12 oz single from Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Attractive orange color on the pour with an excellent head and some superb lace. Not perfect clarity, some chill haze. Retention is pretty good. Nose gives away a hoppy sweetness. The tastes are, in some ways, rather extraordinary. The beer is, to all intents and purposes, not much other than pure, sweetened grapefruit juice. The grapefruit taste is amazingly strong and singular in its...
Notes on beers brewed by
Breckenridge Brewery
Pandora’s Bock
12 oz single from Mac's, Atlanta, GA, USA as part of their $8.99 sixer. Rich, garnet color as one would expect, but the head and lace are disappointing. An "A" for color, but below average for the production (and retention) of head. Lovely clarity in the body color. Nose and tastes are SPOT ON for the style. Very rich and malty with a nice depth to the body (don't forget this is NOT a Doppelbock). Very tasty indeed. Lovely, sweet depth to the beer and some serious drinkability. If they could...
Autumn Ale
12oz single from Total Wine, Kennesaw, GA, USA. Old Ale? Not by any stretch of the imagination! Decent dark brown pour with some ornage highlights at the edges. A pretty nice head straight out of the bottle, but retention and lace (although there) are not what it initially promised. Nose reveals a little sweet nuttiness and some plenty of malts. Mouthfeel is a little thin but the body and tastes are nicely balanced in a simple way. Although the alcohol is nicely hidden, I'd still think this...
SummerBright Ale
12oz single as part of the Mac's Midtown, Atlanta, GA, USA mixed sixer at $7.99. Light macro body, little head and no lace. Clarity is good - filtred wheat?? I dunno, along with the thinnish body, the macro grainy smell and the relatively tasteless nature of the style, this beer fails to impress. To be honest, I think it is a problem with the style as much as anything else - it just does NOT inspire on any level. Sometimes I get the feeing that breweries use "Summer" as an excuse to produce...
Agave Wheat
On tap at Taco Mac, Marietta, GA, USA. $5.30 for the dubious pleasure of this beer. Just reached GA in the last few days. Butter colored beer that literally looks like melted butter! "Unfiltered" doesn't do this beer justice. It reminds me of the Widmer Hefe. Not very appetizing to look at. Minor film of fine bubbles as the head fades, and minor lace too. Thinnish mouthfeel and very little taste to speak of at all. Some light tartness but really very little.A little grain character but the...
Trademark Pale Ale
$5.00 for the 12oz bottle at Taco Mac, Marietta, GA, USA. New(ish) to GA, coming in the second wave of Breckenridge products. Pour is a hazy, golden orange. Plenty of sticky lace and some medium head. Looks inviting. Citrus is in the nose and the initial taste. Simple brew that has balance and some zest. Lemon notes in there too. Drinkability is decent, a pretty simple and balanced APA. Alcohol is there, so it doesn't seem especially sessionable to me. Good quality product from a good, solid...
471 IPA
Delighted to find this on tap at the Taco Mac in Austell. 11.2oz pour which is a huge bonus because it avoids the conversation about NOT pouring the beer into a frozen glass! Very light, orange pour with excellent sticky, white lace. Unfortunately served waaaay too cold so you have to wait for this one to wam up a little. It's a shame theat they keep getting the temperature of these pours wrong at TM because although I don't really mind waiting a bit, after that time lapse, the head and its...
471 ESB
=== Updated Review 01/08 === On tap, Taco Mac, Marietta, GA, USA, $6.00 for the 16 oz serving. On draft this is the beer I am looking for - IF only it were about 4%! Simple malt backbone, plenty of flavor, a nice English based malt beer - if only if it were more sessionable! === Original Review 09/07 === Thanks go out to Vancer as part of CEO/Old Farts BIF. Been wanting to try this one for a long time after I originally fell in love with some of the 471 series on a visit to Lexington, KY a...
Avalanche Ale
12oz single bottle from Total Wine, Kennesaw, GA, USA. Breckenridge has just come to GA, part of my first purchase at the newly opened store. I've had a few Breckenridge beers that I have been really impressed with, so my hopes were high. Unfortunately this didn't quite come up to par. All the attributes of an amber/red, but the whole package lacks depth. Almost like a watered down version of the style. Not quite red enough in the Sam Adams new style glass, without much lacing. More...
Vanilla Porter
12 oz single, $1.25 as part of my haul from Liquor Barn in Lexington, KY, USA. Mid-brown body with a small, creamy head. Some lacing but not much. Looks like a brown ale rather than darker porter. Mild vanilla tones in the nose, nothing too overpowering which is a good sign because this type of beer has a tendency to go over the top. This seems relatively balanced. A very mild nutty character too, almost like a hazelnut sweetness. Definite mild lactose sweetness, but again this is in check and...
Christmas Ale
2006 version with a new look. 12 oz single, Liquor Barn, Lexington, KY, USA. Very disappointing Winter Warmer, but a nice Brown Ale! Pour is basically solid brown wih some head and a little lacing. Lacks the red highlights that sometimes accompany WW's. Malty sweetness in the aroma. Tastes seriously lack the spices I was expecting from the style. What we get instead is a nicely balanced Brown Ale with good tasty malts and a satisfyingly dry finish. Enjoyable as a beer - it'll disappoint you as...
471 IPA
12 oz single, $1.70, Liquor Barn, Lexington, KY, USA. Very light in color, an orange hue with some lovely, sticky lacing. Looks great in the glass with layered, complex lacing. The nose and the tastes are really rather sweet which would not be to some peoples liking, but suited me just fine. Hops are there, but so is balance. Alcohol is present in the nose, but I was ASTONISHED (and I mean ASTONISHED!) to see this listed at 9.2%. I quaffed this at an alarming rate and didn't notice a thing....