think the aroma is a simple blast of crackers, light grains, and cereal malts. But the aforementioned characters are amplified by the Sorachi Ace. There's some synergy here between the hops and malts. There's a nice lime note on the aroma, floral hops, mild dill, and a really nicely defined biscuit and cracker note. The light grains and cereal malts round out the aroma, which is otherwise clean and simple.

This is super simple in execution, with cracker and biscuit malts providing a lot of the flavor, backed by zesty floral-lemon hops. The hops are peppery and clean, hinting at lime, lemon, and that dill character. The water has a slight mineral edge, which reminds me of a good Pilsner or ESB. 

At 4.0%, this is not only incredibly crushable, but it is incredibly flavorful as well. This is truly a session beer, but does not compromise in terms of flavor. Palate depth is good, with a substantial light-full to medium-light mouthfeel. The cracker/biscuit malts provide substantial weight to the backbone, but the lemon-lime hops cut through the fat making this incredibly boofable and quaffable. This is not a complex beer, but it's not supposed to be. Up front: refreshing malt sweetness, cracker, biscuit; the mids roll into peppery hops and huge lime, lemon, and dill; the back end trails off with lingering floral hops, lingering lime and dill, minerality, and Pilsner-esque biscuit malts. This is a well-crafted beer. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Above-Average here. Yeah, I'm serious. This is a simple beer, but FOR THE STYLE, and FOR THE ABV, this is a banger. How they managed to pack so much flavor and malt balance into a 4.0% ABV beer is beyond me. This beer is super drinkable, and that's about all you need to know. If you must pair this with food, pair it with lightly grilled chicken, fish, mashed potatoes, and anything that benefits from mild dill and lime character.

Random Thought: Fuck the Session IPA trend...but cheers to Uinta. Uinta flies under the radar, and that's a shame.

Russian River Beatification

Brewed By: Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California

Purchased: 12.68oz (375ml) bottle generously gifted to me in Chicago, IL; 2014 (Bottled on 09/11/2013 - b6)

Style/ABV: American Wild Ale/Sour Ale, 6.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

Since I'm not big on the beer trade scene, tonight's beer is truly a special treat...a California banger that was generously given to me for no reason other than people who drink beer are really nice. At least white people who drink beer. White people who aren't white trash. Anyway, Russian River everyone:

Like the Russian River really needs an introduction. The Russian River is where the salmon jumps five feet high out of blue streams. The Russian River is where brown bears go to sunbathe and mate. It's where the great Pliny the Elder lives. The brewery is also owned by the pint glass-hating couple, Vinnie and Natalie Cilurzo. When the Korbel Champagne Cellars (founded in 1997) in Guerneville, California got out of the beer business in 2003, they gave the rights to the brand to Vinnie and Natalie. During the early years, Vinnie used his relationship with the nearby winery to experiment with brewing beer in wine barrels. And in April 3, 2004, Vinnie and Natalie reopened the Russian River Brewing Company as a brewpub in downtown Santa Rosa. In 2008 they opened a production brewery. The rest is beer history...but you can envy how you probably won't drink this beer, or you know, start trading. 

Tonight's beer, the Beatification, is 100% spontaneously fermented. The beer starts out in a cool-ship tank collecting wild yeast, and is then transferred to oak wine barrels. 

Russian River Beatification

This beer is too cool to even waste time with pretentious head retention or any of that crap. The white head on this one fizzles and cracks off in a matter of seconds, like it's some sort of Pale Lager or cider thing. The body here is murky yellow, cloudy like piss or Gatorade diluted with water. There is active carbonation in here...but this just radiates maximum funk. It's like some sort of wine-beer thing, because that's pretty much exactly what it is.

The aroma is oaky as hell, with big barrel character storming out straight away. I'm getting big Brett funk on the aroma as well, with hints of sweaty funk and leather. There are dry champagne notes in here, with vinous white wine hints and gooseberry, white grape, pineapple, peaches, and suggestive tropical-peach-Brett fruitiness. There are some kisses of lemon/lactic sourness on the aroma, but the main character seems to be giant barrel, Brett funk, and those fruity tones. 

This skips the petty insults and goes straight for your throat with a ridiculous attack of huge wood, sour candies, and lemony funk up front. We are talking about punishing levels of sourness. The mids dial up more ridiculous lactic acid and barrel character, only with growing sweetness and some lightly buttery oak; the back end drops tons of crushed pineapple, peaches, gooseberry, champagne dryness, and white wine character. This is an enamel stripper, doing damage from front to finish, but the finish is clean and dry like champagne...but this has so much more depth than any champagne. 

Reviewing this beer is completely unnecessary, other than for my own personal validation that Russian River does in fact make divine beers. This beer is sort of like heaven....imagine a dry champagne or white wine with lots of gooseberry and lemon notes...now imagine what that would taste like if it had gripping sourness. That's basically this beer. You don't get any alcohol here. The mouthfeel is light-bodied but aggressively dry and tart. Palate depth is fabulous (fantastic, whatever), and this has serious complexity. A lot of beers in this category overdo the Flanders Red levels of sourness, or end up with malts leaking out. This beer is all barrel, wine, and intense Brett/lactic funk. Again, the front end assaults your face with huge barrel, sour lemons, and aggressive kick with some oak; the mids drop more oak, huge lactic acid that claws into your stomach, and sweet tropical fruits on the horizon; the back end is a pineapple/peach festival, with wine notes and gooseberry and champagne goodness. 

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew here. There's not much else to say...if you can get this beer, pick it up. If you can't access it locally, maybe trade for it? This is one of the best sours I have had in general, and definitely one of the best wine-aged beers I have had. This reminds me of Jolly Pumpkin in some ways, but with a lot more balls. Sour balls. If Jolly Pumpkin can inject that warhead level of sourness...hot damn. Food pairings here are pretty much super strong cheeses, fatty burgers, poutine, and strong American bar foods. Maybe goat cheese crostinis? 

Random Thought: It rained a lot tonight, and consequently Lake Shore Drive was flooded. It was surreal having to pass up several exits just to get off the northbound side. I saw two cars completely under water. 

Two Brothers Fathom

Brewed By: Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois

Purchased: 375ml/12.7oz bottle (corked & caged) bought at Andersonville Wine & Spirits in Chicago, IL; 2014 (2014 vintage)

Style/ABV: American Wild Ale, 6.5%
Reported IBUs: 50.3

After the super disappointing Tangent, I promised sweet, sweet (and much needed) redemption. Well redemption is here, craft crazies. About Two Brothers:

Two Brothers are based out of Warrenville, Illinois, a town not far from Chicago. Two brothers was founded in 1996 by brother Jason and Jim Ebel. Their brewery and Tap House Restaurant are both located in Warrenville. Their distribution and production seems to be increasing with each year, and along with their beer you can buy home brewing equipment and supplies at the Tap House Restaurant. If you get the chance, swing by and check out their Roundhouse. It's an awesome joint, and needs all the love it can get. For more information, check out their about page/website.

Like the Tangent, the Fathom is part of Two Brothers "Project Opus." The Fathom is a golden-color sour ale that has been aged in oak foudres for two years. Punching in at 6.5% and 50.3 IBUs, this bottle comes corked and caged, and would be impressive from the onset if not for the extremely disappointing Tangent that preceded it. I promise nothing but good things, so let's glass this one up. 

Two Brothers Fathom

The Fathom has a simple and sexy bottle. The cork was wedged in tightly, but came out without much of a pop. I do have concerns about aging these Two Brothers sours, but c'est la vie. This one pours into a hazy, light amber/copper color in lower light. The beer produces a finger or two of sizzling, crackling, off-white head. Surprisingly, there's some sea foam head retention. In bright light, this beer takes on a golden-amber/bronze appearance. There's A LOT of active carbonation, which is great to see. And the head retention is still impressive.

Much like the Tangent, this has a banging aroma. Right away I'm getting a lot of oak, woody barrel, lactic funk, and HUGE lemon character. The lemon character veers into the land of apple cider vinegar, tart apples, vinegar, pickled foods, and aggressive sourness. This doesn't even play around, with just the lightest hints of candy sweetness. I'm getting glimpses of Black Cherry Warheads, but this has aggressive sourness on the aroma. The wood and oak really comes out though, and I like that a lot.

And...unlike the Tangent...this actually tastes good. This actually tastes substantial, and sour. This is kind of what you should expect when you crack into a Flanders Red-type beer. Now, this still isn't at the punishing levels of sourness...this is kind of in that Duchesse De Bourgogne range. I'm getting really nice oak and woody tartness, lots of lactic character, some lemon, big apple cider vinegar, pickled vegetables, and some bready sweetness towards the back end. The bready sweetness hints at biscuit and honey, and then takes a turn towards super dry as the oaky wood and tart sour character dries your mouth out. There's some interesting fruit character in this beer, coming from the interplay between the malts and the lactic notes. I'm getting hints of tart peaches, citrus, and mild berry character. This is actually fairly complex, and has good depth.

The real question is: what the hell happened with the Tangent? Why is that beer so bad? It's a very underwhelming beer. Thankfully, there's sweet redemption. The Fathom is really enjoyable. This is my second bottle of this beer, and I am smitten. This has a medium-full mouthfeel, with plenty of carbonation, acidity, and lactic funk. Palate depth is phenomenal; really, divine stuff. This one lingers on your palate for quite a while, and goes from sweet to sour to malty sweet to dry. Two things hold this back from being world-class: the slightly subdued sourness, and the moderate complexity for the style. I think this one has room to mature in the bottle...I'd like to get my hands on a few more bottles of this to age. I'm not sure if this is pasteurized though...the pour was fairly clean with no dregs. Up front: a wave of malty sweetness, followed by immense lactic funk, lemon tartness, red cider vinegar, oaky wood, and barrel; the mids roll into buttery lactic character, big oak, more barrel, suggestive fruits (peach, berries, etc.); the back end hits some nice malty notes with bread and honey, and then the beer finishes dry with barrel in your face. Super nice stuff. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here. This is a fantastic sour/wild ale. You'd never expect this after drinking the Tangent. What's even more exciting is that the rest of the Two Brothers sours seem to be on point...their Hoodwink and Askew are both great. I'm gonna track another bottle of this down to age, and see if this continues to funk up in the bottle. Food pairings here include sweet cheeses, fruit salads, fruit slaw, fatty/oily foods, poutine, and mussels in white wine sauce.

Random Thought: I think the Askew is even better than the Fathom...I had it on tap and I'm pretty impressed. If Two Brothers continues to release sour beers on the regular, they are going to reassert themselves as one of Illinois' most important breweries. Illinois has a lot of beer these days, but is really lacking in terms of sour/wild ales. 

Two Brothers Pāhoehoe (15 Years With 15 Beers Series)

Brewed By: Two Brothers Brewing Company in Warrenville, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bomber from Evolution Wine & Spirits in Chicago, Illinois; 2012

Style/ABV: Golden Ale/Blond Ale, 7.1%

In celebration of 15 years of brewing (Two Brothers opened in 1996), Two Brothers has been rolling out 14 of their past artisan beers as part of a limited series. The 15th release in this limited series is going to be a new artisan beer. A bit about Two Brothers:

Two Brothers are based out of Warrenville, Illinois, a town not far from Chicago. Two brothers was founded in 1996 by brother Jason and Jim Ebel. Their brewery and Tap House Restaurant are both located in Warrenville. Their distribution and production seems to be increasing with each year, and along with their beer you can buy home brewing equipment and supplies at the Tap House Restaurant.  

The Pāhoehoe is release number 10 of 15. The bottle states: 

Pahoehoe was originally inspired by a trip to Hawaii to participate in the 2011 Kona Beer Festival on the Big Island. This beer is named after a type of lava flow found at the Kilauea Volcano. This light colored ale uses coconut water and coconut milk in the brewing process and fresh toasted coconut meat in the fermenter. It was produced one time and has been requested regularly ever since then. 

My understanding is that this beer has been available on tap from time to time, but was hard to find in bottles. Ratebeer and BeerAdvocate also peg this beer at 5.0% ABV, which may have been indicative of the original release back in 2011 or whenever it came out. The bottle states that this beer packs 16.1 IBUs, and the addition of coconut water, coconut milk, and coconut meat should give this beer some interesting flavors and aromas.

Since this is such a limited release, this is more like a cheers to Two Brothers. And cheers, indeed. I'm happy to have Two Brothers in my backyard, and look forward to whatever they are doing in the future.

Two Brothers Pāhoehoe

The pour yields a hazy, orange/straw colored beer, with 2-fingers of white head. The head is made up of finely packed bubbles, and maybe has a slight straw tint to it. At 7.1%, you can see a little alcohol on the side of the glass. The head did dissolve fairly quick, but a nice, foamy, centimeter coating is sticking around. There is some lacing. When held to a bright light, this is a hazy, golden beer, with moderate to high carbonation in the form of small bubbles rising upwards. It actually looks fairly effervescent.

The aroma on this reminds me of a Pils or a Kölsch. I'd have a hard time pulling coconut out of this aroma in a blind taste test. But you do get a sweet, fruity, mellow aroma on the nose. I'm pulling out a sweet Kölsch fruit/floral note, some pineapple, and coconut water. There is maybe a bit of grain on the nose as well. It smells very light, and refreshing.

The taste is effervescent, tingly, and refreshing. I'm getting some grains in the back end, and a little bit of alcohol heat in this. The coconut does come through in the taste a little more than the nose, and I'm pulling out the coconut in two or three ways. I definitely get a grainy/heated alcohol-coconut note that reminds me of coconut rum. When I swish the beer on my tongue, the creamy carbonation plays off the coconut and I get hints of coconut milk. And you do get some hints of coconut pulp in here. But all of these coconut flavors are pretty subtle. It's not like drinking an Almond Joy or whatever. I'm tasting grain, alcohol, various coconut flavors, some fruity notes....ethanol and fusel alcohols are in this.

I sort of wonder what it would be like to age this beer. It's a bit hot right now, and I wonder if this would mellow out at all over time. You get a nice lingering pineapple/bread taste on the back palate, which is nice. This is carbonated and effervescent, which makes it drinkable despite the 7.1% ABV and the slight heat. Palate depth is full, complexity is low, and the mouthfeel is somewhere around medium-light. Up front you get carbonation, grain, and burgeoning coconut water; the middle is coconut water, alcohol; the back end is coconut, grain, heat, and some warming. It's smooth, and it does have a slightly creamy profile if you let it sit on your tongue.

Rating: Average 

 

I'm feeling a light Average on this. It's interesting, but I wish the coconut was a little more prominent, and the heat a little bit less. I wish I had a second bottle to throw into the cellar for a year, because I bet that would be interesting. I'd totally drink this on an island though, and I bet this would pair nicely with some coconut infused shrimp or food. I bet you could also pair this with some coconut curry, or anything Asian. I'd love to see Two Brothers brew this again, perhaps with a greater emphasis on the coconut. Seriously, Two Brothers...brew this again. And cheers to 15 years!

SKA True Blonde Ale

Brewed By: SKA Brewing in Durango, Colorado

Purchased: Single CAN (12oz) from SKA mix pack bought at Binny's in IL; 2011

Style/ABV: Golden Ale/Blonde Ale, 5.3%

This is ska.

Music was my first love, way before beer or any other personal interests in-between. It turns out that I did go through a ska phase, and occasionally relapse into old Bad Manners, Skankin' Pickle, and Mustard Plug albums. Most third wave ska is pretty bland, and you might have trouble telling some bands apart, but I was always a big fan of Hot Stove Jimmy, the Blue Meanies, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Streetlight Manifesto, and the Voodoo Glow Skulls. At this point I'm just throwing out band names to wax nostalgia and show off my knowledge of ska, so I'll stop.

SKA Brewing are all about the ska, from the design of their website to the Toasters' songs playing in the background on the homepage. In fact, they even released a special Toasters 30th Anniversary IPA. The website is pretty bitchin'...and while I usually get annoyed by websites that have music playing in the background, the site is playing music by the Toasters. The freaking Toasters, yo. It's such a feel-good nostalgia trip it is hard to hate. Flipping through the cool comic animations on SKA Brewing's website will give you a lot of cool brewery information (like that it was founded in 1995) as well as information on their beer.

Can-Can. Yes I can. Can.

 

Tonight's beer is not the first SKA beer I have tried. My first experience with SKA was back over winter when I had SKA's Euphoria. The Euphoria was a skankin' good beer. Actually, I had it during a snowy period and I would say it was the perfect winter Pale Ale. It was full of fresh pine notes and would be the appropriate vessel to accompany me down a mountain while snowboarding. Of course I don't snowboard, and have zero coordination, so I'll just live vicariously through the beer.

 

The gimmick here is that the Euphoria and today's beer, the True Blonde Ale, come from a can. I'm pretty sure that SKA has or does release these beers in bottle form, but I have mostly seen SKA beer distributed via can in the northern Midwest. That's cool though, because cans are awesome. Craft beer and canned beer don't really go hand-in-hand, and you usually find cheap stuff like Miller High Life donning a can. But canned beer has some clear advantages over bottled beer. For starters, canned beer is shielded from light better than any bottle. Second, the can is smaller and more compact than a bottle, doesn't break, and seems easier to transport. You also don't need a bottle opener to open a can. 

So why don't more breweries put their beer in a can? My guess (and I honestly don't know) is that canning beer requires more work than putting it in a bottle. I assume that at the end of the day can production costs more, or is harder to implement. At any rate, let's roll forward with this ska party. While you can drink straight from the can, I still like to give my beer a proper pour. This beer pours alright, and kind of resembles a lager. That makes sense, since American Blonde Ales are kind of like the American craft scene's take on the German Kölsch. The beer pours with a really nice golden color. This beer is filtered, completely transparent, and full of bubbly carbonation. There was a 2-finger head immediately following the pour, but it has winded down to a nice 1-centimeter covering. The head is white in color, and isn't very thick or creamy. It has the consistency of the dish soap bubbles and is kind of thin and web-like.

Don't let the bastard grind you down.

So how does it smell? There honestly isn't a ton of aromatics. The first thing I pick up is a bit of can...I know, I know...you shouldn't be able to smell the can, and maybe it is strictly the placebo effect. The only way to know for sure would be to do a blind testing comparison with can vs. bottle. The thing is, I have smelled hundreds of beers (creepy, I know), so I would hope I could determine if something came from a bottle or can. I pick up some light grain or corn on the nose, a light amount of caramel, and maybe some apple or pear.

The taste is fairly underwhelming, with a lot of grain and malt supporting this beer. It's quite creamy and feels really smooth in the mouth, which may or may not be a good thing. It kind of reminds me of a light lager or a cream ale. Some of the apple and pear comes through in the taste, but it is mostly a grainy affair with a slightly astringent biting character that is dominating the finish; it's sort of spicy and reminds me a bit of that ginger-spice character in some lagers. The malt part of the backbone is caramel, sweet, sugary, maybe honey.

This is a light beer that is a step above a lot of adjunct lagers. You could probably recommend this to your IPA-hating friend. It doesn't have any complexity, but the smooth and creamy mouthfeel helps this beer extend to medium depths on your palate. This would be a lot more fun to drink if there wasn't that biting finishing note. The front end is carbonation and grain; the middle is grain and malt; the back end is malt, grain, and that slightly astringent ginger-spice note. It finishes kind of spicy and sharp on the back end. Although the overall profile is a bit watery and thin, the other stuff kind of works.

Rating: Below-Average

Score: 30%

 

This is not the ska party advertised on the can. As I just finished off this glass of beer, I have decided that the astringent ginger-spice note is actually Windex. Yes, I think I got a note of Windex. Now, I like science, so I'll acknowledge the variables. Maybe this beer was engineered to be consumed out of a can and I unfairly shafted this beer by pouring it into a glass. Perhaps my expectations are too high, after all this is a beer in a can. 

But I'll call bullshit. SKA's Euphoria and Modus Hoperandi are both really good: and they come from a can. This beer just misses the mark for me. It has some funky astringency, it doesn't have an aromatic nose, it is grainy and not in a good way, and it just doesn't stack up well compared to other Golden Ales. It's kind of an underwhelming experience, and I would not buy this beer again.

 

To conclude: if you see a 6-pack of SKA's True Blonde, you may want to consider an alternate Blonde Ale. If you are hesitant to try the SKA mix pack because this beer is in it, buy the mix pack anyway. SKA's Modus Hoperandi is delicious and their ESB Ale isn't that bad either. 

Skip this one, and go have yourself a beer.

New Belgium Hoptober Golden Ale

Brewed By: New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins, Colorado 
Purchased: Single bottle (6oz) from a 12-pack bought at Jewel-Osco in Illinois; 2011
Style/ABV: Golden Ale, 6.0%

Halloween and October are both more than a month away, which means I am premature in my choice to drink an October-themed beer. The story here is that my best friend was heading back to college. We were hanging out for the night, and I wanted some beer. I went to my local Jewel-Osco on a quest for beer, and came back with this. New Belgium is a good haul for Jewel, a store that doesn't specialize in special beer. 

New Belgium is a brewery that shouldn't need an introduction, because they are one of the more popular craft beer outfits. If you aren't sure, you might know New Belgium from this: 

The beginning of a good thing...

Fat Tire is one of those stepping-ladder beers into the world of craft beer. It was one of my first beers way back in the day, and still holds up pretty well despite my refined palate. I actually have lots of good memories associated with Fat Tire, so someday I will review it. 

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. That is awesome because New Belgium seems to be available in many places, and they make beer that overall is pretty tasty. 

Cool Artwork

Speaking of tasty beer, today's beer, Hoptober, is a Golden Ale/Blonde Ale...on hops. Blonde Ales are an American style of beer that are supposed to be malt-forward and easy to drink. Today's beer certainly is malt-forward, using four malts including pale and wheat malt, as well as rye and oats. This should yield a creamy and smooth mouthfeel. The catch with this beer is that it also uses five hop varieties. This beer is brewed with Centennial, Cascade, Sterling, Willamette, and Glacier hops. The hops contribute to the beer's 40 IBUs, and should give it a nice grass, pine, or citrus kick. 40 IBUs is pretty hefty for this style, and this beer is fairly hoppy for an October-themed beer...so let's see how she plays out. 


This beer is clearly golden in color, and filtered as well. You can easily see right through the body. There is moderate carbonation, as evident from the bubbles, but nothing extreme. However, there is a glorious head perched atop this beer. The head is white and foamy, and as it slowly recedes it is leaving wonderful lacing around the glass. I feel compelled to mention the awesome bottle artwork. Depicted on the front of the bottle are black silhouettes of people around a bonfire. The colors used are very autumn-esque, and just looking at the bottle makes me think of bonfires, autumn sunsets, and music that I associate with autumn. It sets the mood nicely.

Hops dominate the aroma, which isn't all that surprising being that five of them are used in the brewing process. I get a lot of grass and some earthy pine on the nose, with maybe even some lemon or tangerine-grapefruit. It's VERY fresh smelling, and is quite pleasant. I'm not picking up any specific malt characters on the nose, but again, with five hops used in the beer...you would expect to get lots of hop notes.

What I don't get in the nose I do get in the flavor. There are a ton of malts in this beer providing a nice cereal-caramel counterpoint to the hops. The rye and oats actually do come out in the taste, with an almost cereal or oatmeal quality coming from the oat malts. Considering that five hops were used, I get mostly grass and piney notes with subtle pulls towards citrus that never really blossom into any immediate flavors. This is a very well-balanced beer, but I wouldn't call it complex. Still, it has moderate depth and a nice medium body. It also is incredibly drinkable, and despite the 6.0% ABV, I could put 2 or 3 of these back without any issues.

Rating: Above-Average
Score: 84%

This beer makes me happy. But does it make me think of fall and October...we will get back to that.

Epic lacing...

This is a creamy beer that is easy to drink, but also packs enough bitterness to keep things interesting. On the front of your tongue you get mild carbonation, and a lot of malts including rye and oats. The middle is smooth and the hops come in with a very earthy and grassy quality. The back end is more hops and finishes with a slightly dry and refreshing punch from the 40 IBUs. Again, this isn't complex despite all the ingredients, but it is well-balanced and has enough depth that it could stand alone.

I'm a fan of this beer. I do think that this beer is fitting for October. It has a lot of earthy hop notes that are refreshing but not distracting. Golden Ales are supposed to be drinkable, and this beer certainly is. I am also an alcoholic and a hop-head, so the fact that this beer packs five hop varieties, 40 IBUs, and clocks in at 6% ABV all adds up to a win-win for me.

Pick this up if you like malty, hoppy beers. I will throw out a final disclaimer: while 40 IBUs is hardly a lot, this beer is definitely on the hoppy side of life. ESPECIALLY for a Golden Ale. If hops and bitter beers aren't your bag, be warned. Fat Tire would be the hop-less counterpart to this beer, if you wanted lots of bready, biscuity goodness. Check it out.