750 mL, corked & caged bottle, $6.99 from Green's on Ponce, Atlanta, GA, USA. Poured into the 500 mL Tucher Weizen glass this looks good. Cloudy honey colored body, good carbonation, great head and retention. This is certainly sweeter than many traditional Saisons, but still maintains and retains some funk and a little, sweet citrus orange and lime twang. The sweetness is tempered in the finish with quite a large dose of bitterness. I'd even go as far as to say that there is a tiny bit of...
Notes on beers brewed by
North Coast Brewing Co.
ACME California IPA
Listed on the bottle as 6.5%. Yellowy/Orange pour that is very cloudy. Looks like a good West Country Scrumpy! Tall, white head that looks pillow like from above, but on the side it appears to made up of much bigger diameter bubbles. Falls away quickly with not much lace to speak of. Carbonation seems a little high. Aroma is very muted, not much to speak of at all. Tastes are hop-based, but overall rather sweet. Hop presence but lacks bitterness. Very mild grapefruit in the finish, but again...
Old Plowshare Stout
A Whole Foods purchase as part of a four pack. Good head on the pour that tends to fade, but still leaves some lacing and a little spotty, creamy film on the surface of the beer. Color is a dark brown. Nose is a good, deep chocolate cocoa with some espresso notes. Tastes are mild, milk chocolate and a tiny bitter coffee. Very nice. Dry is the keynote here, and a very, very nice mild creamy chocolate aftertaste. Quite impressed.
Brother Thelonious
***Since my initial review, I think that this beer has been re-categorized as a Dubbel which seems more appropriate. Corked and caged 750 mL, purchased from Hiram Bottle Shop, Hiram, GA, USA from fellow BA, SilentSabre. Great rust color with some lovely red highlights. Nice head on the initial pour but this fades quickly. Good, rich caramel nose with a hint of alcohol. Taste is surprisingly light on the alcohol. At 9.00% ABV I was expecting a lot more in the taste, but it is hidden to the...
Scrimshaw Pilsner
There is nothing quite like a Pilsener when you feel like a Pilsener, and this beer does a nice job, if somewhat atypical of the style. Fairly cloudy yellow body with some chill haze appparent, I suppose that the lack of absolute clarity is a bit unusual in the Pils stakes but it is not unattractive. Very clean, tasty and refreshing, with a fuller mouthfeel than one would usually expect, but still very nice. Almost a litle creamy! I found the hops to be up front, more so than in several Pils,...
Ruedrich’s Red Seal Ale
Peach body with some chill haze, a nice half-inch head and some decent lacing. The lacing is sticky, thick and persistent. Nose is sweet hops, not large, but noticeable. Much hoppier and more bitter than I was expecting. The initial tastes are really quite bitter and metallic. There is a lot of malt to balance the initial hoopiness out, and as the beer is drunk, the bitterness fades to give a pretty balanced brew. Dry finish. Nice interpretation of the style, with added hops to make it more...
Silver Jubilee – 25th Anniversary Ale
Orange, gold cloudy pour, with a good initial head and some decent lacing. Slightly above average appearance, and it's nicely in line with the style. There's much more grapefruit and citrus notes here than in others of the same style that I have encountered. There is some real acidity in the drink that goes beyond the usual "funkiness" for the Saison. A bit sour in fact. Still remains drinkable and tasty, but a little on the tart side for my liking. The Saison style can still be determined,...
Cru D’or
***Originally on BA this was classified as a Tripel and was the re-classified (correctly) as a Dubbel. Amber pour, with some chill haze, good initial head and some lacing. I'm looking for a lighter, more golden color in my Tripel's*** though. Very nice aroma that has a mixed ripe fruit character and that classic Belgian yeast strain present. A little bit of alcoholic edge to the taste, nice Belgian feel and a bit of a drier finish than I expected. Lacks the deep sweet alcoholic fruitiness of a...
Old #38 Stout
Bit of any odd beast this one, but enjoyable nonetheless. Lots of red highlights in the pour makes this a very "non-stout" looking stout. In fact its look is hardly up to Porter standards, to me it resembles more of a Brown Ale. Head is very small too and there is very little lacing. No evidence of a solid head that I would like to see in the style. Carbonation is also a little high. This is a sweet malty beer, especially in the long finish and there is plenty of chocolate in there too. These...
Old Stock Ale
2006 Vintage, Showcase Beverage, Carrollton, GA, USA, a great price at $8.99 a four pack. This is listed at 13.25% ABV, bigger than previous vintages so I am a bit confused as to why this is not listed as a different beer in the database (surely the recipe must have changed). Anyway, just like all the other vintages this is pure marzipan, with a delicious coke like appearance and sweet, smooth and warming. Fairly obviously, the alcohol is still way too hot and in a couple of years this will be...
Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Excellent value and if you can find it on notro you should definitely try it. Nitro definitely adds to the experience here. A beer that I have grown to enjoy more over the years. Pours with a jet black appearance and an impressive head that fades quickly. The aroma is "dark", meaning it is simply dense with "bitterness", chocolate, but over riding the whole thing is quite a strong black coffee. This is replicated in the taste. It's certainly a beer that is well made, but for my palate and...
Pranqster
Butterscotch pour with little or no head. Distinct aroma and taste of citrus spice, with cloves large up front. The alcohol acidity was a little too much for me. Bit of a bite on the way down that I didn't care for very much. The cloudiness was really quite pronounced and some prickly acidity in the mouth made this a little less enjoyable that others of the style. OK, but not one I'm rushing back to.