Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

12 oz. Bottle

Been sitting on this one for a while, wanted a nice IIPA to sip on for the night.

Pours a light coppery orange with visible carbonation and a slight white lacing of head around the edge of the class. Very strong scent, I can smells nice citrus, tropical fruit, and pine hop without even putting my nose close to the glass. Closer to the glass, there are some really nice tangerine, grapefruit, caramel, and pine flavors that work really well together - I'm also getting some pineapple, peach, and lime in smaller degrees. Really nice smelling beer, probably up there in the top 15 best smelling beers I've ever had.

Hoppy on the taste, but goddamn this one's complex. Nice caramel sweetness is the first thing I note, then a citrus fruit blend of apricot, orange, lime, raisin, peach, and pear; slight grapefruit and pineapple as well, but less so than the others. Everything is really working in unison here though, fantastic balance. Alcohol content is low-moderately noticeable on the back end with only a slight burn - impressive for an 18% ABV (which I completely forgot about before I opened it). Carbonation is moderate.

Really a fantastic, flavorful sipper. Well balanced flavor and the alcohol is surprisingly well hidden for 18%. Another solid beer from DFH.

Overall Rating: 4.7/5

Thirsty Dog Wulver

12 oz. Bottle

Another bourbon barrel aged ABV beast, figured it'd be nice to enjoy before the weather gets too hot and after a long bike ride at the gym.

Pours a dark amber, really dark amber, but it is still a little translucent. Held up to the light, you can see a moderately high concentration of floating solids. Very little head, maybe a small ring of white bubbles around the ring of the snifter I'm drinking it out of. Carbonation is lightly visible towards the top of the glass. Smells of bourbon (you can tell off the nose that this is a high ABV beer) and caramel, some fruit, mostly dark - plum, apricot predominantly. Really smooth on the taste - nice caramel/vanilla flavors, backed by substantial fruit flavor - apricot, pear, apple, grape, and plum. Really fantastic tastes that work really well together, nice balance, neither of the flavors really substantially dominates another one. I do with the bourbon flavor stood out a bit more, though I am happy there's only a slight trace of alcohol on the taste - which is impressive considering the 12% ABV. Carbonation is slightly evident.

A really nice really balanced beer; to say anything negative would really only be nitpicking. As far as barrel aged Scotch Ales/Wee Heavies go, I do prefer Founders Backwoods Bastard slightly more (comparatively, BB is a little smoother, thicker, and less fruit forward than Wulver), however that shouldn't deter anyone from trying this fantastic beer.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Green Flash Le Freak

12 oz. Bottle

Don't really know much about this beer other than the fact that my friend John told me this was a must try.

"This Belgian Style IPA is an "out of the box" convergence of beer styles where American Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel" - Beeradvocate.com description.

Pours an orange/amber hybrid with visible carbonation and some sediment floating throughout. About an inch of slightly off-white head that dissolves into about an eighth of an inch after very little time. Hoppy, grapefruit, honey, citrus, clove sweetness on the nose. Tons of white grape too, bordering on white wine/champagne territory. Really pleasant smelling.

Tons of white grape on the taste - complemented by a bit of spice, a little sour/tart, and a good amount of sweetness. It's really tough to pick out the individual flavors - there's definitely some strong tangerine, grapefruit, and apricot as far as fruit goes in here, a good amount of piney hop on the back end as well. There's a bready, Belgian quality to the beer as well (though I'm not really getting any banana, and only the slighted bit of clove in the taste). Really complex, flavorful experience, though I do worry there might be too much going on in here. Moderately high carbonation. ABV of 9.2% is very well hidden (though you can taste a small amount of alcohol on the back end).

Definitely a nice beer to kick back with and relax on any night. Even with the crazy complexity of this beer, the flavors seem to work well together.

Overall Rating: 4.25/5

Spring Break Beer Run Down

So while I usually write articles concerning beers that I've taken notes on/am drinking at the current time, unfortunately a lot of traveling over my week long break from teaching hasn't given me too much time to do so. I will however provide a top 5 of my most recent (un-reviewed) brews and a short description of each.

1. Firestone Walker Sucaba: What can I say about this big, barrel aged barley wine? Firestone Walker did a fantastic job. I wasn't lucky enough to snag a bottle of this fantastic brew (which is now in my top 5 all time favorite beers), however I was lucky enough to try this last Thursday night at Rattle N Hum in NYC. Big sweet bourbon flavors, nice vanilla and caramel, just a hint of spice. Overall Rating: 5/5

2. Oskar Blues Old Chub Nitro: If you can get past the phallic joke of a name and order this, I promise you won't be disappointed. Extremely smooth Scotch Ale, thanks to the nitro (Nitro version is only on tap, I'm pretty sure the canned version is carbonated). Nice sweetness, but not too much. A really impressive beer, and glad I got to try it on tap at The Gingerman NYC; Oskar Blue has yet to let me down (though I've only tried this and Ten Fidy by the brewery thus far). Overall Rating: 4.5/5

3. Clown Shoes Billionaire: Another big barrel aged barley wine - this time aged in cognac barrels. Barrel aging really does fantastic things to some of the heavy hitting beers, specifically imperial stouts and barley wines. This is just a notch or two below Sucaba, and really a fantastic beer for my intro into cognac barrel aged brews. Overall Rating 4.5/5

4. Boulevard Brewing Company's Rye-on-Rye: Saw this at a bottle shop in San Antonio, Texas during my visit and I knew I had to try it. A rye beer aged in rye whiskey barrels - a unique concept, or at least one that I hadn't seen before. Usually when I think of rye, it tends to be part of big, hoppy DIPAs, but this beer was significantly less hoppy and incredibly smooth. Still a bit of a spicy rye bite though the almost Scotch ale like sweetness, which I was really impressed with. If you can get your hands on a bottle of this Missouri based brew, I'd say it's definitely worth the $13 or so you'd pay for it. 4.5/5

5. Stone Imperial Russian Stout: Big chocolate flavor and solid malt and coffee backbones. An extremely archetypal Imperial Russian, but that doesn't stop it from having big flavor that won't disappoint. Fairly low price for a bomber at around $8 and without a doubt worth the purchase if you see one (or more) laying around. Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Side Note: 2-5 are essentially all tied in my book, really just depends on what kinds of flavors you're looking for. Sucaba, however, is a clear favorite for me (up there with Bourbon County Brand Stout and Lagunitas Sucks), as the flavors literally blew me away, though at $9 for a 9 oz. pour, I would 100% expect the quality that FSW delivered with it.

Honorable Mentions: Founders KBS (4.25/5), Newburgh Brewing Co.'s The Newburgh Conspiracy (4.5/5), Keegan Ales Joe Mama's Milk (4.35/5), and Canaster Winterscotch by Kleinbrouwerij de Glazen Toren (4.35/5)

I must admit that while Founders KBS was really a great beer, in my eyes it did not live up to the hype that surrounds it among craft beer enthusiasts.

Stone Old Guardian (2014)

22 oz. Bottle

Been on a Stone kick recently: First the Imperial Russian Stout, then Enjoy By 4.20.14 (see my review of Enjoy By 2.12.14), and now this one, a barley wine style ale. I don't have too much experience with this style, but I have enjoyed the few that I've had recently.

Pours a dark amber read with a thick tan head. Visible low/moderate carbonation. Really a beautiful beer. Sweet wheat and vanilla on the nose, toffee and butterscotch are really fantastic from this as well. A bit of alcohol and a touch of spice as well. Strong butterscotch and caramel on the taste as well. Really nice sweet wheat backbone to these sweet vanilla-y flavors. White raisin in there too. Touch of spice, bitter hop, and alcohol towards the end (none of which are particularly overpowering and actually work pretty well together) - really creates a nice warm finish to this one that I wasn't expecting, but was enjoyable nonetheless. 11.6% ABV is decently hidden, but you can tell this is a 10%+ beer, especially on the finish. Low/moderate carbonation.

At first it seems almost too sweet, but the medley of flavor in the finish essentially almost completely balances the experience, which is really delicious throughout, regardless of the balance.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Stone Russian Imperial Stout (2014)

22 oz. Bottle

Excited to try this for the first time. Have only heard good things, and I don't think I've had any beer from Stone Brewery that was less than very good.

Pours slightly less dark than pitch black, but not by much. Dark espresso colored head fades to a thin ring around the edge of the snifter. Big chocolate, roasted malt, and coffee on the nose, really nice smelling beer. Slight sweetness to it as well. On the taste, big roasted malt and chocolate up front, with a strong caramel/brown sugar sweetness and slight dark fruit medley backing it up - plums and cherry among others, though the tartness is thankfully absent. Coffee and a slight smokiness on the back end. The beer is thick but thankfully not syrupy. Lower carbonation is perfect for the flavor profile. ABV of 11% is fairly well hidden though there is a bit of alcohol taste on the back end.

This beer is incredibly smooth and tasty. Flavors are balanced to near perfection. I'm glad I picked a bottle up, and will definitely grab a couple more when I see them. Can't wait to try the 2013 version I found too.

Overall Rating: 4.75/5