Corsendonk Chrismas Ale

Christmas or holiday beers are a staple among most beer breweries. But there isn’t a real Christmas style. That is up for each brewer’s interruption. A lot of them have similarities, and have Christmas flavors. This is Corsendonk Christmas Ale, 8.5% ABV, brewed and bottled by Brewery Du Bocq for Brewery Corsendonk in Turhout Belgium, which is in between Antwerp and Eindhoven. Corsendonk Christmas Ale pours a medium brown with tan edges with a one half finger beige head that slow dissolves into the center of the beer. The aroma is filled with dark fruits like raisins, figs, plums and some slight cinnamon and brown sugar. Corsendonk Christmas Ale has a similar taste as the aroma with figs, plums, raisins with brown sugar and cinnamon and nice underlying booze that warms you bit as it pass through. The mouth feel is full with a nice sweet finish and a less sweet but boozy after taste with hint of dark fruits. Corsendonk Christmas Ale is an A-. This is good but the over all flavor doesn’t have that sharpness like a Chimay Blue but it’s pretty close. This Corsendonk Christmas Ale is something that you should get your hands on and try. It does come in both 750ml (24oz) and 330ml (12oz). Either way is good, you’ll like it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Widmer Brothers Brewing Hefe

I have review this beer before, cause I know you say this one seem familiar. Your right, it is. Back in March of 2012, the 3^rd to be exact, I reviewed Widmer Brother Brewing Hefe, 4.9% ABV, but that was in draft form and this is bottled version. Widmer Brothers Brewing in Portland Oregon has been doing the job of brewing beer since 1984, and Hefe is there original flagship beer. Hefe pours a slightly cloudy gold color with a two and half finger white head that slowly fades away into not much lacing. The aroma is crisp with touches of banana and slight citrus and some floral notes. Taste on Hefe is different than most hefe’s that I’ve had, and I’ve had a lot, it’s one of my favorite styles. There is a crisp lager or pilsner flavor to it with a very faint banana notes with slight citrus flavors. The mouth feel is light somewhat refreshing, and with a nice smooth yet clean finish. After taste is not much of anything nor does it add anything to the whole beer, just the taste coming to an end or a stopping point. Still get a faint banana flavor with slight citrus. Widmer Brothers Brewing Hefe isn’t bad it’s a B-. Better fresh on draft than in the bottle in my opinion. This bottled Hefe is more like a lager or Pilsner where as the draft is more like what you’d expect a Hefe to be. Bottled Hefe needs to go to Germany and learn how Hefe’s really are. Then come back to us all educated and grown up. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Abita Brewing Company Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer

Tends come and go some go quicker than others. But one that I thought would be here long than it did is the hard soda, especially all those hard root beers. They seem like a novelty or just sweet soda with alcohol. Some beer drinkers don’t seem them as something worth having. I kind of like them. Here is another hard root beer, this comes from Abita Brewing Company in Abita Spring Louisiana, Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer, 5.9% ABV.  Bayou Bootlegger is brewed with pure Louisiana Cane Sugar and it’s Gluten-free. Bayou Bootlegger Pours a deep black color with dark brown edges and a one half finger of fizzy off white head that quick disintegrates into a thin halo. The aroma is muck like a root beer, with vanilla, sassafras, some hints of faint clove and anise. Now the taste is not much like a root beer except for some vanilla with bits of a spicy note in the middle and the end. This is more like a vanilla coke, with slightly less vanilla flavor. The mouth feel is medium but on the higher side of that with a spiced, semi sweet finish and a vanilla Coke like finish. Over this is so bad, but I will say that Not Your Fathers Root Beer is a better choice. So with that said I give Abita Brewing Company Bayou Bootlegger Hard Root Beer a C grade. This hard root beer starts are pretty good then just turns into something different, vanilla Coke like. Vanilla Coke is not bad; I just don’t want my hard root beer to taste like one. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! 

Southern Pines Brewing Company Man Of Law India Pale Ale

Yes I have here yet another IPA, this is from Southern Pines Brewing Company here in Southern Pine North Carolina. This is their Man Of Law India Pale Ale, 6.4% ABV with 60 IBUs. This is the first time I have heard of this brewery and had one of their beers. Man Of Law pours a dark clear yellow color with a three finger white pillow head that slowly fades into some great looking chunky lacing. Aroma is of pineapple, candied orange, slight orang peel, pine and some resin. Smells like an average IPA, nothing out of the ordinary. Taste on Man Of Law is similar to its aroma with nice faint pineapple, a rounded bitterness, slight orange/orange peel, pine and caramel sweetness. The mouth feel is medium but closer to light and has nice bitter finish with touches of a sweetness that fades into more of a bitter after taste with hints of an earthy pine flavor. Man Of Law India Pale Ale is slightly average for an IPA, nothing wrong with it. I give Southern Pines Brewing Company Man Of Law India Pale Ale a C+. It was exactly what an average IPA should taste like, and it wasn’t over done. But it didn’t really wow your taste buds with it flavors. So that kept it average. Would I try this again? I might but not too soon, and I would recommend trying Man Of Law IPA. It was good but it could be better. Needs more fruity hoppy flavors to really make it great. But it was just a typical IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Grand Teton Brewing Amber Mountain Brewed Ale

I have not heard much about Grand Teton Brewing in Victor Idaho, nor have I had much of their beers. I don't think a lot of their beers are in North Carolina, I have seen much of them. This their Amber Ale, 4.7% ABV, which is brewed with Idaho 2-Row Pale Malted Barley, German CaraAmber and CaraMunich. They use Idaho Cascade and Super Galena Hops as well. Amber Ale pours a slightly dark amber color with slightly off white head one finger head that quickly fizzes into a small halo, and not much lacing or any lacing is left behind. The aroma is subtly sweet and malty with a faint hint of caramel that's like it's hiding in the back. Taste on Amber Ale is slightly sweet up front with a faint hint of the hiding caramel. I found a bit of sweet orange taste on the end. The mouth feel is medium and this Amber Ale finishes sweet and somewhat smooth with a hint of malt and caramel. The after taste is not there for long, but just long enough to get a taste of a nice thicket of malt and slight caramel before it quickly fades out. This beer doesn't have enough going on for it to be a good solid beer, I give it a C+. The flavor it does have is good but not the best, just one step above average. This Amber Ale isn't something I would recommend. It's not the worst beer to have. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

Coronado Brewing Co. Snowy Plover Winter India Pale Ale

IPA's are everywhere and in every season of the year. Spring summer, fall, winter you name it. That's because they are very popular. This is Coronado Brewing Co. Snowy Plover Winter India Pale Ale, 6.0% ABV. Snowy Plover is a small short San Diego shorebird that flies in and out of the waves. Snowy Plover is brewed with caramel malts. Snowy Plover pours a slight red color with a two and half finger off white head that slowly dissipates into some decent sticky lacing. The aroma is malty with  subtle sweet notes and a nice bright piney citrus scent. Taste on Snowy Plover has more of a malt backbone than a normal or traditional IPA, and there is a nice bright piney yet citrusy note right in the middle and on the end, The mouth feel is medium with a nice hoppy/malty finish that sends you down to a nice semi sweet after taste with hints of nice citrus. This is not a bad beer; Snowy Plover is pretty good in fact, I would give this a B-. It needs a little more citrus flavor to make it better. It is a good winter IPA with a decent malt bill to keep a nice balance with the other more traditional IPA flavors. I would kind of recommend Coronado Brewing Co. Snowy Plover Winter IPA But if you miss it, it's okay. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! 

Foothills Brewing Hop of the Month Simcoe Double IPA

Here is the last installment of Foothills Brewing Hop of the Month. This is Simcoe Double IPA, 8.4% ABV and 87 IBUs (International Bittering Units). Simcoe is well known to Foothills fans, it’s the primary hop in their Flagship IPA, Hoppyum. Simcoe hops are like Cascade Hops but more bitter. Simcoe Double IPA pours a dark orange copper color with a big white three finger head that slowly dissipates into wonderfully thick lacing. The aroma is like a grapefruit candy with resinous earthy piney notes and some woody muskiness. Taste is a wonderful piney grapefruit with a nice strong earthy bitterness. I got a little faint sweetness, a citrus like sweetness with a hint of a pine flavor. The mouth feel is medium with a nice bitter piney fruit finish and a bitter yet earthy wooded aftertaste. This is a great finish to Foothills Brewing Hop of the Month series, and I Simcoe Double IPA gets an A+. Really a solid double IPA without being so overwhelmingly hop forward and bitter. There are enough hops and bitterness to let you know it’s a double IPA. I don’t know if there are going to continue this serious next year. But I have talked to a few beer shops and they say that Foothills 2016 Hop of the Month series has not been a good sell for them like Foothills 2015 IPA of the month. To be completely honest here last years IPA of the month was better overall than this year’s Hop of the Month. It just that this years Hop of the Month sound more interesting that just a different IPA every month. But IPAs are one of the, if not the most popular beer styles. So that maybe why Hop of the Month isn’t selling as well as the IPA of the Month. I do recommend having Foothills Hop of the Month Simcoe Double IPA. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!