Erie Derailed Black Cherry Ale

A few months back, I had gotten a variety box from Erie Brewing Co., and I remember most of those beers being somewhere in the B range.  Derailed Black Cherry Ale seemed interesting, so I tossed it in a mix-a-six, and here we are:

Vittles:
Cream Ale
5% abv
17 IBU

Score:
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 19/25
Taste: 31/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 4/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 75/100

Impression:
The head poured thin, had very little stay, and left virtually no lacing, so I wouldn't exactly call this a "pretty" beer.  The aroma carries a lot of cherry and berry notes along with a bready/malty sweetness and some faint yeasty esters.  The flavors follow fairly well, with toasty malt, caramel, and a slight grainy quality backing a fairly prominent cherry character.  I found the cherry and malt flavors to be very slightly jarring, like they didn't quite mesh right for me.  The medium-light body makes it a little refreshing, but at times the sweetness seemed to edge on cloying.  Maybe it could have benefited from being slightly more tart on the fruit notes.  Not awful, but I probably won't reach for this one again.

Cheers!

Erie Mad Anthony's APA

So far, I've been fairly pleased with the Erie beers I've had.  The next one I pulled from my sampler box was Mad Anthony's APA:

Vittles:

American Pale Ale

5.5% abv

40 IBUs

Score:
Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 21/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 7/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 85/100

Impression:
This beer is about on par with the rest of the Erie beers I've had so far.  There's a slight metallic taste in the background, which isn't all that pleasant, but it isn't very distracting, either, and it dissipates as the beer breathes.  The aroma is about what I'd expect: fresh bread dough, grassy, sweet malt aromas backing a mild fruity-citrusy scent.  After the aroma, I was mildly surprised at the dry character of the beer.  The bitterness takes a little bit to kick in, and the primary flavors are more earthy/herbal/grassy, with the fruity-citrusy hops characters coming in on the back end.  I was a little disappointed in the lighter mouthfeel, though it did have a fairly smooth drinkability to it.

Cheers!

Erie Fallenbock

It's been a few days since I've had any new beers -- we've been doing some work around the house, and Yuengling Light Lager was my session beer while working.  So, last night I went back to my stash of beers I have not yet tasted.  I was still a little miffed to see a fall seasonal beer in with the sampler box I bought in June.  But whatever, it's still beer, I'm still going to drink it.  And I actually wound up enjoying it more than I thought I would -- Erie Fallenbock's a darker beer, and I had it on a miserably hot and humid day.  But, it was the coldest beer in my fridge, so I went for it, despite my preference for lighter-colored beers in hot and humid weather:

Vittles:

Doppelbock

7.8% abv

16 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 20/25

Taste: 33/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 81/100

Impression:

You can't really see it in this picture, but there were ruby highlights where the light shone through the beer.    The head fell a little too quickly for my liking, despite a fair amount of effervescence.  The aroma was dominated by roast and chocolatey goodness, with caramel, coffee, and nutty undertones.  The flavors are much the same, with a big punch of roasted malt up front, followed closely by molasses, caramel, chocolate, coffee, and nutty flavors.  There was also an undertone of dark fruit flavors, mostly raisin and plum, but they were more in the background.  The beer has a creamy, silky mouthfeel that complements the flavors nicely.  I would definitely enjoy this beer quite a bit more if there were a chill in the air and leaves on the ground -- the flavors are just so perfectly reminiscent of a crisp fall day.

Cheers!

Erie Brewing Presque Isle Pilsner

I was pretty impressed by Erie's Railbender Ale when I tried it a few weeks back, so when I came across an Erie sampler box, I bought it.  Railbender was one of the varieties in the box, so I skipped that one for now and started with the Presque Isle Pilsner instead:

Vittles:

German Pilsner

4.2% abv

17 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 19/25

Taste: 34/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 82/100

Impression:
It poured with a tall, rocky white head, but the head fell rather quickly, leaving decent lacing as it went.  There's a bit of sulfur and DMS in the initial aroma, and while the sulfur seemed to dissipate fairly quickly, the DMS hung around a while.  Thankfully, it was a barely-there note, so it didn't stick out like a sore thumb.  The taste kind of reminds me of pancake batter with a little sweetness, like caramel, mixed in.  There're also some lemony-citrus notes that pair well with the malt flavors.  The mouthfeel is on the silky-smooth side, and it finishes crisp and clean; I found this to be a very refreshing beer on a hot and humid day.

I'm looking forward to trying the other two varieties of Erie beer in my sampler, though I have to say I was a little disappointed to see that a fall seasonal beer was in there.  I bought the box in June -- that's just too much of a seasonal shift.  And yes, I know Sam Adams had their Alpine Spring seasonal out in, what, January?  And I've heard tell that Paulaner Pumpkin is coming out soon, if it hasn't already.  I understand seasonal shift for clothing, yard/snow tools, etc., but for beer?  Come on.  That's just ridiculous.

Cheers!

Erie Railbender Ale

So, Erie's Railbender Ale made its way to my fridge free of charge.  Apparently, some Coors representative (not sure on this point -- this is basically like a big game of telephone) dropped it off at my husband's barber shop, for some reason I'm not too clear on, but the barber doesn't drink beer, so he was going to just throw it away.  Enter my husband, who thankfully saved the beer from such a fate.  And so, I got to try another beer.  But I was kind enough to share the wealth with my husband and a friend of ours:

Vittles:

Scottish Ale

6.8% abv

26 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 23/25

Taste: 38/40

Mouthfeel: 9/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 9/10

Overall: 93/100

Impression:

I was pretty impressed -- it's creamy, rich, and full-flavored.  The head didn't persist very long, despite the decent levels of effervescence.  The first whiff smells of caramel and toffee, with a hint of breadiness in the background.  There's also a nutty character in both the aroma and the flavor that I find very enjoyable.  Caramel and toffee also follow nicely into the flavor, and there's a slight hoppiness on the back end, but the focus is primarily on the malt.  Medium mouthfeel, plenty of carbonation, and a moderately dry finish all improve the experience of this beer.  It's insanely smooth and drinkable.  I could get into trouble with this beer.

Cheers!