Founders Brewing Company Centennial IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Founders Brewing Company Centennial IPA.

From the Founders Brewing Company website: “Get ready to bask in the glory of the frothy head’s floral bouquet. Relish the citrus accents from the abundance of dry hopping. This one’s sweet, yet balanced. Malty undertones shake hands with the hop character for a finish that never turns too bitter.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a golden burnt orange with a thin off-white head leaving lots of thin lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, pine, caramel, honey and some brown sugar notes.

Taste: Citrus, floral and pine hops, sweet malt and light caramel.

Overall: Balanced and highly drinkable, Founders Brewing Company Centennial IPA is solid.  This 7.2% ABV (and 65 IBUs) offering is absolutely worth a try. 

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. - Oatmeal-Imperial Stout - Stout Aged In Whiskey Barrels

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. - Oatmeal-Imperial Stout - Stout Aged In Whiskey Barrels.  I picked this bottle up at Stella Brew (here) in Winston-Salem, NC. They have an excellent selection and we’re very helpful helping me pick out some local “must have” beers to bring home.  If you find yourself in the area stop in, buy some beverages and tell them that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company website: “Made from our B.O.R.I.S. Imperial Stout, that was rated one of the World’s 50 Best Beers, and won the Gold Medal at the GABF in 2008. BARREL-AGED B.O.R.I.S. has picked up rich characters of vanilla, dark fruit, oak, and spice. It’s unbelievably complex and savory.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours black with a small tan head leaving bits of lacing.

Aroma: Bourbon, dark fruit, coffee, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, roasted malts, oak and a slight scent of oats.

Taste: Bourbon, dark fruit, oak, roasted malt with less pronounced flavors of chocolate, vanilla and coffee.

Overall: Full-bodied and smooth, Hoppin' Frog Brewing Company Barrel Aged B.O.R.I.S. is enjoyable.  This 9.4% ABV offering is great now, but could use a little aging due to the barrel presence.  Would absolutely buy again!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Anderson Valley Brewing Company Spring Hornin' Spring IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Anderson Valley Brewing Company Spring Hornin' Spring IPA.

From the Anderson Valley Brewing Company website: “With floral, spicy aromas reminiscent of lilacs, white pepper and Bartlett pears, our new Spring Hornin’ IPA embodies the season with a clean malt profile and herbal hop flavors lasting into a dry, refreshing finish.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a clear amber with a huge and dense off-white head leaving good lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, floral and pine hop notes, sweet and toasted malts, pear, spice and light notes of white pepper.

Taste: Taste follows the nose with fruity, pine, citrus and floral hops, some spice, toasted, biscuity and sweet malts and a touch of white pepper.

Overall: Unique and refreshing, Anderson Valley Brewing Company Spring Hornin' Spring IPA is a delicious IPA.  This 6.5% ABV offering is yet another great beverage from Anderson Valley Brewing Company.  I dig it!

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Lagunitas Brewing Company Bitter Oats Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Lagunitas Brewing Company Bitter Oats Ale.

From the Lagunitas Brewing Company website: “Ale Brewed With Boatloads of Oats and a Mountain of Hops. This big boozy blonde was brewed with a boatload of oats, giving it a creamy, sweet mouthfeel with a hoppy blast. It's like a powdered sugar doughnut topped with deliciously bitter, danky resinous hops. Chow down!”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a honey orange color with a dense white head leaving loads of sticky lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, tropical and piney hop scents, bready, oat and sweet malt notes.

Taste: Sweet malts, oats, vanilla, doughy, citrus, tropical and pine hops and a slight honey taste.

Overall: Creamy and smooth, Lagunitas Brewing Company Bitter Oats Ale is great.  This 10.5% ABV offering is very easy to drink even with the high ABV.  I’d absolutely purchase again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Schneider Weisse Tap X Aventinus Cuvee Barrique

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Schneider Weisse Tap X Aventinus Cuvee Barrique.

Commercial description: “In 2010, Han-Peter Drexler started a new project maturing some of his finest beers in wine barrels. A new delicious beer was created. Aventinus aged in Pinot Noir wine barrels. The results are incredible with a fruity nose reminding of figs and dried pears. On your palate you meet cherries, balanced by a hint of vanilla and chocolate with a complex sour dimension and dry pleasantly sour and licorice finish. A warming well-balanced Cuvée with a long dry finish. Absolutely remarkable.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a cloudy brown with orange hues producing a large and dense tan head leaving sticky lacing.

Aroma: Sour grapes and berries, oak, must, wheat and hints of chocolate and brown sugar.

Taste: Tart and sour with dark fruit and grape flavors, oak and hints of chocolate, brown sugar and vanilla.

Overall: A very unique beer, Schneider Weisse Tap X Aventinus Cuvee Barrique is not what I expected it to be.  Smooth, creamy and sour, this 9.5% ABV offering was certainly worth a try.  I’m glad I picked this one up.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Great Divide Brewing Company Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Great Divide Brewing Company Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout - Stout Aged on Oak Chips with Cocoa Nibs and Spices Added - bottled on April 9, 2013.

From the Great Divide Brewing Company website: “CHOCOLATE OAK AGED YETI IMPERIAL STOUT is another revered incarnation of our legendary imperial stout. We toned down the hops a bit to allow cocoa nibs to contribute some pleasing bitterness, while vanilla notes from the oak combine with the cocoa to create an aroma and flavor akin to a gourmet chocolate bar. A dash of cayenne keeps things lively, adding just a bit of heat to the finish. Another great Yeti? Hell yes.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a thick dark brown, nearly used motor oil black with a large and dense dark tan head leaving loads of spotty lacing.

Aroma: Bitter, dark chocolate, roasted malt, vanilla and a slight oak scent.

Taste: Dark, bitter chocolate, oak, vanilla, roasted malt with just a slight touch of cayenne in the finish.

Overall: Thick and creamy, Great Divide Brewing Company Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout is nice.  This 9.5% ABV offering is worth trying.  The alcohol is very well hidden.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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Cigar City Brewing Strawberry Shortcake Lager

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Cigar City Brewing Strawberry Shortcake Lager.

From the Cigar City Brewing website: “This beer tastes a lot like Strawberry Shortcake, which is a good thing considering its name.

Released every year in celebration of the Florida Strawberry Festival.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours clear and golden with a thin white head leaving little lacing.

Aroma: Pale malt, sweet strawberries…almost like strawberry preserves and a slight scent of hay.

Taste: Strawberry preserves, pale malt, vanilla, bready and some cereal sweetness.

Overall: Fruity and sweet, Cigar City Brewing Strawberry Shortcake Lager is interesting.  This 5.5% ABV offering is refreshing and worth a try for fans of fruity Lagers.  I’d drink this beverage again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious IPA

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious IPA. I picked this bottle up at Stella Brew (here) in Winston-Salem, NC. They have an excellent selection and we’re very helpful helping me pick out some local “must have” beers to bring home.  If you find yourself in the area stop in, buy some beverages and tell them that Mark from NorCal Beer Blog sent you!

From the Wicked Weed Brewing website: “Pernicious is our flagship India Pale Ale boasting a silver medal at this year’s Great American Beer Festival. This massively dry-hopped ale has minimum malt complexity and a combination of juicy, tropical fruit-forward hops with heavy resinous American hops. Pernicious is the epitome of a West Coast IPA, made right here in the Southeast.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazey dark golden color with a large white head leaving lots of lacing.

Aroma: Citrus, tropical fruits, earthy/grassy and pine hop scents and slight scent of sweet malts.

Taste: Tropical, citrus and pine hop flavors backed nicely with sweet malt notes.

Overall: With a nice blend of hop flavors, Wicked Weed Brewing Pernicious IPA was enjoyable.  This  7.3% ABV offering is something I’d certainly drink again.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

If you haven’t already, please like the NorCal Beer Blog on Facebook (here)

Anchor Brewing Company Meyer Lemon Lager

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Anchor Brewing Company Meyer Lemon Lager.

From the Anchor Brewing Company website: “Inspiration can strike at any time. For brewers, time is often spent talking about different herbs, beer styles, flavors, or brewing methods with an expectation of the final product. Other times, it’s a creative force built on brewing experience that drives new beers that launch into the stratosphere. Truthfully, many ‘inspirations’ live out their days humbly in the taproom to be enjoyed by only a few. In any case, the road planned isn’t always the road traveled, which definitely applies to our newest canned brew, Anchor Meyer Lemon Lager™. - See more here”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazy golden straw color with a large white head leaving patches of lacing.

Aroma: Lemons are way up front – tart and sweet smelling, grainy malt and some lager yeast.

Taste: Lemon – both juice and zest flavors, bready and pale malts, some spice and earthy notes.

Overall: Crisp and light, Anchor Brewing Company Meyer Lemon Lager is refreshing.  This 4.5% ABV is something I will certainly purchase again – a great summer session beer.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey

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