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Granite Falls Brewing Blue Ridge Havest Sour Series Boysenberry Falls

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This is the second beer from Granite Falls Brewing, from Granite Falls, NC, I’ve had and the first was from the same Blue Ridge Harvest Sour Series, Cherry Falls. This is Boysenberry Falls, 5.5% ABV. Boysenberry Falls pours a deep red color with a three-quarter of a finger pink head that fizzles away quickly with aromas of tart berries with a little sour fruit note that takes you to a tart and sour berry flavor with the faintest sweet note that has a little sourness around it, and finish with a tart yet sour berry not and an aftertaste of sour yet tart notes of boysenberries that linger until your next sip. I can’t really taste how much boysenberries are used in this sour ale, but it the boysenberries in this beer aren’t too overpowering nor do they steal the whole show. This is just an average sour fruit beer, so I give Boysenberry Falls, 5.5% ABV a C. It’s just average nothing really good nor really bad about this beer, and it’s not one I would or wouldn’t recommend. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

The Beer News

Here are this week new and happening in and around the Charlotte, NC area.

  • Thursday, January 18th Belgian Single Release. Catawba Brewing Co. Charlotte 3 pm-10 pm. Passport beer #2 hails from the region of waffles, french fries, and (of course) beer. This golden Belgian Single is full of fruity flavors with an aroma of bananas and bubblegum!! Come grab a glass and take a trip across the ocean with us! 
  • Friday, January 19th U.S. National Whitewater Center 6:30 pm-9 pm. River’s Edge Craft Dinner: Birdsong Brewing Co. Ticket info USNWC.org.  Join us at River’s Edge for Craft Dinner, taking place Friday evenings from December 1st through February 9th. Enjoy a five-course dinner created by Executive Chef Michael Rayfield with a 6 oz. beer pairing for each course. Each night will feature a different regional brewery including New Sarum Brewing Company, Legion Brewing, Triple C Brewing Co., Sycamore Brewing, Highland Brewing Company, Legal Remedy Brewing Co., Birdsong Brewing Company, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Sugar Creek Brewing Company, Wooden Robot Brewery.
    EVENT DETAILS:
    Location: U.S. National Whitewater Center
    Brewery: Birdsong Brewing Co.
    Price: $60 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    Registration closes the day prior to each event at midnight
    Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Please select your dietary preference after selecting a date for registration.
    Suitable for ages 21 and up
    UPGRADE: CHEF’S TABLE
    Upgraded experience featuring a chef-prepared meal inside the kitchen
    Interact directly with the Chef to learn how each dish is created, how ingredients are sustainably sourced, and receive a kitchen tour
    Price: $70 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    MENU
    http://usnwc.org/relax/adventure-dining/rivers-edge-craft-dinner/
  • Friday, January 19th Charlotte Restaurant Week Craft Beer Dinner NoDa Brewing Co., hosted by NoDa and Tin Kitchen. 5 pm-10 pm. Ticket info at NoDabrewing.com
  • Friday, January 19th Flat Brim Hazy IPA V2 Release. Triple C Brewing Co. 4 pm-10 pm. Flat Brim V2 is packed with even more oats and Lupulin Powder this time around! Draft and Growlers. Bleu Barn Bistro has dinner covered!
  • Saturday, January 20th Legion Brewing Maple Canyon Release 10 am-11 pm. It’s back… “Maple Canyon”, our Maple Brown Ale, will be returning to our taproom on January 20th! This sticky, sweet beauty is one of our most highly requested beers- so we are throwing a party to celebrate its return!
    We are serving up our Maple Canyon Brunch menu from 10AM-1PM, and pouring Maple Canyon Ice Cream Floats (with Root Beer Floats for the little ones!) starting at Noon!
    Brunch Menu:
    Maple Canyon Waffle
    Belgian Waffle with a Maple Canyon Chocolate Reduction and Housemade Chantilly Cream. Served with Candied Bacon.
    Grit Bowl
    Cage-FreeScrambled Eggs, Bacon, Jalapeno, Salsa, Avocado on a bed of Smoked Cheddar Grits.
    Garden Veggie Frittata 
    Cage Free Eggs, Zucchini, Onion, Red Pepper, Tomato, Spinach, Gruyere, and Provolone.
    Southwest Breakfast Burrito
    Cage-Free Scrambled Eggs, Chorizo, Avocado, Jalapeno, Salsa, Smoked Cheddar pressed in a Spinach Tortilla.
    Live Music Line Up:
    The Locals Noon-3PM
    David Childers and the Serpents 4-7PM
    The Velcrows 8-11PM
    About “Maple Canyon”…This ale boasts a roasty, nutty aroma that paves the way for notes of chocolate and coffee. A heaping addition of real Vermont Maple Syrup adds significant sweetness and a creamy mouthfeel. Perfect to sip around the firepit!
     
  • Saturday, January 20th B. MacKaye’s Hell Raisin’ Scotch Ale Release Party Blue Blaze Brewing. 12 pm-10 pm. We are so excited to release one of our favorite beers: B. MacKaye’s Hell Raisin’ Scotch Ale, named after the legacy and legend of Benton MacKaye. MacKaye was the visionary and conceptual founder of the Appalachian Trail as well as an American forester, planner, and conservationist. His social activist group, the Hell Raisers, was comprised of the people, politicians, and members of the media who rallied around MacKaye’s social and conservationist platform and ideals. B. MacKaye’s Hell Raisin’ Scotch Ale is a dark, malty brew. At 7.7% ABV, burnt caramel character breathes life into a rich and dominant sweet malt flavor finishing with mossy, peaty hoppiness that is so characteristic of Scotch Ales. This beer is hard to put down and may cause you to do some hell-raisin’ of your own. With each purchase of B. MacKaye’s Hell Raisin’ Scotch Ale, one dollar will be donated to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and you will receive a raffle ticket to win free play at Lumberjack, Charlotte’s first ax throwing facility! Channel your flannel and challenge your friends to log tossing, keg crawls, and other fun lumberjack ax-periences throughout the day. If you work up an appetite, you can indulge in our free flapjack pancake bar from 2:00 – 5:00. To top it all off, we’re partnering with our friends at Lumberjack to host a tap takeover on January 27th! Stay tuned for more info! Would you like to further support the Appalachian Trail Conservancy? You can donate here: https://donate.appalachiantrail.org/default.aspx?tsid=7638
  • Saturday, January 20th Queen City Blues Can Release. Lenny Boy Brewing Co. 11 am-10 pm.Paint the city blue, pucker up, and groove. Queen City Blues is a LIMITED release in cans! Cans will be available in the taproom, so swing by and grab a $12.99 four-pack, no limit. Haven’t gotten the blues yet? This Kettle Sour Ale thrives with copious amounts of blueberries. If you love berries and good times, this wild ale was made for you.
    Your Moms Donuts will also be serving up their drool-worthy donuts from 12 – 3 PM 🍩 
  • Monday, January 22nd Charlotte Resturant Week Craft Beer Dinner with NoDa Brewing Co. and Tin Kitchen at NoDa Brewery. 5 pm-9 pm. Ticket info at NoDabrewing.com
  • Tuesday, January 23rd Bold Missy Brewery West Coast IPA Release and Beach Party.  5 pm-9 pm. Did you know that our Head Brewer and our Head Wheeler/Dealer have the same birthday? What better way to celebrate these two ladies than by releasing a delicious new beer? Come celebrate with Carli and Heather as we debut our new West Coast IPA, Surf Star! This tasty brew is inspired by Mary Ann Hawkins, a champion surfer, and Hollywood stuntwoman.
    Tropical shirts aren’t required, but are highly encouraged! 
  • Tuesday, January 23rd Wicked Weed Beer Dinner Harvey’s Cornelius NC. 6:45 pm-8:45 pm. We are pretty sure you’ve heard of our Beer Dinners, and we are certain you have heard of WICKED WEED Brewery in Asheville, but never have you had the two together. Come check out some great beers you can’t get every day in Charlotte and enjoy them paired with food you can’t get without the chef Trio, Josh McCracken, Oscar Lorenzo and Charlie Dyer. Combined Southwestern and Cajun country with Chicago and Charleston along with French cuisine and we can pretty much go anywhere with food. Come join us for a great night out with friends and meet some new folks as we seat everyone together. #h2style #beerdinner #wickedweed #harveys $35 bucks and it includes 5 beers from Wicked Weed with their folks on site to tell you about the beers and 4-course dinner pairing with our chefs to explain the food and the why’s behind the pairing. #craft #craftbeer #goodeats Sign up now! 
    If would like to be entered in a drawing for free Beer Dinner ticket, Post a pic of you at Harvey’s with a draft beer pic and #h2style on our page and we will enter you in a drawing that we will do at the end of the month for FREE BEER DINNER TICKET! Harvey’s, Your neighborhood hangout!

Foothill Brewing Craft Happiness IPA Project Cherish IPA

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The last of Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness IPA Project, Cherish IPA 8.5% ABV with 88 IBUs, don’t know if Foothills will do this again for 2018 or not but stay tuned. Cherish IPA is a double IPA brewed with Citra hops and pours an orange color with a slight yellow hue to it with a three finger slow fading head that leaves behind great thick lacing and gives a citrus fruit aroma of oranges and grapefruit with a slight earthy note that smells slightly bitter and hoppy which leads you to the big citrus fruit flavors of orange and grapefruit with nice amounts ob hoppy bitter earthy pine notes that are quite refreshing with a nice orange and grapefruit finish that is pleasantly bitter with a slightly bitter fruit aftertaste with a lighter mouth feel. Whenever I buy an IPA like this from Foothills I always have a feeling that it’s going to be really good and this one did not disappoint at all, and it deserves an A+ and is a beer that I highly recommend and would have again. It is so well balanced and so well brewed. It is just fantastic! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!        

Throwback Thursday: Brewery Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale

Oringally posted January 23rd, 2016.

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Once again I, Best Beer Blog found it’s way to yet another Belgian-style beer. This is Brewery Ommegang (part of Duvel) Rare Vos Amber Ale, 6.5% ABV. Rare Vos is an Amber ale style that is popular in Belgian cafés and is named after a café just outside of Brussels: De Rare Vos, or “The Sly Fox”, hence the fox on the label. Rare Vos is brewed with sweet orange peel, grains of paradise, and coriander. This beer is good by itself or with mussels, fries and other pub food. Rare Vos pours a bright copper-amber hue with a big three finger creamy white head that sticks around for a while. The aroma is spiced with orange peels, a grainy aroma with a nice subtle sweetness. The taste on Rare Vos is sweet and orangey with a spice note in there and hints of malt flavors. I like the way this tastes but not enough to have more than probably two or three. The mouthfeel is mellow with a nice fruity finish and a nice spiced orange that fades into a subtle sweetness that doesn’t linger for too long. I enjoyed this but like I said earlier this is good up until the third because the flavor is a bit bold and would be too much after a few. This Ommegang Rare Vos Amber ale is getting a B here. Not a bad beer but it gets to be too much after a while like I said. This isn’t the worst thing ever. It is a good beer, don’t get that wrong. I only had this one Rare Vos. But I am basing my opinion on how the flavor tasted by the end. It was slowly beginning to be a bit much for me by then. But it was not enough for me to stop at one. I could’ve had another, and I recommend you trying Brewery Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

The Beer News

Here are is this week news and event in and around the Charlotte, NC area

  • Wednesday, January 10th Triple C Brewing Company 4 pm-9 pm Pilot Batch Release Lucha Libre Barrilito Cask Stout. Don’t miss this 7.7% Cask Conditioned Stout packed with 3 different kinds of peppers, cacao nibs, and cinnamon! Bleu Barn Bistro has dinner covered! 
  • Thursday, January 11 Birdsong Brewing Co. 3 pm-10 pm Honey Pie Double IPA Release. it’s no secret that our Honey Pie Double IPA is often referred to as “Heaven in a glass.” In this limited release brew, a solid malt foundation is complemented by a generous amount of locally harvested honey from Cloister Honey, & you guessed it… HOPS! Our unique blend of hops will deliver you aromas of honeydew & grapefruit, & will have you pouring the second beer before you’ve finished the first! Join us for the release of Honey Pie Double IPA on 1/11/18! CANS & draft will go on sale at 3pm! 4-packs of 16oz cans will be $15 each & only available for sale in our taproom.
    ***Limit will be one case per customer, this is subject to change based on availability.  
  • Friday, January 12th U.S. National Whitewater Center. River’s Edge Craft Dinner Legal Remedy Brewing Co. 6:30 pm-9 pm. Ticket info http://www.usnwc.org. Join us at River’s Edge for Craft Dinner, taking place Friday evenings from December 1st through February 9th. Enjoy a five-course dinner created by Executive Chef Michael Rayfield with a 6 oz. beer pairing for each course. Each night will feature a different regional brewery including New Sarum Brewing Company, Legion Brewing, Triple C Brewing Co., Sycamore Brewing, Highland Brewing Company, Legal Remedy Brewing Co., Birdsong Brewing Company, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Sugar Creek Brewing Company, Wooden Robot Brewery.
    EVENT DETAILS
    Location: U.S. National Whitewater Center
    Brewery: Legal Remedy Brewing
    Price: $60 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    Registration closes the day prior to each event at midnight
    Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Please select your dietary preference after selecting a date for registration.
    Suitable for ages 21 and up
    UPGRADE: CHEF’S TABLE
    Upgraded experience featuring a chef-prepared meal inside the kitchen
    Interact directly with the Chef to learn how each dish is created, how ingredients are sustainably sourced, and receive a kitchen tour
    Price: $70 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    MENU
    http://usnwc.org/relax/adventure-dining/rivers-edge-craft-dinner/
  • Saturday, January 13th Cavendish Brewing Company (Gastonia, NC) Boilerman Imperial Stout Bottle Release 12 pm-11 pm. Have you guys started bottling yet?”
    “Do you have anything I can buy that is bottled?”
    We are happy to announce that we have answered the call to one of our largest demands. Our premium imperial stout, Boilerman, will be available in standard and bourbon barrel aged styles. 22oz bomber bottles will be available for purchase in the taproom; limit 2 per style per person while supplies last. Local musicians, Buffalo Nickel, will be performing at 7pm in our taproom and Bebo’s Mac Shack will be serving up some delicious food starting at 4pm! 
  • Saturday, January 13th Grapevine Wine Shop/Wine Bar Riverwalk Rock Hill, South Carolina. Saturday Beer Sampler. 2 pm-5 pm. We’ll serve up SIX 6-oz. pours. Just Drop By | No Reservations Required | $12 per person
  • Tuesday, January 16th Flying Saucer N. Tryon Firestone Walker Release Party. 6 pm-12 am. We are welcoming Firestone Walker to North Carolina and tapping a handful of their excellent brews. Pivo Pils, Union Jack IPA, Nitro Merlin, Double Barrell Jack, and more.

Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench Blackberry Ale

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The popularity of a brewery may be a reason why someone will try a beer. This Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench Blackberry Ale, 7.0% ABV was one beer that yes I tried because Ballast Point is one popular brewery. Sour Wench is brewed with Marion Blackberries, a whole pound of them. Sour Wench pours a deep red color with a one finger pink head that falls into itself as quickly as it can giving aromas of sweet blackberries with touches of tart sour notes that then lead to a sweet and sour blackberry flavor with touches of tartness, but I found more fruity flavor than sour/tarts flavors. Sour Wench finish with a hint of sweet yet tart blackberry flavors with a semi-sweet aftertaste that all has a light mouthfeel.  Ballast Point Brewing Company Sour Wench Blackberry Ale is good without having too much of any specific flavor, I give it a B. It goes down easy but I do see that after three Sour Wenches you may not want another, by then the flavor is just a bit much on your taste buds. It’s enjoyable otherwise and one that I recommend trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

Throwback Thursday: Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout

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Hello to everyone. There is something to be said for finding cheap beer in the store that sounds good, but that isn’t always good, so be careful. What I found was Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout, 5.3% ABV from Rhode Island. This is a collaboration between Autocrat Coffee, which was started in 1895, and Narragansett Brewery which has been around just as long. Narragansett Autocrat pours a black color with a brownish tan four finger rocky head that slow to dissipate. I found there to be no light coming through nor did I see much carbonation bubbles due to the darkness of the beer. The aroma is strong with coffee, smell like a fresh cup of dark roast coffee. The taste of this beer is much like the aroma, big pot of dark roast coffee with just a little tiny hint of sweetness from the lactose sugars (that is what makes a milk stout). There is a little burned/roasted noted on the back that leads you into a nice cup of dark coffee finish with a semi-sweet roasted coffee aftertaste. This stout surprised me. It was really good. I would give Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout an A-. I didn’t really find any think of the flavor profile that tells me this is milk stout, but it was good nonetheless. I liked how this has big coffee flavors to it. Taste like something that Starbucks or any other coffee shop would sell. They really hit the coffee stout right on the head. I enjoyed it and so should you; yes I am recommending Narragansett Autocrat Coffee Milk Stout. So go out and try it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

The Beer News

Here are this weeks news and events happening in and around the Charlotte, NC area.

  • Thursday, January 4th 2 pm-11 pm Legion Brewing Release of Winnie The Brew. We are bringing back one of your favorites: our Honey Triple IPA. “Winnie The Brew”! This beauty is aggressively hopped and dangerously drinkable. Liberal amounts of Chinook, Centennial and Simcoe hops are the basis for a sticky, dank, piney, and resinous hop-bomb. A solid malt backbone and the addition of 120 pounds of raw Clover Honey round out the high hop intensity, bringing balance and a touch of sweetness. Available on tap or in crowlers to-go!
  • Thursday, January 4th 6 pm-10 pm Carolina Beer Temple at Ayrsley. Sycamore Brewing Tap Takeover. Join us Thursday (Jan 4th) for the Sycamore Brewing Tap Takeover! We will be featuring several tasty beers from them and discounted pints and flights will be available all day long! The tap list is still being determined so please stay tuned! See you at the Temple!
  •  Friday, January 5th 6:30 pm-9 pm U.S. National Whitewater Center. River’s Edge Craft Dinner-Highland Brewing Co. Join us at River’s Edge for Craft Dinner, taking place Friday evenings from December 1st through February 9th. Enjoy a five-course dinner created by Executive Chef Michael Rayfield with a 6 oz. beer pairing for each course. Each night will feature a different regional brewery including New Sarum Brewing Company, Legion Brewing, Triple C Brewing Co., Sycamore Brewing, Highland Brewing Company, Legal Remedy Brewing Co., Birdsong Brewing Company, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Sugar Creek Brewing Company, Wooden Robot Brewery.
  • EVENT DETAILS:
    Location: U.S. National Whitewater Center
    Brewery: Highland Brewing Company
    Price: $60 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    Registration closes the day prior to each event at midnight
    Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are available. Please select your dietary preference after selecting a date for registration.
    Suitable for ages 21 and up
    UPGRADE: CHEF’S TABLE
    Upgraded experience featuring a chef-prepared meal inside the kitchen
    Interact directly with the Chef to learn how each dish is created, how ingredients are sustainably sourced, and receive a kitchen tour
    Price: $70 per person
    Time: 6:30 -9:00 pm
    MENU
    http://usnwc.org/relax/adventure-dining/rivers-edge-craft-dinner/
      For tickets usnwc.org
  • Friday, January 5th 5 pm-8 pm Birdsong Tap Takeover. Duckworth’s Grill and Taphouse Park Rd. Ten great beers on tap along with SWAG giveaways!
    Barrel Aged Prehistoric Dog
    Be-Bop-A-Ree Bop
    Higher Ground
    Mexicali
    Prehistoric Dog
    Rice Rice Baby
    St Tuber
    St Tuber Barrel Aged
    Weasels on Woodpeckers
    Paradise City Session IPA
  • Saturday, January 6th 12 pm-9n pm Lenny BoyBrewing Co. Q & Brew Day: Korean BBQ, Beer, and Booch. Join us for our next Q & Brew Day at the Lenny Boy Brewing taproom.
    A Bao Time will be serving some mouth-watering Korean BBQ, including bulgogi beef, Korean-style spinach and potatoes, and sweet peanut pancakes.
    The smell alone will leave your mouth watering. Grab a plate and a brew, and stick around for FREE live music!
    Scott Smith will be playing from 3 – 6 PM in the Taproom.
    New Kombucha Release: Blue Lagoon (coconut blueberry)
    We’ll see you there – cheers 🍻
  • Monday, February 5th 6:30 pm-8:30 pm Sycamore Brewing. Charlotte Sushi at Sycamore Brewing (hosted by Birmingham Sushi Class) In this 2-hour, hands-on class, you’ll learn to make the perfect sushi rice, sauces you love from the sushi bar (from bang-bang to eel sauce), where to shop, what to buy and how to safely serve raw fish at home with confidence. Students receive two rolls each, and a take-home cheat sheet full of notes, tips and tricks, and more, so you won’t need to take notes. Tickets at http://www.BirminghamSushiClass.com. 

Nebraska Brewing Company IPA

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Only The second Nebraska Brewing beer I’ve had, this is IPA 6.9% ABV with 72 IBUs. Nebraska brewing has some interesting can pop tops, the entire top of the can comes off when you open it sort of turning the can into a drinking glass or vessel. This a west coast inspired IPA using Citra Hops and pours an orange color with a one and a half fingers of white that fizzles into a nice ring giving off citrus fruit aromas with resiny pine notes with some bitterness that draw you into flavors of nice citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit with a piney resin bitterness with a slight bitter citrusy finish and a slight bitter piney citrus aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Being the second Nebraska Brewing beer, gimmick aside, I must say their beers are good, this one is a B, and was most enjoyable without being overly bitter and hoppy.  I do recommend Nebraska Brewing Company IPA. This IPA is a good one and one I will come back too real soon. It ticks all the right boxes on a what makes a good IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Throwback Thursday: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Celebration Fresh Hop Ale

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Here we have a beer from one of the earliest craft beer breweries in the US, Sierra Nevada, in Chico California, and soon to have a brewery here in the mountains of North Carolina. This is the winter/Christmas seasonal Celebration, 6.8%ABV. This is fresh hop ale, so that is using fresh hop not dries pellets of hops like in some IPA’s. This is also known as a wet hop. This ale was created in the winter of 1981 and always has the year on the neck label. Sierra Nevada uses whole-cone American hops in this fresh IPA. This is my first time having this, but my second Sierra Nevada beer. Celebration pours a nice rich amber color with a light tan head five-finger head that just sticks around forever and makes such massive lacing around the glass. I did find some light coming through the glass with a small amount of carbonation there. The aroma of Celebration is big pine needles with a big citrus fruit like grapefruit, orange, and some pineapple. There are orange and grapefruit juice. This just has that classic west coast fresh IPA aroma to it. This is just a very nice smelling IPA. The taste on Celebration is amazing, with a big grapefruit hit at first with a nice orangey/orange juice flavor right behind that. There is a little pine needle taste there too, but it’s a bit faint. Yes, there is hop bitterness thereto, but it’s more of a citrusy and slightly less hop plant-like. The finish on this is clean a bit fruity and slightly hoppy but does finish nicely. The aftertaste doesn’t linger too much just enough to be enjoyable with a piney pineapple, big grapefruit, and a little orange. Celebration has a great balance between piney and citrus hop aromas and flavors, and it wowed me. So this is getting an A from me. This is a good example of a classic fresh hop ale/IPA. Sure it isn’t what you expect from a winter beer, but hey it’s something different for the winter season and it is great. Yeah, it could have been a little more on the fruit or hop flavors to make it an A+, but not a whole lot could be done. This is a near perfect beer. I love this and highly recommend this! So go out and get it before it is gone. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!