Beer Run and Unboxing Video: To Indiana And Back

Did someone say beer run? Oh yeah, I did. Deciding it was a nice day for one; I jumped into the cat and decided to venture over to Indiana in search of a certain beer. Unable to find the one for which the venture was created, I turned my efforts to others and was able to find fine substitutes. But why only stop there, on the way back I decided to hit one more spot in Kentucky and was also able to discover some pleasant surprises. Check out my video here to see what I found!

Bell's Winter White Ale | Craft Beer Review

The Winter White Ale is an offering from Bell’s Brewery out of Michigan and the subject of this beerventure. This 5% ABV Witbier pours a nice golden hazy colored beer due to the bottle fermentation that takes place. The beer itself provides a good reminiscence of Belgian-style white ales with the aromas and taste that are often desired. Smooth overall, this beer makes a good offering in winter or spring in my opinion. My Untappd rating on this one is a solid 4 and well worth a try for anyone who enjoys this style. Check out my video review here to see more of my thoughts on this one.

Brewery Notes:

An alternative to dark and heavy winter warmers and stouts, Winter White is a stylish and refreshing Wheat Ale.

Fermented with a Belgian ale yeast, this blend of barley and wheat malts yields a mixture of clove and fruity aromas, all without the use of any spices. Deliberately brewed to retain a cloudy appearance, Winter White is a beer for embracing winter.

Alcohol By Volume: 5.00%

Original Gravity: 1.05

Shelf Life: 6 Months

FOOD PAIRINGS:

Winter White Ale pairs well with delicate fish, seafood, pork or salads. It also works well with spicy foods, bacon, Peking duck, eggs, eggs Benedict, octopus, omelets and sushi.

Dessert: Fruit pies or dishes like blueberry trifle, cranberry-apple cobbler or banana orange crepes.

Cheese: Butterkase, Mascarpone, Edam, Gouda and anything with herbs, cheddar, EMMI Le Gruyere, Blue Costello, Cambanzola, Gorgonzola, 3-year-old Grafton, Trader Joe's Goat Milk Brie (with the rind) or Cotswold with herbs.

New Belgium Dayblazer | Craft Beer Review

Dayblazer, the easygoing ale from New Belgium is one of their more recent releases and I found this blonde ale to pretty much be just that. The beer for me proved to be light to medium in body and was able to be consumed rather easily. The ABV of this ale is 4.8% and with an IBU of 13, the beer was balanced well and pretty smooth. I found some of the tones in aroma and taste to be that of a citrus nature with this golden straw color beer, making it a nice one for spring and summer for sure. My Untappd rating for Dayblazer was a 3.5 and check out my video to see my other comments about this one from New Belgium.

Brewer Notes:

A deliciously refreshing golden ale, at 4.8% ABV, brewed with the finest malts and hops giving a sweet, crisp citrus finish with just a hint of honey. Available in 12-oz. and 24-oz. cans.

VISUAL Blond color with uniform medium haze. White foam and light lacing.

AROMA Low overall aroma built on malt in the form of corn chips, cereal, vanilla and honey; balanced with some flinty sulfitic, isoamyl acetate, and herbal grassy hop aroma.

FLAVOR Light initial sweetness followed by a subtle hop bitterness; neither overpower.

MOUTHFEEL Light body.

BODY Effervescent, with a clean fast finish.

ABV 4.8%

IBU 13

YEAST Ale yeast

CALORIES 141

HOPS Nugget, Cascade

MALTS Pale, Munich

Victory Golden Monkey | Craft Beer Review

The Golden Monkey from Victory Brewing is a Belgian-Style Tripel and my latest beerventure. This Tripel has an ABV of 9.5% and IBU of 25, and carries the characteristics that we have come to know and love about Belgian ales. It poured a great golden color and the aromas jumped out of the glass highly reminiscent of what was expected. The taste proved to be smooth as the sweetness of the malts and was in good balance against the hops and the yeast, and had the little spice kick that is also common among this style of beer. This one was definitely a treat now as it was my past experiences. My Untappd rating on this one was a 4.25 and check out my video below to see more of my thoughts about this ale.

Brewer Notes:

Experience the sweet, sensual aromas and flavors of our famous Belgian-style tripel. Immerse yourself in rich notes of fruit and spice and savor its dry finish.

Composition

Malt: Pilsner, Dextrose
Hops: Tettnang Tettnang, Tettnang Mittelfrueh
ABV: 9.5%

Flavor

Nose is loaded with Belgian yeast character. Banana, clove, isoamyl. Body is equally fruity with light earthy hop character. Boozy with a dry finish.

Food Pairings

Sheeps' milk cheeses and seafood

Serving Suggestion

Serve at 45° F. Tilt bottle slowly into glass making certain that pour is sufficiently vigorous to raise a foamy head. Try to avoid pouring the last dregs as the yeast sediment is not the most favorable part of this beer. Savor the experience slowly as the ale warms.

Availability

Available year-round in 12 oz. bottles, 12 oz. cans, and 750 ml caged-and-corked bottles as well as on draft.

Victory Prima Pils | Craft Beer Review

The Prima Pils from Victory Brewing is a 5.3% ABV German Pilsner that I found to have nice crisp and refreshing quality. It poured out a nice golden color, although the head was a little lacking and thinner than expected. Aromas were decent and the hops balanced well as they were also able to be noted in the taste as well. My Untappd rating on this lager was a 3.5 and check out my video below if you would like to see more notes on this one.

Brewer Notes:

Prima! It’s a German exclamation of joy. It’s a recognition of accomplishment. It’s what escaped from our lips the first time we sampled this mighty pilsner recipe. With heaps of whole flower European hops and fine German malts, we achieved the bracing herbal bite and smooth malt flavor that we sought. Prima… an exclamation of Victory! Prost!

Composition

Malt: Pilsner
Hops: Hallertau, Tettnang, Saaz, Spalt Select
ABV: 5.3%

Flavor

Loads of earthy, herbal noble hop character with subtle malt complexity in the aroma. Flavor is very hop forward with ample bitterness. Balanced malt and clean fermentation.

Food Pairings

Seafood, burgers and pizza

Serving Suggestion

Serve at 42 F pouring carefully. Drink quickly not allowing the beer to warm very much.

Availability

Available year-round in 12 oz. bottles, 12 oz. cans and on draft.

Blue Point Toasted Lager | Crafty Beer Review

Another beer and another beerventure as this time, I took a look at Blue Point Brewing’s Toasted Lager. This American amber red lager comes in at a decent 5.5% ABV and 28 IBU. Malt forward? Yes indeed it is, and the 6 malts used blend nicely forming a good malt backbone in balance with the hops. Refreshing and tasty for sure…in fact, toasted fits nicely in its name. The beer itself while not considered craft now based on the definition applied, is still a pretty good one in my opinion. Of course, we will see if this changes over time, but as for now I would say give it a try. My Untappd rating on this one was a 4.5 as it does well hitting the style for which it is aimed. Check out my video below if you would like to see more.

Brewer Notes:

Toasted Lager was originally named for the “toasted” characteristic of our original direct-fire brick kettle. Our World Beer Cup gold medal winning flagship brew is brewed with a blend of six specialty malts for a flavor as rich and unique as the town it’s from. Toasted Lager’s balanced flavor of malt and hops makes for easy drinking and our special proprietary lager yeast produces an exceptional, long-lasting smooth finish.

ABV: 5.5 IBU: 28 OG: 1.054 Availability: Year-Round