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Haw River Farmhouse Ales Newlin’s Original Oatmeal Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

This Pale Ale, Newlin’s Original Oatmeal Pale Ale, 5.2% ABV from Haw River Farmhouse Ales in Saxaphaw, North Carolina has late additions of floral hops, flaked with oats, and then uses Galaxy and Crystal hops. This ale pours an orange color with an almost two-finger white steady fading head. The aroma is citrusy, bitter, floral, and hoppy. The taste is lite, juicy, citrusy, bitter, and dry. The mouthfeel is light and soft. Then the finish is slightly floral with a little citrus flavor. The aftertaste is bitter, with a bit of citrus orange. Newlin’s Original Oatmeal Pale Ale is okay, a C- beer. I thought that flaked oats didn’t go well with the citrus flavors. They clashed with one another. But they weren’t terrible, just not that great. I wouldn’t recommend trying this. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

The Bruery Mischief Hoppy Belgian-Style Ale

Posted on by Evan

This ale is a 2016 Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner, a 2015 SD international Beer Festival gold medal winner, and a 2018 Great American Beer Festival bronze medal winner. This award-winning beer is Mischief Hoppy Belgian-Style Ale, 8.5% ABV from The Bruery in Placentia, California. This ale pours a golden color with a two-finger fluffy white head. It gives off pears and citrus fruits with a hoppy, pepper spice. The taste is fruity with pear, melon, citrus, peppery, and hoppy notes. It has an alcoholic flavor to it. It becomes apparent as it warms. The mouthfeel is medium and crisp. This beer then finishes with a pepper hops note with fruit. The aftertaste is hoppy but not like an IPA, just enough hop. It has a fruity aftertaste as well. This ale was a great example of an American Belgium-style ale. I give Mischief Hoppy Belgian-Style Ale an A+. All of the flavors are on point and tasty. I highly recommend this ale. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Johny Bootleggers Sing Sing Sour Grape

Posted on by Evan

This is the last of the Johny Bootleggers malt beverages that I received. This is Sing Sing Sour Grape, 12% ABV. This is the same Alcohol by volume percent as all the other flavors that came from Laval Québec Canada. This pours a dark candy purple color. This grape beverage has a fake sweetness of fake grape candy aroma. The taste is similar to its smell. There is a fake sweet, candy grape flavor that is not the worst flavor. I also found that it isn’t sour at all. I don’t know what their Idea of sour is, but that’s not sour. This grape beverage tastes like fake grape candy. The mouthfeel is light. It then finishes with a grape sweetness and not much on the aftertaste. There is a sugary flavor for an aftertaste. This Sing Sing Sour Grape from Johny Bootleggers was not the worst of the three. I give this one a D+. It has more of a fruit flavor to it than the Alcatraz Sour Apple, which had a chemical taste to it. This one is just fake grape candy. That gave it a few points. The best was the Syndicate City Sour Peach. But I wouldn’t rush out for that one or any of these. All of these aren’t the worst I’ve ever had, and I don’t think they are disgusting. They all have a fake flavor to them, and some fake flavors can be okay. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Grimm Artisanal Ales Invisible Touch Helles Lager

Posted on by Evan

This Helles Lager Invisible Touch, 4.9% ABV from Grimm Artisanal Ales in Brooklyn, New York. This Helles Lager pours a golden color with a one-and-a-half-finger white head. It steadily fades into itself. The aroma of this beer is biscuity, malty, crisp, and has little spice. The flavor is crisp, breaded, biscuity, malted, piney, and spiced. The spice is a peppery spice but comes to life on the back of the tongue. The mouthfeel of this beer is light. This hells then finish with a nice breaded, biscuity flavor. The aftertaste is semi-sweet, biscuit, with a pine note at the very end. This Grimm Artisanal Ales Invisible Touch Helles Lager is quite good, and It’s an A+. I have not had a Helles Lager in quite a while, and this was great to return to the style. I highly recommend it. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. Chocolate Caramels Brown Ale

Posted on by Evan

This beer sounds like an interesting take on a brown ale. This beer is from Edmund’s Oast Brewing Co. in Charleston, South Carolina. This ale is Chocolate Caramels Brown Ale, 5.8% ABV. This ale has chocolate, vanilla, and lactose. This ale pours an amber light brown color with a two-finger light beige head that sticks around for a while. The aroma is sweet, and there is a roast aroma with chocolate and caramel. The taste is smooth, roasted, sweet with light vanilla and chocolate. I think the chocolate, vanilla, and lactose give a caramel flavor. The mouthfeel is medium. This brown ale then finishes smooth with a caramel chocolate flavor. The aftertaste is sweet but not as sweet as your first sip. It has a Rolo candy-like aftertaste. Edmund’s Oast Chocolate Caramel Brown Ale is a B+. This ale is starting to slip away from a brown ale-style beer and onto another style. It’s not a terrible beer, and it has some brown ale qualities. I would go back for another. I don’t think it’s quite a brown ale. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Johny Bootlegger Alcatraz Sour Apple

Posted on by Evan

This beverage is another Johny Bootlegger beverage. This is Alcatraz Sour Apple, 12% ABV. All of Johny Bootlegger’s products are 12% ABV. This apple drink pours a bright neon green color. The aroma is sour candy fake apple. The taste is sweet and candy apple flavor. The apple flavor is fake and manufactured tasting. The flavor is manufactured chemical tasting in the middle and then has a weird nasty flavor of r bad fake apple. The mouthfeel is light. This sour apple beverage finish with a chemical apple taste. The aftertaste is sour, but not fruity. It’s more of a non-fruity flavor. This Johny Bootlegger Alcatraz Sour Apple is awful. I think this drink is an F. I would not have this, and I didn’t finish all seven ounces. This Sour Apple was way too fake fruit flavor. It wasn’t even a good fake apple. It tastes like someone who never had an apple or knew what one was supposed to taste like was trying to recreate the flavor of a sour apple. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Mystic Caravan India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

This beer is another beer from Burial Beer. This beer is Mystic Caravan India Pale Ale, 7% ABV. This IPA has rice and Lychee fruit. Lychee is a tropical fruit that is red on the outside and white on the inside. It grows in Eastern and Southeastern Asia. This beer is a collaboration with Unseen Creatures Brewery and Blending. This IPA is double-dry-hopped with Citra, Nelson, and Topaz hops. It’s fermented with Lychee fruit, mashed with rich, and barely. This beer pours a cloudy yellow color, with a one and a half finger white head. The aroma is semi-sweet, fruity, and hoppy. The taste of this IPA is dry yet semi-sweet, hoppy, fruity, and citrusy. It has a lighter mouthfeel. It then finishes with a bitter dry flavor. The aftertaste is dry and hoppy with a citrusy flavor. Burial Beer, Mystic Caravan India Pale Ale is interesting, with rice and lychee. I give this IPA a B. The l sweetness threw it off a little, but it wasn’t the worst. This beer is good. But for an IPA, I’ve had some that are better. I would recommend this but not to the average run-of-the-mill IPA drinker. I enjoyed it, and yes, I could have more than a couple. Please be kind, be safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Co. Dusk Dark Lager

Posted on by Evan

Dark Lager’s are one of my favorite beer styles. This dark lager here is Burial Beer Co. Dusk, 5% ABV from Asheville, North Carolina. Burial Beer uses German Pilsner and roasted malts. They also hop this beer with Tattnanger and fermented with house lager yeast. This dark lager pours a black color with t two-finger slow and sticky beige head. The aroma is of toffee, dark roasted malts, and light coffee. The taste is of coffee, toffee, lightly malted roasted flavors. So around the middle of the mouth, you get chocolate and a tootsie roll flavor. The mouthfeel is somewhat light and medium. Then this dark lager finishes with nice semi-sweet chocolate roasted flavor. The aftertaste has a slightly less sweet, but it has a roasted note of coffee and tootsie roll. Burial Beer Co. Dusk Dark Lager is a solid dark lager. I give this dark lager an A+. Dark lagers are drinkable dark beers. They are what I would consider a winter lager version of a regular lager. This one is really good as I would expect from Burial Beer Co. They always beer great beers. This Burial Beer Co. Dusk Dark Lager is one I recommend! Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Aslin Beer Co. No Backsies Hefeweizen

Posted on by Evan

It has been a while since I’ve had a Hefeweizen beer. I don’t see much Hefeweizen coming from craft beer breweries. This particular Hefeweizen is Aslin Beer Co. No Backsies Hefeweizen, 5.5% ABV. This Hefeweizen is from Alexandria, Virginia. This beer pours a cloudy yellow color with a two finger bright white head. The head slowly fades as you drink. The aroma is what you’d expect from a Hefeweizen, there is banana, clove, and sweetness. The taste of this Hefeweizen is similar to its smell. There is banana and clove. There is also an orange flavor, and the beer is a little sweet overall. The mouthfeel is medium. It then finishes with a banana sweet flavor. The aftertaste is sweet lightly fruity with banana. Aslin Beer Co. No Backsies Hefeweizen is a good beer. It has a nice refreshing Hefeweizen flavor. This beer is an A. It is not a really strong full Hefeweizen flavor like you’d getting from the German breweries. It’s lighter than some. I think it is a great beer form anyone. I highly recommended Aslin Beer Co. No Backsies Hefeweizen. Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Johny Bootlegger Syndicate City Sour Peach

Posted on by Evan

I would like to thank The Geloso Beverage Group LLC for sending out three flavors of Johny Bootleggers Malt Beverages. This drink is their Syndicate City Sour Peach, 12% ABV. This product is made right outside Montreal, Québec, Canada. This beverage is made with beer malts, but it’s not a beer, has a beer-like base, and it is more of a cocktail. This beverage pours a light pink color, and it looks like perfume. The aroma is of sweet peach candy. Taste is sweet and a little boozy up front, then you get some peach Jolly Rancher candy. The mouthfeel is light. This beverage finishes with a hint of peach alcohol. The aftertaste is a short lingering of fake peach. This drink is not bad, but it’s not something that you will remember the next day. It has a bit of an artificial taste to it but not bad. I give Johny Bootleggers Syndicate City Peach a low B-. I like peach flavor things, and that helps it some. This beverage is something different from beer and interesting. I don’t see these types of drinks in North Carolina. We don’t have liquor stores, just a state-run ABC store, which I find not good. Two more flavors came in a nice box with a branded flask. So please stay tuned here for more about Johny Bootleggers! Please be kind, stay safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!