Mike Loves Beer

Mike Loves Beer

I love beer and I’m telling you how much I love beer

 
 
 
 

North Coast Old #38 Stout

Name – North Coast Old #38 Stout
Country – United States
Type – Irish Dry Stout

Appearance – Poured a jet black color with a good sized light brown head but that was gone very quickly.

Smell – Chocolate hits the nose first followed by your typical roasted malts and coffee.

Taste – Dry, roasted malt flavor with a presence of some bitter sweet chocolate and coffee.

This reminded me of a more chocolaty version of Guinness with the way it tasted.  Sure it isn’t nitro tapped and have that big white head but it’s the same style.  I enjoyed this for a dry stout which isn’t one of my more favorite styles.  If you like Guinness then give this a try and you just very well may have found something else you like.

Overall Grade – B-

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Heavy Seas Holy Sheet

Name – Heavy Seas Holy Sheet
Country – United States
Type – Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Appearance – Pours a very deep red that is almost brown in some areas.  Thin tan like head that disappears very quickly.

Smell – Sweet dark fruit, candi sugar and malts in the nose.

Taste – More sweet malts with dark fruit and candi sugar.  A caramel flavor can be picked up as well as an ever so slight hoppiness to it.  A very small amount of booziness as it warms up.

I got a chance to try some of this thanks to Chris at Fresh Beer when I was working the Best Damn Brew Review last Friday.  I liked it so I decided to pick up a bottle.  It isn’t as boozy tasting as most Belgians which made it easier to drink and it paired really well with the pork chops I made also.

Overall Grade – B+

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Eel River I.P.A.

Name – Eel River I.P.A.
Country – United States
Type – American IPA

Appearance – Poured a clear amber color that was close to orange.  It had a finger wide white head that left some lacing on the glass.

Smell – Hops as you would expect.  They are in the citrusy and piney variety.

Taste – Same sort of hops taste as in the nose with a bit of a malt backing to it.

We don’t get a lot of Eel River’s line down here.  I had the Porter some months back and really enjoyed it.  I’ve also been told their imperial stout is quite good but we do not get that here.  The I.P.A. is well balance IPA that has nothing crazy going on.  Just a straight forward and honest IPA.  Bold hops?  Check.  Malt backing?  Check.  Tastes good?  Check.  It’s great to see breweries that stick to the basics and do a good job at it.

Overall Grade – B

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Free Starr Hill Tastings in South Florida on Friday

Total Wine and More will be offering two FREE tastings with Starr Hill Brewing and their owner Alan Willner this Friday.  The locations are the Palm Beach Gardens and Boynton Beach stores respectively.  Starr Hill starting hitting the shelves down here in the later part of 2009 and put out some solid beers.  If you enjoy Starr Hill or haven’t had them yet this is your chance to give them a try and for FREE!  Here are the details for each tasting.

Friday March 5th
3pm – 5pm
Total Wine and More – Palm Beach Gardens
11221 Legacy Avenue
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

Friday March 5th
6pm – 8pm
Total Wine and More – Boynton Beach
850 North Congress Ave.
Boynton Beach, FL 33426

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Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout

Name – Rogue XS Russian Imperial Stout
Country – United States
Type – Russian Imperial Stout

Appearance – Pours an ink black color with a big brown head that goes down rather quickly.

Smell – Citrusy hops?  Yes I am getting hops here.  A subdued bit of roasted malts and coffee.

Taste – Wow the hops really hit you on this.  Wasn’t expecting that at all.  They are quite bitter and earthy.  There is some coffee and chocolate qualities but the bittering of the hops just sticks with you.

Rogue has moved to 7 oz bottles for their XS series and will be doing the rest of their bombers in these bottles as well soon.  It’s nice because those ceramic bottles of the XS series are just so expensive.  I picked these up at Total Wine in Pembroke Pines.  I still have yet to see them closer to my house.  Two bottles were needed to adequately fill my glass.  The hops are very strong in this one.  It reminded me of Storm King but the balance just wasn’t there.  The bottle does say age for one year so I might have to try that and see if the hop profile dies down.

Overall Grade – C-

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Yuengling Bock

Name – Yuengling Bock
Country – United States
Type – Bock

Appearance – Poured a very dark red that bordered on brown color.  Very bubbly off white head that disappears very quickly.

Smell – Roasted malts and a bit of nut.

Taste – Roasted and sweet malt flavors with a hint of nuts and spices.  There is an ever so slight hop profile there.

Being from Pennsylvania I was very excited to hear that Yuengling would be making the Bock again this year but even more excited that it would be put into bottles as opposed to draft only last year.  This is a pretty enjoyable bock overall and will definitely pick up some more before it is gone.

Overall Grade – B

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Cigar City Hunahpu’s Release Details

Tampa’s own Cigar City has released the details for the March 12th release date of their Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout.  I had the honor of trying this at the Jupiter Craft Brew Festival last month and it was really good.  I don’t think I will be able to make this since it is on a Friday and about a 4 hour drive.  But some friends might be going so I might throw them some money to get me some.  Anyway here are the details and rules straight from Cigar City.

With March 12th quickly approaching I would like to update everyoneabout how the Hunahpu Release will be going down. it will be going downthusly:

The Beer:

Hunahpus will be sold in 25.4 ounce bottles (750ml).
There is a strict limit of 6 bottles per person during the first go around.
The beer will cost $20 per bottle which includes all taxes.
The beer will go on sale promptly at 7PM
The beer will be sold by sequential ticket number. meaning when your numberis called (via the PA system) you should make your way to the bottle booth as expeditiously as possible.

Tickets for Hunahpus are attainable at the brewery starting at 11 AM on March 12th and will be handed out until 7PM or they are all gone, whichever comes first. Once you have your ticket you do not have to stay at the brewery. You may leave and come back at 7PM. We want to eliminate standing in line as much as possible.

We will take credit cards for Hunahpus BUT only after all cash sales have been processed.So if you are ticket #1 and your number is called and you attempt to pay with a credit card, you will be skipped over and have to wait untilall cash buyers have purchased their beer. if your only method of payment is credit card we do apologize and we didn’t want to flatrefuse credit cards, but we also have to acknowledge the fact that credit card transactions just take longer in this setting. You will be able to use credit cards for all other purchases including pints, merchandise and growlers.

The Draft Lineup for the 12th:

We field this question literally everyday and we hate having to say “we can’t say yet,” but the fact is we can’t. There are some beers that might be ready by the 12th, but once you hint at them the expectation becomes that it will be a sure thing and sometimes the beer doesn’t want to cooperate with our schedule.

So on March 8th we will post to the blog a final, 100% locked down, no backing out, you can bank on it beer list for the Hunahpu Release. That being said we plan to have many of the things in our barrel room available on the 12th, at least on draft, if not for growler sales. The March 8th update will specify which beers will be available in growlers and which are draft only.

If you ask what will be on draft prior to the 8th we are happy to conjecture,but all you are getting is a guess. And along those conjecture lines we are trying to acquire kegs from other Florida breweries.

The Venue/Outside Beer/Where Can I Go Pee-pee:

Outside beer is ok and indeed encouraged, but if you intend to share witheveryone, bring extra tasting glasses or disposable cups. We won’t be able to provide 12 glasses every time someone opens a new bottle. Evenif they are sharing it with us and even if it is really good!

Both the old and new tasting rooms will be open as well as most of the brewery floor space. There are 8 taps in the new area, 8 taps in the old tasting area and an additional 6 faucets on the brewery side will be exclusively for growler fills. The growler line will be clearly marked.

There are 2 restrooms inside the brewery and they areclearly marked. There will also be three Port-o-Potty stations set up outside.

We do not have a kitchen so it is probably best toeat before you come. We will put on some light snacks at 6PM which will consist of Empanadas and mini-Cuban Sandwiches. They will be tasty.Ohhh so tasty and you will relish each tiny, delectable bite. But alas you will not be wholly sated and will likely still feel peckish, so eata good lunch/dinner before you come. Seriously you are looking a little thin anyway. Mangia!

Do not take your beer outside of the brewery/tasting room. We are not zoned for alcohol consumption outside of the brewery.If you take an open container outside of the brewery you hate the rule of law and are clearly working to undermine the bedrock of our civilization. Don’t destroy a thousand years of societal structure founded on the rule of law because you want to drink your beer while you smoke, urinate or do both. Someone likes you enough to watch your beer while you step outside for a moment. I suppose.

If you have other questions we have not addressed here please email info@cigarcitybrewing.com

Cheers!

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Bell’s HopSlam

Name – Bell’s HopSlam
Country – United States
Type – American Double IPA

Appearance – Pours a crystal clear amber/orangish color with a big white head that leaves a lot of lacing on the glass.

Smell – The nose is hoppy with your big grapefruit and orange hops but also get a presence of passion fruit and papaya.

Taste – A big citrusy hop flavor right up front with grapefruit and orange being the main points.  A very sweet honey taste follows that balances things a bit.

After some major issues with the local Bell’s distributor not ordering this and then having to buy it from the central Florida distributor and having to get it HopSlam became a craze down here.  We didn’t get any last year so people were really hopeful for it.  Most store that got it sold out within hours.  I luckily had someone hold a couple sixers for me because I wanted to see what all the hype was about, and I love DIPAs.  Does it live up to all the hype?  A bit.  It’s definitely really good but not my favorite DIPA.  If you didn’t get any the Coffee District in Delray Beach, FL still has some as of Wednesday night so you might want to stop there.

Overall Grade – A-

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Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

Name – Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
Country – Germany
Type – Doppelbock

Appearance – Poured a very dark brown with a big tan head that left some lacing on the glass.

Smell – Sweet and roasted malts with a cherry like smell as well.

Taste – Sweet malts, roasted malts, bready malts.  Did I mention malts?  A sweet cherry flavor in there and some caramel to boot.  A hint of chocolate in there as well.

Ayinger is probably the biggest German brewer I haven’t had, until this one.  I don’t know why it took me so long to pick anything of theirs up but I’m glad I did.  Celebrator is a very good, if not great, doppelbock.  So malty and tasty.  Very glad I finally got this but disappointed in myself that it took so long to finally have it.

Overall Grade – A

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93 Rock Best Damn Brew Review This Friday

This Friday is the 93 Rock Best Damn Brew Review at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, FL.  There will be over 200 beers to try along with food and music.  The event is from 8 pm until midnight.  Advanced tickets can be purchased for $20 at all South Florida Total Wine stores or you can pay $25 at the gate.  For more information, directions and list of the beer being poured head on over to their official page.

I will more than likely be there and might be volunteering with the pouring, still waiting to hear back if they need help. So if you are going I hope to see you there.

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