Magic Hat Elder Betty Review

Name: Magic Hat Elder Betty
Style: Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.5%

In all my years I've been drinking craft beer, I've never had anything from Magic Hat Brewing with the exception of having one of their beers (I can't remember the name, sadly) on tap at The Rail Station in South Minneapolis about 3 years ago. Regardless, that is going to change today because I'm looking at Elder Betty, their summer seasonal hefeweizen that's brewed with elderberries. It's also worth mentioning that I have no idea what elderberries taste like.

Elder Betty pours a fairly cloudy orange color and the head, while initially thin upon pouring, is pretty much nonexistent after a couple of minutes. There is a small amount of visible carbonation with a couple of bubbles here and there.

The nose has very sweet and blueberry-like fruitness, which is probably coming from the elderberries themselves. I'm also picking up on some malted wheat in there also well but for the most part it's very fruity smelling.

The flavor, much like the aroma, is very sweet & fruity tasting, thanks in part to the elderberries. There's also a solid malted wheat base and some citra/floral hoppiness, the latter of which is relatively mild compared to the rest of the flavor.

The palate is very light in terms of weight and carbonation so this is pretty easy to drink. Since this is a summer seasonal, it makes sense in the grand scheme of things.

I found Elder Betty to be a pretty good beer. It doesn't do anything too extraordinary in terms of flavor (save for the elderberries of course) but it's a nice summer seasonal beer and that's all that really matters. Definitely check this out if you get the chance.

Magic Hat Elder Betty - 8/10

Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale Review

Name: Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 6.5%

It's been a busy past couple of days with the 4th of July and getting more stuff moved into my new place, so I'm going to be playing catch-up with some review drafts that I have.

As such, the first beer of the day that we will be looking at is St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale from the Odell Brewing Company based out of Fort Collins, Colorado and is listed as Summer Seasonal by the brewery.

St. Lupulin pours a fairly clear orange color with just a slight haziness. The head, while starting out fluffy, becomes quite thin but stays that way. There is also some decent lacing to be had here as well.

The nose has a very sweet kick to it in the form of freshly peeled oranges and a bit of floral hoppiness hanging off of that. There is also some mild caramel mild sweetness in there but it's quite secondary compared to the rest of the aroma.

Flavor-wise, it's very citrus hop forward but not in the overpowering sense but rather that freshly peeled orange sort of way. With it are some floral hops, mild bitter resin hops and a malty backbone, which is more prominent here than it was in the nose.

The palate is fairly moderate in terms of body weight with a bit of thickness to it. The carbonation is fairly mild and a creamy-like texture which makes it fairly easy to drink.

I found St. Lupulin to be a very good American Pale Ale. While some people may find the flavor a bit one-sided because of the strong citrus characteristics, I found that to be it's strength and I think that makes it stand out amongst other APAs. If Odell were to make this a year-round offering, I would definitely be finding myself having this again.

Odell St. Lupulin Extra Pale Ale - 9/10

Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor Review

Name: Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor
Brewed by: Miller Brewing Company
Style: Malt Liquor
ABV: 5.6%

Every once in a while, I like to look at beers that have either a questionable (at best) reputation or something that I very well know will taste bad. That's why for this review, I'm changing things up a bit by tackling a beer that has a fairly low opinion in the craft beer community, to put it mildly. That's right, I'm reviewing Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor from the Miller Brewing Company; All of it contained in a 40oz "shatter-proof" green plastic bottle that I picked up for $2.

Now some of you may be wondering why exactly I'm reviewing this? The same reason why I review beers like Molson XXX and Miller Fortune: I review it so you don't have to deal with the experience of drinking a bad beer.

And in case you're wondering: No, I didn't drink the entire thing.

Mickey's pours a very clear pale yellow color with a soapy white head. There's no lacing to speak of on the sides of the glass and the visible carbonation is quite high.

The nose consists mainly of cardboard, pale malts, cooked adjuncts and a very mild but noticeable skunkiness. I'm not picking up on any boozy scents which I'm actually pretty surprised about.

The flavor is mainly just pale malts, some booziness, cardboard, cooked veggies, adjuncts like rice and cereal grains and a fairly dry aftertaste. The skunky flavor does start to become a bit more noticeable as it warms up. The body is fairly light but, as expected, it's got some fairly high carbonation.

To it's credit this isn't as bad as I expected it to be. At the most it's like a less intense version of Bud Light Platinum. Don't get me wrong, it still does taste pretty rank and there's no getting around that but at the same time, I've had much worse than this. My advice though would be to spend an extra dollar or so on a bomber of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale instead; You'll get much more of your money's worth with that.

Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor - 3.5/10

The Duck-Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA

Name: The Duck-Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA
Style: American Black Ale
ABV: 7.3%

It's time to look at the final beer in the beer mail trade I did a couple weeks back. This is from The Duck-Rabbit Brewery based out of Farmville, North Carolina and they're a brewery which I've never had before. The beer in question is their Hoppy Bunny American Black Ale. The only other North Carolina-based brewery that I've had is Highland Brewery and that was from a beer trade I did a couple years back

Hoppy Bunny pours an opaque black color with a foamy brown head. The lacing left behind is also very abundant.

The aroma is quite roasted malt forward with some roasted barley, chocolate, cocoa, coffee with some mild hoppiness thrown in for good measure.

The flavor is a bit more balanced with some roasted barley, chocolate malts, mild floral hops and even a touch of yeastiness on the back on the palate

The Body is light and the carbonation is fairly light as well. As such, this is fairly easy to drink.

Hoppy Bunny isn't anywhere near as hoppy as the name implies and it doesn't do anything that I haven't already seen in a black ale before. With that said, it's still a pretty solid beer that I would have again if I were given the opportunity.

The Duck-Rabbit Hoppy Bunny ABA - 8/10

Cigar City José Martí American Porter Review

Name: Cigar City José Martí American Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 8%

Continuing on with some beer I got in the mail for an exchange, I'm now going to look at a beer from Cigar City Brewing based out of Tampa, Florida. Believe it or not, I've actually gotten some Cigar City in a beer trade about 3 years ago when I was still in college and found them to be quite good.

For this review, it's something which I've never had before and it's their José Martí American Porter. José Martí was a Cuban poet & political activist back when Cuba was fighting for independence from Spain in the late 1800's. Through his writings and activism for democracy, he became a national symbol for an independent Cuba after he was killed in battle in 1895. He is still, to this day, considered a national hero in Cuba. It's an interesting inspiration for a beer name, but it makes sense when you consider that Tampa, FL and Florida in general has a very high Cuban-American population.

Jose Marti pours a pitch black color with a very brown-khaki colored head. It's also worth pointing out the lacing is quite abundant and very sticky.

The nose is very hop forward and I mean very. Even by Porter standards, I am taken aback by how aggressively hoppy this smells; After all, the label does say "robustly hopped" on it. Once you get passed that, there's a very nice roasted barley bill and hints of chocolate malts, caoco and coffee.

The flavor is also extremely hoppy upfront but the strong roasted barley and chocolate maltiness help balance out the flavor from being too hop-centric The aftertaste is mainly roasted barley and coffee beans. One thing I notice about the flavor is that it's quite smooth and every part of the flavor seems to go together seamlessly. Speaking of smooth....

The body itself is quite heavy with some mild-to-moderate thickness. The carbonation is also very mild and the overall texture is very smooth.

I know this may be a bit of a stretch to say, but this is, without a doubt, one of the best porters I have ever had. The flavor is very robust yet well-balanced and on top of that, the palate and texture as a whole as so incredibly smooth. If you happen to come across this beer, you absolutely need to check this out.

Cigar City José Martí American Porter - 9.5/10

Ale Asylum Unshadowed Review

Name: Ale Asylum Unshadowed
Style: Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.5%

I have one more beer from Ale Asylum out of Madison, Wisconsin called Unshadowed. From my understanding, this is also one of their newest beers to be released and has been added to their year-round lineup. I also regret not snapping of a photo of the full label because I think the bottle artwork is extremely cool.

Picture courtesy of Beerpulse.com

Unshadowed pours a bright yet hazy orange color with a white soapy thin head. There is some mild visible carbonation and some soapy lacing.

The nose has a fairly sweet malted wheat and banana scent upfront. There is also some pale malts on the back end with just a light touch of floral hoppiness.

Flavor starts out with a banana sweetness which is followed up by some wheat & pale malts. Also much like the nose, there's also a light floral hoppiness on the back end of the palate.

The body is reasonably light and the carbonation is also very mild and quite manageable. I don't think anyone should have a problem drinking this.

Unshadowed is a fairly standard, albeit, good Hefeweizen and fans of the style will no doubt enjoy this. I would say that this is worth checking out if you aren't 100% sure what to get next time you go beer shopping.

Ale Asylum Unshadowed - 8/10

Fargo Brewing Iron Horse Pale Ale Review

Name: Fargo Brewing Iron Horse Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5%

Tonight is a fairly special review because it's a beer from a brand new brewery called Fargo Brewing. As you may have guessed from the name, it is based out of Fargo, North Dakota. This will also be my first time trying out a beer that is made in North Dakota.

At my local liquor store, they just started carrying this in six-pack cans. Since I'm always looking to try out the latest beers, I picked up a sixer of Fargo's Iron Horse Pale Ale. On the can it's described as a "great, sessionable, hoppy pale ale that makes hop lovers go crazy." At 5% ABV, I think that is pushing the boundary of what I consider a "session ale" but let's try this out to see how it is.

Iron Horse pours a hazy orange color with a very frothy head. I'm not picking up on any visible carbonation and the lacing is sticky and moderate.

The aroma starts off with a prominent caramel maltiness and citrus hop sweetness, showcasing the Falconer's Flight hops very well. There's also a light touch of toffee thrown in for good measure. If you were to put a blindfold on me, I would think that I was smelling an IPA.

The flavor is surprisingly floral hop forward with some caramel maltiness and a bitter dry hop aftertaste. Interestingly enough, it's fairly subdued compared to what the aroma showcased.

The body is fairly lightweight and the carbonation is also very subdued as well, which makes this a pretty easy to drink beer.

Iron House is no doubt a good beer, but the flavor feels a just a little bit one-dimensional in comparison to the nose. While seasoned Pale Ale fans aren't going to find this groundbreaking, it's still pretty tasty and I think this is a great beer to introduce someone to the American Pale Ale style. On top of that, it is a good sessionable beer that manages to achieve a reasonably good flavor profile that can be enjoyed throughout the evening.

Fargo Brewing Iron Horse Pale Ale - 8/10