Summer Bright Ale

Sorry for the poor frequency of posts lately. Between the Ypsilanti beer fest this weekend and a busy work week along side getting in 80 miles this week, I've been swamped. Nevertheless I found some time to get in a brief post in the midst of writing my article on the summer beer festival. Stay Tuned. Thanks to Adam Slaker for giving me this beer about a month ago while at his going away party in Westmont.
Can Served
Pint poured

Appearance: Bright golden color with some remnants of chill haze prominent throughout, though nothing to really hinder the clear appearance. The head is minimal taking the form of a slight film across the surface of the beer and leaving in its wake a touch of speckled lacing. carbonation bubbles slowly rise to the surface.
Aroma: I get a lot of grain and husk in the scent. Nearing the realm of un-malted doughiness, of which is also accompanied by the ever present scent of wheat. Brief undertones of orange peel run parallel to an even aroma of yeast.
Taste: the flavor starts light and sweet. Depending on how you taste the beer, the carbonation either hinders the forefront of the sweetness, or it excels it into a honey and wheat based malt. No sooner is the palate quenched by the desirably sweet but not overwhelming flavor, faint notes of orange peel, coriander and tea flavored zest/tannins balance in a thirst quenching crispness.
Mouthfeel: Thinner upfront until the sub-minimal carbonation emerges, providing a body that poles out as one follows through with the tasting. If one uses the back of the mouth as the guide to flavor and feel, you can get a whole lot more out of this beer.
Overall Impression: Light in flavor and light in overall complexity, but nevertheless, this beer exemplifies summer. Clean, crisp, refreshing without forgetting about the subtle orange citrus, lemon zest and the wheat malt. Typical, run of the mill, and easy to throw back.

Lucky U IPA

Thanks to Joshua Schipp fro bringing over a craft pack of this earlier last week. I enjoyed it following a strenuous day at the brewery canning our contracted Brewery's beer for a pressed deadline the next week. Reviewed in a pint glass
6.2% ABV

Appearance: Clowdy with a darkened copper look. The head is mildly foamed with a soapy consistency. Still looking, with not a whole not a while lot going on. Lacing is speckled and wet.
Aroma: Huge biscuit malt at the nose. This beer is definitely malt forward with a complexion of two-row and other bready and caramel malt forward beers. Some faint hop character is immanent, but I cannot decide what exactly I'm getting.
Taste: Sweet and malty with an equal bitterness to balance. Sweet and bready with biscuit and caramel undertones, as noted in the aroma. Some floral notes are present, alongside even some leafy greens at the end. The beer overall has a relatively green flavor to it, is in - not completely fermented through. Subtle wortiness. Some spice at the very end, as if there was rye...
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a carbonation that is very smooth and nicely incorporated to enhance the second half bitterness to compliment the malt bill.
Overall Impression: A simple IPA with a lot going on. I think the focus was on the malt, and the hops came second. The malt shows up most dominantly with the bitterness coming secondary, though still retaining a very prominent position. Tasty nonetheless, and as I see it, a beer that one could use to get others who aren't as fond to the IPA/pale ale/bitter category to explore..

Avalanche Amber Style Ale

Jen and I first tried this while out to dinner with her parents at Old Chicago. Ironically the day following Josh brought home a Breckenridge craft pack which included this beer. So, enabled to review from home, I write...

Appearance: More of a hazed out copper with a darkened orange hue. The head isn't anything to talk about as it's stature only consists of a slight bubbly ring around the inner perimeter of the glass. Hazed, but with a few carbonation bubbles rising to the surface of the beer. Lacing is wet and speckled.

Aroma: Rich kilned amber and biscuity sweetness. A very upfront malt based aroma. Pleasant, yet boasting a faint gingerbread cookie and gingersnap scent.
Taste: Big caramel malt backbone. But within, the malt tends to fluctuate a lot with this beer. It starts sweet and biscuity and then by the mid taste it transforms into a grainy, barley husk bitterness. Finally by the end, the gingersnap flavor is re-introduced, as I noted in the aroma, along with a neutral hop bitterness and notes of brown sugar and peppery flavors. Some characteristics of oxidation are starting to develop with the taste of a coaster, or paper bag..
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a lackluster carbonation. Some bubbles hit the back of the tongue at the end, but very few. If it weren't for the body of this beer, I'd find it relatively watery. Finish is cloying on the palate, but no tackiness resides on the lips
Overall Impression: The aroma is incredibly sweet and appealing. However the taste didn't really amount up to being as such. I found a lot more oxidation with the bottle I had at Old Chicago, but even so, this bottle was in the preliminary stages of development as well. Unfortunately, the oxidation was a big deterrent. If only they could find a taste to match the incredible aroma.

Vanilla Porter

Josh got me this for Christmas as part of an assorted six pack. Tasted Tuesday evening while concocting an organic carrot pate/hummus with the leftover tahini I had from making baba ghanouj last week. Reviewed in a snifter.

Appearance: The pour didn't really produce much of a head (yet from the feel, there is a lot of carbonation). Dark brown and completely opaque. A thin white ring clings to the inner perimeter of the glass. Deep red in color if held to a bring light.
Aroma: Subtle chocolate malt bill followed by a contributive vanilla character. Nutty. Cocoa and roasty malt complexities are amplified as the beer warms.
Taste: The flavor isn't overly sweet, and remains light with a forefront of chocolate and crystal malts. Some caramel is there, but in very minute amounts. Nutty and even a bit toasted at the end. Vanilla certainly isn't overwhelming, like Atwater's Vanilla Java Porter. Similarly, this beer maintains les of an extract oriented vanilla flavor (like Empyrean's Dark Side Vanilla Porter). Finish is slightly roasted (and this grows as the beer warms up) and a mild acidity rounds out with even a faint tannic fruit flavor. The vanilla has definitely been toned down since I last had this (over a year ago.
Mouthfeel: High bubbly carbonation and a very light body make this beer extremely easy to drink. The bubbly fizz bites straight down the middle of the tongue.
Overall Impression: Not a robust, thickened porter that one might expect, but certainly one that remains extremely drinkable and crisp. The alcohol stands at a measly 4.7% which I think is fantastic! (I love session ales). Anyway, the vanilla isn't overdone whatsoever and resides more in the aroma than anything. Easy drinking for all occasions.


84/100

Oatmeal Stout

Tasted following an evening construction of a fire pit in the back yard with Jen. After cooking portabello mushrooms in the newly designed fire pit, I took off for a night time run. Got back, showered and sat down to enjoy this stout that Joey Waldorf graciously gave me earlier this weekend.

Appearance: Upon pour, the beer exhibits a finger worth of grey/tan Styrofoam head, which then minutes later dissipated into a film leaving behind it a dry residual lacing. The color is rich and black and no transparency.

Aroma: Earthy with undertones of dry leaves and nuts. More profoundly I smell chocolate malt and a graininess to the nose. Alternatively there might be some notes of oxidation as well as phenols.

Taste: Robust and grainy to the tongue that follows the initial toasted chocolate maltiness. Finishing the beer off I can draw out the hops and tannins which help contribute to the beers overall bittersweet dark chocolate flavor. Vanilla is slightly present along with other complexities like roasted grains. I don't make not of any licorice of molasses, and equally any dominating off flavors. The malt profile is rather simple, yet appeals to the palate in a well balanced fashion between hops and malt foundation. The aftertaste is burnt and highly roasted.
Mouthfeel: A lot lighter in body than most stouts. The carbonation is different in that it doesn't pair with the liquid its in, but fights it, but nevertheless it lightly touches the tip of the tongue and then it dissipates. Not at all sticky, very drinkable and drying to the finish. Surprisingly the oats didn't contribute much to the body.
Overall Impression: A spectacular stout resulting in a refreshing character and a simple flavor of chocolate and lightly toasted malt. It isn't the slightest bit heavy, but still maintains a wealthy flavor. I hadn't ever really considered Breckenridge as a worthwhile beer to try, but this one proves me wrong. An entry level and a pro-beer drinker's stout!


87/100