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Hopfly Brewing Co. Sandsport

Posted on by Evan

This sour fruit beer, Hopfly Brewing Company Sandsport, 5.4% ABV is brewed with pineapples according to the pineapple people family playing on the beach depicted on the label. I am not a huge fan of the sour style of beer, I find it to be okay, and some are better than others but is it, not my favorite style. Sandsport pours a deeper orange color with a quickly fading two white head with no trace of it left behind. It gives off a sour fruity aroma with tart pineapple with a few faint wine-like aroma wafting into your nose. Now it tastes sourer than it smells but there is a nice sour/tart pineapple note that as it fades it kicks up another sour notch with a very faint wine-like quality with a sour finish that is a little tart with some pineapple and flows into a tart and sour tropical aftertaste that fades rather quickly with a light mouthfeel. Sometimes pineapples can be sour at very least even without souring them and I found Hopfly Brewing Company Sandsport to average so think its a C. It’s not bad just that I don’t think you should sour pineapples or not sour them as much so that some of the sweetness can come through a little. Hopfly Brewing Company Sandsport isn’t that bad and I may go back to this somewhat soon. Cheers Please enjoy responsibly! 

Throwback Thursday: Hitachino Nest White Ale

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on June 6th, 2015


Craft beer doesn’t come to mind when you think Japanese beer. You would generally think of lager beers that go great with sushi. Don’t get me wrong these beers are good. But yes there is craft beer in Japan. It is growing in Japan and they even have a few American craft there as well. One example of Japanese Craft beer is Hitachino Nest a brand by Kiuchi Brewery. This is a pretty popular craft brewery here in the USA and it isn’t as easy to find but not so hard either. This is Hitachino Nest White Ale, 5.5% ABV, made with spices and orange juice. Hitachino Nest White Ale pours a bight cloudy pale yellow color with a thin one-finger head that fades in seconds leaving nothing behind. There is some light coming through with a nice decent amount of carbonation. The aroma is big with a spiced orange and a faint lemon scent. Hitachino Nest White Ale has a nice semi sweet taste of spiced orange that is a little tart with a yeasty note on the back. The flavor does make this beer easy to drink. I mean it does go down well. The mouth feel is light to medium with a nice semi sweet orange-lemon finish and an after taste that lingers on the tongue with nice refreshing yeasted semi sweet/spice citrus flavors. This is one of the best white ales I’ve had. I say this is A+. I found nothing at all wrong or off about Hitachino Nest White Ale. It is remarkable to find a craft white ale from Japan can be this good. I have to give them credit. I recommend that you try Hitachino Nest White 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, September 5th. Iced Maple Latte Imperial Stout. Triple C Brewing Company. 4 pm-10 pm. Fall is almost here and we are celebrating with a stout release!
    Aromas of sweet maple, fresh ground espresso, & mocha. Thick & sweet viscous mouthfeel, with notes of toffee, sweet caramel, and freshly brewed coffee.

    9.3% ABV 

 

  • Thursday, September 5th. Limited Release: Movin’ On Up Hazy pale Ale. Birdsong Brewing Co. 3 pm-10 pm. Join us on Thursday, 9/5/19 for the release of Movin’ On Up Hazy Pale Ale! Cans and draft will release at 3p!

    Balanced and crushable, Movin’ on Up combines Idaho Gem, Strata, Cashmere, and El Dorado hops for bright aromatics and a pleasant bitterness. Flaked oats and wheat allow the hops to shine. On the finish, you’ll notice tropical fruit notes and a hint of sweetness.

 

  • Friday, September 6th. Apricot Kettle Sour & Grapefruit Kettle Sour at The OG. NoDa Brewing Co. N. Davidson St. 3 pm-10 pm. Join us Friday, September 6th at the OG for not just one Kettle Sour, but two! Our Apricot Kettle Sour is a straight forward Kettle soured Ale that is tart from kettle souring for 2 days. It is fermented on Apricot puree after fermentation starts, while our Grapefruit Kettle Sour is fermented on Grapefruit puree after fermentation starts. These tart and zesty options are the perfect way to celebrate the weekend. See you on Friday! ‎🍻

    *These beers will not be available at our N. Tryon location.*

 

  • Friday, September 6th. V-Hop Triple Can Release. The Unknown Brewing Company. 6 pm-10 pm. We are so excited this time of year. The weather is changing and the beers are getting bigger. Join us Friday, September 6th for the Release of Vehopciraptor (V-hop, if you cant, pronounce it) This beer is like opening a can of delicious hop nectar. Malty sweet smooth and hoppy but not overly bitter. Come see why this clever girl has made an appearance every year since then beginning.

    9 hop additions
    9 different hops
    90 IBUs
    9.9% ABV
    Can available by the 4pack (16oz) or by draft.

 

  • Saturday, September 7- Sunday, September 8th. Journey Through Belgium Tap Takeover. Carolina Beer Temple Charlotte. 12 pm-12 am. Free tickets at eventbrite.com. 8 Belgian Beers. 1 Awesome Night.

    Belgium has long been associated with great beer. Many, in fact, would say that it is the great beer country on Earth. We aren’t ones to take sides, but we will say this: they definitely know how to make some good beer. So join us as we tap 8 Belgian beers from across a wide variety of styles, and take you on a journey to Europe in a glass. You’ll be hungry for chocolate and stroopwafel by the time we’re done

    TAP LIST IN PROGRESS:

    #BelgianBeer #Trappist #CBTCharlotte #CarolinaBeerTemple #TapTakeover #BestBeerEver #OldWorldCraftBeer

 

  • Sunday, September 8th. Auntie Anne’s at Blue Blaze Brewing. Blue Blaze Brewing. 3 pm-8 pm. We will be at Blue Blaze Brewing for the 1st Time and it is a Panthers Gameday!!! Come and join us and enjoy a Cool Draft or Two and some Warm Fresh Oven-Baked Pretzels.
    With delicious options such as our Original Pretzels, Pretzel Mini Dogs, Pretzel Dogs, Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels, Pepperoni Pretzels, Nuggets and yummy dipping sauces such as cheese, hot salsa cheese, caramel, and honey mustard, there is definitely something for everybody!!

 

 

Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Coastal Love Hazy IPA

Posted on by Evan

Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Coastal Love Hazy IPA, 6.3% ABV out of Asheville, North Carolina helps hurricane relief efforts in the southeast, United States and is the second beer in their Beer That Build Series. Coastal Love pours a somewhat dark yellow color with a three-finger white rocky head that has citrus fruit aromas, orange, and grapefruit with hoppy notes. The flavor does follow the nose with citrus orange, and grapefruit that has a nice bitter hop flavor to it and finishes nice and citrusy with that nice medium bitterness with a bitter grapefruit aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Coastal Love Hazy IPA checks off the New England Hazy IPA, it’s just exactly that and I think is an A+. It isn’t try overly had to be A NE IPA it just exactly with it supposed to be and that is great, a beer that you should try. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

Beer & Chips Pairing: Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier & Frito-Lays Lays Wavy Ranch

Posted on by Evan

This beer & chips paring I’ve paired Frito-Lays, Lays Wavy Ranch potato chips & Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier, 5.4% ABV. This is the oldest breweries in the world dating back to 1040, and this beer is a traditional German Hefe Weissbier from Bavaria, and the Lays Wavy Ranch chips aren’t anywhere near as old. Lays Wavy Ranch are yellow with green onion flakes with big wavy ridges, that have a ranch potato aroma to them more ranch notes comming off them.  Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier has a banana and clove aroma. The chips have a nice crunch with good amounts of ranch flavor and light green onion that complement the banana, clove, and wheat of this Hefe without washing out the ranch flavoring with a nice ranch potato finish and a light clove and banana that give way to a faint ranch flavor. Well, I absolutely love Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier it’s a classic and it does pair very nicely with Frito-Lays, Lays Wavy Ranch potato chips because Hefe Wiessbiers pair very will ranch-flavored thing like these chips and ranch dip. Frito-Lays, Lays Wavy Ranch potato chips & Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier Beer & Chips Paring is an A. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! 

Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Astronomical Hazy IPA

Posted on by Evan

Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Astronomical Hazy IPA, 7.7% ABV that was kindly given to me by a friend/co-worker Matt who purchased this in Asheville, North Carolina. Astronomical Hazy IPA is brewed with many west coast hops like Calypso. Astronomical Hazy IPA pours a yellow hue with a three-finger white head that slowly fades into some decent laying throughout the pint glass giving off piney grapefruit aromas that have hoppy notes. Taste is piney with citrus grapefruit that has hoppy notes that finish with a nice grapefruit pine and an aftertaste of slight bitter grapefruit and grapefruit peel with a somewhat medium mouthfeel. Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Astronomical Hazy IPA is like bitter, hoppy grapefruit juicy that is easier to drink than some hazy grapefruit forward IPAs. Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Astronomical Hazy IPA is a B+. The bitterness doesn’t attack you tastebuds like some IPAs. It is softer on them and that helps you to really taste the hop profile and really enjoy it. With that said you should try Wicked Weed Brewing Co. Astronomical Hazy IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!       

Wilmington Brewing Company Jason, Stop Texting Your mom.

Posted on by Evan

Wilmington Brewing Company Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom New England Style IPA, 7.6% ABV purchased from Pop The Top which was brewed pretty fresh (8.15.19) and is brewed with Pale, Pilsner, Wheat, and Oat malts. Cashmere and Ekuanot hop in the Whirpool is a common method used in commercial breweries to separate hop pellets and trub from wort after the wort boil. Essentially the wort is pumped into the whirlpool vessel at a rapid velocity, usually about 15 feet per second, to cause the wort to start spinning like a whirlpool. Dry-hopped with #1 and #2: Cashmere and Ekuanot.  Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom pours a hazy yellow with a three-finger white head that slowly fades into massive whips of lacing with tropical pineapple aromas that a bit piney yet juicy. Then comes a tropical juicy pineapple flavor hitting your taste buds with a nice tingle of piney notes with a very faint underlying sweet note that is faint at best, then Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom finishes with a nice piney fruity, and hoppy with a tropical hoppy pineapple with a fuller mouthfeel. Wilmington Brewing Company Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom New England Style IPA is big on the pineapple juice with a nice flow of flavor complementing one another nicely to make Wilmington Brewing Company Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom New England Style IPA an A. I think this has one fruit flavor note to it which makes it nice and not seem so stereotypical New England IPA, because I do like this NE IPA style it just that it seem like every beer out there is a NE IPA and it’s overshadowing everything else. But I do recommend Wilmington Brewing Company Jason, Stop Texting Your Mom New England Style IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Throwback Thursday: Deep River Brewing Co limoncello Tart Ale

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted April 8th, 2017.

Creativity is key to brewing and producing craft beer. Brewers get creative with ingredients, can and/or bottle type or even with the name and artwork on the label. One example is Deep River Brewing Co. Limoncello Tart Ale Brewed with Lemons, 5.4% that is produced in Clayton, Johnston County, North Carolina. Limoncello is sour blonde ale that is brewed with Sarachi Ace hops, a boatload of lemon, not sure how to measure a boatload, and fermented with a proprietary yeast strain that was developed with technology at NC State University. Limoncello pours a darker yellow color that has a bit of a brown murky hue to it with almost no head. The aroma is quite pleasing with fresh tart lemons and lemon peels with the lightest hint of a sour note. The flavor is at first slightly tart with lemon but is refreshing at the same time. Toward the middle of the mouth, Limoncello becomes a bit more tart and the lemon come through more, and on the back, the sourness shines a bit brighter without overpowering the tart lemony flavors there. The mouthfeel is light with a bit of thickness as you swallow. Limoncello finish tart, slightly sour with a nice refreshing quality. After taste lingers with tart lemon/lemon peels but doesn’t linger too much, and doesn’t pucker up the taste buds in the after taste. This beer is very good, it deserves an A. I found that none of the flavors clashed or overpowered one another, they all got along well and formed a wonderfully refreshing beer. I not the biggest fan of fruit beer, I like them enough and some fruits are not what I would say are good to brew beer with. But lemon in beer, now that is a good choice. I think lemon can enhance a beer or add another layer of flavor without making it into something not enjoyable. So you there should go and try Deep River Brewing Co. Limoncello Tart Ale Brewed with Lemons, I recommend you too. 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!

  • Thursday, August 29th. Summer’s Not Dead Fruited Pale Ale. Triple C Brewing Company. 4 pm-10 pm. Fruited American Pale Ale – Massive aromas and flavors of juicy mango, underripe pineapple, and a bit of sticky pine. Moderate bitterness with a pillowy mouthfeel

 

  • Thursday, August 29th. Red, White & Brew Stable Call. The Unknown Brewing Company. 6 pm-9 pm. Tickets, http://www.veteransbridgehome.galaxydigital.com. Veterans and patriots,

    The Red, White and Brew Stable Call is back in 2019 and we need you!

    For those unfamiliar with the Red, White and Brew Stable Call format, here’s how it works:

    Step 1: Go to the designated watering hole (varies every month, August at Unknown) at the designated date/time (typically the last Thursday of every month)

    Step 2: Buy a beer.

    That’s it. That’s how you do it.

    We will see you there.

 

 

  • Friday, August 30th. Blurred Lines (Amor Artis Collaboration). NoDa Brewing Company.  3 pm-10 pm. Releasing at our taproom on August 30th is a collaboration with our friends across the border at Amor Artis. This is a unique batch of Juicy IPA brewed utilizing five distinct hops; Mosaic, Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo and Experimental 10416.

    Amor Artis will brew the same base beer utilizing their own blend of hops. Amor Artis’ version is an inverse of our name called “Lines Blurred”.

    To collaborate, even more, each brewery will blend a third of their batch with the others. That’s where the lines get “blurred”…the beers will be different but somewhat the same.

    Join us in the taproom — starting at 3 pm — to get your hands on this unique brew. 🍺

 

  • Saturday, August 31st. Cellar Series Bottle Release. Legion Brewing. 12 pm-3 pm. Our FIRST release from our highly-anticipated Cellar Series will be held on Saturday, August 31st.

    Entmoot: An Oak Farmhouse Ale brewed with pilsner malts and local malted buckwheat, fermented with Norwegian farmhouse yeast, and aged in oak for six months with mixed culture. Tasting notes are Oak and Toasted Pineapple.

    Ouroboros: A Mixed-Culture Saison Ale brewed with our traditional Saison recipe, Sterling hops, Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces, and aged in charred oak barrels. Carefully blended with reserve peach sour.

    We’ll be opening doors to the public at 12pm. Limited bottles of each of these beers are available!

 

  • Saturday, August 31st. Mediterranean Street Food Fest! Sycamore Brewing. 12 pm-11 pm. Join us for Mediterranean Street Food Fest at Sycamore on Saturday, August 31st at 12 noon in the Sycamore Beer Garden for great authentic Mediterranean style food from our friends at GyroTwinsTruck and Taza! Great Sycamore beers, frosé Wild Blossom Cider and live music!

 

  • Sunday, September 1st. $3 Beer Day! Lenny Boy Brewing Co. 11 am-7 pm. Sunday, September 1st we will have $3 beers all day at the Brewery 🍻 You can enjoy our freshest IPAs, southern lagers, select kettle sours, and all flavors of Elation for only $3.

    Why… because the Sunday scaries don’t exist the day before Labor Day! We will also have some amazing food specials for everyone to enjoy. And – did you know you can enjoy $3 Kombucha Mimosas EVERY Sunday 🥂

    Live music from 3 – 6pm 🎸

    Grab your friends and family – and come enjoy live music, craft beer and kombucha, and all of our Labor Day specials 😋

    Please note: the Taproom will be closed on Monday, Sept 2nd for Labor Day.

 

 

  • Monday, September 2nd. New Pilot Batch Release: Cranberry Saison Release. Pilot Brewing. 2 pm-9pm. Enjoy Labor Day with us at Pilot for the release of our new Cranberry Saison! Goblets of the new Saison are $3 on release day.

Westbrook Brewing Co. Low and Slow Doppelbock

Posted on by Evan

Westbrook Brewing Co. Low and Slow Doppelbock, 8.2% ABV part of their Low and Slow series, it’s lagered in oak barrels, brewed with CTZ, Hallertau, Mittelfruh Hops, German Lager Yeast, Black, Caramuinch, Munich, and Pils malts. Then it’s lagered for four months in natural oak barrels. Doppelbock pours a deep mahogany brown and a two-finger beige head with sweet malty notes that a slightly alcoholic. Then you find yourself at a rich malty sweet taste with some boozy notes with a nice complexity that comes together with a sweet malty-rich finish and has a nice sweet slightly sticky aftertaste with a full mouthfeel. This beer would go great with grilled or barbecued meats but I find Westbrook Brewing Co. Low and Slow Doppelbock to be an interesting take on a Doppelbock with its the oak barrel lagering, and it’s a B+ beer. The oak barrel does add a nice complexity and gives the flavors a sharper taste on your tongue and really gives you a sense of the higher 8.2% ABV. I did enjoy this big beer and I recommend that you check it out! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!