Name

It’s been awhile since I reviewed a beer.  In actuality this is exactly what I want.  I am going to start cutting back on the amount of reviews and focus more on South Florida beer news and events.  Don’t worry you will still get reviews here and there like this one but probably only one a week.

Last week I was sick for a bit and went a good number of days without a beer.  No shakes, no cravings.  That’s always good.  But before that I occurred I was able to have today’s beer, Tocobaga from Cigar City.

I first had this beer awhile back at a Cigar City tap takeover and believed I fell in love at that time.  Red ales I think are a highly under appreciated style.  Not many breweries make them but the ones that do always seem to do a good job.  This was draft only until a few months ago when CCB released it in 750 bottles.  But news broke last week that they would be going to 12 oz bottles as well as 12 oz cans.  I will give you a minute to jump for joy, go ahead.

The hazy reddish orange brew sits nicely in my Cigar City snifter with a nice sized white head on top.  It slowly disappears into the liquid and leaves a slight bit of lacing around the glass.

The nose bursts with citrus like hops.  A lot of grapefruit and orange in there.  Quite a moderate amount of malts in the nose as well.

Not much different in the taste.  The hops come at you first.  They are slightly earthy along with the citrus notes.  I’d say there is even some tropical fruit tastes in there as well.  This has become common in their hoppy beers.  A caramel malt backing is present and gives some balance to things.  But the hops are first and foremost.

This beer would go very well with a nice cut of steak.  Really I would say most flavorful meats would fit quite nicely with it’s robust flavor.

This is everything I remember about the beer upon my first time having it on tap.  Lots of big hops in there with enough malts to not let it slide overboard.  And the news of it coming to smaller bottles as well as cans is just music to my ears.  It’s going to make this beer a go to some point down the road.

Grade - A-

Name

What a weekend.  Thanks everyone that came out to the MikeLovesBeer.com 3rd Anniversary Party at the Funky Buddha on Friday night it was a great time.  And one question keeps coming up after this event.  When are Brian and Casey going to perform again?  Very good question and one we will need them to answer.  Great job guys.

But back to business with some beer right?  Today’s review is of this years version of Cigar City’s 110k + OT series.  This year is an imperial red ale that they say is loosely based on their Tocobaga Red Ale but hopped up.  Let’s jump right in.

I pour it into my Cigar City snifter and it arrives a deep reddish brown color.  A nice sized tan head sits on top but is gone pretty quickly.

A lot of citrus and tropical aromas in there.  The hops are citrusy in nature.  Then a big caramel presence in the back.  Slight alcohol hint in the nose as well.  Pretty well balanced at least by scent.

The taste is pretty sweet.  The caramel is back again with the tropical fruit flavors.  It is then followed with some hop bitterness but quickly is back to the sweet malts.  The 10.2% ABV really shows up as it warms up.

A lot of people complained about last year’s 110k being too maltly.  We don’t really know if that was what it was meant to be like or if that was the whole idea behind “The Other West Coast IPA,” a term that many friends of mine had a hard time picking up on.

So when this year was said to be a hoppy red ale I was stoked.  But once I had it must say I was a tad disappointed.  While the nose was pretty on to what I expected the taste contained way more malts and sweetness than big hops.  The hops are there but not as much as I typically come to expect from hoppy red ales.  This is not to say it was a bad beer but below my expectations.

So much like last year I don’t know if this was exactly what the folks at CCB intended for it to taste like.  I have only had Tocobaga once and from what I remember it was quite hoppy.  So hearing that Tocobaga was the base recipe slightly puzzles me since they said this would be a big hoppy version.  Oh well.

Grade - B-

Name

Just one more day of work!  That is all and then tomorrow I head to PA.  And to celebrate I am having a Philadelphia area brew.  Sure they are from Jersey and sometimes us PA and NJ folks don’t get along.  Jug handles and full service gas stations?  Really Jersey?  But they consider Philly their home market just over the Delaware River.

I’m having the latest in the Exit Series from them.  A series that celebrates (yes celebrates) the New Jersey Turnpike.  While many snicker at the thought of anyone glorifying this stretch of road (I’ll give you a minute to), the beers that I have had in this series are anything but lame. Exit 4 is the best tripel I’ve probably ever had.

This one, Exit 9, is a hoppy “scarlet” ale in tribute to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.  It is their university that is just off of exit 9 of the turnpike.  And if you know me then you know I love a hoppy red ale.

It pours into my New Belgium glass a murky red color.  There is a good sized sandy colored head on top and it leaves some good lacing along the glass.

The moment I started pouring the beer I got the huge citrus hop smell.  Placing my nose closer it’s even bigger.  Lots of scents of grapefruit and pines.  I even get a slightly biscuit malt aroma in the back.

But if you are looking for balance in the taste you won’t find much.  This is a hop bomb.  Tons of citrus and pine hops leave a great hop flavor and nice bitter finish.  Tiny bit of malt backing just to make it not overboard.

So Flying Fish said this is a hoppy beer and they weren’t kidding.  This is exactly what I wanted and hoped for in this beer.  Just a big assault of hops in a red ale.

I highly recommend  this latest creation in the Exit Series especially if you are a hop head.

Grade - A