Friday, December 17, 2010

Palo Santo Marron by Dogfish Head



Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron, an unfiltered brown ale aged in Palo Santo wood barrels.
Aromas of vanilla, dark cocoa, dark fruit (plum and black cherry) and slight woodiness.

The taste has certain characteristics of the nose with a light but defined oak flavor with some lighter alcohol and vanilla notes. There is a boat load of darker roasted grains you do not detect in the nose. Burnt grainy malts and dark chocolate, pretty freakin’ delicious if I do say so…

The mouthfeel is full but with adequate carbonation, solid, but never syrupy or cloying despite the 12% ABV. Overall this is one of the top offerings from Dogfish head, which is saying quite a lot because they churn out a pretty solid portfolio of brews.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Caroll Gaarden by Kelso of Brooklyn





Growler from work poured into a Blue Point pint glass.

Good sized, two and a half finger white pillowy head, atop a darker body. This is about the color of unfiltered apple cider, way darker than the straw yellow I was expecting. Even bulky witbiers are still lighter in body than this.

I can smell some clove, and some spice that might be coriander. No yeast smell???

As for the taste, Herm. A lot like a hefeweizen, actually—there’s plenty of esters from the yeast, but nothing that suggests “Belgian.” More clove and much more oily butterfat diacetylic notes. The tang from a considerable wheat presence does come through and cut this a little, but it still doesn’t belong. And where’d the coriander go? Where’s the citrus, of any variety? Put a blindfold on me and I would guess this was a Bavarian wheat beer, though not necessarily a very good one.

Mouthfeel was pretty good, light and spritzy and creamy all at once. That had a suggestion of witbier to it. But all in all, this isn’t much above mediocre.

I really wanted to like this beer. Really. But I have to judge with my head, not my heart. Sorry, guys.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Magic Hat Odd Notion(Winter ‘10-Hibiscus Red Ale)



Pours a red-amber color with a tiny head that retains well. Just a bit of lacing.

It smells of sweet malts with a floral aspect.

I’m actually a huge tea kind of girl, and really really enjoy this. This beer has a total tea sort of taste, probably due to the hibiscus brewed with it. It’s a delicate sort of beer, anyone expecting something bold will be let down. However, give it a chance to appreciate the subtle floral and tea character, the light-handed use of Saaz hops, and the slightly sweetened malts. This isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks out, but this is an incredibly well balanced beer that’d absolutely delicious.

Perfectly carbonated, it goes down perfectly, and the aftertaste is spot-on - the hibiscus really comes into it’s own here.

This is very drinkable. No flaws here.

This is a delicate beer that many people looking for the biggest, boldest thing might look by. That’d be a mistake though, because it really has some complex flavors that are worth seeking out. A winner from Magic Hat.

Midas Touch Golden Elixir by Dogfish Head



This brew poured with a nice golden body. It had a wonderfully foamy and thick white head. As it settles, the faded pretty quick and left some lacing, but nothing special.

The aroma was very fruity and a bit sweet. The nose was hit right away wiht sweet white grape flavor, which is expected since this brew is made from Muscat grapes. The aroma is almost that chardonnay, there is a bit of a spice and honey aroma that finishes out this brews profile.

The flavor this beer is great. Something I have really never had before. After having so many traditional and other such brews, this one was great because it was different. There flavor is strong with grapes, some oranges as well. This nice alcohol push at the end that gave it a nice warming heat. Which is expected from the 9% ABV.

This brew has a medium to light body. The carbonation on this brew was kinda of heavy, but gave it a nice balance. So I enjoyed it a lot.

This brew has a higher ABV at 9%, but it was great. A great sweet, almost wine like flavors, but a nice heat that comes along with the brew. Another great brew by DFH.

Cold Front by Ithaca Beer


Sorry about the glasses, I was at my friend’s place when we drank this beer and his drunk ass insisted on showing that they’re Rolling Stones glasses.
A very nice seasonal beer, the coor was excellent an almost perfect shade of amber (somewhere between red and orange). The color was somewhat cloudy. There was a taste of cinnamon that I did not expect. The smell was just to die for, it was very floral. All in all a beer I would drink again and again this time of year, because it certainly make me feel warmer.