Foothills Brewing Torch Pilsner

Sometimes its nice to have a simpler style of beer, something clean, crisp, refreshing and drinkable, like lagers and pilsners. These are the most common beer styles around the world, and one of the most consumed styles in the world and a common staple here in the U.S.  Foothills Brewing in Winston-Salem brews a Czech Pilsner, Torch Pilsner, 5.3%, brewed Czech Saaz Hops. Torch pours a clear, crisp golden color with a bright white somewhat tight head that sticks around for a short while and forms thin lacing that looks very nice but spread out. I found tons of light coming though with nice herds of carbonation bubbles race from the bottom. The aroma is nice a biscuit scent that helps a nice breaded character. This beer really smells like the stereotypical beer. The taste on Torch Pilsner is clean, and breaded up front with a nice carbonated taste in the middle of the mouth and a very light taste of Saaz hops on the back with a hint of a biscuit flavor. The mouth feel is light and Torch has a nice clean, crisp and refreshing finish and nice faintly sweet breaded aftertaste with a very light hint of a Saaz hop. I found Torch Pilsner to be a very true pilsner. I give this an A+, this is very easy to drink and most tasty. I think this beer is great and I highly recommend trying Foothills Brewing Torch Pilsner. So go and do that! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery Southside weiss wheat Ale

My most favorite style of beer is wheat ales. I love them a lot, and one I particular like one local brewery Olde Mecklenburg Brewery (OMB), in fact it is my favorite brewery, and one in which I’ve always wished that they would brew a wheat ale (hefeweizen, or Weiss). Recently OMB has, Southside Weiss Wheat Ale, 5.4% ABV, and this is one of the first brews to be bottled in twelve ounce bottled six packs. Southside was previously a brewer draft only beer. Southside and unfiltered wheat ale brewed with noble Bavarian hops and follows the Reinheitgebot, or German beer purity law of 1516. Yep it means this beer is all natural. Southside pours a hazy golden color with a two finger light white head that stays long enough to get a good look at it. I did find nice amount of light with good carbonation too. The aroma is sweet with a light lemon/lemon peal and a fresh bready scent. The taste is much like it smells which is a good sign; there is a nice breaded flavor up front with nice lemony flavor in the middle and on the end. I didn’t find much wheat flavors just a tiny bit to help sweeten the rest of the taste. The mouth feel is medium and smooth with a nice crisp drinkability. Southside Weiss finish easy, smooth and crisp with a nice lemon like aftertaste that is accompanied by a slight hint of breaded wheat. OMB isn’t one to disappoint their customers; Southside Weiss Wheat Ale is another A+ beer from a local A+ brewery here in Charlotte, NC. I don’t have anything negative to say about this beer or the brewery. So I really highly recommend trying Olde Mecklenburg Brewery Southside Weiss Wheat Ale. SO GO DRINK IT! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

Orginal Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale

Ireland is known for two things Whiskey and beer. There are a few different Irish beer styles. The most popular is the dry Irish Stout, such as Guinness. Which is probably the largest Irish beer band in the world. Well we have Original Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale 5.0% ABV and is brewed by Greene King Brewery in St. Edmunds, Suffolk England, and it’s has one similarity to some Guinness products, it has a co2 widget in the pint can. This is called the draught can. The c02 widget in the can is like having canned beer like it was from a pubs tap. All the widget is, is a small round sphere the size of a Ping-Pong ball filled with co2 and one, two, or three little holes on it to release some of the co2 into the can during pouring and creating a beer like you’d have from a pub tap. Wexford pours a copper color with a very thick, tight, and creamy white head that looks a bit like whipped cream, and has some real staying power, all the way to the end of the pint. The head does leave very nice creamy lacing on the sides of the glass. There is a decent amount of light streaming through with huge amounts of co2 thanks to the widget. The aroma on Wexford is creamy, a bit sweet, and a little bright. I found there to be a slight whipped creamy scent on the nose of this beer. The taste is super easy on your palate, with a big creamy lager flavor that is crisp, smooth, and easy drinking. There is a nice touch of sweetness that coats you tongue for a second or two, then fades to a nice smooth crispness. The mouth feel is somewhat light, and Wexford has nice easy creamed finish that leads into a nice creamy lager aftertaste that is lightly sweetened. Overall Wexford is very nice, easy, and drinkable cream ale. I give this an A. None of the flavors on this are too much or overdone or overpowered in any way.  I think that any type of beer drinker would enjoy this. So that is a yes on me recommend Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale. So go out and try Wexford Irish Style Crème Ale and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Highland Brewing Company Razor Begian Style White Ale

One of the best Belgian styles to have in the summertime is wit or white ale, which is just a spiced wheat beer with orange peel or orange zest and a few other spices added depending on how a brewery and/or a brewery brews it. The Belgian Wit style is very popular and lots of brewers brew it. I rather enjoy the style very much, and I find wits to be refreshing and tasty. In the North Carolina Mountains, we have the Highland Brewing Company in Asheville. The Highland Brewing Company makes a Belgian Wit or white ale called Razor wit, 4.5% ABV and is USBTC grand champion in the Wit category. Razor wit a summer seasonal beer brewed with cumin, coriander, grains of paradise, ginger root, sweet orange peel, and bitter orange peel. Razor wit pours a slightly hazy and cloudy yellow color with a three-finger bright white head, with a decent amount of light coming through with some nice carbonation bubble racing to the head. The aroma is much like a Belgian style Wit should be with a nice scent of coriander and sweet orange and a slight hint of lemon. The taste is good with nice subtle spice from the coriander and other spices used and there is a nice sweet orange taste was well. The taste at first has a nice softness to it then fades into the spices and a just the smallest bitter orange taste on the back of your tongue. The taste is nice and refreshing. Razor wit has a nice spiced finish that doesn’t overpower your taste buds and has an aftertaste of lemon and slightly spiced orange flavors that work well together to make a nice pleasant aftertaste. This is a good Belgian style Wit, so I would give this an A. All the ingredients work well with each other creating a nice balanced Witbier. I would recommend try Highland Brewing Company Razor Wit I know I would enjoy it every time. So go out and try Razor Wit and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Blowing Rock Summer Ale

In the summertime, brewing companies use the term summertime ale or summer ale on their summer seasonal beers. Those two, summertime ale and summer ale are broad when being used in a descriptive use. There are so many different kinds of summer type beers out there. There is wheat, wheat with a fruit, Klösch, white (wit), fruit beers, shandies, radlers, lagers, pilsners, and IPA. These summer type beers tend to have a lower abv than other seasonal beers. I look forward to all the summery beers.  So here is one Summer Ale from the Blowing Rock Brewing Company in Hickory North Carolina, this is there Summer Ale (Belgian Witbier), 5.0% ABV. Their Summer Ale is brewed with sweet orange peel, Curacao bitter orange peel, and coriander. Blowing Rock Summer Ale pours a medium orange goldish color with a three-finger fluffy white head that sticks around for a nice amount of time before fading into somewhat thin lacing on the glass. I found some light coming through a bit, not a whole lot and there is a decent amount of carbonation bubbles to it. The aroma is a bit spicy on my nose from the coriander. There is also a sweet and bitter orange peel scent clashing together. The taste on this Summer Ale is a tiny bit sweet at first for a second or two then becomes slightly bitter and the spice coriander hits. I found the taste to be more of the coriander then anything else. It wasn’t so bad but just a bit too much in my opinion. There is some citrus flavor the quickly fades in and out on the back. The mouthfeel is medium and has a spiced coriander finish that leads into a slightly bitter orange and big spiced coriander aftertaste. With every sip of Summer Ale,  I really tasted a big-spiced coriander wave with a tinge of orange peel. This beer wasn’t what I was expecting it to be, but not really a letdown. I mean I didn’t think it was so bad, it’s somewhat good, just not great. So I would give this a B-. I mean I’ve had some world glass Belgian style Witbiers before and this is that, but it sill somewhat good, but needs to have less of a big spiced flavor. I would have this again soon. So if you have not had Blowing Rock Brewing Companies Summer Ale, then go out and try it for yourself. Have a happy and safe Fourth of July Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!