Category Archives: USA

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Oskar Blues Brewery, Porter - English, USA

Oskar Blues Death By Coconut

Thursday, 23 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Oskar Blues Brewery
Country: USA
ABV: 6.5%
Style: English Porter
Other Notes: 25 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from website) Intense pure liquid cacao flavors swirl with popping coconut aromas, all supported by a semi-sweet porter made from loads of our dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malt. This limited release specialty comes around once a year to satisfy that sweet tooth, so get ’em while you can before they disappear. At 6.5% ABV and 25 IBUs, this choconut goodness will have you yellin’ “Pass. Dash. Hit.” all winter long.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.08
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 6th October 2016. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: Black in colour with a dark brown hue on the edges, a two finger tanned head that had decent retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Strong coconut and vanilla with chocolate, caramel and biscuit.
Taste: Sweet-ish milk chocolate, coconut and vanilla.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: I preferred the taste over the aroma as I felt that the coconut was a bit overpowering in the aroma. This was not the case with the taste which was on the sweet side but still nicely flavoured. An easy drinking Porter.

2 - Maybe (likely wouldn't buy, might drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Witbier, Cigar City Brewing, USA

Cigar City Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale

Wednesday, 22 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing
Country: USA
ABV: 5.5%
Style: Belgian Witbier
Other Notes: White Ale brewed with curacao peel and coriander

Brewer Description: (from can) The Cracker Cowboys of Florida were colonial-era settlers, often of Scots-Irish descent, who arrived in Florida when Spain traded their territory of La Florida to the English. The term Cracker in Florida usage relates to the whip these “cow hunters” used to herd cattle in Florida’s Palmetto Prairies. Called Quaqueros by the Spanish, these hardy and hard working Cracker Cowboys helped to shape the history of Florida, the nation’s oldest cattle raising state. We brew Florida Cracker White Ale with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander and then ferment it with a French Saison yeast strain to give it a spicy and dry finish. Perfect for a warm day on the Palmetto Prairie.

My rating: 2
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.39
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with a canned on date of 7th September 2016. Poured into a Spiegelau Wheat Ale glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy golden straw yellow colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left some sparse spotty lacing.
Aroma: Wheat, coriander, clove and overripe banana sweetness with a hint of citrus peel.
Taste: Coriander and wheat upfront with a touch of lemon citrusness. However after that, the taste just suddenly falls off to almost nothing.
Mouthfeel: Dry-ish, light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It was certainly refreshing and quite nice when it first hits your mouth, but after that, I felt that its main problem appeared which was that the taste just falls off really quickly to nothing after the initial hit.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), American IPA, Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, USA

Founders Azacca India Pale Ale

Friday, 17 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 70 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from packaging) Named after the Haitian God of Agriculture. The Azacca hop has an intense tropical aroma with hints of citrus and mango. A touch of caramel malt gives a sweet backbone to support the righteous fruit character of this beer. Pouring a burnt orange color and registering at 7.0% ABV. Your taste buds will worship this heavenly, hopped delight.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.77
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.6

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a best by date of 10th May 2017. Poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a big three finger off white head that had great retention and lacing.
Aroma: Mango, pineapple, orange and pine with lingering citrus rind and zest.
Taste: Sweet caramel malts with tropical mango and pineapple, followed by pine and bitter citrus rind and zest. There’s also a touch of herbal and floral element on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate to light carbonation.
Overall: This was a decent IPA, but a touch on the sweet side for me as I prefer nice long lasting bitterness.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Founders Brewing Company, Stout - Imperial, USA

Founders Lizard of Koz

Thursday, 16 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Founders Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 10.5%
Style: American Imperial Stout
Other Notes: 40 IBUs

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Imperial Stout brewed with blueberries, chocolate and vanilla. Aged in bourbon barrels.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.53
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 750ml bottle with no visible bottled on or best by date. Poured into a snifter.
Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger tanned head that dissipated fairly quickly while leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Roasted malts, milk chocolate, vanilla and sour blueberries. It sounds good, but this combination in this form was a bit of a disappointment for me.
Taste: Overwhelming sweet blueberries and chocolate with only a touch of vanilla. I feel the bourbon is actually there too, kind of creeps in here and there, but is just completely covered by the blueberries.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied with low carbonation.
Overall: This seems to be a love or hate beer for a lot of people, even though I appear to be kind of in the middle. I shared this with my girlfriend who had about 200ml, while I finished the other 550ml. The first few sips were actually pretty good, but towards the end, due to the sweetness, it was slow going trying to finish it. I felt this would have been better in a 12 fl oz bottle. This way, one person could enjoy it and you could just open another bottle if you needed more. Perhaps aging this would make it better by toning down the blueberries, but as always, there’s no guarantees.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Anchor Brewing Company, Beer Reviews, California Common / Steam Beer, USA

Anchor Brotherhood Steam

Monday, 13 February 2017 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Anchor Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.6%
Style: California Common / Steam Beer
Other Notes: Dry-hopped beer

Brewer Description: (from website) In the spring of 2014, our friends of Chris Robinson Brotherhood released their album “Phosphorescent Harvest” and kicked off their U.S. tour in the SF Bay Area. To celebrate, we tapped the first keg of our Brotherhood Steam Beer, a Golden State Collaboration of handcrafted California tunes and handcrafted California brews.

Inspired by the brewing tradition of our flagship, Anchor Steam® Beer, Brotherhood Steam Beer is brewed with its own unique recipe. A distinct malt bill gives the beer its copper color, and dry-hopping with Citra and Nelson Sauvin hops adds aromatic hints of citrus and mint. The result is a smooth, full-bodied malt flavor with a lingering, fresh hop finish.

A long-standing English brewery tradition is to designate their beers, “Ordinary”, “Best or Special”, and “Extra Special Bitter” (ESB) to note beers of increasing strength.

In the spirit of that tradition, we like to think of Brotherhood Steam Beer as an Extra Special Lager (ESL), aka “The Gig Beer” – an easy drinking brew from the first set to encore.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.5
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.4

Intro: A 12 fl oz can with no visible canned on or best by date. Poured into a stemmed Mikkeller tasting glass.
Appearance: A clear copper orange colour with a just less than two finger off white head that had decent retention and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Citrus orange, citrus zest, grass, herbal, caramel and toasty biscuit.
Taste: Grapefruit, orange, lemon, citrus zest, caramel, biscuit malt sweetness, herbal and floral.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nicely balanced and easy to drink.

words of another dreamy traveller