Estrella Damm Inedit

Today's beer: Inedit by Estrella Damm

I've looked at trying this beer several times and have shied away because this beer says that it should be paired with food. Tonight I had it with some fish and it went really well.

The beer is the same colour as a lager but with a bit of cloudiness. It took me a while to figure out what the dominant (though faint) smell is: vanilla, although my dad says that it's orange peel. There is very little hops in this beer making it sweeter than most of the beers that I've tried, but when it's paired with food, it makes it quite good. There is also the taste of citrus and the slight taste of spice. Inedit has very low carbonation, but rather than being a detriment to the beer, is actually a very good thing. Because this beer is meant to be had with food, any heavy carbonation would have the potential to disrupt the delicate mingling of tastes between the beer and the food. I had fish with this beer and it was a fantastic pairing. I think just about any meat dish would go quite well with this beer.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Alley Kat Black Dragon

Today's beer: Black Dragon by Alley Kat

Black Dragon is a double IPA and as such is seriously hopy. It's also got a pretty decent alcohol content at 7.5% This is one of the beers I was considering last night, but I didn't want to drink this much last night. Tonight, however, it was just right.

As I said Black Dragon is a double IPA and says it has a 70+ IBU (International Bitterness Unit) rating. It's also made only with a single hop variant: Warrior Hops. I did a bit of checking and discovered that Black Dragon is part of the Dragon series by Alley Kat, which features Red, Green, Blue and Black. Each is a single variant hops double IPA. I'd like to try them all, but it looks like each was a limited release and so the earlier ones might no longer be available. I'll  have to check with the beer guy at CSN to see if they can be ordered in. If they can, I'll definitely be reviewing them.

The colour of this beer is quite similar to a wheat ale, a cloudy golden yellow. Unsurprisingly, the main smell I got was that of hops. Surprisingly there was a very faint smell of grass too. This beer is all hops with very little malt. Due to the massive amount of hops this beer is quite bitter, but the bitterness, unlike the Piper's Gold (my first review), doesn't overwhelm everything else. While dominant, I did also faintly detect the taste of pepper. The only bad thing I would say about this beer is the lack of other flavours. If they were able to somehow introduce at least another flavour into the beer, perhaps pine or citrus, it would make it much better. This beer would be perfect for enjoying outside on a hot day.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Phillips Dr. Funk

Today's beer: Dr. Funk by Phillips

So today I was feeling like a good, dark beer. A nice thick stout. The only trouble was the stouts that I have are 650ml, and I didn't feel like having that much beer. There were a few other non-stout beers in my fridge that caught my eye, but again, they were rather big. I've had the Dr. Funk before, but I didn't remember anything about it. All I could hope was that it would take care of that craving for stout.

This beer is dark. Very dark, not quite black, but a very dark brown.  My initial sniff revealed a nutty smell. There is also a very faint smell of chocolate. My first sip revealed the taste of chocolate and a touch of burnt caramel. As well there is a solid nutty taste. The taste is almost that of hazelnut but not quite. Dr. Funk has a generous helping of malt with just a touch of hops. There also seems to be a rather large taste of alcohol, but this seems to help balance all the other flavours out.

Even though it didn't satisfy my craving for a stout, it is quite a good beer in its own right.

Rating:

May your glass always be full of good beer!

Shmaltz Human Blockhead

Today's beer: Human Blockhead by Shmaltz

Human Blockhead is part of the Coney Island set of beers brewed by Shmaltz.  Human Blockhead is touted as an Imperial American Bock. I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what a bock is, but if they taste like this, I think I'll like them.

In the glass Human Blockhead is a red-copper colour with a very small head. I took a whiff and couldn't detect much smell. What I did smell, I'm still trying to identify. I wanted to say there was a smell of caramel, but that's not quite it. My first sip brought hints of spice. There was also a great deal of malt with a nice touch of hops. There is a large hit of alcohol with this beer. In fact there is, in my opinion, too much alcohol in the beer. While most strong beers top out at 8% or 9%, Human Blockhead comes in at 10%. And you can taste every one of those percent. 10% is too much for this beer, it would be better off with an 8% or perhaps even an 8.5%. After a few sips, the taste of alcohol becomes more prevalent and detracts from the overall quality of the beer. If it weren't for that massive taste of alcohol, this would be a highly rated beer at 4.5.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Latrobe Rolling Rock

Today's Beer: Rolling Rock Extra Pale by Latrobe

I try not to judge beers based on their bottle or can. So when I saw this I thought 'great, I like pale ales.' I took it outside to enjoy my beer in the warm sun.

The first thing I saw when I poured this beer is that it is pale yellow. This does not bode well. This doesn't look like a pale ale. I took a sniff and got a fairly good smell of citrus. Things were looking up. Then I took my first sip. Then took another larger sip, almost a swig, just to make sure I had actually gotten some in my mouth. This beer has almost no taste what so ever. None. Eventually I did detect a tiny amount of hops and malt, but it was like some one had dipped a tea bag in to the brew and taken it right out again, lest too many flavours be imparted. This beer is touted on the can as a premium beer. If this is their idea of a premium beer, I'd hate to try their regular beer. There is almost no carbonation present in this beer. This is a pale yellow liquid that is trying to pass itself off as beer. Very disappointing. The rating of a 1/2 glass is only because that is as low as my scale goes.

Rating:

 
May your glass always be full of good beer!

Phillips Hop Circle

Today's beer: Hop Circle IPA by Phillips

This beer is one of my favourites by Phillips. While I do quite enjoy my dark beers, sometimes I'm in the mood for a nice IPA. On the bottle it says "With a hop flavour that is out of this world, Hop Circle IPA will probe your tasebuds and abduct your senses. The gravitational pull of this IPA will have you searching the galaxy for another close encounter of the thirst kind. Resistance is futile." I don't think I could have put it much better myself.

In the glass Hop Circle is a beautiful gold/bronze colour. When I poured it into the glass a rather large head appeared, but it dissipated shortly. There is a fruity smell that I can't quite identify. At first I thought it was maybe apple or pear, but that's not quite it. I looked at a few other websites and some said grapefruit or even pineapple, but those don't quite seem to be right. It's a familiar smell, but I just can't quite place it. There is a good hit of hops with the same underlying fruit taste. There is also a hint of spruce as well as alcohol. I was rather surprised to discover that it's a 6.5%. Light malt balances out this great IPA.  This is a very drinkable beer and I could see myself enjoying a few over the course of a night.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!

Fyne Ales Maverick

Today's beer: Maverick by Fyne Ales

Finally, the beer I've been talking about since the first post; the beer that saw me to try Avalanche, even after the not so good Piper's Gold. Maverick is described on the label as a dark robust bitter ale. Like all Fyne Ales, it has a relatively low alcohol content at only 4.2%.

The first thing that struck me about the beer is the colour. It's a deep reddish-brown. My first sniff revealed very little beyond the standard beer smell. Later sniffs found a very faint earthy smell. The first sip gives the standard Fyne Ales huge hit of hops. Along with the hit of hops there was a pleasant taste of malt on the back of my tongue. There is a faint smokey taste that comes with the initial hit of hops. The Maverick has a nice crisp flavour and would be outstanding on a hot day. With the large amount of hops comes the bitters. In Maverick the bitters aren't overwhelming, but seem to give just the right amount.

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May your glass always be full of good beer!