Review: Oktoberfest Lager

Tenaya Creek Brewery

Grade: B+

Appearance: Pours a golden pilsner -like color with a hazy orange tint.  The head is very weak and leaves no lacing.

Smell: Sweet and toasty Munich malts with some caramel and nutty undertones.  Earthy hops with a slight bitterness is picked up from underneath the layer of malts.  Some orange and lemon zest are there to compliment the hops.

Taste: Citrus peel bitterness is felt immediately and a lot stronger than the smell would indicate.  The sweet and bready malts actually take a back seat to the hops, which is unusual for a Marzen.  The caramel sweetness and nuttiness takes over at the finish, with some hops still lingering.

Mouthfeel: Light bodied with medium carbonation and pretty refreshing.

Drinkability: The medium carbonation makes this one an easy drinker, despite its sweet malts getting stronger and stronger as the brew warms.

Overall: This is a refreshing take on the Marzen style.  It is almost an IPA through the first half of the beer then transcends into a Marzen through the second half.  Tenaya Creek is a great brewery that hasn't let me down yet.  You'll be hearing from this brewery in the near future as it continues to grow.

Review: Stone IPA

Stone Brewing Co.

Grade: A-

Appearance: Pours a clear golden orange with a pure white head that withers away leaving some lacing.

Smell: The aroma smacks you in the face with piney, citrus hops.  There are some scents of caramel, grapefruit and perhaps a dash of pineapple.  A deliciouls smelling IPA.

Taste: A crisp and clean hop bite lead it off.  The hop profile is dry pine with some herbal notes.  Tastes of grapefruit nicely balance with abundance of hops.  Slight notes of burnt biscuit and caramel linger in the background.

Mouthfeel: A good medium body with moderate carbonation.  It leaves the mouth clean and dry.

Drinkability: Good, despite its 6.9% ABV.  It has just enough hop bite to ask for another.

Overall: When I want a good dose of hops, I turn to Stone Brewing and this one is no different.  It has enough hop bite to satisfy hopheads like myself with plenty of sweet malt to satisfy others.  The fact this brew is getting more popular each day shouldn't diminish its respectability as a good American IPA. 

Review: Boont Amber Ale

Anderson Valley Brewing Co.

Grade: B

Appearance: Pours hazy grapefruit juice-like amber with a 1/2 finger head that leaves decent lacing.

Smell: Roasted sweet malts jump right out with citrus and caramel undertones.  Musty flowery and hoppy scents decide to show up to the party late.

Taste: Almost identical to the smell. Sweet caramel malts are tasted first in combination with citrus flavors.  Pine hops are masked up until the dry finish.  However, it does tend to get slightly watery after the initial burst of flavors.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with some carbonation.  It went down nice and easy.  It leaves the mouth dry and a bit sticky.

Drinkability: Very drinkable, mainly because of its simple and straightforward characteristics.

Overall: Anderson Valley is one of my favorite breweries, though this one is a notch below their other offerings.  It's still a good, solid beer.  I would buy again if I'm looking to drink a solid amber without having to search high and low for a better one.

Review: Green Flash Double Stout

Green Flash Brewing Co.

Grade: B

Appearance: Pours an extremely dark brown with an amber tint.  The light tan head dissipates quickly and leaves slim lacing.

Smell: Sweet roasted malts dominate with some coffee flavors and a hint of piney hops.

Taste: Strong roasted malts and hop bitterness starts it off with some burnt caramel.  Hops are felt throughout the levels of flavor. There are some undertones of chocolate and dark fruits mid palate and a slight alcohol punch at the finish. The finish leaves a weird tobacco-like taste one minute after consumption.

Moutfeel: A filling creamy body with moderate carbonation at the finish. 

Drinkability:  The 8.8% ABV makes this beer hard to session, but I could handle a couple despite its full, creamy body.

Overall:  An interesting take on an imperial stout. This brew does get rough around the edges as the drinking experience progresses. The abundance of herbal hops doesn't quite blend with the musty grain element as it warms. The odd tobacco-like aftertaste takes the brew down a notch. Its a good beer, but not my first choice when I want a stout.

Review: Edmund Fitzgerald Porter

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Grade: A

Appearance: Pours a pitch black with a 1/2 finger light tan head that recedes quickly, and leaves light lacing.

Smell: Chocolate jumps right out. Sweet mocha and roasted coffee beans linger in the background.  Earthy hops finish off this amazingly smelling porter.  Ahhh! Great!

Taste: It begins with a very warming roasted coffee then moves over to a slight dark chocolate flavor.  The earthy hopes, combined with sweet caramel, put a nice end to this tasty treat.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with slightly high carbonation, which is a good thing.  The higher carbonation helps break up the initial strong roasted coffee flavor so that it doesn't feel like a morning cup of coffee.  It then mellows once the dark chocolate wondermint kicks in.  Well done.

Drinkability: Give me a sixer and it will be gone in half an hour.

Overall: Man, oh man!  What a delicious beer! One of the best porters I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.  It is incredibly balanced with the late hops combating the early sweetness of coffee and chocolate.  Highly recommended!

Review: Lakefront IPA

Lakefront Brewing, Inc.

Grade: B

Appearance: Pours a murky golden orange color with a head that withers away quickly, but leaves decent lacing.

Smell: Citrus and strong pine hops dominate, along with sweet malt and some bready notes.  A simple, but straight forward smell.

Taste: Not as much piney bitterness that one would expect from the smell. A strong and sweet malt backbone masks the hop bitterness very well, almost too much.  A note of grapefruit shows up at the very end.  It's a refreshing IPA, although the balance is off a bit.  A stronger hop bite would help balance this brew out.

Moutfeel: Medium to light bodied with high carbonation. An easy drinker.  

Drinkability:  I could drink these all day due to its light body and caged hop bitterness.  One of the most sessionable IPAs I have tried.

Overall:  This is a middle of the road IPA that resides on the hoppier side of the spectrum, but the strong malt presence never allows the hops to take full flight.  It is an enjoyable brew, but if you are a hophead like I am, this doesn't quite hit the mark.  With that being said, I would definitely pick this one up if I am looking to have an easy drinking IPA session.

Quick Tip: If you are looking for a bigger hop bite, drink this brew straight from the bottle, as opposed to pouring in a glass.

Review: Monkey Wrench Saison Ale

Allentown Brew Works

Grade: B

Appearance: Pours a pale orange with a very strong head that sticks around for a while then reduces to a dense 1/2 finger head that leaves good lacing.

Smell: Smell is yeast dominant with fruity apple, lemon and citrus notes.  Some banana peel and melon are picked up as well.  Although the smell is light, it is nice.

Taste: It begins with a dry sparkling apple cider, then transitions to nice a wheat and citus flavor.  Tastes of orange, apple and peach take over the finish.  Pretty good.

Moutfeel: A good sparkling carbonation comes first, then it mellows down to a slightly carbonated light body with a flowery acidic bite at the swallow. 

Drinkability: Saisons, like most Belgian beers, aren't normally my first choice when I want to kick back and drink some beers, and this one is no different. Saisons are a great style but a one and done style for me.

Overall:  The flavor is light compared to what you would expect, although it is sweeter and less dry than most.  The fruit and yeast flavors are there, but could be more pronounced. This would be a good beer to drink on a sunny 80 degree day.