Category Archives: 4 – Good (buy)

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

Epic Smoked Porter

Friday, 30 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

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.

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

Surly Furious

Monday, 19 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

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.

4 - Good (buy), American Pale Ale, Beer Reviews, Toppling Goliath Brewing Company, USA

Toppling Goliath Light Speed Pale Ale

Friday, 16 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 5.8%
Style: American Pale Ale
Other Notes: 70 IBUs.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) This seasonal pale ale was crafted with a perfect mixture of Millennium hops and Falconer’s flight blend. Inviting orange aroma and hints of lemon flavor in this medium-bodied beauty will make you want to drink yours at light speed!

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.36
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.2

Intro: A 22 fl oz bomber with a bottled on date of 7th July 2015. Poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: Poured a cloudy golden orange colour with a one finger white head that had good retention and nice stringy lacing.
Aroma: Strong tropical fruits especially mango, pineapple and peach with hints of grass and citrus fruits like grapefruit and orange pulp.
Taste: Hop-forward for sure, but very tea like at the same time. Its like a bitter and citrus (orange and lemon) tea with hints of bready malts.
Mouthfeel: Light to medium bodied with light carbonation (too light in my opinion).
Overall: A great pale ale that is very easy to drink. It kind of reminds me a bit of tea and makes it interesting. The only thing is that I would have preferred more carbonation in it although this may take away the interesting tea like feel that I currently get.

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

Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget IPA

Monday, 12 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6%
Style: American IPA
Other Notes: 56 IBUs. Malt – Golden Promise. Hops – Nugget. Brewed by Toppling Goliath Brewing Co., Decorah, IA under special agreement with Brew Hub, Lakeland, FL.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) A winning combination of Golden Promise malt and Nugget hops, this IPA delivers a bouquet of hop, citrus and evergreen aromas, followed by a floral sweetness. Bold, hop-forward taste captivates the senses, leaving behind a pleasant bitterness that lingers in the finish.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.14
My ratebeer.com rating: 4

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle bottled on 30th June 2015 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass.
Appearance: Poured a slightly hazy golden orange colour with a two finger creamy white head that had good retention and nice lacing.
Aroma: Rich tropical fruits especially mango, pineapple, peach and apricot with a hint of sweet citrus like mandarin.
Taste: Light tropical mango upfront which gives way to sweet caramel malt and sweet citrus mandarin before ending with a light grapefruit peel bitterness finish.
Mouthfeel: Sharp, crisp, medium bodied with mid to high carbonation.
Overall: A very solid IPA with great aromas. Taste was sweeter than I expected and I prefer more bitterness in my IPAs, but this was still very good.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Clown Shoes Beer, IPA - Black, USA

Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet

Sunday, 11 October 2015 kitch Leave a comment

Brewery: Clown Shoes Beer
Country: USA
ABV: 7%
Style: American Black IPA
Other Notes: Brewed and bottled by Mercury Brewing Co., Ipswich, MA.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) 80 IBU’s of Columbus and Amarillo balance a dark malt backbone. Warmed in the glass bittersweet flavors emerge from beneath the west coast hops. This Black IPA was first made as a joke, but we crafted the best ale we could dream of.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.97
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 12 fl oz bottle with a bottled on date of 2nd March 2015 and poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: Poured a near opaque black with a one finger caramel coloured head that dissipated slowly leaving spotty lacing.
Aroma: Begins with caramel malts and toffee followed by notes of pine, grass and also some dark chocolate.
Taste: Caramel, black coffee and bittersweet chocolate followed by grassy and piney hops.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: A nice hoppy Black IPA that I would revisit again.

words of another dreamy traveller