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Beer & Chips Pairing: Terra Chips Sweet Potato & 21st Amendment Brewing Monks Blood.

Posted on by Evan

Beer & Chips Pairing is back with Terra Chips Sweet Potato & 21st Amendment Brewing Monks Blood, 8.3% ABV. Terra Chips are a dark orange color similar to the inside of a sweet potato with ridges giving off a salted sweet potato aroma. Taste is what you’d expect with a good amount of sweet potato sweetness with some salt with good a crunch. 21st Amendment Brewery Monks Blood has just the right amount of sweetness to go along with the sweetness of the Terra Chips. The beers’ sweet but strong flavor is muted a bit by the chips and the chips salty flavor is washed out by Monks Blood. Terra Chips Sweet Potato is average getting a C+ but paired with 21st Amendment Brewing Monks Blood this pairing is an A-. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Crafted Cocktail: TOPO Eight Oak Carolina Whiskey Carolina Sour

Posted on by Evan

Here I have another monthly review of Crafted Cocktail: TOPO Eight Oak Carolina Whiskey Carolina Sour. TOPO Eight Oak Carolina Whiskey is distilled in Chapel Hill North Carolina and is 46% ABV distilled from one-hundred percent wheat. This is bottle contains one chip of vanilla oak which is one of the eight kinds of wood used to finish this whiskey. A Carolina Sour is a local spin of the Whiskey Sour cocktail, 1 1/2 oz TOPO Eight Oak Whiskey, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 3/4 oz lime juice, 3/4 oz simple syrup, a dash of Angostura Bitters and optional orange slice. Combine ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously until very cold. Pour into and rock glass over ice and if you prefer to garnish with an orange slice and a cherry. This Carolina Sour pours a light brown lemon-lime color with a fruity sour-sweet aroma with a citrus fruit flavor with a bit of a whiskey bitterness on the back of the tongue with a bitter citrus slight sour finish. You then get a lemon-lime aftertaste with a bit of a faint vanilla whiskey with a light mouthfeel. This is a nice take on a traditional Whiskey Sour with an interesting whiskey form North Carolina. I say that this TOPO Eight Oak Carolina Whiskey Carolina Sour is good I give this a B+. This whiskey flavor is muted in the other flavors and if it came through more this would get a higher grade but it’s was good and a bit refreshing. If you have these ingredients then this is one you should whip of and give it a try! Please enjoy responsibly!

Throwback Thursday: Kona Brewing Company Aloha Series Pipeline Porter

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on October 18th, 2013


Aloha! One ingredient used in beer that is enjoyed with or with being brewed into a beer is coffee beans. Coffee beans are used in IPA’s, Stouts, and Porters. The roasted taste of the beans goes well with the roasted malts use in most dark beers. But using them in IPA’s is a new thing and not used so much. This beer Kona Brewing Co.’s Aloha Series Pipeline Porter 5.4% ABV comes all the way from Kona, Hawaii. Pipeline uses one hundred percent Hawaiian Kona Coffee. Pipeline Porter pours a deep and rich black color with a three finger rocky beige head that stays very well and leave nice whiffs of lace behind. I found no light coming through the glass and very little amounts of carbonation bubbles due to the dark color. The aroma on this porter is like freshly roasted dark coffee beans and hints of dark malts. The taste on Pipeline Porter is rich a roasted with hints of semi sweetness that is a big chocolate flavor. I found the tiniest hint of bitterness but one it come it then went away. There is a hint of roasted malts there as well. This Kona Porter, taste like a nice cup of coffee with a hint of sweetness. The mouth feel is medium to almost heavy and is smooth to drink. Pipeline finishes bit roasty with hints of sweetness, and has a semi roasted coffee aftertaste. I enjoyed this Pipeline Porter. It does not over power you with coffee or roasted flavors and isn’t the slightest bitter from the coffee. So Kona Brewing Co.’s Aloha Series Pipeline Porter get an A here. I would defiantly have this Porter again. I recommend that you try this too if you have not yet. Cheers and mahalo! 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!

  • Wednesday, January 8th. Co-Pilot Release Amanda’s Wind Shear Witbier. Pilot Brewing. 2 pm-9 pm. Join us for the special release of Amanda’s Wind Shear Witbier, an unintentional test batch for a new big batch of witbier coming soon. Don’t miss this sneak peek and the chance to give Amanda a high-five!

 

  •  Wednesday, Perennial Tap Takeover! Protagonist. 3 pm-10 pm. Our friends at Perennial Artisan Ales are taking over our taps again for an awesome post-holiday lineup on Wednesday, January 8th. The lineup:

    Vanilla Abraxas – 11.5% – Additional Vanilla Beans added to our Imperial Stout brewed with ancho chili peppers, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and cinnamon sticks. Pouring deep brown with a thick head, this beer has a complex body with a delicious lingering roastiness

    Coffee Abraxas – 11.5% – Imperial Stout with Ancho Chilies, Cacao Nibs, Cinnamon, Vanilla Beans and Dark Matter Coffee’s Pacas Vieja from Santo Petrona

    Honeydewdz – 8% – Honeydewdz is a DDH DIPA we brewed in collaboration with Resident Culture Brewing Company with honey supplied by the National Honey Board! Built around a sturdy malt bill of Golden Promise and Malted Oats, we threw some delicious MO Wildflower honey and NC Sourwood honey into the whirlpool with a heavy hand of Simcoe and finally dry-hopped twice with Mosaic, Citra, and Simcoe Cyro

    Polite Nodding – 5.5% – Polite Nodding is our next “Hazy Lite” rolling out of the brewery. Each version displays a sturdy malt bill with rotating hop selections. This version is hopped with Ekuanot Cryo and Citra. Notes of citrus, honeydew, fresh-cut grass, and the dankness, with a cereal finish to balance. Reminds us of hot-boxing your car in the college parking lot right after breakfast

    Prism – 5.5% – This Prism utilizes the same simple grist and classic Belgian yeast strain, and is dry-hopped with German-grown Mandarina Bavaria and Spalt. This beer reminds us of peeling an orange by the pool in July, black pepper Wheathins, humid bike rides to the Botanical Gardens, and taking a shower after mowing the grass.

    Crowlers available while supplies last and rumor have it we may have a few bottles of the big guns available too. Don’t miss out!

 

  • Thursday, January 9th. Honey Pie IPA Release. Birdsong Brewing Co. 3 pm-10 pm. It’s no secret that our Honey Pie Double IPA is often referred to as “Heaven in a glass.” In this limited release brew, a solid malt foundation is complemented by a generous amount of locally harvested honey from Cloister Honey, and you guessed it… HOPS! Our unique blend of hops will deliver you aromas of honeydew and grapefruit, and will have you pouring the second beer before you’ve finished the first!

    Join us for the release of Honey Pie Double IPA on Thursday, 1/9/20! CANS and draft will go on sale at 3pm and will be first come, first served.

    ***Limit will be once case per customer, this is subject to change based on availability.

 

  • Thursday, January 9th. Schwarzbier Release! Catawba Brewing Company Charlotte. 3:30 pm-10 pm. It’s time to join the dark side.

 

  • Friday, January 10th. Captain Peanut Butter’s Chocolate Revenge Release! NoDa Brewing Company. 2 pm-10 pm. *This release will be available at both locations.*

    It’s back! Join us for a big, malty and smooth Imperial Porter, sitting at 9.2% ABV, which will be available on draft and in cans at both of our taproom locations. 🍺This Imperial Porter was brewed with a massive load of cocoa nibs to give dark chocolate notes, and roasted peanut butter to add a rich twist to this imposing dark beer. 🍫 🥜

    While you’re at our NE location, enjoy grub from TIN Kitchen. They’ll be joining us at 5 pm. 🌮

 

  • Friday, January 10th. Dark Days of Winter. Carolina Beer Temple. 12 pm-11 pm. It’s cold outside. Really cold. And dark. But hey, guess what? So is our beer. Escape the dreariness of January with some of the best dark beers on tap anywhere in Charlotte. This is a great 2 Night Event. No one ever said that the Dark Days of Winter can’t be filled with great beer and even better company, did they?

    Tap List
    Sierra Nevada Brewery, Asheville, NC Narwhal (2016) Imperial Stout
    Casita Something So Sincere Imperial Stout
    Hi-Wire Brewing 10W-40 Mexican Hot Chocolate Imperial Stout

 

  • Saturday, January 11th. Winter Warmer Festival. Lenny Boy Brewing Co. 11 am- 11 pm.  Our annual Winter Warmer Festival is Saturday, January 11th.

    We are releasing new beers and variants of your favorite classics 🍻

    We’ll have Free Smores for everyone to make by the fire and snack on while enjoying our new releases. We will also have a new soup on the menu that day to try out.

    And both of our Barrel-Aged Stout’s will be served with donut holes on Saturday 🍻

    NEW RELEASES:
    Vanilla Ground Up Coffee Milk Stout / we release this limited variant once a year. We blend a small batch of our seasonal Ground Up Coffee Milk Stout with Vanilla each year for Winter Warmer. 5.3% abv.

    Seven O Quad / a strong Belgian ale with a bready maltiness, red fruit flavors, and tons of seasonal spice notes. 11% abv

    Magellan / a spiced brown ale with notes of cinnamon and raisins. This beer will remind you of your favorite oatmeal cookie! 5% abv.

    Coffee & Vanilla Kombucha – this is a new blend using Pure Intentions Coffee. Our kombucha brewer is excited to use a specialty coffee blend made for us in this kombucha.

    Other Winter Warmer Beers that you must try:
    Crown Town Stout / a Horchata inspired Imperial Stout aged in Crown Royal barrels blended with cacao nibs, cinnamon, and vanilla. Enjoy this warm twist on a Latin American classic. 10% abv.

    Breakfast in Heaven / our annual bourbon barrel-aged Imperial Stout rested in Heaven Hills barrels and blended with Counter Culture coffee, Madagascar vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and lactose. 10% abv.

 

  • Saturday, January 11th. Co-Pilot Release: Chai Porter. Pilot Brewing. 11 am-10 pm. Join us for the release of a new Co-Pilot batch, Chai Porter! This American porter was brewed with chai spices with help from a recent Brewer for the Day winner!

Sugar Creek Brewing Mocha Java Porter

Posted on by Evan

I’ve had Sugar Creek Brewing Mocha Java Porter, 5.7% ABV and 16 IBU several times before. Sugar Creek uses locally sourced one-hundred-percent organic fair-trade coffee. Mocha Java Porter pours a nice black color with khaki beige two and a quarter head that slowly fades giving off sweet roasted coffee notes with a nice bit of a nutty mocha note. Taste on this Porter is sweet at first with a nice heaping coffee flavor that has a bit of nuttiness with a mocha chocolate bitterness on the back of the tongue that has a dark chocolate coffee finish with a lingering dark chocolate coffee aftertaste with a full mouthfeel. Sugar Creek Brewing Mocha Java Porter is good and isn’t such a big beer that it isn’t drinkable this is for a Porter, and it gets an A+ here. Sugar Creek Brewing Mocha Java Porter is a beer that is worth trying this winter. Please enjoy responsibly m! Cheers!

New Belgium Brewing & High Brew Coffee Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale

Posted on by Evan

Saw New Belgium Brewing Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale, 5% ABV with High Brew Coffee at my local grocery store and thought it was interesting and maybe worth a try. This is part of New Belgium’s Up Next Series. Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale pours a black color with a one and a half creamy very light tan colored head that gives of light aromas of sweet light roasted coffee notes, and with a smooth thin slight creamy coffee flavor that has a little roasted sweet flavor that finish with a slight acidic flavor and leave you with an aftertaste of left out hot coffee that has gone cold with a lighter mouthfeel for a cream ale. New Belgium Brewing Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale is not at all what I was expecting and not in a good way. It doesn’t have that real rich creaminess or bold coffee notes. I think that it should be served on nitrogen, not co2 that might help it. New Belgium Brewing Nitro Cold Brew Cream Ale was overall thin tasting and not good at all and it’s getting a D-. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Foothills Brewing Company Craft Happiness IPA Dream IPA.

Posted on by Evan

Happy New Year! I’ve here Foothills Brewing Company Craft Happiness IPA Dream IPA, 6.4% ABV, and IBU of 41 which the proceeds help children achieve their dreams. Dream IPA is triple dry-hopped, yes triple, with Galaxy, Citra, & Azacca hops with a sweet malt bill. Dream IPA pours a dark yellow hazy color with a two and a quarter white head that gives off subtle sweet hoppy aromas of tropical juicy fruits. Taste on this Dream IPA is soft with nice subtlety sweet guava and mango with the usual citrus fruits with a soft bitter hop note that comes together and finishes with a nice juice bittersweet note of fruit and leaves nice lingering fruit soft bitter aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Well, Foothills Brewing did it again, they brew a great IPA with Craft Happiness IPA Dream IPA which I give an A+. What a well-brewed beer that everyone should try. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month June (Prince Wally)

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted June, 14th.

It’s here again Foothills IPA of The Month! Here is June (Prince Wally), 5.9% ABV with 60 IBUs. Foothills clams this IPA has tropical and citrus notes aplenty. Well, let’s find out. June pours a light yellow color with orange edges and a three-finger bright white head that slow to fade and leaves behind great lacing. I could see much light coming through the glass due to the murkiness of this IPA, but I did see some carbonation bubbles. The aroma on this June IPA is of melon, grapefruit, pineapple, lemon and orange with a bit of piney earthy notes. The taste is similar to the aroma; you get a bit of grapefruit and little pineapple upfront. Then you get more orange flavors in the middle with a little melon with lemon and some light lemon. At the back, you get a bigger grassy piney earthy note. This IPA isn’t all in your face bitter, but it’s more of pleasant bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium with a nice fruity bitter finish. The after taste is like a tropical/citrus fruit salad that lingers in your mouth. This Foothills IPA of The Month June (Prince Wally) is just as good as the rest of the beers in the series. I give June (Prince Wally) A. It needs a little more strength in the tropical fruit department and a tiny bit less with the citrus fruits. But that isn’t really a big shortcoming. You really can taste all of the different experimental hops used here and they all make for one heck of a fruity good IPA that isn’t all one flavored and in you face intense with hoppy bitterness. I would have this again and again. So should you! So go out and try Foothills IPA of The Month June (Prince Wally)! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Narragansett Brewing Company Fresh Catch

Posted on by Evan

Narragansett Brewing Company Fresh Catch, 4.2% ABV is a golden ale dry-hopped with Citra hops in Pawtucket, Rhode Island which was founded way back in 1890 in Cranston Rhode Island. Narragansett is the best selling New England beer and has the ad slogan “Hi Neighbor, have a ‘Gasnett!” and in 2012 for Shark Week the had a slogan “Crush it like Quint” and “Honor the man, crush the can on social media. If you know Jaws then you know Robert Shaw as Captain Quint. Fresh Catch pours the slightest deep yellow with a bright two finger white head that fades really slow with thick lacing left in its wake that might hide a shark. You get a nice citrus fruit aroma with a nice dose of a bitter hop note and a faint lemony grapefruit. The aroma reminds me more of a light IPA. Take a swig and you’ll find yep citrus fruit with a little faint biscuit note with a lemony bitter hop note that comes to a bitter crisp Citra finish that flows into a nice bitter citrus fruit aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. Narragansett Brewing Company Fresh Catch is a refreshing beer that I give an A-. Now I don’t think that more than three Fresh Catches can be consumed, after the third the flavor begins to become slightly too much. Its others a good beer and one that would pair well with shellfish, and a seafood boil. I recommend Narragansett Brewing Company Fresh Catch. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Anderson Valley Brewing Company Blood Orange Gose

Posted on by Evan

I haven’t had a Gose style beer in a while until I came across Anderson Valley Brewing Company Blood Orange Gose, 4.2% ABV while shopping at Total Wine. Blood Orange Gose pours a yellow gold color with one-finger quick fading white head that gives off sour citrus blood orange aroma with a little salty note that has a faintest sweet scent to it. Flavor somewhat follows the aroma with a salted sour citrus fruit flavor of blood orange that has a nice sweet and sour finish with a mild salt note that comes to a sour citrus aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. I am a big blood orange fan and I find this to be one good beer that is easy to drink. I think Anderson Valley Brewing Company Blood Orange Gose is an A+. The flavor is refreshing and light with a good amount of salty sourness that you should try. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!