Beers in Review: With a Blonde Stout That KILLS It!

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Before we get to that stout from a PRB-debuting brewery, I bring you one from Thomas Creek Brewery. Trifecta IPA was originally created as a collaboration with Greenville-based The Community Tap bottle shop and beer curator (now getting airtime on this blog as part of The Funk Collective event) several years back. It is now part of Thomas Creek's year-round rotation. This IPA comes in at 6.9% ABV and 86 IBU. Pouring a fairly clear amber-to-gold color, I got lots of floral notes, along with a mild sweetness that is more prominent earlier in the drinking experience. There are also some straight-up citrus hints throughout, as well as some citrus rind bitterness that combines with the natural hop bitterness to create a potent bite that is most noticeable towards the back of the drinking experience and ramps up overall as you drink the beer. It has maybe a hair more hop bite than most that claim to be "American-style" IPAs, but I find this to be a really solid beer overall.

Next up is a blonde stout from Legal Remedy Brewing Company, a brewery that I had never had before but has been lauded extensively by work colleagues of mine, and they have talked about this World Court Mocha Blonde Stout as being particularly notable. I didn't quite know what to expect from a color standpoint, but it turned out to be a fairly standard clear gold color. Clocking in at 6% ABV and 24 IBU, I got a whole lot of nice coffee and white chocolate aromas, which is rare for my nose to pick up. Those aromas play directly into a straight forward flavor profile that includes the coffee and a mild roasty note as well as a well-managed sweetness level coming from the white chocolate that doesn't get in the way at all. I found perhaps a slight grainy or bready note as well that, when put with the rest of flavor profile, gave me the impression of blonde brownies. Simply, this is a terrific beer. It has amazing flavor notes that are well-balanced to truly nail a somewhat unusual style in the blonde stout.

Video Review: So Malty. So Good.

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My return to normal content continues with today's video review! Last week, I bought a full six-pack of one beer for the first time in a long time. While I wanted to make sure it was something I could review, I also wanted something for around the house--high quality but fairly easy-drinking. Nothing too taxing or overbearing. I came up Thomas Creek Brewery's Appalachian Amber Ale. Check out my thoughts!

Beers in Review: Heavy Hitters

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I've got some big beers queued up for this review, so let's get started.

We start off with Thomas Creek Brewery and their Bourbon Barrel-Aged Quad, using Four Roses Bourbon barrels. This beer pours a deep brown and is quite hazy. The leading flavor is a whole lot of sugar, almost to the point of being sickly sweet, with notes of chocolate and dark fruits. Also, there was something in there I couldn't quite identify, flavor-wise, but it was almost making my lips pucker, as if there were some kind of sour or bitter note, but I detected neither. I would imagine such a note would speak loud and clear against the sweet notes, unless they were buried incredibly deep by that sweetness. Checking in at 10% ABV, the boozy note also pushes pretty hard. Despite those last couple of things, this was a damn tasty beer.

Next up is Sacred Heartier Double IPA from Columbia's own Conquest Brewing Company. Another big time beer, but it a totally different way from the Quad, obviously. The beer is a pretty orange color and quite clear. It is possible my palate was a bit skewed from the Quad, but this DIPA wasn't as sweet/boozy as I find most in the style to be. I was not bothered by this at all, as I enjoyed the solid hop presence that brought pine notes and a hint of citrus to the flavor profile. I haven't always been big on Conquest--I find them to be inconsistent, generally--but this was quite the hit for me. I just hope it's the same the next time I try it.

Finally, from Founders Brewing Company is the world-class Breakfast Stout. It's very nearly pitch black in color, with a mild boozy note (ABV 8+%) and some dark fruit. The Stout also brought a little bit of coffee and a slight-but-delightful chocolate brownie note that came through in the end of the drinking experience AND EVEN MORESO in the aftertaste. This beer has a considerable reputation, and it stood up to that reputation in my eyes.

So, this finally marks the end of all my beer reviews from the Craft and Draft Octoberfest party. I tried to save the best for last, but the truth is that virtually everything I had at this event was excellent. I look forward to this being an annual event curated by the great guys at C & D!

 

Video Review: Thomas Creek Class Five IPA

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Hi, everyone! After catching a cold last weekend, and spending most of the week still stuffed up, I feel un-stuffed enough to resume doing videos. I'll be working to get caught up for missed time, and the first video of my triumphant return features Thomas Creek Brewery's Class Five IPA. Enjoy!

Beers in Review: Odds and Ends

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5 beers up for review today, including a couple of homebrews from a family friend. Let's get to it!

We start off with River Falls Red Ale from Thomas Creek Brewery. Their award-winning flagship ale pours a nice copper color, and is medium-bodied. It features a solid malt backbone with dark fruit flavor notes, along with some nice additional caramel and toffee notes. As I said, I am big on malt-forward beers, and this is one of my favorites. A really tasty red ale.

Next up is Firestone Walker Brewing Company's summer seasonal session IPA, called Easy Jack. It's a nice gold color, and opens delightfully grapefruity with a mild hop presence. Citrus notes dominate, with orange joining the initial grapefruit notes. It is an IPA that's pretty smooth, with a pretty clean finish. With a great citrus flavor, and checking in at just 4.5% ABV, this beer nails the definition of "sessionable".

Schlafly Beer's/The Saint Louis Brewery's summer seasonal American IPA pours a nice, hazy golden color. It has a complex flavor profile, leading off with spicy and hoppy notes. This gives way to assorted special citrus notes, including sweet orange candies and orange rind. There is an initially mild hop bitterness, which ramps up big time as it warms. A really nice AIPA.

Finally, two home-brewed beers made by a friend of the family, called Coyote Cool Brewing. The first was supposed to be a Double IPA, though it poured a brownish-copper color. This beer really seems to be more of a brown ale, featuring a nice maltiness and cocoa notes. There was also a minor red wine note, along with some kind of candy. I really enjoyed this beer--it's absolutely delicious. But it was not a Double IPA.

The second offering was a Black IPA with Cocoa Nibs. Pouring a pitch black, this beer had a really good malt/hop balance, with mild bitterness and mild unsweetened cocoa notes towards the back. In talking with the homebrewer, he acknowledged that he wanted more cocoa out of it, and I agree. But I really enjoyed the balance in this beer. I feel like Black IPAs can be tough to nail, but this was a really solid first effort.

Beers in Review: I don't have a witty title in me

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We start off today's reviews with Sea to Sea Lager from Green Flash Brewing Company. It pours a pale gold, and features bready and crackery notes with just a hint of malty sweetness. I also got a slight amount of bitterness, and something soap-like. It's a pretty crisp beer, and is generally more flavorful than your standard lager. It makes for a decent summer beer.

Next up is Off Color Brewing's Sparkles Find Some Trouble Gose (a name that made me quite glad that I could simply order it as "number 4"). This gose pours a ruby red grapefruit, and has a ton going on. I'm not big on smell, but I could immediately detect some majorly funky aromas. Upon sipping, my first impression was more Belgian ale than gose, but this changed as my palate adapted. There are tons of light fruity and floral notes, as well as a bit of citrus acidity. The funky note translates into the taste, especially as it warms. I found some of the key gose components, sourness and saltiness, both to be pretty mild overall. Some surprises in this gose, but pretty enjoyable, overall.

Finally for today, the first of several beers from Saturday afternoon/evening's Craft and Draft bottle shop 2nd birthday party. It was a great party, with multiple unique beer offerings, live music, food trucks. This was a Craft and Draft collaboration with Thomas Creek Brewery, resulting in the Slapricot Session Ale. Complexities in the mouthfeel were notable, blending fruity juicyness with an effervescent carbonation. There was plenty of apricot flavor, but the ale wasn't too sweet. Combined with the mouthfeel, I got more an impression of a mild fruity Italian soda instead of a beer. A mild funky note also slyly creeped into this session ale, as well.

Recovered and Reflected: WBF Highlights, Part 2

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As promised yesterday, let's knock out a couple of Pourly Reviewed Ciders before my final beer reflections.

Really, I went to the cider section of the World Beer Festival to break up the beer tastings and try to save my palate a bit. Varying levels of success on that.

In the cider section, my goal was to go outside the box of the typical hard apple cider. I started with McKensie's Beverages and their Black Cherry Cider. It was very tasty, sweet but not killer sweet, and the black cherry was very much up my alley. Really delicious. Second was Bold Rock Hard Cider's IPA, which stands for India Pressed Cider. It lived up to the IPA initials, pairing an early apple sweetness with a hint of that hop bitterness normally reserved for pale ales. Most of the hops were in the back end of the sip, and made for a solid overall taste of the cider.

Back into beers, I had never heard of Charleston's Freehouse Brewery until seeing them at the festival. Their Green Door IPA relies on organic barley and hops. Overall, the result was a mild but solidly drinkable IPA.

Staying with IPAs, I had Thomas Creek Brewery's Trifecta IPA, which features plenty of crisp citrus hop flavors. I haven't seen this beer much around until very recently--this is one I need to explore further.

Finally, Hi-Wire Brewing had their new Spring seasonal, a hoppy Belgian called Death Defying Spring Ale. It was something different, as the hops blended well with the traditional fruity Belgian sweetness. Another beer I hope to enjoy again soon.