Monday, March 29, 2010

BEER#8: GREAT DIVIDE HERCULES DOUBLE IPA



The eighth beer I chose to film was Great Divide Hercules Double IPA. I have seen this one around a bunch of times and decided to buy it when I found a very fresh bottle of it. Most Double IPAs are very hoppy now but this one was a surprise and had some barleywine-like characteristics. Not what I expected but a great beer either way.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BEER: A great looking beer. The amber-red beer has a head that has extreme retention and creamy/frothy texture. An insane amount of lace was left on the glass as the head dies down. The smell was good but the taste was great. Both had barleywine aspects and notes of high malts. The hops were citrus and earthy with good bitterness and even some tea and grassy hints to them. Not a hop-bomb but who cares with such a good malt backbone.

Alcohol is present in the nose and was somewhat undesirable. The taste could have used a tiny bit more hops but was great nonetheless. A thicker mouthfeel would have been perfect but the mouthfeel was nice and creamy and had a good level of carbonation. The price was decent for the quality of a pretty big beer that should probably be taken one glass at a time.

FINAL GRADE: 4.4 / 5 = A (for fantastic looks, great taste, and good mouthfeel, smell and drinkability)

Monday, March 22, 2010

BEER#7: PORTSMOUTH IMPERIAL PORTER



The seventh beer I chose to film was Portsmouth Imperial Porter. I picked up a growler of this on Kate the Great Day because I missed out on bottles of KtG. I didn't do a green screen effect on this one because I was homebrewing at the time of filming. I think it came out pretty nice this way and may do more like this in the future.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BEER: Overall it was a solid Baltic porter. The ABV was hidden very well and it had most of the nice aspects of a porter. The taste and smell both had good notes of nice roast malt, cocoa, earthy hops and fruit notes. I really liked the mouthfeel which was very creamy and also a bit warm and bitter. It certainly went down smoothly for a 9%ABV ale.

The appearance was nice but the head could use a bit more size and retention. The nose definitely was a bit weak (strength wise) and was hard to pick up after a while. The beer also seemed a tiny bit less than an Imperial Porter, it tasted and felt more like a regular porter to me (a bit too smooth maybe).

FINAL GRADE: 3.95 / 5 = B+ (for great mouthfeel, good taste, looks and drinkability)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

BEER#6: FULLERS ESB



The sixth beer I chose to film was Fullers ESB. I have had this beer a few times and this last time I enjoyed it the most. You really gotta find the fresh ones to enjoy this one fully. I got a six pack that was about 10-11 months before the freshness date.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BEER: Taste and mouthfeel were great. The taste is a nice balance of very good, somewhat-caramelly malts with a nice laid-back fruity/earthy/citrus hop profile. The bitterness is low and helps create one of the better malt/hop balances I have experienced. The medium body and moderately high carbonation back up the flavor almost perfectly for a very smooth mouthfeel. It is highly drinkable due to the above aspects as the taste seems to stay the same throughout several of these.

I really wouldn't change much here. The price is great for an import. A bit of creaminess to the mouthfeel would make it outstanding but that is nitpicking. The looks could use better head retention and lacing but are still good. The smell was nice but could have used a bit more strength.

FINAL GRADE: 4.3 / 5 = A (for great taste, mouthfeel and drinkability, good aroma and looks)

Friday, March 5, 2010

BEER#5: FOUNDERS CENTENNIAL IPA



The fifth beer I chose to film was Founders Centennial IPA. I have really enjoyed the Founders beer line so far and ad high hopes going into this one. This one is made year-round and since it is a hoppy beer I tried to find the freshest possible bottles of it. The bottle I had was made on 12/14/09, still fresh.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BEER: Looks are the best part of the beer in this case. The extremely frothy head seemed to stand still in time but leave blankets of lacing behind. Smell and taste were good, both pretty much had a decent dose of earthy, floral and fruity hops. Hop bitterness is pretty much spot on. The malt was surprisingly pronounced for a balancing backbone. Drinkability is good because of the good price and pretty good taste. Alcohol (7.20%) well hidden.

Some things I thought could use changing. The hops fade in the flavor and aroma to leave the beer with a heavy orange peel and caramel malt characteristic. In the end, the beer gets kind of bland. The carbonation is a bit low and the body itself feels sort of watery.

FINAL GRADE: 3.75 / 5 = B (for excellent looks, pretty good taste, aroma and drinkability)