Month: May 2012

Boston Beer Company Samuel Adams IPA Hop-ology 12 Pack Sampler

Well this will be my second blog of the day and will be a pretty long one.  Boston Beer Company, I believe you will not need any history or information on this company.  Unless you live under a rock get hold of me and I will give you the information.  I will still put there twitter and website addresses on this blog. They were one of the first to get the craft beer business going in the states and the world.  Well for the last two years Sam Adams has put out sampler back for the hop heads of the world.  Latitude 48 IPA (India Pale Ale) came out last year from Sam Adams just to keep up with the growing sales of IPAs.  Last years sampler pack was a collection of Latitude 48 IPA brew with different hops.  It was one of my favorites set of beers last spring and summer.

A very sweet and to the point history on IPA.  England back in 1600s was looking to ship beer to their soldiers in India.  Well every shipment of beer went bad. The name escapes me but a brewmaster added more hops to make the beer last longer on the travel to India.  So a new beer style was borned from the England Pale Ales.  English India Pale Ales are not as high in the IBUs as the USA ones.  Most American West Coast Pale Ales are just as high as the English IPAs.

This years sampler pack will feature the following IPAs and each will be review in this blog:

Latitude 48 IPA

This beer is in an everyday six pack bottles.  It has your normal IPA amber to copper look to it with a white head.  Tasting this beer gives a nice hop taste with nice bitter ending.  You can taste beer from the front of the pallet which gives off sweet to bitter tastes.  The after taste is something I really don’t like about this beer.  For what Samuel Adams is today, this is a well made beer.  I hate to say it because I know it is a slap in the face to any brewmaster but this is a nice beginner IPA for people wanting to get into this great beer style.  Overall a nice drinkable and sessional beer.

This is the dscription the bottle:

A unique IPA brewed with a carefully selected blend of hops from top German, English, and American growing regions all located close to the 48th Latitude within the “hop belt” of the Northern Hemisphere.  The intense hop character is balanced by a slight sweetness and full body from the malt blend.  Cheers! Jim Koch

Dark Depths Baltic IPA

This IPA pours as a dark brown color.  This is a pretty big IPA with an ABV of 7.6%.  For most people calling this a Black IPA.  It is very light color black.  I really wouldn’t call it a Black IPA.  I realize it is taking from a Porter and mixing it with IPA.  You will see I read this from the decription off the bottle.  It just doesn’t taste that way to me.  This is just my thought on the beer.  I compare this Widmer Pitch Black IPA and Uinta Dubhe Black IPA.  There is a very little head on the beer when you are done pouring it.  Smell the beer gives off smells of malty and then hints of the hops.  The taste is sweet with slight roasted malt hints with a hop finish of bitterest.  The hops are not overpowering.  It is a very well balance IPA for the ABV being so high.  This beer is also available in 22oz single service bottles in any craft store in you.

This is the dscription the bottle:

Across the cold and brackish waters of the Baltic, the English porter was transformed, from a mild ale to a dark and complex lager that confounds definition.  Immersed in dark, roasted malts and a bold citrus hop character, these big and contrasting flavors are brought together with the smoothness of a lager for a brew that’s bold, mysterious, and full of flavor

White Water IPA

This beer is available in six pack bottles, part of this sampler, and also in their summer sampler pack.  Here is a IPA style that is starting to grow.  This a wheat ale that is brew with a ton of hops.  There a very few IPA Wheat Ales out there.  There is Three Fylod Gumballhead Wheat Ale and Shock Top Wheat IPA from the ABInbev Company.  Gumballhead is more of a wheat with a ton more IBUs then your average wheat ale out there.  Lagunitas Brewing Company has one called A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ ale.  It is more of a wheat mix with blond ale with a high IBU on it.  Yes it could get you in trouble with a pretty bartender.  Trust me I know.  Samuel Adams is slightly cloudly and you do get the wheat taste along with the hop finish.  It is pretty hoppy for a wheat ale.  The only problem I have with this beer, which is why I don’t like most wheat ales, it is too much of the yeast taste for me.  This beer fits into this new growing category.  Overall, it is a good beer and very drinkable.  I can see people enjoying this beer.

This is the dscription the bottle:

This hazy brew combines the crisp character of a white ale with the intense pine and citrus flavors of an India Pale Ale.  We took this unique combination to a new level with the subtle addition of apricots, which provide a slight sweetness to balance the bitterness of the hops.  Cheers! Jim Koch

Third Voyage Double IPA

This beer is a copper color when you are pouring it with the head always there.  Nice looking copper color beer with white head.  When smelling it, it has a  very strong pinely smell to it.  Just burn some pine trees and you will get the same feeling I am talking about.  Please don’t go out and burn a forest.  I am just giving an example of the smell you will experience from this beer.  Now let us get back to this beer. When drinking this beer, you will get a nice sweetness through out the beer tasting beer experience and then the slap of the bitterest at the end of beer. This is a very balance and drinkable IPA for the ABV being 8.0%.  It has a very nice grapefruit to circus taste to it.  Overall, this is a great beer.  I am very impressed for being made by Samuel Adams. This beer is also available in 22oz single service bottles in any craft store in you.

This is the dscription the bottle:

This unique double IPA takes the style’s origins a step futher.  IPAs were born out of making an ale that could sustain a long voyage.  For our take, we were inspired by the indomitable Capt. James Cook whose 3rd voyage made him the first to navigate a treacherous route from England to New Zealand to the Pactific Northwest.  Using Cascade hops from each of these regions, we created a brew that’s citrusy, earthy, and full of bold character.

Grumpy Monk Belgian IPA

This whole thing calling this a Belgian IPA is a bunch of bull shit.  Sorry for using it but it is true.  Belguin, the last time I check beer history didn’t make any IPAs, however, they did make a beer style from Monks called a Triple, which is pretty close to English and American IPAs.  American breweries get your facts straight and I hope you are talking about Triple. Not making up a style you think they made in this small sexy country.  Well Samuel Adams did a beer that they called Belgian IPA.  Guess what it is a Triple.  A light cooper color with barely no head.  Nice Monk yeast and hoppy taste.  This is really good beer for the style that is so wrong.  This is a Triple not an IPA.  Triples are Belguin’s IPA but with heavy spicies on their yeast.  Overall, this is a very good beer.  I am kind of impressed.  This beer is only available in this sampler pack.

This is the dscription the bottle:

The long held brewing traditions of Belgian monks aren’t meant to be broken. Yet, to the monk’s dismay, the distinctive character of Belgian yeast with its spicy clove and fruit notes can be reimagined when combined with the brazen hop character of an IPA.  These hops impart a citrusy, piney, and earthy flavor that’s balanced by a roasted malt sweetness for a complex and playful brew.

Tasman Red IPA

This beer pours red just like what the beer says on the label.  Picture this, a person with a burn face as red as red can get with blonde hair and this is what the  beer will look like in your glass when you hold it up to the light.  Pretty funny.  This is a very balance IPA with sweetness.  This is a very good beer.  I am really stun I like this because I am not a really a fan of Red Ales. If you read the decription below from the bottle, the red comes from the hop called Tasman.  I am not a brewmast but that is really interesting.  This beer is also available in 22oz single service bottles in any craft store in you.

This is the dscription the bottle:

This wily red IPA gets its character from the Tasmanian hops that are full of grapefruit, pine, and earthy notes., creating a bold flavor that threads throughout the taste.  The hops are balanced by a core the taste.  The hops are balanced by a core of roasty malts that give this brew body and richness with hints of toffee.  This flavorful brew is rounded and smooth with a dry and citrusy hop finish.

In closing, this is an awesome set of IPAs.  It is gives you a lesson of all the different IPAs around the world or in the states.  However, I really like the one fron last year.  I kind of wish they would have done that plus this one.  It is kind of good to get some of these beers that are in 22oz like Tasman Red IPA, Third Voyage Double IPA, and Dark Depths Baltic IPA in 12oz bottles.  Some of them I wish were in six pack bottles.  I understand why they are in 22oz bottles to get into that high in market that most craft beer companies are trying to reach.  Overall, great patch of IPAs, I say try it once to get your own thought on this pack.  Drink it! Enjoy it! and Metal it!

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Twitter @djweiser

Email djweiser13@comcast.net

Uncommon Brewery Bacon Brown Ale

This brewery is from Santa Cruz, CA. They pack all their beers in 16oz cans four packs. All of their beers are organic. It is hard to be an organic brewery because all of your suppliers need to be organic and approved by the government. This brewery tries to make different and unique for the craft beer drinkers in the world.  I love this statement from their website.  It is right up on their opening page (www.uncommonbrewers.com)

Our beers are unfiltered, unpasteurized, and undoubtedly uncommon.  They’re designed to grow over time as they age.  Store in a cool place and witness the change.

I haven’t done this with any of their beers, however I have aged other beers. Anyways Uncommon Brewers brew the following beers.

Golden State Ale

Siamese Twin

Baltic Porter

The one we will be talking about in this blog is the Bacon Brown Ale.  What makes this beer very different than anything else out in the market, it is brew with pork products. This beer pours brown and has heavy carbonation.  I would pour this beer very slowly into a glass.  The smell of the beer is pork and malts. When drinking this beer, you will experience bacon taste throughout the whole beer tasting experience. You will not get too much pork taste at first however, the deeper you get into the beer the more you will taste the pork. The bacon will build up on your pallet. Being a small brewery, I am not saying this is a bad thing but each can is different.  I would say try this beer a few times before say you do not like this beer.

Here is a few ways to get know and information from this brewery:

Website: www.uncommonbrewers.com

Twitter: @uncommonbrewers (I am not sure if this is them and it is not active.)

In the end, a few things to remember when drinking this beer is drink it alone and let it build up on a pallet.   WARN, if you are on a meatless diet, can’t eat meat, or choices not eat meat, DO NOT drink this beer.  I really love this beer and I can’t wait to get a newer batch to see if it is different then this batch.  Drink it! Enjoy it! Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill Dj Weiser

Twitter @djweiser

Email djweiser13@comast.net

Milwaukee Brewing Booyah (MKE)

In this blog, we are going to talk about this great brewery from Milwaukee, WI.  You already know about this brewery from my Pull Chain blog.  Here is my second beer from this brewery and it is called Booyah.  It is an American Farmhouse Ale.  A small bit of history on Farmhouse Ales, they were made way back in the day in Belguim on farms, which hints Farmhouse.  The owners of the farms would brew this beer to be very drinkable and refreshing for the workers that work on their farm.  So you can just picture all the different styles of taste on this style, which is a case to this day.  There are several arguements on what is a saison to farmhouse.  I believe they are the same thing with different sub categories.  MKE style has a ABV 6.5% IBU 20, which is taking from their website.

Here is a great youtube from MKE website about the beer.  www.mkebrewing.com

http://youtu.be/gsS_Vi7T0PA

Let’s talk about the beer now.  This beer pours like a darker farmhouse ale.  It is like a golden amber.  It is not really cloudy like most farmhouse ales.  The taste is a little weird but in a very good way.  It is very drinkable as close as balance are you going to get.  Just like other farmhouse ales, it is very refreshing.  You get the farmhouse hoppiest but has the amber.  This is a very good tasting beer.  Even though it is all year beer.  This beer is perfect in spring, hot summers, and warm falls.

A few ways to get information on this brewery.

Website www.mkebrewing.com

Twitter @mkebrewing

In closing, this beer is excite and you need to search it out.  This brewery is making some great beers that I believe most people haven’t really check them out.  If you are up in Milwaukee, stop by this brewery.  Don’t do the boring Miller Brewery Company brewery tour.  There is nothing wrong with it.  There is a small engine that can brewery making some great beers that needs some loving.  Drink it, Enjoy It, and Metal it!

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Twitter @djweiser

Email djweiser16@gmail.com

Seven Day Sonnet Reprisal

Chicago base band Seven Day Sonnet (SDS) coming out a very good underground hard rock and metal scene with Reprisal (2009), which is their first record of attack.  They teamed with Brett Hestla (former touring bassist of Creed)  down at Orlando, FL.  Brett has produced such acts like Flaming Hanley, Transmit Now, and many more.    With all the pieces in place, Seven Day Sonnet and Brett put out a record that will just make hard rock and metal listeners happy and full of emotion while listening.

Packaging is important part of a successful record in theses days of declining compact discs sales dropping.  The art work and design of the compact discs is unique and shows a value to the band and their listeners.  The front cover is a picture of the two gangsters.  SDS showing the long rich history of Chicago’s mobsters.   The inside of the record has all the lyrics from all the songs.  SDS and the David Scotney (artwork designer) took the time to think of those individual that buy compact discs today.  The lyrics are in the inside cover of the compact disc case that folds out.  As the listeners reads through the lyrics it looks like it is printed on burn paper from the 1930’s.  This packaging will catch the attention of music lovers of all genres.  Retailers will be very happy on how it will look on retail’s end caps or floor displays.  The packaging gets to the point of what is on the disc.

Seven Day Sonnet’s Reprisal is the best music from an up and coming artist.  The band is Ben VanBurskirk (lead singer), Jordon Popp (guitar and back up vocals), Rick Tauber (guitar), Anthony Lojeski (bass and back up vocals), Dan Kashuck (drums).  This band has very strong bassist and drummer selection.  The band guitar players took something out of pages of some of the legendary dual guitar bands from the past such as Thin Lizzy (but heavier), Scorpions and current day Avenged Sevenfold.  Ben (lead singer) finish off this very talented band.  His vocals are perfect for what this Chicago band is going and what they have become.

Most bands feel they have to have some kind of intro but this record could have lived with out one.  However the nice little guitar solo from the opening track called “All Fall Down,” gives the listeners something from the best glory days of hard rock and metal.  The pounding of the drums and the thunder of the bass slaps the listeners through the song and the record.  The lead singer does something that most lead singers dream of doing.  If the listener has this song in the back ground, this slight singing differences will snap attention of the listener back to the music.  He does a slight guttural vocals that bends perfectly with the song and then goes back into very melodic singing.  It is almost like he took a  page out of Don Dokken (Dokken) or M. Shadow (Avenged Sevenfold) on the melodic side and then threw in something from a  extreme metal group like Mikael Akerfedt (Opeth).  Second song “The Butchor” comes in with a very pounding and driving guitar riff.  Through out the  record the listeners will find a very driving songs from the first song to the last.  There is one hidden gem on this record and that is “Saturdays.”  This song starts with a guitar riff that you would here from the 1970’s or 1990’s hard rock and metal groups.  It picks up and creepy keyboard puts chills up and down anyone’s spine.  This is one song to turn out the lights and just listen to over and over again.

In closing, this is a very great record from a very very talent hard rock and metal group from Chicagoland area.  They wrote about their everyday struggles and other issues that has come to light.  They took the soul and body set by their icons and heros before them and ran with it.  The world of hard rock and metal should be proud of their new sons.  This record was very fun to write and listen to and I give this record .

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Twitter @djweiser

Email djweiser16@gmail.com

Lita Ford Wicked Wonderland

Lita Ford Wicked Wonderland is her comeback record in fifteen years. This record is very different then the rest of her music from the late 1970’s to mid 1990’s. It has a very heavy influence male vocals (her husband Jim Gillette) and it is heavier then her in the beginning of her career.

The packaging sets the mood and very well thought out. From Rob Zombie’s band bassist Piggy D came up with the playful artwork for the record. It is very dark, gothic but yet very sexy at the same time. He feed off the meaning of each song and then came up with a great art theme for each song. Artwork alone is worth buying this record.

The music is another animal. Lita Ford had her husband, who is Jim Gillette, doing back up vocals. He is not the same singer he was back in the his Nitro days. It sounds like age has really got to him, however, for what he is doing on this record with his wife. It is very perfect and it fits. There are many artist that has their husband or wife come in to help out on a record and just kills the feeling of the music. This is not the case. Welcome back Jim and keep on rocking.

The opening track of this record is her first single in fifteen years is “Crave.” Nice guitar riff with drum beats to start the song. Lita comes in singing with very well written sexy lyrics. This song will set the tune of the record. It has a very sex driven theme through out the record. Lita plays all the guitar and there is on one else. She has a very good guitar solo in this song. “Piece (Hell Yeah)” has a very dark guitar riff but her sing makes it feels calming. She drops cherry bomb line in this song that makes the listeners thing of her pass then get slap into the face with the hell yeah. “Patriotic SOB” takes on another out look at what our United States really is about. She has her two sons singing at the beginning making this song a family affair. This song talks about guns, porn etc, however, the song tells us how the United States really is all about. The title track is one of the best ones on the record along with “Betrayal”.

In closing, overall, this is a very driving record with a lot of sex and sex all over it. It is worth a few spins in the music box. The packaging and a few songs make this a great come back record for Lita Ford. This record gets 7 out of 10.

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Twitter @djweiser

Email djweiser16@gmail.com

Sixpoint Brewery Apollo

In this blog, we are going to talk about Sixpoint’s Apollo ale.  Let’s start with the history of the brewery.  Sixpoint is a craft brewery out of Brooklyn, New York.  They were founded by homebrewer Shane Welch in 2004.  They brew several different styles of beers from IPAs, Ryes, Lagers, etc.  They also brew this wheat ale that we are going to talk about in this blog.

I will be up front and honest before we get into this beer.  I am really not a fan of wheat ales however, I have becoming a huge fan of Bavarian Wheat Ales.  Apollo is their new summer seasonal.  Here is what is posted on Sixpoint website (www.sixpoint.com) on what it is.

“The unmistakable flavor of a Bavarian Wheat, but with a clear golden brilliance and a Sixpoint twist. An entirely unique canned offering for the sun-worshipping ale lovers.” (taking from the sixpoint website)

The one thing that this brewery is doing right on their packaging and I kind of wish others would pick up on this.  Sixpoint puts IBU, ABV, and SRM on their cans. Apollo is a 5.2% abv, 11 IBU (internation bitter units), and 3.7 SRM (the color of the beer).  Also on their can it does tell you what the beer is.

Apollo pours with a head but it goes away pretty quick. It is a cloudy with a strew to golden color. It smells like a Germen hef with some circus. This is a very nice balance beer when tasting it. The lemon attacks your pallet throughout the drinking experience. Very little to no after taste from the hops but a slight lemon hint. The IBUs are only 11. It is in the average for a wheat, white, hefenize, etc.