Magic Hat Heart of Darkness

Stouts are broken down into two main styles American and English. American is a new stout style then the English, and English Stouts tend to be slightly less bitter and drier than American Stouts. But both are big styles and sometimes tend to have higher ABVs. Some American brewers brew both American and English Stouts. This beer here is Magic Hat Heart of Darkness, 5.8% ABV, an English Stout which is also a winter seasonal. Magic Hat Heart of Darkness pours an inky deep black color with a big two finger tan beige head that quickly bubbles away. I found no light coming through nor did I find any traces of carbonation, due to the inky nature of this beers natural color.  The aroma on this Stout is a roasted aroma and bits of bittersweet malt and a little baker’s chocolate. Overall the aroma was mostly a roasted malt scent. Magic Hat Heart of Darkness has a big roasted flavor with faint touches of bittersweet dry chocolate. This beer isn’t all the bitter it only has 30 IBUs. The mouth feel is medium but silky, a little dry with a nice semi sweet finish that isn’t as sweet as the start. The aftertaste is like an old dark chocolate bar with a hit of dryness. Overall this beer wasn’t bad, but not really exciting, it is just around average. Magic Hat Heart of Darkness gets a C+. Not bad, not great just okay, I think it could have been a little more complex and had more of a fuller flavor to really make more exciting. I did enjoy it somewhat but was a tiny bit disappointed by the lack of bold flavors, still that is was just okay. So go and give Magic Hat Heart of Darkness a try for yourself and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils

Canned beer is making a popular comeback these days. Can are a little more versatile than bottles. You can take cans of beer on a picnic with have to worry about what to do with a whole glass bottle. Can stay colder longer than a bottle, and are easier to transport. Plus can are much easier to open and recycle. There are number breweries that can beer and there are some that only can their beer. Oskar Blue Brewery is on that only cans all their beer. Originally started in Lyons Colorado, and recently built a brewery/taproom in Brevard North Carolina. So depending on what part of the USA you are would determine which brewery you beer comes from. Here is on of Oskar Blue’s year round offering, Mama’s Little Yella Pils, 5.3% ABV, a Czech Pilsner. Mama’s Little Yella Pils pours yep you guessed right, a yellow, light gold color with a big rocky three finger foamy bright white head that seem to stay forever, and from thick foamy lacing around the glass. I found decent amounts of light streaming though a healthy amount of carbonation bubbles. The aroma on Mama’s Little Yella Pils is a little breaded with nice pale biscuit scents. The aroma is altogether big and bright. The taste is clean, crisp, and easy drinking with nice clean breaded biscuit flavors. As the beer becomes a bit warmer the German Specialty and Saaz hops shine through. The mouth feel is light and crisp, with a clean refreshing finish. The after taste is just a pinch of a very faint hoppy taste with a nice semi faint biscuit flavor. Overall this is a wonderful, refreshing, clean, crisp, and easy-drinking pilsner! Oskar Blue’s Mama’s Little Yella Pils get an A+ here. I really can see this beer as an everyday beer. Mama’s Little Yella Pils is one well-crafted Pilsner, and I like the fact that it’s in can, that’s a little different. So I do highly recommend Mama’s Little Yella Pils. So go out and try Mama’s Little Yella Pils and see what you think of it! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

     

J.W. Lees Harvest

One poplar brewing technique is aging a beer in a spirit or wine barrel. Mostly Stouts, Barely wines, darker Belgian style beer are used in a barrel. Brewers tend to age beer from anywhere from six months to a few years. Depending on the type of wood and or spirit used, a beer can pick up some different flavor characters. He is an English example, J.W. Lees Harvest Ale matured in Lagavulin Whisky Casks, 11.5% ABV and was brewed in 2011. J.W. Lees bottles this Harvest in a smaller 9.3 fluid ounce bottle and in limited numbers. J.W. Lees is am English Barleywine from England. J.W. Lees Harvest pours a bright cloudy orange color with a quarter finger thin off white head that fades quickly. I found tiny amounts of light coming through the glass with no signs of carbonation bubbles. The aroma has nice vanilla oak with hints of burnt caramel sugar, and hints of a strong alcohol scent. J.W. Lees Harvest has mostly a soft burnt caramelized sugar taste that’s followed by a nice vanilla and a strong boozy flavor. I a sure the vanilla flavor is from the Lagavulin Whisky Cask. J.W. Lees Harvest has a full mouth feel that is strong, and finishes with a nice vanilla and a boozy note. The after taste is one that sticks around with burnt caramel sugar flavor and tiny faint vanilla notes, and just a touch of a bitterness on the end of the after taste. I didn’t really think this beer was amazingly good, but I was slightly surprised by it. So I would give J.W. Lees Harvest a C+. The Lagavulin Whisky Casks really made this beer better than is would’ve been with out the maturation in the Casks. It brought out lots of complex flavors and made it somewhat sweet but not overly sweet. I am sure if you keep this beer in your cellar for while would make it even better, and they do say that on the label. So go out and try J.W. Lees Harvest and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Mikkeller Ultramate 1000

A very popular style or styles of beer is hoppy beer, which can be a Pale Ale, IPA (India Pale Ale), double IPA, hoppy Lagers, and hoppy Pilsner, just to name a few. Hoppy beers cover many different styles. Most of these styles have IBU’s listed on them. This is International Bittering Unit. This IBU measures how bitter a beer is. He is a very bitter hoppy beer, Mikkeller Ultramate 1000 (1000 IBUs), 4.9% ABV. This is a Pale Ale style beer. Mikkeller (Danish brewers) is not the usual brick and mortar brewery, they’re what you might call gipsy brewer. Mikkeller brews their beer at a different brewery. This beer Ultramate 1000 was brewed and bottled at De Proef Brouwerij, in Lochristi-Hufte, Belgium. Ultramate 1000 pours a deep orange color that is almost a copper color with a tree finger bright white head that somewhat slowly fades into light but thick lacing. I found little amounts of light peeking though the glass with an average level of carbonation. The aroma on Ultramate 1000 is huge; it has big piney/grassy resin scent with a hint of orange a pineapple. The taste is at first a huge slap of piney/grassy bitterness that sticks to your taste buds. There is an orangey taste that has a little pineapple that tags along with the orange. Overall Ultramate 1000 is a huge bitter hop bomb from start to finish. This beer has a big bitter resin finish that leads into one heck of a hoppy bitter after taste of a dank pine flavor. I found Ultramate 1000 to be way to bitter for my taste so I say that this beer gets a D-. I wouldn’t recommend that you have some other beer after this because it really destroys your taste buds. Have Ultramate 1000 by itself of after another beer. I don’t recommend Ultramate 1000 to anyone that does not like hops. It’s so very bitter. But if you’re brave enough or just curious and/or stupid then go out and try Ultramate 1000 for yourself and see what you think. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Founders Brewing Co. Porter

The last few weeks have been some real winter weather, which has been good dark beer weather, beers that are fuller, malty, richer, and bigger. These are beers that could be and are described as ‘winter beers’. Well this beer, founders Porter, 6.5% ABV, with 45 IBUs (Intentional Bittering Units), from Grand Rapids Michigan. Founds has been brewing beer since 1997 and this one is one of their original beers. Founders Porter is and American Porter, and pours a thick black color with a barely two finger tan/beige head that stays around fairly well and leaves behind nice semi thick lacing. I found no light coming through the glass and not a lot of carbonation bubbles either. The aroma of this American Porter is big with some bits of chocolate, roasted malt notes and some coffee scents. The aroma has a nice richness to it that most pleasing. The taste on Founders Porter has a nice sweetness that is chocolaty and nicely roasted with a coffee flavor that has a pleasant bitterness around it. The bitterness doesn’t overpower the rest of the Porters flavors or take anything away from the eniter beer. Founders Porter finishes nice and sweet with hints of a roasted note and has a bittersweet after taste that is sweeter than it is bitter, but not as sweet as the first sip. There is an after taste if coffee and a slight chocolate. I found this beer to be enjoyable to drink. I would give this an A-. It was a solid American Porter, and it was well brewed, and well balanced. I also liked the fact that the ABV percent was at a decent level, 6.5% ABV makes it more enjoyable in my opinion. I found none of the flavors to be stronger or more overwhelming than another, and everything was balanced with each other. But I thought that it could’ve been just a pinch sweet to make it perfect, but that is miniscule. Founders Porter was great by me. So go out and try Founders Porter and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810

I don’t really see a huge variety of Austrian beers here in the US. There are some and plenty of American, Mexican and Central American breweries that brew Austrian style beers, mostly Vienna Lagers. Theses Austrian beers are somewhat similar to German beer styles, and are just as old. Here is one Austrian example, Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810, 6.3% ABV, a Kellbier/Zwicklebier. This is an unfiltered, unpasteurized lagers that date back to the middle ages.  Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810 pours a hazy orange color with a big four finger off white head that is very slowly dissipates and leaves big ropy lacing behind. I found very little amounts of light coming through the glass. But when held to the light the beer becomes more of a light copper color. I found tiny amount of carbonation bubbles. The aroma was light with a hay/straw aroma but semi sweet and faintly breaded. I also found the aroma to be strong with alcohol but just enough to be present. The taste on Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810 was strong up front with a slight bitter sweetness with a floral note that was slightly hoppy. This beer was tart as well, but not overly tart. The taste somewhat reminded me of a strong ale, but with hints of bittersweet breaded and doughy notes. The mouth feel is medium with a mildly strong bittersweet finish (more bitter that sweet). The after taste is like a strong ale but not as strong or alcoholic, but more like a unfiltered lager. Overall I found this beer to be not as good as I was hoping. I’ve had lots of great Austrian beers in the past, and this wasn’t nearly as good. Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810 gets a D+ here. I did think it really taste like a Kellbier/Zwicklebier to me like I’ve had before. It had to much bitterness for me, not that bitterness in beer is bad, but this had a bad bitterness, almost verging on sour. Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810 wasn’t so bad that I had to pour it out or couldn’t finish a pint, but I would have this again. Would I recommend Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810? Not really. So go and try Original Hochzeitsbier Von 1810 and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Highland Brewing Company Thunderstruck Coffee Porter

Brewer’s today use a vast array of ingredients to be many different types of beer, and more and more a experimenting with new ingredients to brew with. One of my favorite ingredients to use in brewing a beer is coffee. Coffee is generally used in Porters and Stouts, and rarely used in IPA’s. Here is a local North Carolina beer, Highland Brewing Company (Asheville, NC) Thunderstruck Coffee Porter, which uses fresh fair trade/organic coffee beans from Black Mountain NC’s Dynamite Roasting Co. Thunderstruck pours a deep black color with a two and a half finger beige head that stick around for a little while then forms thick ropes of lacing. I couldn’t see much light coming though the glass, but when held to the light the beer has dark ruby color. I also found no signs of carbonation bubbles. The aroma on Thunderstruck is like a fresh cup/pot of coffee. There is a big roasted aroma that reminds of fresh coffee beans/grounds. There is also a slight sweet scent. The taste on Thunderstruck is roasted like a nice cup of coffee with hints of faint sweetness and touches of bitterness. I found a nice hint of a chocolate note on the taste as well.  As this beer warms it beings to have less of a roasted taste and more of the sweetness comes through with more hints of bitterness. The mouth feel is full with a nice richness, and has a nice coffee like finish with little roasted sweetness. The aftertaste is like finishing a semi sweet cup of fresh coffee. I enjoyed this Thunderstruck Coffee Porter, so I am giving it A-. Highland Brewing really did a good job on brewing a solid coffee porter, and not some ‘coffee like porters’. Thunderstruck has good balance among the coffee flavors and the porter flavors, and really shines though on the aroma and the taste. I would love to have this again, and I do highly recommend this Thunderstruck Coffee Porter. So go out and try Highland Brewing Company’s Thunderstruck Coffee Porter as see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Belhaven Scottish Ale

You don’t see a huge selection of beer hailing from Scotland, but there is a beer style they are called Scottish Ale, some do come from Scotland and some are from the US and other countries. They can range from light, heavy, and export. In the nineteenth century Scotland, a nomenclature, based on the now obsolete currency system, was devised in order to distinguish each. 60/- (light), 70/- (heavy), 80/- (export), 90/- to 160/- for Scotch ale. This Scottish is imported form Dunbar, East Lothian Scotland. Here we have Belhaven Scottish Ale, 5.2% ABV.  Belhaven Scottish Ale pours a copper color with alight three and half finger tan head that fades slowly into big thick lacing. The aroma is slightly nutty with a biscuit aroma. There was the faintest touch of a light toffee scent as well. The taste on Belhaven Scottish Ale is slightly sweet with a nice touch of a biscuit flavor toward the back. There is a nice malty hop flavor that produces a nice nutty flavor. The mouth feel is mild to almost medium with a nice clean finish that leads into a nice after taste of nuts slight hops and a malted light biscuit flavor. This beer was a bit surprising to me. So I would give this an A. I though this beer was not over the top on one flavor character but rather balanced with all it’s flavors Belhaven Scottish Ale offered. I would most certainly have this beer again. It was easy to drink as well. So go out and give Belhaven Scottish Ale a try and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!