Devils Backbone: Eight Point IPA

Another Virginia Brew!

Devils Backbone: Eight Point IPA

So there really isn't much about Devils Backbone on their website or their Wikipedia page. They are located out in Roseland, Va near Wintergreen and were opened in 2008. They are part of the Brew Ridge Trail. They have won awards at both the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival.

I've had the Eight Point IPA a few months ago, before I started taking notes on beer, so when I saw them in a "create your own six-pack" section, I figured what the heck, it is worth another shot. I've also had their award winning Vienna Lager on tap at Macado's here in Farmville and it was really good. 

As far as this IPA goes, it's quite good. It clocks in at a enjoyable 5.9% ABV. The smell of the yellow golden brew is a wonderful mixture of orange, grapefruit, lemon and other citrusy hops with some flowers and grass mixed in too. The taste follows with a nice bitter hoppy taste that is enjoyable. The hops are balanced out with some sweet notes, but they don't stick around too long. 

I enjoyed this one quite a bit the first time I had it, and on this revisit I still like it. I would recommend it to someone who is wondering if they would want a hoppy brew. It is not knock you socks off hoppy, but still gives you a little kick with good balance. 

(Beer Advocate Review)

 

Cheers!

Sierra Nevada: Summerfest

Sierra Nevada: Summerfest

I've already done one review on a Sierra Nevada beer (link here) so I'll just get to my review.

This is a great summer time, hot weather beer. It is super light and crisp, goes down easy, and is very refreshing. The Pilsner style lager has a ABV of 5%. It pours a nice yellow straw color that just looks like summer sunshine. It smells to me like sweet grasses and flowers with maybe a lemony hint in there as well. Like I said before, it is light and crisp, and has a sweet malty bread taste with a grass and flower taste that matches the smell quite well. There is also a nice hoppy bitter taste that balances all of that sweetness.
(Beer Advocate Review)

This is a great brew for sitting outside on a summer day. Its nice and light and refreshing. I would strongly recommend this one.

Smuttynose: "Finest Kind" IPA

Smuttynose... what a cool name!

Smuttynose "Finest Kind" IPA

So yes, I have been a little bit into IPAs recently, I promise I have some other brews in my fridge, but it has been fun to try all of my different IPAs close together and compare.

I first found a six-pack of Smuttynose a while ago in Kroger and bought it simply because of the name. I had never heard anything about them, good or bad. I just liked the funny name. I ended up liking the brew. I figured I would revisit it now that I am writing about beer in this here blog.

The name is actually the name of an island off the coast of New Hampshire, the brewery was founded in Portsmouth (in 1994) and still brews there today.  They have 5 year-round styles (the IPA is one of them) and 3 seasonals.

 

The Finest Kind is the name of their 6.9% ABV IPA. The beer is unfiltered and has some sediment in the bottle (which I left in the bottle- some people prefer to pour it in the glass, some don't).  The beer smelled like hops, grass and citrus (pretty common for the IPAs I've been drinking recently). The taste of this one is pretty much all hops, some balancing features, but basically just a bitter beer all the way though. If you are a "hop-head" I would try this one. I enjoyed it because of that and will be drinking this one again for sure, but not just because of the cool name!

(Beer Advocate Review)

Cheers!

Legend Brewing

I got to eat at the Legend Brewing company today, it was quite good. But maybe more importantly I got 2 bottles of their seasonal brews that I will be trying out this week, so there is something to look forward to!

Left Hand Brewing: 400 Pound Monkey

Left Hand Brewing 400 Pound Monkey English IPA

So I have already posted a beer from Left Hand Brewing Company here (check it out for info about the brewery). So I'll just get to the beer.

This English-Style India Pale Ale has a 6.7% ABV. There is not much of a smell on this one, just some hops, maybe a little flowers and lemon, but overall not much.The taste was not all that bad. It was not as hop heavy as I expected an IPA to be, but I guess that is what makes up an English IPA. There was a nice taste of malts and some fruits and bread that worked well together. It was balanced and not too heavy of a drink. 

(Beer Advocate Review)

I would recommend this for someone who is not sure if they are an IPA fan or not as an introduction to the style without the super hoppy aspect to it. Definitely worth it, and I think I will be coming back to the Left Hand Brewing again as I have liked what they have to offer.

Happy Friday - Cheers

New Church Key

Know why they call it a church key? Because it gets you to the spirits... (ba dum tiss)

Joking aside, I've been looking for the perfect bottle opener for a while, and while this might not be perfect for everything, it's pretty freaking cool.

I got it from bullets2bandages.org and it's a spent .50 caliber machine gun round that is salvaged from the Department of Defense. Part of the money is donated to veterans, which is one of the reasons I decided to splurge and get this massive sucker for myself. That, and it looks awesome sitting on my desk.

What is your favorite bottle opener? Let me know in the comments.

Ruckus Brewing Co: Hoprimus Prime

Ruckus Brewing Co: Hoptimus Prime

 

So, there is not much about this company I can gather from a google search. They seem to be rather young. It looks like they are based out of PA or NYC (Bottle says one thing but the contact on their website says something else) So for today I'll just get right to the drink.

Walking down the isle at the store, looking at all of the different styles and names and brands and one catches my eye. Did I read that right? Yes, yes I did. "HOPTIMUS PRIME." I couldn't walk past this one with out buying it. I'm totally doing the whole judge a book by it's cover thing at that point, because that name is awesome and the art is totally cool (See below)

The bottle I had was a large 22oz, so I took this one nice and slow and enjoyed it. It is an 9%ABV so it is on the upper end and can hit you if you are not careful. So this beer poured a nice amber gold with a white head that was nice and dense, but disappeared as I started drinking it. The smell was hops and citrus with maybe some apple and nuts in there too. The tastes was, as you can guess, hops. But that wasn't all, which was nice. It had grapefruit, apple, and sweet tastes in the middle with some nice bitterness that was balanced in there too. It was kind of thick, almost syrupy, but not all that bad.

This is a good brew, but not my favorite. Nothing wrong with it, but the thicker mouth feel made it not as appealing as we have 100+ degree temps. I would come back to this if I'm looking for that hoppy taste in a good priced big bottle.