Your Hands and Beers are Mangos

mango-even-keel-ballast-point

One whiff and I was hooked on this super sessionable brew. As soon as you crack the top of the can your smacked in the face with a bountiful bouquet of mango deliciousness. Those aromatics are rounded out with a whiff of citrus following all the juicy mango. It pours an unassuming crystal clear golden orange with a light and quickly dissipating head. From the looks of it you would never suspect that there is a huge amount flavor hiding in there. Tasting this brew starts with a burst of mango that leads to flavors of orange peel and bitter mandarin orange. Intermingled among the all the bold fruit flavors are notes pine and lemon that carry you to a lingering mango and citrus finish.

Overall there are tons of aromatics and flavor with out overdoing the mango and fruit flavors. The flavors pleasantly stay with you for a while. I am really looking forward to popping the top on one of these while floating down the river in my kayak on a hot summer day.

“Your hands and feet are mangos, You’re gonna be a genius anyway” – Phish

Cheers,

Beer Destroyer

Look Maw It’s a Rhyeno!

Smuttynose RHYE IPA

Smuttynose RHYE IPA

This thick skinned IPA is not your typical IPA; it’s been Rye’d! This bottle poured with a strong hop aroma from the heavy amount of dry hopping that features Simcoe and Amarillo hops. This medium to light bodied IPA boasts loads of Rye in the malt bill and it is apparent in the flavor lending subtle hints of Rye peppery-ness throughout the brew. This is a solid and distinct easy drinking Rye IPA.

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Hop Far Far Away…

Clown Shoes Galactica

Clown Shoes Galactica

Clown Shoes Galactica IIPA is a hop forward West Coast style IIPA that is heavily dry hopped with Galaxy hops. This big 8% abv hoppy beer hits you with notes of tropical fruit, citrus and pine from the second you smell to the instant you taste it. All those hops are backed up by a solid, crisp and non-intrusive malt backbone. Clown Shoes beers are contract brewed by Mercury Brewing Co. in Ipswich, Massachusetts where they also brew Ipswich and Brash beers.

IPA DAY 2013

IPA DAY 2013 - Bell's Hop Slam IIPA, Omnipolo Moebius IIPA, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA

IPA DAY 2013 – Bell’s Hop Slam IIPA, Omnipolo Moebius IIPA, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA

I hope everyone had the chance to drink some hoppy and heady beers yesterday for International IPA Day. I managed to make some time for a few tasty beverages throughout the day. I started IPA Day off right with a pint of Hopgasm from 5 Seasons Brewery Prado accompanied by a tasty pulled pork Cuban sandwich with french frys. I love some Hopgasm, it is big and hoppy with just the right amount of bitterness and malt. Yum. I want one right now. I wish the brewpub could sell growlers of that tasty shit… And we’re back.

Later in the evening I sat down with a buddy of mine to check out some bigger IPA’s that I’ve been meaning to drink. We started with the Moebius IIPA by Omnipolo brewery from Sweden. I thoroughly enjoyed this brew. It poured a nice hazy golden color that hinted at a fuller bodied drinking experience. When you smelt the beer your senses were slammed with giant pine and grapefruit aromas. Your nostrils do not lie because this beer beats up your pallet with pine needles and grapefruits. Loads of ’em. The bitterness is right on point too just when you think it might be to much it plateaus but keeps you hanging on the edge. This might have been my favorite of the beer of the evening.

The next beer in the tasting line up was a 2013 Bell’s Hopslam IIPA that has been aging for many months. This big ass IIPA is brewed with honey to off set some of the bitterness. It is a tasty brew but this one had sat around just a little to long. I don’t want to say that the age on this beer made it malt forward but it certainly lost lots of its hoppy appeal. On the nose there was a hint of spicy hop aroma that was dominated by a sweet malty fragrance. Once you dove in there was a muted hop presence as the sweetness from the honey took center stage. All in all it was still a tasty treat but not the hop bomb I was looking for.

The final beer in the IPA Day tasting lineup was a heavy weight. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA is a giant IPA clocking in at 17.5% abv. From start to finish this beer was a battling for your senses. The bouquet slammed your nose three different ways. Super boozy, super hoppy, and super malty. This theme continued throughout the drinking experience as it turned my taste buds up to 11. This thing is a sipper if I have ever seen one. It is hard to say what aspect stands out most about this beer as your palate just gets hit with repeated overwhelming waves of tasty booze, hops, and malty sweetness. Either way it was a monster and I enjoyed it.

I hope you folks had a hoppy IPA Day too!

A Hopgasm in my mouth

5 Seasons Hopgasm IPA

5 Seasons Hopgasm IPA

I hit up 5 Seasons Brewing Prado location for dinner the other night and got to sip on a great IPA. Their house brewed IPA is called Hopgasm. It is a big IPA that is mellow on the bitterness and it can easily be sipped or slammed depending on your mood. It was Memorial Day weekend and the pigs were rolling deep in my neck of the woods so I chose the former drinking method. The brew pub has a good selection of beers brewed in-house as well as a couple of other craft brews on tap from time to time; but I am usually stuck on the Hopgasm because it is so tasty. For dinner I had the Ropa Vieja which is a marinated skirt steak with vegetables and avocado/lime mashed potatoes. The whole meal was great (probably the 3rd time I’ve had it) and I love the mashed potatoes so much that I have made them at home (I added some fresh jalapenos to mine). If you are looking for some good brews and a solid meal head on down to 5 Seasons Brewing. Oh and try the beer cheese soup too!

I’ve got a six pack of the Mondays.

A balanced IPA from Monday Night Brewing Company.

A balanced IPA from Monday Night Brewing.

Monday Night Brewing has been contract brewing for a while and now just started brewing and bottling at their NEW facility in Atlanta, GA. One of the three flag ship beers they produce is the Eye Patch IPA. It is a balanced(slightly malt forward) IPA with a spicy and mildly citrus hop profile. The bottles that I tried seemed to be heavy on the carbonation compared to their draft counter part.

Brew Day at Burnt Hickory Brewery

Burnt Hickory Brew System

Burnt Hickory Brew System

The kind folks at Burnt Hickory Brewery in Kennesaw, GA were gracious enough to let me come help out on brew day this week. Burnt Hickory has been around for just over a year now and during that time they have created a great notoriety for producing some killer beers. Their line up of monster beers are changing the beer game in Georgia; every beer here is bigger and Bigger is Better. The brewery is producing higher than average ABV beers that are packed full of flavor and creativity. The beers produced here will knock the socks off veteran beer drinkers and blow the minds of craft beer neophytes. One of my favorites brewed at Burnt Hickory is a seasonal called “Noggin Knocker” it is an Imperial Eggnog Stout; Need I say more? No? To bad cause it gets better… It’s a barrel aged spiced milk stout that clocks in at 13.5% ABV. This beast then gets split into whiskey and rum barrels and is aged to perfection. Holy Shit this stuff is good. Whats it taste like? You will just have to try it yourself, this is no time for a review of this bucket list beer. It’ll be awhile before this beer comes back around, so let’s dry out our moist panties and move on. Cannon Dragger IPA was on the production list for brew day at BHB this week. This is a big american IPA that is full of hops. It’s a bit bigger that your average IPA at 8% ABV and is a mainstay for the brewery that is available year round. In addition to brewing some beers a little brewery maintenance and new fermenter construction happened that day. New fermenters = more beer for all of us!

Head brewer Will assembling a new fermeter at Burnt Hickory Brewery.

Head brewer Will assembling a new fermeter.

Brew day went off with out a hitch and with lots of beer hitting the fermenter’s before the day was done. Burnt Hickory is offering a brewery tour on May 18th so make sure to be there. Until then you can find their beers on tap in the Kennesaw area.