Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Heart of Berries Fruited Sour

Posted on by Evan

Royal Bliss Brewing Co. in Denver, North Carolina, one of my favorite breweries, makes this: Heart of Berries. This is a 5.1 ABV fruited Sour. This sour is infused with mixed berries. I don’t know which types of berries they use. This sour pours a red or light copper color with a quickly fading one-finger white head. The aroma is strawberries and raspberries. It is a crisp yet tart aroma. This beer has berry flavors. Light sour, tart, and sweet. The mouthfeel is light. The finish is berry tartness with some sweet notes. The aftertaste is light berry and tartness that does linger as the sweet notes fade. This is not overly face-puckering sour. It’s a B+ sour beer. More berry flavor would be nice, but I’d still recommend Heart of Berries. Royal Bliss did a good job with this beer. Check out all their beers; they are delicious. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. West Ghost Modern West Coast IPA

Posted on by Evan

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of the best breweries. They brew great beers. This beer is West Ghost Modern West Coast IPA. I had this beer before, on September 11, 2023. Then it was part of FOMO beer and had more of a Pac-Man label. This IPA is 7.2% ABV with Carapils, Two-Row Pale malts, Amarillo, Citra, Idaho 7, Magnum hops, and ale yeast. This is a throwback to West Coast IPA before the whole hazy IPA craze. This beer pours gold with a two-finger big white head. Sunlight is hitting the glass, making the beer look copper; it’s not. The aroma is bitter, piney, light citrus, and hoppy. The flavor is also bitter, piney, citrusy, and hoppy. The piney notes have a grassy taste. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. This IPA finishes bitter and citrusy with light pine notes. The aftertaste is a lingering bitter/hoppy note with fading citrus. Overall, it is good and gets an A, which is what I gave it three years ago. Hazy IPAs are good, but they tend to be for the masses or for people who kind of like the hoppy bitterness of an IPA but really like the fruity nature of them. This West Ghost IPA is for an IPA fan. This is a must-drink for you! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Life Moves Right Through You India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

Burial Beer in Asheville, North Carolina, probably brews the best IPAs. They are my favorite brewery. This India Pale Ale is Life Walks Right Through You. It is 7.2% ABV, mashed with wheat and oats, and whirlpool-hopped with Nectaron and Citra Cryo hops, and Citra Incognito. It is double dry-hopped with Citra, Nectaron, and Vic Secret, finished with a dab of Citra Cryo. Lots going on with this IPA. This IPA pours a hazy yellow with a yellow-ish/white two-finger head. The aroma is juicy, sweet, and fruity. The taste is dry-hopped, bitter, sweet, juicy, and citrusy. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. The finish is bittersweet, dry-hopped, and fruity. The aftertaste is a light lingering of bitter citrus fruit. I would say that Life Moves Right Through You IPA is an A+. I really enjoyed this IPA from Burial Beer, and I would recommend it. All the cutting-edge brewing techniques and ingredients really come through and make a delicious, wonderful beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

New Holland Brewing Co. Dragon’s Milk Reserve S’mores

Posted on by Evan

This is another New Holland Brewing Dragon’s Milk beer. This one is Reserve S’more, an 11% bourbon barrel-aged stout from Holland, Michigan. This stout pours dark and black with a two-finger beige head. The aroma is milk chocolate, toasted marshmallow, graham cracker, and malts. This really smells like a s’more. The flavor is milk chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker, and oak bourbon barrel. This stout has a full, rich mouthfeel. It finishes with a nice vanilla sweetness, plus chocolate and graham cracker. The aftertaste is a delicious s’more. This one was outstanding and gets an A+. It really does taste like I was eating a s’more. I highly recommend this if you love a good dessert stout. I really love what Dragon’s Milk is doing. Check them out! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

New Holland Brewing Co. Dragon’s Milk Crimson Keep Bourbon Barrel-Aged Red Ale

Posted on by Evan

New Holland Brewing Co.’s Dragon’s Milk beers have really grown on me. I am really liking what Dragon’s Milk is doing. I was recently at my local Total Wine and came across Dragon’s Milk Crimson Keep, an 11% bourbon barrel-aged red ale. Dragon’s Milk ages this red ale in bourbon barrels for one month deep in their cellars. This red ale pours deep red with an off-white one-finger head. The aroma is malty, stone fruit, and some sweetness. The flavor is malty, light stone fruits, caramel, toffee, and light oak. This has a full mouthfeel. This ale finishes with some toffee and caramel flavors. The oak notes are muted on the finish, as are the malts. The aftertaste is malty, mildly sweet, and has some faded oak. This is a good beer that is an A. I found this beer similar to a Belgian double. I enjoyed that. The beer is matured just the right amount of time, creating a wonderful bourbon barrel-aged beer that you should try. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly. Cheers!

Boulevard Brewing Co. Cherries Jubilee Quad

Posted on by Evan

Sometimes I buy beer because it sounds interesting, like Boulevard Brewing Co.’s Cherries Jubilee Quad. This 12.9% Belgian-style Quad is infused with Washington and Belgian tart cherries and matured for 13 months in oak apple brandy barrels in Kansas City, Missouri. That sounded interesting to me. This quad pours a deep, dark red with a beige one-finger head. The aroma is bozzy, tart cherry, and sweet. The cherries give off a licorice-like scent. The flavor is tart, cherry, boozy, malty, and brandy-like. This has a full but mellow mouthfeel. The finish is malty, cherry, light oak, and boozy. The aftertaste is malted cherry and some bozzy brandy. This is a big beer, and I think it is a high C+. It’s a little too boozy, and the barrel hides the cherry flavor.  But it’s not bad, and I would recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Birrificio Birra Baladin L’IPPA

Posted on by Evan

This beer, purchased from World Market, is another Birrificio Baladin beer from Piozzo, Italy. This is L’IPPA, a traditional 5.5% IPA. I have been to their brewpub in Rome, which I recommend visiting. This IPA uses Water from the Maritime Alps, Barley malt from our fields in Basilicata and Apulia, Italy. The hops come from our fields in Piozzo and Busca, and the yeast is made in the Piozzo brewery. This IPA pours deep orange with a two-finger white head. The aroma is orange, bitter, sweet, and light yeast. The flavor is Tangerine, orange, light melon, light mango, and bitterness. I didn’t really get any sweet notes. This beer has a medium mouthfeel. Then it has a bitter fruit finish and a slightly strange off-flavor. The aftertaste is citrusy fruit and bitterness that doesn’t linger long. This is an above-average IPA. It’s a C+. The weird finish doesn’t make the beer terrible overall. I can’t say I would or wouldn’t recommend this. It’s just a little above average. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Boulevard Brewing Co. Mimosa Sasion

Posted on by Evan

Sometimes, when I am out buying beer, a label persuades me to buy it. A good example is Boulevard Brewing Co.’s Mimosa Saison, an 8% blood orange saison or farmhouse ale, brewed in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by Duvel Moortgat. This beer pours a blood orange with a one-finger quick white head. The aroma is oranges/blood oranges and grapefruit. It has a sweet aroma too. The flavor is also orange/blood orange and grapefruit.  It has bitterness in the middle of the tongue. The flavor starts decent. Then it falls off. This has a medium mouthfeel. The finish is effervescent and orange. The aftertaste is bitter orange. I started liking this beer. But in the end it was just somewhat okay. I give Mimosa Saison a C. It sounded and looked more interesting than it actually was, and I don’t think I would recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Burial Beer Co. Enlightened Aren’t We All India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

It’s been a while since I’ve had and reviewed a Burial Beer IPA. I have been trying and reviewing their non-IPA beers. But I thought it was time for one of their IPAs. This one is Enlightened Aren’t We All. It is 7.2% and made with oats and wheat. It’s whirlpool-hopped with Mosaic, Incognito, and hand-selected Mosaic Cryo. This IPA is also dry-hopped with 3 different kinds of hand-selected Mosaic hops grown in Oregon’s Lakeside Ranch and in Idaho at Central Cove. Burial usually does a lot to make an IPA. This beer pours a hazy yellow with a two-finger white head. The aroma is fruity and hoppy. There are light wheat aromas with some piney notes. The flavor is juicy fruit, pine, and light wheat. It has a nice hoppy taste. The mouthfeel is medium. This IPA has a bitter and fruity finish. The aftertaste is faint wheat and a nice piney/fruity flavor. This is a good beer, and a lot went into it. I give Enlighten Aren’t We All an A. As I drank this, I thought it was a B+. But that went up while writing. This IPA has good flavors that all come together for a delicious IPA that is worth drinking! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Birrificio Baladin Birra Nazionale

Posted on by Evan

I hadn’t really bought beer from World Market before, until this past Saturday, when I bought two. This is Birrificio Baladin Birra Nazionale. This Italian beer is a 6.5% Belgian Blonde ale from Piozzo, Italy. It’s from the province of Cueno. I have been to their brewpub restaurant in Rome for Pizza and beer. That is a must-visit brewpub. This beer pours a deep gold with a one-finger white head. The aroma is spiced with light coriander; it’s fruity and sweet. The taste is lightly spiced with coriander; sweetness comes from light fruity notes. This beer has a warm and semi-sweet finish that isn’t great. The aftertaste is a faded sweet/spiced flavor. I have had much better versions of this style of beer. Birra Nazionale gets a C-. It wasn’t bad enough not to finish; I did finish. I wouldn’t recommend it. But I wouldn’t say that it was terrible. The flavor was a bit weak overall, and it had a strange finish. I have one more beer from this brewery, which I will be reviewing soon. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!