Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

4.3/5

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

22 ounce bottle into tulip, bottled 1/9/2012. Pours slightly cloudy golden amber color with a nice 2 finger dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of huge pineapple, orange, grapefruit, lemon peel, floral, and some herbal spiciness. Very nice and well balanced aromas; with good strength. Taste of big pineapple, grapefruit, orange zest, lemon zest, herbal spiciness, pine, tropical fruits, honey-like sweetness, and some breadiness. Good amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of pineapple, citrus, herbal, pine, and some tropical fruits. Fantastic balance of bitterness and sweetness. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Quite drinkable at 8%, with only a slight alcohol warming after the finish present. Overall this is an absolutely outstanding and drinkable DIPA. Big fruitiness, with great balance, and smooth drinking. Glad I knew that this was a fresh one thanks to my regular store.

A fantastic DIPA, especially since it was freshly bottled. Lagunitas bottle codes their beer now, and I will definitely be picking up some more to retry because of that fact.

Southern Tier Un*Earthly

3.9/5

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

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled 1/4/2012. Finally found one dated, so I picked this up. Pours very clear golden orange color with a great dense 2 finger light khaki head with incredible retention that reduces to a thick cap that lasts. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of big grapefruit, orange, caramel, mango, pine, and herbal. Nice and well balanced aromas; quite sweet and hoppy. Taste of big orange, grapefruit, herbal, pine, caramel, tropical fruit, and spiciness. Nice amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of herbal, pine, caramel, and citrus for a while. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a creamy and slick mouthfeel. Drinkability is limited; this is definitely a sipper at 9.5%. Some great balance of flavors with plenty of citrus hoppiness. Alcohol is fairly well hidden with only a warming on the finish present. Overall this is a very nice DIPA. Nice hoppy flavor balance and very enjoyable to sip on. This improved substantially as it rose above the recommended 42F temperature.

Very nice; but a bit boozy and a slow drinker. Definitely improves the more it warms up.

Tripel Karmeliet

4.5/5

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

750 ml bottle into chalice, best by 3/29/2011. Pours slightly hazy golden straw color with a nice 1-2 finger dense off white head with incredible retention that reduces to a thick cap that lasts the entire glass. Decent lacing on the glass; with extremely ample carbonation streaming up and keeping a dense head going. Aromas of big pepper, clove, lemon zest, grass, coriander, biscuit, orange peel, herbs, and yeast spices. Fantastic and well balanced aromas. Taste of big pepper, herbal, lemon zest, clove, biscuit, coriander, orange peel, grass, and yeast spices. Fairly dry finish; but some lingering notes of herbal, citrus peel, biscuit, and yeast spices on the finish for a bit. Medium high carbonation and medium bodied; with a slightly creamy and slick mouthfeel. Fair amount of prickly carbonation initially that dies down in the glass. Very smooth and drinkable for 8.4%; with only a slight alcohol warming on the finish. Overall this is an incredible Tripel, as I was expecting it to be. Fantastic and unique flavors; with great balance, complexity, and smoothness. It has taken me far too long to finally try this one.

This is easily a high A beer. Even though this was past prime(though I haven't seen any 750 bottles that were past last years date). This holds up nicely even without that much yeast sediment in the bottle at all. I will be trying out some of the brown 12 ounce bottles to see how they stack up against this green bottle; but it will probably turn out to be the same verdict.

Weihenstephaner Korbinian

4.3/5

AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 5/5 OVERALL 17/20

500 ml bottle into tulip glass; bottled 1/10/2008, well over 4 years old now. Hope this goes well. Pours crystal clear very dark reddish brown color with a great looking 2 finger dense khaki head with outstanding retention that reduces to a thick cap that lingers. Some spotty lacing clings on the glass as well. Aromas of huge caramel, toffee, biscuit, molasses, light chocolate, roasted nuts, toasted malt, dark fruit, and light spiciness. Excellent and well balanced aromas here with good strength. Taste of caramel, toasted malt, biscuit, toffee, chocolate, molasses, light fruit, and light herbal spiciness. Minimal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, biscuit, molasses, and herbal on the finish for bit. Medium carbonation and body; with an outstanding creamy and lush mouthfeel. Great balance of flavors; with big maltiness that is not cloying at all. Alcohol is nicely hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Very smooth to drink for the gravity. Overall this is an outstanding doppelbock that has held up just fine over the years. I would like to try this fresher; but I will probably pick up more of these 2008’s because they are only 3 bucks.

A true example that doppelbocks aged great, even if they are in warm store shelves. Regardless, this is worth anyone's time; especially if you like doppelbocks.

Boulevard Long Strange Tripel

4.1/5

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

750 ml bottle into chalice, bottled 04/24/2009; so this is pushing on 3 years old. Pours hazy golden orange color with a nice 1-2 finger fairly dense light khaki head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Some nice lacing clings to the glass; with a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big lemon, apple, orange peel, apricot, biscuit, toffee, pepper, clove, and yeast spices. Nice and very well balanced Tripel aromas. Taste of big apple, apricot, lemon, biscuit, toffee, pepper, clove, herbal, honey, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of citrus, biscuit, pepper, and spices on the finish for a while. Great balance of flavors, with no cloying sweetness at all. Medium-high carbonation and medium bodied; with a fairly creamy mouthfeel. Very smooth to drink at 9%, but is still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Overall this is an excellent and well done Tripel that has held up nicely over the years. Nice flavor balance and smooth drinkablility.

This is quite an excellent and well done Tripel offering. This definitely held up better than the Quad I had from Boulevard that was the same age.

Saugatuck Singapore IPA

3.6/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled 12/03/2011. Pours slightly hazy golden amber color with a nice 2-3 finger dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Some decent lacing left on the glass; with a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big grapefruit, herbal, floral, orange, pine, some tropical fruits, and a bit of bread. Nice and well balanced aromas with decent strength. Taste of big pine, herbal spiciness, biscuit, caramel, grapefruit, orange, and light tropical fruits. Good sized bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of pine, biscuit, herbal spiciness, and citrus on the finish for a while. Decent balance of flavors; but the bready/herbal quality is a bit over the top for my liking. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slightly oily mouthfeel. A bit of prickly carbonation on the palate. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming on the finish. Good drinkability for the level of alcohol. Overall this is a solid IPA. Has nice aromas, but the taste is quite a bit different.

A pretty solid IPA overall. A little too spicy and bready for my liking. Seemed to be more of an English IPA in style, even though it is listed as an American IPA. I will probably check out some other bottled offerings from this brewery in the future. I hear their porter is good.

Smuttynose Barleywine Style Ale

3.9/5

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

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2011 bottle; so it is probably about a year old now. Pours hazy reddish orange color with a nice 1 finger dense khaki head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Some spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of big caramel, apple skin, biscuit, grapefruit, pine, herbal spiciness, citrus peel, molasses, some dark fruit, and a bit of alcohol. Nice and well balanced barleywine aromas here. Taste of big caramel, orange zest, pine, biscuit, dark fruit, grapefruit, herbal spiciness, molasses, toffee, and toasted malt. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of big caramel, citrus, pine, molasses, and herbal spiciness on the finish for a while. Medium carbonation and full bodied; with a very creamy and slick mouthfeel. At 11.6% this is most certainly a sipper, and I would expect it to be. Good balance of flavors and bitterness; with a nice malt forward profile. Alcohol is fairly well hidden with only a warming present on the finish. Overall this is a very nice and well balanced barelywine. Nice flavor profile and very enjoyable stuff.

Still a little hot right now; but this turned out to be a very nice barelywine as it got much warmer. Very enjoyable to sip on slowly.

Brewery Vivant Triomphe Belgian IPA

3.9/5

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

16 ounce can into tulip, no canning date. Pours crystal clear golden orange color with a nice 3 finger dense khaki head with incredible retention that reduces to a thick cap that lingers. Some decent lacing clings to the glass; with decent carbonation streaming up. Aromas of grapefruit, orange, caramel, pine, herbal, bread, and yeasty spices. Nice and well balanced aromas, but on the weak side. Taste of big grapefruit, caramel, pine, herbal, biscuit, orange, and yeast spices. Good amount of herbal bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, bread, and yeast spices. Great balance of hop flavors, bitterness, and Belgian character; with a hop character being a little more pronounced. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy and very smooth mouthfeel. Drinks fairly easily at 6.5%; with only a slight alcohol warming after the finish. Overall this is a damn nice Belgian IPA. Has the Belgian character without going over the top; and still retaining good hop flavor. I really enjoyed this one.

Damn nice Belgian IPA canned offering from Vivant. This is definitely worth a pickup if you are in Michigan.

The Bruery 3 French Hens

4.1/5

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

750 ml bottle into tulip, bottled Dec 2010. Pours very hazy dark reddish brown color with a nice 2 finger dense dark khaki head with great retention that reduces to a cap. Some ok lacing on the glass. Aromas of big raisin, prune, grape, apple, molasses, caramel, oak, light cinnamon, and yeast spiciness. Nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of big molasses, caramel, raisin, prune, fig, oak, toasted malt, dark candi sugar, nuttiness, light cinnamon, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of molasses, caramel, dark fruits, and spiciness on the finish for a bit. A good amount of complexity and robustness in the taste. Great balance of flavors. Medium carbonation and body; with a creamy and slightly slick mouthfeel. Alcohol is very well hidden at 10%, with only a warming after the finish present. Overall this is an excellent and well balanced Belgian dark ale. Really enjoyed this one.

Another excellent Belgian style from the Bruery. Great flavor balance and complexity; with minimal alcohol presence.

Shorts Rich’s Rye IPA

3.7/5

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

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours slightly hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger dense off white head with fantastic retention that reduces to a thick cap. Some decent lacing on the glass. There was a slow cascade of carbonation as I poured this. Aromas of big pine, rye spiciness, biscuit, herbal, caramel, and citrus. Some nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of big rye spiciness, caramel, biscuit, herbal, grapefruit, pine, and earthiness. Strong bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of rye spiciness, biscuit, caramel, and citrus for a bit. Good balance of flavors. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slightly thick mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Overall this is a nice and very enjoyable rye offering. Apparently this bottle was a bit old, but it held up nicely!

Despite being an older bottle, this held up well for a rye IPA. Very rye forward with a good sized mouthfeel because of all the rye.

Breckenridge Avalanche Amber

3.2/5

AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottling info. Pours slightly hazy golden orange color with a fairly dense 2 finger off white head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas of caramel, bready grain, light citrus, and spiciness. Fairly nice aromas with good strength. Taste of caramel, bready grains, herbal spiciness, pine, and a bit of citrus. Decent bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of bready grains, herbal spiciness, and light caramel. The breadiness and grain flavors are a bit odd. Decent amount of flavor, but it does come off as a bit watery. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; with some prickly carbonation. Very smooth to drink at 4.4%, with no alcohol presence. Overall this is an ok amber ale. A little too bready, and not as much hop character as I would like. Easy to drink though.

Pretty mediocre for an amber ale. It needed more hop flavor and less bready grain character.

Bells Kalamzoo Stout

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

12 ounce bottle into signature pint glass, bottled 9/14/2011. Pours pitch black color, with a nice 2 finger fairly dense tan head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Some decent lacing clinging to the glass. Aromas of big milk chocolate, caramel, coffee, roasted malt, light herbal hops, and a hint of licorice. Nice well balanced aromas with good strength. Taste of big milk chocolate, coffee, caramel, roasted malt, pine, herbal hops, and a bit of spiciness. Good amount of bitterness on the finish with lingering notes of milk chocolate, caramel, pine, and herbal spiciness for a bit. Very robust flavors for 6%, with great balance. Medium carbonation and body; with a nice creamy mouthfeel. Hardly any alcohol presence except for a slight warming after the finish. Overall this is an excellent and highly robust stout. Very drinkable with great flavor balance.

An extremely robust standard gravity stout that is a year round offering. Definitely recommended.

Brooklyn Black Ops

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

750 ml bottle into signature tulip glass, bottled 10/21/2010. Pours pitch black, with a nice 2 finger fairly dense tan head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Spotty lacing on the glass; with a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big bourbon, caramel, toffee, vanilla, chocolate, roasted malt, light dark fruitiness, and a bit of alcohol. Nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of big caramel, bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, molasses, oak, roasted malt, light coffee, and a bit of spiciness. Lingering notes of chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, caramel, and oak on the finish for a bit. Medium carbonation and fairly full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel. A bit of prickly carbonation from the bottle conditioning. Alcohol is well hidden at 11.3% with only a warming after the finish. Overall this is an excellent, balanced, and smooth barrel aged imperial stout. A bit different due to the champagne yeast bottle conditioning. Probably not worth $22 for another bottle, but it was nice to try once.

A great and well balanced bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. Probably not worth another buy in my opinion though at that price.

Ayinger Weizen-Bock

4.1/5

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

500 ml bottle into weizen glass, no bottle dating. Pours very hazy golden orange color with a good 2 finger fairly dense white head with good retention that reduces to a thin ring of lace. No lacing on the glass; and a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big banana, caramel, clove, pepper, toffee, vanilla, bread, and spicy yeast. Nice and well balanced aromas. Taste of big caramel, banana, clove, citrus, biscuit, pepper, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of bread, caramel, citrus, banana, and spiciness on the finish for a bit. Nice balance of flavors with no cloying sweetness. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy mouthfeel. Very drinkable for 7%; with hardly any alcohol noticed other than a bit of warming after the finish. Overall this is a highly enjoyable and balanced weizenbock. Very smooth and drinkable; with good flavor balance and complexity.

An excellent and very enjoyable weizenbock offering. This did not have a bottle date, but they released it in 2009; so this might be that old. It would probably be better fresh. Well priced at under 3 dollars as well.

New Belgium Trippel

4/5

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

12 ounce bottle into chalice, best by 11/20/2011. Pours clear, yet cloudy, golden straw color with a 1 finger fairly dense white head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Some bits of lacing on the glass, with a nice amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big banana, clove, pear, pepper, lemon, coriander, bread, bubblegum, grass, light tart grain, and yeast spices. Nice and well balanced aromas with good strength. Taste of lemon, pepper, pear, coriander, biscuit, banana, herbal, clove, lightly tart grain, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of lemon, pepper, clove, and yeast spices on the finish for a bit. Nice overall balance of flavors with no cloying sweetness as expected. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy mouthfeel. Alcohol is well hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Very drinkable and smooth for the level of alcohol, but it is a bit of a sipper. Overall this is a damn nice and well balanced Belgian style tripel. Nice flavor profile and complexity.

Very nice tripel offering that is nicely drinkable. This would be a nice introduction to the style for someone who has not had the style before.

Stone 14th Anniversary Emperial IPA

3.8/5

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

22 ounce bottle into snifter, bottled June 2010. Pours extremely hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger fairly dense off white head with great retention that reduces to a nice cap. Some decent lacing on the glass. Aromas of lemon zest, orange, herbal spices, floral, some pine resin, and light spicy alcohol. Fairly nice aromas here with good strength. Taste of big lemon, orange, grapefruit, herbal spiciness, pine resin, biscuit, honey-like sweetness; and other light fruits. Good amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, herbal spice, pine, and bread on the finish for a while. Good balance of flavors and bitterness. Medium carbonation and body; with a slightly creamy and smooth mouthfeel. Nicely drinkable, but is still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is well hidden at 8.9%; with only a slight warming on the finish. Overall, for being and DIPA, this has held up quite nicely since 2010. Nice hop flavor profile is still present; with nice flavor balance.

This has held up nicely since the last time I had it. Good hoppy flavor profile and balance.

AleSmith YuleSmith (Winter) Imperial Red Ale

4.2/5

AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, 2011 bottle. Pours slightly hazy red orange color with a nice 2-3 finger dense khaki head with fantastic retention that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Some decent lacing on the glass; with a good amount of carbonation streaming up. Aromas of big grapefruit, pine, orange, herbal, floral, caramel, biscuit, toasted malt, and some spicy alcohol. Nice, well balanced, and interesting aromas. Taste of big caramel, grapefruit, biscuit, herbal, orange, toasted malt, and holiday spice notes. Decent amount of bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of citrus, herbal, caramel, toasted malt, and spiciness for a bit. Fantastic overall balance of flavors with a nice malt backbone next to the hoppiness. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and nicely smooth mouthfeel. Easy to drink, but it still a bit of a sipper. Alcohol is well hidden with only a warming on the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent imperial red style. Smooth drinking and great flavor balance.

Another great Alesmith beer, and a re-rate after over a year and a half for me. Very balanced and drinkable stuff.

Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager

4.3/5

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

22 ounce bottle into pint glass, no bottle dating. Pours pitch black with a nice 2 finger fairly dense dark tan head with nice retention that reduces to a minimal cap eventually. Not much lacing on the glass. Aromas of huge dark chocolate, charcoal, smoked meat, wood, coffee, caramel, dark roasted malt, vanilla, and some herbal hops. Wow, nice aromas here that threw me for a loop. I was not expecting to be hit in the face with smokiness. Taste of big dark chocolate, dark roasted malt, smoke, wood, caramel, nuttiness, and light herbal spiciness. Decent bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, smoke, and caramel on the finish for a while. Medium carbonation and body; with a highly creamy, lush, and smooth mouthfeel for a 6% beer. Hardly any alcohol present other than a slight warming after the finish. Very drinkable stuff; and it is also very robust in flavor for the gravity. Overall this is an outstanding schwarzbier; with a very robust flavor profile, and easy smooth drinking. Definitely surprised me with the smokey profile at first though.

This is an outstanding, robust, and interesting dark lager offering. Very drinkable and enjoyable with good flavor balance!

St. Bernardus Wit

4.1/5

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

11.2 ounce bottle into signature chalice, best by 7/11/2012. Pours extremely hazy golden straw color with a nice 1 finger fairly dense white head with good retention that reduces to a thin cap. Some fairly nice lacing clinging on the glass. Aromas of pepper, lemon zest, orange, coriander, grass, bread, wheat, and yeast spices. Nice and well balanced aromas with decent strength. Taste of big pepper, coriander, lemon, orange, bread, lightly tart grain, and yeast spices. No bitterness; with lingering notes of citrus, bread, tart grain, and spices on the finish for a bit. Very nicely balanced flavors, without cloying sweetness. Fairly dry finish. Medium body and carbonation; with a fairly creamy and very smooth mouthfeel. Pretty much no alcohol presence as expected at 5.5%. Overall this is a super smooth, balanced, and very enjoyable witbier; as I would have hoped. Unfortunately it is a bit difficult to find unlike the rest of the lineup.

Another tasty St. Bernardus offering. Did not blow me away as much as I had hoped, but it is definitely worth a pickup.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen

4.2/5

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

12 ounce bottle into weizen glass, bottled 8/25/2011. Pours a nice and hazy golden straw color with a nice 2-3 finger dense and fluffy white head with fantastic retention that reduces a nice cap that lasts. Some spotty lacing on the glass; and some nice fine carbonation is streaming up from the bottom. Aromas of big banana, clove, bubblegum, lemon peel, pepper, bread, wheat, and yeast spices. Fantastic and classic hefeweizen aromas here with great balance. Taste of banana, clove, pepper, wheat, yeast spices, lemon, and some breadiness. Lingering notes of yeast spices, bread, clove, and banana on the finish for a bit. A hair on the watery side, but still has a very nice flavor profile. Medium-high carbonation with a light-medium body. A very smooth and drinkable mouthfeel that is highly enjoyable. Alcohol is hardly even present as expected of 4.8%. Overall this is an excellent and well balanced hefeweizen. Very drinkable, enjoyable, and widely available at your local grocery store beer aisle. Definitely something I will keep in mind next time I want a tasty session beer at a good price.

Another great beer from Sierra Nevada as expected. They really do a great job on their year round lineup. Really tasty and drinkable beers, at a great price point for being craft.