Brian's Beer Blog

We've moved

2010-04-06T17:00:00.002-05:00

The Beer blog is moving; it will now be a part of the new HottJava blog and include my other 3 blogs.

Our new address: www.hottjava.com

Upland's Black IPA

2010-02-16T08:34:00.000-06:00

I had to borrow the logo for this image from the guys over at thefullpint.com; We did this as a live review.This is a very dark beer, much like a stout, you really cannot see through this beer even when held up to the lights. I didn't get any smell of hops off of it, none. And it's not really hoppy at all, much more of a coffee/stout flavor. This is a beer that you could drink a whole lot of, and has a lot of carbonation for a beer than a normal beer. That makes it kind of crisp.

4 on the overall beer scale

3.75 on drinkability

0 on hops, it's just not a hoppy beer.

Thunderhead IPA - Pyramid Brewery - Seattle, Berkely & Portland

2010-01-25T07:02:00.000-06:00

Golden in Color, not a stong scent of Hops off the top of the beer, but it is there. Immediately hits you on the sides and the back of the tongue. It's really, really good. Not an overpowering sense of hops, so it's kinda sweet. There is not a whole lot on the back end, though there is some there.

3.5 as an overall beer
2.0 on the Hop Scale
Drinkability? you could drink three or 4 of these and not be upset about it, so we'll go 3.75 on Drinkability.

Go thunderhead, go IPA. It's delicious.

~Brian

Victory Hop Devil - Downington, Pa

2009-12-30T11:08:00.000-06:00

So...Since I'm on vacation I'm reviewing a beer that I've had many times throughout Ohio and Wisconsin. I don't have my camera cable with me, so I can't pull photos off my camera and hence, I'm borrowing the below photo from another blog. If it disappears, don't blame me :-)

so this is a solidly hoppy beer, kind of a caramel in color and I don't think this hits you on the front of the tongue so much as the middle, sides and back, truly. lots of aroma right up front, with the lingering taste of hops after the finish. I love this beer. If you're a hop fan in any way, get your hands on some.

Overall - 4
Hoppiness - 3.75 to 4
Drinkability - 3 to 3.5 (because of the hops)

Tyranena's Stone Tepee Pale Ale, Lake Mills Wi

2009-12-18T07:46:00.000-06:00

Ok, so admittedly, Tryanena makes one of my favorite beers (the bitter woman IPA), so this post could be a little bias in my review.

This beer smells awesome. Not as bitter as the Bitter Woman, but it's still very tasty; there is a lot of bitterness on it, it's golden in color but it really does hit you in the back of the throat. There isn't a whole lot left there after it first hits you, which is ok because it's such a good beer.

Overall it's not an overpowering Hop, so I would probably put it at a 3

Drinkability - 3.5 or 4

Overall 3.5 or 4

Centenial IPA - Founders

2009-10-09T08:13:00.000-05:00

There isn't a whole lot on the aroma; but a lot of kick up front followed up by a ton on the back end. This is a very hoppy beer, though it is delicious.

3.5 on the Hop Scale

3 overall

2 - 2.5 on drinkability

really strong on the backend.

Shoals Pale Ale

2009-10-09T08:10:00.000-05:00

This beer is awesome. There are a lot of hops up front, but in a good way. Ruby in color. It hits you ever so slightly in the center of the back of the tongue. You get a little bit on the back end, but not a whole lot. It's really not overpowering.

This beer is an all day drinker; not too high on the hop quotient.

Hop Scale - 2.5 - 3

Drinkability- 4

Overall - 4

Just delicious.

Avery IPA - Colorado

2009-09-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

This beer was golden in color as you can clearly see from the photo; I had a bit of trouble discerning the scent of the beer. It was very weak. Once I poured it into a pint glass, there was a little more aroma of the hops there, but not a lot. The first sip of this beer screams cinnamon to me, which belongs in an Xmas ale, not really an IPA IMHO. This beer screams on the front, and has a really subtle finish.

1 or 1.5 on the Hop Scale
2 on overall drinkability due to the cinnamon flavor.
2 as an overall beer.

it's worth noting that Julie disagrees with me on the hoppiness. Says it's higher than I indicated.

El Toro India Pale Ale - El Toro Brewing Co - Morgan Hill, Ca

2009-09-04T16:32:00.000-05:00

Mmmmm.

Deliciously hoppy scent. A little sweet, which is surprising, but delicious.

Strawberry blonde to golden in color. That first sip makes me overlook that there is clearly stuff floating in my beer.

No, I didn't forget to do the dishes again. This would appear to be an unfiltered beer.

Woah. That's a kick in the sides of the tongue. In such a good way. And it hangs around there, just under your tongue, reminding you that it's there. mmmmm.

You should try this beer. It reminds me of some of my favorites at Vox on the east side. That was honestly my first thought. I've had something very simily to this before. Tyreanna perhaps. The Bitter Woman IPA. So good. (both this one and that one)

Now for sure not as powerful on the back of your pallate, there is a nice finish there.

A little heavy on the hop scale for certain.

3.75 Hoppiness.
4 for an overall beer
3.5 on drinkability. You'd probably be done with this beer after about 3. Great though. Nice work El Toro!

Pick Axe Pale Ale - Tommyknocker - Idaho Springs Co

2009-09-04T16:26:00.000-05:00

Blonde really. Just a whiff of hops on the scent. Lots of great hoppy bitterness on the back end. Some sting on the tongue, in a really good way.

1.5 on the Hop Scale

2.5 overall

4 on the drinkability.

Kinda watery

Gale Force IPA - Scuttlebutt Brewing Co - Washington

2009-09-04T16:23:00.000-05:00

This beer was a golden to a ruby in color with a very very slight aroma over all. Good solid hit on the sides of the tongue, but low on the hop scale. Almost not there.

Same on the back side, almost non existent. This beer really lives on the sides of your tongue and for quite a while. it really just hangs out, like a teenager. This is a good beer, most of the day drinker since it's not very overpowering.

2 -> 2.25 on the Hop Scale
3 overall
4 on drinkability.

~B

Hales Pale Ale - Seattle

2009-09-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

So, there was a faint scent of hops on the aroma. I would say that this was between an amber and a ruby color.

I felt it was very watery up front, but it really hits you on the sides of the tongue.

1.5 on the hop scale (julie gave it a 2)

Minor dancing on the back of the throat and in my opinion, no real finish.

I personally felt that it was very watery up front, but Julie seemed to think there was a lot there.

I would give this a 2 as an overall beer. 4.5 on drinkability because it's like drinking water. This is the miller ultralight of pale ales.

~B

Double Dog Pale Ale - Flying Dog Brewing Co

2009-09-02T13:14:00.000-05:00

The first thing I notice about this beer is how sweet it is, it kinda reminds me of the mongoose I reviewed this weekend. Not sweet in a bad way though.

It's really an all out assault on the sides of your tongue, in much the same way that Ed Hardy assaults any sense of decency in the fashion industry.

It may be hard to tell from the photo, but I would consider it Caramel or even Ruby in color; it had a very distinctive and beautiful aroma. Very enticing.

Flat out wow on the Hop scale, probably a 3.5 or a 4. For sure this is not an all day drinker.

I would give this a 3.5 as an overall beer, very low on the drinkability scale though, maybe a 2 since you could likely not consume more than one or two of them in a sitting.

A whole lot on the front end of this one, but it doesn't go away easily. It kinda reminds me of my ex girlfriend. Cold, bitter, you can't spend a lot of time with it, and honestly, I couldn't move on to the next one fast enough.

:-)

Wild Ride - India Pale Ale- Sand Creek Brewing, Black River Falls, Wi

2009-09-02T12:58:00.000-05:00

So I don't want you all to think I've taken to drinking in the middle of the day (employment made me cut back on that), I actually had these next two during the Vikes game on Monday, and I'm just getting around to posting my review.

This is a beer I liked as much as I liked the Snake River, which among those I've reviewed has been a favorite. This beer, much like Pam Anderson, has a whole lot going on up front. It really hits you all up front on the tongue.

Golden in color, as you can see from my photo. This is a very smooth beer with a lot of bite to it. A great little entry level IPA if you're just joining the club.

I give it a 2.5 on the Hop scale, probably a 4 overall, and I've never used this scale before, but a 4 on drinkability. You could go most of the day on this beer.

Good finish to it, the hops really hit you on the back of the throat in my opinion.

~Bri

Farmers Friend Irish Style Ales - Palisade Brewery - Colorado

2009-08-30T18:53:00.000-05:00

So this is an aromatic beer to be sure, but the first thing that struck me about it was how watery it tasted. Very low on the Hop scale, probably a .5 or a 1, you can barely taste that there are even hops in here.

I would say that any taste this beer has is all up front, with very little on the back end. Not one I would personally recommend for all day type drinking, I would say this is much closer to an ale than anything else.

My fiancee was quick to point out that Irish style beers are supposed to be robust and distinctive, this beer doesn't really qualify. "it leaves something to be desired"

I give this a 2 out of 5 overall. This ain't your drunk uncle's beer. In fact, after a little discussion, we came to the conclusion that if we'd ordered this beer in a restaurant, we would have been disappointed.
Keep trying palisades.

Mongoose IPA - Hale's Ale - Seattle Wa

2009-08-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

So, this beer smells really good. not quite as inviting as the snake river, but good. You can still catch a whiff of the Hops off of it. It's surprisingly sweeter than the first two, but still very good. still very hoppy. This reminds me more of the red truck in that it really hits you on the side of the tongue rather than all over. Very golden in color rather than the ruby of the Red Truck. I feel that it is sadly lacking on the back end.

A fine beer, I doubt I would make this a regular in my arsenal of beers, but if I ordered it in a bar, I would not have been disappointed.

Highish hop content, I would call it about a 3.25 out of 5.

As for overall quality of the beer, I would go probably a 3. A fine beer, but it wouldn't make my recommended beer list.

Snake River - Pale Ale - Jackson Hole, Wy

2009-08-30T15:31:00.000-05:00

So this beer is delicious. You can tell from the photo, more golden in color than the red truck.
The aroma is inviting, you can just catch a whif of the hops there as you drink in the aroma.

The first sip is fantastic, kind of a hoppy vapor comes right off the beer as you sample it. It is something that for me, hits you all over the tongue, whereas the red truck was very much on the sides of the tongue for that bitterness.

Now this is a beer that I would drink regularly and be happy about it. I would say that if this beer left something to be desired, it's that there was a solid punch up front with not much in the back. It sort of reminds me of our waitress at dinner last night. But you know, the more I think about it, the more I almost don't care. This is like the "butterface" of beer. The front end of this thing is so good, that I don't really care how it finishes as long as I have some more.

So on a hoppiness scale, I'll call this guy a 4 out of 5.

For an overall, I'm inclined towards a 3.5 to a 4. Good, good beer. Nice work snake river.

Palisade Brewery - Red Truck IPA

2009-08-30T15:02:00.000-05:00

So this is a very nice, very crisp beer. Not overly heavy on the Hops, but enough to qualify as an IPA.

It has a very mild scent, personally I like a little more upfront in my beers, but it's fine; there is a bit there. For me, most of the flavor (apart from the Hops) comes on the back end of this beer producing a quality finish.

So, on the scale of hoppiness, I would give this beer a 3 out of 5.

Overall, I would give this beer probably a 3 or a 3.5.

I wouldn't be dissappointed if I had to drink it on a regular basis. If you're just looking to get into IPAs, and want to start somewhere to get used to how hops affect the tast of a beer, you could certainly start in worse places. This is nowhere near the level of say the Siera Nevada Torpedo, that's just plain ridiculous. That said, this is a solid beer, and a solid IPA. Like most IPAs though, you probably could not drink this all day long, but it's a really nice break from standard beer.

If you're an IPA love like me however, I would say this is a solid beer, but not a stand out.