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.

Harpoon Leviathan

Harpoon Leviathan - Imperial IPA

 

Harpoon Brewery began in 1986 in Boston Massachusetts just before craft brewing began to become really popular in America and especially the Northeast. The founders wanted to bring the beer and choices they enjoyed about Europe to America, so they began the business. They brew 10 year round beers with a wide range of variety as well as seasonal beers, cider, and special beers.

The Leviathan Series is part of the special beers. There are 4 different Leviathan beers - Baltic Porter, Imperial IPA, Big Bohemian Pilsner, and Quad (a Belgian Strong Ale). I hope to get a chance to try each of these and compare them to each other.

The Imperial IPA is the first I have had from them (well I may have had one a while back at a restaurant, but that was before I was actively trying to remember what I drank). The beer has a high ABV - 10%. I normally like the higher percentage beers, but there was something a little different about this one. It poured an amber color with a thick white/tan head and smelled of hops and pine. The taste was not all that impressing as hinted at by the smell. There was a good amount of bitter on the front with some citrus coming through. The main taste of this beer was alcohol. I normally do not pick up on the boozy taste in beer, and I like that it be hidden from me. There are many more (and better) tastes to get from beer, I do not need to taste alcohol. So the unbalanced bitter hoppy-ness and overly alcoholic taste make this a brew I do not see myself coming back to. Being so strong, it is not one to sit and drink a few with, so I think I'll put this low on my list.

I am interested in coming back to the Leviathan series in order to see if the others follow this brew's tastes or are different. Have you had them? Leave me a comment or suggestion below.

Sapporo Premium Beer

So to break up the American beer's I've been featuring, lets talk about an import:

Sapporo Breweries: Premium Beer

So this came as somewhat of a recommendation from a friend, so I figured I would give it a shot. I do not know much about imports and all of the different styles and breweries and things, but, what the heck- beer is beer, right?

Sapporo has been around making beer in Japan since 1876. Sapporo is named after the city where the brewery got its start all those years ago. Over time, the company has grown and merged with different Japan breweries and at one time was a monopoly in Japan. The company recently (2006) bought a brewery in Ontario, Canada to help produce beer and it is the main place the beer is produced for the American market. They also have 5 breweries in Canada.

How did it taste? Not much different from an American lager (although better than most of the mass produced lagers for sure). It has a 5.0%ABV and is a yellow, clear, carbonation bubble filled beer that is light and goes down easy. As for taste specifics - it has a hint of rice/grains and maybe some hops on the back end that give it some taste, but generally there isn't much there to talk about.

I wouldn't call it terrible, or even bad, but it isn't something I will be looking to buy a bunch of in the future. Honestly, it was similar to Red Stripe (one of my favorite beach beers), but had less taste - so for now I'll just stick to the stripe if I'm looking for an import lager. 

(Beer Advocate Reviews)

I'll pour me one more tomorrow and let you know how it is. Until then- Cheers.

Legend Brewing: Lager

Today we go local with

Legend Brewing Co.'s Lager

Legend is located in Richmond, Va, right on the south side of the James River. Their website says they are a "commercial microbrewery" that was established in January of 1994.They produce 7 year-round beers and 5 seasonal beers. They have won numerous awards for both their beers and their on site brewpub. 

What drew me to this beer originally was the local appeal, I mean how could I not taste something that comes from my hometown?


So the 4.8% ABV lager poured a yellow gold color with a decent head that disappeared before I could even snap a photo, although there were carbonation bubbles coming up the glass as I drank. The smell was mostly a grassy smell, but the taste was surprising. The lager had what I can only describe as a sour apple taste with some grain and fruit mixed in. The sour apple part was very unexpected but no unwelcome. I enjoyed the taste (and luckily I have 5 more in the fridge waiting for more "examination"). The lager was light in my mouth, the consistency of water, making this a easy to drink beer that I will enjoy while sitting on the porch doing nothing. I would recommend this to anyone because it is a good lager that tastes different from the "big-guy's" lagers that we are all so used to.

(Beer Advocate Reviews)

I'll pour me one more tomorrow and let you know how it is. Until then- Cheers.

Bell's Oberon

Today's beer comes as a recommendation from a friend:

Bell's Brewery: Oberon

Bell's is a brewery located in Kalamazoo, Michigan (cool name!) that was started in 1983 and has grown to produce over 124,000 barrels a year. If you want to take a virtual photo tour of the brewery, you can do that here on their website. They have a long list of beers available, almost 20 different brews. They only started to ship their beer to Virginia in 2006, so having this beer is exciting.

Oberon (formally named Solsun) is a wheat ale that has a ABV of 5.8%. This is exactly what I will think of when the idea of "Summer Beer" comes up. The beer is unfiltered, so I had to wait for the sediment to settle in the glass before I could begin to enjoy it (I need to remember to check that before I pour next time), but the smell off the beer just made me think of sunshine and relaxing. It smelled to me like freshly cut grass with some oranges mixed in there, overall a very light aroma. The first sip brought me a creamy taste of orange citrus, wheat, and a little bit of a yeast/bread taste. There was just a little bit of carbonation to balance out the creamy taste. I think overall this was a balanced out light ale that was incredibly easy to drink and would be perfect for sitting outside on a summer afternoon with good friends. This one will be on my shopping list again. 

(Beer Advocate Review)

I'll pour me one more tomorrow and let you know how it is. Until then- Cheers

Getting To The Good Stuff, Any Way You Can

Opening beer is not the easiest thing in the world. These guys have found some fun (and dangerous) ways to get their beer open - check it out:



Bottle Cap Blues from chris sumers on Vimeo.

I'll be posting another brew review later today.

Left Handed Brewing: Good JuJu

Left Hand Brewing: Good JuJu

Left Hand Brewing began in 1990 when the founder Dick Doore got a homebrewing kit from his brother, and then decided to open a brewery in 1994 in Colorado. They have grown and expanded since then and currently produce around 35,000 barrels a year. They have a long list of beers that are both year-round and seasonal, as well as only produced for 22oz bottles, collaborations, and discontinued beers (see the list here on wikipedia) They have won many awards around the world for different beers they produce, including a gold medal at the World Beer cup in 2008. 

The first bottle I have by them (I'll review another someday soon) is Good JuJu, a seasonal release Herb/Spice Ale with a 4.5%ABV.

This beer was a good, different taste for me. As soon as I smelled it I recognized ginger and maybe some other spices and hops. The taste was just like ginger ale. It had a light body that didn't have too many other tastes, which I do not think is a bad thing. It made for a good relaxing summer-time beer, not too much going on, good for relaxing. I really enjoyed it and will be looking for some more from Left Hand soon. 

(Beer Advocate Reviews)

Uinta Brewing Company: Baba Black Lager

Tonight I turn from the hoppy Hoptimum over to a black lager:

Uinta Brewing's Baba Black Lager

Uinta is a small brewery out in Salt Lake Utah that has been steadily growing their business over the past few years. There is not much else out there about the company other than they brew beers and name them after Utah's icons. You can read their full story here on their website. Something interesting I found out on their website is they were the first company in Utah to be 100% powered by wind in 2001. In 2011 they installed solar panels on the roof to generate 15% of their power, making them powered by 85% wind and 15% solar. They created their own brown glass recycling center and donate spent grain to local ranchers to use for feed cattle sheep and pigs.

This is the story behind the beer that I like to know before pouring it in the glass. I like to know about the company and what they are doing and how this beer got to my little ol' fridge here in Farmville. I think it just makes the drink that much more enjoyable.

The Baba Black Lager is a 4% ABV Schwarzbier. It is part of Uinta's Organic Line of beers, certified organic by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. Here is a link to frequently asked questions about organic food and regulations according to Utah. Being organic basically means it was made without any synthetic materials.

Lets get to drinking (finally)

So over the past few months I have had a few different dark beers, most of which I didn't like. Maybe it was because I didn't like how heavy they were, or because I tend to enjoy my beer sitting outside, normally in the sun, and they were just too much. As general guideline I've been telling myself that I don't like dark.

I poured this beer out and thought to myself: "Well crap, it's a 'black lager' so I'm not gonna enjoy this one." Boy, I made that assumption a little too quick. Yes, it pours almost black out the bottle, there was a little red in it when I held it up to a light, but a very dark ruby red, if anything. I smelled it and started to be intrigued. Coffee hit me first (I like coffee), then chocolate (I like chocolate), then a malty, smokey, burnt smell. "Ok, now we are getting into the stout type smells again, lets hope it goes better than what I'm expecting." First sip, let it slide over my tongue and down the hatch. I pulled the glass away to make sure it was the same thing I had just poured. It was light, much lighter than I expected. It had kind of a fizzy, crisp taste that I enjoyed. I tasted chocolate, coffee a light earthy taste, and maybe a little bit of a fruity hop taste that was balancing out any bitterness. (Baba Black Lager Beer Advocate Review)

This beer was surprisingly good. I'm happy to have my expectations shattered and really enjoyed this beer. It is quite different from the hop heavy drinks I've been drinking recently. I will happily keep my eyes out for more black lagers to compare to this drink, maybe this will be a gateway into the darker beers that get more popular after summer as the temperatures drop.

Have you had a black lager? What is your opinion? Any recommendations? Do you like dark beers generally? Let me know in the comments.

I'll pour me one more tomorrow and let you know how it is, until then- Cheers.

Sierra Nevada: Hoptimum

Tonight I am starting this blog off with a big one. A big company, a big beer, with big tastes: 

Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum

So lets start by talking about who Sierra Nevada is.

Started in California in 1979, Sierra Nevada has become one of the bigger and more popular craft breweries in America. They are most famous for their Pale Ale, the original brew of the company. They currently produce 780,000 barrels each year, making them a craft brewery by definition. (6 Million bottles or less per year). (Sierra Nevada)

The Hoptimum brew is part of the Limited Selections from Sierra Nevada. This 10.4% ABV Imperial India Pale Ale is rated at 100 IBUs (a scale of bitterness). They used 5 different varieties of hops for what they say challenged them to "push the the extremes of whole-cone hop brewing."

When I opened the bottle I knew I was in for a good time. I could smell the hoppy, citrusy aroma as I poured the bottle into my glass. It was a coppery orange color and was clear. When I smelled it in the glass I could smell pine trees and more hops and more hops and some citrus and more hops (not surprisingly). 

As I began to drink it, the hops and bitterness was strong, very strong. As I got further into it though, I began to pick up on some other, more complex, interesting tastes. I could at one moment taste grapefruits, and another pine trees (like I smelled earlier). I enjoyed these moments because I was happy I could pick out the different tastes from one another. I let the beer sit for a while and picked it back up to find that the hops had returned and thats how it finished for me. It was very crisp when I started drinking, and the finish of each drink was long and lingered in my mouth until I drink again. I think this is a reason I like the more hoppy drinks, they stick around longer and give you time to think about them. 

Here is a link to the Beer Advocate Review site for Hoptimum. I will be posting links here with each beer I talk about so you can see what others (more experienced than I) are saying about it.

I enjoyed this beer. It was a little strong on the ABV side, but I knew that going in and expected it. It was a nice beer to relax with this evening. I think the crisp, citrus, hop flavor was welcome after a hot day like today. The only thing I might say is, even though I like the hoppy flavor, I would like to see it work a little more in balance with other flavors. Hoptimum does do this a little for me, but the hops still take the reigns here and I would like to find something with a little bit less hops and little bit more of something else (I'll let you know what it is when I find it).

I'll pour me one more tomorrow and let you know how it is. Until then - Cheers. 

About Me and This Blog

Hey there.  I'm Stephen. This is a blog about beer. That's about it.

I am a 21 year old college student who is just at the beginning of a journey that I will be on the rest of my life: Enjoying Good Beer. So go ahead - Pour Me One More.

I want to clarify (to my mom, professors, and friends who might be reading this here blog) that I am by no way using this as an excuse to drink heavily or will let it take over my other duties as a student or human being. I simply enjoy beer, and have been wanting for a while now to document what I was drinking.

I have 2 reasons for starting this blog (other than it being a class assignment):


Reason 1: For others to see what I enjoy and why I enjoy it and to open up communication between us to share knowledge and recommendations for future drinks.

Reason 2: So over time I can look back and see what I have had, what I have enjoyed, and what I didn't like so much. That way, as I continue on this journey, I get smarter about my own likes and dislikes, in the end making better choices.

I enjoy learning about stuff, I always have. I like to know where things come from, how they are made, what makes them work. That has transferred to my beer drinking experience. I am interested to know about the people and breweries behind the drinks I choose. I look them up on the internet, read the labels and six packs. If I don't know what a word means, I look it up. I follow blogs and Reddit posts (r/beer has been a big help) that broaden my knowledge about this wonderful, complex drink.

Now let me be straight with you here, I do not want to sound like and expert at all. I am a "noob" by every since of the word. I do not have a background in critiquing anything. I am not here to give you my expert opinion. I am keeping this blog to document the journey of learning and maybe one day reaching that level of expertise, and I want you along for the ride to offer your opinions and suggestions.

I also want to be up front in saying that I am no beer-snob. I will throw back a Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Corona or PBR when the opportunity arises. However, I have my issues with the macro companies that dominate the beer market (which I hope to address in post later). This blog will focus on the tasting and enjoyment of craft and micro-brewery beers that are not part of the large companies. I want to support the small, local guys. Their beer offers so much variety and uniqueness, I want to explore this to find my own taste preferences. I do not see a reason to stick to the bland, ordinary guys that are already making a ton of money when there is so much more out there to taste and experience (again I hope to delve into this later).

So that's me, this is my blog. Lets get started.