Hoppy Boy

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Hoppy Boy

• Brewery: Twisted Pine Brewing (Colorado)

• Style: American Pale Ale

• ABV: 5.7%

• IBU: 50

• Pour Color: Dark golden color.

      A sweet malt and hoppy scent off the top. A nice golden color a little darker then most pales. The head was a good size and stuck around for a good few splashes into the follicles. The flavor of this one is much sweeter then most pales I've had. Almost a sweet orange flavor to it. Very ballenced for being a pale.
      It says balance is the key but this one is on the hoppy side. I disagree with that statement. This one was really sweet and seemed to hide the hoppy bitter I expected and wanted. I could see this being a gateway beer for someone but it's not a really hoppy beer. I even would say the malts were the star of this beer making for easy drinking. It just didn't strike me as a pale ale though. Good but not anything I'd go out of my way to find.  

Rating: **1/2

Even Keel

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Even Keel

• Brewery: Ballest Point (California)

• Style: Session IPA

• ABV: 3.8%

• IBU: 40

• Pour Color: Dark golden color maybe even a bronze that allowed light thru.

      The face poured this one and the smell hit me quick. A nice citrus grassy scent off the top. The head was two fingers high to begin with and disappeared rapidly. The color in the glass was a bronze shade that allowed light thru. I imagine some kind of caramel malt is used to get that shade in a session ipa. It also had a nice little bit of hop haze to it. The flavor gives you a slight sweet taste of malts that coincides with a bitter almost tangerine, orange, grapefruit flavor. This beer is able to pack a punch that most session ales can't. A good beer to have a few when you can't get smashed. 
      I went to a tap take over from Ballest Point at the basin pub in my area of New York. They had alot of big beers but I had to drive home and I live a half hour away at the very least. This was the beer that got me through. Full of flavor and a real low ABV. Up till that night i didn't give many sessions a chance cause they were just so laid back. This one actually packs the flavor IPA drinkers are looking for. 

Rating: ****1/2

Not Your Fathers Rootbeer

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Not Your Fathers Rootbeer

• Brewery: Small Town Brewery (Illinois)

• Style: Spiced Beer

• ABV: 5.9%

• IBU: ?

• Pour Color: A very dark brown that keeps most light at bay.

      As the face poured it I didn't see much characters of a beer. The head disappeared instantly. The color was dark brown and let little light pass thru it. The scent off the top wasn't beer either it was a mix of spice, vanilla, and a little alcohol scent. The flavor was almost exactly like the rootbeer barrel candies. Slightly sweeter and with a deeper vanilla tone. The body of the beer was really thin and over carbonated compared to most beers. This isn't a beer drinkers beer this is a soda pop with alcohol in it.
      The question you have to ask yourself is do you want soda or do you want beer. This doesn't drink like a beer. It doesn't have the body and it's way more carbonated then most beers. But it delivers on what it sells on the label. A nice clean tasting rootbeer that has a little more vanilla then most other rootbeers. As long as you know what your getting into this isn't a bad beer by any means. If you really want to call it a beer. Really torn on the rating of this one cause I love it for what it is but it's not beer to me. Really really good though.

Rating: ****

Total Domination

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Total Domination

• Brewery: Ninkasi Brewing Company (Oregon)

• Style: IPA

• ABV: 6.7%

• IBU: 65

• Pour Color: A nearly see thru dark golden color. 

      The scent as it poured was a piney slightly sweet scent. The golden darker color had a good haze to it showing it was hoppy and unfiltered. The head on the top of the beer was fluffy and faded down quick. It did leave lacing down about half the glass before totally dissipating. The flavor was a little off to me. The bitterness of the hops came across as more of a peel bitter. It also had a slightly sweet and sour backing that was weird. As you swallow this on though you get a strong alcohol taste for a few seconds and it echos for awhile. Very strange beer that I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find. 
      This really wasn't my favorite beer. The bottle didn't have a best by date or born on date. So the sour flavor I got off it could have been it sitting to long. That sour flavor really was off. This experience alone would make me personally shy away from taking a swim in Ninkasi beer from now on. Luckily this isn't my only experience with ninkasi and I know they have other beers that are good. Maybe soon I'll get a fresh IPA from them and it'll change my mind but for now Total Domination isn't a accurate description of what was in this bottle.    

Rating: **1/2

Captain Banana

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Captain Banana

• Brewery: Three Heads Brewing (New York)

• Style: Unfiltered Wheat

• ABV: 6%

• IBU: 18

• Pour Color: A very hazy gold to dark yellow color. Little light gets thru. 

      A decent head as we started to eye each other up. The color was a nice full bodied gold. You can tell this beer was not filtered in the slightest. I hit the foam full force and bested it. A nice wheat flavor to this beer. Almost a slight sour dough flavor to. The banana that they advertise on the side of the bottle gives it a slight sweetness and evens it out nicely. The banana comes through as a slightly under ripened banana. A really nice wheat beer through and through. 

      Captain banana is another great logo and story from three heads. Luckily it's also another good beer. You can tell right from the get go that if you don't like unfiltered beer this isn't down your alley and the wheat flavor is gonna be heavy. The balance that the banana brings to the mix is what makes it a easy sipping beer. Great beer to take a swim in and make my return to beer reviews! Glad i got to try it with some cookie dough at hometown throwdown at lovin cup recently!!!!

Rating: ****

Electric Ray

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Electric Ray

• Brewery: Sierra Nevada and Ballest Point

• Style: IPL

• ABV: 8.5

• IBU: 80

• Pour Color: A bronze color in the glass with light coming right thru!

       This one looked great in the glass. A golden slightly hazed bronze that really showed light thru. The scent off the glass was a strong piney and citrusy hops. The yeast smell I've come to expect from sierra beers in this pack also said hello. The head was actually quite fluffy and hung around for a good few sips. The taste was a nice balance of a slightly sweet malt bed with a fully floral hop presence. The flavor is that of a nice full bodied IPL that would be 5% not a big 8.5%.... The 70 IBU can get a IPA lover wondering if this is just a IPA.... Really a amazing beer to be had and maybe the best of this pack!
        Electric ray was the first beer that reminded me of the brewery it came from in collaboration not just produced by. Invasion from Ballest Point has a great hop character that really has it's own floral arrangement. This one had a lot more then just the ballenced approach of a pale. It also had very little back bone of malt at the end. One of the best parts of the invasion from Ballest Point. All and all though i have had few IPLs that live up to the India Pale name that they claim. This one does that and more!

Rating: *****

Double Latte

The Beer Stats:

• Beer Name: Double Latte

• Brewery: Sierra Nevada and Ninkasi Brewing Company

• Style: Milk Stout

• ABV: 7.6%

• IBU: 60

• Pour Color:Dark black color with no light getting thru.

       A big head came up on this beer and lasted most of the glass. A very formidable foe! A nice chocolate and coffee flavor comes through. A real dark color to this beer and even the head had a nice brown color. The body of the beer is richer but not as thick as I expected from a milk stout. Nice roasted flavor to the whole brew. The sweet character of the milk also comes through. A good milk stout and dark beer from a pack that really seems hop forward so far.
       First dark beer outta this pack and I was all sorts of excited. Every burly hair was waiting for the first sip. The head even when bested was leaving lacing down the whole glass. The mouth feel is the one thing that seemed wrong with this one. Yes it was thicker then most I feel it could have went heavier on that lactose sugar. Slightly creamy feel but just not enough for me. The coffee and roasted malts definitely came through clearly in this one. Really great beer but there and back is still number one in this pack!

Rating: ****1/2