This beer, Destihl Brewery Amra Mango IPA, 7.0% ABV and 60 IBUs came to me recently from a Brewpublik delivery. Amra is Sanskrit for Mango and is a west coast style IPA from Illinois. Amra pours a golden yellow color with a two and a half finger white head with great retention that fades very slowly, giving off juicy aromas of mangos with a slightly hoppy bitter note. Arma on the first sip is juicy mangos then in the middle comes a bit of slight earthy hops than on the back of the mouth comes to a piney fruit note, that finishes smooth with minimal bitter nice and juicy mango. Arma has a tropical fruit aftertaste that lingers with a little hop note. This beer has a really drinkable flavor that doesn’t overwhelm your pallet. Destihl Brewery Amra Mango IPA is a B+ a solid west coast IPA. Well balance and well brewed. I recommend Destihl Brewery Amra Mango IPA, it’s refreshing! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I have another beer from a Brewbpulik delivery, River Rat Brewery Moncks Corner Abby Ale, 7.2% ABV. This beer from Columbia, South Carolina is a Belgian Style Dubbel. Moncks Corner Abby Ale pours a brown/deep dark red color with a one finger beige head that fades quickly into a little halo, but give off big banana notes with some plum, slight fig, and raisin aromas. There is a faint alcoholic note on the nose as well. Moncks Corner Abby Ale has a big slightly bitter banana flavor up front that flows into a boozy raisin and fig note in the middle and then a little burn of alcohol towards the back of the mouth. This Dubbel finish slightly harsh with little notes of fig yeast and raisin with a warm dark fruit aftertaste. This wasn’t such a Belgian style Dubbel, it’s borderline C/C-. When this beer warms the alcoholic notes come through and the whole beer tastes stronger than it really is. I don’t think I’d go back to River Rat Brewery Moncks Corner Abby Ale. There are better Belgian Style Dubbel out there. Sugar Creek Brewing Company makes one for example. This was a little on the harsh side, and it wasn’t really as flavorful and/or smooth. So don’t have this one! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I have recently been getting into Sugar Creek Brewing and really enjoying their beers. They brew great Belgian style beer, and it a local Charlotte brewery, one of many. I went over and checked out the brewery for myself. Down in the Queens Park area of Charlotte of Olde Pineville Rd down Southside Dr. you’ll find a lively place, The Sugar Creek Brewing Company, named after the Sugar Creek that runs through Charlotte. The build in which the Sugar Creek brewery occupies was once the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery which is further up Southside Dr within walking distance. They have a wide selection of Belgian style beers on tap and a couple bottle, they do have a food menu. They do have a flight for four beer that you can pick whatever draught you want.
Majority of Sugar Creek Draughts
The atmosphere is nice, as the inside isn’t too big nor too small, with a few tables outside where you can play a round or two of cornhole, with live music inside on the weekends. The staff is quick, friendly, and knowledgeable. I got there around 7:15 pm, not too crowded then and started with their Pilsner (Czech Pilsner).
Sugar Creek Pilsner
This Pilsner is great, crisp, clean, refreshing and easy to drink. A good beer to start off with. But you can find this only in the Sugar Creek Verity twelve pack or on tap. Good session beer. As the night wore on more people start to make their way in for the wonderful beer. After finishing the Pilsner I then went to the Sugar Creek Saison, a draught-only beer.
Sugar Creek Saison
This Saison is probably one of my favorites from Sugar Creek. It smelled banana like with a slight spice, clove, and banana flavor. So around 9, the brewery started to get a bit crowded but not where you could find a nice drinking spot. At this point, the bar was nearly full of people sipping on their beer and carrying on conversations. So I sipped on this lovely Saison for a little while watching the bar staff hustle about serving the thirsty patrons. When I did finish the Saison, I took a little time but finally chose the Sugar Creek Belgian Dubbel. I have a 750ml bottle in my refrigerator, so a full review of that will be up soon. But it was pretty tasty.
Sugar Creek Belgian Dubbel
Half way through this beer I look around the crowded bar room as the music jammed across the room, man this place is hopping. Then I finished the Dubbel and made my way across the crowded room and outside to head home from a great fun night at the Sugar Creek Brewing Company. I will be back. You all should come too! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I have not had many beers from Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Healdsburg California. I think I’ve only had like two previous to this, Grand-Am American Pale Ale, 6.0% ABV. I received this from a not so recent Brewpublik delivery. Grand-Am pours an orange color with a two and a half finger white head with some sediment floating in the glass, I don’t know if that is normal or if it’s just this bottle Grand-AM gives off slight orange bitter aromas with a slight yet faint sweet malt character. Taste is much the same as it smells, you get a little bitterness upfront with an orange pine note in the middle with a slight malt flavor, more bitterness on the back with the orange, pine and more malts on the finish with a little hop note. The aftertaste is a hoppy malted orange. The mouthfeel is medium. I found Grand-Am to me middle of the road, or boring. So I give this American Pale Ale a C. Not so such I would come back to this beer. It was finishable though, not a drain poor. I found Bear Republic Grand-Am American Pale Ale to be boring and average. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I am growing a liking to Saisons the more I have and I am looking out for them when I am beer shopping. Two Boots Saison 6.2% ABV is a collaboration between two countries and their great and celebrated breweries, Italy’s Birrificio Del Ducato and Louisiana’s Abita Beer. The name is from the fast that both Italy and Louisiana are shaped like boots. This saison is brewed with pepper, honey, lemon balm, pilsner and wheat malts. Two boots pours a lighter gold color with a four finger pillowy white head that sticks around for a while till fading into nice traces of lacing. Minimal light shines through with nice carbonation. The aroma is nice with a slight pepper and full honey with spots of lemon. Two Boots taste is yeasty with lemon and pepper notes towards the middle and back of the tongue. I found a bit of funky flavors on the end that wasn’t so bad but was also a bit mild in flavor. The flavor on this is average at best but not bad. The mouth feel is medium and has a nice spicy pepper finish and with a after taste of yeast pepper and lemon. Overall this Two Boots Saison Collaboration is not so bad but there are much better saisons out there. This is a C+ beer. I just think this is average with out being on the bad side. But when you get towards the end of the bottle it becomes a bit boring. I would have this again but not too soon though. Like I said there are better saisons out there to have then this. Not bad though just not as great as some. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I have another Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project Beer, Move IPA, 6.3% ABV and 60 IBUs (International Bittering Units). This Beer is helping people move and be active, because almost 30% of us qualify as inactive, and only one out of three adults get their recommend amount of physical activity a week. Move IPA pours a deep gold color with a foamy three finger white head with excellent retention, giving off aromas of resin grapefruit with piney earthy hop notes. Movie IPA has a slight bitter flavor up front with some resin grapefruit in the middle of the mouth then come a earthy pine note with some more hop bitterness toward the back. The finish is slightly fruity with citrus notes and some hop notes and you get a juicy bitter after taste. The mouth feel is medium on Move IPA. This is just like all of the other beer in this series, great and I give Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Project Move IPA an A-. This IPA has just balanced flavors throughout and has great flavors that do not overwhelm your taste buds. This is one that I would suggest trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
Here is this week’s news and happenings in and around the Charlotte and North Carolina area.
Monday July 10th 4pm-9pm NODA Brewing will have You Drink, We Donate. Which one-dollar from each beer sold will benefit Piedmont Culinary Guild.
Tuesday July 11th 11am-11pm Sugar Creek Brewing Island Luau. More information available here sugarcreekbrewing.com
Saturday July 15th 12pm-midnight Wooden Robot Brewery will have it’s 2nd Anniversary with several new beer releases, music from That Guy Smitty, Twisted Eats Food truck will have exclusive anniversary menu. Admission is $10 at the door and $5 tickets for 12 ounce pours. There will be no growler fills. 21+ age event.
Thursday July 18th 6pm-8pm Birdsong Brewing Drink for a Cause & Pop-Up, Raptor Center Sustainability salon
Thursday August 3rd The Unknown Brewing Co. and Babalu will have a four-course beer dinner paired with Unknown beers and a special Babalu menu. $55 per ticket purchased here eathere.com.
I would like to thank Brewpublik, (www.brewpublik.com) for Stone Brewing Ghost Hammer IPA, 6.7% ABV. This beer came as part of a delivery. This is a relatively new beer from Stone Brewing in Escondido California. Ghost Hammer pours a golden color with a clear two finger white head with descent retention. Ghost Hammer gives off a piney earthy aroma with a slight yet faint dank note as well, that leads you to a piney bitter earthy grapefruit taste with a refreshing ease of drinking. This IPA has a nice slight bitter grapefruit pine finish and a slight citrus hopped after tastes that linger until your next sip. Ghost Hammer IPA is a rather good Stone IPA, I have had a few Stone IPAs and found that to be too bitter, but this one is not and it’s the right amount of bitterness, and I give this a B+. The easy drinking refreshing qualities along with the nice bitterness make this a good beer and one that is worth trying. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
I picked this up at Laurel Market, The Unknown Brewing Company 2.5ish Anniversary Ale, 9.0% ABV, the 2.5ish being the amount of years that The Unknown Brewing Company has been in business here in Charlotte, NC. This beer is a blend of two beers, yeast aged in Bourbon Barrels with cherries, apricot, and blackberries. 2.5ish pours a hazy light amber color with a huge fluffy five-finger light beige head that seems to never want to go anywhere. But it does leave behind thick ropey lacing. The aroma is fruity and slightly yeasty, you get a bit of the apricots on the nose, with a very faint blackberry as well, but not much from the Bourbon barrel. 2.5ish has a slightly similar taste to the aroma with more of the cherries with the black berries and apricots with slight a yeasty character. There is a faint sweetness (some vanilla) that comes in on the middle of the mouth but is going as quickly as it comes along with a little alcoholic note, and 2.5ish finishes strong with some fruity characteristics and a yeasted note and has a slight strong alcoholic fruit after taste. But as 2.5ish warms the alcohol comes through more. The mouth-feel is medium on 2.5ish. Overall 2.5ish Anniversary Ale is not a bad one; it’s a B. Strong ABV comes though as it warms and overwhelms the other flavors a bit with hold it back slightly. I think it an interesting beer and one that is worth trying from the awesome Unknown Brewing Company. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
Here we have another beer from a Brewpublik delivery (www.brewpublik.com), this is District 9 Brewing Wild Things Series One Pearadox, 5.5% ABV. D9 in Cornelius North Carolina brews this sour ale with a ton of Bosc Pear, Pink Himalayan rock salt. Pearadox pours a bright and slightly hazy yellow color with a one finger clear and quickly fading white head that leaves no traces of it behind. The aroma is of just tart pears. This beer smells like a perry (pear cider) or cider. Taste on Pearadox is tart at fist with a faint salt note with a small sourness towards the back of the mouth, with a tart pear finish and an semi tart cider like aftertaste. Mouth feel is light This Pearadox beer tastes like a tart cider, and if you like cider than this your beer. It supposed to be sour ale, it says that on the label but it’s not. I am not saying this beer is bad. I say this beer is a C-. I was looking for more flavors but it was a little flat on that note, but was okay at the same time. It is easy and refreshing to drink as well. The beer sounded more interesting than it tasted. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!
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