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Beer & Chips Paring: LateJuly Organic Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips and Founders Brewing Co. All Day IPA

Posted on by Evan

This may seem like a Beer & Chips Pairing similar to the last one I posted, but this is LateJuly Organic Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips & Founders Brewing All Day IPA, 4.7% ABV. LateJuly Organic Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips are much like a cool ranch Dorito but with more of a slight green hue to them with a little sprinkling of spices and smell spicy with hints of lime zested on them. These tortilla chips have a mild spicy note to them up front with a nice light lemon flavor following it. Founders Brewing All Day IPA does wash way a bit of the Jalapeño spice but then in the middle of mouth the spice mixes with the hoppy flavor making a slightly more than mild spicy note that really fills your mouth then slowly fades as you sip on ALL Day IPA. This beer adds another level of spice to the Jalapeño and helping bring out the lime flavor and makes for a good pairing which receives a B. The Jalapeño flavor is mild as is the Lime flavor, but they aren’t. That holds it slightly lower but the beer adds to these LateJuly Organic Jalapeño Lime Tortilla Chips which helps bring out the intended flavors. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

New Belgium Dayblazer Easygoing Ale

Posted on by Evan

New Belgium Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, 4.8% purchased at my local Harris Teeter grocery is a session ale, that pours a golden yellow color with one finger white head and gives your nose clean, crisp sudsy aromas with some grain notes as well, with a taste that is somewhat similar to the aroma with crisp sweet clean flavors with a very faint hoppy note on the back of the mouth with a refreshing quality and a crisp somewhat sweet finish with a nice clean grains aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. This is just an average tasting beer that you probably will not remember but is good, give New Belgium Dayblazer Easygoing Ale a C+. There is nothing offensive about this beer nor is there anything really worthwhile here. It is a much better version of a BMC (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) offering. I recommend New Belgium Dayblazer Easygoing Ale, go try it, it goes down very easy! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

Picked up Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious India Pale Ale, 7.3% ABV from the local Harris Teeter, this local brew is brewed in Asheville, North Carolina. Pernicious pours a yellow Pilsner like color with a slight hazy and a one and a half finger white head with a bitter lemon floral aroma with some grass pine faintly wafting in with a bitter taste of a slightly fruity lemony piney flavor with slime bitter hoppy notes in the middle and toward the back of the mouth with a clean finish that slowly smooth out bitter in the aftertaste that has a very light lemon flavor with a lighter mouthfeel. For a beer that 7.3% ABV Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious India Pale Ale is easy to drink and is good getting a B+ here. I think that Pernicious could use more hops to give it the hoppy notes more of impact on you taste buds but other than that is good and you should try it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

The Beer News

Posted on by Evan

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

  • Wednesday, March 6th. Cookie-Inspired Beer and Cookieparing with NoDa Brewing. NoDa Brewing Company. 4 pm-7 pm. Tickets at Eventbrite.com. Join us on Wednesday, March 6 at NoDa Brewing after 4 p.m. to sample the brewery’s limited edition, cookie-inspired beers paired with cookies from local pastry chefs. Justin-Burke Samson, Laney Jahkel-Parrish (300 East), Hannah Heacock (Earl’s Grocery) and Samantha Allen (Wentworth & Fenn) put a pastry chef’s touch on four classic cookies. We’ll be there until cookies sell out, which might not take long, so get a ticket to make sure you get a chance to try these delicious desserts!

    Guests must be 21+. Tickets recommended; cookie quantities are limited.

 

  • Wednesday, March 6th. Launch Party – Untappd Beer Festival. Legion Brewing SouthPark. 4 pm-7 pm. Join Untappd to celebrate the launch of the Untappd Beer Festival! The festival will take place May 4th at Bank of America Stadium and the kickoff event will be held on March 6th from 4:00 – 7:00pm at Legion Brewing SouthPark! Come learn more about this awesome festival coming to the Queen City!

 

  • Thursday, March 7th. Resident Culture Tap Takeover. Pop The Top Craft Beer Shop. 2 pm-10 pm. **UPDATE** We need to push the RC tap takeover out a week due to the beers not being ready by the 28th.**

    We are extremely excited and elated to share the news that we will be doing a tap takeover with one of our favorite breweries in the QC….. @residentculture

    Thursday, February 28th is when we’ll be tapping 3 sneak peek brand new beers that will later be released at the brewery on March 2nd! There is also the possibility of some other great stuff that RC will bring out, so you don’t want to miss out on this takeover!
    #stayfunky @residentculture #plazamidwood #southend #bottleshoplif 

 

  • Thursday, March 7th. Cookie and Beer Pairing. Carolina Ale House Waverly 4 pm-9 pm. Tickets at Eventbrite.com. Cookies and beer, we can’t think of a better pairing!

    Join us for a Cookie and Beer Pairing featuring 4 types of cookies and a flight of 4 beers from our taps!

    Cookies Paired with:

    Stone Tropic of Thunder Lager
    Kentucky Blackberry Porter
    Lonerider Sweet Josie
    Cigar City Jai Alai

    *Beer subject to change based on availability. 

 

  • Friday, March 8th and 9th. Bold Missy Tap Takeover. Pout Taproom. 5 am- 12 am. This Friday Bold Missy Brewing Company takes over Pour Taproom as we host the exclusive release of their Famous Glitter Beer – A Touch of Whimsy!

    This is a night you do not want to miss!

    DJ Hollywood will be providing the music from 9pm to midnight

    Bold Missy will also be bringing their:
    Irish Amber and Suffragette (Dark Kettle Sour)

    Tag your friends and we’ll see you on Friday!

 

 

  • Saturday, March 9th. Greenway IPA Release. Triple C Brewing Company. Back by popular demand, the first IPA we brewed back in 2012! Greenway IPA returns with the same hop punch and new to us Vienna and Carolina Gold Malt from Carolina Malt House, Inc.!

    New Wrap Order will be on the patio!

 

  • Saturday, March 9th. Dual Can Realise. Divine Barrel Brewing. 11 am-11 pm. Join us this Saturday, March 9th at 11am for our second ever can release! We’ll be releasing two beers for you before our One Year Anniversary Celebration! We’re bringing back fan favorite Ice Cream Paint Job and a new American IPA we’re calling Basement of My Brain. There will be NO limits on either beer and will be priced at $16.99 + tax per 4-pack.

    Ice Cream Paint Job: Berliner Weisse, 4.6% ABV – A jammy Berliner fermented with vanilla, lactose and over 500 lbs of raspberries, sweet cherries, and blueberries. Sweet jammy fruit and vanilla explode on the forefront with a subdued lactic and berry tartness to round it out.

    Basement of My Brain: American IPA, 6.5% ABV – A juicy IPA brewed and double dry-hopped with Mosaic, Cashmere, and Denali hops. Filled with dank and juicy hops, look for flavors of pine, mango, pineapple, and slight berry undertones.

 

  • Sunday, March 10th. Cousins Maine Lobster at Lenny Boy Brewing. Lenny Boy Brewing Co. 12 pm-4 pm. Who wants more sunlight in their day? We do! Sunday, March 10th is Daylight Savings. Spend your extra daylight hour with us at Lenny Boy Brewing. We’ll be dishing out our famous Maine Lobster Rolls and Lenny Boy has all the beer you need. We’ll see you there.

 

 

 

  

NoDa Brewing Company Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

NoDa Brewing Company Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale, 10.2% ABV and 118 IBUs (International Bittering Units) purchased from the local Harris Teeter grocery store here is brewed lots of Vermont Maple Syrup. Hop Cakes pours semi deep orange with a three finger white head with maple syrup aromas with a bitter hop resin notes with some citrus notes melt into you nose. Hop Cakes flavor is strong up front with a maple syrup rein bitterness with a bitter citrus fruit flavor coming in on the back of mouth and a very faint boozy note, with a big bitter syrup finish and a somewhat sweet yet faint syrup bitterness aftertaste with hits of a bitter resin citrus fruit with a full mouthfeel that is due to the amount of maple syrup used. NoDa Brewing Company Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale is a big beer an is a interesting take on an Imperial IPA but the syrup and the hoppy bitterness make this on bitter hoppy beer which is good but I think that Hop Cakes is a B- beer. It would be a beer that you could drink a lot of, the bitterness would be overwhelming and would wreck your taste buds, but it isn’t a bad beer the maple syrup aspect add a nice touch to a beer with a hint of sweetness. I would recommend this just simply for the maple syrup, and yes I would hav NoDa Brewing Company Hop Cakes Imperial India Pale Ale again. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Throwback Thursday: The Olde Mechlenburg Brewery RPA, Rein Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on July 14th, 2012


Yes my favorite brewery has been hard at work and here is a NEW brew RPA, no not Rye Pale Ale, this is Rein Pale ale, 5.2% ABV. This is a cross between an American pale ale and a German-style lagered ale. OMB brews this with a combination of four different American and German barly malt verieties, spicy American Tettnag and noble Czech Saaz hops. This OMB pours a beautiful light amber color with a thin-ish white head. You can really smell the Hop scent here on this with a nice grassy note. Smells just like a fresh hop field. Nice! This RPA has a moderately bitter taste about it. Not to much bitterness, just the right amout to make it great. Great for most any occasion. There is a very very faint spicy note on the finish along with a still moderate bitterness that finishes light and crisp. This beer is a good NEW brew for OMB and they have done it yet again, in making a awesome and tasty beer. I love this brewery and can not say enough good things about them. This RPA is part of small growing trend of hoppy/bitter beers that have been hitting the market recently, after the height of IPA crazy hit, which is now not so popular as it onces was. Now the trend is more toward less hop and more bitterness, but to much bitter and it sour which is the next trend I think. But this hit the trend make well with it’s hybrid American pale ale and German lagered ale. Great beer and I give The Olde Mechlenburg Brewery RPA, Rein Pale Ale an A+. Just the right amount of bitter in this one. Not too much, yet not too little. Good work OMB! Keep it up. I would by this again, have it over and over again, just like all the beers they brew. I love a good tasty OMB brew! Cheers! Please drink responsibly! 

Birdsong Brewing Company Hazy Sexy Cool IPA

Posted on by Evan

Birdsong Brewing Company Hazy Sexy Cool IPA, 6.8% ABV is a New England style IPA I picked up from Pop the Top Bottle Shop here in Charlotte. Hazy Sexy Cool IPA is unfiltered and brewed with Citra, Mosaic, & El Dorado hops. Hazy Sexy Cool IPA pours a hazy orange color with a big three finger white head that sicks around giving off juicy citrus fruit aromas with some bitter notes hitting your nose. Taste its juicy with orange and some grapefruit citrus with faint pineapple with a nice fruity bitter hoppy note coming in on the back of the tongue with a nice bitter juicy citrus finish and a grapefruit orange aftertaste with some nice hoppy bitterness. Birdsong Brewing Company Hazy Sexy Cool IPA is spot on and well brewed, it’s getting an A- here. It has a little stronger boozy note that his hiding behind all the citrus flavors but that doesn’t take away anything major from this beer, it’s a goof beer, one that I recommend and will definitely go back to! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Lord Hobo Brewing Co. Meat & Potatoes Dinner Stout

Posted on by Evan

Lord Hobo Brewing Company from Woburn, Massachusetts is a fairly new distributed brewery in the Charlotte, NC area. This is Lord Hobo Meat & Potatoes Dinner Stout, 7.7% ABV. Meat & Potatoes pours black with a three finger beige head that slowly dissipates into somewhat spotty lacing, giving off ashy semi-coffee like aromas with a faint malty bitter scent. Then you come to a taste of roasted bitter notes with a ashy coffee-ish flavor with a very faint hoppy not on the very back of the mouth an tongue with a semi-bitter roasted chocolate finish and a much similar aftertaste with a bit of a faint hoppy bitter note popping in for a split second with a full mouthfeel. Lord Hobo Meat & Potatoes Dinner Stout sounded more interesting than it tasted, and was not very good. I found it to taste like a stout that was off or not as fresh, so I give this Lord Hobo Meat & Potatoes Dinner Stout a D-. The bitterness that I got from this stout through the beer off as it came into the coffee like flavor, they didn’t really go well together causing the entire beer to taste not well balanced. I don’t think I will be go back to this stout nor will I be recommending this beer. I didn’t like it that much! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Westbrook Brewing Co. 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stoutwimw

Posted on by Evan

I really enjoy the beer from Westbrook Brewing Co. in Mt. Pleasant South Carolina and this Westbrook Brewing Co. 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout, 9.0% ABV which I purchased from Pop the Top Bottle Shop here in Charlotte, North Carolina, and this beer was brewed for Westbrook’s 8th Anniversary And is brewed with roasted pecans, winter spices and vanilla then blended with dark roasted malts and candy syrup. 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout pours a black color with brown edges and a two finger beige head that gives you sweet aromas of a chocolate cookie with a bit of a nutty note. Then you get to flavors sweet chocolate cookie notes with nice roasted malts with a nice roasted pecan flavor coming through the roasted char notes with a nice sweet but faintly bitter finish with some semi-chocolate sweetness and a roasted malt pecan cookie sweet aftertaste that really hangs around coating your mouth with a full mouthfeel. Westbrook Brewing Co. 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout is a great dessert beer and really keep up with the great brewing knowhow making 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout an A here. It is what it says it is on the bottle a pecan cookie Stout and one that is well brewed and one I will recommend you to try and I will go back to., Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Elysian Brewing Company Space Dust IPA

Posted on by Evan

I found Elysian Brewing Company Space Dust IPA, 8.2% ABV at my local Harris Teeter and wasn’t expecting to find this beer. Elysian Brewing in Seattle, Washington which has been in business since 1996 brews Space Dust with Chinook hops to bitter the beer and they use late and dry additions of Citra and Amarillo hops. Space Dust IPA pours slightly hazy orange color with a two finger white head with fruity-hoppy dank aroma wafting off the head with a slight sweet grass note then you get to a bitter flavor of some grapefruit with mild sweetness to it with some onion, dank grassy pine notes but you don’t really get the full hit of the 8.2% ABV. Space Dust IPA finishes nice with a faint sweetness and a nice bitter note with an aftertaste of bittersweet fruity onion with a fuller mouthfeel. Elysian Brewing Company Space Dust IPA is a good beer, getting a B. Now I don’t think that more than two Space Dust IPA could be had, the flavor would overwhelm your tastebuds halfway through a third, but that is not a bad thing. Lots of beers are great and are a beer that can you could only have two or three due to the strong flavors or higher ABV. I like the sweetness that compliments the bitterness in Space Dust IPA it blends well with the entire flavor profile of Space Dust. Elysian Brewing Company Space Dust IPA is a beer that I would recommend you try and one that I would definitely go back to. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!