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Birdsong Brewing Co. Sweet Dream IPA

Posted on by Evan

I saw a can of Birdsong Brewing Co. Sweet Dreams IPA and thought it looked cool. This IPA is 6.2% ABV and has 2-Row, White Wheat, Caravienne 20L, and light Munich. This beer uses hops such as Citra, El Dorado, and Cascade. This limited release is available from March through April. This IPA pours orange with a one-finger slow white head. The aroma is citrus (blood orange), bitter, and hoppy. The flavor is bitter, hoppy, blood orange, and slightly malty. This has a medium mouthfeel. This beer finishes bitter, with blood orange and light malts. The blood orange bitterness lingers in the aftertaste. This had a slightly thicker feeling. I give Sweet Dreams IPA a D+. I didn’t like this beer, but I did finish a pint. I usually like blood orange, and that flavor of this beer wasn’t bad. That helped just a little. I would say this isn’t good beer overall. It’s good that this IPA is only around for a month. I will not have this one again. Birdsong Brewing Co. is still good in my book, not with this beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Founders Brewing All Day Peach

Posted on by Evan

One of my favorite things is peaches and anything peach-flavored. I was recently at Total Wine and found Founder Brewing’s All Day Peach (Grand Rapids, Michigan). This is a 4.7% ABV session hazy peach IPA made with Alora hops, Pale, Wheat, Oats, and Crystal malts. This year-round beer is part of the All Day series of session IPAs. This IPA pours yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is peaches, light bitterness, and light hops. The flavor is juicy peaches, light tropical fruits, bitterness, and light hop flavors. This has a light mouthfeel. It finishes bittersweet, peachy, and smooth. The aftertaste is faded peach and light bitterness. This is a good beer with a light, subtle peach flavor. I give All Day Peach a B-. It has a decent peach flavor, but I would have liked more peach flavor. The bitter hops come in and hit your taste buds. Then the bitter hops fade away kind of quickly. But I still enjoyed this a bit and would recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Highland Brewing Saint T’s Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

It has been a while since I’ve had or reviewed a Pale Ale. Well, here is Asheville, North Carolina’s Highland Brewing’s Saint T’s Pale Ale. This is a 5.1% ABV limited release, available from January through Jun. This beer uses 2-Row and Munich 10L, and flaked oats. There are whole cone hops such as Apollo and Cascade.  Dry-hopped with Cascade. This Pale Ale pours yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma is fruity, with light bitterness/hops and sweetness. The flavor has a light fruit note, malts, bitter hoppy flavors, and it’s smooth with some sweet notes. This has a somewhat light mouthfeel. This beer finishes bittersweet and smooth with hoppy notes. The aftertaste is a short linger of bitter citrus fruit and faint malts. This was good but didn’t wow my taste buds. I think Highland Brewing Saint T’s Pale Ale is a C+. It was above average. The malt flavors cut some of the hoppy and bitter flavors; otherwise, this could have graded lower. I would recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Wiseman Brewing Beast Within Italian Pilsner

Posted on by Evan

I am always looking out for Italian Pilsners (dry-hopped Pilsners), even when I am not. Recently, I saw Wise Man Brewing Beast Within Italian Pilsner at my local Total Wine. This is a 5.2% ABV Pilsner dry-hopped with  Saphir and Spalter Select with a traditional Pilsner Base. This is supposedly the official beer of the Salem City SC USL team. This Pilsner pours gold with a two-finger white head. The aroma is lightly hoppy/bitter and crisp. The flavor is bitter with the lightest flavor of grapefruit. It is a crisp beer. The grapefruit flavor does fade rather quickly. I found the mouthfeel light and refreshing. This Pilsner finishes with a light bitterness and a nice crispness. The aftertaste is a lingering light bitterness. Wise Man Brewing Beast Within Italian Pilsner is a B+. This beer is a little more hop-forward than most. I did enjoy it, and you should too. But  to me it’s like a Pilsner on the way to being a crisp Pale Ale, and that is not a bad thing. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

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

Posted on by Evan

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

Posted on by Evan

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

Posted on by Evan

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

Posted on by Evan

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!