BlueBerry Blonde Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: BlueBerry Blonde Ale

• Brewery: Saranac Brewing Company (New York)

• Style: Fruit Beer

• ABV:5.0%

• IBU: 18

• Pour Color: Golden but hazzy, can't see through it.

      The pour was golden and hazzy. A malty blueberry scent off the top of the glass. The head was nice and fluffy and only hung out for a few sips. The taste is not over overbearingly blueberry tasting. It's in the sip but it's light. You notice more tones of the wheat malts and oats that give it a good wheat taste. A little thicker then some other summer ales. Still easy drinking and a nice blueberry kick on it that's nice on a summer day.
      Summer fruit beer and I gotta say I enjoy it. This is another beer that comes in a can and makes it nice for next to the pool or on the beach. Light on the fruit flavor unlike most fruit beers this one only gives you a hint. If it's hot, and your looking for a refreshing change to the summer seasonal with lemon, then grab this one and give it a try. 

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

Saison Du Buff

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Saison Du Buff

• Brewery: Victory Brewing Company

• Style: Saison

• ABV: 6.8%

• IBU:?

• Pour Color: A slightly off colored gold slighly hazy.

      This was an interesting pour to a beer. Not quite a golden color and just a light haze to the beer. Still it was almost see through. The head was there for a few seconds. Quite a spicey scent off this one. Parsley is the main smell off the top of the glass with a slight citrus tone. That citrus tone comes through so much more in the taste. The spicey taste continue too. The yeast comes through very strong on taste also. This is an extremely unique saison, a style of beer I usually don't like. This one is delicious though.
      A great range of flavor and a delicious taste. However, this one I couldn't see myself drinking everyday. Cooking with it though could go on for months. The flavors of this one are so far ranging and could make a lot of dishes taste great. Chicken soaked in this, and a few extra spices over night, would be great on the grill.  

Rating:****

A Dark Night In Munich

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: A Dark Night In Munich

• Brewery: Samuel Adams Brewing Company (Massachusetts)

•  Brewer: Corey Martin

• Style: Munich Dunkle Lager

• ABV: 5.9%

• IBU:?

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

     The Face popped this one open and it poured perfect. A nice high head that stuck around only a short while. The red color of this one really makes for a gorgeous look in a pint glass. The scent off the top was a caramel malt scent, not much hops. A yeasty bready scent off the top to. The taste out the glass was another malt explosion. A nice mix of caramel and chocolate makes up most of this one. The yeast spice is a nice element too. Also a nice earthy blend of hops balances this one away from being to sweet. Really a delicious blend, of flavor, with a slight over carbonation to me. I'd bathe in it again just about anytime though! 
      Being the Face is also a home brewer it's no wonder this would show up in front of me. Corey Martin did a great job for a beer that any mustache should love. The head disappeared quick and the sweetness of this one doesn't leave me sticky. On top of that it's at a 5.9% ABV. I dare you to find another Dunkle lager like that. This one was a no brainer. Delicious and created by a home brewer, what more could you want? 

 
Rating:****

Lobster Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Lobster Ale

• Brewery: Belfast Bay Brewing Company (Maine)

• Style: Red Ale

• ABV: 5.5%

• IBU:?

• Pour Color: Dark almost bronze or orange color, light passes through easily.

      As the face poured, I could smell a sweet malty scent. This one smelled much more high alcohol then the 5.5 it's listed at. The head was big and creamy strangely enough. It sat on the top of the glass for a good while. This one has a real strange taste for a red ale. Raisin and caramel flavors are fine but don't blend well with the hops. A slightly bitter kick that makes it taste almost like a watered down whiskey or bourbon. Not a favorite of mine.
      This one wasn't that good. It seemed like a beer that didn't have a place. It had some of the characters of a red ale but seriously tasted watered down. The flavors are all there to be a great beer but there just to muted. The muted flavors then leave you with a weird after taste. You could easily find red ales I love on this site. Lobster really isn't that memorable. 

Rating:*

Headwaters Pale Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Headwaters Pale Ale

• Brewery: Victory Brewing Company (Vermont)

• Style: Pale Ale

• ABV: 5.1%

• IBU:?

• Pour Color: A hazzy golden color that light passes through.

      On pour, you could see a head coming up that was fluffy and would be drenching me sip after sip. A nice hoppy scent of grapefruit and grassyness coming off the glass. It sat golden and looked tauntingly delicious to this mustache. The taste of this one is more hop then malt, as you would expect from a pale ale. The citrus grassy taste comes through quickly and is a nice mix of hops. The malt is a nice mellow background flavor. Not really a sweet flavor like some pales like to go with. Overall a really good pale ale that I would make the face buy again.
      First question I ask when tasting a pale. Is this like dales? I say no on this one. That isn't a real problem though, as this one is still great. The hops to make it a pale are all there and as I said this one isn't a sweet malt. That just allows you to take all that hop goodness in. That crisp taste of hops makes this a great beer for a warm summer day. I really really liked this beer each and every time it got stuck in the follicles. 

Rating:****1/2

Hazed and Infused

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hazed and Infused

• Brewery: Boulder Beer Company (Colorado)

• Style: Pale Ale

• ABV: 4.85%

• IBU: 70

• Pour Color: A hazzy golden color that light passes through.

      Hazed and Infused seemed to be right down my alley. The face grabbed it due to it's hippie look. Out the bottle it had a nice head that would stay for most the beer (I imagine). The scent was piney hops and a slight malt character. The color was a hazzy gold. It was the taste that threw me off. Once on the follicles I got a strong taste of iron that pretty much ruined this one from the get go. The hops and malts were ballenced and good but the strong taste of iron was horrid, ruining the whole experience. A few drenches and I couldn't take anymore. This and pork slap are the only beers I've ever had that the Face poured out. 
      Maybe it was the bottle... Although it did say enjoy by the 27th of this month. Or maybe it's just me. This beer has a yeast strain that must be close to Brewcrafters cause they have a similar taste. Although with Brewcrafters I've never been drenched in what tastes like blood is an ingredient. Also this is the first beer from Colorado that has been horrid! Being from the state that produces Oskar Blues beer that shouldn't be possible!

Rating:

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: *****

Turbo Dog

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: TurboDog

• Brewery: Abita Brewing Company (Louisiana)

• Style: Brown Ale

• ABV: 5.6%

• IBU:28

• Pour Color: Brown color till held up and it gets a dark red look. Light travels through Easy.

      This had a nice head that seemed to pop up and disapear quick. It held it's ground at the edges of the beer for the rest of the pint. Easily came back out of the hairs! The scent was a nice caramel and roasted coffee scent. Didn't get to big a wiff of hops. The first thing you taste is the caramel and the coffee in this one. A nice kick of chocolate is there too. You also get a nice kick of raisin from the hops I would imagine. A really weird ballence that works fairly well. 
      Been away for awhile, but found a fairly good one to come back on. Abita has a strawberry ale that's great so when we saw a brown ale, one of the Face's favorite, we had to try it. The clear taste of raisin is not something I had expected from a brown ale. Really added a nice character. All and all this was a really good brown ale!

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: ***