The Unknown Brewing Co. Over The Edge American IPA

Over the last few years a new brewery here in Charlotte North Carolina has opened and begun canning it’s beer. The Unknown Brewing Co. with its bright neon green color is growing quickly. I’ve only had one of their beers so far.  That beer is Over The Edge American IPA, 6.9% ABV, which has their signature neon green on the flat gray, can. Over The Edge pour a red like copper color with a three finger white head that leave nice lacing behind but doesn’t stay long. I found not much light coming through the beer, but I did see some carbonation bubbles. The aroma is straight up American IPA with dank resin note and an earthy piney aroma. The smell of this beer really hits your noise. Now the taste is just as the aroma would lead you to believe. Upfront there is plenty of nice earthy bitterness and piney flavors. The in the middle you get more hoppy that stick a little and a smooth bitter flavor in the end with just a little bit of a faint alcohol taste. The mouth feel is a little fuller and Over The Edge has a nice smooth bitter finish. The after taste is nicely hopped with some earthy flavors that linger until the next sip. Overall not a bad IPA so I’d say Over The Edge is an A-. I think that this beer was just a hair to bitter and not close enough to being sessionable but still is a great IPA. The smooth finish is a good thing for this IPA. I like that about it. I would recommend that you try The Unknown Brewing Co. Over The Edge American IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Allagash Brewing Co. Tripel Ale

The Belgian-style Tripel Ale actually stems from part of the brewing process; in which brews use up to three times the amount of malt than a standard Trappist “Simple.” These Tripel Ale tend to have a higher than average ABV percentage, and are generally bottled-conditioned. This means that the beer is bottle with a little bit of yeast; this means that the beer/yeast is still fermenting the sugar. There might be sediment in the bottle. Allagash Brewing Company in Portland Maine brews in the Belgian-style. This is Allagash Tripel Ale, 9.0% ABV, and it comes to this blog from BrewPublik (www.brewpublik.com). Allagash Tripel Ale pours a golden hue with a bright fluffy one and a half finger head that fades quickly into decent lacing. I found some nice amounts of light stream through the glass and there was a nice stream of carbonation bubbles racing from the bottom to the head. There are notes of apples, pears, and faint green grape with honey on the aroma. You can really get a sense of the higher ABV as well as the yeast too. The taste is crisp up front with a fruity apple and pear, and then in the middle you get more of a yeasted note with a slight alcohol flavor that becomes stronger as this beer warms. You get a stronger yeasted alcoholic flavor in the back. But overall it does have a more bubbly taste to it. Allagash Tripel has a medium to almost full mouth feel and a crisp but strong finish with an after taste of a yeasty apple/pear that lingers with a nice alcohol sting. This is a really great beer as much of Allagash beer is. This Tripel Ale is an A+. It is exactly the definition of Belgian-style Tripel Ale. Some Tripel Ales tend to have too much carbonation or not enough yeast characteristics and fall short of being a great beer. But not Allagash Tripel Ale, I highly recommend trying it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Westbrook Brewing Co. Gose

A German-style beer that once was nearly extinct is making a comeback. Gose (pronounced “goes-uh”) is a wheat beer brewed with 50-60 wheat coriander and sea salt. This style is originally from Leipzig Germany. But this can of Westbrook Brewing Co. Gose 4% ABV, doesn’t come from that far away, no it comes from Mt. Pleasant South Carolina east of Charleston. This is another fine beer from Brewpublik (www.brewbpulik.com). Gose pours a bright hazy yellow color with a two and a half finger bright clean white fluffy head that somewhat slow to fade and does leave behind nice whips of lacing. I found some little amounts of light through the glass with average amounts of carbonation bubbles. The aroma is similar to a lemon but with a salty kick. Taste is pretty sharp with a slightly bitter sour lemon upfront than towards the back or your taste buds it gets salty and the bitterness/sour really kicks in. But it’s refreshingly sour. I didn’t get much of any coriander in the taste. I think it’s underneath the big sour salty flavors. This Westbrook Gose finishes sour with a nice salty note that leaves a refreshing lemon-like aftertaste that sticks with you for a little bit. I really enjoyed this Gose a lot it’s an A+. I can see why the Gose style is making a comeback. After drinking this I find it so interesting that sour wheat beer with sea salt could be as refreshingly delicious. But yet it is very much so. Everything going on in this beer works so well together.  I highly recommend trying Westbrook Brewing Co. Gose. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month June (Prince Wally)

It’s here again Foothills IPA of The Month! Here is June (Prince Wally), 5.9% ABV with 60 IBUs. Foothills clams this IPA has tropical and citrus notes aplenty. Well, let’s find out. June pours a light yellow color with orange edges and a three-finger bright white head that slow to fade and leaves behind great lacing. I could see much light coming through the glass due to the murkiness of this IPA, but I did see some carbonation bubbles. The aroma on this June IPA is of melon, grapefruit, pineapple, lemon and orange with a bit of piney earthy notes. The taste is similar to the aroma; you get a bit of grapefruit and little pineapple upfront. Then you get more orange flavors in the middle with a little melon with lemon and some light lemon. At the back, you get a bigger grassy piney earthy note. This IPA isn’t all in your face bitter, but it’s more of pleasant bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium with a nice fruity bitter finish. The after taste is like a tropical/citrus fruit salad that lingers in your mouth. This Foothills IPA of The Month June (Prince Wally) is just as good as the rest of the beers in the series. I give June (Prince Wally) A. It needs a little more strength in the tropical fruit department and a tiny bit less with the citrus fruits. But that isn’t really a big shortcoming. You really can taste all of the different experimental hops used here and they all make for one heck of a fruity good IPA that isn’t all one flavored and in you face intense with hoppy bitterness. I would have this again and again. So should you! So go out and try Foothills IPA of The Month June (Prince Wally)! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Pauwel Kwak

Belgian beer is probably the best beer in the world and has been for a long time. It is traditional for some Belgian beer to be brewed by Trappist monks but not all beer is. Pauwel Kwak, 8.4% ABV a Belgian Pale ale has bee brewed since 1791 and is brewed and bottled by Bosteels. Kwak pours a rich amber color with a two finger bright white head that slowly dissipates and there is a little light streaming through nice amount of carbonation bubbles. The aroma is sweet with bits of caramel and faint hops notes. There is a strong whiff of alcohol on the nose. Kwak has a strong taste with nice caramel notes that are followed by a nice but faint hop note that is mildly bitter for just a second because the caramel flavor is a bit dominate. But the caramel taste isn’t alone. No! It is accompanied by a rater pleasant vanilla note. The vanilla isn’t too strong, it’s a bit mild by tasty. The mouth on Kwak is big and full, it coats your mouth a bit, and finishes nice with a warming form the 8.4% alcohol as it goes down. The after taste of vanilla and caramel lingers just a bit before fading into a warm alcohol sting. I really enjoyed Kwak and I do recommend trying this yourself. It’s an A here. It needs to have more of a light alcohol flavor in the middle, but that is a minor thing in making Kwak better. I don’t think it’s bad beer at all. Everything has room for improvement. I would have Kwak again for sure. So go and try Kwak for yourself! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Hitachino Nest White Ale

Craft beer doesn’t come to mind when you think Japanese beer. You would generally think of lager beers that go great with sushi. Don’t get me wrong these beers are good. But yes there is craft beer in Japan. It is growing in Japan and they even have a few American craft there as well. One example of Japanese Craft beer is Hitachino Nest a brand by Kiuchi Brewery. This is a pretty popular craft brewery here in the USA and it isn’t as easy to find but not so hard either. This is Hitachino Nest White Ale, 5.5% ABV, made with spices and orange juice. Hitachino Nest White Ale pours a bight cloudy pale yellow color with a thin one-finger head that fades in seconds leaving nothing behind. There is some light coming through with a nice decent amount of carbonation. The aroma is big with a spiced orange and a faint lemon scent. Hitachino Nest White Ale has a nice semi sweet taste of spiced orange that is a little tart with a yeasty note on the back. The flavor does make this beer easy to drink. I mean it does go down well. The mouth feel is light to medium with a nice semi sweet orange-lemon finish and an after taste that lingers on the tongue with nice refreshing yeasted semi sweet/spice citrus flavors. This is one of the best white ales I’ve had. I say this is A+. I found nothing at all wrong or off about Hitachino Nest White Ale. It is remarkable to find a craft white ale from Japan can be this good. I have to give them credit. I recommend that you try Hitachino Nest White Ale. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!