Beer Review: Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

I got my first taste of Lagunitas about two years ago and I have been a fan ever since. I was psyched last summer when I found out that Mims Distributing would be carrying their beers in out area. Mims is the local distributor of Miller, Sam Addams, Sierra Nevada among others including Big Boss. I had picked up several of there beers while passing through Virginia and had especially enjoyed their seasonals. Much to my dismay, their seasonals have been rather few and far between in this area. I can find thier IPA at Harris Teeter, but the only seasonals I've seen in Raleigh were their Lucky 13 and one of their Frank Zappa series "We're Only In It For The Money." Bruisin' Ales in Asheville (who uses a different distributor) gets all of their seasonals. Needless to say, I was pleased to see Hop Stoopid at Sam's Blue Light in Durham, hopefully this is a sign of things to come. I first tried this beer at Tyler's in Durham while Lagunitas was their featured brewery and remember enjoying it. I poured the bomber into a Duvel snifter to reveal a nice crisp bubbly orange with a great frothy eggshell head. The aroma was a nice amount of crisp citrus hops with a hint of pine and a nice backing of sweet malts. The taste wass a nice balance of crisp citrus and pine hops with a decent amount of sweet malts backing them up but leaving a nice bitter hop finish. The beer was fairly light, crisp and refreshing with well hidden alcohol that shows a little stronger in the finish. This one was very enjoyable on a hot summer-like night, and hopefully it and Lagunitas' other seasonals will become easier to find.

Beer Review: Sierra Nevada Torpedo

The last of my new beer reviews (for now) is Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, the first new year-round release by Sierra Nevada in over a decade, and just as interesting, the brewery that is known for its distinctive West-coast hop profile that is present in nearly all of their beers, has produced its first year-round IPA in its 30 years of existence. I first tasted this brew in an early incarnation about a year ago when it was one of the most memorable beers I sampled at the 2008 Raleigh World Beer Fest. Later that summer, a limited draft run found its way to the Raleigh Flying Saucer, and I was lucky enough to enjoy a pint on a $2.75 Monday pint night. I was very excited earlier this year to learn it would become a year-round release, and it has now become one of the few beers I try to always have on hand, especially at $8.99 a sixer. For this review I poured a 12oz bottle into a Corsendonk tulip. The beer pours a crisp bubbly orange with a nice frothy head that leaves great lacing. The aroma is loads of citrus and pine hops with predominant sweet malts backing them up. The taste is a wonderful amount of bitter pine hops dancing nicely with burnt caramel malts. The beer has a touch of dryness along with its medium body that provides nice refreshment and leaves you craving that next sip. This time last year, Bell's Two Hearted was my go-to IPA, and I was paying $38.99 a case for it at Total Wine, or $9.75 a sixer, I am exstatic that I can now get a better beer for less and I can find it at my local Harris Teeter. Keep up the great work Sierra Nevada, and for God's sake, offer this one on draft again already!

Beer Review: Victory Wild Devil (Hops Gone Wild!!!)

There's no denying I love my IPAs. While Victory Hop Devil has not been that high on my list, I do enjoy it every now and then. I'm certainly more of a fan of their yearly Fresh Hop Double IPA Hop Wollop. I have also been a fan of the many wonderful funky sour ales that are being produced with Brettanomyces yeast, a strain which wine makers consider to be an infection, but many brewers now carefully cultivate to produce some very intriguing brews. My first beer brewed with Brett was Russian River Temptation, which was reminded me of Eye Poppers candy, a very interesting and enjoyable beer. Ommegang Ommegedon is a Wild Ale that is becoming not that hard to find, it has some qualities of a Belgian Saison with a nice Brett funkiness. This is the first IPA I have seen that is brewed with Brett, so I am very intrigued to try it. I poured the beer into a Duvel snifter and a soft pour produced an abundant frothy head that was very slow to diminish. Aroma was a nice blend of funky spice, Earthy hops and the German malts that are familiar to Hop Devil. Taste was an absolute plethora of flavor, crisp citrus hops, funky Brett sourness and sweet malts dance nicely together and leave a nice sour bitterness on the tongue. The beer is quite light and refreshing with decent carbonation and is very refreshing. I came into this one expecting to be intrigued, but surprisingly, I REALLY like this beer, this is one of the best beers I've had yet from Victory. I have to say, I would LOVE to see a limited release of Wild Wollop this fall.

Beer Review: Carolina Brewery Jumpin' Bean Coffee Stout

As the old saying goes, "Support Your Local Brewery!" I've had numerous beers from Carolina Brewery, be it on tap at the brewery, at Tyler's or Village Draft House, or from a growler purchased at Sam's Blue Light or Whole Foods. I have developed the opinion that their seasonals tend to be much better than their year-round brews, which are mediocre at best. I was pleasantly surprised to find their latest seasonal available in growlers at Sam's was a coffee stout. I poured the beer into a Duvel snifter a nice opaque black with just a hint of ruby highlights and a thin diminishing head. The aroma was a decent amount of freshly brewed coffee blending nicely with roasted malts. The taste was a little heavy on the coffee, with a bit of bitterness, almost like coffee that's been sitting in the mug a bit too long, I've had my share of coffee stouts in the past few years, and it's become one of my favorite styles of beer, especially on a cold or chilly night, and this is one that just doesn't do it for me like most of the other one's I've tried. I guess I would say this one was worth trying, but not likely one I'd try again.

Brew Review: Founders Cerise (Has Founders gone pink?)

For my first few reviews I decided to go with some newly released brews, first up: Founders Cerise. Founders has only been available in NC for about 8 months now, and we've gotten a decent spectrum of the top-notch brews that they produce; from Breakfast Stout which was available right off the bat at Flying Saucer and has been ever since, to Curmudgeon, a very tasty old ale, to Double Trouble, one of the 10 best Double IPAs I've had yet. Also, we were lucky enough to have access to their absolute best brew, Kentucky Breakfast Stout, although a few kegs to try it on draft would have been nice. Anyway, although I'm certainly not always in the mood for fruit beers, I was certainly intrigued to try their new "Cherry Fermented Ale" known as Cerise. Upon pouring the beer into the Founders pint glass I bought at Sam's Blue Light last night, I was surprised to find a pink tint to the beer. I've seen this before in some fruit beers and gimmick beers such as Coney Island Freaktoberfest, but I certainly did not expect this from Founders, oh well, it's not as blatently pink as others I've seen. The aroma was loads and loads of cherry, with just a bit of malts to back it up. The taste was very much on the tart cherry side, not quite a Flemish ale, or Ommegang Three Philosophers, but close. This one was certainly one of the most interesting beers I've had from Founders. While its not something I'd likely buy another four pack of, it is one I'd be willing to try again every now and then, I would also love to try it on draft.