Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Wild Little Thing Slightly Sour Ale

Posted on by Evan

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Sierra Nevada Brewing Company Wild Little Thing Slightly Sour Ale, 5.5% with Tow-Row, Pale, Oat, and Wheat malts, Cascade Hops, Ale yeast, Guava, Hibiscus, and Strawyberry, one of two Little Thing Beer, the other being Hazy Little Thing, a hazy IPA.  Wild Little Thing pours a bright red color with a faint pink/white fuffy head with aromas of sweet fruits, strawberry, and guava with a hint of a faint floral note. Taste is somewhat similar to its aroma, on the front of the mouth you get a nice bit of sweet strawberry with guava behind it with a nice sour/tart note on the middle of the tongue that stretches its legs and grows as it hits the rear of your mouth and finishes with a tart yet sweet fruit flavor with a nice tart strawberry aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. Sierra Nevada Wild Little Thing is a nice refreshing summer beer with a nice balance of flavor and just enough tart/sour notes, receiving a B-. I would not drink a six-pack of this, by the fourth Wild Little Thing the flavor would become too much. But it’s not a bad sessionable beer and one worth the try. Please drink responsibly! Cheers!

Birdsong Brewing Co. Dressed to Chill

Posted on by Evan

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Birdsong Brewing Co. Dressed to Chil, White Ale 5.0% ABV with Tangerine, Essential Oil, & Spices. is a Witbier style purchased from my local Harris Teeter grocery store and is brewed here local in Charlotte, NC. Dressed to Chill pours a semi hazy yellow color with a bright two finger white head that leaves behind decent lacing and gives off a floral-like aroma that is very similar to a room deodorizer, there is a little faint banana citrus spice whiffing into your nose. Taste is flowery with a bit of citrus tangerine spice that finishes with a floral citrusy potpourri finish that carries into the aftertaste with a nice faint spiced with a medium mouthfeel. This has a floral potpourri taste to it that holds it back and gives in a B-. The tangerine character of this White Ale does add a good aspect to the overall flavor but does not really interact with the essential oil, which sounds like a nice idea but isn’t terrible is okay at best. Overall Birdsong Brewing Co. Dressed to Chil, White Ale is the worst beer I’ve had. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!    

 

Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Ruby Redbird

Posted on by Evan

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Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Ruby Redbird, 4.0% ABV is a brew that I’ve decided to rereview, I originally reviewed this back almost eight years ago on June 6th, 2012. Back then Shiner Ruby Redbird was only a summer seasonal beer, now it’s a year-round beer do to its popularity. Ruby Redbird is brewed with ripe Texas ruby red grapefruit from the Rio Grande Valley and fresh ginger. Ruby Redbird is only 95 calories, 31 grams of carbs, and 0 grams of fat, which the embellish on the can. Redbird pours a golden color with a one and half finger thin white quickly fleeting head without leaving a trace of itself behind. You get nice big ginger aromas wafting into your nose with faint grapefruit and then comes a taste of big ginger flavor hitting your tongue washing over your tastebuds with little bits of red grapefruit notes that are low on the acidic scale, and not too bitter but you get a nice tartness from the marriage of grapefruit and ginger. Ruby Redbird finish with a nice tart ginger flavor that has a slightly spicy ginger tingle with low but semi-sweet red grapefruit notes that then make for a ginger beer like aftertaste that does linger for a minute with a light mouthfeel. I see how this Spoetzl Brewery Shiner Ruby Redbird has grown in popularity to become a year-round beer. I still enjoy it and it is a B-. After a while, the ginger flavor starts to become a bit too much but I like ginger and ginger flavored things, but this a good sessionable beer and one that is worth trying. 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!

Throwback Thursday: New Belgium Brewing Citradelic Tangerine IPA

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on February 11th, 2016.

I am not a fan of New Belgium Brewing IPAs. I don’t like Ranger their original IPA. Well that changed when I had Citradelic Tangerine IPA, 6.0% ABV with an IBU of 50. This IPA is brewed with Citra Hops and Tangerines. Now these two things sound like they go well together in an IPA. Citra Hops give a citrus flavor and well Tangerines are a Citrus fruit, so how can they not go well together.  Citradelic pours a crisp golden color with a bit of an orange twinge to it and a two finger bright white head. The head quickly fades to about one finger then slowly fades into nice ropey lacing that is on the thinner side. The aroma is tropical with citrus fruit like tangerines, oranges and some faint grapefruits. There is a little bit of a subtly earthy aroma as well. This   is one good smelling tropical IPA. The taste is juicy with nice Citra note up front with some real nice tangerine flavor kicking in in the middle of the mouth that really build up a great tropical taste. The mouth feel is on the lighter side with a nice half sweet finish of earthy pine tangerine. The after taste is a bit hop with tangerines and faint subtle grapefruit notes. This beer surprised me with how good it was. I was going in to this IPA thinking it was going to be okay/average, and be a little to hoppy and have a little bitter fruit. Well it was not! I give this an A-. Citradelic was all about one hop and one added ingredient, which wasn’t bad. I enjoy it, but I really prefer a more round flavorful IPA. Not to say that Citradelic wasn’t flavorful. New Belgium nailed the tropical tangerine flavors on this IPA! This is a great IPA a great for warmer weather IPA or anytime of the year. This IPA is tropical and sweet with out being to sweet. It is also easy to drink and refreshing. I highly recommend New Belgium Brewing Citradelic Tangerine IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA

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Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA, 4.5% ABV with 40 IBUs is brewed in Kona Hawaii with Pale, 2 Row Premium, Carmel-120 malts, Azacca, Galaxy hops, Tropical Passionfruit, Orange, and Guava. Hanalei Island IPA pours a clear golden color with a one and a half finger white head that give tropical fruit aromas of passionfruit, guava, and some light orange. Taste of Hanalei Island IPA is a little similar to its nose with tropical fruits, guava, passionfruit and a little faint orange with a slight bitter hoppy note come through on the back of the tongue that does carry into the finish where the tropical fruit flavors fade into a light hoppy aftertaste with a light mouthfeel. Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA is more tropical fruit than traditional IPA. I think that Kona Brewing Co. Hanalei Island IPA is an A-, the hoppy notes only chime in towards the back of the mouth and in the finish and aftertaste with drops it just slightly, and with that said this IPA is one beer I’d recommend trying. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Mikkeller Brewing Aloha Fridays Gose-Style Ale

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Mikkeller Brewing, Aloha Fridays Gose-Style Ale, 5.9%, brewed in San Diego California with Passionfruit, Tangerine, Pineapple & Hibiscus. Aloha Fridays pours light cherry red with a one and a half finger head with somewhat good retention, that gives off tropical tart fruity aromas of tangerine and pineapple. You get tartness up on the front of the tongue with a bit of a salted flavor with lots of tropical fruit flavor notes like lots of passionfruit l, pineapple, and tangerine but not really any hibiscus. Aloha Fridays finishes with a slightly tart tropical flavor with a tropical fruit aftertaste with a slight sour note on the very end with a light mouthfeel. Mikkeller Brewing, Aloha Fridays Gose-Style Ale sounds like it’s an interesting take on a Gose-Style Ale and it sort of starts out that way then just becomes an average tart fruited beer, and I give Mikkeller Brewing, Aloha Fridays Gose-Style Ale a C+. And this wouldn’t be something I would rush back to try but if it’s around I might have it. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Divine Barrel Brewing Ice Cream Paint Job

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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!

Ancillary Fermentation Flag Signals.

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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!