Cutthroat Porter

Thanks to Kat Langford for giving me a bottle of this, following her dark vs. light beer tasting event held a couple weeks ago. Reviewed Friday afternoon (having gotten off work early) prior to heading to Iowa City for the Iowa Brewers guild meeting.
5.0 % ABV

Appearance: The pour exhibited a maple brown colored beer with a strong clarity. Surely filtered. In the glass the beer maintains a puffy dark beige colored head with larger soapy "eyes" interspersed throughout. Lacing clings to the side of the glass with a prominent dryness.

Aroma: Mildy roasted with a faint acidic background to it. Notes of smoke and earth permeate the nostrils, while a pleasantly sweet chocolate scent erupts from the glass. A bit of woodsiness and outdoors. Generally, the aroma isn't as strong as I expected.

Taste: The front is a lot sweeter. With a basic breadiness up front, it paves a way for the preceding characteristics to build upon. The midtaste introduces a subtle nutty flavor which only transcends into a full on roasted finish, with minute amounts of chocolaty sweetness to balance. Deep under layers of high temperature kilned malt, one may be able to pick out a note of fruitiness, but that is for you to decide. Hop profile is negligible. A drying roasted, smokiness is left on the palate long after the beer has left. As it warms, more of the aromatic malt emerges in the beer, while the burnt flavor becomes subdued.

Mouthfeel: There is a bit of a chalky texture at the end following the roastiness. Overall the beers body is inviting and of medium stature. It finishes smooth and velvety, but nicely dry.

Overall Impression: A basic porter but with a frontal roasted flavor (though technically it is presented in the second half). A faint malt bill accompanies the beer while the middle is justified with a nutty, woody flavor. Aftertaste is prolonged with wood tannins and burnt undertones.

Mountain Standard Double Black IPA

Thanks to Kat Langford for giving me this beer to review. I had found it in the cooler at Great River at 6:00 AM while doing the inventory run and asked if she had accidentally left it there (apparently it had been in there for me for a while). Reviewed Wednesday evening after buying a new helmet and Bike rack for the winter commutes. Served in a Snifter.

Appearance: Pours a rich blackened color, with a rubied hue when held to a bright light. Initially the head is fluffy and densely held together. As it dissipates, a spiderweb of lacing is left behind, with some degree of speckled consistency.
Aroma: There is a perfect balance between a malt induced roasted sweetness in combination with a boastful hop background. I also get a lot of breadiness and spicy characteristics from the scent.
Taste: Initially I notice a confliction between flavors, and cannot decide which to acknowledge first. But I'll say that upfront, the hops make the foretaste juicy and fruity. I assume there is more of a biscuit malt backbone that lies completely masked. But as the palate decides which to notice, one could easily describe an upfront roasty flavor as well, even chocolate. To follow, there is orange peel, grapefruit and pineapple. Big tropical complexity. The finish has a more roasty flavor, especially as it transitions into the aftertaste. One can get a burn from the alcohol as well with the complement of the drying alpha acid bitterness.
Mouthfeel: Smooth and thick feeling. Texture has a bit of a zippiness to it that lasts mildly throughout. I'd expect more of a drying feeling from this breed, but given the bigger body, the hops cannot out do the sugar, resulting in a cloying feeling at the roof of the mouth (while the rest of the mouth is dry). Some tackiness on the lips.
Overall Impression: I think this IS the best black IPA I've had.  Though big in alcohol, it is certainly well masked. This beer conveys the perfect mix of roasty stout and tropically hopped IPA, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a black IPA. Almost too drinkable! I love the label it's organic in appearance and it really incorporates an attention-getting profile, much like Dogfish Head.


94/100

Myrcenary Double India Pale Ale

The Yeast is ALIVE! I decided to taste this once I got home from the lab today in excitement and anticipation for my yeast project at the lab at Augustana. All plates had growth and few mutations were present. I'm currently reviving and propagating the Pacific ale yeast from 6 months ago for a new batch of black IPA we'll be brewing in early December. Thank you Justen Parris for donating this beer to the blog!

Appearance: Prior to pouring I noticed a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Poured into a tulip'd snifter. Bright orange gold with a prominent, but well attributed haze. Looks still. Some minor accumulation of bubbles on the surface of the beer, along with a think white foam ring on the inner perimeter of the glass. Hardly any lacing.
Aroma: Tropical fruit and citrus. I can pick out notes of sweet orange peel and papaya along with a faint undertone of alcohol. Alternative fruity esters are present characteristically similar to plums
Taste: There is a brief acidic tartness at the forefront of the beer, prior to the realization of any malt backbone. After, the malt is present in a mild biscuity, breadiness. This beer also leaves a lot to the yeast. Quite estery in and of itself, I can certainly pick out the tropical fruit and more notably, the plums. The front also faintly introduces notes of orange peel which eventually becomes drowned out by the complexities to come. The end is slightly earthy with a grassy element in the aftertaste. Alcohol is apparent in the back of the jaw before the ultimate finish. A residual grassiness is left on the tongue.
Mouthfeel: Full bodied and viscous, but still remaining quite drinkable. The carbonation is subtle and not over bearing, as it lightly bubbles a fine foam over the tongue. Finish is dry and alcoholic, yet warming and crisp.
Overall Impression: Complex as all hell, but still retaining a drinkable attitude. The body is heavier, just is the flavor. Fruity, hoppy and some pine interspersed. Hop head welcome, newbie beware.

$9.99/4-pack

85/100

Double Pilsner

Tasted Saturday afternoon following my first 1/2 Marathon that morning in which I compete for a 9th place finish overall in 1:14.31. Thanks to Paul for letting me have this from the reserve cooler at the brewery.

Appearance: Pale yellow in color with a strong clarity, but with a very faint depth defying haze. The head isn't anything to rave over as it resides in character as a soapy white foam as it also leaves a light wet lacing down the side of the glass. Carbonation is very apparent.
Aroma: A bit of a stale yeast scent right off the bat. Similarly there is a subtle lemon-grass hop complexity as well as notes of a grainy sweetness. Honey is another factor contributing to the malt smell. Yeasty is probably the best way to describe the aroma.
Taste: The front is quite grainy but is paralleled with a honey malt sweetness as well. By the midtaste, the yeast flavor sets in to give the impression of a over-aged beer. Throughout, and especially after the palate acclimates to the flavor, a mild lemon crispness currents almost start to finish. The hops are a bit floral yet don't leave the palate as dry. Fruity esters develop as the beer warms, giving the impression of apricots and pears. Yeasty. Alcohol is notably present.
Mouthfeel: Heavier mouthfeel, almost certainly from the large amount of un-attenuated sugars. Carbonation is less than expected but still maintains a minute bite at the end. Sticky on the lips and cloyingly textured in the back of the throat.
Overall Impression: I wasn't very impressed with this beer. From the start, the yeasty presence was a bit of a deterrent, while the esters in the taste made me think that the beer wasn't fermented or stored correctly. I found the body to be far more heavier than one would expect. The finish left a bit of a viney presence to the palate. Not the refreshing and crisp type of beer.


73/100

St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale

Thanks goes out to Paul for allowing me to have this from the "Research Bin" at the Brewery. Tasted Monday night after coming home from a long relaxing weekend back in the burbs. This review followed the transfer and filtration of my next big composition - an organic pumpkin beer made w/ 10 IBS of pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar, with one half of it with a dash of black cumin!

Appearance: The pour literally looked as yellow as the lupulin resins of a hop. In the glass it takes on a bright glowing yellowed orange hue. Head isn't anything to brag about (ha) only bracing the sides of the glass. Lacing is wet. Carbonation visibly rises from unperceptive notches in the glass. Relatively clear.
Aroma: Very herbal with an under-present layer of pine and earthy notes. Hops take a forefront profile here, leaving little to the malt. The pinnacle of herbaceous hops, yet formulated to have a mild tropical/citrus presence.
Taste: Very different tasting than  most pale ales. Foretaste is of light malt and honey. This only goes deeper into the thicket of the hop world as one may then begin to pull out citrus orange and lemon with even a pine-apple undertone. Following this burst of flavor, the beer then leaves an impressionable herbal hop taste with a bit of a biscuity finish. Aftertaste is clean and dry.
Mouthfeel: Light at the front, but a bit thicker as it goes down. Carbonation is one to account for this as it also hits the tongue in the beginning and soon thereafter fades. Some residual stickiness is left to the lips while the mouth retains a leftover dryness.
Overall Impression: Extremely interesting beer. First of all, the hops are very different. Herbal, in a good way and entirely complex and transformative in another. One taste may leave you thinking a shrubbery, another will leave you tasting pineapple, or even orange. Malt is nicely incorporated to not over shroud, but still maintain a palatable sweetness. Definitely a pale I'd seek out


91/100

90 Shilling Ale

My first Odell's Beer! (Thanks Monte... not) Thanks to Paul for letting me have this beer from the "Research box" in the cooler at the brewery. Tasted after an 11 miler split up with a stop to at the farmers market to pick up some pumpkins for this afternoon's brewing.

Appearance: Deep mahogany Amber with a 1/2" off white, dense foam head with strong retention and an entire lacing left in it's wake. Clear, but still an underlying color inhibitory haze. Relatively still looking with the occasional bubble rising to the surface.
Aroma: Rich caramel and toasted malt. There is an undertone of fruit accompanied with a touch of nuttiness as well as a viney alcohol in the end. A bit of oxidation present.
Taste: Foretaste is rich of caramel with a robust malt barley backbone. The midtaste introduces notes of overripe plums, which again appears in the aftertaste. Similarly there is an introduction to a tannin bitterness which may come off to some as sour, but still remains more on a bittered side. Finally a rich toasted malt presence rounds out the finish of the beer while the hops help encourage a prolonged almost burnt bread flavor and a dryness between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. Alcohol is noteable present, though not very substantial, which could be confused with the hop profile.
Mouthfeel: Thick body with a soft and smooth texture all the way through until it exits the mouth. A bit of a bubbled fiz braces the tip of the tongue after a couple seconds. Finish is dry and resinous.
Overall Impression: Without a style name given to the beer, I was unsuspecting of this beers flavor, but I'd call it a Fat Tire x 10. With a strong caramel malt foundation and the hop finish to match, this beer boasts a flavor without the alcohol. A Roller Dam Red with more caramel and toast to the finish, while a boost to the body thickens the feel. The dryness at the end relieves the palate and quenches ones thirst


90/100