More Spring Seasonal

Spring does bring some delicious beer styles, like bocks; but an IPA is not a beer you normally associate with Spring. The Pyramid Brewing Company has gone one farther, making an Imperial IPA for their Spring seasonal beer this year. Lately, American brewers have used the word "imperial" to mean a stronger, heavier version of a regular style. This one weighs in at 8.5% alcohol, a tad bit higher than you'd expect from an IPA, but nowhere near the 10-11% of some other 'imperial' beers.
This one pours a deep gold color, with plenty of carbonation and nice head. The aroma is clean and fresh, and does put you in mind of spring. Nice hop aroma there, you get some floral and spice notes. The flavor... wow, is HOPPY. The bitter and spice really takes over from the first sip, almost too much at times. There is a good strong body underneath to support it, and some lingering sweet maltiness there too. Certainly not one you can drink quickly, but worth a try.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - deep gold/orange
Aroma: 3 - spring!
Taste: 2 - overpoweringly hoppy
Feel: 4 - tons of body
Total: 3.25

Beer for a Cause

Good beer that also supports a good cause? I'll drink to that!
This week I discovered the SOS "Save Our Shore" Pilsner from Abita Brewery in Louisana. Ive admired their beers before, and this one is special. All proceeds go to coastal restoration for the gulf oil spill of last summer.
This is a bottle conditioned wheat pilsner, thus the golden and cloudy look. The aroma is refreshing and clean, with some nice hop spiciness and a good sweet malty undertone. The first taste, in a word, is creamy. Lagers typically have a smooth, slippery mouthfeel, but this takes it to another level, and tickles your tongue with creaminess. The flavor is lightly sweet and citrusy, plenty of body, and hints of peach, orange, and spice. The sterling hops give it a good touch of bitterness on the back end, not overpowering but enough to let you know this beer means business.
At 7% alcohol, its enough to make you happy too!
Scoring
Look: 4 - cloudy gold
Aroma: 3 - sweet and spicy
Taste: 4 - balanced malt and bitter
Feel: 5+ - creamy!
Total: 4

What beer drinkers drink when they're not drinking beer

What would that be? Why hard cider, of course! This is the Fox Barrel Black Currant Cider, from California.
It looks deceivingly simple, like an apple juice with a blush of pink, and moderate carbonation. The aroma is heavy on the apple, and lightly sour, with just hints of berry hidden in there. The flavor comes through also heavy on the apple, which is to be expected, as its primarily an apple cider with berry added. You get a nice crisp dry feeling on your tongue, then residual berry flavors creep out on the back end. Very smooth and refreshing.
Scoring:
Look: 3 - apple blush
Aroma: 4 - lots of apple
Taste: 4 - great balance of fruit and sour
Feel: 3 - crisp!
Total: 3.5

Flemish Red

Continuing the theme from Monday, is another fine beer from Belgium. This is a Flemish Sour Red Ale, named Monk's Cafe, from the Van Steenberg brewery. Its an oak aged young sour ale, which is a style that hasnt really caught on in the US, but should.
Its a lot like Monday's beer, which is a very good thing. It pours a bit darker, but with tons of carbonation from the cask and bottle conditioning. The aroma is heavenly, lots of fruit and a bit of sourness, like an apple cider. The taste is where these beers differ. Where the Ichtagems was more of an apple and pear flavor, this one is more sour cherries and oak. It goes down very smooth with lots of carbonation, a good dose of sour and sweetness from the malt in the aftertaste, and hardly any hop flavors at all. Highly drinkable, and leaves you wanting to open another.
Scoring
Look: 5 - deep red with lots of foam
Aroma: 5 - fruity!
Taste: 4 - juicy sour cherry
Feel: 4 - smooth and carbonated
Total: 4.5

Blueberry

Fruit and beer have been paired together for ages, but blueberry isnt one you see a lot. This is the Blueberry Oatmeal Stout from Buffalo Bill's Brewery in Hayward, CA.

Its a deep opaque black, just what you want in a stout, with a light amount of carbonation. Even the head is dark brown. The aroma is totally berry, you certainly know this is a fruit beer, while the malty stout and fuggle hop scents are relegated to the background. The flavor was a bit of a let down. The first thing that hits you is the sourness. While a stout might have a bit of a sour character to it, here it took over. The deep caramel and toasted nutty flavors of the stout are there, and the berry peeks in on the back of your throat. The hops are nice on the aftertaste, but the sour lingers on also, and didnt go over well.

Scoring:

Look: 4 - opaque black

Aroma: 4 - lots of berry!

Taste: 2 - too much sour

Feel: 3 - decent body

Total: 3.25

Monkey Beer!

Ive had a number of good beers from the Left Hand Brewery, and the label on this one caught my attention. Its the 400 Pound Monkey IPA.
As far as IPAs go, it really hits the mark. Deep gold color with a bit of cloudiness, and a moderate amount of carbonation. The aroma is nice and hoppy, with floral and grassy smelling bits, and a good deep bitterness underneath. The flavor is actually rather light for an IPA. They elected to go away from the "cram as many hops as you can into that thing" mentality and instead went for a nicely balanced malt and hop combo. You can taste the light sweetness of the malt, then the hops wash over with the sharp spicy flavors and a nice residual hop bitterness at the end. A very accessable IPA, that leaves you wanting more.
Scoring:
Look: 3 - cloudy gold
Aroma: 4 - plenty o hops
Taste: 3 - good balance of hop and malt
Feel: 3 - refreshing!
Total: 3.25

Ø!

Its the end of winter, but not yet the end of winter beers. This one is from Norway, and the Nogne Ø brewery, where winters are long and beers are strong. Simply called "winter ale", it caught my attention.
It pours very dark, a near opaque deep brown, with a cocoa colored head. The aroma is both sweet and fruity, and dark and malty. Which turns out to be an excellend combination. The first taste lets you know that it means business. Like most winter ales, the alcohol content is a bit high, at 8.5%. This gives you a bit of alcohol burn as you sip. The flavors are smooth and soothing. You get a good deep malty caramel flavor, with some coffee bitterness, balanced by some fruity high notes of plum and fig. Then the hops take over and carry you into a mellow sour aftertaste that leaves you wanting more. Overall a great way to spend a cold day.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - deep and dark
Aroma: 3 - good mix of sweet and malty
Taste: 4 - layers of bitter, sweet, and nut
Feel: 3 - solid body
Total: 3.5