Best of The Mixed Six-Pack

I have purchased a mixture of six different beer, mixed six-pack, and over the next few days and/or weeks I will be reviewing each one individually and after the all have been properly reviewed I will choose the best out of the six, that would be a great beer to serve to a broad range of people that may you have over. So these are the six beers that are battling it out…

1.     Westbrook Brewing Co. White Thai

2.     Fullsteam Brewery Paycheck Pilsner

3.     Fullers ESB

4.     Unibroue Blanche De Chambly

5.     Bell’s Brewery Best Brown Ale

6.     Founders Brewing Co. All Day IPA

Stay tuned to here to The Best Beer Blog to see which beer comes out on top and reigns supreme. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

*Picture is not actual said beers

Terrapin Beer Co. Single Origin Coffee Stout Ethiopia Hambela

I wonder what was going on when the first person decided to put coffee in a stout, and how that idea came about. I mean coffee and beer are a bit common these days but I bet it was pretty strange back before the idea of brewing a coffee stout was ever though of. I rather enjoy a nice coffee stout, it melds pretty well together if the beer is brewed well. Terrapin Beer Co. in Athens Georgia has a four pack of stouts and each is brewed with same stout base but with different distinct single origin coffees from around the world in each. The coffee comes from Jittery Joes, and Nugget hops, 2-Row, Crystal 85, Flaked Barley, Flacket Oats, Chocolate, Blackprinz, Midnight Wheat, Black and Roasted Barley. I have reviewed one form this series a while back. This Stout is Ethiopia Hambela, 5.7% ABV. Ethiopia Hambela pours a thick black color with a thin beige head that quickly fades into some slight lacing within the glass. Aroma is roasted with earthy notes along with a faint berry note. Taste is very coffee like, with nice earthy roasted notes and some strawberry jam, vanilla and the faintest of melon. Ethiopia Hambela finishes nicely with a slight bitter note and some roast as the vanilla fades and leads into an aftertaste reminiscent of fresh brewed coffee with touches of a faint fruity earthy flavor. This was a good one, and with that I give this a B. Not the top of the chart good but well brewed and well balanced, and not overwhelming with the stout or the coffee aspects. But I am not a big fan of Ethiopian coffee so that holds it grade down a bit, but not killing it too the bad grades. If you like coffee and you like beer then you should try Terrapin Beer Co. Single Origin Coffee Stout Ethiopia Hambela. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Victory Brewing Company Vital IPA

Almost everyone is brewing some sort of IPA these days, and it seems like there are a lot of that out there. I mean that is where the trend in craft beer has gone and is continuing to grow, and I think at some point the IPA bubble will burst and some other popular style with become the new fade. A rather large twenty year old brewery in the Northeastern US, Victory Brewing Company, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is on the trend with Vital IPA, 6.5% ABV.  Vital is brewed with whole flower hops such as Simco, Ctira, and Chinook, as well as Pilsner, and CitraPils Malts. Vital IPA pours a deep golden almost sunset gold color with a nice fluffy white two and a half finger head that is slow to fade, but does leave some thick messy lacing behind. The aroma is bitter like IPAs usually are, with a bit of citrusy fruits, a bit of lemon and some grassy notes. This IPA doesn’t really have a wow factor to its aroma, but it's okay. Now the taste is just slightly bitter at first sip then it becomes fruitier with citrus notes, some orange, grapefruit and little tropical notes, faint pineapple. There is a pine note following the fruit flavors with an earthiness. The mouth feel is medium and sticky, with a bitter grassy and pine finish that leads into a hoppy yet somewhat earth aftertaste. The can that Vital IPA is in is littered with flavored buzzwords to let you the drinker know how it should taste. I think it is somewhat of a clever idea. But it is not how I felt the beer tasted, and with that said I give Victory Brewing Company Vital IPA a C+, just a slight notch above average. Nothing really stands out or wows you, but it’s not bad. Drinkable? Yes but not as much as you’d think, that's cause Vital is 6.5% ABV. Not bad, just not such a drinkable ABV level. I might try this again but this isn’t one you and I should rush too. But a good one to keep around in your fridge for when you just want an average IPA once in a while. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!       

Great Divide Brewing Co. Hoss Octoberfest Lager

I like a good Octoberfest Lager, it the only style that appears in stores in October that I actually do like. The German’s brew some wonderfully taste Octoberfest or Fest beers, and so do some American brewers or craft beer brewers. I have from Brewpublik (www.brewpublik.com) Great Divide Brewing Co. Hoss Octoberfest Lager, 6.2% ABV. Great Divide is a quite popular brewery in Denver Colorado, which is a popular beer/craft beer town. The Blue Moon Brewing Company is there down in the Rockies Baseball Park. The even have the GABF, Great American Brewing Festival every year where different beers and breweries are judged and awarded metals for different things. But anyhow, Hoss pours a deep orange color with a tight silky white one and a half finger head. Aroma on Hoss is on the sweeter side of the malt scale. There is a slight marten quality to the aroma, but I think there isn’t any marzen used on Hoss. Taste is at fist sip pretty good, but as it passes over more of your tongue towards the middle it become thicker, but there is nice sweeter flavors from the malts with faint hints of a bready flavor, but most of that is masked by the sweeter malts. The mouth feel is on the fuller side. I think its thick. Hoss has a thick cloying finish that is somewhat sweet and a thick full but faintly sweet aftertaste. Hoss is not overly sweet by any means; it has a nice balance of sweetness. I give Great Divide Brewing Co. Hoss Octoberfest Lager a D+. It has a thick mouth feel that is like medicine, not in flavor but in mouth feel. It just takes over your mouth. That brought it down. Still Hoss is somewhat drinkable, but not enough to make me what to have another or to recommend this to you. So no don’t try it for yourself. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!