Five Crown Imperial Stout

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Five Crown Imperial Stout

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Brewer: Joe Formanek

• Style: Munich Dunkle Lager

• ABV: 8.9%

• IBU:?

• Pour Color: Dark ruby red tone to it, light passes through easily.

     Poured super thick and super dark.The head appeared for a second and then disappeared quickly. The scent off the top was quite strong. It had a mix of chocolate and caramel to the bouquet. On taste the malts are the star. Giving it a chocolate caramel flavor that is strong. A slight roasted coffee flavor is in this one too. The alcohol is known too with a very dry finish. Hits almost like a bourbon aged brew. The hops come through with a slight bitter earthy tone but not much. Another good home brew. 
      Sam Adams found a decent stout to put on the big stage. Joe knows how to make a nice full flavor stout that can kick the crap out of you. That's the main problem with this beer for me. The high alcohol content leads to a high alcohol flavor i just don't like. Plus this thick beer just gets stuck in the follicles. How unpleasant is it to get showered in a mustache's stash of thick porter? Not at all really.

Rating:***1/2

Brooklyn Summer Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Brooklyn Summer Ale

• Brewery: Brooklyn Brewing Company (New York)

• Style: English Pale Ale

• ABV:5.0%

• IBU: 18

• Pour Color: Nice yellow golden color that has a slight haze. 

       The pour was nice. A fluffy head crowned a nice golden beer in the glass. The scent off the top was quite malty, with a nice tone of citrus. The head quickly sank to the sides of the glass where it would reside for the rest of the beer. The initial taste of this one is yeasty and malty. A strong taste of bread to this. After that comes a nice crisp presence of lemon and grass flavors to the hops. On swallow you get a nice biscuit taste. Really a good summer experience in a world of summer wheat beers.
      Brooklyn makes great beers! This is another one that I enjoy. Not my favorite summer ale, but still one I get a hankering for when in season. Extremely malty compared to most summer ales, it gives you something different for the season. Also it comes in a can. Don't bring bottles to the beach... Go grab a twelver of this one!

Rating:***1/2

Hoptimum

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hoptimum

• Brewery:Sierra Nevada brewing company (California)

• Style: Imperial IPA

• ABV: 10.4%

• IBU: 100

• Pour Color: A easily seen through orange golden color. 

      This beer has a nice color on pour. Looked to be more carbonated then most. The light passes through the glass easy. The head was small but lasted around the edge of the glass the whole beer. The scent is that of a bouquet of hops. Piney and grassy and somewhat floral too. The taste is bitter and hoppy for sure. It's really a firework display in hops. You get grassy tones, you get citrus tones, then you notice a pine. All of this is backed by a malt that has a super sweet taste that barely competes with so much bitter. An amazing hop summit that no one should pass up.

     If you hate hops then my choice in beers is probably a disappointment. This again will be one of those. This has the hop character of a Hop Stoopid yet a better balance of malts. While Hop Stoopid seems to go for a malt liquor feel this one has the class of a Sierra Nevada beer. Also Hoptimum is offered in 12 ounce bottles while you can only find 22 ounce bottles of Hop Stoopid. Sometimes a mustache can't take a imperial IPA for 22 ounces. All and all I would much rather have this one then most other Imperial IPAs. A great beer and another great hop fest from Sierra Nevada! 

Rating: *****

Red Nectar

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Red Nectar

• Brewery: Nectar Ales Brewing Company (California)

• Style: Red Ale/Amber Ale

• ABV: 5.4%

• IBU: 35

• Pour Color: A clear orange color that really has little carbonation.

      On pour, this one had a nice original color that not many ales have. Orange and pretty perfectly clear. The carbonation seemed very low out the bottle, however the head raised quick. That was gone quick though and didn't leave a trace at the top. You really only get a malty caramel scent off the top of this one. No real hop presence in the smell. On taste you get a nice sweet malt up front. Caramel is there too in the taste and a nice grassyness to the light hop flavor. There also is a weird off flavor of iron in this one. Not my favorite red ale but also not one me or the face would turn down.
      This one really was a middle of the road red ale/amber ale. The balance of flavors is done well but with the weird iron flavor every few sips is off putting. The light carbonation and light body though makes this easy drinking. I would recommend it to red ale lovers but I don't think a average beer drinker will enjoy it.

Rating: ***

Double Bag

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Double Bag

• Brewery: Long Trail Brewing Company (Vermont)
  

• Style: AltBier

• ABV: 7.2%

• IBU: 25

• Pour Color: Nice see through amber color.

      First off Double bag is a great name. The head fluffed up quickly and covered me complexly. The scent off this glass is a nice caramel malt and bready scent. You can tell that this one is a heavy alcohol beer by smell alone. The follicles started to tense as the Face lifted. On taste comes a sweet bitter mix that no other beer has ever gave me. Caramel comes through cleanly. The hops biter it slightly but not much. Very earthy flavor. It also has a certain licorice taste to it too. Very strange but really a delicious beer. 
      With triple bag out and on the shelve it's hard to find myself soaked in a double bag anymore. A great well rounded beer! Easily delicious enough to consume too quick and find yourself in trouble. But when your a mustache... Who really cares? Other then the faces out there!

Rating: ****1/2

Hebrew Nut Brown Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Nut Brown Ale

• Brewery: Shmaltz Brewing Company

• Style: Nut Brown Ale

• ABV:5.5%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: Brown color that looks like a light red as light passes.

      This one poured and very little of a head came up. A light scent of malts came off the top of the glass. A brown color that easily allowed light through.Very thin light body to this one. The sweet malts come through initially on taste. You taste a light nut flavor and the hop flavor come through very earthy. All and all not a memorable beer. 
      Although I enjoy nut browns for the most part, this one wasn't that great. Very thin and light bodied and not much flavor. The hop character is the best part and even that can't really brighten this one enough. I'd grab a Ithaca or a Goose Island nut brown before this one everyday!

Rating: **

Goose Island Nut Brown Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Nut Brown Ale

• Brewery: Goose Island (Illinois)  

• Style: Nut Brown

• ABV:5.3%

• IBU:25

• Pour Color: Brown color letting light through easy.

      This one the face poured and the head fluffed up quickly. That would stick around for a good while as a film at the top of the beer. The scent off the glass is a nice mix of caramel and roasted malts. Slight nuttiness to the scent to. As you sip this one takes you on a journey. The body is fuller then most ales. The caramel malts come through and you get notes of roasted chocolate malt too. The nuttiness is a nice accent to the flavor too. The hops are a light note in this one. A really really good nut brown.
      First from the goose island guys for me. Really Really good though. Not bitter at all and so full of flavors. This one would be good paired with just about anything. We got this one on tap now at the station and the Face better get a growler for us!

Rating: ****1/2