Chateau Jiahu

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Chateau Jiahu

• Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewing Company

• Style: Spiced Beer

• ABV: 10%

• IBU: 10

• Pour Color: A golden easily seen through glass of beer.

      This is a dogfish beer/fruit hybrid based on the oldest known fermenting recipe. It poured golden and clear. The head was nice fluffy and thick. It would be that way for awhile before being a film at the top the rest of the glass. The scent off the top is a nice caramel liquor scent. Just by smell you know this is a heavy hitter. The tastes are a mix of everything. The mix of honey and grape are amazing. A real fruity quality also gives you something different. Not a normal beer but something amazing none the less!
      This is another Dogfish invention of amazement. You think it's a beer or a wine or even a liquor... It's all of em and none of them at the same time. Hints of honey and tastes of apple and grape are just amazingly mixed. Sweet and strong this is the first beer I had that has legs when you swirl the glass. Just go get it. My description can't do this one justice go get one. 

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

Hop Sun

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hop Sun

• Brewery: Southern Tier Beer (New York)
  

• Style: Wheat

• ABV: 5.1%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A bright golden color, Easily seen through!

      As the Face pours this one, it has a nice see through body. The head was only around for a second. Hung out at the top around the outside the rest of the glass though. You get a nice hop aroma in this one. It mixes well with that wheat beer scent. Most IPA's don't achieve this kind of a scent. A nice blend of citrus and pine. Almost the level of some pale ales. The malts have there own big flavor too. A great bread flavor of the malts. A explosions of flavor in this delicious beer. 
      The Face used to bathe me in Sam Adams Summer Ale all summer. With the little kick of lemons and hops it was a good summer time beer that any one could appreciate. That's a distanced memory though! So far it's been Hop Sun every night! Light crisp but slightly hop crazy makes me and the Face huge fans. Go try some, no really?

Rating: *****

Hefeweizen

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hefeweizen

• Brewery: Pyramid Brewing Co. (Washington)
  

• Style: Hefeweizen

• ABV: 5.2%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A slightly orange color and very cloudy

      As you smell this one you get a nice wheat and yeast scent off the top. The color was a very very murky orange to gold. The head foamed up quick and was very fluffy. It fought well for a sip or two, but my follicles took it down, leaving a thin white layer for the rest of the beer. This one has a nice rich wheat flavor and body on the taste. You notice citrus tones through out the beer as you sip. A bath in this one isn't to sweet and makes for a nice smooth experience. 
      This is another really good beer from pyramid. Blending the normal tones of a Hefe but balancing it more toward the light wheat beer then super sweet orange tones. Not everything you want from a hefe but very smooth and full of flavor!

Rating: ****

Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Raspberry Wheat

• Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company (New York)

• Style: Wheat 

• ABV: 4.9%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A golden slightly murky beer.

      It was easy to see through this one although its was slightly murky. Almost had a white ale look to it. The scent off the top was full of fruit, malt, and hop. The wheat comes through off the glass and the raspberry has a fresh scent. The hops give a slight grassy scent. On taste it is a nice mix of flavors too. The raspberry isn't very sweet at all. The wheat mixes well with the flavor of the raspberry. The hops bitter it slightly giving you a beer with a fruit flavor. Not just another fruit beer.
      This is the kind of fruit beer I find myself enjoying the most. Not just a fruit flavor like anyone can get but a beer taste too. Malts and hops mixing together with that fruit to taste good. This one isn't in the class of a Aprihop but it was pretty good. 

Rating: ***1/2

Harpoon Raspberry Wheat

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Harpoon Raspberry UFO

• Brewery: Harpoon Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

• Style: Raspberry Hefeweizen

• ABV:5.1%

• IBU:10

• Pour Color: Dark red and murky.

      Looked very thick on the pour. Murky and unfiltered  as advertised. This mustache expected a lot of flavor out of it. The head was gone quickly and left no trace. The scent off the glass was a strong sweet raspberry scent. Upon hitting the follicles I began to wonder if we had messed up. This one was so sweet that it could have been a soda. The malts are a light after taste when you swallow. Not my favorite beer.
      This one is so strong in raspberry that I would only recommend it to non-beer drinkers. No real hop character or strong malt flavor. Just a strong sweet taste of raspberry. Not the kind of thing this mustache likes.

Rating: **

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: **

Shoals Pale Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Shoals Pale Ale

• Brewery: SmuttyNose Brewing Company (New Hampshire)

• Style: Pale Ale

• ABV: 5.4%

• IBU: 30

• Pour Color: A dark copper color to this one.

      This one poured a darker color then some other pales. Although murky light passed through this beer easy. The hop presence in this one is easily smelt off the top. Pine and citrus hop scents come off the glass. The head wasn't too fluffy and disappeared quick. The flavor of Shoals is a hop heavy affair. The pine, citrus and grassy tones make for a nice bouquet of flavor. This one though over powers any malt flavoring with that hop. A slight sweetness is added through those malts. Over all a really hop heavy pale.
      SmuttyNose has some great beers I'm quickly realizing. This one is much more like a IPA then just a pale. Very hoppy and not showing to much malt flavor. With all the hops and only a slight sweetness of flavor it's hard to believe this is a 30IBU beer. I really doubt a hop headed Mustache would mind being soaked in this one. I certainly didn't mind!

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

Black Cannon

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Black Cannon

• Brewery: Clipper City Brewing Company (Maryland)

• Style:Black IPA

• ABV: 7.25%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A black as night beer letting no light through.

      This one had a thin look to it's body on the pour. The head all but disappeared right after the pour. Slight malt scent but mostly a nice piney scent of hops. The taste of the beer was another hop heavy experience. A nice sweet toffee and coffee flavor is overwhelmed by the hop flavor. Piney and earthy it makes for a fine crafted black IPA. I mean if IPA is in the tittle you want that hop flavor.
      Having had a loose cannon, and having enjoyed it, I bought this black IPA. I gotta say not really disappointed. The hops come out and hit you in the face and thats what a IPA should do. Although the coffee flavor is always the kind of thing this mustache likes. I say go try one if you haven't, it can only make a Face's day better!

Rating: ****

Noble Pils

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Noble Pils

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing (Massachusetts)

• Style: Pilsner

• ABV: 4.9%

• IBU: 34

• Pour Color: A bright golden color that is easily seen through

      On pour this one got a fluffy head that hung around for a good while. The nice golden color is perfectly clear. The scent, is a slight sweet malty scent, and a nice hop tone to it. The hops in this one come straight at ya on taste. The curl got a little tighter as this one hit me with pine and earthy tones. The malt is in the back slightly sweetening this one up. Really a great pilsner any one should try.
      Sam Adams puts a lot of stock in the "noble hops". These are grown where it's the best hop growing condition. There pils though is helped by this pickyness.  The hops in question some times don't make a great IPA, but a hoppy pils like this is perfect with em. I look forward to spring cause I've grown accustom to sam's noble pils. Now that it's a year round beer the Face gets it all the time!

Rating: *****

Finger Lake Summer Wheat

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Finger Lake Summer Wheat

• Brewery: Custom Brewcrafters 

• Style: Hefeweizen

• ABV:5%

• IBU: 45

• Pour Color: Golden color and quite hazy.

      On pour this one got a nice little head to it. Looked golden and glowed in the sunlight. The scents off the top were of a nice orange tone and wheat malts. After taking all that in the head was pretty much gone. On the taste you get a really really full flavored hefe. I mean it's got that crisp tone of the citrus to get the follicles tingling. It also has a nice full wheat flavor. All and all a good beer. 
       As a summer seasonal this is a kick ass beer. It's crisp, light and has a nice orange flavor that makes blue moon look boring. With this and Brewcrafters also doing The Razz, wheat beers is where it's at for them. Next really hot day pick up a six of this one. Your mustache will be refreshed after a splash of this one. 

Rating: ****1/2

Demo

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Demo

• Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing (Vermont) 

• Style:Black IPA

• ABV: 6%

• IBU: 45

• Pour Color: A black as night beer letting no light through

      The pour was quite dark and the head fluffed up. Didn't go down to quick either. The scent off the glass was caramel and toffee no real hint of hops. The taste of this beer is deep and malty but has a nice sweetness. Chocolate and coffee pretty much tell the story of this one. The hops for a black IPA really are absent. A really good dark beer though.
      A decent beer all and all but not really a black IPA. The bottle claimed a IPA on tour. Closer to a porter but another beer that I enjoyed from magic hat. #9 used to be the only beer I enjoyed from em, but next time I need a coffee porter I'll grab another of these.    

Rating: ***1/2

Saint Boisterous

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Saint Boisterous

• Brewery: Victory Brewing (Pennsylvania)
  

• Style: MaiBock

• ABV: 7.4%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: Golden color with a slight haze.

      The head on this one started quick and fluffy. A good competitor out the gate. The scents off this one were spicy and malty at the same time. You can tell from the scent the yeast is gonna have some nice flavor. Unfortunately the head was gone after the sniff. On first splash you get a nice malt explosion on the follicles. Spicy and just slightly sweet the malts and yeast head line this show. The hops come through nice and full giving it a earthy taste. The swallow leaves you with a nice crisp malty flavor that lasts a good while on the pallet. 
      Here's a early spring seasonal that really impressed me. I bought it about a month back with a best by date of march 11th. Drank it that night. A really full flavored beer even past the best by date. May have even been better had the Face bought it a few weeks before. I recommend, next Saint Patrick season, you find this one and give it a try. 

Rating: ****

Java Head

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Java Head

• Brewery: Troegs Brewing co. (Pennsylvania)
  

• Style: Coffee Stout

• ABV: 7.5%

• IBU: 60

• Pour Color: A black as night beer letting no light through

      The head after the pour was pretty good on this one. After a few sips it was still hanging in there too. The color of this one made you sure it was a stout. Black as night and light didn't penetrate it at all. The scent of malts comes off the glass. The taste of caramel and toffee comes up front. The chocolate and coffee flavors bittered it out slightly. The citrus hop flavor helps balanced it all together. The body of this one helps it out too. Thick and rich it just helps that chocolate taste even more.
      Another delicious coffee flavored beer. As usual, I thought it was worth the money, and full of the flavors I love. This one was a dark chocolate taste that most beers can't achieve. Mix that with the nice roast of the coffee and this is one of my favorite beers, and one of my favorite styles. 

Rating: ****

Whitewater IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: WhiteWater IPA

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing (Massachusetts)
  

• Style: White IPA

• ABV: 5.8%

• IBU: 60

• Pour Color: A golden color with a heavy haze, the light makes it glow

      The pour came out a golden color that was very cloudy. The head disappeared just as fast as it appeared. The scent off the glass was a citrus apricot mix.  The taste of this one is extremely hoppy. Pine and Citrus notes jump out at you. The apricot comes through as a slightly under ripe flavor due to the citrus notes. The white aspect really is just the color not really any kind of spice kick or anything. All and all a decent beer.
       This beer reminds me of a White IPA from Saranac. With a strong fruit backing, and strong hop character, they are a lot alike. With this one though Sam Adams decides to get into the over saturated apricot beer market. A decent offering but I personally would go for a Aprihop from dogfish before this one or even the before mentioned Saranac white. In any case this is good beer.

Rating: ***1/2

Yeti

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Yeti

• Brewery: Great Divide Brewing (Colorado)
  

• Style: Imperial Stout

• ABV: 9.5%

• IBU: 75

• Pour Color: Dark and black no light comes through

      Nothing but sweet caramel malts on the scent. The pour was black and let no light through. It had no head to it really as I poured it. The tastes of malts hit you hard and fast in this one. Chocolate and coffee come through cleanly. A slight caramel tone on top of it helps counter balance the high IBUs. Very bitter floral and grass tones come through to make that bitterness. Very balanced, very good. 
      Another dark beer that really goes down the line of a black IPA. Tons of dark beer tones of coffee and chocolate but a nice hop character. Colorado is a place that makes a lot of great beers and this one is another example. The yeti is a delicious beer!

Rating: ****1/2

Pork Slap

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Pork Slap

• Brewery: ButterNuts Beer and Ales
  

• Style: Pale Ale

• ABV: 4.3%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: Slightly orange, slightly hazy, still lets light through

      When the face poured this one it had a real interesting color. Slight haze in it gave me hope this would be a real pale ale. The scent off the top threw me off, as it wasn't hop nor malt. This one was a ginger smell that wasn't really that appealing. On taste, it was the same thing. The ginger drown out the malt and the hops and gave it a unappealing taste. The echos of this one are just as weird. After tasting the ginger through and through it disappeared and left a off sour flavor. This wasn't good. 
      The Face was looking over my shoulder the other day and saw this on a top 10 reasons to drink canned beer. Of course us being from NY we had to grab some. That I see now was a mistake. At 4.3abv and nearly no beer flavor, I can't recommend this beer. I found it foul on the follicles, and really really disappointing knowing Butternuts is so close to Ommegang brewing. 

Rating: 

Smutty Nose IPA

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Smutty Nose IPA

• Brewery: Smutty Nose (New Hampshire)
  

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 5%

• IBU:28

• Pour Color: Gold and very clear!

      This was a nice perfect two finger head pour beer. The head looked really nice. The scent off the glass was malty and hoppy at the same time. The color of the beer was gold murky and had the white floaties that some other IPAs sport. The cloudiness or white floaties usually indicate dry hopping. Having had a stone IPA with the same problem I don't judge on that. On taste you get a nice slightly sweet malt body as a background. Being an IPA you can imagine what comes straight out and hits ya. The hops are citrus and piney, Delicious and bold, these flavors meld well and make for a decent IPA.
      This is my first smutty nose, and much like most breweries, I started with a IPA. This one didn't disappoint either. A nice crisp hop flavor backed by stand up malts that have character their own. This one also is nice enough to tell you that there may be a slight sediment in the bottle. Most just leave you to figure it out on your own. Delicious and well bittered, try a smutty nose for yourself.

Rating: ****

Summerfest 2012

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: SummerFest 2012

• Brewery: Sierra Nevada (California)
  

• Style: Pilsner

• ABV: 5%

• IBU:28

• Pour Color: Gold and very clear!

      The Face poured this one and it had a nice head. Lasted a good while for being a pilsner too. The color was a perfect golden color. The smell off the glass was a hop heavy brew. Not much of the malts came through on the sent. On taste though it was the opposite. A whole lot of malt and not really that strong of hops. You get a light pine and citrus tone but not much. A crisp and refreshing beer for summer cause it's fairly light. Worth a try for sure if your a pilsner drinker.
      This was a fairly average ale. I could easily compare it to Heineken actually. A fairly hoppy pilsner that really has a overall ballenced taste. This has a little more character with a heightened sweetness and hop character. It really seems to be looking for the same market as a Heineken though. This is a nice crisp ale that non-craft drinkers would love I think. 

Rating: ***1/2

Dead Reckoning

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Dead Reckoning

• Brewery: Troegs Brewing co. (Pennsylvania)
  

• Style: Porter

• ABV: 6.2%

• IBU: 53

• Pour Color: It poured black with no regard for the living!

      As the Face poured I watched a dark brew flow. Black through and through, and letting in little light, looked like a good porter. You got the roasted scent of the malts off the top of the glass and a strong hop presence. On taste you get a slightly more hoppy taste then most porters. Nearly a black ipa, this one has a nice earthy, spicy, piney notes. On top of that you get a nice roasted barley flavor to back the hopped up beer. Really a fun journey that the follicles loved. 
      This one said fall/winter seasonal. If it was a lighter beer the Face would have skipped it. Then again if it wasn't Troegs the Face might have skipped it. Luckily he didn't pass it by though. Full bodied and delicious, even after the best by date, it was great. I'd personally wait till next season, but make sure to try this one. It's another great example of what Troegs does!

Rating: ****

Spring Bock

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Spring Bock

• Brewery: Otter Creek (Vermont)
  

• Style: Bock

• ABV: 6.2%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A golden slightly murky color.

      The bottle is opened and you get a nice sweet malty yeasty scent off the spring bock. The head started fluffy but faded fast. The color was a golden orange that had a cloudy quality. The hop flavor in this one is a nice earthy back ground. The malt is a nice sweet barley flavor. Really a nice lager flavor. The one downside, much like the copper ale, is that it has a slight alkaline taste that again is a weird off flavor. Nice and light this one was a decent spring offering. 
      This is the last that is in their spring sampler, and I found the sampler wide ranging. The Copper Ale wasn't to good. The Bock is average. Yet the Stovepipe Porter and the Black IPA were great. When it comes to Otter Creek Brewing I'm gonna keep it dark from here on out. Otherwise the follicles pick up on a metal taste that isn't appealing.

Rating: ***

McGovern's Oatmeal Stout

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: McGovern's Oatmeal Stout

• Brewery: Belfast Bay Brewing
  

• Style: Oatmeal Stout

• ABV: 5.1%

• IBU:20

• Pour Color: Black and no light travels through

      This one said the coffee lovers beer on the package! Challenge excepted me and the Face decided. Seeing the head rise up on this one a chocolate brown I knew we found a good one. The scent off the glass is coffee and a sweet almost fig scent. On first taste you get a sweet caramel flavor. As you drink more though you get that nice coffee bitter that you would expect. This beer also has a nice body. Full but not thick as bread. The yeast comes through cleanly and helps bring out more of that coffee. Overall lived up to most my expectations, as a said coffee lover!
      This was a great stout from Maine. Bitter and full body it's a strong contrast from Sea Dog brewing. To sea dogs defense though, fruit beers have to be something special to rate, and that's all I've had from them. If you get a McGovern's and not at least appreciate it then you must not appreciate beer. 

Rating: ****1/2

Discord

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Discord

• Brewery: Pyramid (Washington)
  

• Style: Black IPA

• ABV: 6.5%

• IBU: 69

• Pour Color: A very dark red letting through a little light

      On pour this one was quite dark, but didn't look to thick. The scent off the glass was a roasted hoppy scent. The head was nice and thick but disappeared quicker then I like. Bitter is the name of the game on this one. Slightly earthy, slightly citrus, and slightly grassy hops hit you fast and hard! The malts give a nice roasted coffee flavor to back those hops up. Good amount of textures and a good amount of body to this one. The hops are the star of this black IPA for sure though.
      Pyramid is turning out to be really good. The Outburst was great and now this Discord is gonna be sorely missed after the spring season. That's right PEOPLE AND MUSTACHES! This is a must try before it's gone. So go get one!

Rating: ****1/2

Common Man

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Common Man

• Brewery: Three Heads Brewing (New York)
  

• Style: Lager/California Common

• ABV: 5.5%

• IBU: 36

• Pour Color: Golden and light easily past through

      On the pour this one was a perfect gold and see through. Light traveled through it with ease. It had a nice pale malt scent to this one off the top. The head fluffed up quickly. It fought it out with me for about a 1/4 of the first glass. The taste out of this one is bitterer then you would expect with a IBU of 36. A nice full wheat flavor or almost biscuit comes right at the sip. Unlike most lagers though this one has a nice lasting flavor. Echos of the full flavor go on forever in this one. 
      When I think lager I always have flashes of bud. That is not what this beer is at all. It's got a crisp bright flavor that isn't overly sweet and nasty. The common man name doesn't do this one justice cause it is a super beer in disguise. Giving the craft drinker just as good a journey as someone whose new to the craft beer world.

Rating: *****