Captain Lawrence - Captain's Reserve IIPA

Who doesn't appreciate a nice beer offering? My rockstar uncle is visiting from New York, and brought with him a local treat. Captain Lawrence hails from Pleasantville, NY (pleasant!) - its website offers lots of information about the brewery and owner. He's adorable. He started brewing at age 17, studied brewing in college (at age 18, before he could even legally drink his product). In 2006 he opened Captain Lawrence - largely run by his family. Cute.

Captain Lawrence's Captain's Reserve was poured fresh into a growler and carefully transported from New York to Michigan (through treacherous snow storms, no less!). This Imperial India Pale Ale is a big beer. A big, delicious beer. It poured a clear, pretty, light honey-like amber with a thin white head. A later (warmer) pour brought forth a larger, fluffier head and lots of sticky lace. Everything about this beer screams "fresh." The smell is very piney. And the taste--pineapple-grapefruit-pine hops. 80 IBUs (International Bittering Units -- nerds), 9% ABV (Alcohol By Volume), and 20 OGs. This is a new acronym for me. Can someone explain Original Gravity units in layman's terms please? Or maybe Captain Lawrence has 20 original gangsters. Whatever it is, it's working.
As per the brewery's website -- This beer is a salute to the ingenuity and creativity of the American craft brewers. A uniquely American style of beer, the Double or Imperial IPA, has become the calling card of many craft brewers who aren't afraid to push the limits of what hops can add to a beer. This beer is big and hoppy - not for the faint of heart! Be prepared to experience sensory overload as you savor this Imperial IPA.

Indeed. This beer is big and hoppy. And did I mention that this beer was super tasty? While the flavors are strong, it is still very drinkable. It's not an overly bitter beer to slowly sip; there is balance. A great Imperial IPA. Beeradvocate.com rates it a 91% (exceptional) and Ratebeer.com rates it a 99%.

I'll give it an A for sure. Cheers!

Alpha King Pale Ale

Where'd you spend your New Years? I spent mine in Madison with the BFF. Among other things, I ate at Red Lobster for the first time (it was delicious), and saw the Muppet Movie for the third time. If you haven't seen it yet, please go see it. My uncle is the puppeteer of the new muppet Walter. I'm proud. Also while there, I shopped at Woodman's. On New Year's Eve. Who buys booze on New Year's Eve? Everyone. It was crazy busy. But I got some fun beers, including a 6-er of Indiana's Three Floyd's Alpha King Pale Ale, which I have not seen carried in Michigan. Very modest imagery--NOT! I like the art. The description on the bottle reads "...an American Pale Ale with a bold citrus hop character." Indeed!
It poured a clear reddish amber with a thin white head. I love a pretty hoppy ale! I have a slight cold and am stuffy, yet the nose isn't joking around. A refreshing blast of citrus and pine in my face. This beer is tasty. Orange, pineapple...Strong bitter pine and citrus hops. Also sweet malts, making it balanced and not crazy bitter, even though it was crazy. And bitter. Very crisp, strong flavors, super tasty. I had a second one, which had sat for longer at room temperature. The warmer beer had a huge fluffy white head; the mouthfeel softer and more mellow. A fantastic Pale Ale.

And a cool bottle cap.

The nicer-looking 2nd beer.

Thanks Three Floyds for the delicious Pale Ale! And a happy New Year! A

Happy Holidays! International Beer Gift

Happy Winter Celebrations! I hope you have all gotten to indulge in your favorite holiday treats this year. I got this "Beer of the World" 10 pack as a gift from 2 dear friends. Yay! It's nice when people know what I like. A couple of German beers, a couple of British beers, my dad went right for the Mexican craft beer (in a can!) and I chose to first indulge on a beer from Sri Lanka and another from Australia.Lion Imperial Premium Malt Pilsner - a product of Sri Lanka with 8.8% alcohol by volume. It poured a mighty orange, much like the lion on its label, with a small sudsy white head. The smell was mild - faintly sweet malts and grassy hops. The taste was again mild - a bit of apple, grassy hops, and sweet malts. The alcohol was just slightly noticeable. It was smooth, mellow, light, and crisp. Not offensive, but not super flavorful. Fairly well-balanced. I wouldn't go out of my way to try this again, but was happy to get to try something new. B-

James Boag's Premium Lager states to be "Tasmania's Finest Since 1881." It poured like clear apple juice, with lots of rapid carbonation, and a huge fluffy head. Very mild nose, just vague sweetness. The taste, again, was extremely mild. A little tart apple, a little bitter/metallic taste, and a little bit of grass. Light, smooth, pleasant enough, but not enough flavor or substance to make it stand out. C

3 Pumpkin Beers: In Your/My Face

Holy wow, I've been doing this blog for 4 years now. Four years! And this is my 4th annual pumpkin beer review. And yes, I still love pumpkin.
I generally find cider a little too sweet, and this was no exception. However, the orange label on this Woodchuck called to me. It also informed me that this beverage contains 6.9% Alcohol By Volume (ABV) and is made in a small batch (2 1/2 hours on their assembly line) with pumpkin added at the end.

It drank like a regular cider, and mostly tasted like an apple cider. There was a little bit of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg) but it was pretty subtle. The body felt a little more substantial as well, perhaps from the pumpkin. Very sweet, still very strongly apple-flavored. Crisp, pleasant, but not that...Pumpkin-y. B-
Next was Screaming Pumpkin Spiced Ale from the local Michigan Brewing Company. I had this on tap last year and blogged about it! I liked it, but it was semi-frozen into beer chunks. No one likes that. No one. This time I tried it from the bottle, and enjoyed it. This is attractive - hazy orange, big fluffy head, some lacing. The aroma was strongly spicy. Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon - these flavors also all dominated the taste. Cloves in particular stood out, as well as a little actual pumpkin flavor, and caramel malt sweetness. The focus is really on the spice rather than the pumpkin, and it is very spicy. A good local seasonal brew. B+
Oh I have some love for Southern Tier's Pumking. It's a big beer - not just a pumpkin beer but an "Imperial Pumpkin" beer.This has been my favorite pumpkin beer for a few years now. I only get it once or twice a year, and I always look forward to drinking it. This year was no exception. I got to share a bomber of it with a couple of friends. Everything about this is Halloween to me. The scary jack-o-lantern label. The bright orange color (pretty)...It smells like candy. Candy corn, to be precise. Brown sugar, real pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla. It tastes like actual pumpkin, as well as pumpkin pie spices, caramel malts, and a touch of hops. After it warms the spices stand out more, and it is darn good. Yes it is sweet. Yes it is a bit boozy at 8.6% ABV. That is why we share. Creamy, smooth, delicious. A

Stone Smoked Porter: Smokin'!

Stone Smoked Porter! I've been wanting to spend some quality time with this one for a while now.
As an aside, I've also been interested in trying more smoked beers. Rauchbiers are traditional old-school German beers that have had malts smoked over a beech wood fire. On the other hand, Smoked beers use peat-smoked malts in a variety of styles. Thanks Beeradvocate.com! Stone's Smoked Porter would be the latter style, using peat.
Appearance: Way too many words on the bottle. I don't have time for this. But truth be told, it is an entertaining/informative read. AND, Stone recommends PB&J as a good food item to be paired with this beer. Very nice. This brew was very dark, but had ruby highlights around the edges. Also a beautiful foamy tan head rested on top of the dark liquid.The nose was fairly mild, but notes of sweet malts as well as smokey malts were present. And the taste: UHM. NUM. Roasty, robust coffee, sweet dark chocolate. Nutty, sweet malts, burnt sugar. Rich, tasty, earthy (wood). Smokiness is there, but not in the forefront.
Overall, this is a delicious porter. The smoked factor adds a little to the taste. This is a full-bodied, creamy ale. Delicious; I would totally have another.
A

Lagunitas 13 Year Anniversary Release

How could anyone resist this sexy bottle? Lagunitas released Lucky 13 as their 13th anniversary release - an amber ale. I found myself wondering - would this be considered "imperial"? What makes a beer style imperial anyways? According to the first website I found on the topic, it used to refer to beer shipped to Russia from England for the imperial court. Now it simply means a beer with a higher alcohol content than the typical style, and often stronger flavors as well.

Therefore, I declare Lucky 13 as an Imperial Amber Ale. I also declare it as damn good.
Appearance: From the sexy label to the lovely subdued orange-amber, sudsy off-white head, and visible carbonation, this is an attractive beer.

Smell: Sweet, sweet pineapple.

Taste: Tropical fruits, again pineapple in particular. Also strongly sweet caramel malts. Then very bitter hops. Strong flavors all around on both the hops and malts front, making this "balanced yet bold." (I should go into advertising, amiright?) Not much noticeable alcohol in the flavor, but certainly some warmth could be detected.
I shared this one with my dad. His thoughts? "It's fruity. Light yet not lite." (He spelled that one out). That's a fair assessment.

Overall - this is a solid beer. Tasty, strong flavors, strong hops the way I like it, great flavors of tropical fruit, sweetness, caramel, and bitter hops in yo' face. I'm a fan. Well done Lagunitas!
A

2 Michigan Belgian-Styles

There are a lot of lovely Belgian beers out there. I often eye them in the store, consider them, then consider my limited budget. I've been wanting to do a vertical Chimay tasting for years now. Wow, I should just do it. Or, in the meantime, find more affordable locally-made brews in the traditional Belgian style. Such as these 2 brightly colored cans! Hey, hey - check it out. I picked up "Solitude" and "Triomphe," from Brewery Vivant out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their slogan? "Belgian Tradition, Local Mission." Nice.

I began with the Solitude, although not in solitude. The Solitude is an Abbey-Style Belgian Dark Ale. It poured from the can (which included a message about the environmental reasons for using cans) to my wine glass as a murky brown with red highlights and a small fizzy brown head. Kind of like an ugly cola. The nose was strong; Belgian yeast and dark fruits.
Solitude was malty and fruity...Dark fruits - plums, raisins. The strong Belgian yeast flavor with a little funk. This was medium-bodied, had low carbonation, and felt smooth and soft. At 6% alcohol by volume, this was pleasant and mild enough. As it warmed I enjoyed it more. B

Next was the green can: Triomphe, a Belgian IPA. Now, pardon my naivete, but what is a Belgian-style IPA? I turn to the experts at BeerAdvocate: some Belgian brewers are creating strong IPAs in the style of American Imperial IPAs and geared towards an American audience. They often use Belgian yeast strains and American hops, and are drier than American IPAs.
Not to be shallow, but Triumphe was a little prettier than the Solitude. Sorry. It poured a pretty, cloudy, orange-amber with a huge fluffy off-white head. It left lots of lacing and had a very inviting appearance. The nose was fairly mild but pleasant; hoppy citrus and floral. And delicious - initial sweet citrus (pineapple, orange) gave way to bitter pines and subtle Belgian yeast flavors. Strongly stated flavors, but not a super hop-bomb. Great drinkability at 6.5% alcohol by volume; smooth, soft, pleasant, and tasty. A

This was a nice way to discover yet another cool Michigan brewery AND a new style of beer to boot!