Bombshell Beer Company Spell Caster Black Ale

Schwarzbier, what is Schwarzbeir? Well Schwarzbeir is black or dark ale brewed in Germany, and it literally means black beer in German. It is a light style of dark ale and is usually enjoyed in the winter and is an alternative to the usual stouts and/or porters. This Bombshell Beer Company Spell Caster Black Ale, 5.0% ABV isn’t brewed in German but rather Holly Springs North Carolina, and owned by Women, hence the name Bombshell, clever. Spell Caster Black Ale pours black with a tan/light beige two finger head that fades down to one finger then retains itself, leaving behind some little lacing trough out. The aroma is lighter with roasted notes, an ashy scent with a slight chocolate coffee faintness. The taste on Spell Caster Black Ale is light with dark roasted notes, then an some ashy notes that have a slight chocolate coffee flavor around it that is faint at best. The mouth feel is light almost medium with a smoother finish of ashy after taste that sticks to the top of your mouth. This wasn’t as good as I was hoping, but I didn’t have much hope going into it. So I give Bombshell Beer Company Spell Caster Black Ale a C-. Everything is too light with this Schwarzbier. I like the Schwarzbier for the fact that it’s light dark ale, but this Spell Caster Black Ale was too light and the ashy notes were a bit too much. I felt like I’ve had this beer before, and Spell Caster Black Ale is easily forgettable and yet easy drinking, and it’s not so bad that I would tell you to steer clear of it, no it just a little bit below average and I would turn it down if that was all that I had or some else had to offer me. But I would not seek it out to have or have again right away. This is the second beer I’ve had from the Bombshell Beer Company and another that wasn’t so great. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Founders Brewing Co. Breakfast Stout

I should say good morning to you with the beer I have here, Founders Breakfast Stout, 8.3% ABV. Founders Breakfast Stout, from Grand Rapid Michigan is a stout brewed with double chocolate (bitter and imported) two types of coffee and an abundance of flaked oats.   Breakfast Stout pours a black color with a cinnamon beige four finger head and with awesome retention, it really sticks around. It leaves behind lots of good beige lacing. The aroma is like a strong dark coffee, with big bitterness and some dark chocolate bitterness as well. You don’t get anything sweet off the aroma, but there is a faint roasted note. Breakfast Stout’s taste is somewhat similar to its own aroma, there is a big coffee bitterness upfront like you’d get from a dark, strong coffee with touches of a roasted note, then you get a bit of the bitter chocolate with faint oat flavor that is barely there. The mouth feel is full with a bitter coffee flavor. The after taste is somewhat pleasant with roasted bitter chocolate and coffee notes. Overall this beer isn’t bad, but it does have the slightest of overly bitter coffee flavors. So Founders Breakfast Stout gets an A-. I don’t mind strong bitter coffee but there is such a thing as to bitter and this barely crosses that. No I don’t think Breakfast Stout is a bad beer. I enjoyed it enough and I do think that you cannot have several Breakfast Stouts; it would get to be too much. I think a pint or two is plenty. I would have this again, and if you love coffee then you should defiantly try Founders Breakfast Stout. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Smuttynose Brewing Company Cherry Short Weisse

I like cherries and I don’t mind food made with cherries, but I am a little indifferent about cherries in beers. That doesn’t mean I don’t like them I just do love them. Cherries on their own tend to have a strong flavor and then you add that to a beer and the cherries take over. Well I have yet another cherry beer. This is Smuttynose Brewing Company Cherry Short Weisse, 5.2% ABV. This is Berliner-style wheat ale brewed with cherries. Smuttynose brewing is located in Hampton, New Hampshire. Cherry Short Weisse pours a slight deep and yet bright red color with a redish white one finger fizzy head that fades rather quickly with nothing left behind. The aroma on Cherry Short Weisse is well cherry sweetness with very faint wheat like note. Together these two make an aroma that keeps you smelling it. Taste is slightly tart up front with nice cherry flavors then get just a bit more tart in the middle then you get cherry and a bit of wheat or Weisse on the end. The mouth feel is light and refreshing with a nice semi-sweet/tart finish and a nice light tart cherry after taste. This beer isn’t overly tart at any point or overly sweet. Some cherry beers tend to have a little cough medicine taste to them. But Cherry Short Weisse does not. Over all it is better them some cherry fruit beers I’ve had, so with that being said I give this a B+. Cherry Short Weisse is a not overly done in any way which is great but the tartness that you would normally get in a Berliner Weisse isn’t there, the cherry flavor kind of covers it. But it the cherry was done in a way where it made not have much Weisse flavor okay, and I enjoy that and Smuttynose Brewing Company Cherry Short Weisse. Go try this and see what you think! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Oskar Blues Brewery Death By Coconut Irish Porter

I have grown a liking to beers brewed with coconut or coconut beers. But I’ve not had a lot of coconut beers, nor have I had a lot of Oskars Blues Brewery beers. But I got this beer from Brewpublik (www.brewpublik.com), Oskar Blues Brewery Death By Coconut Irish Porter, 6.5% ABV. Oskar Blues Brewery is in Longmont Colorado, and here in Brevard North Carolina. This Can is labeled Colorado.  Death By Coconut Irish Porter uses Cholaca.com dark chocolate and extra dark caramel malt. Death By Coconut Irish Porter pours a black color with tan/beige edges with two to three finger beige head with nice retention, but does fade into a spotty head and some okay looking lacing. The aroma is sweet with vanilla, chocolate, coconut and slight sweet malts. Taste is sweet up front with a nice hit of coconut and vanilla, and then you get nice flavors of chocolate with the coconut that comes as the vanilla fades. This is like mounds bar. But this beer is sweet through out but nothing overly sweet; it has the right amount of sweetness. The mouth feel is full and rich, and has a sweet finish with a nice amount of chocolate and the coconut flavor. Death By Coconut Irish Porter has a nice sweet chocolate-coated coconut after taste that last long enough for you to really enjoy. This beer really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to be this good. But Oskar Blues Brewery Death By Coconut Irish Porter is an A+. It has just the right balance of flavors to it without being overly sweet. The chocolate and coconut really work well together, creating a wonderful beer. But I think that I would only drink about three of Death By Coconut Irish Porters, after that it might start to be become a bit much. But that is nothing to hold it back. It’s a good one! Cheers Please enjoy responsibly!   

Foothills Brewing Company Craft Happiness IPA Project Domicile IPA

Foothills Brewing has introduced a new IPA series, Craft Happiness IPA series. Each month a new and different IPA will be produced and Foothills will dedicate a portion of the sales proceeds to an area of need in their region. The first IPA in this Craft Happiness Series is Domicile IPA, 6.5% ABV. Domicile is double dry hopped with Cascade hops. Dry hopping is a method that uses dry hops that have been harvested then set aside. Domicile pours a clean golden color with a three finger white head that has wonderful retention; it sticks around for a while and leaves behind decent whips of lacing throughout. The aroma is somewhat fruity with some onion and garlic with a dank resin note. Taste is slightly hoppy up front with some sticky earthy notes and a little bit of some spiciness. Toward the back you get little more of a hoppy note. The mouth feel is light to medium but does coat your tongue with its flavors. Domicile finish with a hoppy flavor and a faint bitterness. The after taste is hoppy for a few second then you get a little bitterness that fades away. But as Domicile IPA warms up the spicy notes fade away and give way to a little bit more hoppy bitterness. Overall this is Domicile IPA is good but this didn’t have a really fruit presence to it like some of the other IPA foothills has brewed in the past. I’m not saying this is bad, it was different form the others. So with that said I give this Foothills Brewing Craft Happiness Series Domicile IPA an A. I liked the little spicy note in this IPA it was good and helped to keep the hoppy/bitter notes from taking over the flavors of this IPA. Not to say that this IPA was too bitter or hoppy, it could have just be one sided in the flavor department and that would have held it back slightly. Yet I cannot see a bad IPA coming from Foothills Brewing. This Craft Happiness is going to be a wonderful IPA series and I can’t wait for the next one. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!