Summit 100% Organic Ale Review

I liken Summit Brewing here in Minnesota to New Glarus Brewing in Wisconsin. No matter where you go in Minnesota, you can find it in pretty much every nook-and-cranny here. The only difference is that Summit distributes out of state..... Oh and that whole "Unchained-Unplugged" controversy.  They have a pretty good year round selection and their "Unchained" Series usually comes up with something pretty cool and unique, like their Old 152, a Kentucky Common beer which uses Sour Mash in the fermentation process.

Today I will be turning my attention their latest Unchained beer, 100% Organic Ale, so organic that the USDA has slapped their sticker of approval on the label, which you can see on the bottom left corner. I can honestly say that I've never seen that before.

Organic pours a dark hazy copper color with a small but foamy head and excellent lacing. There's also a good amount of carbonation visible when held up to the light.

The smell offers up a sweet citrus scent with hints of caramel, yeasts and malts. The flavor however is more balanced & milder with orange, citrus hops, caramel, malts and yeasts. Aftertaste is a bitter citrus finish. The body is moderate in weight and the carbonation is a couple notches above mild.

I would label this beer as a "Light IPA." It has all the components necessary for an IPA but it comes off as somewhat muted, which accomplishes the goal of making a Session IPA as described in the beer's dossier. It's a good beer that's easy to drink and a great way to introduce someone to the IPA style but if you're used to your IPAs with tons of flavor, you'll be disappointed. On that note, if you want an organic IPA with a robust flavor, try out Flat Earth Angry Planet.

Summit 100% Organic Ale - 7.5/10

Brooklyn Black Choclate Stout Review

Well as it turns out, I apparently have one more Winter Seasonals in my possession than I originally thought. One of which I am saving for an upcoming review, and the other one I have is Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout. I had this on-tap earlier this year and thought it tasted pretty good, so I'll be sitting down and giving this a closer look.

To start out, it pours an opaque black color with a brown head. This is one those beers where I can see my own reflection on the glass as I hold it up to look at it; It's that dark!

The nose has very sweet chocolate, licorice, rum raisin, and roasted malt notes. The licorice note in particular sort of jumps out at me, giving this an almost burnt sweet-spice smell to it....at least that's the way I can best describe it, or I can just say it's hard to put my finger on.

In the flavor you get rich chocolate, mocha-chino, licorice, rum raisin and roasted malts. Pretty unique flavor in terms of Imperial Stouts, with a nod in particular to the rum raisin & licorice flavors. There is a very very slight booziness to the flavor, but for a beer clocking in at 10% ABV I'll let it fly.

The body feels "wide" but not heavy, it's mildly carbonated, and feels quite creamy when consumed. I say that they have the body nailed down almost perfectly for this style.

I was impressed by the uniqueness of the flavor and how smooth it was, maybe next time I'll take the advice on the bottle and allow it to age. Even without the aging, this is a great Imperial Stout that I would recommend checking out

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout - 9/10

Mankato Stickum Alt Review

Last year Mankato Brewery opened it's doors and Mankato, MN had a brewery to call it's own after a 45 year absence. Sadly for me, I was never really able to try out their offerings at first because I was living in a different state at the time they started distributing here. Once I moved back here to Minnesota, I never really got around to trying it out, mainly due to financial reasons and a whole bunch of stuff happening in my life at that point. Last weekend, I picked up their Stickum as part of a mix-a-six because I figured I had been putting it off long enough.

Stickum is an Altbier Style Ale, which from my understanding is fermented at warmer temperatures like a California Common style beer but is then aged at colder temperatures, unlike California Commons which are pretty much aged in the same temperature in which they were fermented. I've only had one Altbier before which was Alaskan Amber and I found it to be quite good.

Stickum pours a dark but fairly clear amber color with a good amount of visible carbonation. The head retention is quite good and leaves behind some nice lacing along the sides. The aroma has some sweet caramel, mild spiciness, orange citrus and roasted malts

In the flavor, you find pretty much the same thing as the nose: Caramelized Malts, Spices and Fruity Orange notes with a bitter citrusy hop finish. The body is fairly heavy and the carbonation starts out strong but settles down as time goes on.

I think this is a good beer! It's good to see this style of beer becoming more of a commonplace, especially one that is done rather well. I'll be keeping my eyes on Mankato Brewery as well as any of their future offerings.

Mankato Stickum Alt - 8/10

Capital Hop Cream Review

Name: Capital Hop Cream
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.3%

I love hoppy beers, especially when it's done in ways that I least expect it. Last month in my review of Sam Adams Double Agent IPL, I mentioned that IPL reminded me of Capital Hop Cream from Capitol Brewing and mentioned that I would be doing a review of it. Well, here it is.

The last time I had this was back in December at the 7 West Taphouse in Duluth, MN (Which is my personal favorite non-brewpub watering hole in Duluth, check it out if you are ever in the area!). I don't remember 100% what it tasted like aside from having a higher-than-normal hop volume. That's because me and my friends were doing our own holiday pub tour and I was too focused on what I was planning for New Years. The only thing I remember what it was a hoppy Blonde Ale. Well it's 5 months later, and I'm ready to give this an honest appraisal.

Hop Cream pours a hazy orange color with a soapy head with a good amount of carbonation activity present. The nose has some mild piney hop notes, yeasts and barley. The hoppiness is there and is more noticeable considering this is a Blonde/Cream Ale. The flavor is also fairly consistant with the nose with stronger-than-normal but still fairly mild piney hop notes, yeasts and barley; Leaving it with a bitter hop aftertaste. The body is pretty heavy and the carbonation is moderate so it's kind of hard to say this is refreshing.

For some reason, I remember this being a lot more hoppier and having a more robust flavor overall. The flavor is balanced but very mild; hop-wise it doesn't really cut it and the body could also use a bit of work as well. At the same there is also nothing really bad about Hop Cream, but those expecting a decent hop profile will be let down by this.

Capital Hop Cream - 7/10

Sam Adams Maple Pecan Porter

Name: Sam Adams Maple Pecan Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 5.6%

This is the last beer in the Sam Adams Spring Sampler Pack. It's been a long time coming really and I know I have been neglecting to review this beer for quite a while. Since this is technically my "weekend" thanks to my new job, I figured I would finally get around to reviewing this. I want to point out before this review that I have never had Pecan before in my life, I'm not a fan of nuts of any kind except for Cashews which I have no problem with.

To start, it pours a fairly dark brown color with a brown head. Its fairly clear appearance allows for a reddish tinge on the bottom half of the glass.

The nose has an aroma of maple syrup, nuts (which I would assume are Pecan), roasted malts and a bit of chocolate. Very nutty smell, I would say this smells more like a Brown Ale than a Porter.

The flavor has a strong sweet maple syrup and roasted malt taste upfront which is supplemented by chocolate and nutty notes. Definitely tastes more like a Porter but more like a fairly light one.

The body feels light but it also has a dimension of thickness to it and the carbonation is very mild, probably thanks in part to the maple syrup.

It may be a little too rich for some but I enjoyed it! I would've liked to have seen actual maple syrup used instead of artificial syrup to make the flavor more subtle but for what it is, but it's worth checking out either way.

Sam Adams Maple Pecan Porter - 8.5/10

Schell's Maifest Review

We have a couple of prolific breweries here in Minnesota, namely Surly, Schell's & Summit. I feel that these three will have more company in terms of brewery size and production in the next few years. The August Schell Brewing Company AKA Schell's, has been around since 1860 and is almost as old as the State of Minnesota itself. They are more widely known around the country as the brewery that makes Grain Belt.  To us Minnesotans, they are known to release many craft beer regulars and seasonal releases.

Since spring is finally here in Minnesota, I feel it is appropriate to review a spring release from Schell's, namely their Maifest, which is a Helles Bock/Maibock style beer or "Light" Bock if you want to be really technical. Summit also has a Maibock style Spring Seasonal beer so I will try to review that in the near future.

Maifest pours a fairly hazy orange color and moderately carbonated. The head is somewhat soapy but leaves  behind a thin film on the surface and the lacing is somewhat sparse along the sides.

The aroma has some caramel, yeast, barley and mild floral hop notes that give it a slightly earthy scent. The flavor is surprisingly hoppy on the front of the palate, but it finishes with a mild yeasty and caramel taste with a Earthy-Barley aftertaste.

It's a pretty light beer with only some moderate carbonation, so it feels crisp on the palate and makes it somewhat refreshing.

The flavor was a bit too hoppy for my liking and the earthy finish didn't exactly help out either. It's still a decent beer and goes down easy but if I wanted a Maibock badly, Summit would be my first choice hands down

Schell Maifest - 7/10

Surly Smoke Review

Tonight I've decided to review Smoke, a Baltic Porter/Smoked Beer from Surly Brewing, whom I mentioned in a previous review is like our equivalent of Three Floyds in Indiana. I figured I would review this since this is one of the more spotty releases from Surly (Behind Darkness, Syx and Pentagram of course.)

Smoke pours a pitch black color with a brown head and some mild lacing. It does have a mild brown tinge towards the bottom when held up to a light.

The aroma is a smooth mixture of oak, smoked ham, chocolate, cocoa and roasted malts. Not as powerful as say....Schlenkerla.

The same can also be said about the flavor with it's smooth combination of smoked ham, oak, chocolate and roasted malts. The aftertaste is a bitter combination of hoppy & smoke.

The palate is pretty heavy for a smoked beer. The carbonation starts out moderate but tappers off into a mild feel. Overall texture of the beer is somewhat smooth and allows for easier drinking.

This isn't as smokey or rich as other smoked beers I have tried, but the flavor is very balanced which helps create a easy drinking experience. Check this one out if you get the chance!

Surly Smoke - 8.5/10