The bonus of being on vacation: Lots of new beers to try! So here are the lightly edited notes, taken in between chats with family, a little television and a lot of card games.
Paradise Creek Brewery-Hop Pyramid IPA. Orange nose? It disappears so fast I can’t get a grip on it. The hop flavors aren’t too strong: lots of caramel flavors, with only a hint of hop bitterness. Feels pretty standard, and I wouldn’t be opposed to another.
What is this beer? Who made this beer? Omnipolis-Fatamogarna? Iberia IPA? What wording there is could be a black metal album logo and the fine print is…well, fine. This is a weird way to market this beer. But it’s reasonably well balanced and not too sweet. I’m not just a little surprised by how tasty this hazy is but I am definitely baffled by the marketing choices.
Wet Coast Brewing-Soppin’ Wet wet hop ale. While the nose is hop forward and a little tangerine, I don’t associate that with fresh hop ales. Still; the beer itself is pretty mild and very juice forward. It’s not so sweet that I recoil form the beer and as a mildly juicy not quite hazy ale, I can get behind it.
Blackberry Farm-Classic saison: this is classic in every sense. Funky, with a solid malt backbone to it. It’s a proper sipping beer, with just enough funkiness to balance out the sweetness.
Fat Orange Cat-All Cats Are Gray In The Dark-blonde stout: this smells like goooood milk chocolate and holy crow it tastes like it too. Wow. I like it a bunch.
Two Beers brewing-Overhang Imperial Porter, bourbon barrel aged. Kinda like I’m chewing on a piece of wood. There’s a sour finish-is this infected? The nose seems smoky, and then my friend says “The sound you’re making is horrible, so I can’t imagine that it’s good.” And he’s right-I am just not enjoying this beer, I’m trying to lick the flavors out of my mouth. It tastes like flat coke with rum.
Counterbalance brewing-IPA; this tastes like a classic, dank IPA. Not as much malt flavor as I’d like for balance, but a hop lovers delight.
A pint for Dionysus 