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Divine Barrel Brewing Moving to Montana West Coast-Style IPA

Posted on by Evan

I was in the local pasta shop here in Charlotte, NC, Pasta and Provisions. They have a good selection of beer in their older location. I pick up Divine Barrel Brewing Moving to Montana. This beer is a West Coast-style IPA that is 6.8% ABV. It uses Citra, Simcoe, and Strata hops. This IPA pours a golden color with a one-finger white head. The aroma is citrus fruits, with bitterness, and slight berries. The flavor is grapefruit, bitterness, hops, and some light strawberry. This has a medium mouthfeel. Then this beer finishes with a dark bitterness and grapefruit. The aftertaste has a fading bitter grapefruit flavor. This is a good beer, a good IPA. But it is okay as a West Coast-style IPA. So I think Moving to Montana gets a B+. The west coast IPA is okay, but it is good for a regular American IPA. I would recommend Divine Barrel Moving to Montana West Coast-Style IPA. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly. 

Stone Brewing Co. Fear. Movie. Lions. Hazy Double IPA

Posted on by Evan


Almost five years ago, I first had Stone Brewing Fear. Movie. Lions. Hazy Double IPA. So I thought it was time for a re-review. This beer is 8.5% ABV with Loral & Mosaic hops. According to Stone, this is a cross between an East Coast IPA and a West Coast IPA. This IPA pours orange. It has a big, two-finger head. The aroma is bitter, withonions, slight orange, and grapefruit. The flavor is big oniony flavor. There is bitter grapefruit and orange. This has a fuller mouthfeel. Then this beer finishes with a bitter citrus and onion. The aftertaste is light on the onion and citrus, but the bitter hops flavor lingers. This double IPA is good, better than I remember; I gave it a B- last review. But now I think it is a B+. It is not a beer you could drink a lot of, and yes, it still comes in 16-ounce six-packs. I still recommend Stone Brewing Fear. Movie. Lions. It has a pleasant flavor that doesn’t taste like a double IPA too much. But you still would find it on the stronger side of the ABV scale. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brouwerji Duvel Moortgat 6.66

Posted on by Evan

I have had Duvel before, but not the 6.66 version. This beer is a Belgian blonde with a 6.6% ABV and features six refined hop varieties. It also had malted barley and malted wheat. This beer pours yellow with a big three- finger head that fades into a one-finger white ring. The aroma is citrus, citrus peels, and it’s sweet. The flavor is sweet, faintly bitter, fruity, and orange. This beer doesn’t feel/taste as strong as orginal Duvel. This has a meduim mouthfeel. It then fininshes with a light citrus and a slight alcohol note. Aftertaste is mild with citrus fruit and some yeast easters. This 6.66 from Duvel is good and in my opinion a little better than the original Duvel. I recommend this one, its definitely an A. The fruity flavors help keep the strong nature of this Duvel down a bit making a pleasant drinking experience. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brouwerij Lindemans D’Or Tropical Fruit Beer

Posted on by Evan


I am a fan of Brouwerij Lindemans and have been looking for D’Or Topical Fruit Beer. It comes in 8.45oz bottles and is 8% ABV. This beer is brewed in Vlezenbeek, Belgium. This beer is a blend of oak-aged lambic and top-fermented Belgian strong ale. This fruit beer is mango, melon, and lime, and it pours a cloudy yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is tropical mango, melon, and lime. It has a Belgian aroma. The flavor is tropical with mango, melon, and lime. It has a yeasted tart flavor. This beer has a light mouthfeel. It has a slight tart and fruity finish. The aftertaste is slightly tart with a tropical note. This D’Or is good. I give this one an A+ and really recommend it. This fruity beer is refreshing and delicious. The flavor is perfectly brewed, and it doesn’t feel strong. Well done, Lindemans. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Springfest IPA

Posted on by Evan

A yellow six-pack of beer caught my eye the other day. That is Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Springfrest IPA. Thgis 6% ABV IPA is a limited release made with malts such as Carapils, Malted Wheat, and Pilsner. There are hops like Centennial, Centennial Lupulin, Citra Lupulin, and CTZ Lupulin. Sierra Nevada uses Ale yeast here. This IPA pours yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is lemony, bitter, and light. The taste is also lemony, bitter, and light. It is also herbal, which plays well with the lemon notes. This beer has a light mouthfeel. Then comes a nice, lightly hoppy/bitter citrusy finish. The aftdertaster is bitter and citrusy. This is a good beer, not overly bitter or hoppy. I find it a good spring drinker, and you can have several. The flavor is balanced enough for drinking a few. I recommend Springfest IPA. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Old Armor Beer Company Helo Haze Hazy IPA

Posted on by Evan

Helo Hazy, a 6.7% ABV hazy IPA from the brewery that brewed Lost Lieutenant Gold Ale; Old Amor Beer Company. This hazy IPA is made with Citra and Amarillo hops. This beer also has Verdent IPA yeast. This IPA pours bright, hazy yellow with a bright one-finger white head. The beer has bitter, hoppy, piney, and citrus aromas. The flavor is bitter, citrusy, crisp, smooth, and piney. This hazy IPA has a somewhat medium-bodied mouthfeel. Then this beer finishes with a crisp, piney, and bitter flavor. This beer’s finish lingers with pine bitterness. Overall, Helo Haze is a good beer, but the crispness somehow feels like it is interrupting the rest of the beer’s flavors. That gives Armro Beer Company Helo Haze Hazy IPA a B+. This beer should be had. I would have this again. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Old Armor Beer Company Lost Lieutenant Golden Ale

Posted on by Evan

Lost Lieutenant, a 5.7% ABV Golden Ale from Old Armor Beer Company, is aptly named for a military term in which a Lieutenant is physically lost and/or doesn’t have a clue. This beer is from Kannapolis, North Carolina. This ale is brewed with Centennial and Cascade hops. It also has Windsor and English Ale malts. The beer pours golden with a one-finger white head. The aroma is light, semi-sweet, and clean. The flavor is light-bodied, refreshing, light, clean, and crisp. This beer has a light feel in the mouth. This ale has a crisp and clean finish, aftertaste is lightly sweet, crisp, clean, and refreshing. Lost Lieutenant is a good beer that I give an A. It has a nice mix of flavors that complement each other. This is a delicious beer that is definitely worth trying. I recommend it! It isn’t too sweet or too crisp. It is right in the middle. It’s just right! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Armored Cow Brewery Porter of the Phoenix

Posted on by Evan

It is winter time, and usually that means darker beer. That usually means beer such as brown ale, porter, stout, black IPA (Casadin dark ale), black lagers (dunkle), dark hefeweizens (dunkleweizen), etc. This beer, from Armored Cow Brewery, is Porter of the Phoenix. This is a Harry Potter-themed Porter beer. This porter comes in at 6.5& ABV. This porter pours black with a one-finger sticky tan head. The aroma is roasted, malty, and coffee. The flavor is lightly smoky, roasted, light chocolate, malty, and a bit of coffee. The mouthfeel is medium to almost full. This porter has a roasted and semi-dry finish. The aftertaste is malty with some roasted notes. Port of the Phoenix is a good beer with some good dark beer flavors. I give this porter a B+. The flavors are good, but they don’t wow me or blow me away with how good/delicious they are. The beer’s flavors are good, and I would recommend Porter of the Phoenix. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brewery Ommegang Passport Royale Mixed Culture IPA

Posted on by Evan

Passport Royale from Brewery Ommegang is a Mixed Culture IPA in collaboration with Liefmans Brewery (Belgium) and Birrificio Ducato (Italy). This beer is basically a 7.5% sour IPA, dry-hopped with Citra and Mosaic hops. This IPA also has Pilsner, Pale, and wheat malts. It also has spices such as coriander and orange peel. I have never heard of this type of mixed culture IPA before. This beer pours deep orange with a one-finger white steady head. The aroma is sour, fruity, tart, hoppy, and bitter. The flavor is Belgiany, tart, and citrusy. This beer has a light bitterness. The flavor tastes faintly like two different beers. But more like a sour beer than IPA. The mouthfeel is light. Then it finishes with a tart bitterness. The aftertaste was weird. It has a sour hop note that ends badly. Passport Royale is not great; it’s a D+. Yes, I finished a pint of it, but I wouldn’t reach for another one. This beer was weird, but not terribly bad, yes. No, I would not recommend Passport Royale. The whole thing was like drinking a weak-flavored IPA, then drinking a mild sour beer. It had no balance. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Highland Brewing Cerveza Oscura Mexican-Style Dark Lager

Posted on by Evan

Thereares a number of craft breweries that brew Mexican-styleLagersr. I see quite a few on store shelves. But I have not seen a dark Mexican-style Lager. But on a recent trip to my local grocery store, I spotted Cerveza Oscura from Highland Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. This is a 5.2% ABV Mexican-Style Dark Lager brewed with Perle hops, Munich 10, Vienna, Midnight Wheat, and Flaked Corn. This lager pours deep brown with tan/beige edged and a one-finger beige head. That head fade rather quickly. The aroma is roasted, semi-sweet (cocoa), and has a dry-ish note. The flavor is roasty, dark bread, malts, a little bit of spicy notes, and cocoa sweetness. This dark lager has a lightmouthfeelh. This beer finishes with a sweetness and a dryness. The aftertaste is slightly roasted and sweet, but fades a bit quickly. This is better than most traditional dark Mexican Lagers. Cerveza Oscura is an A-. It is lighter in flavor, so you could have three or more. But as dark lagers go, there are better ones. German Dunkels are one great example. But that style is slightly different from this one. I would, however, recommend Cerveza Oscura. It is a good beer that I will go for again. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!