Grand Circus India Pale Ale

This was a new beer to appear on the shelves of our Rock Island Hy-vee. Dan brought it over for a pizza night. Tasted later that week after a grueling day of canning.

Appearance: Oranged copper with (after a minute or so) a thin, yet dense filmed foam head on top. Lacing is wet and silhouetted. Overall the beer can be characterized as minimally hazy, allowing for some clarity and visible carbonation to be acknowledged on the thinner parts of the glass.
Aroma: Fresh cut grass and wild plum trees ( I think of this whenever I used to mow the lawn and run over all the wild plums that had fallen to the ground. Very floral, and even a bit herbal. I sense some tartness as well. A faint biscuity sweetness is apparent.
Taste: Ouch, this beer hosts quite a bite of bitterness! Predominantly, I get a very neutral, but grassy and uncharactered bitterness that seems to have perhaps originated at the front of the boil. I get a bit of a saltiness from this beer as well. There is some foretaste of malt, but it is severely masked by the absurd bittering units that tend to come through full force after a couple sips, especially in the aftertaste. Kinda like I just chomped down on some green leaves. The tannic aftertaste is overwhelming.
Mouthfeel: Foamy, and a bit of an aggressive bite from the hops. Body is medium light, but finishes more on the lighter side, even watery. Dry resined finishing feel.
Overall Impression: I wasn't very enthralled about this beer. If only it had a bit of a citrus character splashed in, we might have had something. But the normality behind it and the over bitter taste really didn't have me wishing for more. I can see where this IPA may have some historic roots with the high Alpha Acid, but other than that, I didn't see much else.

Atwater Pale Ale

Tasted following a strenuous track workout complete with 800's, 400's and 200m repeats. Tasted with some artisan cheese and crackers. Served in a Weiss glass.

Apologies for the crappy photo

Appearance: Pale golden color with complete clarity. Minimal head but still some white foamed film present. Carbonation bubbles visible, though small and slow to rise. Poor lacing.
Aroma: Sweet and tart like pears and other prominent esters. Some basic malt aroma and a indistinct bitterness braces the nose. Yeast undertones apparent through a bready backbone. Some candied sweetness to note.
Taste: By midtaste the beer develops a pear skin bitterness followed by a neutral grassiness. The malt profile is minimal in this one, but still maintains a brief character as it cycles in and out of appearance throughout the taste. Other light fruity esters appear in conjunction with the mild hop bitterness, but other than that the beer lacks a lot of complexity. I'd classify it more as a homebrew tasting pale ale than anything else. Even tastes similar to my own poorly constructed dry hopped APA. Some caramel and biscuit begin to make face, but very subtly. Citrus and green apple may also be noted in flavor. A little grainy and a little lacking in malt character.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth and creamy with a definite soft texture throughout. Carbonation is limited, but still helps develop the forgiving texture. Body is medium. Finishes dry from the tannin/hop additions to the beer.
Overall Impression: The pear flavor is somewhat off-putting.  Being as similar tasting to my own batches, I'd be interested to see what other people thought about this beer...

Winter Bock

Evening tasting with home made sweet potato fries baked with cinnamon, chili powder, cayenne pepper and salt all while glazed with olive oil (tasting preceded the meal, no worries). Thanks to Lucas Westblade for hauling this Craft Pack all the way from Michigan.

Appearance: Color is very rich and that of a rich brown mahogany. Very thin layer of bubbles make up the head. Visible but tiny carbonation bubbles, and this beer is very clear. There is a touch of red to this beers color.

Aroma: A little bit on the sweet side, lots of caramelized malt make up a majority of the aroma. Some sort of dark fruit could contribute to the overwhelming sweetness.

Taste: There are definitely flavors of roasted malt but surprisingly take a back seat to a slightly sour fruitiness produced by the dark fruit thrown into the batch. Nut skins/tannins emerge in the by the finish, rounding out the beer with a bitterness that tries to suppress the sourness. Caramel develops into a dominant flavor by mid glass along with the remaining toasted characters. Quite similar to a basic brown ale but with a more tart and fruity profile. Little profile related to most bocks, but was still able to retain that lager crispness and yeast like character.
Mouthfeel: Medium body and the carbonation is not too overpowering. I actually find it quite nice. However there is a very interesting aftertaste that resonates in the mouth and sticks around long after the beer is finished.
Overall Impression: I thought this beer was just OK. I wonder if the sourness I tasted in the beer was supposed to be there or was it a bad batch? Some funk that was a little deterring from the beer.

Dirty Blonde Ale

Another beer out of the Atwater Block craft pack that Lucas Westblade picked up for me. Tasted following a grueling practice of 4 x 200, 800m at 2:13, and 4 x 400m with a warm-up and cool down. Tasted prior to our team dinner at the All-you-can-eat Hy-vee salad bar.

Appearance: Golden clarity with a pathetic, if you can call it a head at all. Small, slow rising carbonation visible through the 100% clear liquid. Looks plain.

Aroma: Sweet and almost candied amongst a lager yeast pungence. Some fruity apple diacetyl esters present. But generally the smell didn't reveal all too much.

Taste:  Somewhat of a hybrid cross of a wit and a lager with some Belgium spicing. The flavor was a little sweet (like apples) but still maintained that pungence. Malt is difficult to pick out from the strong yeast attenuation and contribution to the flavor, but I'd more than likely guess and pale/pils mix with some additional wheat for a backboned orange peel citrus. Coriander spicing to finish.

Mouthfeel: Crisp carbonation that is relatively on the higher end. Body is light and drinkable.
Overall Impression: Complexity and overall palate desirability and flavor weren't all to memorable or even appealing with this one. The wheat and the abundant lager pungence really doesn't make an impression on me. Perhaps for those who take a liking to Leinenkugels though.

Vanilla Java Porter

Thank you Lucas Westblade for bringing this back from his home state Michigan during Christmas Break. He bought me Atwater Block's Assorted Craft Pack, complete with four types of beer. Tasted with a bean and collard green soup. I had tried this in the very beginning of my logging, but hardly have the notes to produce a credible post, so here's taste #2:

Appearance: Snifter poured. Black with an off white foamy head that started a fingers worth following a delicate pour, only to dissipate to a stable surface coat. Transparency is a word un-recognized to this beer. Nevertheless there are small micro-bubbles visibly rising along the glass.
Aroma: Chocolaty and sweet, vanilla is difficult to distinguish, but I know it's there. Mellow roasted malt aroma, with a coffee note that certainly takes a sideline here. Somewhat nutty as well with a tart-sweet finish. I would have though that this would have a stronger aroma than it really does.
Taste: Starts mildly sweet and then transitions into a nice and delicate roasted coffee flavor with the all too distinguishable vanilla taste.The vanilla and coffee are most notably recognized in the back of the mouth/throat where they maintain themselves well into the aftertaste. For the most part the strong vanilla tastes some what extract like, and toasted malt caramel or even rich coffee is lacking.
Mouthfeel: Very smooth and creamy, probably the most notable and positive quality of this beer. Foamy and rich with a none too aggressive carbonation. Body is definitely full.
Overall Impression: A decent porter, though the vanilla in the beer just seemed too out of place and maybe too up front in the end-taste making for a overly sweet synthetic finish. The roasted and toasted qualities took a back burner here too, making for less of a porter and more of a vanilla flavored malt beverage.