Pecan Harvest Ale

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Pecan Harvest Ale

• Brewery: Abita Brewing Company (Louisiana)

• Style: Nut Brown Ale

• ABV: 5.2%

• IBU: 20

• Pour Color: A nice see thru orange color

      A decent head came up to about two fingers high. The scent off the glass nutty malty scent. A nice caramel scent too. The color is that of autumn leaves. The taste is a nice roasted nutty mix, amazing really. I find such a light full flavored beer is really refreshing. The roasty nut flavors echos after a swallow to delicious.
      This is my favorite harvest ale, from Abita, so far. Infact the amount of nut flavor you get from the pecans makes this one of my favorite beers. Slightly thinner body to this one then most. Really a lighter beer that delivers the kinds of nut and roasted flavor you expect from a dark beer.

Rating: ****1/2

Sublimely Self-Righteous

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Sublimely Self-Righteous

• Brewery: Stone Brewing Company (California)

• Style: Black IPA

• ABV:8.7%

• IBU: 90

• Pour Color: Dark color that swallows most the light. Slightly brown head to it.

      The pour came out extremely dark. Held up to light, you get a slight red color through the glass. The head came up to be 3 fingers easy and was quite formidable. It took four or five fights with it to make it go down. The scent off the glass was all hops really. A nice mix of piney, grassy hops that most beers can't get. The taste was really where this one overwhelmed. Not just hops there. You get the fair share of hops in the opening. In the mouth you notice a thicker body then the average beer. The swallow was a nice mix of coffee, chocolate, and hops at the end. Quite delicious all and all.
      Late in the year it's hit and miss on seasonal offerings. This is an exception but what else would you expect from Stone! Sublimely Self-Righteous makes you excited for winter to come as this will be your reward. Even if instead of San Diego California you live in upstate New York or anywhere in between!  

 
Rating: *****

Hoss

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hoss

• Brewery: Great Divide Brewing Company (Colorado)

• Style: Oktoberfest

• ABV: 6.2%

• IBU:

• Pour Color: A Clear Orange Color
  
  
  
        On pour the head stood up about two fingers high. Shining a darker orange in my glass. The scent is very malty, as an Oktoberfest should be. It had a nice caramel and fig scent too. The taste was a mix of caramel, clove, and yeast. Very well ballenced taste. This is a Oktoberfest that most people would love!
        Hoss is a delicious Oktoberfest beer that tastes great. It's got that clean malt character you expect and a little more hop character then some. Much sweeter flavor then I like for the most part though. The bitter is there too though and good. Your mustache would be loving Hoss if it was bathing in it right now!
  
  Rating: *****

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: *****

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: *****

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