Beers in Review: Two favorites

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We've reached the month of May, which means summer is approaching (or here, as in Columbia, SC). That makes it the perfect time to write about two of my favorite beers. One is a summer seasonal wheat ale, while the other is a year-round wheat beer crossed with some interesting global flavors. Frankly, I'm stunned I hadn't written about these beers yet, especially the year-round offering (considering I've only been writing since the fall).

First up, the seasonal from Bell's Brewery, Oberon Ale, which for me is pretty much THE example of what a wheat ale should be. The ale pours a hazy, orange peel color and has a light body. The "orange peel" concept continues into the taste for me, as I detected both citrus like orange and lemon as well as citrus peel flavors. There are also some grain or wheat notes, along with some mild spices and a very mild hint of bitterness. Oberon tends to be available for a longer period of time than most summer seasonals; it is reportedly available from April to August. As one of the ideal summer wheats, it's one I'll enjoy that entire time. This is a true go-to beer.

Next is one of the first truly unique beers I ever tasted, Westbrook Brewing Company's White Thai witbier. A little lighter than the Oberon, more a straw color, but also pretty hazy and light in body. This beer has a crisp, tart opening with some sweet orange and lemon citrus notes. Very quickly, the "Thai" portion of "White Thai" asserts itself, as notes of ginger and lemongrass become prominent, with some other spices in the background. The ginger and spices carry through the rest of the sip and even into the aftertaste. A wonderfully complex and very different type of witbier.

Beers in Review: In which we define "palate wrecker"

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Three very different beers on tap for review today. We'll get into what the post title means in a bit.

Leading off is the Shot Down Chocolate Stout from Fort Collins Brewery. As expected, the stout is a dark brown to cola color (the brewery calls it "light black", which made me laugh a bit). I normally struggle to pull a lot out of the aroma, but lots of roasty and toasty notes were detectable in the Shot Down. The roast and toast continue in the flavors, along with the expected present-but-not-overpowering chocolate. There were also hints of smoke and coffee, and as I drank, I discovered the cocoa and chocolate notes tended to hang around on the palate after drinking.

Next up is a small batch single IPA from Weyerbacher Brewing Company simply known as IPA #1. Pouring a pretty gold color, 4 different hops used in the making of this IPA result in a massive and complex hop flavor profile. Dank and funky along with some tropical notes all powered to the front of the sip, and I also detected some herbal notes further on in the sip. The bitter notes are very prominent and linger after drinking. To me, this is what's known as a "palate wrecker": a beer where the flavors are so overwhelming that you can't really have any more beers and expect to get any accurate flavors from them. Some IPAs with strong hop profiles, such as this Weyerbacher IPA #1, can fall into this category (and one such IPA is actually called "Palate Wrecker"). You just hope it doesn't fall at the beginning of a drinking session, like it did for me. I enjoyed this beer, but I found my taste buds overwhelmed after the fact.

Finally, a live tasting of Sierra Nevada's wheat ale, called Kellerweis. It pours a fairly clear pale gold color, and had about a quarter-inch of pure white head (foam) that has mostly dissipated after sitting about 10 minutes, though a surface layer still exists. Upon the first sip, sweet flavors, including mild grape and lots of spice notes are heavily present. Cloves, among the spices, is at the forefront, as is common in many hefeweisens/wheat ales. Notes of banana are also present nearing the end of the sip, along with some bready and mealy notes. This is a fairly well-executed example of the hefeweisen style.

Sunday Funday on the Columbia Brew Bus (with a brand new brewery!)

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So, as anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, Sunday is pretty regularly a blogging day for me. Needless to say, that didn't happen, as I participated in the Columbia Brew Bus's monthly Sunday Funday brewery tour. As an additional bonus, this was CBB's first tour to include the newly-opened Twisted Spur Brewery and Restaurant. More on them later. The tour started at 2pm with pick-up in downtown Columbia, providing transportation to Columbia's 3 commercial breweries--Conquest, River Rat, and Swamp Cabbage, before finishing up at Twisted Spur. At each location, we were provided with 4-4oz samples of each brewery's beer, along with the option to purchase additional pints and also beer to go (growlers or bottles) at cost. Per the guys running the tour, it seemed like this tour is targeted for about 4 hours total, but we blew well past that, not leaving Twisted Spur until 8pm. This was not a problem for me, but just be prepared for some extra time, especially if they continue to include a 4th touring location.

As I've had and written about the first three breweries in this blog previously, I will write about the breweries themselves while only mentioning highlights of the beers I had. This was my first time ever at Conquest and Swamp Cabbage, and my first time spending any meaningful time at River Rat. It was nice, in part, to finally learn where Conquest and Swamp Cabbage are located.

Our first stop was Conquest. They are located in an industrial building (all of these commercial breweries are located in industrial areas near the university's Williams-Brice Stadium) with a very nice bar area along with additional seating and space adjacent to their production area, as well as some outdoor space with picnic tables. The most notable of their four beers were the Coffee IPA, which I reviewed previously, and their Drinking Class Ale. This beer is in the style of an ESB (Extra Special Bitter), but uses some different ingredients for a very different taste. I can't describe it much, really (nice job from a beer blogger, right?), except to say it was very enjoyable but tasted unlike any ESB I've had before.

River Rat Brewery has a decent bar and sitting room, along with a decent amount of grassy outdoor space. They seem to be the most social of the commercial breweries--public areas away from the production space, frequent events like yesterday's charity cornhole tournament (though the other breweries are doing their share of events), and plenty of overall social space. The beer highlight was their collaboration with developing Greenville, SC brewery Birds Fly South, called Touch of Grey. This was listed as an Oatmeal IPA with citrusy notes, but the first thing I was getting was piney and dank hop notes. Now, make no mistake, the citrus was sneaky, always hanging around, but never quite the main feature of the flavor profile. It had very little bitterness, which was nice for a warm Columbia day.

The third brewery was Swamp Cabbage, which has a couple of small sitting areas featuring small bar, along with a very nice deck and open outdoor space beside the production area. A couple of the beers I had had before, of course, but their Peach Pale Ale was a new one for me. The peach flavor was present but generally pretty mild and the beer had a bit of a bitter finish. The SC Stout was also quite good, but the Peach Pale was a better match to the warm day.

Finally, we ended up at Twisted Spur for the final beer flights and some food. I just had an appetizer--chips with blue cheese, cheese sauce, bacon, and balsamic vinegar--and it was very good. In fact, our group of 20 ordered a considerable amount of the menu, and enjoyed most or all of it. Getting to the beers, first was their Southern Belle Blonde, which had a hint of white grape along with some mild crackery notes and a bit of a floral finish. Next was the Dead Head Red, a nicely balanced beer that is a little more hop-forward than most reds. It had mild malt and fruit notes with a decent bite. Third was their Hefeweisen, a very solid execution of the style, with notes of bananas, cloves and other spices along with maybe a hint of bread. Finally, we had the IPA, which hint several nice hop notes with very little bite. Overall, all of these beers were solid executions of their styles, and I look forward to seeing what else they can do as they get more comfortable with their venture (the space has only been open for a week).

With this, the Brew Bus returned us to our original location. Given the potential amount of beer that one can drink on these Brew Bus tours, I strongly urge consideration of a cab or Uber to and from the meet-up point. This was my first Columbia Brew Bus tour, and I would certainly be interested in doing one again in the future. Thanks, guys!

Beers in Review: Doing one live

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I have just one last saved up from the weekend to write about, but since I want to give you all your money's worth, I'll add one live tasting to wrap up the post. The things I do for you people.

From the weekend, Magic Hat Brewing Company has released their summer seasonal, Stealing Time. A wheat ale with ginger, I'm glad to say the balance of the ginger is one of several positive characteristics of this beer. As expected for a summer, it has a light gold color and a pretty light body. Overall, I found the ale to be quite tasty. It was pretty sweet, but also contained some grainy notes. The ginger flavor and bite was noticeable but not overpowering, as is so easy to do. The result was a nice balance between the less intense wheat ale characteristics and the ginger notes. A really nice execution and a tasty beer.

For the live tasting, and staying in a summery mood, I have the Hauch von Himmel Hefeweizen from from Church Street Brewing Company in Illinois. I considered doing this for tomorrow's video review, but I didn't want to have to deal with saying/butchering "Hauch von Himmel" a lot, so this live tasting works out better. The hefe pours a pretty gold-to-ripe-peach color, and is pretty hazy. Upon taking a sip, the first impressions are of fruit, but it's not super-sweet, like it could be with such flavors. There is also an interesting sour note, almost pushing into a sour ale, but not quite. There is some very mild clove and other spices, and maybe just a hint of graininess. All of this is going on as it stays in my mouth, but I find it all resolves into a tart white wine note at the very end. There is a whole lot going on with this beer, and I'm glad I have a couple more to enjoy as the weather warms up.

Beers in Review: Two Foothills and a Red Hare

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Three beers on tap for this review. Let's get to it!

There are a couple of beers from Foothills Brewing to discuss, leading off with the Hoppyum IPA. This beer is semi-clear and golden in color with maybe a hint of ruby red grapefruit color. The first flavor that was pressed on me was a powerful piney hop presence that eventually led to some citrus notes and a hint of nuttiness. There was also a strong initial hop bite, but this dissipated in the flavor quite quickly. Overall, I find this beer tends to push more into the English- or American-style IPA than the more traditional IPA.

Next from Foothills is their Carolina Blonde. The target idea here is achieving that quintessential summer day beer--a concept we've discussed with other breweries/beers in the past. The execution is pretty spot on. Officially a cream ale, the Blonde pours a somewhat hazy gold color, and is generally low in body. Generally mild but quite noticeable flavors include a light fruity sweetness along with perhaps some bready or crackery notes. I also detected a little bit of grape or more likely grape skin flavor as well. The beer is not super crisp, but a slightly citrusy bite at the very end helps bring the "summer beer" concept together from beginning to end.

The last review for this entry is Red Hare Brewing Company's Watership Brown. It has a deep brown color, a medium-high body, and a lot of nice things going on with it. Malty flavors take the lead, including a delicious malted chocolate milkshake-style taste, along with some caramel sweetness and a slight bitterness. There was also an almost boozy note (or perhaps something chemical?) at the end, which surprised me (the ABV is 7.2%). I feel I should note that I have had some mild taste issues with this establishment's tap system in the past, so I can't conclusively decide (and in fact, highly doubt) that this was a beer flaw. Overall, my impression was 3/4 a really great beer, 1/4 something weird at the end. Regardless of issues, this is a beer I would have again in the future, and I will need to try to find this again and publish a follow-up.

Beers in Review: And now for something(s) completely different

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Thanks, John.

Today's review features a couple of beers that are completely different that what you will find in the standard beer scene. But we'll start with a very solid Scotch Ale.

Frog Level Brewing Company's Hopscotch Ale brings a whole lot of flavors together really well. A brown to copper color, and having lots of body, the Hopscotch hits first with plenty of malty and smoky sensations. I then encountered some mild earthiness along with some sweetness of dark fruits and a little bit of booziness you would expect from a Scotch Ale. Some caramel and toffee hints are also present, though far less prominent. Though this is kind of a more standard beer than the next two that will be reviewed, this beer is really tasty and enjoyable. Great stuff.

Next up is Cismontane Brewing Company's beer-wine hybrid, called The Mesa. The Mesa is 75% Pilsner, 25% Riesling white wine, and processed to highlight "the flavors that beer and wine have in common." (from their website) The brew pours a white wine-esque pale yellow color, and doesn't have much body. There are a whole lot of flavors going on here, starting with initial winey grape notes along with a hint of floral. There were also some grainy hints and an overall pretty sweet flavor profile, which I am told is pretty common with Rieslings. My general description of the Mesa: wine in taste (though, it is more than that), beer in make-up/mouthfeel.

Finally, 1 Brazillion Dollars from Against the Grain Brewery in collaboration with Morada Cia Etilica in Brazil (hence, the punny name). This is a bourbon barrel-aged smoked wheat wine, a style resulting in a high alcohol content and tons of flavor. The wheat wine pours a medium brown, darker than expected, and doesn't have a whole lot of body. Most notably, despite this high alcohol content, and I had initially been told it was 11% ABV, while the AtG website says 9%, the booziness is pretty well controlled. Flavors include some dark sweetness of caramel and toffee along with some smoky notes. There was a slight hint of bitterness towards the very end of the sip as well.

Oh, Hillary...

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Consider this "fair and balanced" blogging.

Remember when Lindsey Graham, Senator from South Carolina, ran for President? It really did happen! He even tried to pour a beer during a campaign stop. It didn't go well.

All the remaining candidates are spending most of their time in New York state right now, in anticipation of their upcoming primaries. Hillary Clinton went to a brewery near Buffalo, NY. Guess how it turned out.

Yeesh.

 

Photo by Glass By Andrew.

Beers in Review: Near and far

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A quartet of beers ranging from local to international are on tap tonight. Let's start with the international, shall we?

From Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Belgium I had the Duchesse de Bourgogne, a Belgian-style Flemish red ale. It pours a matching reddish-brown color, and not much body, but this ale was loaded with fruit flavors. This is a result of maturation in oak casks prior to bottling. The fruit experiences were quite diverse: pear or apple, maybe cherry, with a massive sweetness. It was almost too sweet for my taste. In addition, Flemish reds typically have some sour attributes to them, and here they were more a complementary feature--not overly strong like I find in most sours. I expect this might be a result of having a legit Belgian Flemish as opposed to American attempts at the sour style.

Next up is the closest-made beer, American Kolsch Story by River Rat Brewery. It pours a pale straw color, and serves as a solid hot summer day beer. Initial impressions had bready and crackery notes early on in the sip. This gradually lead to hints of traditional German beer sweetness. It also led to a bit of a bitter finish, which was a bit surprising.

Next up is Oasis Brewing Company and their Scarab Red Ale. A pretty solid ale overall, I first got notes of graininess and even possibly corn. There was also a whole bunch of initial malty sweetness that dissipated pretty quickly after drinking. Again, solid, pretty tasty, but nothing spectacular.

Finally, what was supposed to be an Anniversary beer for Unknown Brewing Company, but it wasn't quite done on time. The result is 1.5-ish, an ale aged in Cabernet barrels with strawberries and vanilla beans. We'll get to all that shortly. The ale pours a cloudy bronze color and has a lot of body. As you might guess from the brief description above, the flavor profile has a whole lot going on. The Cabernet barrels shine through with strong initial red wine notes, leading to a kind of strawberry sundae thing going on from the strawberry and vanilla bean infusion. There was lots of sweetness (but not overpoweringly so, like the Duchesse above nearly was--note these were enjoyed on different nights) and even a little bit of funkiness. A hint of sourness rounded out this wonderful flavor experience of this ale. I had sat on 1.5-ish for a while before drinking it for no particular reason. Truly, I wish I'd drank it sooner and bought 4 more bottles. A really great drinking experience.

Beers in Review: Beers from the Western USA

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So, earlier this week, I brought you three beers from a northern Nevada brewery, Great Basin. We will continue today with several more beers from the western half of the United States.

Up first is Red-Headed Stranger from Brasserie St. James. Formally a farmhouse ale, it played like a combination of a more traditional malty red ale and something even more Belgian than a farmhouse tends to be. The flavors tends to lean towards fruity sweetness and heavy malt notes. There was also a slight crackery or bready note going on, but it very much paled in comparision to the first two notes. There was also a little bit of funkiness that isn't a bad thing--it tends to be a result of Belgian yeast strains and other ingredients that lean towards these more Belgian styles. It was a pretty beer (a reddish bronze color) with some very different flavors that I really enjoyed. This Red Headed Stranger was one of my favorite beers in recent memory.

Next up is Ranch Hand American Ale from The Depot Craft Brewery and Distillery. This strikes me as their equivalent of the "pale lager" that so many American beer drinkers are used to, but there is so much more going on with this Ranch Hand. As expected, it pours a light/pale straw color and has a generally light body. There are no exceptionally strong notes with this ale, but plenty of flavor notes to go around, especially for the style. Early on, malt notes can be detected, which then leads to maybe a hint of hops as well as mild berry notes. Crisp throughout, with a clean finish, this beer does a very good job of doing what it wants to do.

Big Daddy IPA is from Speakeasy Brewing Company (who picked up the excellent web address of goodbeer.com), and has a fascinating complexity of flavor. Pouring a golden-orange color, the hop profile is prominent, with piney and dank flavors. The initial hop bitterness is fairly mild but ramps up as it warms. There is also a strong impression of dark fruity sweetness that almost makes this ale play like a Double IPA, but the ABV (6.5%) doesn't really support that. I also got a hint of perhaps some kind of mild spice, but I couldn't place it exactly.

Finally, an English-style ale from Firestone Walker. Their flagship beer is called DBA, or Double Barrel Ale. A straight forward ale that pours a pretty copper color, DBA has a medium body with initial malty and grainy notes. These notes eventually lead into sweet notes of caramel and toffee. DBA is well-executed and very enjoyable.

Beers in Review: Great Basin Brewing Company

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Hello, again, everyone. I am back from a vacation to the western half of the country, where I got to have beers from Nevada and several other western states. So, there will be a few posts over the next week or so containing reviews of these beers. We start today with a trio from Great Basin Brewing Company.

We start with their Icky IPA ("Icky" being short for "Ichthyosaur", the official fossil of the state of Nevada), which pours a light gold and has a medium body. I detected citrusy and piney hops, but what really played through were orange notes throughout, with some mild hop bitterness early on in the sip. The bitterness lingered a while during the sip, but was gone before finishing. Fairly light for an IPA--not surprising, as Icky seems to be one of Great Basin's prime/flagship beers, and  I'd expect they are going for something that can be enjoyed in the middle of a blazing hot day in the middle of the desert.

Next up is the Wild Horse. Listed as an amber ale brewed in the traditional German "Alt" style, which refers to differences in the fermentation process. The Wild Horse has a reddish-to-auburn hue. A very tasty ale overall, malty and sweet. Notes of dark fruit are quite prevalent.

Finally, Great Basin's multi-award-winning Milk Stout, called Outlaw. It pours nearly black, and has lots of sweet cocoa and caramel notes, along with some coffee, and maybe a little bit of roast from coffee or malts. The mouth-feel of this beer is exceptional. Having a decent amount of body, this beer is very smooth to drink, and is creamy and satiny on the mouth. A delicious beer with a great mouth-feel makes for a killer combination.

Beers in Review: With two holiday-appropriate beers

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With St. Patrick's Day just passed, and the big festival held here in Columbia yesterday, some of today's beers are still themed to the holiday, including the longtime Irish standard.

Leading off with a beer released by the local Conquest Brewing in honor of the holiday and the annual festival held in Columbia. Ol' Ossifer is a very low ABV (just 3.7%, lower than Budweiser or Bud Light) amber ale obviously intended to be able to drink all day during the St. Pat's festival. It pours a gold to reddish color, and didn't have a lot of body for me, though I may have been influenced by past beers I drank that night. Interestingly, the first note was some hops, with included floral and piney notes for me. This eventually leads to grainy, biscuity notes towards the end, along with maybe something a little smoky, but I again wonder if my palate was influenced to misinterpret a toasty malt note or something.

Next up is the St. Patrick's Day standard: Guinness Draught Stout. Now, in line with our disclaimer, I must mention that this beer was provided at no cost as a result of one being poured in error at a local watering hole. At this point, the beer either would have been given away or dumped. So, that was a free beer for me. Guinness is a pretty straight-forward stout with pretty strong flavors. They include primarily roasted malt. I also got some hints of coffee, and some very feint chocolate notes. This beer came from a nitrogen tap, just like the Murphy's Stout from this week's video review, so the beer was very smooth and creamy when drinking.

Finally, one of Sierra Nevada's newest offerings: Otra Vez gose. Flavors include sweet grapefruit and pear, leading into an increased sourness and some mild, but not overpowering, saltiness. The sourness continues to linger, turning into a tingly feeling on the tongue that continues after drinking. Putting it all together, with the specific flavors and fairly mild saltiness, this gose almost plays like a grapefruit soda instead of a beer. It's a very different year-round offering from Sierra Nevada, but one that could do well as a summer beer.

Beer in Review: NOT a beer from Ireland (Whoops!)

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So, in my journey to acquire Irish beers for this week's reviews, I made a slight error with one of them. Today's beer is an "Irish-style Cream Ale" that was made in England. Whoopsie!

Wexford Irish Cream Ale is made by Greene King Beers, though I can't find this particular beer on the website. This particular ale came in a larger aluminum can with a nitro widget. The result was that cascading bubble effect that Guinness draughts made most famous. The result is a smooth creamy white head on top of a gold-to-copper beer. The beer is flavorful, mostly consisting of bready malt flavors along with maybe a bit of caramel or toffee sweetness. The back end also has a mild amount of bite from the hops. This beer is much better than expected, as a lot of cream ales can be underwhelming in flavor. This one delivers very well.

St. Patrick's Week Beer Review: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

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Because you KNEW we weren't getting through this week without a Guinness product.

The Guinness Foreign Extra Stout is pitch black with a bit of tan head, and has a fair amount of body. The first taste is a big sweet note of dark chocolate, combined with some breadiness. Towards the end I get a whole lot of maltiness, roasty and smoky notes, along with maybe just a slight touch of alcohol at the very end. I find this Guinness to have lots more flavor and be much more complex than the standard Guinness Draught Stout, which can be a little bit limited, flavor-wise. While not traditional, this is a nice alternative.

 

St. Patrick's Week Beer Review: Smithwick's Irish Ale

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Hello, everyone. It is four days until St. Patrick's Day, and we're going to honor such a notable holiday with four different Irish beers. Now, I will quickly note that these beers generally are wide commercial releases. This more or less can't be helped, as microbrews/craft beers FROM Ireland typically will not make it across the ocean to North America. So, we take what we can get, starting with arguably the widest release of the four: Smithwick's Irish Ale.

A Guinness product, Smithwick's is stylistically an Irish Red Ale. The most common Irish Reds available in the U.S. are made by Killian's and Samuel Adams. Smithwick's is typically better than either of those. It pours a pretty bold red color with perhaps some brownish hints, and has a nice pillowy light tan head. Upon drinking, the first notes are sweet notes along with some dark fruits. As my palate adapts, I find there is less sweetness that is replaced with just a small hint of hoppy bitterness. These notes gradually lead into maltiness and a hint of roast towards the back end of the sip.

Beers in Review: Sextet

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With the upcoming series of Irish beers this week, I don't want to leave any kind of backlog of pending beer reviews. So, I'll be knocking out six different beers in today's review. Let's get to it!

Leading off is Goose Island Beer Company's Green Line Pale Ale. It pours a crystal clear gold or honey color. Generally mild and well-balanced, initial impressions are of piney and citrusy hops and a hint of fruitiness. This all leads to a mild maltiness in the finish, along with some herbal flavors. The ABV is slightly high to fit into this category, but this pale ale otherwise falls into the "sessionable" category.

Next up is Brewery 85's Quittin' Time. Pouring a pale gold with a moderate amount of body and a notable amount of carbonation (with a white, pillowy head), this beer had some grassy and biscuit or grainy notes, but the most notable flavors were that of banana, and some kind of spice, something in the clove/all-spice vein (though, that may just be me interpreting the banana flavor).

Westbrook Brewing Company's Bearded Farmer #5 (also called "Thornhill") is a combination of sour and non-sour ales. Westbrook's Bearded Farmer series is a series of Saisons, which makes this all add up to quite a complex beer. A pale-yellow color, the first thing that hits are the citrusy notes from the sour side. The sour kick is noticeable but pretty mild, not overwhelming like some sours (this is helped by the "hybridness" of the ale). Eventually, the flavors transform into some very light grains as well as some funky Belgian notes along with some fruity Belgian sweetness. I would have called this one of the most complex beers I've had recently, if not for what came after this last night...

Evil Twin Brewing always makes stuff that's out there. It's not a surprise--they're from Denmark. Their collaboration with Connecticut's Two Roads Brewing Company resulted in Two Evil Geyser Goze. Now, because I don't think you'll believe my impressions, I feel the need to quote the Two Roads website's description of this beer, where they used "Icelandic moss, rye, herbs, sea kelp, skyr (Icelandic yogurt) and birch-smoked sea salt" in creating this beer. The Geyser Goze pours a light lemon color, and has very little body. Flavor notes? Smoky. Vegetal. Seaweed, of course. Peas (like, the vegetable). Once my palate started to adapt a little bit, I got some sweet hints, most notably of strawberries, but it was very faint. It wasn't sour, and only barely sweet. I can appreciate what Evil Twin and Two Roads were going for, but at the end of the day, it wasn't a beer for me.

Alpine Beer Company's Duet IPA brought me back down to earth a bit. Maybe it was just my palate recovering, but I found this beer to be quite straight-forward. A nice golden color with some body, I got a strong grassy aroma. Flavors of piney hops and sweet fruitiness. Pretty light overall. I enjoyed this beer, but I probably need to give it a second chance considering how extreme its predecessor was.

Finally, Southern Tier Brewing Company's 2X Smash, a Double IPA. Again, this is a beer I may need to revisit at a later date, but my local watering hole seemed to be excited about it, and had it in very short supply. I found the color beautiful, a rose gold (reddish-gold) hue. The DIPA led off with mild dank hops that leads to lots of nice tropical fruit notes--things like passion fruit, mango, and maybe some citrus. The hops were present but there was no bite; a bit of hop sweetness blended well with these tropical notes. The result was pleasantly sweet without being overwhelming.