Monthly Archives: October 2015

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Epic Brewing Company, Smoked Beer, USA

Epic Smoked Porter

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Brewery: Epic Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: Smoked Beer
Other Notes: Malts – Maris Otter, Two Row Brewers, Smoked Malt. 2-Rpw Chocolate Malt, CaraMunic III, Carafa III. Hops – Nugget, Mt. Hood, Willamette.

Brewer Description: (from website) This nostalgic porter evokes memories of chocolate and coffee around a campfire. The cherry wood smoked malt used in this beer gives it a heavy smokiness that blends smoothly into the chocolate malty body. With a silky finish this porter is ideal for sipping on a cold winter’s eve.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.82
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 22oz bomber from release batch #33 with a brew date of 2nd March 2015 and a packaged date of 16th March 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau stout glass.
Appearance: It poured a deep dark brown with amber hues and a nice one fingered tan head that dissipated to a thin creamy layer and leaves spotty lacing.
Aroma: The smoke aromas were light but instead mainly chocolate, some dark fruits and hints of coffee.
Taste: Felt more smoke in the taste than the aromas, but still on the light side. On top of the smoke though, there is chocolate with hints of toffee, plum and raisin as well as some nice light bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium bodied and light to medium carbonation.
Overall: I enjoyed this but the smokiness in both the aroma and taste was less than I expected. Despite this, I would probably still buy this again.

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3 - Indifferent (buy if no other choice), Beer Reviews, Smoked Beer, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Smoked Porter

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 5.9%
Style: Smoked Beer
Other Notes: 53 IBUs. Hops – Magnum and Mt. Hood.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) So you want something dark do you? We’ve got you pegged. You are the type who saddles up to the bar, scanning the tap handles for something beyond the pale, fizzy pabulum whose all too familiar neon advertisements garishly adorn the windows of taverns and bottle shops across the land. Or perchance you are one of those forlorn souls who think they don’t like dark beer. Either way, prepare to be enchanted. Deep mahogany around the edges and approaching pitch black in the center, Stone Smoked Porter is mysterious, smoky and verging on utterly decadent. Connivingly complex, this polished ebony gem is excellent with BBQ’d meats; amazing with fine chocolates, cheesecake and other rich desserts; and even pretty damn good with a well-crafted PB&J sandwich. With each sip you’ll discover a seamless meld of subtle chocolate overtones, subdued coffee and light smoky licorice, dark fruit, roastiness and perhaps even caramel.

Our Philosophy: We at Stone Brewing Co. pride ourselves in creating ales of world-class distinction and innovative character. We feel that every beer we make should reflect the honesty, integrity and craftsmanship with which we joyfully approach our work. We also feel that it’s OK to brew styles of beer that not everyone appreciates – yet that some people absolutely LOVE – because if you make it your goal to try and please everyone all of the time, you’ve got a sure-fire formula for ordinariness and mediocrity. That’s not who we are. Oh, and for all you devoted lovers of Stone Smoked Porter, don’t worry if you turn somebody new on to this beer. We’ll keep brewing enough of it. After all, WE love it too.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.52
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 22 fl oz bomber with a bottled on date of 17th July 2015 and an enjoy by date of 14th November 2015. Poured into a Spiegelau stout glass.
Appearance: Poured a dark dark brown colour with a light amber hue and a nice two fingered tan head that dissipates slowly leaving stringy lacing.
Aroma: Smokey, roasted malts with some light chocolate and cream.
Taste: Roasted malts and bittersweet chocolate. There is also some light smoke which is ashy and hints of licorice and milk coffee.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, smooth, medium bodied with light to medium carbonation.
Overall: The smoke taste was a bit ashy for me, but otherwise this was a nice smoked porter.

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3 - Indifferent (buy if no other choice), Beer Reviews, Belgian IPA, Stone Brewing Co., USA

Stone Cali-Belgique IPA

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Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Country: USA
ABV: 6.9%
Style: Belgian IPA
Other Notes: A California-style IPA with a Belgian twist.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The term “Cali” hints that this is a California-style IPA, and “Belgique”/”Belgie” highlights its undeniable Belgian influence. We carefully selected a Belgian yeast strain that presents a delicious twist but keeps the beer recognisable as a relative of its very American predecessor. Think of it as Stone IPA’s otherwise identical twin that was raised in a Belgian culture. Literally.

This beer looks the same as Stone IPA, yet there is something unmistakably transformed. The aromas of Stone IPA and this beer have some similarities, but Stone Cali-Belgique IPA is decidedly a bit more, shall we say, different. A gentle sweetness joins the fold; you might even pick up hints of bubblegum. All in all, we find it fascinating and delicious the way the Belgian yeast expresses itself. And so we proudly say, “C’est avec le grand plaisir que nous le presentons vous!” or “Het is met geweldig genoegen dat wij het naar u voorstellen!”

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.27
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on date of 14th July 2015 and an enjoy by date of 11th November 2015. Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly leaving thin sticky lacing.
Aroma: Belgian yeasts, bready malt, honey, citrus lemon and orange.
Taste: Starts sweetish with honey, banana and bubblegum followed by biscuit and some light citrus orange, lemon and grapefruit giving it a light bitter finish.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: The Belgian yeast really shows in both the aromas and taste and is a decently made Belgian IPA.

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5 - Excellent (must buy), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, USA

Toppling Goliath pseudoSue

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My 100th beer review, and I’ve saved a great beer to celebrate this.

Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.8%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: 50 IBUs. Brewed by Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., Decorah, IA under special agreement with Brew Hub, Lakeland, FL.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This single hop pale ale showcases the Citra hop for a well balanced beer that is delicate in body with a mild bitterness in the finish. Ferocious aromas of citrus and mango give way to pseudoSue’s unique and refreshing taste that is clean and bright with just enough bite!

My rating: 5
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.9
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.7

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle bottled on 15th June 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a slightly hazy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that fades fairly quickly to a thin foamy layer but leaves lots of nice spotty lacing.
Aroma: A nice mix of citrus and tropical fruits with orange, lemon, grapefruit, passionfruit and mango. There are hints of pine here and there.
Taste: Starts off tropical with mango and passionfruit leading the way in addition to hints of peach and apricot along the way. The finish is a nice lightly bitter grapefruit and orange pith. The balance between sweet and bitter here is perfect.
Mouthfeel: Dry, crisp, light to medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: I loved it. Lived up to its hype and is in my opinion better than Zombie Dust. I really need to find more of this must buy beer.

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4 - Good (buy), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Surly Brewing Company, USA

Surly Furious

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Brewery: Surly Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: Malt – 2-row, Golden Promise, Aromatic, Medium Crystal, Roasted Barley. Hops – Warrior, Ahtanum, Cascade, Simcoe, Amarillo.

Brewer Description: (from can) A tempest on the tongue, or a moment of pure hop bliss? Brewed with a dazzling blend of American hops and Scottish malt, this crimson-hued ale delivers waves of citrus, pine and caramel-toffee. For those who favor flavor, Furious has the hop-fire your taste buds have been screaming for.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.29
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 16 fl oz can canned on 8th July 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: It poured a clear copper amber colour with slightly less than two finger white head that leaves spotty lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit especially mango, peach and apricot, caramel malt, biscuit and hints of grass and pine.
Taste: Less fruit than I expected. Mainly malt, biscuit, caramel and lasting piney bitterness. Maybe a hint of citrus grapefruit, and its peel, but not much.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A very nice IPA. It was a lot less fruity than I expected after taking a whiff of the aromas, but the malty and piney hop bitterness was balanced and very good.

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