Beer Review: Bruery Jardinier A Session Belgian Pale Ale

Here is my look at Jardinier from The Bruery, which is a micro craft brewery out of Placentia, California. This session Belgian pale ale comes in with an alcohol content of 4.5% ABV along with an IBU level of 34. First released in 2015, this beer is now one of the brewery’s annual releases. Lighter in color, the beer was set nicely against its crisp white head. However, the head was larger than what I was expecting which seemed due to a heavy carbonation. Aroma was decent enough but even the taste ended up carrying some seltzer like qualities in the beer for me. In a word, this one I found disappointing especially versus some of the other beer that I have had from them. That being said, it wasn’t overly bad and you can see my YouTube review for more in depth details. However, this one scored 2.5 out of 5 for me placing it between fair and good.

Unfortunately, not all will be top winners but the journey is ever continuing. Keep drinking those good craft beers, Cheers!

Brewery Links:

The Bruery: http://www.thebruery.com/

Jardinier: http://www.thebruery.com/beer/jardinier/?category=year-round

Press Release: MadTree Releasing Dreamsicle In Cans

MadTree Makes Dreams Come True, Releases Dreamsicle Beer in Cans

From an April Fool’s joke to a petition to finally canning a taproom favorite beer

CINCINNATI (August 28, 2017) – What began as an innocent April Fool’s joke in 2016, turned into MadTree Brewing making beer lovers’ dreams come true. The brewery had long served Dreamsicle, a light kölsch style ale with orange and vanilla, in the taproom and it was consistently a top seller. However, when they jokingly released a rendering of the beer in can form, with a whimsical octopus holding an ice cream cone, MadTree fans erupted with approval. It wasn't until it was revealed that the can was just a prank that the public expressed a range of emotions from disappointment to outrage.

The brewery received phone calls, emails, and social media messages daily asking when it would be canned. Author Rick Armon named Dreamsicle one of the “50 Must-Try Craft Beers of Ohio” in the soon to be published book of the same name. There was even an online petition drive that garnered hundreds of signatures. Eventually, MadTree decided it was time to begin canning the beer once they had the production capacity to do so.

“Dreamsicle was one of those beers created on a whim by the brewers that really caught the attention of taproom patrons,” said MadTree Brewing graphic designer, Nicki Logsdon. “We thought it would be a funny April Fool’s Day prank to act like we were going to can it, so I came up with what I thought was a ridiculous octopus eating an ice cream cone design. The response was a bit overwhelming, to say the least, so we decided to roll with the now famous octopus.”

MadTree will hold a can release party on Thursday, August 31, from 4PM-8PM in the MadTree taproom (3301 Madison Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45209). Catch-A-Fire Café will offer some special menu items, along with their full menu all day. There will be a purchase limit of one case of cans per person. The cost is $10.50 per six-pack (including tax).

Can and draft distribution to restaurants, bars, and retailers will begin Friday, September 1, in most markets that MadTree serves.

About MadTree Brewing Company

Cincinnati’s MadTree Brewing made history when they opened in 2013 by becoming the first modern craft brewery to can its beer in Ohio. In February 2017 they opened a new $18M brewery, taproom, beer garden, and private event spaces in Cincinnati’s Oakley neighborhood. MadTree is known for focusing more on great tasting beers rather than following traditional brewing style guidelines. Their award-winning beers are distributed throughout Ohio by Cavlier Distributing and throughout Kentucky by Beer House Distributing. For more information about the beers, brewery, and taproom, visit madtreebrewing.com or connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Beer Review: Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale

Three beers form one with the SeaQuench Ale from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery which is the subject of my latest review here. This session sour ale brings together the styles of Kolsch, Gose and Berliner Weiss forming one heck of refreshing ale. With an alcohol content of 4.9% ABV and an IBU level of 10, this ale makes for a nice beer that won’t weigh you down and just makes you want to kick back and relax. With just enough tartness in this one, it doesn’t overpower and keeps astringency low making it a nice beer for summer, although it is released between April and December. Check out my review in the video here to see and hear more of my thoughts and why for me, I rated this sour ale 4.25 out of 5.

Pucker up baby, and keep drinking those good craft beers! Cheers my friends!

Brewery Links:

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: https://www.dogfish.com/

SeaQuench Ale: https://www.dogfish.com/brewery/beer/seaquench-ale

Beer Review: Unibroue La Fin Du Monde With Average Joe

I decided to look at one from North of the border for this review here and decided to bring a long a friend. Average Joe is often seen on my YouTube Channel during many of my YouTube live streams or Google hangouts. But during this review of the La Fin Du Monde from Unibroue, he is making a debut as a partner reviewer of this Belgian Tripel from this Canadian brewery which is located in Chambly, Quebec. As far as the review, please check out the video to see and hear our thoughts as we go into more detail about this beer. But for those that would like a preview then here is a little of what we discussed.

The beer comes in with a nice alcohol content of 9% which is not found as much on the nose or in the taste making it a dangerous beer in that it can sneak up on a person after a few. The design of the beer is done nicely and the website provided some good details on even the enjoyment of the beer and you can find their links below as well. It does pour a nice color with nice white sustaining head that leaves a good amount of lacing behind and you do pick up the usual aromas and taste to be expected of a Belgian Tripel. Overall it provides what one would expect to be on par for a Belgian Tripel which is why I rated it 4.25 out of 5 and Joe was about the same. And if you are unaware, it is owned now by Sapporo which does take it out of the realm of being a craft beer by this. But that being said, it is still worth a try and is one more reason why you can’t just write beers off due to ownership situations. Doing so may cause the missing of actually some good beer out there. Well, there’s a little bit of what we discussed or a quick summary but again, check out the video for the full action. That being said thanks for swinging by to check out another video or post and I look forward to sharing more beers with you in the near future.

Cheers and Keep Drinking Those Good Craft Beers! But, don’t be too snobbish where you miss some of the non-craft ones wither. And remember, local first, independent second and all else third when look for that next pint of brew!

Brewery Links:

Unibroue: https://www.unibroue.com/en

La Fin Du Monde: https://www.unibroue.com/en/our-beers/la-fin-du-monde/3

Beer Review: Wooden Cask Corruption - A Buffalo Trace Barrel-Aged Stout

The first rule of craft beer is to always start local when it comes to drinking, and I was happy and fortunate to do just this when Wooden Cask Brewing released their Buffalo Trace barrel-aged Corruption earlier this year. Wooden Cask is one of my local breweries near me and this craft beer I believe may have been one of their first barrel-aged ones. And if you followed me long enough, you know I like my barrel aged beers. But first full disclosure, I do know Randy who is the owner and he did invite me down to try the beer, and before accepting we did discuss that I would be more than happy to do so but would be honest in my assessment. I just like to always let everyone know if and when this happens with any beers that I discuss. Moving on…

The beer itself is actually their reformation which was then barrel-aged. If you didn’t see my review in that one then make sure to check it out either here on YouTube or on my website. Dark as one would imagine for a barrel aged stout, this one really left no head which isn’t as uncommon for a beer of this strength and style with a beer alcohol content of 10.2%. That is a mighty fine ABV for sure. But I don’t want to give it all away as I want you to check out my video to see my thoughts about it. However, I will tell you that this one was smooth for sure with a nice velvety feel as it worked its way down my gullet. Not any taste of the alcohol either, which made it a dangerous one. Now, it was a limited beer so I’m not sure how long or if it’s still around. But make no mistake, when they make more barrel-aged beers, I will definitely be down to try them. I am truly blessed with one craft beer market all around my area, so if you make it to Cincinnati then you will see for yourself and beer will be the least of any if your worries. As far as how this one rated for me, this barrel aged stout was an easy 4.5 out of 5. But don’t just take my word on it; check out my video to see why.

Cheers my friends, and keep drinking those good craft beers!

Brewery Links:

Wooden Cask Brewing: http://woodencask.com/

Wooden Cask Beers: http://woodencask.com/beers/

Beer Review: New Belgium Juicy Watermelon | A Refreshing Treat? Let's See

From New Belgium Brewing Company comes the Juicy Watermelon, watermelon lime ale designed to quench your thirst during summer. So I decided to pick this one up for this latest craft beer review and see what it had to offer. Now mind you, although I am not the biggest fan of fruit beer types but I have found some that I have enjoyed and figured why not give this beer a shot. This ale beer comes in with a beer alcohol content of 5% ABV and an IBU level of 7, and uses 2 malts (Pale and Caramel-80) and one hop (Nugget). The yeast is ale yeast and then watermelon and lime peel are added as well for the flavoring.

As far as my look at the beer then you can pick up a lot of those details here in my YouTube video as I am not trying to play my own spoiler, but I did find there to be a little to be desired with this craft beer. New Belgium is a fine craft brewery and for me, this one seemed to be off the mark a bit for what I usually expect. But, check out my video here and let me know what you think if you have had this brew from them. As far as a rating, this one ended up yielding 2.25 out of 5 from me…whoops, is that spoiler alert?

Cheers my friends, and keep drinking those good craft beers!

Brewery Links:

New Belgium Brewing Company: http://www.newbelgium.com/

New Belgium Juicy Watermelon: http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/juicy-watermelon

Beer Review: Bloomington Brewing Company Ruby Bloom Amber | Hello Indiana

The Ruby Bloom Amber from Bloomington Brewing Company proved to be a nice little beer find from a local beer store that has now been added to my beer run rotation. This is my second beer from this craft brewery and just like my last, this proved to be some good beer. Painted as a Red or American amber ale, this red beer comes in with a beer alcohol content of 6% ABV. And if you are worried about bitterness then don’t, the IBU level on this malt forward beer has been calculated to be 11. I don’t know much about this craft brewery if it were one of the breweries near me then I would definitely probably be all over it. I’d be curious to see how this played out as a draft beer, but from the bottle it still had a nice smoothness about it. I won’t give too much of it away about this good beer, but I will put it on the list of beer to try. Check out my video review here and you may be able to see why my personal beer rating for this one is 3.5 out of 5. Cheers, and keep drinking those good craft beers!

Brewery Links:

Bloomington Brewing Company: http://www.bloomingtonbrew.com/

Ruby Bloom Amber: http://www.bloomingtonbrew.com/ruby-bloom-amber/

Beer Review: Ballast Point Coconut Victory At Sea

While I have never been a huge coconut fan, I must admit that it has begun to grow on me through my findings of it being used in the beer world. And my beerventure with the 10% ABV and 60 IBU Coconut Victory At Sea from Ballast Point Brewing has added more to my liking of it. This Imperial Brown Porter does not hold back and provides all that one could pretty much expect. I won’t give too much away from my YouTube video review which you can see here, but just know for me that it is well deserving of the 4.75 out 5 which I rated it. Anyone that loves coconut, I think will dig this smooth and flavorful beer.

Brewery Links:

Ballast Point: https://www.ballastpoint.com/

Coconut Victory At Sea: https://www.ballastpoint.com/beer/victory-at-sea-with-toasted-coconut/

Beer Review: Avery Ale To The Chief | Special Four Year DIPA

Every four years, Avery Brewing releases one of their special ales called Ale to the Chief. This ale was created and dedicated to celebrate Inauguration Day and was originally brewed for January, 20 2009. I happened to stumble across this beer at one of my local beer stores and decided to this 8.1% ABV double IPA a go. The video highlights my look at this beer as well as my thoughts, which led me to provide a rating of 4.5 out of 5 for this tasty gem.

Brewery Links:

Avery Brewing: https://www.averybrewing.com/

Ale to the Chief: https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/ale-to-the-chief

Beer Review: Wooden Cask Reformation | Local Cincy Beer

Going local with this one as I was able to catch up with Randy Schlitz from Wooden Cask Brewing here in Newport Kentucky, and take a look at their Reformation Scottish Stout. This beer comes in with an ABV of 7% and 29 IBU, and is one that I have had in the past but had not been able to review. So it was nice that they went to bottling their beers in the last few months, which allowed me to bring one home for this look.

My review of the beer can be seen here on the YouTube video but in touching on a few of the highlights: the beer itself does provide a nice representation of the style. The color was where it needed to be although the head wasn’t as strong as it probably could have been. The body played nice and wasn’t really too thin and the flavor was solid overall. Carbonation wasn’t an issue as the beer did go down smoothly. Catch my video here to see more of my thoughts and as for my rating I rated this beer 3.25 out of 5 placing it just past my good level of 3. It didn’t knock me back, but I did enjoy it.

Brewery Links:

Wooden Cask Brewing Company: http://woodencask.com/

Wooden Cask Reformation (Located on Beers Page): http://woodencask.com/beers/

Homebrewing Tools From The Internet - Websites That I Like

I just thought that I would take a second to introduce some of the home brewing tools that are available online, which may help in the assistance of those in need when it comes to the making of beer. These are ones that I use when I want to check for what may be needed for the beers that I brew.

Sites Discussed:

Brewtoad: https://www.brewtoad.com/

Brewer's Friend: https://www.brewersfriend.com/

Brew Your Own: https://byo.com/

Just Beer: https://justbeerapp.com/