Taking a look at this beer it has that classic yellow fizzy appearance of so many other cheap lagers.  The light straw color topped by a rocky egg shell white head did not look appealing although I was in search for a cold beverage.

When it came to the aroma three smells defined this beer.  Straw, corn, and grass.  The more predominate one is corn.  Not much here to talk about.  One might think that the use of Cascade might lend more of a hop aroma, but not here.

The tastes is not much better.  The grassy hops and straw malt give a hay-like flavor.  This is this followed quickly by an adjunct corny flavor.  Their website says, that it is “pungent and pleasing.”  I’m not sure who they are kidding?  The finish is dry, light and mildly carbonated.  A very faint Pils bready malt character hangs on at the end.  In the future I’ll be more likely to use this to brew brats in rather than drink.

You can do better…

While I would not recommend aging a 4.8% abv porter for very long, this beer actually picked up some body and character during its time in a dark box.  Pouring a lovely deep brown-garnet shade it was accented by a beige silk head that did not last too long.  A pretty standard looking porter in my book.

What was really outstanding was the aroma.  Overall, it smelled like a porter: roasty, coffee, etc.  However, when I plunged my nose deeper in I picked up a much more rich and earthy component.  Like a campfire almost.  There was a mineral-like that combined with the bready yeasty that made me thing I was in London enjoying a porter.  There was a excellent charred wood aroma that stood out, yet let the deep roasted grains add to the mix.

The taste was very similar to its sensory cousin.  One thing I noticed in the bottles I aged was a much more full mouthfeel.  Chewy and chocolaty, it was not like a stout, but not as astringent.  The coffee flavors in the middle of each sip were like a rich breakfast blend. The finish was dry and chalky due to the yeast, malts, and mineral quality.  I wholeheartedly enjoyed this porter and would recommend it for these upcoming Fall months.

The presentation came in a 16 oz bottle that was sufficiently covered in a silver wax around the cap and a metal label attached to the bottle.  Simple, elegant and classy.  The beer that was poured came out clear and vibrant, producing a creamy-yellowish-dense head.  A beautiful copper, dark orange, and bronze brew looked like a glass of Bourbon as the aromas then began to fill the air.

Upon my first waft, this beer presented some luxurious aromas.  Vanilla and tannins similar to oak aged beers (this was not) caught my attention.  Meaty, earthy, woody and rich caramel notes were mellow and smooth.  I could tell this was an English-style Barleywine since the only hops used were Tettnanger which is an English variety.  They helped provided the earthy grassy aspect to the beer that also have a spicy element to it (even with some age on it).  Cognac-like this is a after dinner sipper.  Fruity notes did present a Sherry quality like the back label suggests.

The taste is everything the nose found and more.  The abv is not even noticable as this beer glides over the palate allowing you to take in the complex flavors with each sip.  While I’m sure a fresh bottle would taste much more spicy and hoppy, this 2007 bottle is subdued and malty.  The finish is drying and mineral, but before you get there a juicy malt presents coats your palate with jammy, fig-like fruit character.  If you have a bottle aging right now, I would encourage you to open it up…not sure it will get any better than this?

I have enjoyed blonde ales in the past and for one reason, just how nice they look. Three Beaches is, to this brew-loving eye, no exception. It is simple, clean, clear. The color slips between watered down apricot juice and a hard cider. The beautiful body is dressed up with a thin white cap that settled from a puffy two fingers just a moment ago. The nose is fresh cut wheat and lemon zest and flaky biscuits. There is a light sour fruit note as well. The mouthfeel is as to be expected, light and palate cleansing, I can practically feel the grains of sand between my toes. There is a white wine quality, dry and slightly sour but heavily fruity from the front to the finish. Amongst the slightly-too-sweet bulk of the sip, there is a bready bit, just enough to remind you it’s a beer and not a Sauvignon Blanc. I exaggerate, of course, but the more I taste, the more I can’t help but think this is fermented grapes, not grains.

A decent choice, I could see putting back some of these without care, floating in a few feet of warm Wisconsin lake water, washing down a brat or quenching a mid afternoon thirst.

Just a few days ago I finally squeezed an extra hour out of a long trip home in order to visit this Madison-based brewpub. It was quiet on a Sunday night, by the end of our meal it was just us, a small family and the young bartender. Due to the typically lighter traffic and, apparently, some scheduling errors, the barkeep was both pint pourer and chef extraordinaire. Thus, the pizza list, eight items long, was the entirety of the dinner menu, accompanied by the appetizer ‘list’ of chips and salsa. However, the pizza made up for in quality what the menu may have lacked in quantity and the beer made it all go down so easily.

Released latest, this Belgian IPA was intriguing and available, so I had a half pint after my Hafa-Weizen and before my Big Slick Stout. I was impressed and managed to track down the last six pack at the local Hy-Vee. Wasting no time, I popped it open this evening and was, once again, pleased.

In color, its light, an irridescent orangey-yellow, and the lack of filtering gives it an almost glitter-like quality as I peer into my glass. The head was a solid three fingers and by the time I had my first sip, had cascaded to form a crown, not unlike the image on the label, around the top inch of my PHM pint. It smelled unbelievable, the Citra hops huge and inviting and yet not overpowering that Belgian yeast strain, which snuck through in a pleasant sweetness. My first sip reminded me why I made the extra effort to track down six of these guys. It bursts of hops but is silky smooth and rich, with a very easy, light bitter punch on the finish. The sweetness of the malts and yeast played so well to my Belgian-leaning palate and yet didn’t go overboard at all. It seems the brewery has achieved a tenuous and delicate balance, blending the All American hoppy brew with a centuries-old Belgian flair, capturing both well and turning one man’s mouth into pure Bedlam.

You really should try this beer. It is super sessionable and tasty. A down-to-earth beer without nuance that hits the spot every time. When pouring the contents it reveals a light golden hue which could be confused for a Blonde Ale. With a vigorous pour I was able to produce a fairly creamy head (trying to replicate a cask conditioned ale) but it faded as I drank.

The smell was earthy, toasty, biscuity, and bready. Smooth malt notes walked the fence between light and well roasted aromatics. It was sweet and had a good deal of honeyed goodness to it. After sipping on a few of these for a while I noticed there was a faint caramel and toffee presence as the beer warmed. The hops were grassy and herbal giving the malts the advantage ever so slightly.

When I comes to the taste, this beer is very well balanced. Smooth and easy drinking perfect for those chill parties roll into the night. The sweet malt flavors are bookend by dry herbal earthy hops that leave your palate wanting more. That is it…plain and simple. A very enjoyable beer. Can’t get any more straightforward than this.

So before a drop has touched my glass, much less my mouth, this stout already has me laughing and intrigued. Marketing mission accomplished, I suppose. As I’m at the cabin, my glass supply is quite limited, but the color and head of this stout do my Guinness glass proud. It’s deeply black, the light brown head like a dollop of cream that has settled to a frothy layer. The scent gives promise. It just feels well done, caramel notes, hints of coffee and complexity that leads me to believe this will be a good brew. And it pretty much is. The burnt coffee notes come to the forefront, big time. They are bold and bitter and lasting. If you like burnt, this is a great one. However, if you want it to go anywhere from there, you’ll be a little bit let down. It continues in it’s palate-assaulting burntness, seriously strong. The mouthfeel is plain, thicker than a porter, but nothing close to some of the engine oil textured brews I’ve had the pleasure of sipping on more than one occasion.

It ends up being decent, nothing too special, but one can always appreciate when someone goes for something and goes big. The Sasquatch is huge on burnt, so if that’s your thing, than this is just your animal.

Hmm…shouldn’t that read: “AWESOME: bottle contains hop cone”?

No matter; I was sold. And never mind that I had a hell of a time extracting it from the bottle (not sure if they’re supposed to come out or not). If that’s not a proper garnish for an Imperial IPA, I don’t know what is.

Thankfully, Lupulin Maximus has more going for it than just the hop cone. It’s delightfully (and perhaps dangerously) refreshing for a DIPA, and packs a delicious hop recipe…resinous, sticky, and citrusy. The faint tinge of alcohol is present in every sip as well, which gives the aftertaste a little extra kick. But my unsung hero in the bottle has to be the malt bill. When drinking Imperial IPAs, it’s easy to find yourself wondering if the malt does anything more than color your beer. But the more you drink of this stuff, the more you notice toasted honey flavors working their way into the mix. This would be the perfect brew to start in the mid-afternoon and nurse until early evening; there’s a lot going on that you don’t want to miss by just quaffing it.

So, what gives? If anything, this beer suffers because 1) it’s not available outside of Wisconsin, and 2) there are just so many other epic American Imperial IPAs. I want to say that it grabbed my attention and then throttled my taste buds with incredible, there’s-a-hop-cone-in-my-beer intensity…but it really just grabbed my attention. It’s delicious stuff, don’t get me wrong. I just wouldn’t put it in a tier with the likes of Hopslam and Pliny the Elder (although it’s not far off). The hop cone sure is cool, though.

The aroma gives that level of complexity I was looking for.  Spicy hops, bready yeast that also gives off a hint of bubble gum, and light malts all converge to deliver an solid nose.  What surprised me was that the abv was not very noticeable.  I expecting some heat to sting my nose a little, but the ingredients covered this up rather well (so mind your P’s and Q’s).

Herbal, medicinal, grassy, bready, sweet, honey, fruity, apricots, melons, and spicy would all be good descriptors of the taste.  It is very dry towards the finish leaving a mouth smacking effect.  The carbonation present, but lets the malts wash over you tongue to ease the spicy yeast and hop flavors.  After taking my last sip I could not help but thing of that Oasis song Champagne Supernova.  While the lyrics might not resonate with the beer, I think the title helped me sum up this beer…lively and larger than life.

A friend convinced me to try New Glarus’ Dancing Man Wheat a month or so ago. I was curious about it because I’d tried their Crack’d Wheat Hefe and didn’t remember being that happy about it. What was different about this one? Then I opened it, poured it, and drank it down. In like five minutes. Now I can at least say that I like “a” Hefeweizen!

Dancing Man is a big Hefe at 7.2% … and it’s a little darker. Looks more like a Weizenbock actually. It pours that dark golden hue into my Weizen glass, with a nice big fluffy white head that’s bursting with banana/clove and lemon. Served really cold, it looks and smells like it should.

I’ve read some reviews that praise Dancing Man as a great beer to drink in winter … I wouldn’t know about that. I think it’s an awesome beer to drink on a hot day. It’s not super yeasty and doesn’t sit too heavily on the palate. Banana/clove is very balanced and not overpowering. There is a definitely malt presence that shores up the taste quite well, and that lemony kick to add to the freshness of the overall taste. Served ice cold, this is a really refreshing beer. Fruity, not overly sweet, crisp … this is a Hefeweizen I will be drinking a lot more of. And it’s given me a new taste for the style.

Next I’m going to have to drink some Weihenstephaner.