Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA

From the Harpoon Brewery comes this monstrous DIPA. 10% abv and it currently rates as an A- overall on beeradvocate.com. So, obviously, an IPA lover like myself had to check out Harpoon's latest offering.

I cracked it open and poured it into my new Palm tulip glass. It sure smells like a dipa...

The beer is a beautiful, clear amber color with a nice fingers worth of off-white ipa head. The nose is of fragrant piney, grassy hops over equally fragrant sweet malts with hints of caramel. There are also some ever so slight wiffs of alcohol in the nose.

The body is lighter than expected. The first sip goes down smoothly - a mild piney, and slightly citrusy, hop bite upfront followed by an almost light body of sweet malts. Upon swallowing, the hops make a return engagement and leave a floral, piney taste on the back of the tongue that is resinous but not overpowering. It is in the final swallow that one notices the 10% alcohol. It is not strong enough to distract from the taste or the overall enjoyment of the beer, but it is noticable to a seasoned palate.

I don't consider this beer exceptional but I do consider it very good. I will objectively call it a Glass FULL. I say objectively because I am not a fan of the bigger, and sweeter, imperial ipas. To me a malty ipa is a turn off. But this one, while having a strong malt presence, has a light enough body to make the malt sweetness and high alcohol seem less noticeable. As far as Harpoon beers go, this might be their best offering yet, in my humble opinion. Cheers!

Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse

I picked this up because I had heard a lot of great things about this beer. As the packaging clearly states, this is a Bavarian hefe-weisse imported from Munich. Even though Franziskaner is now part of the Spaten/Franziskaner/Louenbrau Group, which in turn is now owned by Inbev, Franziskaner's history dates back to the 1300's in Germany. Franziskaner means Franciscan and the name comes from the fact there was a monastary across the street from the original brewery.

This hefe pours a golden yellow color and it is hazy with a lot of carbonation. My pour gave me over an inch of fluffy, off-white hefe head. It had a very strong nose of spicy banana and clove, also earthy with hints of citrus.

The body is nearly medium with surprising effervescence. There is some carbonation up front, followed immediately by a sharp, hoppy bite from the noble hops. Hefes are light but the body of this beer has as much weight to it as a hefeweissen can have. The middle flows along the tongue bringing a in hints of wheat, fruit and a light sourness.

Easy to drink yet complex in flavor and character, this is not a hefe to take lightly. The combination of the lively natural carbonation and the tartness make it a very refreshing beer, yet the complexity of the flavors and the substantial body make this a beer than can be enjoyed anytime.

There is no freshness date and I can't help but wonder how fresh this beer is. I would love to try this beer fresh from the brewery someday. If it's this good like this then it must be amazing when fresh.

I have absolutely no reason not to call this beer a Glass FULL. Are there better hefes out there? Sure there are. But this is a great one and a classic from a very old brewery. A must for fans of the style. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!

Hercules Double IPA

I usually dont drink IPAs out of a snifter but I'm making an exception for this big brew from the Great Divide Brewing Co. in Colorado. The Hercules Double IPA is a 10% abv monster that currently rates an A- out of 1100 reviews on beeradvocate.com.

This bad boy pours a dark, orange-amber, almost copper color, with a big, frothy beige head.It is hazy and full of sediment.

The nose is a killer combo of aromatic citrus hops and caramel malt. The malt levels are up for this one. Malt sweetness mixes in with fruity notes from the hops - orange along with mango, pineapple and starfruit. Smells good.

When you taste it your tongue is greeted by an intense hop bite upfront followed by rich, malty sweetness across the middle. More hop bitterness appears in the finish- the oily, resinous kind.

This beer is almost as sweet as it is hoppy. I would say it's almost a 60/40 mix. Hercules is a hop-bomb with a sturdy malt backbone to make it incredibly balanced, almost too balanced for my taste. Although at 10% the alcohol is almost perfectly masked. If you didn't tell me this beer was 10% I would never guess a number so high. It drinks about as easy as a rich, high abv beer can. Yes, the complexity of the flavors and overall smoothness make it hard for me to complain.

Even though malty IPAs are not my cup of tea, I feel I would be cheating this Herculean brew if I gave it less than a Glass FULL. It is a tasty, solid, well made, strong-ass, hop bomb, and a MUST for any DIPA fan, even though I don't see myself picking it up again anytime soon.

In-Heat Wheat

Today we have the In-Heat Wheat, a Hefeweizen from the Flying Dog Brewing Company in Maryland and the second of four Flying Dog beers I will be reviewing. Of course, all four beers are courtesy of my friend Howard.

This one sure smells like a Hefe... hints of banana and clove with some vague hints of a spice I can't put my finger on. Typical of a Hefe, it is a hazy, unfiltered beer.

Surprisingly, it tastes hoppy. There are hints of lemon mixed in with those banana and clove notes from the nose. The banana sweetness from the yeast counteracts the citrus hop notes and gives it an odd flavor profile. I find it quite unbalanced. Refreshing, yes, but sharp and bitter and not very Hefe-like at all. More like a hoppy American wheat beer brewed with German yeast - the yeast gives it a slightly richer body but the combination is a bit off-putting.

Much like the Road Dog Porter, this is not a bad beer but it the flavors are not very balanced and it throws off the final product. Therefore, I consider this brew another weak Glass 1/2 FULL.

Road Dog Porter

The Road Dog Porter from the Flying Dog Brewery in Marland, one of four Flying Dog beers I was given by my buddy Howard.

It smells roasty. Subtle chocolate & roasted malt sweetness with hints of earthy hops underneath that remind me of a rain forest. It smells a bit light-bodied, though...

First taste impression is thin, bitter and sweet.

This beer is all over the place. It starts off thinner in the mouth than the color lets on, with mild, mellow roasted chocolate sweetness in the middle and a hoppy bitter finish. There are hints of cacao in the aftertaste along with a touch of hop resin.

This beer is confused. It wants to be hoppy but there isn't enough body to balance it out. It wants to be roasty and chocolaty but it is too thin and too hoppy. It's not a bad beer, it's tasty for sure, but I find it unbalanced. My significant other disagrees.

I'm not impressed. Weak Glass 1/2 FULL.

New Beer Friday @ Hurricanes

Ok, so I just got back from Hurricane Wings, our local beer haven here in Vero. Today Howard, the manager, just tapped two new beers, the Rastafa Rye from Blue Point Bewing & the Iniquity, a black IPA from Southern Tier. I had a pint of each.

The Rastafa Rye was the best rye beer I've had since I moved out of Miami. It is favorably similar to the Captain Smith's Rye Ale from the Titanic Brewery in Miami, which I consider my favorite rye beer so far. Light and simple, it goes well with food as neither the rye, the hops or the body of the beer are too heavy handed.

The Southern Tier Iniquity is an amazing brew, a blend of roasted malts and strong hops. The black IPA is a new category in the beer books and this is a lovely example of the style, a perfect dessert beer for a hop-head. If a dry stout and a west-coast IPA had a baby this would be it.

We also had the pleasure of sampling two other beers, the Lips of Faith Biere De Mars, an American ale from New Belgium that uses wild Belgian yeast, and the Old Foghorn Barleywine from Anchor.

The Lips of Faith was an interesting brew, fruity yet dry and a bit tart, it was light and would be incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day. My girlfriend said it tasted like band-aids and grass, I somewhat agree but found the beer to be a quality brew that has its place in certain situations. I was told it was based on a French farmhouse ale and shares characteristics with a Flemish Ale.

The Old Foghorn barleywine was the low point of the night, only because I am not a fan of English Barleywines and this is a pretty good example of one. Although it finishes a bit dry and slightly bitter, it is too sweet and just not hoppy enough for me. Specially since my only two other barleywine experiences were with Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Ale (2010) and Avery's Hog Heaven. Quality for sure, just not my cup of tea.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but I just wanted to recap my night of beer before I crashed out. Goonight.

A Proper Boston Lager

I just wanted to post this picture I took a while back and give thanks to my pal Howard for the Samuel Adams Sensory Glass and to the Boston Beer Company for 25 years of a great American Lager. Cheers!

BierBreath on Twitter!!

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Terrapin Rye Squared

Terrapin's Rye Squared. I've been wanting to try this beer since last year but I never got around to it. It is the limited release, Spring seasonal from the Terrapin Brewing Company in Georgia brewed in the style of a Double IPA with the addition of malted rye. It is a hefty 8.5% abv.

I learned to love rye beers after indulging, on several occasions, in the Captain Smith's Rye Ale from the Titanic Brewery in Miami. Since I moved out of Miami I have been longing for a good rye beer. I was hoping this would be it, since I tried Terrapin's regular Rye Pale Ale a couple of months ago and was not impressed at all. You can see that particular review here.

So here we go. I pop off the cap and pour in it a standerd pint tumbler. It is a clear, dark orange-amber color and it gives little head. The smell is an almost even mix of caramel sweetness and citrus hop. Where's the rye? I detect a hint of spiciness, buried somewhere under the hops and malt.

Tasting it brings the same question back into my mind - Where's the rye? I get resinous hop up front with a somewhat heavy malt middle - sweet, caramely and almost cloying. Major hop oil bitterness rides a wave of rich sweetness down your throat. Ah yes, there is a hint of rye back there.

To be fair, the rye came out a lot more as the beer warmed up, in the taste and the smell. So did the malt flavors, which were pretty strong to begin with.

For an 8.5% beer the alcohol is very well hidden. You do get a bit of warmth coming back up after a sip or two, but I'm sure that is easier to notice when you are actually looking for it.

This is an interesting brew, and a sipper for sure. In my opinion Rye Squared is a good brew but it is for those who like a heavy dose of hops AND malt at the same time, not for folks just looking for a refreshing rye beer.

I am temped to give it a 1/2 Empty simply because I think a brew name Rye Squared should have a stronger rye presence. But because it is an amped up imperial ale and not a run of the mill rye beer I will call it a Glass 1/2 Full. The rye is riding in the backseat behind the hops and malt but it is a pretty enjoyable beer if sweeter, maltier brews are your cup of tea. Cheers!

I Love Hurricane Wings (but only in Vero) - A great Friday night out!

Hurricane Wings, Vero Beach. Not just a wing joint anymore.

Howard is the manager and the 28 taps are his babies. Aside from providing beer lovers in Vero a place to call home, he is also the only person "With the balls to tap a keg of Ruination". Those were his words last Friday night right before another keg went empty and Stone's enamel-stripping IPA was tapped for the first time ever anywhere in the county. And I was lucky enough to be the first person in this county, ever, to sip on a freshly poured draft of the stuff. Yay me!

It also helped that one of the latest additions to the draft line-up was the Summit Horizon Red Ale, a hoppy American amber ale from Minnesota. Two of those helped pave the way for the draft glory that is Ruination. For my previous review of Ruination, go here

Of course, aside from the 28 taps, about two dozen of which are of the micro variety, they also keep a few bottled brews as well. Taking with Howard about stouts, I mentioned the Bell's Kalamazoo Stout they serve in bottles. Tell Howard you haven't tried a beer and you will be trying it within seconds. As you can see in the picture above, my g/f and I got to split a bottle of this wonderful stout (and for the record thats the remainder of a Summit Horizon in the middle and the ungodly and yummy Ruination on the left.)

We love Hurricane Wings, Vero. The wings are great, sure, and the beer line-up beckons me on a nightly basis, but mainly we go there for the good company. Not only do Howard and Christina provide good company and good service but their antics behind the bar keep us entertained all night. That, and the fact that they have the Oaked Arrogant Bastard on tap make me want to spend every night there...

So if you are ever in the area, stop in for a bite and/or a quick beer fix. You won't be disappointed. And if you dwell far from the area, but have a nearby Hurricane Wings, pop into that that one and ask them why the hell can't they be more like the Hurricanes in Vero!

Random Old Review - Black Sheep Ale

I decided to randomly feature one of my older reviews, so today I bring you my review of Black Sheep Ale, originally uploaded Dec 1, 2009. Enjoy and cheers!