Rogue Ales Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

I always like to see new breweries pop up and become successful, and I like to try beer from new breweries, but it is always nice to have beer from a long-standing brewery. For example Rogue Ales in Newport Oregon has been brewing good beer since 1988. I have not had to much from Rogue, but her is a beer they have been brewing form some time now, Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout, 6.1% ABV, 60 IBU. Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout has ten ingredients such as, 2-Row, C120 Chocolate and Rogue Farms Dare & Risk Malts, Rogue Farms Rebel Hops, rolled oats, roasted barley, free-range coastal water and Pacman Yeast. Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout pours a rich black color with a tan/beige three and a half finger bubbly head that sticks around for a bit and then fades into brown/tan whips of lacing. I found no light coming through and could barely see the carbonation that was there. The aroma on Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout is a bit sweet with hints of chocolate and oats, and a nice roasted note as well. But there is a slight earthy note from the oats also. Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout has a nice roasted flavor with hints of coco/chocolate and some tasted malt and oats. The bitterness on the Stout is mellow with a few earthy flavors. Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout has a nice mild finish that is earthy and slightly bittersweet, and the after taste is of mellow chocolate with a slight faint roasted note that fades around the chocolate. Overall a solid Oatmeal Stout, but not as good as I was hopping it would be, so I would say that Rogue Ales Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout is a C+. Yes, it is slightly above average, I was hoping for more sweetness on this but it wasn’t as sweet as I hoped. Not bad though, I did enjoy it. I do think you should try it for yourself it is good. So go out and try Rogue Ales Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Hacker-Pschorr Limited Edition Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager

It is getting closer to October fest and soon there will be more and more “fest beers” hitting the shelves. There will be imports and domestic craft fest beers that you will find at your local store. While I was out over the weekend I cam across a familiar German brewery Hacker-Pschorr, which has been brewing fine beer since 1417, what I saw was their Limited Edition Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager, 6.0&% ABV. Hacker-Pschorr brews this beer along with a few others as collection of handcrafted specialty beers produced in small single-brew batches and available in the US only. This beer, Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager is brewed with German Hallertau hops. This Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest beer is a lighter-hued drier version of their amber sister Original Oktoberfest. Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager pours a nice crisp and clear golden color with a bright white one and a half finger head that dissipates rather quickly, with not much to any lacing left behind. I could really see right though the beer and found lots of light coming through with a nice amount of carbonation. The aroma on Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager is much like a regular German lager, it’s crisp and clean with biscuit cracker like malts, with a nice faint buttery scent and tiny faint touches of the Hallertau hops. The taste is smooth, clean and crisp with a nice buttery biscuit/cracker flavor. Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager flavor ligers a little on the back of the tongue, and has a smooth clean and crisp finish with a nice smooth biscuit after taste with a little bit of the hop that comes in for just a split second. Over all this is a really great beer, so I would give Hacker-Pschorr Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager an A+. I was nicely surprised by how well this beer tasted and how easy drinking it was. So go out and try Hacker-Pschorr Festbier Golden Oktoberfest Lager and see what you think, I highly recommend that you do! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month September (Katie Kickoff)

Well it’s that time again Foothills IPA of the Month is back with another installment, September (Katie Kickoff), 6.0% ABV, and 72 IBU. Foothills is using Australian hops such as Ella, Galaxy, and Vic Secret, and Foothills doesn’t filter this beer leaving unfiltered. September pours a hazy deep light brownish autumn color with a two-finger white head that stick around for a while before slowly fading into thick whips of lacing. There isn’t much light coming through the glass and I could see very little carbonation through the hazy nature of this Foothills brew. The aroma is a little floral and a bit fruity with a little orange and grapefruit, but there is big malt scent that really fills your sense of smell. This Foothills IPA of the Month has a more malty taste up front with a little bit of orange and grapefruit behind that with a touch of a piney bitter floral note toward the end. But I find the fruity flavors on this to be a bit non-exciting and a bit flat. There is more malt to this IPA than in previous months and not as strong and flavorful on the fruit and floral flavors. The mouth feel is on the higher end of medium and has a bitter malted finish with an after taste of malted fruit, oranges and bits of grapefruit. Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month September isn’t as good as pervious months have been, so I would give this month a B. I could do with less malt flavors and more fruity/floral hop flavors to make this great, not that is was so bad, just not good as the rest. This month is kind of a let down in my opinion. If you haven’t tried Foothills recent of any or their IPA’s of the Month then go out and try them all. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

NoDa Brewing Company CAVU

I’ve seen more and more beer in cans recently and that isn’t a bad thing. In the past canned beer wasn’t thought of as good as the bottled beer. People thought the materials of aluminum cans would make the beer taste funny. Now can technology has gone many times better. But canned beer can go places that bottled beer cannot. You can take can’s of beer to the beach, put them in a backpack, or in the cooler without worry, and aluminum cans don’t break when dropped. NoDa Brewing Company here in Charlotte, North Carolina makes beer in cans and here is one of their newer beers CAVU (Ceiling and visibility unlimited), 4.6% ABV, and is in a rather cool looking sixteen ounce can. CAVU pours a clear golden color with a one-finger fizzy wheat head that dissipates quickly but leaves behind minimal lacing. I found lots of light streaming through the glass with healthy amounts of carbonation. The aroma is a bit fruity with a bit of grapefruit and some oranges. There is a slight whiff of pine in the aroma as well. NoDa CAVU has a crisp taste of fruity hops, this is due to the use of west coast hops, I found there to be grapefruit and orange with hints of a piney grassy taste on the back of the mouth. I also found a buttery cracker flavor in the middle of the mouth and towards the back. CAVU has a medium to light mouthfeel with a nice hop character. This beer finishes nicely with a crisp hoppy bit and has a fruity hop aftertaste. NoDa Brewing Company CAVU gets an A, this is a good beer that doesn’t overpower your taste buds and is easy to drink as well as refreshing, and has a very cool looking can too. I enjoyed this one very much and I do highly recommend that you go and try NoDa Brewing Company CAVU for yourself. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!