Okay, first off, I have to stop picking multi-packs that contain six or more different beers in the same box. For one thing, it make the videos long, and also I get loaded. Well, this time I drank 7.5 beers in an evening – and had the BAC to prove it (check out the end of the video) – out a a brewer’s choice box from Thirsty Dog out of Akron. Beers included are the Whippet Wheat, the Irish Setter Red, Twisted Kilt, Labrador Lager, Cerberus, Hoppus Maximus, and Siberian Night. Enjoy!
Beer Name: Firebrand
Brewery: Indigo Imp (Cleveland, OH)
Beer Style: Belgian IPA
ABV: 6.9%
IBU: ?
Size: 12oz Bottle
Beer Advocate: 80
Untappd: 3 caps
Upon hearing that the BCS will now end in a four-team playoff, I decided I needed a beer to celebrate. I frolicked (whilst humming the OSU fight song) to my fridge and grabbed an Ohio beer. The new system is not perfect, but we are stuck with it until 2025 so we should embrace it – at least until bitching about it matters a bit more. Would forming super conferences and sending eight teams into playoff games that are still named after the bowl games make more sense? It absolutely would. Who wouldn’t watch a regional playoff game sponsored by the fine car parts of Meineke? In any event, it is an improvement over sending two SEC teams without giving anyone else a shot.
The beer I selected for my celebration was Indigo Imp’s Firebrand. I have had a few of the Indigo Imp beers, and I really fell in love with the Bombshell Blonde. I do not feel that their open fermentation works for every style, but I thought a Belgian IPA should be tasty.
The beer pours quite easily and has a very nice dark orange color. It smells like a Belgian beer with that wonderful clove and rotten banana scent. Even with the laser-etched elephant in the bottom of my D.T. tulip, there was almost zero carbonation. I think the lack of carbonation actually hurts the beer a bit here. The Belgian half of the duo does its job very well, sweet and spicy notes are accompanied by Belgian yeast and subtle fruit notes. The IPA side is much less pronounced. The beer finishes a bit dry and bitterness does its best to wrap around your tongue, but in the end it just doesn’t do enough to warrant an IPA label. I think more carbonation would bring out some of the biting IPA bitterness that seems to be absent.
The beer is still pretty tasty and very drinkable. If someone were to tell me it was a saison, I would be believe them. The beer has absolutely zero lacing and a very light mouthfeel. I wouldn’t steer anyone away from this beer, but it is a bit pricey for a four-pack and doesn’t really deliver on the Belgian IPA promise.
Ratings:
Sessionability: Easy to drink a 4-pack.
Overall: I give it a 3-pack in its style; would be a 4-pack if they called it something else.
Would Best Be Consumed: Outside; its lightness screams patio drinking.
Beer Name: Bully Goat
Brewery: Elevator Brewing Company
Beer Style: Barrel Aged Red Ale
ABV: 6%
IBU: ?
Size: 12oz Bottle
Beer Advocate: ?
Untappd: ?
I started the day looking forward to this evening because I had only one goal: Drink beer and write reviews. As I meandered the aisles of The Andersons looking for something new and exciting from an Ohio brewery, I came up with nothing (I assume that, like the bar, The Andersons doesn’t receive their beer orders until Tuesday). So I went back to work empty-handed and slightly broken-hearted; that is, until my Elevator sales rep showed up with a couple sample bottles of Bully Goat. (As of this writing, Bully Goat has yet to hit stores, which is why there isn’t a BA or Untappd score. It should be on shelves soon, so be on the look out!)
Bully Goat is Elevator’s Bleeding Buckeye Ale aged in whiskey barrels from Woodford Reserve for six months. Bully is the third installment of the Goat series, the preceding two Goats being Angry and Horny. I am told there will be one more, which will be their Three Frogs IPA aged nine months in the same barrels. I’ve enjoyed every beer in this series, and my goal is to review the other two in future posts.
Bully Goat pours a dark, red copper with a very small amount of head that has no retention to speak of. The nose of the beer has a stomp oak whiskey aroma upfront that you would expect from a barrel-aged beer and it’s followed with a sweet malty smell. The taste is much of the same: the oaky barrel flavor hitting the palate first giving way to a caramel biscuit flavor that has a slight bit of hoppines to finish off. Even though there was little to no head, there is a little lacing on the pint glass and the carbonation gives it a nice crisp mouthfeel.
I won’t lie to you, I’m not a huge fan of Bleeding Buckeye or any red ales – not because they’re bad, but because they’re just not really my style. That being said, I really enjoyed Bully. It was executed well, the oaky barrel flavor is a nice touch, no flavor in the beer is overwhelming, and they all play nice off of one another. If you have had the chance to try the other Goat beers and enjoyed them, you should make an effort to check out this one. It’s a solid beer, and you won’t be disappointed.
Ratings:
Sessionability: The whiskey flavor isn’t overpowering, and the ABV isn’t that bad at 6%. I could easily drink several of these. 5-pack.
Overall: I give it a 5-pack. Reds aren’t my favorite style of beer, but this beer made me a believer. 5-pack.
Would Best Be Consumed: I know this beer is being released at the beginning of summer, but I feel like this beer is better suited for colder temperatures – maybe at night watching some fireworks on July 4th.
Beer Name: English Pale Ale
Brewery: JOhioBeer
Beer style:(fruit) Pale ale
ABV:4.5%
IBU: 35
Size: On Tap
Part 3 of 3. In this video I review the English Pale Ale I made. It was a kit from Brewers Best.
Ratings:
Sessionability: Entire Keg- The entire 5 gal. keg was emptied in one 8 hour session.
Overall: 6-pack (But I may be slightly biased)
Beer Name: Hop Juice
Brewery: Two Brothers Brewing Co.
Beer Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9.9%
IBU: 100.1 (Yes, they put that on the bottle.)
Size: 22oz Bomber
Beer Advocate Score: 88
Untappd: 4 caps
Lebron won his first ever NBA title, it is finals week at Franklin, and I cannot attend the opening day of Comfest because my party animal classmates voted for a 9 a.m. Saturday morning final. Obviously, I decided that writing a review was better than preparing for my final. I needed to blow off some steam, so I decided to pop a high IBU beer and blast some Japandroids. (Thanks to a rec from @MrAndrewHaer.)
The clerk at my favorite craft beer store (I would tell you what it is, but we are going to write a piece about our favorite stores soon) informed me that they had just received a shipment of Hop Juice. I have had several Two Brothers beers, and while none have wowed me, none were disappointing either. I asked the question I always ask before I buy an IPA: “Is this floral and citrusy or malty?” I was satisfied enough with the clerk’s answer that I put it on the counter.
The beer pours with a two inch or so foamy head, and you can smell the citrus and hops as soon as the beer leaves the bottle. My first thought was that this beer smells a lot like Six Point Resin. I like to read the bottle while I let the pour settle and when I read that it was “dripping with the resiny soul of Northwest hops,” I decided I wasn’t crazy and it did smell like resin. When the beer first hits your mouth it is a blissful thing. Very light carbonation keeps the citrus from biting, so it rather swarms your tongue with grapefruit notes. Those notes turn extremely bitter as they settle on the sides of your tongue. You are left with a piney and hoppy resin finish that has just a twinge of sweetness. I prefer an IPA that makes your mouth feel dry, but this is so well balanced that I didn’t mind the finish at all. The mouth feel is very slick and light considering this beer comes with a nearly 10% ABV. It also laces well and makes a sticky residue on the glass, if you are into that sort of knowledge.
Ratings:
Sessionability: I give it a 3-pack. I would need a change of pace after a few.
Overall: I give it a 5-pack. Not my style of IPA, but executed so damn flawlessly that I enjoyed it a lot.
Would be best consumed: Cursing Lebron and listening to the Japandroids in the sweet air conditioning.
I recently came across this article, which happened to mention Matt Snyder of the Beer and Wine Cave in Toledo, OH. I know Matt personally – he’s a great guy who knows his stuff about beer and wine, and I always enjoyed going to the tastings he hosted at the Beer and Wine Cave while I still lived in Toledo (though, admittedly, I didn’t get to nearly as many as I would’ve liked!).
If you can’t (or don’t want to) finish an entire 22oz bomber or 750ml beer in one sitting, this is an interesting tip to help you preserve the remainder of the bottle: Use a “can of aerosol wine preservative to place a layer of CO2 over the beer in your bomber or 750 ml bottle and seal it with a wine cork.”
I have not personally tried this tip, but the author of the article says he’s used it with great results…and if Matt says it works, then I have no doubt that it does.
If you live in Toledo, check out the Beer and Wine Cave and support a great guy who runs a terrific local business!
Source: How to preserve a 22 oz/ or 750 ml bottle of beer