Captain Lawrence Golden Delicious

4.2/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20

750 ml bottle into wine glass, this was a gusher as soon as I opened it, didn’t lose too much beer. Pours hazy golden amber color with a dense 1 finger white head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Decent lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of apple cider, apple skin, brandy booziness, and a bit of spice. Interesting aromas with good strength. Taste of huge slightly tart apples, apple skin, honey, spiciness, and a bit of citrus. Lingering notes of spice, apple, and citrus sweetness on the finish. No bitterness noticed, as expected for a tripel. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Alcohol is well hidden in the taste, with only a slight warming on the finish noticed. Very smooth drinking as well for being 10%. Nice balance of flavors without having too much sweetness. Overall, and excellent tripel, a little to boozy in the nose, but the taste tells a whole different story.

A very delicious tripel from Captain Lawrence, and my first one from them. It is aged in apple brandy barrels. I have many more of theirs to come in reviews, because I grabbed as many as I could when I was in NYC(they get some good praises on BA). I had quite a few when I was in NYC as well on draft, available pretty much at every decent bar(and I did visit quite a few good bars in Manhattan, but there are still more to visit when I get back out to NYC again).

Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

4.4/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml bottle into wine glass. Pours hazy golden amber color with a fairly dense 2 finger white head with incredible retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Small amount of lacing sticks to the glass. Aromas of lemon, pepper, clove, basil, a bit of grass and other spiciness. Great aromas here, very strong as well. Taste of lemon, grass, basil, pepper, and other spices. Lingering notes of pepper, spices, lemon and some citrus on the finish. A slight bit of tartness noticed on the finish as well, but not much. Fantastic balance of flavors, no bitterness noticed as expected. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied, nice crisp finish. Very smooth drinking with no notice of alcohol anywhere other than a slight warming after the finish. Nice and refreshing as well. Overall, an outstanding saison. I think this is the newest batch as well, so it is drinking fantastic fresh.

So I am finally getting into trying the Brooklyn 750's. I have Local 1 and 2 in the cellar, plus Black Ops. I will probably re-review Black Chocolate Stout, because I have one down there as well. BCS is still extremely available around here in most supermarkets. I may have to pick up some singles of the other brews to try. I visited Brooklyn last Saturday when I was in NYC(came home this week). Got a tour, and had some draft beer, including both of the Brewmasters Reserve they had on tap(Blast and Concoction). Blast was a very nice DIPA, and Concoction was certainly interesting. It was a beer brewed with ginger and spices. It was alright.

I may post up my visit pics on here, but it wasnt much, just a short tour explaining what they do, and the plans for the future(I think they said they are going to bottle Blast in 750's that will be nice). Cheers!

Stone Imperial Russian Stout

4.7/5

AROMA 10/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into wine glass, 2010 version. Pours opaque black color with a 2 finger dense tan head with outstanding retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Thick lacing clings to the glass as well, beautiful. Aromas of huge coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, and a bit of smoke. Incredible well balanced aromas here, very strong as well. Taste of big bitter espresso, dark chocolate, caramel, roasted malts; with some vanilla, and a small bit of alcohol. Lingering notes of bitter coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel on the finish. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Good amount of creaminess as well as it warms up, with a great mouthfeel and smooth drinkability for the alcohol level, but it is still quite a sipper. Overall, this is just a beautiful stout with a year on it, so much great flavor and fantastic aroma with very smooth drinkability.

One year has done great things to this brew. I currently have 6 bottles of 2011 in the cellar, so I plan on letting them sit, as I have plenty of other things to drink haha. I may pick up some older vintages if I see them around too.

Dogfish Head Fort

2.1/5

AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 3/10 PALATE 1/5 OVERALL 8/20

750 ml bottle into wine glass, bottled in 2008. Pours extremely hazy red orange color with a foamy 1 finger off white head with poor retention that reduces to almost nothing. Aromas of strong raspberries, booze, and some tartness and big sweetness. The nose isn’t particularly inviting, but is alright. Taste of huge booze up front with some raspberries, malty sweetness, and some spiciness. Lingering notes of sweetness and booze on the finish. Big alcohol in the taste and a huge warming on the finish. This is pretty much undrinkable, way too much alcohol presence. Big syrupy mouthfeel with light-medium carbonation. This was just not good at all, my first drain pour. I could not see myself finishing this bottle.

I have a feeling that temperature was not kind to this one, seeing as it was bottled in 2008. The store I purchased it in was not temperature controlled. I may or may not revisit this one.

Southampton Saison Deluxe

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

750 ml bottle into wine glass, bottled 8/15/2010. Pours hazy golden amber color with a fairly dense 2 finger white head with great retention that reduces to a lacing cap that lasts. Some nice lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of lemon, grass, pepper, spices; with a bit of sour apple, and funk. Standard saison aromas here, nice stuff. Taste of pepper, lemon, spices, and some breadiness as well. Some lingering notes of lemon, spice, bread, and a bit of tartness in the back. Medium carbonation and medium bodied. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Nice smooth drinkability as well, with a great mouthfeel. Overall, an excellent saison from Southampton. Very drinkable and delicious stuff.

My first Southampton brew, and my last one in a while. I am going to have to get some trades going. I saw a few other ones while I was in NYC, but I was concerned with other brews, and could not haul that much haha.

The Bruery 2 Turtle Doves

4.2/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

750 ml bottle into goblet. Pours deep dark brown color with a 1 finger tan head with great retention, that reduces to a lacing cap that lasts. Thick lacing clings to the glass as well. Aromas of huge dark chocolate, toffee, molasses, caramel, dark fruits, roasted malt, and nuttiness. Slight bit of alcohol in there, but not too noticeable. Wow, fantastic aromas here, tons of complexity going on Taste of huge caramel, toffee, chocolate, dark fruits, roasted malts, molasses, nuttiness, and a bit of booze in the back. There are lingering notes of big caramel, chocolate, and molasses after the finish for a decent amount of time. Decent amount of alcohol warming after the finish, with a small amount in the taste as well. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Fairly smooth drinkability for 12%, but definitely something I am taking my time on to finish. Best enjoyed very slowly because the alcohol and sweetness gets a bit cloying. Overall, this is an excellent Belgian Strong Dark ale, plenty of great complexity and huge flavor and fairly smooth drinking.

Some excellent stuff from The Bruery as I was hoping. Glad I got to have it, because I didn't think I ever would. Luckily I found it in a store when I was in NYC.

Sixpoint Righteous Ale

4.1/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

16 ounce can, best by Sept. 29, 2011. Pours slightly hazy reddish brown color with a dense 2 finger off white head with great retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Some decent lacing is left on the glass as well. Aromas of caramel, chocolate, roasted malt, spicy rye, pine, and citrus. A lot of interesting aromas going on here, great stuff. Taste of caramel, rye, chocolate, pine, bread, nuttiness, and some citrus. Mostly malty sweetness on the front with a decent amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit with caramel, chocolate, bread, and pine. Medium-full bodied with medium carbonation. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Decent amount of creaminess in the mouthfeel as well. Nice balance as well between sweetness and bitterness, with the sweetness being slightly stronger. Overall, an excellent rye ale, highly enjoyable and very drinkable stuff.

A great rye beer, and I easily finished off the 4 pack I purchased. Very easy drinking and sessionable stuff as well.

Ballast Point Sculpin IPA

4.6/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle. Pours cloudy golden amber color with a dense 2 finger off white head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thick lacing cap that lasts. Aromas of huge pine, grapefruit, mango, orange, and some spice. Awesome aromas with good strength as well, I could smell it while I was pouring it into the glass. Taste of huge grapefruit, pine, mango, orange, and caramel. Big sweetness in the front with some bitterness. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers with pine, grapefruit, and orange flavors. Medium carbonation and body, with a good bit of resin feel as well. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Extremely drinkable stuff, amazingly smooth. Overall, this is just an incredible IPA, as it warmed up it opened up a lot more flavor, amazing.

This was incredible stuff. When it was colder when I first poured it it was great, but warming up it opened up with tons of complex flavors and insane smooth drinking.

Founders Blushing Monk

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml bottle into wine glass. Pours dark red color with a 1 finger fairly dense magenta colored head with great retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap hat lasts. Some light lacing on the glass as well. Aromas of huge fresh raspberries, and a bit of Belgian yeast. Very strong sweetness in the nose, with good strength as well. Taste of big raspberry sweetness with some Belgian yeast spiciness and a bit of breadiness and tartness as well. Some notes of tart raspberries linger on the finish for a bit with some spiciness from the yeast. Absolutely no alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Medium carbonation and body. Very smooth an drinkable with a bit of a syrup-like mouthfeel. Overall just an outstanding fruit beer from Founder’s as expected. Extremely drinkable, and loaded with flavor without being too tart.

Overall, more delicious beer from Founders, as expected. I don't even think I have had a fruit beer before this, but it was very impressive stuff.

Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

A flavor I have been wanting to try for a long time. Finally found it since I am in NYC right now. Sweet cream cinnamon ice cream, with chunks of oatmeal cookies and fudge. I have no idea how old this pint was, as it was found in a random deli shop. The texture was great though, and big cinnamon flavor with creamy sweetness as well. Just a fantastic base ice cream to this. The oatmeal cookies have the great grainy texture of oatmeal, as expected, and are very chewy and awesome. Decently sized as well, and add great texture to the pint. The fudge chips are also very rich and impart big flavor to round this flavor out. Overall, this is a flavor everyone should try if you can find it, fantastic stuff.

9.5/10

Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

16 ounce can, best by Sept. 29, 2011. Pours extremely hazy orange amber color with a 1 finger fairly dense off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. A lot of lacing sticks to the glass as you drink. Aromas of pine, orange, grapefruit, and caramel. Standard IPA aromas here, good strength as well. Taste of big orange, grapefruit, caramel, pine, and spiciness. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers with citrus and pine flavors. Very nice balance as well with nice citrus and caramel sweetness in the front and a bitterness on the finish that is nice, but not overpowering. Medium carbonation and body. No alcohol in the taste or finish noticed. Very smooth drinkability and smoothness as well. Overall this is an excellent IPA, very drinkable stuff.

An all around excellent IPA from Sixpoint, great balance and very drinkable stuff!

Stone Pale Ale

3.9/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle, best by 6/22/11. Pours cloudy red-orange color with a 2 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention, that reduces to a decent lacing cap. Some decent lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of caramel, orange, pine, and some grapefruit as well. Aromas are on the weak side, but what is there is fairly nice. Taste of caramel, grapefruit, orange, pine, and some spice. A decent amount of bitterness is present on the finish and lingers for a bit with pine and citrus flavors. Very nice balance as well, with very smooth drinkability as expected. Medium carbonation and body. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Overall a very nice pale ale, even though it has a bit of age on it. Very delicious and drinkable.

Nice pale ale, I would like to see what a fresher bottle has to offer in the future.

Stone Smoked Porter

4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

22 ounce bottle. Pours dark brown color with a 2 finer light tan head with great retention that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some slight lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of caramel roasted malt, some chocolate, and smoke. Aromas are pretty standard for a porter with some good strength as well. Taste of caramel, chocolate, roasted malts, coffee, with some smoke and nutty flavor as well. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers with coffee, chocolate, and smokey flavors for a bit. Medium carbonation and body. No alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. A decent amount of creaminess is also present, with very smooth drinkability and great flavor balance. Overall, a very nice porter, didn’t blow me away but this is an all around solid brew. Very tasty stuff.

No complaints here, a very nice porter indeed. Priced nicely as well for the bomber.

Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

24 ounce bottle, 2011 bottle. Pours crystal clear orange amber color with a dense 2 finger off white head with amazing retention that reduces to a thick lacing cap that lasts. Some thick lacing is left on the glass as you drink. Aromas of big grapefruit, pine, spice, caramel, and a bit of orange. Typical IPA aromas here, a bit on the weak side, but still good. Taste of huge grapefruit, pine, caramel, and spices. Fairly strong bitterness on the finish that lingers with pine, caramel, and grapefruit flavors for a decent amount of time. Great balance of bitterness and sweetness. Medium carbonation and medium-full body. Very smooth drinkability and smoothness. Overall an excellent IPA, I have been quite impressed with all of the SN fresh hop ales I have had thus far.

Yet another very enjoyable IPA from Sierra Nevada. Not as good as the Harvest ale, but still very nice stuff.

Schneider Aventinus

4.4/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

500 ml bottle into weizen glass, bottled Oct 22, 2010. Pours hazy reddish brown color with a giant head that took a while to dissipate and to fill up the glass itself. Turned out being a fairly foamy 2 finger off white head, that reduced to a lacing cap that lsts for the rest of the glass. Aromas of tons of clove, banana, caramel, spices, and molasses. Very nice complex aromas. Taste of big banana, clove, wheat, caramel, dark fruits, and spices. No bitterness noticed on the finish, but big notes of banana, clove, caramel, and spices on the finish that linger for a decent amount of time. No alcohol noticed on the taste or finish. Nice and smooth drinking with medium-high carbonation and medium-full body. Overall, just an outstanding beer, so much flavor, balance, and easy drinkability for the alcohol level.

An incredible weizenbock as expected. I am really becoming a big fan of wheat beers lately. Can't wait to have some more.

Mt. Carmel Nut Brown Ale

4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle. Pours clear reddish brown color with a fairly dense 2 finger off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Small amount of glass lacing is present as well. Aromas of chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, maple syrup, and roasted nuts. Very nice aromas with good strength as well. Taste of caramel, roasted malt, chocolate, nuttiness, and a bit of maple syrup and breadiness. Fairly strong roasted bitterness on the finish that lingers for a bit with nuttiness, caramel, and roasted flavor. Medium carbonation and medium bodied. A bit of a prickly feel as well, but has nice smoothness and drinkability. Nice balance of flavors as well. No alcohol in the taste or finish noticed. Overall a very nice brown ale, I would get this again, really sessionable stuff.

An all around nice brown ale from Mt. Carmel. Looking forward to trying more from them in the future. They have quite a few offerings available in bottles near me.

Fantôme Saison

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml bottle into tulip, best before July 2013. Excited I had to get the corkscrew once again! Pours hazy orange amber color with a 1.5 finger foamy white head with decent retention that reduces to a ring of lacing. Aromas of sweet apples, pears, strawberry, and spiciness. Very nice aromas, really fruity as well. Taste of tons of apple, pear, strawberry, lemon, and spices. Finishes with some slight tartness and tons of apple, strawberry, and spice. Some notes of fruits and spices on the finish that linger for a short period of time. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied. Very smooth drinking as well, with no alcohol noticed in the taste or finish. Overall, this is just an incredible saison, and is also very interesting with the fruitiness, but is extremely drinkable and delicious.

Absolutely incredible saison. Really unique as well, quite a bit on the pricy side(Shelton Brothers), but it was worth the experience for sure. Really looking forward to finding some more Fantôme brews to try out.

Kasteel Tripel

3.8/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20

11.2 ounce bottle into tulip, bottled 12/01/2009. Pours crystal clear golden amber color with a fairly dense 2 finger white head with great retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Aromas of spices, banana, grape, and some breadiness. Aromas are decent, a little on the weak side. Taste of grapes, breadiness, spiciness, and light banana. Fairly dry finish, but there is some lingering notes of light fruits, and a bit of spice. Not too complex, but well balanced. No alcohol noticed in the taste and a slight warming on the finish present. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full bodied. Very smooth drinkability and mouthfeel. Overall, a very good tripel, very enjoyable stuff.

Nice tripel, very smooth and enjoyable stuff. I will have to get some more from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck soon, because they available pretty much everywhere.

Green Flash Stout (Double Stout)

4.1/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20

12 ounce bottle into snifter. Pours opaque black color with a 1.5 finger dark tan head with incredible retention. Some thick lacing sticks to the glass as well. Aromas of big dark chocolate, oats, coffee, roasted malt, and a bit of citrus hops. Nice balanced aromas here. Taste of a lot of bitter coffee, dark chocolate, oats, and a bit of spiciness as well. Fairly bitter finish of coffee, roasted flavor, and chocolate that lingers for a good amount of time afterward. No alcohol noticed in the taste but a fairly large warming was present on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied. Fairly creamy feeling as well, good drinkability and smoothness. Overall an excellent imperial stout, great stuff.

A very nice stout as expected. Now if only I could get my hands on Silva Stout from Green Flash.

Weyerbacher Blasphemy

4.5/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml bottle into tulip, 2011 bottle. Pours hazy brick red color with a dense 1 finger off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Some decent lacing on the glass as well. Aromas of big bourbon, oak, vanilla, dark fruits, banana, and spices. Some very nice and complex aromas here, bourbon comes out full force at first, but balances out eventually. Taste of huge molasses, dark fruits, banana, bourbon, vanilla, and oak. Lingering notes of bourbon, oak, molasses, and dark fruits on the finish. Light-medium carbonation with very full body. Incredibly smooth and slick body with great drinkability for the alcohol content as well. Alcohol is very well hidden in this, practically none noticed in the taste and a very small warming on the finish. Overall, this is an incredible quad, so much flavor and great balance, I will have to pick this up again for some aging.

Absolutely amazing quad from Weyerbacher. I remember QUAD being solid, but the barrel aging took it to another level altogether.

HeBrew Messiah Bold

3.5/5

AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass. Pours crystal clear reddish brown color with a 2 finger fairly dense light tan head with good retention that reduces to a lacing ring that lasts. A small amount of lacing sticks to the glass as you drink. Aromas of light caramel, roasted malt, toffee, and a bit of spicy hops. Really weak aromas, but decent for what they are. Taste of caramel, roasted malt, nuttiness, light chocolate, and coffee. Finishes with a decent amount of citrus bitterness. Taste is a little uninteresting though, but it is decent. Fairly dry finish but some chocolate and caramel notes do stick around for a bit. Medium carbonation and light-medium body. Easy drinkability as expected from the alcohol content. Overall a decent brown ale, but it won’t be something I would seek out again.

Based on the reviews, I had a feeling this was going to be lackluster. I picked it up on a whim because it was in the singles fridge at my local shop.

Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra

Yet another revisited flavor today. It has a core of soft caramel encircled by chocolate and caramel ice creams and fudge chips. First off, the ice cream is fantastic. Great texture, the chocolate side is very rich and flavorful. The caramel side isn't quite as rich, but still has good favor. Very smooth and creamy as well. The chocolate chips are very nicely sized and are numerous and well spread throughout the pint. They add a nice crunchy texture and are very rich and add a ton of flavor. The caramel core is very nicely sized and the caramel itself is insanely rich and viscous. Tons of great caramel flavor. In my case When I got to the bottom of the pint there was a lot of caramel down there, which gave my taste buds a big blast of flavor which was awesome. Overall, highly recommended stuff for lovers of caramel. All around great flavor.

9/10

Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

4.6/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

Review 300! 12 ounce bottle into snifter 2011 bottle. Pours opaque black color with an extremely dense 2 finger dark tan head with incredible retention that reduces to a thick lacing cap that lasts. Some nice thick lacing is on the glass as well. Aromas of big espresso, dark chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, with a small amount of vanilla and booze. Huge aromas, very nice balance as well. Taste of big dark chocolate, caramel, espresso, and a bit of vanilla; with some decent bitterness in the back accompanied with a bit of booziness. Lingering notes of light espresso-like bitterness, roasted flavor, and chocolate that linger for a decent amount of time. Insanely creamy and slick body that goes down surprisingly smooth despite being 12%. Alcohol is nicely hidden, not much on the taste and a decent warming on the finish; I was expecting it. Light-medium carbonation and huge full body. Overall, this is just a beautiful Russian Imperial Stout. Extremely well crafted, and I need to go pick up a 4 pack of this to age, I hope there is still some around.

This one is definitely one that I would like to try and buy for some aging. It is this good when it is fresh, I can't even imagine what I will be like with a year or two on it.

Dieu du Ciel Péché Mortel

4.4/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 18/20

11.5 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled 2/2011. Pours opaque black color with a dense 2 finger tan head with outstanding retention that reduces to a thin lacing cap that lasts. Some decent lacing on the glass as well. Aromas of strong espresso, dark chocolate, caramel, citrus, and roasted malt. Very nice aromas here. Taste of strong dark chocolate, espresso, caramel, roasted malt, and a bit of vanilla. A good amount of bitterness on the finish that lingers for a good period of time with espresso, dark chocolate, and roasted flavors. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Very smooth and creamy mouthfeel with no alcohol in the taste and a very slight warming on the finish; very well hidden. Very drinkable for 9.5% as well, with great balance. Overall, an outstanding imperial coffee stout, tons of great flavor and balance.

A fantastic imperial coffee stout. A little on the pricy side at $6 a single, mostly because the Shelton Brothers import it. I look forward to trying more from this brewery as well, I have seen a few around recently.

Santa Fe Happy Camper IPA

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce can. Pours slightly cloudy orange amber color with a nice dense 2.5 finger off white head with great retention that reduces to a thick lacing cap that lasts. Some very nice lacing coats the glass as you drink as well. Aromas of orange, grapefruit, pine, caramel, and spice. Nice aromas with good strength, standard IPA stuff here. Taste of orange, grapefruit, pine and caramel. Big sweetness on the front with a decently strong bitterness on the finish that lasts with pine, caramel, and citrus flavor. Medium carbonation and body, very creamy and smooth as well, very drinkable. No alcohol in the taste or finish. Overall an excellent well rounded IPA. I would pick this up if it was readily available, perhaps for some camping?

A very nice IPA that is probably even better when it is fresh. I had no idea the age on this one, but it was probably a year old if I had to make a guess. Very easy to drink.

The Bruery Orchard White

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

750 ml bottle into tulip. Pours hazy golden amber color with a huge 3 finger fairly dense white head with good retention, that reduces to a thin lacing cap. Not much lacing is left on the glass. Aromas of pepper, wheat, clove, oregano, basil, and a bit of oats; with some lemon zest as well. Very unique aromas for a wit, very nice stuff. Taste of lemon, spice, clove, pepper, wheat, herbs, and a bit of oat. A small bit of a tart tang in the back, with a ton of spices that linger for a decent amount of time. Fairly dry finish aside from the lingering spices and citrus notes. High carbonation with a light-medium body. The feel is fairly prickly, but is also very drinkable despite the high carbonation. No alcohol in the taste or finish noticed. Overall, just an outstanding Wit, this is definitely the best one I have had.

Incredibly impressive wit, too bad they are axing the production of this one. I seem to be getting much more fond of wheat beers as of late, can't wait to try some more out.

Southern Tier Jah-va

4.3/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20

22 ounce bottle into snifter, re-review after a year since I had it last. Pours opaque black color with a 1 finger dense tan head with good retention, that reduces to a fairly thick lacing cap. Some decent lacing is left on the glass as well. Aromas of huge espresso, roasted malt, dark chocolate, caramel, and a bit of spicy hops. Fairly strong aromas, with good balance. Taste of tons of chocolate, espresso, roasted malt, caramel, and a small bit of spicy hops. Huge notes of bitter coffee, roasted malt, and chocolate on the finish that linger for a good period of time with some spicy hops. Slick and creamy mouthfeel with nice smooth drinkability for the high gravity. Alcohol is nicely hidden, with only a small warming on the finish noticed. Medium carbonation and full bodied. Overall, this is an outstanding coffee stout, and this is much better than I remember it the first time around.

Definitely way more impressive this time around. An outstanding stout.