Beer Review: Branchline Shady Oak Blonde

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 4.5 percent

Appearance: This blonde was indeed a "blonde" color. It was somewhat closer to a olden color, but with some orange hues mixed in some portions of the body. This brew was packed full of carbonation. The bubbles traveling upwards through the golden body. As the brew was able to warm, these bubble congregations turned into those beady lines I sometime see in Belgian beers. The foam was an explosive rush towards he crown of the glass as soon as I poured it. As fast as it foamed up it still receded nicely and in a timely fashion. For a second I thought this was a beer on nitro. What was left was some cake-like (as I always like to refer to it) lacing inside the glass. This lacing was quite thick and sticky. Almost perfect.

Smell: The aroma was almost dominated by this floral hoppiness. The brew was also a little sweet as well as a bit fruity and estery.

Taste: Overall, this had a thick feel to it. I got sweet malt on the front as well as some of the wildflower honey that was used in the brewing process.. The honey and the fruity esters that followed played very well off of each other. Some yeast character bounced in and out as well at that point. The finish was punctuated with that signature floral hop bitterness. The honey lingered for a good while in the aftertaste, which was an amazing yet tasty attribute.

Overall Rating: 

This was a fabulous drink. I can't wait until I have the chance to try this again in the future. The honey was the key ingredient here, at least for me it was. It played well with the other aspects of the beer and it even lingered in the aftertaste. The carbonation was at an unreal level. Not outrageous, but perfect enough to enhance the beer drinking experience for me. It added that much more texture and crispness.

Beer Review: Guadalupe Brewing Texas Honey Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 7.32 percent

Appearance: This brew poured a nice golden brown with some toasty brownish hues. There was a mountainous head that could have been classified as either a very light beige or a white color. It had some amazing staying power and was strongly fueled by some swiftly moving carbonation bubbles. It was almost as if this beer was on nitro except that it actually came from a bottle. I peered in for a closer look at the head and visually plucked out some thick and fluffy lacing starting to cake the inside of the glass. Very visually appealing.

Smell: This smelled quite bready and grainy. A few roasted notes provided a toast-like essence (I realize that sounds entirely too geeky). There's some sweetness from the honey that was obviously used in this.

Taste: I was kissed by the honey quite fast up front. That sweetness quickly translated into that toasted grain flavor. With that came some bread notes of the medium to dark variety. There was also a slight bitter finish from the hops. The intense carbonation rushed into my mouth to provide an awesome layer of texture. The bubbles still continued to dance as I drank. I swear they even caused a tickling sensation as each sip went down. The after taste was dry and toasty (as in bread toast). I've never once thought a beer could resemble toast with honey on it. This did the job nicely.

Overall Rating: 

This was absolutely amazing. This beer wanted to get dark, but still stayed sweet. Had an interesting grain flavor. Hell, it even had that dry scratchiness that toast seems to give you when you eat it. The honey didn't dominate, but only complimented the other aspects of the beer. The texture was among the best I've ever experienced in my few years of drinking craft brews.

Beer Review: Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 6.5 percent

Appearance: Dead Guy Ale is a light shade of amber, but gives off an effervescent orange hue.Atop this brew, there was an off-white head that was thick and frothy. This was the type of head that gets stuck on your nose and upper lip on the first sip. I love that in a beer. There was a ton of bubbles surging towards the top of the glass. I also noticed a lot of thick lacing left inside the glass as I kept drinking more of it.

Smell: I mainly was able to pick up a ton of hop bitterness in the aroma for this beer. There was also a highlight or two of citrus, but I doubt that was from orange or lemon. My guess it was a characteristic of the hop content. I'd prefer a bit more diversity in this section, but this wasn't quite on an IPA level.

Taste: I tasted plenty of honey and sweet malt on the front. There was plenty more malt than honey as we should expect in a German Maibock, but I also like some honey presence.That was followed by a tasty combination of pale wheat, a creaminess and hop notes on the finish. The aftertaste was calm, yet bitter. In my opinion, a great Maibock/Helles Bock has honey sweetness and a lot of sweet malt present. Sometimes the malt can even have a bitter bite to it.

Overall Rating:  

When it comes to German styles of beer, I want whatever I have to make me feel like I'm sitting in a beer garden somewhere smelling the fresh hop vines and eating a salty pretzel. I got pretty close when drinking Dead Guy Ale. I missed the malt presence in the aroma. I got too much hops, but the attractiveness and the wonderful taste of this brew was more than enough for me.

Beer Review: Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: Five percent

Appearance: Pennant Ale '55 pours somewhere between a gold or an amber color. The color ended up being the most appetizing part of this. There wasn't much carbonation to be noticed. The head of the brew was cream white and began as a very thin layer of foam before fading away into oblivion. It left no lacing on the inside of the glass.

Smell: Overall, the aroma of this beer was very malty and sweet. The malt seemed to pass off a scent of slight roast. I think the extra punch of sweetness was honey, which was a nice touch.

Taste: This beer definitely earned some points with me on in this area. Everything was quite well-balanced. The sweetness of the honey and what I also noticed to be caramel hit me on the front. On the back, I got a complimentary bitter finish that evened everything out. The paleness of the brew sits on the back in the aftertaste.

Overall Rating: 

I didn't get off to a great start with this beer, but things did improve afterwards. I got some nice sweet malt and honey in the smell and I was very pleased with the balanced taste. I just wish this beer would have been able to appear a little more active to make this experience a complete one.

Beer Review: Boulder Honey of a Saison

Serving Type: Draft/Growler

ABV: 11.5 percent

Appearance: Honey of a Saison pours a dark shade of amber. It also has hues of both orange and red throughout the body. There wasn't any carbonation bubbles present, but the head of this beer was thick and towering. There was an above-average head even on the latter pours from the growler. I expected it to be an ivory or cream color given the dark amber of the body. Surprisingly, it was almost as white as snow. It faded away after a few minutes, but leaves plenty of thick lacing.

Smell: This beer was very estery after my initial smell. There was also plenty of yeast in the aroma. What lacked was the honey. It was there, but only slightly.

Taste: The yeast and the honey mixed quite well on the tongue. There was a strong alcohol presence from that 11.5 ABV on the finish./ This beer's taste packed some heat. It had a familiar burning sensation to bourbon or rum when it goes down your throat. I tend to prefer the alcohol a little more masked in brews with a higher ABV.

Overall Rating: 

I'm still trying to learn the eccentricities of the saison/farmhouse style of beers. I mostly enjoy them. This one was a little too strong for me. Especially the boozy presence. Not only did I feel the burn in my mouth, a hefty buzz followed soon after. If you're into brews that pack a punch like this one you might like this a bit more than I did.

Beer Review: New Holland Beerhive Tripel

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 8.47 percent

Appearance: New Holland Beerhive Tripel pours a vivid shade of amber. It can even be classified as a copper if you so prefer it. The body is dark enough so that you can't see anything through it, which is a plus. The head and the apparent lack of carbonation was a bit disappointing, though. The head was white, but fairly weak and didn't leave any retention at all down the inside of the glass.

Smell: This beer initially smells spicy. Thankfully, it's not overwhelming. Some mellow hints of both honey and ginger also dance around in your nose. The honey gives off an essence of sugar and sweetness while the ginger provides just an ounce of warmth! Very inviting!

Taste: The honey and ginger do the same as they do in the aroma department by giving a sweet and spicy essence. There was a yeast character to this beer that added some extra zing to the taste and made this an enjoyable drink. My tongue had a tingling sensation after each sip and something tells me it just wasn't from the higher ABV.

Overall Rating: 

I really enjoyed this drink, as I usually do enjoy beers that have honey incorporated into them somehow. I feel that honey just belongs in some beer styles as it is a true natural ingredient. I don't hunt down a ton of brews with higher ABV's, but this one was well-balanced due to the sweet and spicy factor. The only downside with this one for me was the lack of texture I noticed once I poured it.

Beer Review: Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat

Serving Type: Bottle

ABV: 5.2 percent

Appearance: Summer Honey Wheat is a lovely chroma of golden honey. I've never seen any other beer that was meant to resemble honey come anywhere near as close as this one does. The body has a severe unfiltered look to it as you can see just about anything through it. I feared initially that it would taste watered down. The beer's head is bubbly, yet very thin.

Smell: With any beer that features honey, you expect the aroma to be floral and that's exactly what I got with this one. With the floral scent comes the sweetness of the honey and the wheat comes right behind that. Extremely appetizing. I also got the slightest scent of oranges or orange peel.

Taste: I wasn't expecting to have a party on my taste buds like I did when I took a sip of Summer Honey Wheat. I could have sworn that I was drinking honey on a biscuit, in a glass. This beer had a heavenly taste. The sweetness of the honey and the wheatiness of the rest of the body rocked my world.

Overall Rating: 

I've been really hard on Coors/Blue Moon Brewing Co. over the years, but I'm a man that gives credit when it's due. This beer tastes and smelled amazing. The only thing I'd prefer to be different is some extra thickness to the beer's body. I'm used to be disappointed with Blue Moon's seasonal lineups, but this one was a knock out of the park.