Irish Ale

Thanks to Dan Nevin for bringing this bottle over last week. Tasted Monday evening after a difficult 15 mile run through Davenport with Matt Bowman. Pint glass served.
5.8% ABV

Appearance: A rusty Amber with a dark reddish hue. The head is puffy and off white at first with a soapy consistency. Dissipation is lax, but still enough to demolish it into a soft foam cascading over the surface. Carbonation can still be seen against the rusty turbidity. Persistent and strong.
Aroma: Carameled and spritzy. Some oxidation is present, along with faint undertones of fruit and herbalness.
Taste: Sweet and spicy. Right from the start there is a caramel base, followed by a floral spicy and a zesty bite at the very end. Certainly herbal too. The front is very balanced by the first half of the end of the beer, then a bit of that herbal character emerges with a faint grassiness. I get a bunch of spicing, even a hint of coriander, though that is probably a product of the yeast. Some toasted grain flavor develops up front as the beer takes to warming.
Mouthfeel: Initially there is a sharp spike on the tongue from the micro-bubble carbonation. This dissipates fast into a smooth texture going down. Spicing bite at the end. Dry herbal finish.
Overall Impression: A very decent Irish ale. Or Red ale to most. Dry, spiced, bitter, but malty and clean. Ultimately I enjoy the balance and drinkability of this beer.

Mojo Risin Double IPA

Thanks to Josh Schipp and Rob Liva for getting a couple craft packs of the looking glass series, earlier this summer. I finally got around to reviewing it with Thomas Christian this afternoon while waiting to head to practice.

Appearance: Copper in color with a light frothy off white head. Some intermittent soapy bubbles present as well. Subtle haze. Looks relatively still.
Aroma: Bigger malt sweetness present along with a minor estery scent. I draw out notes of grapefruit and toffee followed by a interesting floral fruitiness. The malt is still prominent throughout, and tends more towards a graininess as it warms.
Taste: Huge caramel malt backbone and toasted undertone. This IPA boasts a tremendous grain sweetness that borders on under-attenuated worty character. This beer seems like it's not really trying to do too much, where some styles punch through with an out of the ordinary element such as hops of malt. There is a mild burn from the alcohol at the very end, but is complemented with a very neutral, but slightly leafy bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Bigger bodied and a thick textured mouthfeel wit a residual sweetness that leaves a tackiness to the lips. The Carbonation is extremely light, but is presented in amplifies form in complement with the bitterness. A bit sappy and dry as the beer leaves the mouth
Overall Impression: A beer to be paired with food. otherwise I think the beer had a big hop/malt balance, but was overall relatively bland. Very worty.


83/100

Kinda Blue Wheat Ale

Thanks to Mr. Louis Liva for donating this beer to the blog. I received it Saturday night during a dinner party of fresh organic chili and salad. Tasted after a productive Monday morning.

Appearance: Bronzed copper in color with a white foamy ring right around the glass, otherwise relatively lacking in head. The carbonation is small, but consistently rising to the surface. Lacing doesn't seem to cling to the sides of the glass. Pretty clear.
Aroma: Mellow fruitiness and a undertoned earthy element. I find there may be a lot of honey and caramel alt making up the majority of the backbone. Obviously blueberry, but somewhat synthetic smelling and very perfumy/estery.
Taste: Foretaste maintains a bit of a wheat character, but when the blueberry introduces itself, that middle flavor more or less comes off as caramel. Still, synthetic tasting with a mild blueberry flavor. I wish it would have been more tart. The fruit does even mask the potential citrus of the wheat. Generally, my impression is the beer is juicy, with far too much of an addition of a blueberry syrup concoction. Afterbreath is very artificial.
Mouthfeel: Medium to thicker body with a subtle appearance from the carbonation which encourages a drying finish. Mouthfeel isn't anything notable, just bubbly.
Overall Impression: Not worth a six pack, and probably not even worth getting in the craft pack. The beer left out a lot of what is offered by a normal wheat, namely yeast and breadiness - primarily because it was filtered. And then it made too much emphasis on the maple blueberry syrup character and artificial taste of the beer.


64/100

Sweaty Betty Blonde

Tasted following a dreary 10 miler through East Moline. Enjoyed after some homemade organic Indian food with Moe Singh and Josh. Thanks to Mike Gillhouse for getting this a couple weekends ago.

Appearance: A turbid yellow (following the addition of the dregs, otherwise it is quite clear and golden)with a thick frothy white head that dryly laces the glass as it dissipates. It looks to thick that one could mistake it for an orange juice. Carbonation is difficult to see. Some flocculation is apparent at the bottom of the glass.
Aroma: Pungent and bready. Flour (like that just mixed with water, prior to kneading) and light wheaty graininess is a forefront malt sweetness. Yeast holds the remainder of the scent.
Taste: Bread and pale malt. Wheat citrus is present both un-malted and malted. A little herbal. Clove and lemongrass maintain a spiciness. The finish has some hops but also leaves with some alcohol to leave the palate somewhat refreshed. Yeast dominates throughout, especially in the first half of the glass. By the end, you become so used to it, that it hardly makes an impression. Banana esters reside as an undertone, especially in the end.
Mouthfeel: Thicker body with a lighter carbonation. Dries the mouth but still maintains a cloying element in the back of the throat. Smooth textured.
Overall Impression: Although the overall flavor comes off to me as kind of stale and similar to the Kvass I made a couple months ago. Still, this beer is refreshing and full of interesting flavors. This is a strange combination between a Hefeweizen and a Blonde.


76/100

Mojo India Pale Ale

Tasted Memorial Monday night after a long day of running and watching bike races. Thanks to Mike Gillhouse for buying (3) cases a couple weeks ago while he stayed here to watch our last collegiate track race.

Appearance: A soapy 2" off white foamed head with bubble eye consistency sets atop a predominantly clear amber/golden colored liquid. Appears to have a high carbonation as the CO2 rapidly rises to the surface. Eventually the head dissipates leaving a speckled foamed film and wet lacing on the sides

Aroma: Fruity and quite estery to be honest. The malt bill is nice and toasted/biscuit with a carameled base. The hops finish out with a fruity, but also pine like. After a good swirl, the biscuit comes out a lot more along with an earthy resin.

Taste: Juicy is a word that characterizes my first impression. The basic caramel backbone along with subtle notes of honey hold through to the end maintaining a maltose sweetness - makes me think that this is a very young tasting, under-ripe beer. The midtaste takes the combination of the hops and the malt and thrusts a balanced fruitiness (raisins, plums and apricots) for a second or two before the resined alpha acids and the alcohol seep through to introduce new flavors. Some fruit skin tannins also arise from this interaction. Finishing is a relatively simplistic pine hop flavor with a nutty taste still drawn from the malt, but also orange peel and grassiness. Alcohol finishes in a vapored taste. By the end, once the beer warmed, I picked up a bit of a viney characteristic.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation is mellow as it fizzes across the tongue, with a medium to heavier body. Sticky to the lips and cloying makes me think a little under-attenuated. Finishes very dry and resinous from the hops and alcohol.
Overall Impression: A bigger bodied IPA that went for a bigger malt base but still tried to give enough hop-age to balance it out. It worked relatively well, but still left a grainy-sweetness throughout. I did enjoy the complexity and the interactive flavors that were produced.


83/100

Hazed and Infuzed: Dry-Hopped Ale

The day after graduation and a long day of job applications because this recent graduate needs to find employment!

Appearance: Amber color with a bit of an orange undertone. 1/2 of an inch tan colored head, foamy and does not dissipate while it sits there. Slightly hazy, but you can still see the carbonation rising. Lacing on the side of the glass.

Aroma: Most prominent addition to the aroma are the citrus hops. It also has a outdoorsy/pine like small. Complemented by some biscuity and caramel undertones. As it warms you can begin to smell a bit of alcohol at the end.
Taste: Light sweetness that is conveyed through bready and caramel malt. Lots of honey and caramel flavoring that makes it have a kind of wort-like, under attenuated flavor. The malt body is quite mellow and it is subsequently balanced by the bite from hops. Finishes with the dry bitterness from a combination of pine-like hops and orange peel.
Mouthfeel: Has a smooth medium body and although the carbonation starts off pretty adequate but it only took about 30-45 min to completely go flat. Doesn't leave a bad aftertaste but it does have a drying effect.
Overall Impression: Although this brew went flat pretty fast, the most of the flavors are still present (couldn't get that in a macro-brew) and it is ok to finish once it warms. Tim thinks that this was originally an amber-style ale that was then dry-hopped after.

76/100

Never Summer Ale

Tasted following an intense yoga session with Bryan Kest. I took the day off from running to give me some recovery for my 3k tomorrow and from the workouts the last 2 days. This was out of the Winter Beer Around the World package from World Market that my dad got me. Snifter poured.

Appearance: Thick bronzed colored pour into the glass. Color is just that, but deeper and clouded (chill haze?). Head is a strong off white/tan foamed head that pours a good two fingers worth but slowly dissipates. Uniformed lacing as the head dies down.

Aroma: Carameled sweetness with hints of nuts and sweet chocolate. The malt sweetness of this beer is highly apparent only with a slight dark fruit finish. Some cinnamon makes an appearance along with some other spices, and maybe even rye. Quite a complexity.
Taste: Starts sweet and moves to a climax at the back of the tongue by which the flavor spikes with the carbonation only to leave a brief bitterness. Malted caramel and maybe chocolate make up much of the sweetness along with brief touches of toasted barley. Some candied flavor to it but also complete with a bittering finish that melds well into the hop bitter profile. A great winter warmer. The finish also incorporates some very mellowed spicing like rye and allspice. MMM!
Mouthfeel: Thick and full bodied. The carbonation is relatively low, but still enough to manufacture and enhance the complexity. Very smooth
Overall Impression: Probably consistently the best winter beer I've personally been able to find. I tried it last year and it was really hoppy, but still maintained the bright and mild spicing and flavors just as this years has. The full fledged malt flavors are completely balanced by the finishing alcohol/spice/hops. Complexity is overwhelming. Get this if you see it and let me know what you think!


91/100

Mojo Risin Double IPA

Courtesy of Thomas Christian who purchased this $12 four pack for the effort. Served cold in a snifter on a couple occasions either following practice or an early weekend night with dinner.

Appearance: A nice pale amber color with a bright cloudy hue and a minimal yet still apparent head (though mostly just a ring around the glass)

Aroma: Smell is quite boozy with caramel and biscuit malts holding a sweet backbone. Dark fruit and some grapefruit zest also arise, but its the grassy resinous hop aromas that hold the foundation.

Taste: Of dark fruit and raisins which dominate the sweet end of this beer. Following this is the strong hot flavors from the alcohol that help reinforce a increasingly developing complex sweetness.This combination results in a robustly hopped flavor with an accompaniment of grapefruit and a power kick to the temple of floral alpha acids and hope undertones. Citrus notes and orange zest. As this beer progresses, it develops more into a fruity citrus flavored grass extract than a biscuit malt IPA.
Mouthfeel: Light but not watery or tacky. Body is moderate and carbonation is low.
Overall Impression: Quite a strong IPA that finishes almost as hot as it started. I think it was slightly off balance but still a one-time try if the opportunity presents itself.


81/100