Lagunitas IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Lagunitas IPA

• Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company (California)

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 6.2%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A golden see through color slightly orange.

       The pour brought about a head that wouldn't quit. Even when I thought I had beat it down it sat at half a finger. The color was a light see thru copper. Smelling the top of this one is a real treat. Nothing but pine, grass and citrus hitting you in the face. The taste is a little different. The malts really do hold there own making this bitter treat quite ballenced. The hops on taste are much more the grassy earthy veriety then the scent would lead you to belive. It really has a very fresh hop taste and that flavor echos long after you have swallowed. With the malts having a slight sweetness everything in this one just works!
      WOW! This is a great IPA. Bitter but still ballenced with a sweet malt it works well. My other favorite Lagunitas brew is hop stoopid and it's hard to compare. The Imperial IPA is nothing but hops. This is alot more then just hops. Refreshing and delicious, you're really lucky if your gas station has this one in town! So GO GET IT!

Rating: *****

Pumpkin Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Pumpkin Ale

• Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company (New Hampshire)

• Style: Pumpkin Ale

• ABV:5.84

• IBU:35

• Pour Color: A very hazy copper color to this one. 

      The head of this one on pour came up and sat at about two fingers high. Once I bested it, it stayed at the top of the glass as a film. Light has a hard time passing through this pumpkin brew. The scent off the top was much more spicy then most the other pumpkin ales I've reviewed. The cinnamon and the nutmeg where extremely strong scents off the glass. Almost a pure pumpkin pie smell. Tasting it is another strong spicy experience. There's pumpkin in this ale but the spices are really the stars. Nutmeg and Cinnamon really overwhelm the pumpkin and make it taste a little less fresh compared to the other pumpkin ales I've reviewed. At thanksgiving dinner I think you need a ale like this to hold it's own. Any other time though I'm probably going for a different fall style beer. 
      This is one of those ones that really goes more pumpkin pie in flavor then pumpkin beer. Really really spicy through the whole experience. However, they don't go overly sweet. That's what makes it fairly drinkable. I'm sure a lot of mustaches would love to swim in this beer but it just wasn't the best in my book. 

Rating: ***

Pumpkin Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Pumpkin Ale

• Brewery: Otter Creek Brewing Company (Vermont)

• Style: Pumpkin Ale

• ABV: 5.3%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: Another orange colored pumpkin ale.

      This one poured and the head was about a finger and a half. I fought with it for a sip or two then it was nowhere to be found. The color in the glass was another orange copper shade. The scent was a fresh pumpkin scent. Nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon can be smelt off the glass too. Even with all of these flavors and smells the taste is quite light. The pumpkin in taste is the star and really is delicious. If I were you this is another one I would try!
      Wolaver's goes the organic route and uses local pumpkins and spices to make this beer. It comes out great. This maybe my favorite beer from Wolaver's. I could see at the thanksgiving game popping a few of these open and enjoying! I'd suggest you too do the same since it's a seasonal. So go get one before it's too late!

Rating: ****1/2

Post Road

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Post Road

• Brewery: Brooklyn Brewing Company (New York)

• Style: Pumpkin Ale

• ABV: 5%

• IBU: 24

• Pour Color: A see thru orange color to this one!

      This one was a nice pour that had a low head. It only came up to about a finger tall but then hung out at the top of the glass for a good while. The color of this one was orange and allowed light to pass through easily. The scent is the pumpkin and the nutmeg that are main ingredients. When tasting it you find a new respect for pumpkin beers. Most try to go for the pumpkin pie taste this one goes for a pumpkin beer taste. Not to sweet, or overwhelming clove flavors, like many others. I can see the follicles frolicking in this one again soon!
      Fall is almost here, and for some reason, there's nothing but pumpkin ales from every single company. This however is not one of the many that have just popped up. Post Road I have seen for many years and now I'm reviewing it. This is a great beer that really balances pumpkin and malt to give it a great taste. If you skip most pumpkin ales this autumn make sure you give this one a try. I doubt you'll be disappointed!

Rating: ****1/2

Southern Hemisphere Harvest

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Southern Hemesphere Harvest (2012)

• Brewery: Sierra Nevada (California)

• Style: American IPA

• ABV: 6.7%

• IBU: 66

• Pour Color:A nice bronze color that has a hoppy haze through out!

      This beer poured a hazy bronze color. The head came up fluffy and high at least two fingers. That would hang out as a film most the glass. The scent off the glass is a sweet biscuit malt and a real grassy scent to the hops. The taste has a mix of malt and hop that is hard to declare a winner. The malts come through as a slightly sweet bread taste and the hops come through as a grassy citrus mix that is hard to beat. This one has a nice familiarity since I've tasted there pale ale but the hops on this one near more of a torpedo in taste. Amazing beer that you really get a fresh taste of hops off of. 
     This beer I heard about and had to get some. My follicles have been lucky enough to be bathed in a fresh hop beer that the Face crafted. Never have I had a fresh hop beer from a big name. The fact it's a IPA from Sierra Nevada got me even more excited. What a great beer and a great concept. Hope to be talking it up for a year before getting it again next summer!

Rating: *****

Smuttynose Summer Weizen

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Summer Weizen Ale

• Brewery: SmuttyNose Brewing Company (Delaware)

• Style: Wheat Beer

• ABV: 5.46%

• IBU:15

• Pour Color:A nice see through golden color, very bright! Slight hazy look.

      The pour of this one was a nice gold color and had a finger and a half high head. The head didn't stick around to long. It had a nice yeasty wheat scent off the top. Held up to the light you notice a nice slight haze. A nice strong taste of wheat and yeast up front. The hoppyness starts coming through as a nice citrus grassy tone. A slightly sour to this one makes it quite refreshing actually. I really liked this beer. 
      The Summer Weizen is another summer wheat beer. I feel bad I didn't find it earlier this summer. It's got that nice wheat taste you would expect and a lot of hop character. The sour dough taste at the end is just enough to be delicious and refreshing. Summer is a great season for seasonal beers!

Rating: ****1/2

Mission IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Mission IPA

• Brewery: Mission Brewing Company (California)

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 6.8%

• IBU: 66

• Pour Color: A hazy golden color with a orange hue.

      The Face poured this one and BAM! IPA DAY reached it's pinnacle! The scent off the glass was fairly strong. The malts had a nice fresh sweet bread scent and the hops gave it fruity grassy scent. The color was a nice see through color with just a slight hop haze. The taste is where you find the IPA! Tastes slightly more bitter then the IBU would indicate. The hops bite hard on every splash. Luckily this mustache bites back! The initial taste in the mouth is the sweet malts. Then it's a variety of grassy and citrus hops. This is one of my favorite IPAs i've ever tasted. Lucky to have found this on IPADAY!
      I'm really glad I left the real thing for last. The mustache wanted to just scarf hops and this one delivered. Bitter and delicious I can't believe how good this was. The best of my five for IPA day by far! Hope you enjoyed the journey through the mustache's holiday! Cheers!

Rating: *****

Grumpy Monk

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Grumpy Monk

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Style: Belgian IPA

• ABV:5.7%

• IBU:55

• Pour Color: Clear golden color to this one. Light travels through easy

      So the Face got one of the hopology samplers Sam Adams put out. As a hop loving freak you know I was excited. Drowning in piles of hops don't scare me! So the Belgian style was the first I pulled out. The head was fluffy and the color was a golden.  It had a very mellow flavor of the orange peel and clove that you would expect. Really mellow though. The hops also had a slight citrus and pine but also was extremely mellow. This one really didn't strike me as special. This would be a good introduction to Belgian IPA but that's really all.
      This one struck me as neither great Belgian or great IPA and even these two styles mixed this wasn't the best. I've had Belgian IPAs that have blown me away. With this one they didn't go hard enough Belgian so it seems kind of watered down. The hops weren't really that pronounced either. It's a good IPA to get people into it that don't like them.  It really seems IPA, in name only, cause the hops really are on the light side!

Rating: **1/2

Dark Depths

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Dark Depths

• Brewery: Sam Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Style: Black IPA (Baltic IPA)

• ABV: 7.6%

• IBU: 55

• Pour Color: A clear red color when held up to the light!

      The pour came out much lighter then most dark IPAs. A head came up quick and sat at the top for awhile. It was easily two fingers high. Smelling the top of this one you get a sweet roasted caramel and almost a grapefruit hop scent. On the sip you get a mix of coffee and caramel malts. The hops come through slightly while in mouth but disappear quickly once swallowed. This is really a dark beer before a IPA and really only hits a pale ale bitterness to me.
      This one to me really seemed to mislead the drinker. If I was trying to get one of my Guinness drinking buddies into a hoppy beer I would go with this one. Much more a dark beer then a IPA really. The hops just are in a sea of malt flavor and aren't enough to get a avid IPA drinker excited. This one I would swim in again but it's not the first one I'm reaching for!

Rating: **1/2

Third Voyage

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Third Voyage

• Brewery: Sam Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Style: Imperial IPA

• ABV: 8%

• IBU: 80

• Pour Color: A nice clear amber color.

      This was a nice fluffy headed beer as it poured. Higher then two fingers the head grew quickly. The scent off the top was that of a nice roasted malt and a nice grassy hop. The color came out a nice see through amber. Tasting it, gives you a nice range of flavor. The malts are a sweet caramel flavored. It also got a nice wheat taste. The hops though are the star of this one. Three different cascade hops give it a strange range most wouldn't expect. You get spicy, fruity, and grassy notes from the hops that all mix for bitter echos after you swallow. A really really good double IPA. 
      This one I was looking forward too. I love cascade hops more then most! That is the hop that really gets me curling. This one chooses to use cascade from 3 different places on earth and really uses them well. I found this beer to be ballenced and fairly smooth for a imperial ale. This perhaps is my new favorite from Sam Adams!

Rating: ****1/2

Cali-Belgue IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Cali-Belgue IPA

• Brewery: Stone Brewing Company (California)

• Style: Belgian IPA

• ABV: 6.9%

• IBU:77

• Pour Color: A nice clear golden color.

      This one poured with a finger high head. Not to tall at all. This would sit on the sides of the glass all the way down the beer. The color was a nice golden color that had a nice glow as light passed through. The scent off the top is a strange malty, yeasty, spicy scent. You can tell by the smell that the hops are there too. You also get a slight orange citrus to the bouquet too. The taste is a nice malty yeasty mix like the scent. A almost sweet cereal taste to the malts. That mixed with the yeast give you a nice Belgium wheat beet flavor. Then comes the kick. The IPA portion of this beer is really tasted most after the swallow. You then get a nice echo of that flavor long after a sip. I really like this brew. 
      Starting out, this is a great IPA as just a IPA.  Add in the fact that you get a Belgian kick, that most beer company's would be afraid to go to, makes it even better! Raging Bitch is the only Belgian IPA I've reviewed so far that's on this level. I find it real hard to choose between which I like better my friends!

Rating: ****1/2