Surly SeVIIn Review

Every year Surly Brewing releases a beer to commemorate another year in business and it's always named after the years they've been in operation. Since I wasn't really into craft beer until after Surly Five came & went and I was living in Chicago when Syx was released, I had yet to try a Surly Anniversary beer.

That was until about a couple weeks ago when I picked up a bottle of SeVIIn from the store. That's right, I managed to grab one of the beers on my bucket list. SeVIIn is a Belgian Strong Ale with an ABV of 12.5%. I like the stained glass look of the bottle, particularly the centerpiece which invokes that gothic/mystic feeling. And of course, the glass portraits of Omar Ansari and Todd Haug on the opposite sides of the label.

SeVIIn pours a mildy hazy dark brown & red color with a brown head that extends to about a finger in width. There's also a moderate amount of carbonated activity going on inside the glass.

The nose can be summed up into one word: Bananas. Okay that's not 100% true but the strongest aspect of the aroma is bananas which are followed by cloves, caramelized malts, and a slight citrus hoppiness; Reminds me almost of a strong hefeweizen.

Flavor-wise it's much more balanced out. Upfront you have cloves, bananas and caramel; which are followed by rye, oak, and wheat. There is a very slight boozy feel to the flavor but it pretty much blends in with the flavor so it's pretty easy to miss.

The body is fairly light as well as the carbonation so it's pretty easy to drink and it allows you to enjoy the flavors in which the beer has to offer.

I'm glad I got a chance to try this out. It has an incredibly rich and vibrant flavor and the body allows you to savor the flavor. On top of that, it smells pretty good too! Any dedicated Surly or Craft Beer Aficionado will want to add this to their collection.

Surly SeVIIn - 9.5/10

Lakefront My Turn - Chad Barleywine

Lakefront Brewing has been doing a lineup of beers called the "My Turn" series. It's where the various brewers employed by Lakefront take turns releasing their own take on beer styles for release. The beers themselves have the namesake of the brewer on the bottle as well as their description of the beer itself. The series is supposed to have 3 releases a year, what I have here is #4 as shown on the label. So it's safe to assume this has been going on for a while and I'll have to keep my eyes open for the other My Turns out there.

What I have here today is Barleywine Style Ale (Or Chad Barleywine) made by Chad Sheridan, the lead cellerman employed by Lakefront. It's an organic barleywine and it has a fairly hefty ABV of 12.5%; Something which I don't see fairly often with the barleywines I usually drink.

Chad Barleywine what looks like a dark Brown/Black color but it turns into a mildly hazy Crimson color when held up to a light, The head has a filmy slightly brown appearance that has average retention.

The nose mainly consists of toffee, caramelized malts, mild citrus hops, rye and some booziness. The aroma in particular lets you know that what you have is a stronger caliber barleywine and says to you that it isn't messing around.

That is, however, until you actually start drinking it. The flavor has some nice caramel, butterscotch, toffee, citrus hops and malts. The booziness that was present in the nose is nowhere near as strong here, I would even go as far as to say it's quite mild and almost blends in to the rest of the flavor.

The body is surprisingly smooth and creamy thanks it's moderate thick body and mild carbonation. It may be a strong barleywine but it goes down fairly easy.

It's a bit rough around the edges but at the same time it's surprisingly smooth and flavorful. Even more surprising was that it tasted nowhere near as boozy as I had expected, so points for that as well. If you hate barleywine, this isn't the beer for you. Anyone who loves the barleywine style, however, should check this out.

Lakefront Chad Barleywine - 8.25/10

Summit Meridian Session Ale Review

Summit Brewing recently updated their label to give it more of a modern look, though their Summer Sampler and other beers still use the old label so I'm going to guess it's a more gradual process. To celebrate, they've launched their Union Series: Beers that will use new types of hops & yeast strains; They of course could also be combined with already existing ones. The first release in the Union Series is called Meridian Session Ale, a Belgian Ale with an ABV of 4.5%.

Meridian pours a hazy yellow color with a soapy head. Carbonation appears to be abundant in the glass and it finishes clean, leaving behind almost no lacing.

The nose mainly consists of lemon zest, peppers, yeast and pale malts. It has bit of a Pilsener and a slight Hefeweizen peppery aroma to it. The flavor is pretty much the same as the nose. It is surprisingly vibrant for what it is, but not what I would consider to be outstanding.

Body is fairly lightweight and the carbonation is mild but it feels very crisp upon drinking. Overall, it's an easy drinker.

Summit's aim was to make a sessionable, yet flavorful beer and they did a good job in succeeding in that mission. There's quite a bit of flavor packed into Meridian, impressive considering the lower end ABV. The only major drawback to Meridian is that it's fairly pricey for what it is, so it's a bit harder to recommend. Otherwise what you have here is a sessionable beer with a good flavor.

Summit Meridian Session Ale - 8/10

Special Announcement!!

Howdy everyone!

It's certainly been an interesting past few days for myself but now that I'm back from my trip from Duluth and having a few local brews in the process. Well, the real reason for my trip was that I accepted a new job offer in Duluth and will be starting in a couple of weeks. As such, I will be moving to the Duluth area next week and I will be conducting reviews through this upcoming Monday, after which I will be focusing on getting my belongings packed and moving throughout the week.

Needless to say, I am very excited about this opportunity and the chance to live in such a great city. Not to mention too that the craft beer scene in Duluth is absolutely vibrant and gaining national attention. In addition to my normal reviews, my plan is to also review offerings offered by the brewpubs located up there. So rest assured that the reviews will keep coming and all that I ask for is your patience as I make this move.

Thanks for your support and your understanding, I look forward to what the future has in store of me.

Prost!

Bent Paddle Black Ale Review

Bent Paddle Brewing Company is the latest brewery to open it's doors in Duluth, MN. There was alot of hype surrounding the opening of this brewery and for good reason. The mayor of Duluth, Don Ness, proclaimed Duluth to be the beer capitol of Minnesota. It's a rather bold statement but any beer lover in this state knows just how many breweries and brewpubs are operating in the Duluth/Superior AKA Twin Ports area (Hint: It's a lot!)

I'm currently in Duluth as of right now and on my way in, I decided to grab a six-pack of one of their beers for scientific purposes. I managed to grab a pack of their Black Ale, which has an ABV of 6.0%. Interestingly enough, it describes itself on the can as an "ale that bridges the islands of Porter and Stout." 

It pours a pitch black color with a pretty foamy brown head that has good retention. Lacing along the sides of the glass is spotty at the most so it finishes clean.

The nose is a mixture of roasted barley/malts, chocolate, cocoa, and black coffee. It certainly smells like a porter rather than a stout but at least the aroma is vibrant.

The flavor consists mainly of milk chocolate, roasted barley, malts, cocoa and vanilla. I can see more of stout here in the flavor, but it still retains it's porter characteristics mainly with the roasted barley flavor and aftertaste.

Body is moderate in weight and the carbonation is just a notch below moderate. It fits the flavor quite well and adds a dimension to the flavor.

I really hope that Bent Paddle does well enough to be available all over the state of Minnesota because I really enjoyed this and I think any Minnesota Beer Lover would grab this in a heartbeat. The flavor teeters between that of a porter and a stout and it strikes a good balance and it's very easy to drink. If you're ever in the Twin Ports area, do yourself a favor: Support the local beer scene and pick this up, you will not regret it

Bent Paddle Black Ale- 9/10

Cucapá Green Card Barleywine Review

A couple of weeks ago as I was grabbing some Miller Lite for a bonfire, I walked by the clearance section which contained primarily wine, a couple of spirits and a mix of winter seasonal & offbeat beers. As my eyes scanned the table, I noticed a few rows of bombers of beer from Cucapá Brewery in Mexico and the one that caught my eye was Green Card Barleywine for only $4.99. Since it was sitting next to the discounted Winter Warlock Barleywine, I deduced that it must've been around for a while and thus allowed to age, so I grabbed a bomber along with the Miller and headed on my merry way.

After sitting on it for a couple of weeks, I finally decided to try out my first ever Mexican Barleywine. I'll admit I was a bit excited and interested to see how a brewery from a country known primarily for Corona would handle this.

To start out, it pours an almost pitch black color that turns dark red when held up to a light. Head is rather soapy and only retains for about a minute before fading away.

The nose is very strong caramelized malts but the hop profile is extremely mild; The maltiness almost smells and feels artificial. There's also some plum and fruity notes in the aroma as well.

The flavor is very much like the nose, with strong caramelized malts, mild hops, fruity notes and mild spices. There is a very strong boozy presence in the flavor and the maltiness tastes artificial, almost like someone poured syrupy Malta Goya into the beer.

The body is fairly light and the carbonation is moderate, so in terms of drinkability, this one is pretty easy to drink; which is probably the only redeeming quality that this has to offer

Barleywines are one of my favorite styles of beer so what I'm about say are words that I never thought I would say: I hated this Barleywine. Up until having this, the "worst" barleywine I had ever had was New Glarus Thumbprint Barleywine, but it was at least decent and tolerable. This tastes like they took Malta Goya & a High Gravity Malt Liquor and mixed them together. Don't be tempted by the low price, avoid this at all costs

Cucapá Green Card Barleywine - 2/10

Miller Genuine Draft Review

Don't think you'll get away from me that easily, Miller Genuine Draft. Just because I reviewed your sister beer, Miller Lite, doesn't mean I forgot about you! Though that usually seems to be the case with alot of casual beer drinkers because the majority of the top selling beers in America are mostly lighter beers. In fact, MGD doesn't even break the Top 20. I snagged an MGD from one of our softball games for reviewing purposes and have waited about a week to finally review it.

When Miller Lite was introduced in 1973, I'm not sure if people realized it would go on to be one of the   highest selling beers of all time. It's younger sister, Miller Genuine Draft, didn't hit the markets until 1986 and I believe it was released in response to the growing popularity of Budweiser. Despite not being Miller's top seller, it manages to have a solid customer base and they have continued to make it for a while so let's have a look at it.

It pours a clear pale yellow color with a surprisingly foamy head, good lacing retention, and a high amount of carbonation.

The nose consists mainly of pale malts, cereal grains, corn and a slight yeasty scent. The same can be said about the flavor with more an of adjunct sweetness and a cooked veggie flavor. The aftertaste is fairly dry so there's no offensive taste lingering in your mouth.

The body is light but a bit heavier than Miller Lite and the carbonation, while still strong, is not as intense as Miller Lite's

If I had to choose between MGD and Miller Lite, MGD would be the clear winner because the flavor, smell and overall body are much better than Miller Lite's. Does that make it an outstanding beer? No, but it makes it preferable at the very most.

Like PBR and Miller Lite, drink it from the can; Trust me on this one. It's better that you don't get a whiff of the aroma.

Miller Lite - 4/10