Mike Loves Beer -

Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed Zeus

June 21, 2011

Name – Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed Zeus
Country – United States
Type – American IPA

A couple weeks ago I reviewed Sam Adams Latitude 48 and spoke about my desire to get the Deconstructed pack of all the single hop varieties but wasn’t able to find it. Alas Rob from Daily Beer Review told me that in the Total Wine by him they were in the wine section. Upon searching I found the pack in my local store in the same location.

I decided to start with the Zeus hop version first as this is the only of the hop varieties that I have never heard of before. Apparently from my home brewing friends this is a new hop variety.

I poured the brew into my standard pint glass and it arrives a clear orange color with a big white head. It leaves loads of lacing along the glass as it subsides. Absolutely beautiful look on the glass.

The nose is big in grapefruit aromas with hints of grass and pine as well. Very slight malt aroma in there.

The taste has more grapefruit notes but is also quite earthy. Subtle caramel flavor to even things out but then finishes with a hoppy bitter taste.

Decent first start for the pack. If anything I love single hop varieties because they help you get to know the characteristics of a what that hop variety is like. And I got to know that about our new friend Zeus here. It’s grapefruity and earthy.

Yeah I’m keeping the review pretty short today as I’m in a little bit of a rush. But the rest of the week I should be having the remainder of the pack reviewed and posted. So be on the look out for that.

Grade – B-

Beer People Helping Beer People

June 17, 2011

/ Announcement, Beer News /

2 Comments

I’ve heard the phrase “Beer People are Good People” before. And for the most part it is correct. Trust me, I’ve met my fair share of “beer people” that I really don’t hope I have to run into ever again. But I say as a whole we are pretty damn good. It’s a hell of a lot better than the music community (and I have a hard time using that word to describe them) that I use to be involved with. So I always find a way to help good beer people whenever I can.

Case in point is Mike and Nate from Thank Heaven for Beer‘s KickStarter Campaign to get their brewery, Wilderness Brewing Company, started. I made a posting about it when it first started and thought to myself that hey a nice post here and there is great. When you have a blog you can use it but I also have an audible voice in the craft beer world as well with my podcast, United We Drink, that I do with Phil from Dos Beerigos.

So after a few emails with the guys we had Mike and Nate as our guests on United We Drink this week. They talked about how they met and how the whole idea for the brewery started. They also tell us why they love this community so much. Hell, Nate even talks Mandarin (or that’s how Skype wanted him to sound).

But if you can take an hour of your time head over to United We Drink and take a listen to the last episode. Or download it on iTunes to put on your iPod or iPhone or iWhatever and listen to it on run or drive. But if you don’t have the time how about taking just a couple minutes and going to the KickStarter page and pledge something. Really anything will help and you can pledge as little as $1. If 100 people pledge $1 then that’s $100 (yup using my math skills) and that helps a lot. And remember you aren’t paying right now. You will only be charged if they reach their goal by August 4th so you don’t have to have the money now. Just make sure it’s there by August 4th.

Mike and Nate a great guys and I know they are going to do good things with this brewery. That’s why I myself have already made a pledge to them. Thanks beer geeks!

110k + OT Batch #4 Imperial Red Ale

June 14, 2011

/ Beer Review /

2 Comments

Name – 110k + OT Batch #4 Imperial Red Ale
Country – United States
Type – American Red Ale

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-