Mike Loves Beer -

Big Sound Scotch Ale

April 28, 2010

Name – Big Sound Scotch Ale
Country – United States
Type – Scotch Ale

Appearance – Pours a very deep red color that is more brown in the middle and then goes to red along the edges. There is a big tan head that sticks around a bit.

Smell – Bready and sweet. You get a good smell of cherries and a bit of the alcohol.

Taste – Sweet cherry flavor up front mixed with some bready notes. It then gets a little malty and transitions into a nice roasted taste at the end. As it warms up you get more of the alcohol bite.

This is actually the first Cigar City beer I ever tried. Back in September Ed Roberts from Total Wine brought a bottle to the Boca Beer Lovers Meetup and we sampled it. I remember liking it then so I was overjoyed when word came out that bottles would actually be making it here in the southern region of Florida. Maybe it’s not as roasted or peaty as some Scotch ales but this one is pretty good and reminds me of Skull Splitter because of it’s sweetness. A good one here from Cigar City again.

Overall Grade – A

Double Dog

April 27, 2010

/ Beer Review /

4 Comments

Name – Double Dog
Country – United States
Type – American Double IPA

Appearance – Poured a murky copper/reddish color. Really no head but it did leave some lacing.

Smell – Caramel like smell is apparent with citrusy and piney hop notes.

Taste – A nice big hop taste that is then very well balanced out with some sweet caramel and malts. It’s great to see such balance in a big beer. There is a slightly boozy taste to it especially when it warms up.

A really good all around DIPA. Love the balance of hops and malts in there. Flying Dog doesn’t play around with their big beers and this another of the Canis Major group that comes out on top.

Overall Grade – A-

Gubna

April 26, 2010

/ Beer Review /

5 Comments

Name – Gubna
Country – United States
Type – American Double IPA

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

Smell – You get a citrus like hops smell up front but it is followed by a smell of kind of garlic and a whiff of the alcohol. There is some other earthy qualities to the nose as well.

Taste – It’s definitely hoppy with big citrus and pine notes in it. But there is a malt presence for sure. Caramel and chewy to say the least. There is a bit of a passion fruit type taste in there as well. This is a pretty heavy feeling beer.

This beer was hyped to high hell when it came out by beer geeks. I tried not to let the hype get me, I was going to try it regardless. I was just so surprised by how heavy the beer was. I could only have one can before having to move on to something else. While I enjoyed Gubna, and will continue to with the rest of the 4 pack, I think this was another over hyped beer. And I hope you don’t think I’m taking anything at all from the Oskar Blues folks, because I’m not. They make outstanding beers. And they weren’t the ones blowing up the hype on it. A solid DIPA for sure so you should try it if you get the chance.

Overall Grade – B