Best Beer Blog

NoDa Brewing company Hop So-Low IPA

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Evan

NoDa Brewing Company Hop So-Low IPA, 4.2% ABV is a Low-Calorie Low Carb India Pale Ale brewed in Charlotte, North Carolina with 2.6 grams of carbs, 100 calories per 12 ounces serving. Hop So-Low pours yellow with a three-finger bright white head giving you very light and very faint piney, hoppy pilsner aromas with a faint hint of citrus fruit. Taste pretty much light and faint with a hoppy pine notes and some super subtle citrus notes. Hop So-Low is pilsner/lager like with a very very faint IPA profile that finishes light with a touch of piney citrusy bitterness and not much of an aftertaste and with a very light mouthfeel. NoDa Brewing Company Hop So-Low IPA is not a good beer, I give it a D. Usually NoDa Brewing Company brews good beer, but not this one. Low carb low-calorie beer should not be an IPA I don’t think it works very well and I would not try this at all. Please stay safe at home and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: New Sarum Brewing High Rock Red Ale

Posted on July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 by Evan

Originally posted July 11th, 2016.

I am not one that truly loves the Red Ale style of beer. I like some and I don’t like others, unlike some styles that I love, like a hefeweizen. Red Ale or American Amber is a catch-all for any beer less than dark ale/brown ale in color. Expect a balanced beer, with toasted malt characters and a light fruitiness in most examples. New Sarum Salisbury Brewing Co. in Salisbury North Carolina brews High Rock Red Ale, 6.0% ABV. This Red Ale is brewed with Marris Otter and Rye with an addition of English hops. High Rock Red Ale pours a gorgeous deep amber-red color with a slight off white tan head that sits two and a half fingers high. The aroma is sweet with rye malts and a slight yet faint caramel notes. High Rock Red Ale tastes smooth at first followed by a smooth sweetness and malted sweetness on the back. The mouthfeel is medium with a nice smooth and sweet finish with a nice light fruity sweet after taste that lingers around for what seems like forever. This is one beer that you don’t want to stop drinking it’s for sure an A+. It is smooth and very well balanced. You need to try this! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Legion Brewing Juicy Jay East Coast India Pale Ale

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Evan

Legion Brewing Juicy Jay East Coast India Pale Ale, 6.3% ABV and with an IBU (International Bittering Unit) of 68, is brewed right here in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is one of Legion’s Brewing flagship beers. Juicy Jay pours an orange color with a two-finger white head that has a steady fade to it, giving off an aroma of tropical juicy citrus fruit notes with a nice amount of hoppy. Taste is juicy with nice tropical fruits mango with hoppy notes that come together for a dry fruity finish with a nice dry bitterness in the finish with a medium mouthfeel. Legion Brewing Juicy Jay East Coast India Pale Ale, is a solid beer that isn’t overly flavorful but with enjoy to be a wonderful flagship for Legion Brewing, and it is an A. It doesn’t overwhelm your taste buds, it has just the perfect amount of flavor. I highly recommend Legion Brewing Juicy Jay East Coast India Pale Ale. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Outer Range Brewing & Resident Culture Brewing Out to Pasture Farmhouse Table Beer

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Evan

Outer Range Brewing & Resident Culture Brewing Out to Pasture Farmhouse Table Beer, 2.5% ABV is a collaboration between the two brewers brewed in Charlotte, North Carolina at Resident Culture Brewing and dry-hopped with French Mistral Hops. Out to Pasture pours a bright almost glowing yellow color with two-finger white snow like head that is quicky to fade away giving off light aromas of soft lemon with crips a sent. The flavor is Belgian like with soft dry crisp lemon with a hit of a faint grassy note in the middle of the mouth that finishes crisp with very faint lemony notes and carries into the aftertaste with a light dryness and a light mouthfeel that is refresh and easy to drink. This low ABV (Alcohol By Volume) is for the table to have with a meal as to not overpower the meal. Outer Range Brewing & Resident Culture Brewing Out to Pasture Farmhouse Table Beer is a good bee but not the greatest, I give it a B- just barely a B-. It has good flavor but all are on the lighter side and yes it’s crisp and refreshing but not enough to hurl it up to a much much higher grade. I did enjoy it and yes I would recommend Outer Range Brewing & Resident Culture Brewing Out to Pasture Farmhouse Table Beer. So go try it! Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly!

Resident Culture Brewing Radical Empathy Pilsner

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Evan

Resident Culture Brewing Radical Empathy Pilsner, 4.8% brewed right here in Charlotte, North Carolina is a German Pilsner hopped with Hallertau, Mittlefruh, Blanc & Tettnang. All directly sourced from Seitz Farm in Hallertau Germany This beer has been Krausened – a process that uses actively fermenting lager to condition the finished lager, helping to achieve really nice head retention with great tiny bubbles. Radical Empathy pours a yellow color with a three and a half head of white that slowly fades into decent lacing and gives off a weird but real faint metallic noted aroma with a nice biscuity bready bitter hopped aroma as well. Taste is biscuity, bready with a nice hoppy bitterness that is light and with a good crispness that finishes with a little hoppy bitter biscuit and continues into the aftertaste with alight mouthfeel I like the hop flavor profile on Resident Culture Brewing Radical Empathy Pilsner and I think its a C+ not so bad but I would have like to have more traditional German Pilsner and a little less hoppy flavors on this which weren’t that bad but they kind of clashed with the pilsner. I would have this again sort of soon, but don’t rush out for this, but also don’t miss it either. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Stillwater Artisanal Classique Post Modern Beer

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Evan

Originally posted on August 2nd, 2015.

I have received another beer from Brewpublik (www.brewpublik.com). This canned beer comes from Stillwater Artisanal in Stratford Connecticut. This is Classique Post Modern Beer, 4.5% ABV. Classique is a Farmhouse Ale/Saison. Stillwater uses corn and rice in this beer along with pilsner malts, old school American hops and farmhouse ale yeast. I really couldn’t find out what types of American hops were used here. Classique pours a light yellow color that is a bit hazy with a two-finger head that somewhat slow to dissipate and does leave behind some decent lacing. I found little amounts of light coming through the glass around nice carbonation. The aroma is nice with a mild yeast scent with hints of very faint funky lemon. I would say the aroma is not over the top but nice. Now the taste is smooth and funky with a slight faint tartness that comes in upfront and is gone soon as it comes in. There is a bit of a slight yeast flavor in the middle of the mouth and more funkiness on the back. The mouthfeel is light and refreshing with a cleaner/smoother finish that starts and aftertaste of a yeasty and funky lemon flavor that lingers for just a second or two then becomes faintly tart. I found Classique to be refreshing and sessionable. I give this beer an A. It is not overly flavorful but it has just enough flavors to make it enjoyable. Some farmhouse ales have too many funky flavors and tend to overwhelm one’s taste buds. But Classique is just right. I do recommend try Stillwater Artisanal Classique Post Modern Beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

New Sarum Brewing Co. Strawberry Hazy Cakes Hazy IPA

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Evan

New Sarum Brewing Co Strawberry Hazy Cakes Hazy IPA, 7.0% ABV, brewed in Salisbury, North Carolina with Local Patterson Farms strawberries and Lactose is a relatively new beer from New Sarum. Strawberry Hazy Cakes pours a hazy yellow color with a one and a quarter white thin head that has little retention. You get nice light sweet fruity strawberry and nice bittersweet aromas that then lead to a bitter taste of nice fruity strawberries that have a light sweetness to them and a hint of a sour like note towards the end that comes to a hoppy strawberry finish and a bitter sweet-fruited aftertaste that linger for a second or two with a medium mouthfeel. The strawberry flavor to this is not as predominant as I was hoping but it did keep the bitterness/hoppiness down with I give New Sarum Brewing Co Strawberry Hazy Cakes Hazy IPA a C-. I would have liked to have more strawberry flavor but not a whole lot more just a little more and I think it would have been better overall. It wasn’t a terrible beer, it was just not what I was thought it was going to be and what I tasted was okay. It is however refreshing and not harsh to drink so that helps a little but I don’t think something that shouldn’t be had, but not one to rush out for. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer and Dancing Gnome Brewery Sence of Somewhat Normalcy India Pale Ale.

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Evan

A recent purchase from Pop The Top Craft Beer Shop, Burial Beer & Dancing Gnome Brewery Sence of Somewhat Normalcy India Pale Ale, 7.5% ABV a collaboration brewed in Asheville, North Carolina at Burial Beer. This beer is brewed with Cryo House Blend, Mosaic, Strata, and Vic’s Secret hops. Sence of Somewhat Normalcy pours a light yellow color with a three-finger fluffy sticky white head with soft fruity citrus pine aromas. Taste is interesting with hoppy citrusy fruits, piney faint berries that have a bit of grassiness to them that have a piney citrus finish, and a nice bitter dank fruity aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Burial Beer & Dancing Gnome Brewery Sence of Somewhat Normalcy India Pale Ale is good with a lot of interesting hops brewed into this IPA and I give it a B+. Good but with all those interesting hops in it I was hoping for an A+ home run kind of beer and it did come close. This beer is fruity and dank which is interesting because you don’t see an IPA with those types of qualities which tasted great and would recommend Burial Beer & Dancing Gnome Brewery Sence of Somewhat Normalcy India Pale Ale. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly!

Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Meringue Pie

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Evan

Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Meringue Pie, 5% ABV is a sour ale brewed with lemon, vanilla, cinnamon, and milk sugar. Lemon Meringue Pie pours a light orange color with a very light yellow tint to it and a two and a half finger white steady fading head with aromas that are tart with nice sweet and sour lemony vanilla/cinema notes that carry into the taste with sweet and sour lemon-vanilla/cinnamon tart notes that come together for a sweet vanilla finish with nice creamy vanilla with dashes of cinnamon aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Westbrook Brewing Co. Lemon Meringue Pie is a great beer that I give an A. I could really taste all the flavors of the beer that are all very well balanced to make a good beer that is really worth trying. Lemon Meringue Pie really does taste like a beer version of said pie and is a bit refreshing at the same time. I suggest you go try it! Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Bell’s Brewing Oarsman Ale

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Evan

Originally posted July 19th, 2013.

I have always heard good things about Bell’s Brewery in Michigan. But I have only had one of their beers thus far, Oberon, which I have reviewed a while back. But now I have Oarsman Ale, a Berliner Wiess, 4.0% ABV. This is a wheat beer style from the Berlin area of Germany. Bell’s uses traditional sour mash methods to brew this year-round. beer Oarsman Ale pours a hazy straw-like color with a head that does fade quickly. I sound some small amounts of light trying to come through the glass and lots of carbonation. The beer was very effervescent looking. The aroma is of tart citrus-like fruit with a hint of wheat malts. Overall the aroma is more on the week side of the scale. The taste is at first fruity with a nice effervescent feel. Then you get a light fruit sweetness, followed by a little fruit tartness towards the end. The mouthfeel is somewhat light with a tart but slightly tangy finish. The aftertaste is tart leaning slightly towards sour. Overall not a bad beer, so I say this is a B- beer, it doesn’t blow my mind but does taste good. I found this to have a nice fruitiness about it. I would have this again and would recommend this. I am not saying this is one of my new favorites or anything. But I did enjoy this just enough for B-. So please go and try this for yourself. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!