Mike Loves Beer

Name – Saint Bridget’s Porter
Country – United States
Type – American Porter

Appearance – Poured a very dark brown, black more towards the middle, with some deep red highlights along the edges of the glass.  A big slightly tan head was gone quick but did leave some lacing.

Smell – The smell was pretty much just roasted malts.

Taste – A little more going on here.  You have the roasted malts along with some hints of coffee and chocolate as well.  I detected a very slight smokiness to it.

A very solid porter here.  Once again Great Divide comes through.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say they are a really under-rated brewery.  Yes I know a lot of people like them but you don’t hear a lot about them like the other big names in craft beer.  Then continue to make really good to great beers.  Keep up the good work Great Divide and I’ll keep drinking them.

Overall Grade – A-

Posted February 11th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: Great Divide Brewing Company | Category: American Porter, Grade A, Porter |  Email This Post | Comments (3)

Name – Hottenroth
Country – United States
Type – Berliner Weisse

Appearance – Pours a very hazy pale yellow color.  It good sized bubbly white head disappears rather quickly into the brew.

Smell – The scents were not strong but you could pick up the wheat smell, lemon and some spices.

Taste – The label says it’s tart and it sure is.  It reminded me of eating lemon and sour apple Warheads as a kid.  Of course it was not nearly as tart as the candy but you get the point.  But yeah lemon and sour apples are definitely picked up and a little bit of wheat in there.

I’ve never had a Berliner Weisse before.  I passed on the opportunity to have some at Redlight Redlight in November in favor of a few other things.  I was pleasantly surprised on this.  I am really starting to enjoy the sour ales I have been having and this is right up that alley for me.

Overall Grade – A-

Posted February 10th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: The Bruery | Category: Berliner Weisse, Grade A, Wheat |  Email This Post | Comments (4)

Name – 2 Turtle Doves
Country – United States
Type – Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Appearance – Poured jet black with a bubbly light brown head.

Smell – Roasted malts, a bit of coffee, cocoa.

Taste – Very complex with so many flavors to pick up.  The roasted malts and coffee tastes are slightly there but I think the rich cocoa, chocolate and nut flavors really are the prominent tastes and the gems of this one.  It gets a little boozy as it warms up but nothing to much.

I first had a sample of this in November at the Boca Beer Lovers Meetup at the Coffee District and loved it.  I thought it was more of stout then.  I then had a bottle while in Pennsylvania in December and I still loved it.  Now with the Bruery down here in South Florida I was able to pick up a few bottles and give it a proper review.  I love this beer, plain and simple.  So that’s why it’s getting this mark.

Overall Grade – A+

Posted February 10th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: The Bruery | Category: Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Grade A |  Email This Post | Comments (10)

For quite a while I have wanted to jump into home brewing.  But laziness coupled with bills made it difficult.  As I mentioned for my new years resolution I would start brewing.  I also said I would start getting back into shape and that hasn’t happened yet.  So this past Saturday I made good on my promise to start brewing.

The setup

The first brew would be an Amarillo American Pale Ale, an extract kit purchased from Midwest Supplies.  Everything seemed very straight forward.  I had a bucket filled with water and the no rinse cleaning solution that contained my thermometer, hydrometer and stirring devices.  The propane tank was hooked up to the burner and my 7.5 gallon pot had 3.5 gallons of water in it.  I brought the water up to 155 degrees for the steeping of the grains and here is where I made my first mistake.  Since the paper with my directions said the grains should be crushed I used this opportunity to use my Magic Bullet for the first time.  Yeah that made them a little to fine.  A good amount of grains went right through the bag and into the pot.  D’oh!  Oh well, it’s my first brew and that can be filtered.

After steeping and bringing the water up to a boil I turned off the burner and proceeded to stir in the malts with some help from my sister in law, Melissa.  After all the malt was absorbed the heat was put back on and the pot brought to a boil.  The Columbus hops were added first and after smelling them I could then think, “Oh I’ve smelt these kind of hops before.”  It’s cool to actually put smell with a particular hop.  They were citrusy, I liked it.  Then through the next hour two packs of Amarillo hops were added as well.  And let me say that I love the smell of those ones.  Big grapefruit smells.  If I didn’t completely mess this one up I can tell it will be a good brew.

To bring the temperature down I used the recommendation on the instructions to empty a bag of ice into the pot since it will cool the wort and serve as the extra water needed.  This worked like a charm and brought the wort down to 76 degrees in a little less than 10 minutes.  I took this time to make my first hydrometer reading and it was a 1.050.  We began aerating the wort as recommended by stirring it vigorously and transferred it over to the primary fermenter.  After getting the wort nice and worked up I pitched the yeast and popped the top on it with the air lock.

Now is pretty much a waiting game.  This weekend I will transfer it over to the carboy for the secondary fermentation.  I have to say I had a lot of fun doing this.  My sister in law did as well.  I am hoping all went well with it and continues to go well with it and that a decent brew can come out of it.

Posted February 9th, 2010 by Mike | Category: Home Brewing |  Email This Post | Comments (24)

Name – Starr Hill Pale Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Pale Ale

Appearance – Poured a some what cloudy orange color.  It cleared up a bit after the pour settled.  Nice size white head that left some lacing on the glass.

Smell – Citrus and floral hops jump out at you.  Not getting much else

Taste – You get the citrus hops that include a nice grapefruit taste to it.  Some sweet malts in there and bit of caramel.

A pretty solid pale ale here from Starr Hill.  As most know from reading this, I love grapefruit flavored and scented hop profiles so this was right up my alley.  Nothing out of this word and nothing done wrong.

Overall Grade – B

Posted February 8th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: Starr Hill Brewery | Category: Grade B, Pale Ale |  Email This Post | Comments (1)

Name – Piraat Ale
Country – Belgium
Type – Belgian IPA

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

Smell – Sweet malts and cherries are what I pick up the most.  It is a big boozey.

Taste – More malts and cherries.  A little bit of a yeast taste but not a lot in the way of hops going on.  Alcohol has bite and it gets even bigger the more it warms up.

I’ve seen it time and time again at stores and it was time to try Piraat.  Classified as a Belgian IPA I think it’s more like tripel if you ask me but a little darker.  I really get no hop profile from it but the malts are very nice.  And wow does the alcohol hit you once it warms up.  It was a little to strong for my liking and I like big bold beers.  This one just doesn’t seem to mask it all that well, if they even wanted to.  So drink this with care in mind.

Overall Grade – C

Posted February 5th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. | Category: Belgian IPA, Grade C |  Email This Post | Comments (11)

For quite awhile The Funky Buddha Lounge in Boca Raton, FL has been considered to be one of the best beer bars in South Florida.  The selection was impeccable and would very regularly get a keg of something that you don’t really expect to see on draft.  They are also known for being a respectable hookah, kava and tea bar as well with open mic nights and other local and national performers taking their stage.  The only problem with Funky?  The size.  Having 15 – 20 people in there literally felt crowded beyond belief.  Well fear not anymore as the Funky Buddha has expanded in big ways.

First they have moved.  Fear not to those that are use to their location because they are actually in the same exact plaza just on the north end of it now.  Secondly it is said to be quite a deal bigger.  And the biggest change of them all, they are now a brew pub.  Along with having one of the best craft brew selections Funky Buddha Lounge is now Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery.  They will include a number of their own brews on tap.  I look forward to sampling some of their stuff.

They had a soft opening last night and Ferm and Cerveza Chica from Dos Bee-igos were there and said the place was amazing in comparison to the old location.  But the Grand Re-Opening is this weekend starting tonight.  Also there are rumors going around of some major celebrities being on hand Saturday night.  Gene Simmons was on the local Paul and Young Ron radio show yesterday and said that himself along with Frank Caliendo, Christopher Walken (aka the Greatest Man Ever) and Tracy Morgan would be on hand for a Haitian Relief Benefit.  Now Funky Buddha’s website says that comedian Craig Glass will performing Saturday so who really knows on that.  So there is the potential that Saturday night will be an absolute mad house at Funky.  If this isn’t the truth don’t shoot the messenger, this is just what Simmons said on the radio.

But regardless of all that hoopla, if you are in South Florida and love good beer you have to go by the Funky Buddha’s new digs sometime soon.  I’m not one for large crowds but I find myself really wanting to go tonight and try some of their own brews.  If I don’t make it tonight I will definitely be going soon.

Posted February 5th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: The Funky Buddha Lounge and Brewery | Category: Beer News |  Email This Post | Comments (2)

Name – Magic Hat #9
Country – United States
Type – Fruit Beer

Appearance – Poured a clear orangish color with a big frothy white head.  It did leave a good amount of lacing.

Smell – Apricots and peaches are what I mostly get.  There is some malty smells to it as well.

Taste – The sweet tastes of apricots and peaches are in the taste as well.  A bready malt taste and ever so slight hopiness in there as well.

I’ve had #9 a number of times since arriving in the South Florida at bars and friends’ houses but never gotten around to giving it a review.  Magic Hat calls it a “Not Quite Pale Ale” and I can see that but the fruit tastes are so present that I think Fruit Beer is just right.  This is a really easy to drink beer and think it’s perfect as a gateway for people wanting to get into craft beer.  It doesn’t attack your senses with anything crazy but has more flavor than almost all macros available.

Overall Grade – B-

Posted February 4th, 2010 by Mike | Tags: Magic Hat | Category: Fruit/Vegetable Beer, Grade B |  Email This Post | Comments (2)

Name – Drifter Pale Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Pale Ale

Appearance – Pours a clear amber color with a one finger wide white head.  It leaves a pretty good amount of lacing on the glass.

Smell – Malty with some earthy hop smells in the back ground.

Taste – Nice mixture of caramel like malts and earthy and citrus hops.

I’ve had a couple people tell me before that this is a really solid pale ale.  So going off their recommendations I decided to pick it up.  There are right.  It is a very solid pale ale.  There is nothing crazy or over the top and nothing lacking.  Nice mixture of malts and hops.  Wow this is the third review in a row that I have given the same grade.

Overall Grade – B+

Posted February 3rd, 2010 by Mike | Tags: Widmer Brothers Brewing | Category: Grade B, Pale Ale |  Email This Post | Comments (1)