Otto's Arthur's Imperial Red Ale

I went to Otto's Pub and Brewery in State College with some friends the other day, and I wound up getting Arthur's Imperial Red Ale, mainly because it was one of the few beers on tap that I haven't tried yet, and I was in the mood for something different -- I haven't tried a new beer in close to a week, so I was jonesing for different.  Normally I'm pretty good about remembering to take pictures, but it slipped my mind.

Vittles:
Specialty Beer
6.9% abv

Score:
Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 20/25
Taste: 36/40
Mouthfeel: 8/10
Style: 5/5
Drinkability: 7/10
Overall: 84/100

Impression:
I had this beer on tap.  It was a mildly hazy coppery-caramel color, and the little head that remained by the time it got to my table was a very light khaki.  It had a fairly appealing aroma, lightly toasty maltiness underlying assertive citrus/grapefruit and mild earthy/herbal flavors.  The mouthfeel adds a not quite chewy consistency, with a decent amount of effervescence tingling the tongue.  The aftertaste is mild grapefruit and toasted malt, but it doesn't linger very long.  Fairly decent overall.

Cheers!

Evil Genius Formidable

Belgian styles are among my favorites, so I was happy to see a Belgian dubbel in my Evil Genius Supervillains 6er:

Vittles:

Belgian Dubbel

6.5% abv

20 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 20/25

Taste: 35/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 9/10

Overall: 83/100

Impression:
It definitely hit the spot, though the mouthfeel was more on the watery side than I would've liked.  The beer, as with the style, is fairly malt-forward, so I tasted a lot of delicious malty flavors like toffee, caramel, and brown sugar.  I got hints of raisins here and there, but it wasn't as substantial of a flavor as I would've preferred.  It also had a nice, mellow noble hops character to it, nice and earthy/herbal, which complemented the malt flavors very well.  It wasn't my favorite Belgian dubbel, but it's a pretty solid showing, and I'd definitely get it again.

Cheers!

Evil Genius Hunchback

I stopped by one of the better six-pack shops in town earlier in the week and picked up a Supervillains 6er from Evil Genius.  I'd heard good things about this brewery before, so I've been looking forward to trying their product.  Plus, they're a PA brewery, so I get the feel-goods for supporting a quasi-local small-scale brewery.  And it's hard to beat a good hefe on a hot and humid summer day, so I went for the Hunchback first:

Vittles:

Hefeweizen

5.4% abv

13 IBUs

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 22/25

Taste: 36/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 8/10

Overall: 87/100

Impression:

I was a little disappointed when, after I swirled quite vigorously and poured the beer, there was still a fair amount of yeast sediment that hadn't roused when agitated, and I'm sure the yeast left in the bottle took a little away from the aroma and flavor of the poured beer.  I did smell and taste a little of the banana and clove I was looking forward to, as well as a very well-presented wheat background, but the primary characteristic was lemony-citrus until the beer warmed.  Again, I'm sure the true hefe flavors would've been more prominent if the yeast cake hadn't been so stubborn.  And recalcitrant.  But as the beer warmed, more of the esters and phenols came to the front, leaving only a slight sharp sting on the back end.  Overall, this was a very satisfying hefe -- not a Franziskaner, not by a long shot, but a solid example of the style nonetheless.  Next time I'll make sure to swirl more vigorously and for longer, just to make sure I get all that yeasty goodness in my glass.

Cheers!

Saranac Rye IPA

Ok, down to the last two bottles of IPAs I haven't tasted yet.  I went with the Saranac Rye IPA:

Vittles:

Specialty Beer (Rye IPA)

5.95% abv

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 18/25

Taste: 31/10

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 4/5

Drinkability: 7/10

Overall: 78/100

Impression:

It's brilliantly clear with sufficient effervescence, but it does have that Saranac taste.  With the exception of the White IPA that I tried recently, almost all of Saranac's beers have the same basic flavor profile, so it's hard to be surprised, impressed, or disappointed when trying a different Saranac beer.  This one falls right in line with the rest -- mild aroma, moderate flavors, color and abv all in the same range as the rest of the pack.  It's just another very average beer.  It's a good thing I find Saranac beers fairly enjoyable, if relatively mediocre.

Cheers!

Sam Adams Grumpy Monk

Down to the last few untried IPAs in my stock:

Vittles:

Specialty Beer (Belgian IPA)

6.5% abv

55 IBUs

13 SRM

188 cal.

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 22/25

Taste: 36/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 7/10

Overall: 87/100

Impression:

It's zesty!  The aroma and the flavor both have a refreshing combination of sweet roasty maltiness, citrus/grapefruit, piney, herbal, earthy, peppery, and clove notes that nicely complement the palpable yeast characteristics, while the effervescence helps give this beer a more satisfying mouthfeel.  I felt the first sip on my tongue almost like licking the terminals on a 9-volt, but each sip after that was a little less... lively... on the tongue.  It's well-balanced, too, unlike some of the other Belgian IPA attempts I've tried in the past.  I want to be able to taste the yeast, the hops, and the malt, and I can taste all three in this beer.  The only real negative I have here is that I taste something a little funny on the back end, like a detergent kind of flavor in the lingering bitter aftertaste.  I know there's no detergent or soap in my glass, since I wash my beer-only glassware with only scalding hot water, since I don't want soap residue left in the glass to destroy the head on my next beer.  But I can get past the detergent-like taste, since it isn't all that strong, and it doesn't linger very long.

Cheers!

Sam Adams Longshot Magnificent Seven (Zack Adams)

Sam Adams Longshot Magnificent Seven (by Zack Adams) was the second I tried from the Longshot 6er.  I just can't seem to get away from IPAs, can I?

Vittles:

Imperial IPA

7.8% abv

Score:

Appearance: 9/10

Aroma: 21/25

Taste: 35/40

Mouthfeel: 8/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 7/10

Overall: 85/100

Impression:

It's unmistakably an Imperial IPA, from the bronze color to the piney, resiny, earthy, and grapefruit aromas and flavors.  However, it does have that homebrew quality, that bland flatness of taste where the flavors just don't jump on your tongue like they should (not flat as in lacking carbonation, as this beer was sufficiently bubbly).  I taste that homebrew quality in only a few professionally brewed beers, but it's noticeable (to me, at least) in most of the homebrews I try.  It's not a negative, just an observation.  Just seems a little less polished than it could be.

Cheers!

Sam Adams Longshot Strawberry Lager (Dave Anderson)

I have often wondered by breweries don't release their own mixed 6ers.  I wasn't even sure why most variety packs seemed to come with only 3 different beers, though recently I'm starting to see them with up to six different beers.  That's an amazing improvement, in my eyes, though I'd still like to see that trickle down to the 6ers.  So, when I saw a 6er that had 3 varieties in it, it caught my eye.  And the varieties all came from a homebrew competition -- I'm all about supporting homebrewers, so long as they brew good shit.

Sam Adams Longshot Strawberry Lager (by Dave Anderson) is the first beer I tried from the Longshot 6er I picked up earlier in the week.  I've been having a whole bunch of IPAs lately, so a fruit lager seemed a good way to mix it up:

Vittles:

Fruit Beer

5.5% abv

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 18/25

Taste: 24/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 6/10

Overall: 68/100

Impression:

The aroma was very appealing, dominated by a strong smell of strawberries.  I could smell something citrusy, as well, and there's a faint toffee hint in the background.  However, the taste was disappointing.  It certainly has strawberry flavor, and I could taste the toffee as well, but the two flavors just did not jibe.  Part of the problem for me is that the strawberry flavor is very prominent, but it lacks any sweetness to cut the acerbically bitter edge.  The strawberry flavor just isn't as palatable without at least a degree of sweetness to offset it, and it kind of jars on the tongue.  When I smelled this beer, I really wanted to like it, but the taste just doesn't pan out.  I'm not saying this needs to be an overly sweet beer, but as it is, it's not well balanced.  I would not buy this beer again.

If I had bought a 6er of this brew, I would've been very upset, so I'm glad there's only one more of these beers in the 6er.  My husband can have it.  Or I'll cook with it.  I have yet to drain-pour a beer, and I'm not about to start throwing money down the drain now.

Cheers!