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Victory Brewing Company Juicy Monkey Hazy Imperial IPA

Victory Brewing Company in Donnington, Pennsylvania, brews a few beers with the monkey moniker. This is Juicy Monkey Hazy Imperial IPA. It’s 9.5% ABV, and that’s why it’s an imperial IPA. This IPA has Sabro, Lotus, & Sultana hops. This Monkey IPA pours orange with a quick one-finger white head. The aroma is fruity with peaches, oranges, and pineapples. The beer is a solid but sweet smelling, with some bitterness. The flavor is also peachy, with pineapples, light grapefruit, and oranges. I also found this beer to be a bit boozy and bitter. This beer then finishes with a boozy tropical fruity flavor. Then it ends with an aftertaste of peaches, oranges, and bitterness. This beer is solid and fruity overall. I give Juicy Monkey Hazy Imperial IPA an A-. I love the peach notes and most of the fruity flavors. But the solid alcoholic booziness slightly clashes with the rest of the beer, hindering it down to A-. But this IPA is good otherwise. If you like real fruit-forward IPAs, then I highly recommend this one, but just one. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Drowning in Habits India Pale Ale

Burial Beer from Asheville, North Carolina, has recently gained a new distributor. That means I’ve been seeing more of their beer in places like Whole Foods, where I found Drowning in Habits India Pale Ale. The IPA is 7% ABV. This beer is world pooled with Incognito hops. It has barley and oats. It’s double-dry hopped with Eclipse, Citra, Simcoe, and Strata hops. It is aged with lime, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. There are a lot of ingredients to this IPA. I lot of these ingredients I have not seen in an IPA. According to the blurb on the can, this beer is trying to go for a fruity candy-like flavor. This beer pours a bright cloudy yellow with a one-finger white head. The aroma I sweet, limey, vanilla, orange, oat scented, and there’s some pineapple. The taste is fruity with orange, lime, and light pineapple. There is some sweet vanilla and faint cinnamon with some bitterness. The beer’s Flavor is a kind of cream probably from the vanilla beans. The mouthfeel is on the fuller side. Then this beer comes to a bittersweet fruited finish. Then you get a nice bitter aftertaste that is somewhat fruit candy-like. I give it a B. The flavor is kind of good together. I can barely tell the flavors apart. But I still would recommend this and I’d have another. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Westbrook Brewing Co. Mexican Cake Imperial Stout

This beer is an Imperial Stout called Mexican Cake from Westbrook Brewing Co. in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. This stout is 10.5% ABV and has cocoa nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, and habanero peppers. This beer pours a thick obsidian color with a two-finger brown head. The aroma is chocolate, spiced/spicy, and lightly roasted. The flavor is malted, lightly sweet, chocolaty, cinnamon, and pepper spice. The overall flavor is not that spicy. It’s not ‘habanero’ hot. But it has a light heat. The mouthfeel is thick and full. Then this big stout finishes with a dry-ish spiced chocolate flavor. Then you come to an aftertaste of spices and lighter chocolate. It is a good beer that I give an A. It has all the flavors that you think it would be. It’s not overly hot and spicy. That is good. This beer is a beer you have once. It’s big on flavor and ABV. I recommend Mexican Cake from Westbrook Brewing Co. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Boddingtons Pub Ale

This beer is imported from Manchester, England, and is Boddings Pub Ale. It is 4.6% ABV. It has a nitrogen capsule or ball inside the pint can. When you pour the beer from the can, it releases the nitrogen giving you a hand pull as you’d get in an actual pub. This beer company is an InBev company. This beer pours at first a cloudy light tan color, but after the snowy nitrogen effect clears (which is pretty cool to watch). Then the beer becomes a deep gold with a thick creamy three-finger white head. This beer looks nearly identical to a hand-pulled pint from a British pub. It is a beautiful-looking beer. The beers aroma has light bitterness, sweet notes, and some malt scents. The flavor is creamy, smooth, and sweet but malty, with mild honey flavors. The mouthfeel is light. This beer goes down easy Then you get a lightly sweet and malty finish. Then you’ll find an aftertaste that is a quick malty flavor, but you have to pay attention. It comes and goes super fast. This Ale is a solid A+. If you aren’t drinking this beer, you are missing out. This beer is delicious, and the nitrogen ball makes this a fantastic beer. I would have this over and over because it’s that good. Please stay safe, always be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Hi-Wire Brewing 10W-40 Chocolate Taco Imperial Stout

Stouts can be an anytime, any-season beer. I think it depends on your mood. This particular stout or imperial is 10W-40 Chocolate Taco. This beer is from Hi-Wire Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. It is 8% ABV. It is a variation of their 10W-40. This beer has chocolate, vanilla, and Lactose (a sugar found in milk and other milk-based dairy products). This beer pours a deep, dark, and thick black color with a two-and-a-half-finger brown head. The aroma is sweet with chocolate, vanilla, and a milky aroma. The flavor is not too far off from its smell. This beer is chocolatey, vanilla, sweet, velvety, and thick. The mouthfeel is full and thick. The texture of this beer coats your mouth. Then this beer has a chocolate finish that lingers on into a vanilla/chocolate aftertaste. The beer is very chocolate-forward in a good way. I’d say 10W-40 Chocolate Taco Imperial Stout is an A+. This beer is what you read on the can. I highly recommend it if you’re into dark, strong stouts. It’s good from the first sip to the last. Please stay safe, always be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Wiseman Brewing Cosmos Within Tropical IPA

I was in Total Wine over the past weekend. I had a taste of Wiseman Brewing Cosmos Within. So I thought it was worthy of a review. This beer is a Tropical IPA that has Citra, Talus, & Revolution hops. This IPA is 6.4% ABV. This beer pours a hazy yellow color with a two-finger white head. The aroma is fruity with pineapple, and orange. The beer’s aroma is also bitter and hoppy. The flavor is yes tropical with pineapple and orange. It’s also bitter tasting. The mouthfeel is medium but almost feels full. Then it comes to a nice bitter finish with a lite fruit flavor. The aftertaste is a bitter tropical fruit. This beer is good, and I give Cosmos Within a B-. Barely getting a B-. The bitterness covers up some of the tropical fruit flavors, and that brings it down a little. It’s not terrible, and I halfway recommend it. I have had better, but not a lot. Please stay safe, always be kind, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

NoDa Brewing Company Purely Intentional Breakfast Stout

This beer is Purely Intentional Breakfast Stout by NoDa Brewing Company. This beer uses local Pure Intentions Coffee. This beer is 6.4% ABV. This Stout pours a thick dark black color with a one and a half finger beige head. There is some beige around the edges after the head fades. The aroma is roasted coffee and bitter coffee. The flavor is creamy, roasted coffee, bitter coffee, and a little malted noted. The mouthfeel is full, smooth and coats the mouth. Then it comes to a nice bitter-roasted coffee finish. Then you get an aftertaste of bitter coffee with some creaminess. This beer was not so terrible, but I found the bitter notes from the coffee to dominate the flavor a bit. So I would give Purely Intentional Breakfast Stout a B-. The creamy roasted flavor did help. I don’t think this is terrible tasting, but I would not go back to this again for a while. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple

This beer, Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple, is the last from the Brouwerij Van Steenberge mixed six-pack. This beer is a Belgian Quadruple Ale. This ale is 10.7% ABV. That is common for this type of ale. This beer pours a light brown/amber color with a two-and-a-half finger of beige head. The aroma is sweet, fruity (light cherry), and a little boozy. Overall its aroma is deep. The flavor is fruity, sweet, and malty. There is a light cherry and banana there. The mouthfeel is medium. Then this ale finishes with a sweet malt flavor. This ale also had dark fruit notes. The beer then comes to a semi-sweet aftertaste with some malty notes. This ale is a great beer, but it’s nearly as good as Chimay Quad. So I would say Gulden Drake 9000 Quadruple is an A. I can’t find anything terrible about this beer, but Chimay’s is better by just a little. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

NoDa Brewing Company Peach Life Milkshake India Pale Ale

Peach Life is a milkshake IPA brewed by NoDa Brewing Company. This brewery is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is 7.0% ABV. This IPA is hopped with Centennial, Amarillo, and Mosaic hops, then fermented on peach puree. This beer also contains Lactose. This IPA pours a thicker yellow color with sediment and a three-finger creamy white head. The aroma is peachy sweet, bitter, and a peach gummy candy-like. The flavor is bitter, peachy sweet vanilla, and has a peach ring candy flavor. The mouthfeel is thick and full. Then this peach has a peachy bittersweet finish. Then you get a fruity, peachy bitter aftertaste that lingers with more bitterness than peach flavor. This beer is good, and I say that because I like peaches and everything. But that aside, it is good. The peach flavor does not clash with the bitterness that compliments the vanilla, making this a good beer. I give Peach Life a B+. I don’t think that you could have more than one. It’s good, but not let’s have another good. I would have this again, and so should you. That’s Peach Life got a lower grade. It’s a delicious “have one, then have something else” type of beer. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brouwerij Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Imperial Stout

This beer is another out of the Brouwerij VanSteenberge mixed six-pack. This particular beer is Gulden Drank Imperial Stout, 12% ABV. This beer is a Belgian Imperial Stout. This stout pours a deep dark brown color that is nearly black. It also has a three-finger creamy beige head. Then the head slowly fades. The aroma is sweet with some licorice. There is a bitter-roasted scent and a faint coffee-like note. This big stout doesn’t smell like it’s 12% strong. The taste is also sweet and licorice-tasting. This beer has light bitterness, coffee-like flavors, and slight roasted malt. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side of fullness. Then it finishes with bitterness. It has a hint of a sweet note. Then you get a bittersweet aftertaste that starts off coffee/licorice-like. It’s more of a bittersweetness. This beer is a good bet that I give an A. It is not as big, bold, and full as an American craft stout. But I would pass on this one. Please stay safe, be kind to everyone, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!