Tonight I am very excited to break into Harpoon’s newest 100 barrel series beer the Black IPA. I love this style of beer and Harpoon is a hometown brewery so this should be a slam dunk.

Upon first pouring the beer, the first thing that stands out is how dark this beer is. It pours more like a stout than an IPA. This beer really lives up to its black name because no light shines through it. After pouring a pretty coffee colored head rises up to about a finger thick but then dissipates quickly. The predominate smell that I get is a malty chocolate with some subtle hop floralness. The stout attributes continue with the first sip. There is a pleasant bitterness up front followed by a dry slight chocolate flavor that follows. The flavor profile ends with a lingering bitterness. If I had drank this beer without reading the bottle, black IPA would not have been my first guess for the style. It comes in at 7% abv and 67 IBUs according to the bottle. Overall, I enjoyed Harpoon’s Black IPA but it reminds me more of a chocolate stout than a black IPA.

-Greg

Today was fairly busy. Work (of course) followed by our regular Tuesday night church classes. I was teaching a class this evening, and having a bigger role in the evening meant I needed to come more prepared then usual. Now back at the homestead I’m watching an excellent Bruin’s game.

The cold I have been battling has 100% moved into my chest. I spent half the afternoon hacking, surely annoying everyone around me at work. I’m 90% sure I’m working from home tomorrow to avoid spewing phlegm all over the office.

With full smelling capacity restored, I’m fully capable of reviewing beer. I’m cracking open a bottle of Carib Lager, the second beer I received from my sister-in-law who recently returned from a trip to St. Thomas.

I’m not going to lie…the beer has me frightened! There is only one beer on the entire planet that I cannot drink. Any guesses?

Corona. a.k.a. skunk piss. Apologies to those who like the beer…it’s just not my thing. In fact, any beer in a green or clear bottle generally has that skunkish flavor and smell that I can’t stand. As you may have noticed from the pictures, take away the label and the Carib Lager looks just like Corona.

Popping the top on the beer, my worst fears are being realized. It smells like Pepe Le Pew is hiding under my couch. I’m already telling Melissa that there is no way I’ll be able to finish this beer. I’m a trooper though, so I’m going to try.

I’m absolutely shocked to find that the beer doesn’t taste nearly as skunky as it smells. In fact, it’s not only tolerable, but teetering on the side of tasty! It’s smooth with a nice touch of buttery sweetness. Equally surprising is the ABV – 5.2%. Light, drinkable, relatively boozy – a college kid’s dream come true. (I was a Natural Ice kinda guy in college)

I not only finished the bottle, but I enjoyed it! I’m even a little sad that I only have one to drink. Carib Lager has me wondering if I need to try Corona again. Maybe my tastes have changed.

With my beer gone, It’s back to the couch to finish watching the B’s game. Hopefully tonight I can stay awake, not like last night! (see picture above)

I’ve been absent from the blog for a few days, courtesy ANOTHER head cold. I swear to God I have the worst immune system ever. Every one of these colds is exactly the same:
Day 1 – scratchy throat
Day 2 – sore throat
Day 3 – calm before the storm
Day 4,5,6 – Stuffy nose or runny nose, apparently depending on whether or not I have a tissue in my pocket. Runny nose only when I lack said tissue.
Days 7,8,9,10 – All the snot moves to my chest, awful coughing persists.

Anyone else have this crap happen all the time?

I’m in the middle of the nasty chest cough portion of the cold, which means that I can actually smell. Smelling capacity = beer reviewing capacity, so let’s rock and roll!

I’m drinking this Blackbeard ale from Virgin Island’s Brewing. My sister-in-law brought this beer back from St. Thomas where she and her husband were recently vacationing.

At first whiff of this brew, I was confused; the smell was foreign. I’ve decided that I THINK it reminds me of the smell of brown sugar. The taste is equally baffling. The beer is an English Pale Ale by style, but I’ve never had a pale ale (or any other style) that tastes like this.

There is a dark-fruit aspect to the beer…maybe dates or figs. There’s also some mild citrus hops evening out the flavor. Finally, there is a brown sugar sweetness.

I love how unique the beer is; my expectations were lower. Next time I’m in the Virgin Islands, I’ll be looking for this one on top. (Note – it’s actually brewed in Minnesota, but I want to pretend it’s brewed on the islands).

Virgin Islands Blackbeard Ale

I think anyone in the U.S. will agree that this winter has been much warmer than usual. I’ve seen a few media outlets call it the year without winter, which would definitely apply to the D.C. region, where it’s currently 60 degrees on January 28. I believe in global warming, so to me, it all sucks. But to some, it’s great that Spring has come early.

And thus my segue into this week’s beer review – Sam Adams’ Alpine Spring. I was quite surprised to see a Sam’s spring seasonal on the shelf of my local beer store today (seemed quite early to me), and usually love their seasonals, so I jumped at the chance to review it.

This brew is billed as a citrusy unfiltered lager, with hops grown in the Alps to give it a crisp floral taste with sweet honey malt notes. Sounds good, eh? The pour was beautiful, slightly cloudy with a pale golden color and a decent foam head.

I got kind of a weird aroma from this beer, with faint notes of honey, but overall kind of a soapy smell. It didn’t really smell like anything, to be honest. Pretty weird, I have to say.

Taste-wise, I was expecting a lot. And…I was let down. Hops from the Alps must be unlike any hops I’ve ever tasted, because this didn’t seem to have any semblance of hoppiness at all. It’s definitely light and crisp, I’ll give it that, but there’s no big flavor to mention. I got a lot of faint honey-esque sweetness through the middle and end, with an orange-y aftertaste.

I guess this would be a good beer on a warm Spring day, and the 5.5% ABV means you can put down several without getting hammered, but I don’t really get the appeal here. Frankly I’m a little let down by Sam Adams on this one. Anyone have a different experience with the Alpine Spring?

Today (Thursday) was my Friday. Tomorrow I’m on chauffeur duty, driving my wife to and from the hospital for a (very minor) surgery. We have to be at the hospital, which is 30 minutes away, at 6:00am. Gonna be an early morning tomorrow!

I’m pumped to have a long weekend. Tomorrow will be a recovery day for the wife so no major plans. Saturday night there are more free UFC fights. Norm is coming over to watch dudes flop all over each other. Beer will be flowing as one might imagine. Sunday is low key, with little plans past having brunch in Boston with some friends.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a holiday party and Yankee swap. I bring this up because tonight’s beverage comes from my haul from the event…my present was a basket of beer. Hellz yeah!

Honsebrouck Bacchus is a Belgian beer that I’m trying for the first time. I had no idea what style of beer it was until I Googled and found out it was a Flanders sour brown. This style is what turned me on to sour beer…I have high hopes for this beer.

First off, the beer is light and watery. It weighs in at 4.5% ABV, which explains why it’s so drinkable. The mouthfeel is SUPER fizzy…nearing champagne levels! Flavor wise, it starts off promising, with a touch of tart/sour. Taste quickly fades into watery nothingness before finishing with relatively mild fruity tartness.

This is a decent brew, although it didn’t quite meet my expectations. I might recommend this to someone who wants to try a sour beer as the flavors are more muted than many sours.

Tonight I come home from a boring (but long) day at work to find Melissa making me homemade macaroni and cheese. How bad ass is that? My wife rocks. Suck it everyone out there with lousy wives.

It’s Wednesday. I haven’t had a beer since….shit…Sunday? I’m only 10 days into cutting back on the booze and I’m losing track. I’ve been doing really good, only drinking 2 non-review beers in those 10 days.

Tonight I’m damn thirsty though. I’m kicking off the evening with a beer review and we’ll see where things go from there. The beer in glass is Stoudts Fat Dog, which is an imperial oatmeal stout. I’ve said more than once before that oatmeal stouts are hit or miss for me (mostly miss). They tend to be too bitter in the aftertaste.

I let this fatty canine warm up for a good 20 minutes before diving in, hoping it would mellow out. BINGO! It worked. This puppy is mellow alright – a nice mix of toffee / chocolate sweetness mixed with just a hint roasted bitterness. And wooooo doggy, is it smooth going down.

Honestly, I’m probably enjoying this so much due to cutting back on the beer. But whatevs…damn tasty!

Tonight I’m pretty beat down. I just started class again (financial management) and the class went the full three hours. I can already tell that I’m going to have to earn these credits…

With a long day comes a lack of motivation. Thus, you get a mini hold-over review I had in my back pocket: Steigl Pilsner.

This brew brew was an interesting little fella. I knew it was a lager, but from the label I couldn’t tell it was a pilsner. I couldn’t tell from the look, the smell, the flavor or the mouth feel either! It wasn’t as bubbly as a pilsner (quite smooth and creamy going down actually) and the taste was sweet like honey.

Regardless of not meeting my expectations, it was a decent beer. Then again, I wouldn’t buy the stuff if I saw it again.

What a weekend! Friday night we had friends over for UFC fights. Saturday we spent the afternoon at our nephew’s 1st birthday party. And today (Sunday) we are spending the day watching football. The Patriots are on their way to the Superbowl baby!

Backing up for a second to Saturday, my wife’s sister just came back from St. Thomas. She picked me up a bottle of rum and two Caribbean beers (see below). Have any of you tried this stuff?

Following a nail-biter of a Patriot’s game I’m trying to relax and watch the 49ers and Giants duke it out for the NFC championship. After pacing back and forth in my living room for literally hours I need a freaking beer!

And the beer of choice is 21st Amendment – Allies Win the War, which is a collaboration with Ninkasi. The label clearly states that this is a beer brewed with dates. Prior to opening this up I was fully expecting a thick mouth-feel with dark-fruit flavors.

That all changed when I realized that the IBU (international bitter units) was 52…relatively high, indicating significant hops were added to the brew. Boy were my expectations off! The brew looks as I expected – a dark reddish brown. Also meeting my expectations, the mouth-feel is in-fact sugary and thick. The flavor is far from expected.

The sweetness from the dates comes through first and is quickly eclipsed by mild bitter citrus hops. The balancing of the flavors is REALLY well done. I love what they have done with this beer and I recommend you try it when you get a chance. A word of advice though – watch out…this bad boy is 8.5% ABV!

They’re an upstart D.C. region brewery, having gone into business just one year ago, but already finding their product carried on tap and in bottles in hundreds of local restaurants and beer stores. Since I’ve started working from home and their brewery/tasting room is just a few miles away, a fresh Port City growler has become a regular staple in the Marcacci household refrigerator!

Today I decided to cap off a busy week with a growler of their Porter. A quick car ride to their tasting room later, I poured a proper pint of their liquid darkness. This beer is probably one of the darkest porters I’ve ever had, considering light won’t shine through it even if held up to a light. The foam poured a short, creamy crown that stuck around through most of the glass.

I’m typically not a porter guy, but hot damm this beer tasted good. The flavor started out with tons of coffee notes, but with a creamy essence like half-and-half in a french roast. I picked up rich milk chocolate through the middle, and it faded into a sweet but crisp aftertaste.

This beer is eminently drinkable, which can be problematic considering it weighs in at a significant 7.5% ABV. Still, if you’re in the D.C. region, I absolutely encourage you to try Port City whenever possible. If you’re thinking about stopping by their tasting room, make sure to call ahead to get a tour of their brewing facility while you’re there!

It’s Friday, Friday…gotta get down on Friiiidday. And I am getting down this Friday by hanging out with Brandon and Norm, watching some free UFC fights on the telly.

I’m kicking off the evening with this bottle of Newport Storm Sabrina, which is a part of their limited cyclone series.

I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that I visited the Newport Storm brewery last year.

The beer is a Belgian Pale Ale, meaning I am expecting a mix of spice and hops. The beer doesn’t disappoint. It’s got a clove/spice aroma and HUGE hop flavor. When cold the hops completely overwhelm the spices, so let it warm up a bit before you really dive into it…you’ll thank me.

I initially thought that the hops were piney, but after letting this brew warm I’m tasting way more citrus. The balance of spice and bitter hops is really well done – flavors bounce between the two in your mouth rather than starting with one characteristic and fading to another.

A pretty good beer. This was a limited release that came out two months ago. Chances are you won’t be able to find it now, but if you do – pick a bottle up!