Heavy Seas Peg Leg

Peg Leg Imperial Stout will be the third Heavy Seas beer I try (I love being on vacation!).  I'm partial to IS style beers, so I'm looking forward to this one:

Vittles:

Russian Imperial Stout

8% abv

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 34/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 83/100

Impression:

The aroma is dominated by roasty malt notes, some coffee, chocolate, and a touch of smokiness.  The coffee and chocolate are a little weak on the tongue -- I was expecting more of a bold, robust flavor.  However, I was a little surprised to taste a hint of dark fruits in the background, so that was a nice surprise.  The hops are subtle, and they add some interesting herbal, woody, and earthy notes that make the flavors a bit more complex.  It finishes fairly dry with a lingering bitter coffee aftertaste.  Decent overall, but not quite as good as their other beers.

Cheers!

Heavy Seas Powder Monkey

Heavy Seas is off to a good start with their Gold Ale in my book.  Let's see if they can add to that with their Powder Monkey Pale Ale:

Vittles:

English Pale Ale

4.75% abv

28.5 IBU

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 22/25

Taste: 33/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 82/100

Impression:

I'm not overly impressed with the lack of head, but the glasses I found had some soap residue, and I must not have rinsed them out well enough.  Oh, well.  Whatcha gonna do?  Anyway, the aroma was pretty enticing -- a little floral, earthy, herbal, woody, resiny, and significantly citrusy with that delicious grapefruit flavor of Cascade hops.  The flavors were much the same, though I could taste more caramel, and there was also a hint of something kind of metallic, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and I didn't taste it in every sip.  It's smooth and crisp with a slightly dry finish.  Very tasty!

Cheers!

Heavy Seas Gold Ale

One thing I love about Delaware is the whole no sales tax thing.  So when I head down that way for a vacation, I tend to go a little overboard on buying beer.  Especially since most of the beers I found were significantly cheaper than they are near home.  I like to look for variety cases from breweries I haven't tried yet.  This time, I stumbled across Heavy Seas, so I started with their Gold Ale:

Vittles:

Blonde Ale

4.5% abv

17 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 35/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 83/100

Impression:
I like the bready, crackery, biscuity aromas, and I smell some floral, fruity sweetness in the background.  The flavors follow fairly well, and the floral flavors come more to the forefront, which creates a very nice balance between the malt and hops characters.  It finishes a little sweet, a little dry, and very crisp and clean.  This beer's more refreshing than I thought it would be.  I haven't had many blonde ales in the past few months, but this is one I will definitely come back to in the future.  Overall, it's very satisfying.

Cheers!

Free Will Citra Pale Ale

I was looking for something bold and intense to enjoy before dinner, so I rummaged through my stock and came up with Free Will's fourth variety, the only one from the box I haven't tried yet, their Citra Pale Ale:

Vittles:

American Pale Ale

5.7% abv

49 IBU

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 35/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 85/100

Impression:

I started pouring this beer the same way I pour all my beers (I like head, what can I say?), but there was an over-bubbling issue.  Not sure why that happened -- the beer had been sitting for a couple weeks untouched, so it wasn't agitated, and it had been at a steady 40F.  So it took me like 10 minutes to pour the whole bottle, and that kind of sucked.  Hopefully it was a one-off.  Anyway, the beer has an enticing aroma, mainly citrus and biscuit/bread.  There's also a bit of grass and something of caramel in the background.  The flavors were mainly citrus (lemon and orange) and biscuit/cracker, with a more pronounced caramel note.  As the beer warmed, the caramel faded out and grass and a bit of pine came out a bit more, and towards the end of my glass, I thought I tasted some grapefruit as well.  The mouthfeel is medium-light, somewhat creamy, and the higher than expected carbonation added a bit of sting.  The aftertaste doesn't linger as long as I'd expect from a citrus-hop-heavy beer like this.  All in all, I'd have it again.

Cheers!

Free Will Techno

I've managed to sample quite a few non-IPA styles lately, so I figured it was time to try one of the last two IPAs in my stock that I haven't tasted yet.  The third style in my Free Will variety box was their Techno, an American IPA:

Vittles:
American IPA
7.3% abv
55 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 87/100

Impression:
I like the burnt-orange color, and the head had decent retention, leaving slight lacing as it went.  The aroma is an interesting combination of bready and grapefruity smells, with caramel, melon, and earthy undertones.  The earthiness gives a bit of balance to the citrusy hops characteristics and adds a nice complexity.  The flavors are about what I'd expect after the nose, though more of the sweet malt flavors come to the front.  It's well-carbonated, medium-bodied, and a little dry.  It's a little sticky on the back end, and that lingers into the aftertaste.  Well done overall.

Cheers!

Free Will Community Kolsch

It's nice having a decent beer stock, but every now and then, I go to pick out a beer, only to realize that most of my selection is somewhat monotone.  Like now, for instance, much of my stock is some version of a pale ale/IPA.  One of the few beers I have that falls outside of that umbrella is the Free Will Kolsch:

Vittles:
Kolsch
4.8% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 33/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 83/100

Impression:
The aroma leads with a crackery/biscuity scent, followed closely by a light fruitiness and a hint of fresh grass.  The flavors have a bit of a grassy bent to them, and the malt and hops are nicely balanced.  The fruitiness is a little more apparent on the tongue than in the nose.  It finishes mildly dry with very little lingering aftertaste.  This seems like a solid, by the book Kolsch.  I could find this beer enjoyable year round.

Cheers!

Curious Traveler Shandy

Summertime is the perfect time for a shandy.  I used to make a delicious shandygaff with whatever pilsner I had on hand, mixed 1:1 with ginger beer.  But, I don't always have pils and/or ginger beer handy, and my husband seems to have an affinity for different kinds of shandies, so I wind up trying them when he buys them:

Vittles:
Fruit Beer
4.4% abv

Score:
Appearance: 6/10
Aroma: 18/25
Taste: 32/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 74/100

Impression:
It doesn't really look all that impressive, with very little head and even less in the way of head retention.  The beer itself looks so dull, though I have seen other shandies that appear very brilliant.  It kind of looks like murky sink water.  The aroma smells artificially sweet and lemony.  I do catch a faint whiff of wheat, but it's nearly drowned out by the more prominent artificial scents.  The flavor is decent, though it also tastes very artificial.  It tastes like they made a weak wheat beer base, then stirred in a bunch of lemonade powder mix.  Unimpressive lemonade with a bit of a kick is the best description I can think of for this beer.  The only decent thing about it is that it leave virtually no aftertaste.  If you're into shandies, you might like it, but if you're looking for a good, solid beer, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

Cheers!

Fresh Hops!

When I came home from work yesterday, I found this delightful surprise waiting on my dining room table:

Turns out one of my husband's coworkers grows hops (he's been homebrewing for quite some time now), and he says he's overrun with them this year.  He not only gave these to us, but he offered to give us a couple rhizomes as well.

I've not yet had the chance to brew with real fresh hops, so I'm looking forward to either tossing these in for the last 5 mins in my kettle, or maybe trying a dry-hopping experiment.  Either way, looks like I'll be brewing an American IPA post haste. (Err merr gerrd, they smell soooo good!)  Looks like it's time to pick out a recipe!

Cheers!

Kona Wailua Wheat

Kona Wailua Wheat caught my eye when I was browsing, so I bought a bottle of it to see what it was all about.  It says on the bottle that it's brewed with

Vittles:
American Wheat or Rye Beer
5.4% abv
15 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 19/25
Taste: 30/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 75/100

Impression:
The aroma is very light overall, but I do smell a faint wheat aroma along with a mild fruitiness.  The flavor carries a slightly more pronounced fruitiness, but it's still on the light side.  I like that the fruit flavors don't overbalance the wheat backbone, and I like that this is a crisp, clean, light, and refreshing beer.  I wasn't looking for anything sickly sweet or overpowering, especially not on a hot and humid day like today, so this was a very enjoyable beer for me this afternoon.  That being said, I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to get this beer again because it didn't really do anything special for me.  I'd say it's average at best, though the passion fruit does make it a little different than the rest.

Cheers!

Free Will Destiny's Wit

I used to live in Bucks County, and I still consider it home, to some extent.  I like to support breweries close to "home," so when I saw that Free Will was from Perkasie, I decided to pick up a mixed case.  The first one I grabbed was Destiny's Wit:

Vittles:
Witbier
5.7% abv
12 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 33/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 84/100

Impression:
After I wiped the condensation off of the glass, the beer looked a little more brilliant than it does in the picture above.  I picked up on citrus, spiciness, and a yeasty goodness in the nose that intrigues me.  The taste is more citrusy and yeasty, I like the crackery/biscuity malt backdrop, and the coriander stands out more from the spiciness I got in the nose.  The white pepper brings a nice earthiness as well as some mild spice, which makes this a bit more interesting of a wit.  Overall, this is a bit above the average for a wit, and I'd probably get this again.

Cheers!

Horny Goat Watermelon Wheat

Watermelon Wheat sounded like it could either be very tasty or absolutely disgusting.  I decided to risk a couple bucks on a bottle and see what it was all about:

Vittles:
Fruit Beer
5.3% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 19/25
Taste: 34/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 79/100

Impression:
My first whiff was grainy, sweet, and fruity, but I wouldn't have thought watermelon -- it smelled more like berries.  I was sort of surprised that I tasted more watermelon than anything else.  It tasted like straight watermelon juice with a hint of wheat in the background.  My husband had a couple sips and said he couldn't taste the watermelon at all, but it was extremely prominent for me.  It wasn't an overpowering taste, just unmistakably watermelon.  I actually thought it was fairly tasty, and as it warmed to room temperature, the fruit and wheat flavors seemed to even out a bit more.  I'm glad I gave this one a shot, and I'd probably have it again sometime, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis

Nothing says summertime to me quite so much as a good hefeweizen on a hot sunny day.  Thankfully, I had a Sierra Nevada Kellerweis stowed away in my keezer, so I cracked it open and kicked back to relax:

Vittles:

Weizen

4.8% abv

Score:

Appearance: 10/10

Aroma: 23/25

Taste: 37/40

Mouthfeel: 9/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 92/100

Impression:

On initial taste, it wasn't as banana-y or clove-y as I would have hoped.  It had a sharp, astringent taste for the first few sips, but then it seemed to mellow out a bit, and it became more enjoyable.  After that initial odd taste, this beer turned into a very good example of a hefeweizen, and I thoroughly enjoyed the yeasty goodness to the last drop.  There weren't many surprises here -- it smells and tastes of wheat, yeast, clove, banana, and a hint of citrus.  The finish is mostly clean but slightly sticky.  It's the kind of beer that feels nutritious when you drink it.  I'll have to look for this one again!

Cheers!

Boaks Monster Mash

Boaks Monster Mash found its way into my keezer thanks to a very generous person.  I was looking forward to trying it, since it's a Russian Imperial Stout, and I'm a huge fan of that style:

Vittles:
Russian Imperial Stout
10% abv
100 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 22/25
Taste: 37/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 91/100

Impression:
The aroma drew me in, with all its roasty, nutty, sweet malty goodness.  I picked up some pretty clear coffee and chocolate notes and hints of dark fruits (mainly raisins and figs) and just the slightest hint of something smoky.  The flavors followed the nose very well, but I also tasted hints of vanilla, toffee, and some mild hop bitterness.  I was a little surprised that I didn't taste any smokiness, though.  The mouthfeel was medium-full with mild carbonation, and it's a nice, smooth drinking beer.  I'm very glad I got the chance to try this beer, and I'll definitely be picking some up for the chilly weather up ahead.  I'm also going to try cellaring this one for a year or two -- seems like the kind of beer that'll get tastier with a year or two on it.

Cheers!

Smuttynose Robust Porter

I don't have porters as often as I'd like.  They seem a little harder to find around me, since most of the 6-packs near here carry mostly marco lagers and other fairly tasteless stuff.  I used to have to drive pretty far to get any kind of decent selection.  Until fairly recently, that is.  A grocery store near my job started offering mix-a-sixers, and they actually have a pretty decent selection.  So, when I stopped by the other day to mix myself a six, I made sure to throw in a porter:

Vittles:
Robust Porter
6.2% abv
43 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 24/25
Taste: 38/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 94/100

Impression:
This is probably the best porter I've had in years.  The aroma is rich and complex, with all of the nutty, roasty, chocolatey, coffee-y, vanilla-y scents I love in this style.  The flavors are very similar, except I taste a lot of dark fruits, especially raisins and figs, and there's also a creaminess to the beer that seems like more than just a medium-full-bodied mouthfeel.  It's nice and crisp on the tongue and finishes rather dry, leaving a bitter-sweet chocolate flavor in the aftertaste.  I will definitely be picking up at least a 6er of this come the chilly fall weather -- I might even splurge on a case of it.  I could get in trouble drinking a beer this tasty!

Cheers!

Schneider Weisse Aventinus Eisbock

I've had Schneider Weisse Aventinus and it Eisbock several times before, and in fact, they're two of my favorite beers.  It's also one of my husband's favorite beers, so for our anniversary, we cracked open a bottle of the eisbock version and split it over a delicious pan-seared scallop dinner:

Vittles:
Eisbock
12% abv
Wheat doppelbock base beer

Score:
Appearance: 10/10
Aroma: 24/25
Taste: 39/40
Mouthfeel: 9/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 10/10
Overall: 97/100

Impression:
This is one of the best beers I've ever had, just barely a notch above it's non-eisbock counterpart.  I could live off of this beer alone.  My liver might disagree, but it wouldn't be the first difference of opinion we've had.  Anyway, from the rich caramel color, to the complex layers of dark fruit and sweet, malty goodness, to the full body and the enticing aftertaste, this is just a solid beer.  It's what beer should be.  The aroma is largely fruity, like golden raisins, plum, fig, apricot, and cherry, with brown sugar, molasses, and caramel serving counterpoint.  There's also an interesting mildly smoky note that I find very pleasing.  The flavors match well with the aromas, but there's a spiciness, like clove and cinnamon, that ties it all together very well.  The full body and creamy, velvety mouthfeel top off the experience quite nicely.  And this beer is insanely drinkable.  Like I could really get in trouble with this beer.  Maybe it's a good thing it's not more readily available near me!  I kid, of course, but the complexities in aroma and flavor that I find in this beer are so intriguing, I just want to keep tasting it over and over, because every sip is just a little different, especially as the beer warms.  It's just that good.

Cheers!

Elysian Super Fuzz

My husband really enjoyed the Elysian The Immortal IPA that I brought home a couple months back, so I thought I'd surprise him with their Super Fuzz.  The label says it's made with blood oranges, and I thought that sounded interesting:

Vittles:
American Pale Ale
5.4%
made with blood oranges

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 84/100

Impression:
It's a citrusy punch in the nose/mouth.  I was expecting it to taste orangey, but there's also a significant grapefruit aroma/flavor, as well, and about a minute after I tasted it, grapefruit flavors just took over my mouth.  There was more of a sharp acidity than I had expected, but it wasn't an unpleasant aspect.  Overall, it's very tasty, has a good level of hop bitterness, and keeps your tastebuds on alert.  I like the floral and resinous notes in the background and the hints of tropical fruits like guava.  Very tasty!

Cheers!

Boaks Double BW

I picked up a 6 of Boaks Two Blink Monks a while back, and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I decided to give another of their beers a try.  The one I settled on was their Double BW:

Vittles:
Witbier
4.5% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 20/25
Taste: 32/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 78/100

Impression:
I had a bit of overcarbonation trouble with the first two bottles I opened out of this 6er.  I sent an email to the brewer to let them know there might be a problem, and they were very polite and responsive.  From what I've been reading online, others have had the opposite problem with their beer -- not enough carbonation.  The aroma is mild, grassy, wheaty, and lemony, with a bit of mustiness in the background.  The flavors largely follow, but there's also some fruitiness on the tongue that I didn't pick up on in the nose.  A slight spiciness comes out more and more as the beer warms.  This is a decent choice for a light and refreshing sessionable beer, but it's not going to knock your socks off.  It's a solid witbier, good for the hot and humid weather we've been having lately.

Cheers!

Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot

I love barleywines.  It's been a while since I had a good English style barleywine (the last one I had was Duck-Rabbit a couple months ago), so I popped the cap on Weyerbacher Blithering Idiot, and my evening got a whole lot smoother:

Vittles:
English Barleywine
11.1% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 35/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 8/10
Overall: 85/100

Impression:
The coppery-mahogany color just looks so enticing, and the aroma is nearly all malt and dark fruits.  I smell figs, raisins, and cherries on top of caramel malts, with a touch of booze at the tail end.  The flavor matches the nose pretty closely, but there's a bit more spiciness on the tongue.  As the beer warms, it also takes on a sticky-sweet quality which I think I would enjoy more in chilly weather but is just a little too viscous to really enjoy on such a hot evening.  There's definite alcohol warmth on the back end, but it is a pretty high abv beer, so I was expecting to be able to taste it at some point.  The mouthfeel is fairly full-bodied, and the carbonation is present at low levels.  I'd love to try this one with a year or two on it, maybe while watching the first real snowfall of the year.  Or maybe to help make the holidays just a little more merry.  I'll have to keep my eye out for a sale on a case of this so I can try some aging experiments.

Cheers!

Shock Top Lemon Shandy

Last summer, my husband and I shared a beach house with my folks.  We wanted something light and crisp to bring to the beach with us, something sessionable that wouldn't leave us too dehydrated after a long day in the sun and surf.  My husband wound up getting a case of Shock Top Lemon Shandy cans, and he liked it quite a bit.  So, when Lemon Shandy hit the shelves at the distributor near us, he bought another case of it:

Vittles:

Fruit Beer

4.2% abv

Score:

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 18/25

Taste: 30/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 74/100

Impression:

It's really just adult lemonade with a wheat base.  The aroma is mostly lemony, but it seems like too sweet or artificial of a smell.  You can kind of sort of make out some mild wheat aroma, too, but it is much less obvious than the lemon flavoring.  The taste is sort of like lemon-flavored PEZ with wheat in the background.  None of the flavors are very strong, which is a plus, since it makes the beer light, crisp, and somewhat refreshing once you get past the overly-sweet lemon flavor.  It is fairly easy to session this beer, though, and it does somehow work very well on a hot, sunny day.  We'll probably get it again to enjoy on the beach when we go down the shore later this summer.

Cheers!