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Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout Deluxe Bouquet

Posted on by Evan

Ninkasi Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout Deluxe Bouquet from Jet Gift Baskets in which they contacted me asking if I would review their one of their products and services, this bouquet  has six Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stouts Homegrown Popcorn, Beer Cheese & Bourbon, sea salt and olive oil crackers, dipping pretzels (sticks), Dijon mustard and Country Archer Turkey Jerky Hickory Smoked.

an eighty dollar value. I have just posted a review of Vanilla Oatis Oatmeal Stout. The dipping pretzels were not nearly as salt as some pretzels but the Dijon mustard was good, it had a nice Dijon spice to it which sort of help the pretzels. Now the sea salt olive oil cracker had a little sweetness to them which was unexpected and the olive oil was on the faint side, so the crackers were average. Country Archer Turkey Jerky Hickory Smoked was excellent l, the jerky was tender flavorful with a nice street fair smoked quality and not overly smoked and dehydrated. The Beer Cheese and Bourbon popcorn were not bad both the cheese & Bourbon made for somewhat nice carbonation. This Jet gift basket was very nice and worthwhile for its price and would make for a nice gift for any beer lover, Jet Gift Baskets service was quick and easy as well as having friendly staff. So go and check out Jet Gift Baskets! Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Divine Barrel Brewing Ice Cream Paint Job

Posted on by Evan

From Charlotte, North Carolina Divine Barrel Brewing Ice Cream Paint Job, 4.6% ABV is a Berliner Weiss brewed with blueberries, raspberries, sweet cherries, lactose, and vanilla. Ice Cream Paint Job pours a deep cherry red color with a two-finger pinkish-red color with sweet fruity aromas (sweet cherry and some raspberry) with hints of faint wheat with a nice waft of vanilla. I found a creamy cherry flavor upfront in my mouth with a raspberry coming in the middle with some tartness and vanilla sweetness tangoing with a very faint whiff of wheat notes that come to a sweet-tart vanilla sorbet finish and with a tart fruited aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. Divine Barrel Brewing Ice Cream Paint Job is good the vanilla really adds another layer to this Berliner Weiss and gives it a B+. I never really tasted any blueberries on this everything else I tasted, so that holds it back. But a fine Berliner Weiss beer and one I recommend trying. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Bell’s Brewing Oarsman Ale

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on 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 trough 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 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 slight towards sour. Overall not a bad beer, so I say this is a B- beer, it doesn’t bow 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 as see what you think of Bell’s Oarsman Ale. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

The Beer News

Posted on by Evan

Here are this week’s news and events happening in the Charlotte, NC area!

  • Thursday, October 24th. Up All Night Breakfast Porter Release. Triple C Brewing Company. 4 pn-10 pm. The best thing about New Years is the Christmas lights! Our 10% Breakfast Porter is back and in 16oz cans for the first time!! Brewed with flaked oats, honey, lactose, chocolate malts, and Magnolia Coffee Company coffee. There may be a couple surprise draft-only variants too…

    The Dumpling Lady food truck joins us for the release.

 

  • Thursday, October 24th. Dogfish Head Tap Takeover. 1st Ward Beverage Co. 5 pm-12 am. Another Tap Takeover! This time, it’s Dogfish Head coming in hot to takeover our taps! 3 Great beers will be featured as well as a complimentary Burgers and Hotdog bar for all paying patrons. Come enjoy good food and the best brews in town!

 

  • Friday, October 25th. FALL FUNK FEST. The Unknown Brewing Company. 6 pm-10:30 pm. Ticket free at eventbrite.com. On October 25th we will be hosting the biggest event of the season and tickets are completely FREE! What’s that mean for you?…

    🍁 Free Concert with performances from your Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band, AKITA, Ajeva, and VonHunter!

    🍁The first look at the much anticipated Unknown Wood & Grain Project! We will be giving tours of the new facility along with a limited release of our very first project!

    🍁The first release of our new fall beer “Squash Those Pumpkin Beers”!

    🍁 Then of course…food trucks, pop up shops, pumpkin chucking contest, bobbing for apple’s contest, flannel contest and much more!

    Make sure you guys get your tickets and come venture into the Unknown on October 25th for the Fall Funk Fest!

 

  • Friday, October 25th. Velvet Elvis Chocolate Ry Stout Release. Triple C Brewing Company.  4 pm-9 pm. A rich chocolate stout that wraps your palate in a warm blanket of sweet milk chocolate and brownie batter flavors. Rye and Chocolate Rye malt contribute to this full-bodied beer with added complexity and subtle malty spiciness. This stout finishes with burnt coffee flavors from Roasted Barely, giving it a balance of sweetness and roastiness. A beer truly fit for The King!

    One keg only, so don’t miss it!

    7.5% ABV 

 

  • Saturday, October 26. Beer for Breakfast: A Beer and Donut Pairing. Pop the Top Craft Beer Shop. 10 am-3 pm. It’s that time of year again and we are excited to bring our 3rd iteration of Beer for Breakfast: A Beer & Donut pairing! We are switching it up this go-around and partnering with Pepperbox Doughnuts to pair with some fantastic beers! Mark those calendars!! You don’t want to miss this great event!

    Taplist and donut pairing have been finalized!! Check it out below!

    ~~ The Beers w/ Donut pairing~~
    > Hi-Wire Brewing Mexican HOT Chocolate 10W-40 Imperial Stout brewed w/ Chocolate, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Pasilla & Carolina Reaper peppers
    ~~Paired w/ Mexican Chocolate Donut w/ Dark chocolate icing infused with sea salt, cinnamon, & cayenne pepper. Topped with crunchy cacao nibs

    > Burial Beer Co. Skillet Donut Imperial Stout brewed w/ Oats, Molasses, Milk Sugars, and Counter Culture Coffee beans
    ~~Paired w/ Orange Honey Butter Donut covered with orange honey butter glaze then finished with crunchy, toasted doughnut crumbs

    > Wooden Robot Brewery Good Morning Vietnam Coffee Blonde Ale brewed w/ Madagascar Vanilla beans & Enderley Coffee
    ~~Paired w/ Brownie batter topped w/ rich chocolate buttercream, mini milk chocolate chips, & brownie bits

    > Foothills Brewing Pumpkin Ale brewed w/ real pumpkins and spices
    ~~Paired w/ Mini Apple Fritters classic apple fritter, bite-sized, filled with chunks of local apples & glazed w/ apple cider.  I will be there, so come say HI!

 

  • Saturday, October 26. Triple Can Release. Divine Barrel Brewing. 12 pm-11 pm. Join us for a triple can release this Saturday! We’ll be releasing our Imperial Stout collab with Your Mom’s Donuts, The Universe is a Donut, one of our favorite West Coast #bitterbois, Forty Dollar Bill, and bringing back the deliciously hazy Basement of my Brain.

    The Universe is a Donut: Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV – This decadent imperial stout was brewed with over 50 pounds of glazed donuts from Your Mom’s Donuts here in Charlotte and lactose. It was then heavily dosed with Villain Coffee Company espresso beans, vanilla, and cocoa nibs during secondary fermentation. The result is a tantalizingly thick, jet-black beer with a sweet, battery tiramisu flavor explosion.

    Forty Dollar Bill: West Coast IPA, 7.1% ABV – Our dank West Coast IPA double dry-hopped with the classic Citra, Simcoe & Amarillo profile like the hop bombs of old. Perfumed with deep notes of vibrant ruby red grapefruit, Meyer lemon, tangelo, and sticky pine. A specially crafted lighter malt base allows for the aromatic hops to shine.

    The basement of my Brain: Hazy IPA, 6.5% ABV – A hazy IPA brewed and double dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cashmere & Sultana hops. Filled with dank and juicy hops, look for flavors of pine, mango, pineapple, and slight berry undertones. 

 

Ancillary Fermentation Flag Signals.

Posted on by Evan

Ancillary Fermentation Flag Signals, 4% ABV brewed in Cary North Carolina with sea salt, mango, pineapple, and strawberry in stainless tanks. Flag Signals pours a hazy straw yellow color with a fuzzy one finger head with tropical fruit aromas, mango and pineapple with faint strawberry. The flavor follows the aroma with tropical fruit notes with a tart saltiness that finish with a strawberry tropical flavor that is a bit sour yet tart with a sour tropical fruit aftertaste. The salted aspect of Ancillary Fermentation Flag Signals kind of throw the beer off, an it come out to D+. I did finish the beer but it not something that might go back to. The sour aspect really did go as well with the salt. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Beer & Chips Pairing: Sugar Creek Brewing The Big O Blood Orange India Pale Ale & Miss Vickie’s Farmhouse White Cheddar

Posted on by Evan

This is Beer & Chips Pairing: Sugar Creek Brewing The Big O Blood Orange India Pale Ale, 7% ABV & Miss Vickie’s Farmhouse White Cheddar. When you have a sharp cheese such as farmhouse white cheddar one good chose of beer is an IPA. I have previously reviewed Sugar Creek Brewing The Big O Blood Orange India Pale Ale. I might post a throwback Thursday post on it soon. Miss Vickie’s Farmhouse White Cheddar Chips are yellow smooth with very little burn edges and have a sharp cheddar cheesy aroma with some faint salty potato. The taste is strong with the farmhouse cheddar and light on the salt with a mild potato flavor. Big O does wash out a bit of the bold cheddar flavor, but as it washes over the back of your mouth the bold cheesy flavor comes right back with a nice mild blood orange flavor from the IPA. Sugar Creek Brewing The Big O Blood Orange India Pale Ale does in away pair nicely with Miss Vickie’s Farmhouse White Cheddar. I give is pairing a B-. The flavor is bold enough to make it through the big blood orange flavor of the beer and goes well with light salt and potato notes. I think that Miss Vickie’s Farmhouse White Cheddar are amazing and will definitely have them again. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Birdsong Brewing Company Wake Up Porter.

Posted on by Evan

Birdsong Brewing Company Wake Up Porter, 5.8% ABV is a coffee vanilla porter brewed in Charlotte, North Carolina with Marris Otter, Carapils, Caramel 60, Caramel 40, Chocolate malts, Fuggle hops, Sumatra Lintong coffee beans from Central Coffee, and Madagascar vanilla beans. Wake Up Porter pours a dark brown color with beige edges with a two finger beige head that seem to fade at a snails pace. You get a nice roasted coffee sweet aroma on the nose that transitions to a similar flavor profile with nice sweet vanilla roasted coffee notes with a tiny bitterness on the back of your mouth that comes to a vanilla coffee roast finish and a coffee aftertaste. This is exactly what Birdsong was going for. It’s an A grade beer and would be a great addition to a nice brunch or a wonderful dessert. I recommend trying Birdsong Brewing Company Wake Up Porter. I enjoyed it! Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Eviltwin Brewing 90 Days Dry Aged Stout

Posted on by Evan

Eviltwin Brewing 90 Days Dry Aged Stout, 9% ABV uses dry-aged malt that has been aged for ninety days. Eviltwin calls this a milk stout. 90 Days Dry-Aged Stout pours a dark, black color with a thick three finger tan head that does not move and leaves tremendous lacing throughout the glass. You get a subtle sweet aroma with nice roast chocolate notes and dry malt notes. Upfront a nice little roasted chocolate sweet flavor hits your tongue that becomes dry as it washes over the back of your tongue and finishes with a dryness that has a very faint sweet note with a dry roasted sweet aftertaste that does linger a bit until the next sip. Eviltwin Brewing 90 Days Dry Aged Stout has an interesting twist on a stout by the addition of dry-aged malts which gives this dark beer an A-. The dry finish has a little sweet note that doesn’t need to be there at that point, but it does go well with the flavor as a whole. I enjoyed 90 Days Dry Aged Stout and if you like dark beer than I recommend 90 Days Dry Aged Stout. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Stone Brewing Xocoverza A Winter-Spiced Mocha Stout

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted January 9th, 2017

Wintertime is upon us and so is the time for dark beers, such as Porters, Stouts, Dunkles, and other various dark type beers. They warm you with thick rich high alcoholic flavored sips. Stone Brewing in Escondido California brews Xocoverza, 8.1% ABV, which is a milk stout brewed with cocoa, coffee, peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Xocoverza started out in 2014 as a homebrewed beer that won Stone’s annual homebrew competition. Xocoverza was only to be produced one but due to popular demand, they keep on producing it. Xocoverza is Stone’s idea of a Mexican hot chocolate. Xocoverza pours a quite black color with a thick two finger beige head that sticks around for a while and does leave some decent lacing. The aroma is ashy with a peppered spice and cinnamon note along with a very faint sweet vanilla note. Taste is ashy and slightly roasted at first then a bit of spicy and slight cinnamon comes on your taste buds with some very faint sweet notes. I know this is milk stout but I am not getting much of the common sweetness you get from a milk stout. There is a nice roasted spicy note toward the back. Mouthfeel is full with a nice spicy pepper coffee finish with much the same on the after taste but with a hint of sweetness and cinnamon. The fact that the spicy coffee masks the sweetness from the vanilla and coca rates Xocoverza an A-. The coffee characteristics are good on this beer, and that makes Xocoverza not have a lower grade. This is a complex beer and isn’t for everyone, so I am kind of recommend this beer, but only with caution. I enjoyed it and I like dark spicy coffee beers. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

The Beer News

Posted on by Evan

Here are this week’s news and events happening in the Charlotte, North Carolina area!

  • Friday, October 18th. Beer Release NoBoS Milkshake IPA. Blue Blaze Brewing. 4 pm-9 pm. Re-release of NoBoS Milkshake IPA but we made a bigger batch this time. Heading Northbound, this 5.9% milkshake style IPA was brewed with lactose, oats, and galaxy hops producing a full, rich beer with citrus & passionfruit notes.

    NoBo is a slang term for northbound AT thru-hikers, and there A LOT of them!

 

  • Friday, October 18th. Sycamore Brewing Tap Takeover. JJ’s Red Hots. 5 pm-8 pm. Join us for a Tap Takeover with Sycamore Brewing at JJs Red Hots in Ballantyne – $4 Pints!

    *Live Music with The Whisky Dollars and Special Guests
    *.50 Wings!

 

  • Saturday, October 19th. Pêche Day Bottle Release. The Chamber by Wooden Robot. 12 pm-6 pm. Saturday, October 19th at The Chamber – NoDa
    The exclusive Bottle Release of the 2019 vintage of our GABF Gold Medal Winner Rèserve Doreè de Pêche and Saison de Pêche.
    Bonus: Triple Can drop of What He’s Having, Flying Spaghetti Botster & So Exotic!

    Another vintage of our GABF Gold calls for another Pêche Day CELEBRATION!
    Join us on the rooftop at The Chamber in NoDa at noon for a bottle release party where we will be popping bottles of Reserve de Pêche ’19 and a specialty Pêche Day glass will be available! We will have a limited quantity of Saison de Pêche on draft and Pepperbox Doughnuts will be bringing hot&fresh, peach jam-filled doughnuts for us to enjoy! Tunes will be bumpin’ and we will have Des’s Cajun Food Truck from 11-4pm & Pasta la Vista Food Truck from 5-9pm serving up the goods!
    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
    Beer Facts:

    Rèserve Doreè de Pêche ’19
    Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Sour Golden Ale with Peaches
    5.8% – $18 (+ tax)
    6 bottle limit/person
    This blend of our sour golden ale was lovingly aged in French Oak Chardonnay barrels for over 2 years, then re-fermented on Carolina Peaches. We selected several barrels for their unique balance of stone fruit and funky characteristics to complement the rich, fresh fruit notes.

    Saison de Pêche
    Farmhouse Ale with Peaches
    5.8% ABV – $14 (+tax)
    Open Fermented with Mixed Saison Culture
    Foeder-Aged
    Brewed with local Epiphany Barley and Wheat Malts
    Re-fermented with local, SC Peaches
    – – – – – – – – – –

    Can Release Details:
    What He’s Having – IPA – 6.5% $16 (+ tax)
    Flying Spaghetti Botster – Italian-Style Pilsner – 5.5% $14 (+ tax)
    So Exotic – Dragon Fruit, Passion Fruit & Lime Ale – 4.5% $16 (+ tax)
    Sold in 4-packs (16oz) – No individual cans
    No purchase limit

    These cans will be FRESH off the canning line!

    – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

    We can’t wait to share these beers with you all. Rooftop party at the new location, Let’s celebrate!
    416 E 36th St. NoDa 

 

  • Saturday, October 19th. 5 Year Anniversary! Sycamore Brewing. 12 pm-10 pm. 5 Years of Good times! Hell. Yes. Time to Celebrate!
    Special Releases, Barrel-Aged Goodness, Awesome Bands, Event Tees, Fireworks.
    Rockin’ Good Times!

 

  • Tuesday, October 22nd. JJs Red Hop IPA Release. JJ’s Red Hots. 5 pm-8 pm. Our first ever JJs Red Hots beer – a collaboration with Amor Artis Brewing.

    Meet Reps from Amor Artis and enjoy free Samples of JJ’s Red Hop.