I have been impatiently dreaming of this day for over a year. I have been eagerly waiting for it for 2 months. I have been loving this day for the past 20 minutes. The following review of MadTree Galaxy High is highly biased. I love this beer. I love that it’s canned. I love that I’m drinking Galaxy High from a can at home.
Deschutes Hop Henge is an interesting idea for beer. They shake things up each year with different hops and any new hop-related processes or techniques developed recently. Sounds similar to the wet hop seasonal IPAs but with less focus on ultra-fresh hops and more on doing something slightly different.
This year they went with Millennium hops which aren’t new and as the name implies are from the year 2000. I’d never heard of Millennium hops until reading about this beer. According to Hop Union they’re used for bittering and “resinous with herbal and floral tones.” Anyway, here’s Deschutes blurb, then facts on the beer and my thoughts after the jump.
Stonehenge is a mystery. Hop Henge is a discovery. Millennium, Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops come together to erect a hop sanctuary. Revere the almighty hop!
Stone’s got a new year round beer hitting the market this week to cash in on the session IPA craze. Go To IPA doesn’t just cash in on the session IPA craze but also the hop bursting craze that’s been sweeping through the nation of homebrewers. Stone has never seemed like the company to cash in on any craze, much less one driven by market analysis. Remember, this is the company through brought us Arrogant Bastard and made it live up to that name.
All these things left me in a situation of not anticipating this beer. When companies make these kinds of changes it makes me worry that the quality of their products is going to begin to suffer. Sometimes though we have to forget the marketing and just enjoy what’s in the bottle. Before we get to the quality of the contents here is Stone’s blurb on the brew:
Since Day One, we’ve been abundantly forthright and fully transparent about our lust for hops. It’s led us to craft many an IPA, most of them imperial—some intense for their time and all timeless in their intensity. For Stone Go To IPA, we are embracing our hop obsession in a new way, funneling an abundance of lupulin-borne bitterness into a “session” IPA delivering all the fruity, piney character of a much bigger IPA. To accomplish this, we employed “hop bursting,” a new technique wherein an irrational amount of hops is added during the final phase of the brewing process to coax out extreme flavors and aromas while also imparting a burst of desirably pleasant bitterness. The result is an Alpha-acid-rich beer that fans can enjoy more of without missing out on the assertive hop character you, like us, crave. So, sit back and go two with your new everyday go-to IPA and bask along with us in the glory of the almighty hop.
Victory Brewing Company is one of my favorite breweries and is, in my opinion, underrated and underhyped. Golden Monkey, Storm King, Prima Pils, they’re all amazing beers that you should seek out if you haven’t had them yet. Victory is replacing their Imperial IPA Hop Wallop – which is a very accurate name for it – with a nuclear bomb of new flavorful hops and calling it DirtWolf. Here’s their PR blurb:
Darkly heroic, Humulus Lupulus (hops) have empowered brews with bite and character since the 11th century. DirtWolf is a tribute to these untamed vines which rise from the earth with the voracity of a “wolf among sheep.” Hops have made an assertive comeback in American craft brewing. Revel in the best U.S. varieties of hops, in their natural, whole flower form, as they bring a vital, pungent reality to the soul of a wild element in our dangerously satisfying DirtWolf Double IPA.
Up until today, the only (as far as I’m aware) place to get Jackie O’s in Cincinnati was at Dutch’s in Hyde Park. Jay Ashmore, the owner of Dutch’s, said that he’d been making the trip out to Athen’s, having them bring it all the way, or somewhere in between. Now that they’ve signed with Cavalier life will be getting easier for Jay and we’ll all be getting more Jackie O’s.
Starting today, August 7th, cans of Firefly and Chomo-Lungma will be available across Cincinnati. However, draft will be limited and I have a feeling Dutch’s may still be the hot spot for Jackie O’s.
First Josh has some background info on Jackie O’s, after that I’m taking a look at their Firefly Amber and Chomo-Lungma brown. First off here’s Josh:
If you don’t know about Jackie O’s out east in picturesque Athens, Ohio and you are an enjoyer of well-crafted beer, you are doing yourself a disservice. Located in and next door to the old, long-time O’Hooley’s spot on West Union Street, Brad Clark has been kicking out some high-quality, extremely unique beers since 2006 or so. Well-known to the small undercurrent of craft beer enthusiasts interested in non-run-of -the-mill sours and barrel aged beers, the small Brewpub blew up after being featured on the cover of Beer Advocate magazine a couple years ago.
If you’re interested, a full, in-depth history of Jackie O’s can be found on their website. Their bottle releases are legendary in the craft beer scene and are one of those things you just have to do at least once if you’re into good company and even better beer. They are typically very well attended and in the four or so I’ve been to, you encounter people from all over the United States. In the last year or so, they had acquired property and were getting setup to package their product in can format. It looks like that time is upon us.
Beer: Firefly Amber
ABV: 4.5%
Malt: American 2-row, Maris Otter, Pilsen, White Wheat, Special Roast, Cara 8
Hops: Hallertau, Athantum, Cascade
Firefly is our lightest offering at Jackie O’s. We like to refer to it as our gateway ale. Introducing macro drinkers to this beer has proved to be effective in converting them into craft beer drinkers. Seasoned craft beer drinkers also admire the drinkability and soft but wide rage of flavors embedded within this Amber ale. A fusion of Maris Otter, Belgian Pilsen, and American 2-row provide an interesting and complex malty base for this refreshing ale. Lightly roasted malt gives Firefly a biscuit-like finish. Carefully selected hops provide an herbal and mildly citrus aroma and flavor.
Very forward malt aroma of caramel and grains. Initially only a hint of citrus/grass hops that increases as it warms.
Looks like a penny that’s been around for a bit showing off a dingy copper color. Nice third-inch off-white head that hung around for a wee bit before skimming down.
Caramel is the dominate flavor with some citrus hop action, light sweetness, and a moderate level of very balanced bitterness.
Body is medium and has a fair bit of carbonation with it.
Very nice amber ale, not amazing or top of the style by any means but still highly enjoyable and worth trying.
Beer: Chomo-Lungma
ABV: 6.5%
Malt: 2-row, Munich, Crystal 60, Chocolate, Biscuit, Belgian Aromatic, White Wheat, Cara 45
Hops: Warrior, Mt. Hood
This brown ale was brewed to commemorate the Lungevity Everest Expedition. Brian Oestrike the brother of Jackie O’s owner Art, sumitted the unforgiving mountain on May 22nd, 2007. The climb was a vehicle to raise money and awareness about lung cancer. The people of Tibet call Mt. Everest “Chomolungma” this exceptional ale carries on the spirit of the climb. 8 Malts, 2 hops, and twenty pounds of wild flower honey give this ale an exceptional character. Baked muffins, dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, rich honey and earthy subtle hops caress the palate. Booze soaked chocolate raisins round out the warm finish. Now available in cans.
Very pretty very dark brown with a nice light-tan head showing no signs of going anywhere.
Aroma definitely gives off plenty of malt and nice signs of that honey the description talks about.
Flavor is a bit of a toffee and caramel malt bomb. Some light herbal notes with a fair bit of honey that tastes a little weird, I’m guessing that’s cause it’s wildflower honey.
Body is much lighter than I expected based on color and malt profile.
Not sure I’ve ever heard a better story for naming a beer. Just being named after Mt. Everest alone is pretty sweet in my opinion then on top of that you’ve got the dude climbing Mt. Everest for a lung cancer fund raiser. In the end it’s a nice beer but not one I would quest after and it leaves me questioning why some people get so worked up over Jackie O’s brews.
Last night Rivertown Brewing tapped this year’s first keg of their much-loved Winter Ale. Today I headed down to the, crazily packed, tap-room for a pint of this. I also scored a growler of Roebling and 2 bottles of Ville De Rivere Geuze so look forward to those reviews as well.
Continue reading “Beer Review : Rivertown Winter Ale”
After announcing that Now is the winter of my dark-content a friend of mine gave me this beer saying it is one of the original Porters and is a great starting point as it’s very typical for the style. Before we get to the review I’ll fill folks in on what a Porter is with a bit of history, but that comes after the break!
BrewMinds 