Hottenroth from Bruery Terreux, subsidiary of The Bruery, is a Berliner Weisse styled ale which of course means it is a sour beer. Low in ABV, this one comes in at 3.1% and as far as IBU that comes in at 2. So nothing bitter here, but you will get hit with the tartness. Lemony on the nose with a thinner texture, it does come across as light as one may expect with a somewhat refreshing quality. For me this one scored out to be a 74, which places it in my solid enough range for beers. I do however think that this would probably be better in the warmer months though when you just want to kick back in the sun and not have anything too heavy.
Check out my video to hear and see more of my thoughts on this one, and if you have had it as well then let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment. Cheers and remember…there’s always time, so Get Your Beer On!
The Cougar from Rhinegeist is a 4.8% ABV Blonde ale that brings some sweetness and a somewhat refreshing quality from the malts making it nice beer for after work, chores or where you want to take a break and throw down a sessionable beer. At 20 IBU, hoppiness is not a concern although there are some notes that you will pick up from the Bravo and Crystal hops used. This one for me was more on the tame side and one that I scored a 75, still making it to my solid enough area. And for one looking to make a jump into craft beers from the more popular mass made adjunct lagers, it can fit well as a crossover beer to try.
Check out my video to hear and see more of my thoughts on this one, and if you have had it as well then let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment. Cheers and remember…there’s always time, so Get Your Beer On!
This is my look at the Sourrento from Bruery Terreux which is a subsidiary of The Bruery, a sour ale that has an ABV of 6.1% and a low IBU of just 5. The beer itself is a sour ale as one could presume for the title and was inspired by an Italian lemon flavored spirit, Limoncello. Unfortunately this offering is retired now, but thought I would still share my look at it.
The beer itself is a blonde ale that was created with the use of lemon zest and also vanilla beans. The beer is oak barreled and for me, the oakiness of the barrels and the vanilla came through very easily as well as that of the lemon and the tartness being sought. Even after being cellared the beer still held a good amount flavor and aroma making it still a nice treat. Images of lemon meringue pie and that of a lemon tart came through in this beer making a nice ale that would be an easy fit as a dessert beer. All in all, it was a pleasurable experience with this one that I scored 82. It was well worth the pick-up and try.
Check out my video to hear and see more of my thoughts on this one, and if you have had it as well then let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment. Thanks for checking out my post here, Cheers and remember…there’s always time, so Get Your Beer On!
The Experimental J-Hole from Rhinegeist Brewery is a limited release from my local brewery and it is the subject of my latest review here. This Red India Pale Ale comes in with an ABV of 7% and an IBU level of 62. Comprised of four malts and 3 hops, its availability is that of December currently and time will tell if this changes in the future. But for now, here is my look at this one that I enjoyed a while ago.
Now if you are familiar with Rhinegeist then you already probably know that IPA seems to be their signature style as you look at their line of beers. It is kind of how they are seen in Cincinnati, whether it was their choice or not. So this beer fits right into their wheelhouse. I did find the beer to overall pleasant experience as for me it scored out as an 87. The appearance, aroma and flavor were all solid and stood out the most for me. The beer itself did have enough to stand out from their usual offerings, and it provided a nice smooth hoppy and malty experience as there was a nice balance. The texture had a syrupy feel which I liked and the caramel received through the malts added a little something different set against the Simcoe, Centennial and El Dorado hops. Overall, I found it to be a decent beer indeed and look forward to its return.
Check out my video to hear and see more of my thoughts on this one, and if you have had it as well then let me know what you thought of it by leaving a comment. Cheers and remember…there’s always time, so Get Your Beer On!
Speed Merchant is a White IPA from Platform Beer Company out of Cleveland, Ohio and comes in with an ABV of 6.6% along with an IBU level of 60. Being in the Cincinnati area, most of the times things said about Cleveland aren’t nice. That is not the case here. Speed Merchant proved to be a nice offering from Platform and provided for me a nice pleasurable experience.
As I mentioned, it is a White IPA bringing in the use of White Wheat to really provide that pale color. This one did well providing fruity, piney and tropical notes as often expected of the style, along with a nice smoothness despite the bittering level. All in all I found this one decent enough to score this one at an 84. I am looking forward to checking out more of their beers and happy to see they are also adding a tasting room here in Cincinnati. Beer bringing cities together…even Cleveland and Cincinnati. Well maybe not yet, baby steps.
Have you had this beer yet? If so then let me know your thoughts as well on it, and check out my video for more about my other thoughts around this beer. Cheers and remember, there’s always time…Get Your Beer On!
Brass Knuckle from Four String Brewing Company is an American Pale Ale that I happened to stumble across during a Trader Joe’s visit, and the can caught my eye enough that I decided to pick it up and give it a shot and also do a review. ABV on this brew comes in at 5.75% ABV and 36 IBU, not what I think of for a beer calling it itself a hard hitting pale ale but it was worth a go.
I found the beer itself to present a nice appearance and have enough palatable qualities to make it a decent enough pale ale. The flavor was okay to me, okay but not great. The aroma had the bases covered of what to be expected, but for me it didn’t come off as strong as advertised although it was still solid enough to be a refreshing beer leading me to score it a 75. In the end though, bitter and fruity with a dry texture do come together on this one like one would seek for a pale ale.
Check out my video to see more about this one. Cheers, and remember there’s always time…Get Your Beer On!
Head Hunter IPA from Fathead’s Brewery is an American IPA and pretty much the flagship beer for this Ohio brewery and it is the subject of my latest review. Coming in at 7.5% ABV for alcohol content and 87 IBU, this beer pretty much embodies all that is a traditional beer of this style. Displaying a deep golden color and nice looking white frothy head, this award winning beer was one worth reviewing just to get a good feel of the style.
The beer uses three hops: Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial which is added to the four malts: Pale, CaraMalt, C-15 and Cara-Pils and together with the American Ale yeast…we have the result of this west–coast style IPA. However, while I found the beer to a solid effort, for me it did come across as being solid, but not as modernized as some of the other ones that are on the market now. Nothing wrong with this one though as it definitely fits the style as mentioned above but the wow factor just wasn’t there for me as much, leading me to score this one an 81.
Check out my video to see more of my thoughts on this one, and if you have had this one previously then let me know what you think by leaving a comment as well. And always remember, there’s always time…Get Your Beer On!
Hop Bullet Double IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing is the latest seasonal beer added to their lineup and the subject of my latest review. I happened to grab this one shortly after it was launched, which was a bit of time before I actually uploaded the review here. Sierra Nevada has always been pretty solid so I usually enjoy checking out their offerings, although I have been not as overwhelmed by them with some of their recent ones. But I do like IPAs especially bigger ones, so I figured why not give it a shot.
Starting with the appearance I found it very nice in its look and display, good color and a nice head made you really want to enjoy this beer. Aroma was very nice coming out of the glass; there was easily some nice dankness from the hops followed by notes of floral and hoppy characteristics for me. There was also a balance where malt could also be detected, which is actually not uncommon for some of the beers of the double IPA style. Despite being 60 IBU, depending on when and how the malts are used can determine how the bitterness truly plays out.
But for me, the flavor played out in the best way of the beer. There was a smoothness that came though and set against that balance of the hops and malts as well as the duration of the flavor, it just provided a great presence of the five hops and five malts used. There was also a sturdy texture to the beer that held up well with its body, and it being carbonated nicely made the finish that much smoother. All in all, I was pretty pleased with this one as I scored it an 88. I found very little to be disappointed about with this one.
Check out my video to see more on this one as well as other particulars, and remember. There’s always time, Get Your Beer On! Cheers!
