Beers in Review: Back to Local Brews

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Now that I've worked my way through everything written from up north (I still have a few for videos), I can return to my group of decidedly local beers.

We'll start with Palmetto Brewing Company, and their Huger Street IPA, which they officially call a "Wheat India Pale Ale", and pours a slightly occluded gold-to-orange color. At 7.2% ABV, Palmetto uses Falconer's Flight, Cascade, Chinook, and Citra hops to create a flavor profile that starts off with pine needle notes. This pine presence ramps up through the entire drinking experience and is joined by just a little bit of citrus, specifically orange and grapefruit. Similar to the pine note, the hop bite starts out fairly mild and gradually increases in potency throughout the drinking experience. It seems like the "wheat" portion of this beer comes through in a subtle grassy note, and perhaps a spicy note, as well. A medium-bodied beer, I was impressed with the overall complexities throughout the flavor profile and tasting experience. While the piney notes were generally the most prevalent feature, various other flavor notes came through the drinking experience at various times, making for a fun ride of a beer.

Next up is Kerry's Peanut Butter Porter from River Rat Brewery. It has 6% ABV and pours a moderately deep brown, similar to dark iced tea or watered-down cola. Peanuts and hazelnuts, though not necessarily peanut butter, come through in a generally light-to-moderate overall flavor profile. I also felt like there was just a hint of coffee, but I couldn't quite tell if that was the porter talking or if I was reinterpreting roast from the peanuts. This porter has a creamy mouthfeel that's very nice, though this is probably the beer's best attribute, frankly. Based on the beer's description, they were going for a porter that is quite light overall, and I feel River Rat overshot this mark. There is nothing bad or off-putting about this beer; everything tastes and seems fine. It's just all quite light or mild--the flavors, the body--and it's all a tad underwhelming. I would have liked a little more potency, instead of tasting something that almost felt watered down. I really liked the idea, River Rat. It just needed to be stronger.

Beers in Review: Including a new local brew

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Some pretty terrific beers in today's rundown. Let's get running!

First up is Palmetto Brewing Company's Island Wit, which pours a very pale yellow. While officially listed as a "pale wheat ale", the wheat characteristics play through much more than the pale ale side--I wasn't getting a lot of personality out of the hop profile. In fact, the beer was very light overall, with some mild grain notes, as well as some coriander and other spices. I also detected a mild Belgian yeast-style sweet characteristic--very mild, but certainly present. This beer will play very well in the summer with its quite mild overall characteristics.

Next is Queen Bohemian Lager from the England-based RnR Brew. Inspired by the legendary rock band and their hit "Bohemian Rhapsody", this beer is listed as a lager but is actually a Pilsner. It pours a nice gold color, and hits all the Pilsner notes pretty well. Crisp and pretty clean with a biting carbonation (though not much in terms of head--agitation is need to bring out that carbonation), the flavor notes are straight forward: crackery and peppery, with maybe a faint apricot note. Nothing extraordinary in this beer, but it is a solid execution of the Pilsner style.

Next is a beer mentioned in a recent Six-Pack of News: Stone Brewing's 2016 version of their W00tstout, developed by Greg Koch (Stone Co-Founder & CEO), Drew Curtis (creator of news aggregation and commentary site fark.com), and Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, web series TableTop). The beer pours pitch black, and clocks in at a massive 13% ABV. Rich chocolate are integrated into powerful boozy notes. There are also some dark fruit notes, and maybe some black licorice, as well. This is a super tasty and very strong Imperial Stout.

Finally, a beer from Columbia's newest brewers, Bierkeller Columbia. As you might guess from the name, they are trying to do beers in more traditional German styles. Their Braunbier pours a deep reddish-brown with ruby highlights. I'm big on malt brown and red ales, so this was right up my alley, with a mighty toasted malt backbone that nearly invokes the malted milk ball flavor. This sensation is aided by moderate cocoa notes. There also are some faint bready notes. This is a terrific beer from Columbia's newest brewers! My congratulations to Bierkeller Columbia!

Beers in Review: A trio of beers from the Carolinas

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Today's review features beers from 2 North Carolina breweries and one from Charleston, SC.

The first offering comes from Palmetto Brewing Company's 843 limited-release series, named for the Charleston area code. The Ghost Rider IPA features citrusy hops spiced with ghost peppers and maraschino cherries. Now, to me, the peppers and hops combined for a fairly bitter hop taste. Also evident is a mild burn from the ghost peppers, but it is not overpowering like I've tasted in some other pepper-infused beers. The ghost pepper use should not cause people to shy away from this beer. The front end also had a bit of fruity sweetness from the cherries.

Carolina Brewery's award-winning Oatmeal Porter is a very solid offering style. The beer is hearty, but not super-thick, as some darker beers can be. It also sports a nice creamy head. The aroma and taste tend to feature cocoa/chocolate notes. Despite it being only 5.9% ABV, I found it to have a bit of a boozy aftertaste. But overall, I found this beer to be a strong contribution to its style.

American Pales have arguably become my style of choice. While I can appreciate, and even want, the heavy-hopped IPAs often, I appreciate the better balance of flavors that tend to come from APAs, and Unknown's Over The Edge was no different. It definitely shows its Paleness, with piney hops being a strong part of the flavor, especially early on. The hops give way to sweetness, and I what I identified as cherries, in the middle, before resolving to a pretty clean finish. Another enjoyable example of style, and my first time experiencing Unknown Brewing Company. I may need to seek out some more of their collection.