Kupko's Mind. Bottled.

Brouwerij De Ranke Pere Noel

2012-01-29T10:52:00.002-05:00

My fiancée had to get here hair done in Philadelphia, so I rode along and went to Monk’s for lunch while she was her appointment. I ordered a glass of Brouwerij De Ranke Pere Noel. The beer pours an orange-gold color with a foamy white head that leaves speckles of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of hay, grass, pine, orange, and lemon. The taste is dry and grassy with an orange citrus background. A hint of caramel hits the tongue and some faint roasted malts linger in the background. A dry hay after taste kicks in, and makes for an enjoyable experience. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought this was a great start to my lunch with a wonderful orange citrus flavor dried out with hay, giving both a sweet and slightly funky experience.

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion

2012-01-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

I ordered a glass of Weyerbacher Hops Infusion while at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly thin white head. The aroma consists of tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, and caramel, but it is a faint aroma. The taste is bitter with grapefruit and tangerine and hints of lemon. The background has some caramel before pepper kicks in on the finish. The alcohol content is 6.2% ABV. While this beer had some good flavors, it did not blow me away. I would drink it again, but not seek it out or travel specifically for it.

Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye

2012-01-28T10:38:00.003-05:00

I ordered a glass of Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye from Al’s of Hampden after previously having it, but not having the chance to review it. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, and rye. The taste is fresh and refreshing with lemon and pine making a strong appearance. There is a nice rye bitterness on the finish and some grassy hops lingering in the background. The alcohol content is 6.6% ABV. I was quite impressed with the Ruthless Rye and how refreshing it was, all while having a great bitterness of rye and hops to keep my tongue entertained.

Founders Imperial Stout

2012-01-28T10:36:00.004-05:00

On a recent visit to Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Founders Imperial Stout. The beer pours a black color with a foamy brown head with bits of lacing on the glass. The aroma is big on chocolate with generous helpings of toasted malts, nuts, cream, and coffee. The taste is dry with rich dark chocolate, a good roasted malt flavor, and a dry pine finish with a nice bitterness. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV. This was a very rich beer with dark chocolate flavors and a great bitterness to offset the sweetness. Overall, it was very excellent and a top notch beer, one I think is a perfect example of the style.

Samuel Adams Black & Brew

2012-01-27T16:30:00.000-05:00

While at poker with some buddies, I opened a bottle of Samuel Adams Black & Brew, part of the winter sampler pack. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head that leaves a lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of fresh chocolate and cream with hints of chocolate. The taste has such a wonderful fresh coffee flavor that it is like drinking out of a coffee pot. A little bit of toasted malts shine through with cream accents and a dry chocolate finish. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. This beer had a great coffee flavor, especially for the price that it sells at individually or included with the variety pack. If you love the flavor of coffee, this is the beer to track down to try.

Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale

2012-01-27T16:29:00.001-05:00

I received a bottle of Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale from Bob Pack in a beer trade. The beer pours an amber color with a foamy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, pine, and has some hints of tangerine. The taste is smooth and bitter at the same time, which was quite engaging. There is a great rounded caramel base with tangerine, lemon, and pine bitter accents. The finish has some tangerine and grapefruit with pepper. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. AS far as pale ales go, this beer is top notch. The smoothness paired with the bitterness was mind blowing, and the citrus flavors did not disappoint the hop head in me.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

2012-01-26T17:39:00.003-05:00

I ordered a glass of Samuel Adams Alpine Spring while out to dinner at Brewhouse Grille in Camp Hill, PA. The beer pours a cloudy golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of lemon, bread, grass, and tea. The taste is light and refreshing with lots of lemon flavor and a caramel malt background. There is bready mouth feel to the beer with grass and a hint of black pepper on the finish. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. The Alpine Spring was a rather good beer, a Helles Lager, and was much more enjoyable than the previous year's spring seasonal, Noble Pils. I can see myself ordering this one again, where I did not want order the Noble Pils again.

Wolaver's Oatmeal Stout

2012-01-26T17:37:00.002-05:00

I picked up a bottle of Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout. The beer pours a black color with a frothy beige colored head that leaves some film on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, milk, oatmeal, toasted malts, and caramel. The taste is biting with bitter dark chocolate and toasted malts. There is a sweet hint of milk and caramel, but oatmeal really dries out the finish. The alcohol content is 5.9% ABV. This Oatmeal Stout had a nice, rich chocolate flavor with an excellent toasted malt balance.

Brasserie La Binchoise Belgoo Magus

2012-01-25T17:30:00.002-05:00

Another bottle I picked up as part of a mixed six-pack was the Brasserie La Binchoise (Malterie des Remparts) Belgoo Magus. The beer pours a pale gold color with a lofty and frothy white head that leaves plenty of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, candi sugar, grass, and earthy hops. The taste is is dry and sweet with lemon, wheat, hints of caramel, and candi sugar. There are earthy accents with grassy hops, and it has a bubbly mouth feel. The alcohol content is 6.6% ABV. While very light bodied, this was quite a delicious witbier with plenty of lemon and earthy flavors.

Shmaltz He'brew Dry Hopped Session Ale

2012-01-25T17:28:00.001-05:00

I picked up a bottle of Shmaltz He’brew Dry Hopped Session Ale from D’s Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head that leaves a bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, caramel, pine, toffee, and grass. The taste is sweet with caramel on the front end with hints of toffee as well. Then a nice bitter hoppy flavor comes in, imparting lemon, pine, and grassy flavors. The after taste is a little bit dry with a toasted caramel flavor and has hints of grapefruit and tangerine. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. I found it off the for being touted as a session beer, there was no alcohol content listed on the bottle. Was this because it was higher than 5%, a number which a lot of people label as being sessionable? Either way, it was an easy drinking and refreshing beer with plenty of flavor.

Pizza Boy Brewing Test Batch Porter with Vanilla Bean and Kopi Luac

2012-01-24T17:48:00.001-05:00

I gave the Test Batch Porter a sip from Pizza Boy Brewing and was about to order a glass when I saw that Al had tapped a firkin of the Test Batch Porter with vanilla bean and Kopi Luac. The beer pours a black color with a frothy beige head that leaves a nice lacing on the glass. The aroma is big on coffee with some chocolate and vanilla hanging out in the background. The taste is smooth and silky with a chocolate flavor up front before a big coffee push takes over the tongue. The coffee flavors taste completely fresh like a coffee shop. A sweet vanilla finish overtakes the bitter coffee flavors. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. Wow, was this beer excellent. I know the base of the beer was quite tasty, but adding the Kopi Luac and vanilla beans just took it over the edge. It was one of the better coffee infused beers that I have tasted.

Millbock Brewing Golden Toos

2012-01-24T17:45:00.002-05:00

Another beer I decided to try at Al’s of Hampden was the Millbock Golden Toos, the second offering from this new local brewery that I got to try. The beer pours a golden color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of yeast, candi sugar, banana, and pepper. The taste is smooth and on the sweet side with banana, yeast, clementines, and hints of pepper and hay. There is a fruity and candi sugar finish. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. This beer errs on the sweet side but is still rather delicious, with a light alcohol burn on the after taste that somewhat balances the sweetness. I would say that it may be just a bit too sweet, but not a bad beer overall.

Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale

2012-01-23T17:47:00.002-05:00

I ordered a glass of Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale that was freshly tapped at Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an orange-gold color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, lemon, tangerine, and orange. The taste is bitter and has a very big hop punch. There is a vibrant citrus profile including orange, lemon, tangerine, and grapefruit. The finish is dry like champagne with pepper and grassy hops. Hints of spruce linger behind on the tongue to make up the after taste. The alcohol content is 5.2% ABV. If you are a fan of bitter and citrusy hops, this beer is absolutely for you. I loved the fresh taste to it with the fresh fruit taste to it, and it lingered behind to keep the taste going.

Pizza Boy Brewing Bock

2012-01-23T17:45:00.002-05:00

I was excited to be at Al’s of Hampden the day that Al tapped his Pizza Boy Brewing Bock. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and sweet with a creamy mouth feel. Chocolate, sweet caramel flavor, and a light dry roasted finish round out the flavors in the beer. The alcohol content is 5.6% ABV. Previously, Al told me that he was really excited about the bock, and I can see why. It had a great flavor with a perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness from the roasted malts. If you get a chance to try this beer, hop on it.

Spring House Pecan Sandie Porter

2012-01-22T15:13:00.002-05:00

Prior to the Everclear concert at the Chameleon club, I stopped in to the Spring House Tap Room to try the Pecan Sandie Porter. The beer pours a black color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, peanuts, nut, and coffee. The taste is dry and chocolaty with coffee lurking in the background. There are hints of pecans, especially as the beer warms, with sugar and peanuts on the finish. Overall, the beer has a creamy mouth feel. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. There were flavors reminiscent of the pecan sandie cookie especially with the sugary background, and it was a great trip down memory lane. While the beer wasn’t very cookie-forward, those flavors provided a nice background to the beer.

Lavery Brewing Imperial Red Ale

2012-01-22T15:11:00.002-05:00

I was given a bottle of Lavery Brewing Imperial Red Ale in a trade with Aleheads. The beer pours a cloudy red-amber color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of fresh hop, pine, grass, and lemon. The taste has a caramel profile before a bitter, lemon, pine, and grass hop finish. Toasted malts linger in the background on the finish. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. I’d say this was a rather delicious red ale with plenty of bitter flavors to keep any hop head happy.

Cisco Brewers Indie Pale Ale

2012-01-21T14:05:00.003-05:00

I grabbed a bottle of Cisco Brewers Indie Pale Ale from D’s Six Pax and Dogz while in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a copper color with a foamy white colored head that leaves some lacing behind on the glass. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, passion fruit, caramel, lemon, and pine. The taste is dry and bitter with roasted caramel coming up front before the citrus burst of grapefruit, tangerine, orange, and lemon. There are also hints of passion fruit before the finish brings out pepper and spruce. The alcohol content is 7.58% ABV. I like the citrus aspect of this beer, but I felt that the toasted malt flavors slightly got in the way of it being refreshing and excellently hopped. Don’t get me wrong: I liked the beer, but I wouldn’t put it up there with the best IPAs.

Stoudt's Revel Red Hoppy Ale

2012-01-21T14:03:00.002-05:00

I picked up a bottle of Stoudt’s Revel Red Hoppy Ale from D’s Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. The beer pours a red-tinted amber color with a lofty and frothy cream colored head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, pine, and has some hints of grass, grapefruit, and passion fruit. The taste is smooth and sweet at first with caramel and toasted toffee on the front end. A sharp hop bite kicks in and gives off some lemon, pine, and pepper flavors. The finish is dry and leaves some toasted malt and grassy flavors behind. The alcohol content is 6.5% ABV. The hops in this beer really take over the flavor profile, as there is only limited exposure to the sweet caramel and toffee flavors. They aren’t overly intense, but provide a decent balance to the sweetness.

Maine Beer Company Zoe

2012-01-20T19:17:00.004-05:00

My fiancee picked me up a bottle of Maine Beer Company Zoe from Al's of Hampden. The beer pours a dark amber color with a lofty and frothy beige color that leaves lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, caramel, toffee, pine, lemon, and pepper. The taste is bitter and hoppy with plenty of pine, lemon, and pepper on the front end. The beer then smooths out a bit with caramel, toffee, and toasted malts. The finish has some linger lemon flavor and pepper that hangs onto the back of the mouth. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. This was a rather delicious amber beer with plenty of hop content, making me salivate the entire time drinking it.

Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition

2012-01-20T19:13:00.002-05:00

I picked up a bottle of Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition from D’s Six Pax and Dogz. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head that has a nice fizzling sound. The aroma consists of vinegar, hay, barnyard fun, candi sugar, and lemon. The taste is funky with a bite of vinegar on the front end. Hay, grass, and barnyard funk kick in on the finish, and the after taste leaves some pepper and earthy flavors behind. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. For the price, this is a wonderful gueuze with great funky flavors and a nice sour kick.

New Glarus Thumbprint Chocolate Abbey

2012-01-19T17:38:00.003-05:00

I received a bottle of New Glarus Thumbprint Chocolate Abbey from RealStormKing in a beer trade. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy beige colored head that leaves some slight lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, raisin, fig, and caramel. The taste is smooth and chocolaty, similar to hot chocolate, with a solid base of chocolate, fig, caramel, and toasted malts. The finish is rather bubbly, and the after taste leaves some earthy and grassy hops linger behind in the mouth. The alcohol content is not available online, but I wold estimate it to be about 8.0% ABV. The chocolate additions to this Belgian dubbel was overly enjoyable. It provided a great dry and chocolaty accent to the sweet flavors of raisin and fig.

Furthermore Knot Stock

2012-01-19T17:36:00.003-05:00

I picked up a bottle of Furthermore Knot Stock from D’s Six Pax and Dogz in Pittsburgh. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, and pepper. The taste is big on pepper, as expected, with some caramel, hints of grass, and a currant flavor. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. The flavor of this beer was very biting, but not as much as expected. While I wouldn’t rank it as one of my favorite beers, it certainly was original and gave a much more peppery accent than solely from hop flavors.

Southern Tier Oak Aged Pumking

2012-01-18T18:09:00.002-05:00

A beer I have been looking for was Southern Tier Oak Aged Pumking, and I have to thank Fat Head’s in Pittsburgh for arranging to tap it when I was in town. The beer pours an orange-amber color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma, as with the non-aged version, consists of pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, pie, and has some hints of oak. The taste is also right down the alley of Pumking, but the oak dulls some of sweetness. It is still easy to pick up the pumpkin pie sweetness, but some of the nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon flavor pull a little more forward. Finally, the oak dries out the finish, eliminating the sweet film that is left on the side of the mouth. The alcohol content is 8.6% ABV. The Oak Aged Pumking is mellower version of a great beer, in my opinion. For those that know me and/or read this blog know that I love Pumking, but I liked this version even better, as the oak gives it a more mature flavor and mouth feel.

Nebraska Little Betty

2012-01-18T18:07:00.002-05:00

Another beer I ordered while at Fat Head’s in Pittsburgh was Nebraska Little Betty. The beer pours a black color with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, caramel, roasted malts, coffee, leather, and molasses. The taste is smooth before a dry coffee flavor settles in with dark chocolate, roasted malts, and molasses. The finish is a bit dry, mostly due to the coffee, with a hint of vanilla sweetness. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. The Little Better had a really good flavor, especially with coffee accents, and had a nice earthy hop flavor. The after taste that linger combined coffee, chocolate, and earthy hops, an excellent combination to hang on to for a while.

Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter

2012-01-17T16:55:00.003-05:00

One of the beers I looked forward to trying on a recent trip to Pittsburgh was the Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo at Fat Head’s. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, vanilla, toasted malts, milk, and oak. The taste is biting at first with bourbon but as it warms, it becomes a sweeter bourbon flavor. There are vanilla accents aplenty in this beer while the chocolate moves to the background with toasted malts and molasses. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. There was lots of bourbon in this beer, but I thought it blended very well with the intense chocolate and toasted malt profile of Gonzo. The touch of vanilla was perfect for this beer, and it played really well with the caramel flavors.