Omer Vander Ghinste VanderGhinste RoonBruin

Posted on by Evan

I was in my local Total Wine looking around when I came across Omer Vander Ghinste VanderGhinste Roodburin. This is a 5.5% Flanders Sour Ale that won World’s Best Dark Beer at the 2015 World Beer Awards. This ale is brewed (top-fermented) in Bellegem, Belgium, and was originally called Ouden Tripel. Blending this beer with lambic beer aged in oak barrels for 18 months results in this specific West Flanders Red-brown beer. This ale pours brown with red edges and a one-finger reddish-beige head. The aroma is lightly fruity, sour, and sweet. The flavor is fruity (apple), sour, tart, lightly sweet, and smooth. This ale has a light mouthfeel. The finish is tart and fruity with some light sweet notes. The aftertaste is a faded, tart, fruity flavor. This beer doesn’t taste like how it looks. It is light and smooth overall. This ale is an A+. I found it to be a bit refreshing. This is a beer that I would not miss; I’m highly recommending it. It has such delicious flavors that shouldn’t be missed. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Vivid Dry-Hopped Pilsner

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I love a dry-hopped Pilsner. Burial Beer’s Vivid is a dry-hopped Pilsner in collaboration with Freestyle Hops in New Zealand. This Pilsner is made with a Mash of pilsner malt and dry-hopped with Peacharine, NZ Cascade, and Rakau HopKief. This Pilsner is 5% ABV. It pours a gold color with a two-finger head. The aroma is slightly fruity, hoppy, and has a little sweetness. The flavor is hoppy, with light fruit notes and a crisp bitterness. This  has a light mouthfeel. This Pilsner finishes with a light bitterness and citrusy flavor. This dry-hopped Pilsner is a little more bitter than most that I’ve had. I give Vivid an A+. It has good flavors, and it goes down easily. I would highly recommend Vivid from Burial Beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Maine Beer Company Spring Kölsch Style Ale

Posted on by Evan

The Maine Beer Company is a renowned brewery that crafts some of the finest beers available. I am always on the lookout for their beers. Very recently I saw one of their beer, Spring Kölsch Style Ale. This 5% ABV beer is made with Cashmere, Hallertau, and MittelFrüh (GER) hops. It also uses malts such as Maine Malt House Pilsner (ME, USA), Blue Ox Vyenna (ME, USA), Weyermann Acidulated (GER), Weyermann Carahell (GER), and Briess American Honey (WI, USA). This Kölsch pours yellow with a two-finger white head. The aroma is crisp, sweet, and light. The flavor is also crisp, light, sweet, and clean. This beer has a honey sweetness. The mouthfeel is light. Then this beer finishes sweet, crisp, and clean. The aftertaste is less sweet (honey) with a faint hop note. This is a delicious beer. I would give Spring an A+. Another wonderful beer from Main Beer Company that I can highly recommend. I would have this again. It has the perfect balance of delicious flavors. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Legion Brewing Company High Praise India Pale Ale

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Legion Brewing Company’s High Praise IPA is a Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner. This West Coast IPA is 6.8% ABV. Legion Brewing, here in Charlotte, North Carolina, combines the best attributes of a West Coast IPA and modern hops. This beer pours a golden color with a one-and-a-half-finger white head. The head is fizzy but does linger for a few seconds. The aroma is bitter, citrusy, and hoppy. The flavor is citrusy, peely, and melon. This beer is hoppy, bitter, and crisp. This has a lighter mouthfeel. The finish is crisp and bitter with hints of fruity flavors. The aftertaste is bitter and hoppy with faint fruity notes. This is a good beer, and I can almost see/taste why this won a gold medal. At the end of this beer, it is faintly pilsner-like. That gives High Praise India Pale Ale a B+. However, I do recommend it. It is worth drinking. I would drink this again, soon! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Middle James Brewing Company No Fuchs Given American Golden Ale

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Middle James Brewing Company (Pineville, North Carolina) No Fuchs Given is a 4.5% American Golden Ale. This ale benefits the Foxes Sports Foundation, founded by former Charlotte FC player Christian Fuchs. This  ale pours a sunset gold with a one-finger white head. The aroma is slightly bitter and hoppy. The flavor is bitter, hoppy, and light on the malts, with a hint of fruit.  This beer has a light mouthfeel. It finishes with a light, bitter note. The aftertaste is lightly malted, which does linger for some time. This beer does do good for kids’ sports, but it’s not a great beer. Fuchs Given is a C-. Overall, the flavor is mild at best, and it all blends into a bitterness that is almost like a light black pepper flavor. That pepper does fade as this beer warms. This ale is not a beer that I would/would not recommend.  As I drank this,  it went from not good to okay and back again. I might give this another try sometime. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Hoptimum 2026 Apperance

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Hoptimum from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is an 11% Triple IPA. This big IPA is seasonally brewed (for the 2026 vintage) with Two-Row, Pale, and White Wheat malts. It is also brewed with ale yeast and hops, including Chinook, Citra, CTZ, Ekuanot, Idaho 7, and Magnum. This IPA pours a deep golden with a one-finger, white, steady head. The aroma  is bitter, slightly fruity, hoppy, and dank. The flavor is big/strong, bitter, dank, and lightly oniony. Somehow, I found this beer to have a crispness.  This has a medium mouthfeel. The finish is bitter, dank, and fading citrus. The aftertaste is bitterness and hops. They linger for a while and slowly fade. This beer doesn’t feel as strong as advertised, but you know that it is. It is balanced just right. I think Sierra Nevada brews great IPAs, and this one is great too. I give Hoptimum Triple IPA an A. It has all the big flavor you want in a triple IPA without being too strong. If triple IPAs are your thing, then I recommend Hoptimum. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Epic Brewing Company Big Bad Baptist Samurai

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I always see Epic Brewing Company’s Big Bad Baptist beers at Total Wine, but I have never purchased any of them. That is, until now. I purchased Big Bad Baptist Samurai, a 13% ABV barrel-aged stout. This beer has been aged in traditional Sake barrels. This is one of many in the Baptist series.  This beer pours a rich, oily, inky black with a one-finger brown head. That head quickly fades into itself. The aroma is chocolaty, coffee, and Umami.  The flavor is chocolate and coffee upfront, Umami flavor in the middle, and light sake on the back end. The flavor is smooth overall and has a fuller mouthfeel. This beer finishes with a sake and Umami flavor. The aftertaste is almost like a light soy sauce, and the umami flavor that does linger for a few seconds.  This is a big beer that is on the boozy side, and it’s a high B+. If you are into barrel-aged stouts, then I would recommend Big Bad Baptist Samurai. This beer is not too harsh. But they aren’t for everyone. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Hi-Wire Brewing & NoDa Brewing Company Odyssey Hazy IPA

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I like a beer that is for a good cause. This beer, a collaboration between Asheville’s Hi-Wire Brewing and Charlotte’s NoDa Brewing Company, is Odyssey Hazy IPA. This beer is 6.5% ABV and was brewed in Asheville, North Carolina. Proceeds from the beer go towards helping western North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene. This beer pours a light, hazy yellow with a big three-finger white head. The aroma is tropical, citrusy. bitter, and hoppy. The flavor is a blend of lemon, orange, and tropical fruits. This beer is also bitter and hoppy with a bit of sweetness. The mouthfeel is medium. Then this beer finishes with a tropical hop bitterness. The aftertaste is bittersweet and hoppy, but that fades as the tropical fruit lingers. This was a most pleasant hazy IPA and one that I would recommend. I give Odyssey Hazy IPA a B+. The bitterness is stronger closer to the end of the pint, but it was good otherwise. The fruity flavors are well-balanced and delicious. This is a good beer! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brewery Ommegang Grande Tripel

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I like Brewery Ommegang. I also like coffee vanilla beers. So I saw Grande Tripel, which is made with Hallertau, Magnum, and Saaz hops. It is fermented with 2-Row Munich, Flaked Oats, and White Wheat. This beer also has Madagascar vanilla bean caviar and utilizes Utica Coffee. It comes in a 9% ABV, as do most Tripels. This is an OMG series beer that is around for a limited time. This Tripel pours a deep gold/orange color with a one-finger white head. The aroma is coffee and vanilla. The flavor is sweet from the vanilla; it has some coffee notes, but the base beer, a Tripel, is masked by the coffee and vanilla. I found this to have a slight bitterness. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. This beer finishes with a vanilla-sweetness and light roast coffee. The aftertaste is slightly bittersweet, and no Tripel flavor is coming through. So the vanilla and coffee flavors are not bad, but they overshadow the Tripel beer. I give Grande Tripel a C-. This beer’s overall flavor does not come together. I did not like it much and wouldn’t recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Ballad Brewing Just Pressed Lime Giinger Sour

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Ballad Brewing in Danville, Virginia, brews Just Pressed Lime Ginger Sour. This is Gose, which is 5.5% ABV. It is a blended wheat and sour beer. Ballad Brewing closed after experiencing extensive flooding, but it was acquired by Three Roads Brewing Company in early 2026. Now Ballad Brewing has evolved into Press Club at Ballad Brewing. That is a full restaurant and bar. This sour beer pours golden with a one-finger white head. The aroma is tart, with notes of ginger, lime, and a slightly sour finish. The flavor is notes of ginger and lime. It’s tart and lightly sour. The over all flavor is light, as is the mouthfeel. This beer finishes with a tart lime and ginger flavor that fades into a sour note. The aftertaste is fading lime flavor and ginger. This beer isn’t overly sour, like some gose, and the overall flavor is not bad. I say Ballad Brewing Just Press is a B. This beer isn’t nearly as good as Westbrook Brewing Gose. That is my number one Gose, and I would recommend Just Pressed. The flavors are good on their own, but together they do not seem as good. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!