| March, 2011 |  |
 Magic Hat Brewing Company: Encore
6% alcohol by volume
Buying details:
part of a sample 12 pack @ $15.99 at Stop % Shop on I forget
Encore is part of Magic Hat's IPA on Tour series and is listed as a "limited engagement". This is an IPA, but the color of the pour is a bit more orangey/golden than most IPAs I am familiar with. It does appear to be unfiltered (or at least slightly filtered) so that might be why - as it is fairly hazy. It is certainly a pleasant looking beer with a nice light cream colored head.
The aroma, however, definitely is reminiscent of IPAs I am familiar with - heavy on the hops with a lot of herbal notes, and some light citrus tones as well.
The taste is almost identical to the aroma - hoppy with herbal and citrus notes - orange to be specific. It ends with some sweet wheat tastes and is pretty pleasant - does not leave much of a bitter mouth feel at the end.
One additional note, the flavor and presence of this beer doesn't stick with you |
 Dogfish Head Brewery: Pangaea
7% alcohol by volume
Buying details:
1 750ML bottle @ $9.99 at DeCicco's on 13 February 2011
And now for the next beer for the Beerlinguist from Dogfish Head Brewery - while they aren't all winners, I do appreciate what they try to do there so it isn't surprising that i have sampled a couple of these already.
Pangaea is a beer whose gimmick is that it contains ingredients from every single continent. Yes, even Antarctica - that is where the water is from. The other extremely unique ingredient is crystalized ginger from Australia.
I must admit that I poured this beer into a regular pint glass and then later found out I should have used a snifter - oh well, party foul on my part. Despite the glassware, this beer pours a very nice light amber color with an ample nearly white head. The first thing you get from the aroma is the ginger, so they weren't kidding when they mentioned they used that.
You also get the ginger with your |
 Blue Point Brewing Company: Spring FLing Ale
6% alcohol by volume
Buying details:
6 pack @ $9.99 bought at Whole Foods in White Plains 26 February 2011
Well, they call this a coper ale, and that is exactly what color this beer is - a really nice and inviting coper color to it. It pours with a decent sized off-white head. The aroma is full of hops and some floral notes.
The taste is very crisp - fairly hoppy with some nutty and caramel tones to it as well. Then the malt flavors dominate the tastebuds while holding the beer in your mouth. The finish is not quite as great as the rest of the sip as some hoppiness/borderline bitterness is left in your mouth.
Overall, this is a nice, easy drinking, somewhat hoppy bear whose finish prevents it from being a truly great beer .... but I find it is appropriately named as I can see this being very enjoyable on a warm spring or summer day.
I would give this $5/pint so the 6-pack was definitely a good value. |
Samuel Adams Brewing Company:
Noble Pils
6% alcohol by volume
Buying details:
1 pint @ $5.50 bought at Blue Chips Restaurant and Bar in Danbury CT on 5 March 2011
This is a beer I have been wanting to try and when I saw they had it on tap when we were out for dinner on Saturday I figured I would give it a try ... they also had the cool corresponding coaster (which I took home as a souvenir)
This beer is brewed using a blend of 5 Noble Hops from each of the world's only remaining Noble Hops growing regions (Hersbruck, Spalt, Tettnang, and Hallertau in Germany, and Saaz in the Chech Republic), and the first thing that struck me about the beer is the smell of hops when the beer was placed in front of me. Now, those of you that know me know that I am not a big IPA guy, so I was getting a little worried at this point - the good news is that I had nothing to be worried about.
The first taste brings a herbal flavor to my palate ... like, really herbal - but in a |
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company:
Espresso Stout
64 fluid oz growler
6% alcohol by volume
Buying details:
1 growler @ $9.50 at the brewery on 26 February 2011
This is the first of Captain Lawrence regular brews that I am reviewing. As they don't bottle their regular beers, this means that the only way to get them for the home is to have a growler filled from the tap at the tasting room. Since samples are free, this is certainly an acceptable form of shopping to me.
Starting with the beers appearance, it is dark, very dark, almost black with a mocha colored head that sits about 1 finger thick. While the head did leave some nice lacing, it dissipated fairly quickly.
The aroma is definitely a strong roasted coffee flavor. The espresso used in the brew is from Black Cow Coffee Co. which is local to Westchester County.
Tasting this beer is a treat for dark beer - and coffee - lovers. You definitely get the |
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