Category: Beer Reviews

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N/A Review – Galaxy Ripple and Double Hopped Hop Water

We start this N/A duo with Best Day Brewing and their Galaxy Ripple, which they call an Imperial IPA maybe as a joke? From my experience, imperial denotes higher abv, but non-alcoholic should be under .5%, so not quite getting that designation.

That label mis-step aside, there is a goodly hop aroma when you pop open the can. And to my surprise, this doesn’t taste super worty like many in this category. And for once, there are plenty of hops here. Probably my first actual hoppy low alcohol IPA. There is a bit of tropical fruit here too making this way more complex than average.

Next up is the Double Hopped Hop Water from, well, HopWtr. Most of their waters have jumped the hop shark and tend to be just fruity sparkle water, sorry Wtr, but this one caught my eye because of the hop double down. There is a weird grassy cat pee aroma when the can is opened. Once vented, this does have a better taste than smell. Getting a grassy cannabis vibe from it.

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Review – Yorkshire Stingo from Samuel Smith

I recently had the Winter Welcome from Samuel Smith and then I saw their Yorkshire Stingo (with a super classy logo) which I have not had in many moons and decided it was high time to review to see if I get the same notes of “fruit, raisin, treacle toffee, Christmas pudding and slight oaky flavours”.

The last item on that list certainly comes through but the rest, not so much but despite that adjective failure, this is a real classic of a beer. There is a slight hint of future souring in the taste in the amber coloured ale. I taste grass and wheat and pea shoots myself. Complex and strange for sure.

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Review – Christmas is Cancelled from Frogtown Brewery

I dare not type this winter ale’s name for fear of unleashing the wrath of Santa and Mrs. Santa so this review is posting safely after. Frogtown Brewery debuted Christmas is Cancelled this year and it has a very cool retro Palm Springs look to it.

Now on to the liquid inside. The Cancelation pours a dark brown and a bakery spice pours out when the beer is poured. Lovely nice light brown foam as well. This tastes like a classic British Winter Warmer just with amped up American spice and hops. If it pops up next year, I will get it again.

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XVIII

I was reading one day, when I suddenly realized, I had not added the 2024 Firestone Walker Anniversary Ale to my rolling five year collection.  I do not know why I had not recognized that deficiency earlier as each year I review the new edition.  So I dutifully headed to the FW website only to find that XVIII is a Brewmasters Collective only release which was the second crappy thing that life had handed to me in November.

But when I calmed down, I reached out to learn, to my relief that the barrel-aged blend would indeed be purchasable by the likes of me and now I can review it!

Before we dive into the newest blend, let us cast our taste buds back to 2019 and the XXIII and see what five years has done for the beer.  

The 2019 pours a close but not quite black color.  The nose on it is cola, dark berry and a touch of chocolate.  The first sip is giving me barleywine vibes as there is both a lightness on the palate with a bit of hop still there but that gets taken over, slowly, by the more roasty and cocoa hits so that the finish becomes quite smooth.  Only at the end does a little alcohol burn poke out s little bit.

Now on to 2024 / XXVIII, headlined by 37% Stickee Monkee and 28% Bravo, both bourbon barrel-aged. In fact only 11% was not bourbon rested and that 11% was Rye barrel-aged. The other noteworthy bit is that a collaborative stout blend with Colorado’s Weldwerks makes up 7% of the beer.

And this blend pours a pitch black, not seeing through this. Smells clean with pops of vanilla. This is very smooth and has a nice combo of vanilla and caramel. Almost an ice cream swirl. I say this a lot but especially, in this case, how will this soft flavor age? As the glass warms, the bourbon notes start to assert themselves which gives me more hope.

Of the two, the new one is more my speed and more 2024 craft beer as well.

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Review – Costco and Deschutes Vintage Ale 2024

There are not to many beers nowadays that get the social media talking, but one that has bucked that trend is the Costco Vintage Ale brewed by Deschutes Brewery.

I am lucky enough to know someone with the magic card and so I got to get the boxed barrel-aged beer to try.

I am amazed to see an old school 22oz bomber bottle when I wrestle the bottle out of the packaging. In the first few sips, I am getting a woody bitterness that hides the light bourbon note underneath. The aroma has a green almost peppery note to it which is at some odds to the flavor. That and the viscosity belie the 12% abv. It is almost like a coffee cocktail.

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Featured Review – Prodigal from Perennial Artisan Ales via The Rare Beer Club

Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.

This is the second review of the month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.

This is the Prodigal 2024. It is a biggun in abv at 11.5% but also large in syrupy stoutness. An Imperial Stout with cacao and vanilla and it is slick and big on caramel to me more than either of the featured adjuncts. It is halfway to being stout gravy. There is also a truckload of sugar coming to the fore as well. I would net hesitate to say that this would be good as a cooking ingredient. Little too extravagant for my taste.

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Featured Review – The Last Sipper from Lost Abbey via The Rare Beer Club

Every once in a while I will get a happy email from the Rare Beer Club wanting to highlight some of their great beers that you can get.

I will be reviewing two of them this month and if it sounds good, you should check out the club.

It has been a bit since I have had a blended ale and I could not have picked a better beer and brewer to return with than The Last Sipper and Tomme Arthur.

This is a mix of quadrupel and strong ale. The aroma is candied dark fruit and hints at the texture of the beer which is not thick as some big beers are but has a minerality, along with chocolate and coffee. There is a brightness at both the beginning of the sip as well as the end. It is a complex beer for sure.

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Review – Pumpkin Haze IPA from 21st Amendment

I do not think that I have had an actual pumpkin IPA as opposed to a pie spice version so let’s dive into the Pumpkin Haze of 21st Amendment Brewery.

Gourd claims fully backed up. The first flavor to appear is pie filling followed quickly by hops and then nutmeg to round it out. The malt bill is pitch perfect as a base for those three major players to do their thing. The other noticeable trait is that this is pretty bright. Some fruited IPAs have a rounded off feeling to them but Pumpkin Haze does not.