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!

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!

Heist Brewery Big Pick’n Berliner Weiss with Raspberry

Posted on by Evan

I have not really seen much of Heist Brewery beer in stores until I saw Heist Brewery Big Pick’n Berliner Weiss with Raspberry, 6.1% purchased from Pop The Top. Big Pick’n pour very thick raspberry red with a two finger pink head that steadily fades in to a little white cloud. There is a tart raspberry aroma with a bit of some sour notes and a very faint wheat note. Fruity tart raspberry flavor burst on your tastebuds with sone semi faint juicy sour notes that have a nice tart raspberry finish and fade in to aftertaste with a medium mouthfeel. Heist Brewery Big Pick’n Berliner Weiss with Raspberry is rather good and getting a B+. It isn’t overly tart but just enough for most tastebuds. Sone tend to over do it with the tart flavors and this hit the sweet spot. I recommend Heist Brewery Big Pick’n Berliner Weiss with Raspberry. I will have this again. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Throwback Thursday: Ballast Point Brewing Grapefruit Sculpin

Posted on by Evan

Originally posted on November 4th, 2015

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I have said this many time before, IPAs are growing in popularity more and more each day. Breweries are coming up with new and inventive IPA’s all the time, it seema like there is at least 6 new IPAs a day out on the market. Here is a popular one from Ballast Point Brewing Company in San Diego California, Grapefruit Sculpin, 7.0% ABV. This is a grapefruit version of their famous Sculpin IPA. Grapefruit Sculpin pours a copper color with an off white two and a half finger head that dissipates a normal speed and leaves medium sized lacing behind. The aroma is like a normal IPA but with a nice grapefruit juice aroma to go along with the piney earth notes. I found to have sour bitter grapefruit scent to it that was nice on the nose. The taste is earth a little bitter with touches of pine and yes there is a big grapefruit flavor that reminds of Shine Ruby Red Bird but with out ginger. Grapefruit Sculpin isn’t overly hoppy or bitter, it has the right amount of it to really balance it out, but I find that the grapefruit isn’t as predominate, as it should be for a beer with grapefruit in the name. But that doesn’t kill the beer though. I think Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin is a B+. I would like to have it be juicier with more grapefruit. I enjoyed this and thought it was good. Just need a touch more grapefruit is all it needs. I recommend try it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!



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: 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! 

Birdsong Brewing Co. Summer Nights Apricot Peach Ale

Posted on by Evan

Birdsong Brewing Co. Summer Nights Apricot Peach Ale, 6% produced locally here in Charlotte, North Carolina purchased from Pop the Top is brewed with yes you guessed it peaches and apricots. Summer Nights pours an orange color with a one and a half finger white fizzy head that does not stick around giving off fruity (peach and apricot) wine-like notes that is on the slightly sour tart side. The flavor is fruity with nice wine like peaches and with light apricot notes, nice tartness with the faintest sour note that quickly comes and goes. Summer Nights finishes with a nice hint of a fruited white wine flavor and continues into the aftertaste with a little smooth tart notes with a light mouthfeel. Birdsong Brewing Co. Summer Nights Apricot Peach Ale is a good beer that is refreshing and one that is not too invasive like some fruit beer can be. Birdsong Brewing Co. Summer Nights Apricot Peach Ale is an A-, just a little more peach flavor and this would be a great beer, but it’s otherwise good and one that you should try. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly   

 

Throwback Thursday: Samuel Smith Brewery Organic Raspberry Fruit Ale

Posted on by Evan

Originally Posted on January 18th, 2012

When you think of England and its beer you think of a pint of bitter, but yes this is English Ale but it is brewed with Raspberry juice, and other natural flavors. They do brew ale with other fruit. This brewery, Malbourn Bros’ is in Stamford Lincolnshire and its blended and bottled at Samuel Smith’s brewery in Tadcaster North Yorkshire. This beer is organic. This Ale is 5,10% ABV. This ale pours a dark reddish-purple color with a thick violet white head that is most appealing. Yes, this has a strong raspberry scent leaning on the flowery side, but all over it’s a great scent. When you take the first sip it has a huge raspberry taste that is very good, and very pleasing. This is not as bubbly as a lambic. This aftertaste has that slight tart yet sweet raspberry to it. This whole ale has that big raspberry taste. But yes this beer has that good English ale taste behind that massive wall of fresh tasty raspberry. I could see this being a springtime drink in a local English pub, outside looking out at the rolling English countryside. But be careful with this, it is so good and sweet you will not want to put it down and just chug it. This is a refreshing beer, but not a girly beer. It’s a bloody brilliant pint, they say in England. So try this fruity ale and you will be pleasantly surprised. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Commonwealth Brewing Company Limoncello

Posted on by Evan

One of my favorite liquors, Limoncello Italian lemon-flavored alcohol, and the locals sometimes home make it. This. Commonwealth Brewing Company Limoncello, 3.9% ABV, brewed in Virginia Beach, Virginia is a Gosé style ale brewed with Lemon Beebrush, Lemon Balam, Lemon Zest and Lactose. Lemoncello is Commonwealth Brewings interpretation of Italian Limoncello. Limoncello pours a yellow color with a two-finger white head that fades steadily and has sweet lemon aroma with a pinch of saltiness to it. The flavor is not as I expected with a nice semi yet sweet lemon at the front with a little salt in the middle of the mouth with a little twinge of bitterness at the back, with a smooth finish of sweet/semi-salted lemon and a slight tartness that has a lemon balm and slightly sweet aftertaste with a light refreshing mouthfeel. The Gose aspect of Limoncello is muted and sometimes nonexistent, but overall Commonwealth Brewing Company Limoncello is a C+, a little above average but I have had better Gosé Ales and a better Lemoncello Style beer. Deep River Brewing Limoncello is a better Lemoncello beer. Commonwealth Brewing Company Limoncello is not the worst but it’s interesting enough for a try! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!