Crispin Natural Hard Cider Artisanal Reserve Honey Crisp

The cousin to beer is cider in my opinion, and most beer drinkers do like ciders. Some of the big beer brewers have ciders in their lineup or have a separate cider companies. Cider is made from fermented apples, but if it it’s made with pears it’s called Perry, This here is Crispin Natural Hard Apple Ciders Artisanal Reserve Honey Crisp, 6.5% ABV. This Crispin pours a milky yellow murky color. Nothing could be seen in or thought it. The aroma is very sweet; there is big apple with hints of honey as well. The taste is just as sweet as it smells. I found there to be big juicy apple with nice apple juice flavors and of there is sweet honey that really brings it to a sweetness that is just enough to make this good and not overly sweet. This Crispin is smooth and quite drinkable. This cider finishes nice sweet, crisp and smooth. The aftertaste is sweet with the fresh apple/apple juice. I give this an A+, on heck of an easy drinkable cider. I don’t often drink ciders, but I do like most of them and this one is great. So go out and try Crispin Natural Hard Apple Ciders Artisanal Reserve Honey Crisp. I recommend that you do! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month November (NovAmber)

It’s time once again for Foothills IPA of the Month. Here we have November (NovAmber), 6.9% ABV with an IBU of 64. Foothills say that this IPA is bursting with orange flavor, and they use generous amounts of Chinook, Citra and Simcoe hops, they’ve also added a little blood orange essence. November pours a golden orange color with a big four finger fluffy   semi off white head. I found very little light coming through the glass with nice amounts of carbonation bubbles racing to the head. The aroma is bursting with oranges and orange peels. There is a little faint pine like earthiness to the nose also. The taste is much like the aroma with oranges and orange peels with earthy hops around it and touches of piney notes. The orange/orange peels cover most of the bitterness, but as the orange flavor fades the bitterness comes out but just enough to let you know this is an IPA. November has a nice bitter orange finishes with faint hints of piney and earthiness that leads you into a nice sweet like bitter orange after taste that reminds me of fresh oranges. Foothills IPA of the Month November is a solid fruity IPA the way I like them, so I would give this an A-. I really enjoyed the orange flavors and it went well the bitter hops. The orange also covers up the bitterness a bit which is also good. This is a well-brewed IPA most enjoyable to drink. I recommend that you try Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month November. So go out and try this Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month November. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Foothills Brewing People's Porter

As we get deep into the fall and closer to winter the store shelves are getting more and more dark beer upon them. I do enjoy dark beers, which has a wide range of styles, dunkers, dunkelweizens, dopplebock, schwarzbier, porter, and stout. Here is a porter from Winston-Salem North Carolina, Foothills Brewing People’s Porter, 5.8% ABV. People’s porter is an English-style porter. People’s Porter pours a dark rube to a black color with a three and a half finger brown thick head that slowly fades into wonderful foamy, creamy lacing. The aroma upon People’s Porter is chocolaty with light hints of some caramel. The taste is similar to its aroma with chocolate and caramel, also there is toffee notes with a slight herbal bitterness that follows that, but nothing overwhelming, People’s Porter has an IBU of 42.  This People’s Porter finish nicely with a pleasant hint of espresso and faint chocolate but more of the espresso is present. The after taste is a nice lingering chocolaty espresso flavor that slowly fades into the next sip of this beer. I enjoyed Foothills Brewing People’s Porter and I would give this a B+. This is a solid English-style Porter, and it is not too heavy or bitter on your taste buds, nor is it too strong. I found People’s Porter to be on the easier side of drinkability throughout the entire pint. I really have grown to like what Foothills Brewing is putting out there. They are brewing great beers! I recommend trying Foothills Brewing People’s Porter, so go out and pick this People’s Porter up and try it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Windy Hill Orchard & Cidery Gala Peach

I love beer, and I find ciders to be just as good. I like its fruity sometimes-dry sweetness. I love that you can put most fruits in them. Each can have a unique flavor. Well, I just had a local Cider from right over the North Carolina border in York, South Carolina. This beverage comes From Windy Hill orchard & Cider, and this is their Gala Peach, 6.0% ABV. Gala Peach made with Windy Hills Stayman Winesap apples and locally grown peaches. This cider pours a very bubbly rich golden color. I could see through, and not any head because most ciders do not produce much head on it. This Gala Peace is sweet peach with hits of fresh juicy apple. I got an apple skin smell too, but it is a bit faint. The taste is sweet with peached flavor with touches of apple. You mostly get the peach. The body is light, and so is the mouthfeel. Gala peach is easy and refreshing to drink. I would give Windy Hill’s Gala Peach a B. This cider did not blow me away, but I like it enough. I mean cider can only go so far and be so good, and it is a simple beverage. You can be too creative. I like peaches a lot, and I recommend trying Windy Hill orchard & Cidery Gala Peach for yourselves. It’s good. So go out and pic this wonderful Windy Hill orchard & Cidery Gala Peach sweet hard cider. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month October (Brew-Hilda)

It is that time again, time for another Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month. Here is October (Brew-Hilda), 6.5% ABV and 93 IBU. This IPA of the Month brewed with Cascade, Amarillo and Citra, along with a new varietal hop called Equinox. There are also plenty of hops in here according to Foothills Brewing. October pours an orange-copper color with a three finger off white head with plenty of carbonation bubble and not so much light streaming though. The aroma is big with notes of pine straw, grass lemon apples and a hoppy scent. The taste is strong with hops. There is a nice tart lemon also around some apple with a grassy note. I also found there to be a bit of a piney malted note. I find that there is to much malts to this and that is covers up some of the fruited flavors on this beer, and also brings out a green pepper flavor on the back of the tongue. October finishes hoppy and malted with bits of green pepper flavors and stays on to the aftertaste with some tart fruit flavor such as apple and lemon. Over all this beer is good but not as good as some of the other beers in this Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month series, so I give this very high C+. I like IPA with more of a fruity taste to them with out a heap of malts and a huge wallop of bitter hops. This beer had a bit too much hops and was a little too hoppy, and I didn’t like the green pepper notes either. So go out and try Foothills Brewing IPA of the Month October and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsible!