Hopfusion Ale Works Feisty Redhead

Posted on by Evan

The beer I have today is Feisty Redhead, a hibiscus cherry blonde from Hopfusion Ale Works. This blond beer is from Ft. Worth, Texas, and is 8.67% ABV. This Feisty Redhead has Orange Blossom Honey, raw Piloncillo (an unrefined whole cane sugar used in Mexican cook & baking. It has a caramel taste similar to molasses or brown sugar), Mexican vanilla aged on hibiscus & cherries. This beer sounds complex and interesting. This beer pours a red likecolor with a one and a half finger of white head that is quick to dissipate. The aroma is sweet, tart, fruity (big cheery), and floral. The flavor is big on the cherry. The cherry is more of a syrupy flavor than real cherries. The flavors are sweet (honey & cherry), tart, and faintly floral. The mouthfeel is syrupy and medium feeling. Then this beer finishes with a tart cherry syrup flavor. Then it turns into an aftertaste of tart fruit syrup then fades into a faint honey note. This beer sounded better than it tasted. I give this Feisty Redhead a D. The cherry tastes fake and syrup-tasting and clashes with the tart flavors, which are faint at best. This beer leaves you with a cough syrup aftertaste. I don’t recommend you try this unless you are one of the few that likes cough syrup. Please stay safe, be kind, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Thomas Creek Brewery Islander Ginger Beer

Posted on by Evan
This Ginger beer, Islander Ginger Beer. is originally from the Caribbean and made by the Harriots. But it is made in Greenville, South Carolina’s Thomas Creek Brewery. This ginger beer uses filtered water, cane sugar, ginger, citrus, and Caribbean spices. This beer is only 5.0% ABV. This ginger beer pours a yellow color with no head. The aroma is sweet and gingery, with hints of citrus and spices. This beer has a ginger flavor, sweet notes, citrusy flavors, and spice. The mouthfeel is on the medium side. Then this beer finishes with a ginger-spiced flavor. The aftertaste is ginger and citrusy with a bit of spice. This bere here isn’t bad. I found the Caribbean spices a little too strong. The spices overwhelmed the ginger a little. I give Islander Ginger Beer a C+. It is easier to drink than some beers, and yes, it is mildly refreshing. I don’t think this is something I would usually go for on its own. I think it would be great in a cocktail. Please be kind, be safe, and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Shiner Beer Straight Shooter Juicy Dill Pickle Craft Brewed Hard Seltzer

Posted on by Evan

I haven’t had too many hard seltzers, and I find them as a whole to be a little one-sided. When you have a citrus IPA, you have the flavor of the IPA with the citrus. A hard seltzer has the bubbles and whatever flavor you have added. This seltzer is Shiner Beer Straight Shooter Juicy Dill Pickle Craft Brewed Hard Seltzer, 4.5%. It pours a clear color with loads of carbonation bubbles. The aroma is vinegary and spiced. The flavor is vinegary, light dill notes, spiced. The mouthfeel is lite and carbonated. This seltzer finish with a decent amount of carbonation and a vinegar pickle that carries into the aftertaste. This drink is just plain with a decent about of pickle flavor. I give This is Shiner Beer Straight Shooter Juicy Dill Pickle Craft Brewed Hard Seltzer a C+. The flavor on this is decent but not complex at all. If you like pickles and you love hard seltzers then this is for you. I found it average as best. Please be kind, be safe and enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Haw River Farmhouse Ale Cultural Divide Farmstand Pickle Kettled-Sour Saison

Posted on by Evan

A purchase from the Butcher’s Market, Haw River Farmhouse Ales Cultural Divide Farmstand Pickle Kettled-Sour Saison, 6.2% ABV is part of a series of beers called Cultural Divide and is brewed with Carolina Culture yogurt fresh from cow’s milk infused with fresh North Carolina cucumbers, fresh dill & pickling spices. Farmstand Pickle pours a orange-y yellow color with a big three finger quick white head with sour pickle brine/juicy aromas and light cucumber. Taste is much like the name of this beer, tart yet semi sour dill pickle with some pickle juice that mixes with light cucumber with nice amount of effervescent to give Farmstand Pickle a medium mouthfeel with a nice tart and sour pickle finish and a similar aftertaste with little of of saison notes following the pickled flavor that lingers for a bit. Haw River Farmhouse Ales Cultural Divide Farmstand Pickle Kettled-Sour Saison is a beer that slowly grows on you and gets a B-. The Saison base does help with the dill pickle flavors otherwise this beer wouldn’t be very good, I mean most people don’t usually drink straight pickle juice. I would say to try this just as a curiosity, it is an interesting beer that isn’t that bad. Please stay safe and enjoy responsibly!

NoDa Brewing Company Mint Porter

Posted on by Evan

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NoDa Brewing Company Mint Porter 5.8% ABV is brewed in Charlotte, North Carolina with cocoa nibs, Epiphany malt, and conditioned on mint leaves. This is the last beer in my NoDa Brewing Company Girl Scout cookie inspired beer four-pack. Mint Porter pours a black color with a two-finger beige fluffy head that has a steady fade, giving off boozy mint aromas that are a little like spearmint. Taste is minty with some nice chocolate and faint roasted noted that culminates to a nice minty chocolate finish with a nice minted aftertaste with a medium to barely full mouthfeel. NoDa Brewing Company Mint Porter is a good ported and I give it a B+. it has just the right amount of mint to chocolate flavor, Yes, I do think this is like a Girl Scout cookie, almost all of these NoDa Brewing Girl Scout cookie inspired beers have tasted like a Girl Scout cookie, the Lemon Kölsch not so much. I recommend NoDa Brewing Company Mint Porter and the four-pack it came in. This four-pack is very interesting with four different beers, usual that is found in mostly twelve-pack and sometimes sixers, but never a four-pack or pints. Please stay safe and please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!   

Crafted Cocktail: Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Dark & Stormy

Posted on by Evan

Here is something a little different from the usual. Thank you to the The Baddish Group for sending me some Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer and for sparking the idea for this post. One of my favorite types of liquor is rum especially dark rum so here I crafted a Dark & Stormy, 3 1/3 oz ginger beer (Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer), 2 oz dark rum (Pusser’s Rum), and 1/2 oz lime juice (Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice). Fill a highball glass with ice, add dark rum atop ginger beer then add lime juice, mix thoroughly and garnish with a lime wedge. Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer has a 4.8% ABV whereas most ginger beers used to not. The Dark & Stormy is a is light sort of brown copper color with a big aroma of ginger and little notes of the lime and dark rum. It has a pronounced ginger flavor with a nice following of light lime dark rum right behind all the ginger beer with an alcoholic ginger finish and similar aftertaste with a light lime coming through with a halfway medium mouthfeel. This is not as boozy as it would seem but it’s a little boozier than a standard Dark & Stormy due to the Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer. Overall this was a nice taste Dark & Stormy cocktails, gets a B+. Yes sure there will always be something better out there but right now this Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer, Dark & Stormy is really good. Please enjoy responsibly. Cheers!

Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer

Posted on by Evan

Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer, 4.8% imported from Edinburgh, Scotland is not something I usually review but I do like ginger so let’s give it a review. Thanks to The Baddish Group for sending this to me. Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer is brewed with real Far East ginger that has been steeped for up to six weeks and with exotic spices. Crabbie’s pours (over ice) a bronze, semi-gold color with really not head and gives off a sharp and strong spicy ginger sweet aroma. The taste is a slightly more amplified version of the aroma, of strong spicy ginger with a nice cool sweetness that finishes with a nice mellow ginger sweet and spicy note with a sweet and slightly spicy ginger aftertaste with a lighter mouthfeel. Overall I found Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer to be a little on the strong side with its ginger flavor but I think that it’s a B+. Crabbie’s Original Alcoholic Ginger Beer is a refreshing drink for any time and would be a nice addition to any cocktail. Please enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Deschutes Brewery Just Tapped Series Botanical Ale

Posted on by Evan

Deschutes Brewery Botanical Ale, 7.0% ABV with 15 IBUs is part of the Just Tapped Series and is brewed with live yeast for this herb/spiced beer that I purchased from Total Wine. Botanical Ale pours a yellow almost gold color with a one and a quarter finger white head that dissipates at a medium pace. Botanical Ale’s aroma is herbal with root-like notes wafting into the nose with a spiced lemon note. Taste is kind of similar to the aroma with a little lemon mixed in with a jungle herbal flavor with a hint of light lime and a fruity yeast note the hits the back of the mouth with a herb finish and a lemon-lime spiced aftertaste with a lighter mouthfeel. Deschutes Brewery Botanical Ale is definitely fleshing and has a good yet interesting flavor profile that has an almost fruity flavor without additions of any fruits. I think that is neat. I give Deschutes Brewery Botanical Ale a B-. It is good and yes I think that you could have a six pack of these but then it may become a little too much flavor, and this also would be a beer that I would recommend trying for yourself. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!