Busch Signature Copper Lager Review

Name: Busch Signature Copper Lager
Style: Amber/Vienna Lager
ABV: 5.7%

It's time to look at a beer that I have been meaning to get around to for quite a while: Busch Signature Copper Lager. Released earlier this year, this is the 3rd beer (to my knowledge) released by Anheuser-Busch that contains a high-than-normal ABV than what is seen in macro lagers, with the other two being Budweiser Black Crown and Bud Light Platinum.

Released earlier this year, this beer is meant to be targeted mainly at the craft beer crowd with using the ABV as a justification for buying the product; Something which I find to be somewhat pretentious from a marketing point of view. I understand many craft beers are higher in alcohol content, but drawing from personal experience, it doesn't always necessarily mean that it's better.

Since I wasn't willing to spend the money on a six-pack, I opted for the 25oz. tallboy which just so happened to be on sale. A sign of good travels or a bad omen lurking on the horizon? Let's find out...

Busch Copper Lager pours a clear copper color with no visible carbonation to speak of what-so-ever. The head takes on a white filmy appearance with decent retention and there is also some light lacing here.

The aroma starts out with a surprisingly decent scent of Munich malts, roasted barley/grains, toffee sweetness and there's is even some faint hoppiness at the very back end of the nose! It actually smells like an amber lager should!

Now the flavor starts out with some good Munich and toasted maltiness but then the adjuncts (corn, cereal grains, etc.) seemingly come out of nowhere, hijack the rest of the flavor and it ends up tasting like a typical adjunct lager when it's all said and done. As for the faint hoppiness, it perished as well.

Now the palate is very light-bodied and the carbonation is so mild that it teeters on being almost non-existant. To it's credit though, it does make it very easy to drink even if it comes off as very watery

As much as I prefer craft beer over macro lagers, I'm somewhat disappointed that this didn't possess a better taste because it gives a pretty good first impression with the aroma. However given that it's an Anheuser-Busch product, I'm not surprised either. To it's credit though, there is nothing I would consider offensive about this beer in terms of both taste and smell. After all, with higher-than normal ABV macro lagers, you could do much, much worse.

Busch Signature Copper Lager - 5/10

Two Brothers SideKick Extra Pale Ale Review

Name: Two Brothers SideKick Extra Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
ABV: 5.1%

I've been on sort of an APA streak as of late and tonight I'm going to reviewing a beer that was actually recommended to me by Seth from Regular Guy Brewing, which is the Two Brothers Sidekick Extra Pale Ale. Seth happens to be a big admirer of Summit EPA and likened the the aforementioned beer to SideKick. As luck would have it, my local store recently started carrying Two Brothers so I'm able to see just how good this is.

SideKick pours a clear yellow color with a fairly foamy white head. The visible carbonation is rather mild and lacing retention is decent.

The nose starts off with a potent floral hop & yeasty scent, which are backed up by a toffee sweetness and a pale malt noticeable pale malt backbone.

As such, the flavor is not too different from the nose. There is a nice balance between the malty backbone and the floral hops and yeasts. I would say the only noticeable difference here is that it's more resiny than the nose leads you to believe and is most noticeable in the aftertaste.

The palate possesses a fairly light body and the carbonation is also very mild as well. As such, one should not have any trouble drinking this.

While the flavor plays it safe for the most part, SideKick is a textbook example as to how to make a good & balanced APA. If you're not really too sure about what to get on your next trip to the grocery/liquor store, you're not going wrong by trying this out.

Two Brothers SideKick Extra Pale Ale - 8.5/10

The Duluth Experience Presents: Women of the North Shore Craft Beer Scene – A Candid Discussion on the State of Women in Brewing

The Duluth Experience Presents: Women of the North Shore Craft Beer Scene – A Candid Discussion on the State of Women in Brewing


Women were first to harness the power of fermentation during the era of our species' cultural transition from hunters and gatherers to a more agrarian model. Only later, would brewing become a male-dominated craft with monasteries becoming focal points of beer production. In today's craft beer scene, we see more and more women taking leadership positions in the brewing industry and the North Shore Craft Beer Scene is a glowing example of this resurgence.

In their fourth and final installment of the North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable series, The Duluth Experience will host a 5-person panel discussion that will highlight the unique character of the North Shore Craft Beer Scene and the roles that women have played (and are playing) in moving the local craft beer community to the forefront of the industry as a whole. Moderator Elissa Hansen (Barley’s Angels Duluth/Superior Chapter) will facilitate a discussion that will delve into the challenges and opportunities for women in the industry, the trends for craft beer as a whole, and the personal stories of these influential women in the local and regional craft beer scene.


The panelists for the event include:

·      Allyson Rolph – Thirsty Pagan Brewing

·      Jamie MacFarlane – Castle Danger Brewery

·      Liz Gleason – Carmody Irish Pub & Brewing

·      Laura Mullen – Bent Paddle Brewing Company

·      Melissa Rainville – Fitger’s Brewhouse



The Women of the North Shore Craft Beer Scene will be held from 1-2pm at Duluth’s Teatro Zuccone in the Zeitgeist Arts Building at 222 East Superior Street on May 22nd. Tickets for each event are only $5 and all proceeds from the event will be donated to a local charity. For more information about the North Shore Craft Beer Roundtable call (218) 464-6337 or visit The Duluth Experience website at: www.theduluthexperience.com/special-events/craft-beer-roundtable/

The events are designed to provide behind-the-scenes perspectives on the regional craft beer community and showcase the great people involved in pushing the North Shore Craft Beer Scene to the forefront of the expanding craft beer industry in Minnesota. Beer will be served at the event (of course) and there will be time for audience questions. The event will close with a raffle and if it turns out anything like the previous two roundtables – the conversation will spill out into the mezzanine and then to a local pub for continued discussion and merriment.

Please visit www.theduluthexperience.com or call Dave Grandmaison at 218-464-6337 for more information.

Out of all of the roundtable events, this is easily the event that I have been looking forward to the most. I know there is some marathon going on next weekend but what better way to unwind from all that running than with free beer and an event dedicated solely to craft beer?

I hope to see you all there, and thank you for being supportive of the local craft beer scene!

Cheers!

- Nick

Red Brick 3 Bagger Review

Name: Red Brick 3 Bagger
Style: Tripel
ABV: 9.5%

Last week, I received some beer in the mail via beer trade and have slowly been working my way through all of them. For this review, I'll be looking at 3 Bagger, part of the Brick Mason Series from Red Brick Brewing Company based out of Atlanta, GA.

This is a Tripel-style ale but with a twist: It's aged in rum barrels, much like Capital's Jobu. Since this is my first time dabbling in anything from Atlanta's Craft Beer Scene and having never had a rum barrel-aged Tripel before, I'm very curious to see how this turned out. Plus in addition to drinking beer, I just so happen to enjoy rum.

3 Bagger pours a hazy golden color with a snow white soapy head. The visible carbonation is on the moderate side and there is no lacing left behind to speak of.

The nose starts off with a very strong vanilla and belgian yeast aroma with some notes of oak, rum raisin, butterscotch and caramel malts. Sure enough, it smells like someone took a shot of Sailor Jerry rum and and poured it into a Tripel.

The flavor is comparable to the nose. Upfront you have some very pronounced vanilla, Belgian yeast and oakiness notes with some rum raisin, butterscotch and caramelized malts on the back of the palate. The aftertaste is a mix of caramel malts, belgian yeasts and vanilla-oak. There is also some mild hoppiness here but it's almost completely eclipsed by everything else.

The palate is fairly moderate in terms of body weight and the carbonation is also fairly moderate. Considering the flavor as a whole, it fits in quite well and adds some dimension to what I consider to be an already complex tasting beer.

This is truly unlike any other Tripel that I have ever had before and I love it! It gives a great first impression in the nose and the flavor is wonderfully robust and complex. Any diehard Tripel fan will love this beer as well as anyone looking for something off the beaten path in terms of style.

This may be my first beer (hopefully not the last) from Red Brick, but to anyone in Atlanta reading this, you guys are lucky to have Red Brick in your neighborhood!

Red Brick 3 Bagger - 9.5/10

Deschutes Armory XPA Review

Name: Deschutes Armory XPA
Style: American Pale Ale (APA)
ABV: 5.9%

Originally I was going to continue going through the beers which I received via mail but in a twist of events, a challenger has appeared. For you see, I am not the only beer blogger in Duluth; Quite the opposite. He goes by the moniker Duluth Beer Snob and he also reviews beers but with a Gonzo-esque narration and definitely worth reading!

This morning before I left for work, I was checking out his latest post that focused on the latest offerings from Deschutes Brewing. As I was coming to the end of the post, he was talking about how tasty the Armory XPA was when he mentioned:

• I cannot imagine how good this would be on nitro at the pub. If I were Nick, I’d give it 10/10.

I noticed three things:

1. My name is Nick!
2. The name is hyperlinked!
3. That's my rating system!

So imagine my shock when I clicked on the link and it sent me....to my own front page! Was this a challenge? If so, I accept that challenge! I have to admit it's a pretty bold one considering that I've only given one 10/10 rating since starting this blog up. I just so happen to have bought a bomber of XPA last week, so tonight's review will be Armory XPA. The XPA stands for eXperimental Pale Ale as it was the first beer brewed at Deschutes' Portland location.

Armory XPA pours a hazy orange color with some mild visible carbonation and a soapy head. There is also no lacing to speak of along the sides of the glass. 

The aroma has a rather pungent floral hop and yeast scent that is complemented by some orange peels and pale malts. I do have to admit that it's rather vibrant smelling even for an APA.

The flavor is a lot more floral hop forward with some strong bready yeasts, mild citra-hops, yeasts and a solid pale malt backbone. Much like the nose before it, it's got a very vibrant taste even by APA standards

The palate as a whole is moderate in terms of both body weight and carbonation intensity. It's part-crisp and part easy-drinker.

While I think Armory XPA is an excellent and vibrant tasting APA, it doesn't quite match the complex flavors that I got from 3 Floyd's Zombie Dust, which I consider to be my all-time favorite APA. With that said, this is still a very flavorful beer and it's got a very decent price tag as I only paid about $4.50 for this so you're for sure getting your money's worth here.

Deschutes Armory XPA - 9.25/10

You can also check out the Duluth Beer Snob at www.duluthbeersnob.tumblr.com

Ale Asylum Contorter Porter Review

Name: Ale Asylum Contorter Porter
Style: Porter
ABV: 4.8%

It's been about a year since I've looked at anything from Ale Asylum, so on my recent trip down to the Twin Cities, I picked up a couple of their offerings from Hudson, WI during my visit last month. The first Ale Asylum beer that I picked up from Hudson which I will be reviewing is their Contorter Porter, which has a lower-than-usual ABV of 4.8%. The label also invokes a Motörhead-esque sort of feeling but that could just be my imagination working overtime

Contorter Porter pours a pitch black color with a rather thin khaki colored head. The lacing left behind is somewhat sparse and the visible carbonation is seemingly mild.

The aroma has a fairly strong roasted barley scent upfront with notes of dark chocolate malts, cocoa and coffee grounds. It seemingly teeters between roasty and sweet almost.

Flavor-wise, it's definitely more sweeter than roasty. Starting out are some strong chocolate malts which transition into some roasted barley, coffee and some mild but noticeable hoppiness on the very back end of the palate. With that said, the aftertaste is quite roasty with no signs of maltiness

The palate as a whole is quite light in the body with some moderate carbonation. There is however a distinct creamy texture which makes this rather easy to drink.

At the end of the day, Contorter Porter is tasty and quite easy to drink. It's not too often you see "session" porters but this one ends up being quite flavorful. If you're ever in Wisconsin, I'd definitely recommend checking this out.

Ale Asylum Contorter Porter - 8.5/10

The Alchemist Heady Topper Review

Name: The Alchemist Heady Topper
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8%

Last week, I received some beers through a trade and one of the beers I received was something that I have been meaning to try for a considerably long time and I even included it as one of the beers on my bucket list. That's right, I'm talking about Heady Topper from The Alchemist, based out of Waterbury, Vermont. Needless to say, I've been looking forward to having this for quite a while.

This is one of those beers that seemingly every beer geek on the internet has tried except for myself and had it not been for r/beertrade on Reddit, this never would've been possible so a big shout out to such a supportive community.

Now on the can it tells you to drink it straight from the can as opposed to pouring it into the glass because supposedly you are able to experience more of the flavor and aroma by drinking it straight from the can (Don't worry, I have!). However, I think the rules in this case are meant to be broken so into the glass it goes!

Heady Topper pours an extremely hazy golden color with a soapy head that has pretty good retention. The lacing is soapy, which gives it a clean finish and I can see some mild visible carbonation.

The nose has a pungent aroma of piney hops, grapefruits, toffee sweetness, and caramel. For an Imperial IPA, the aroma is very balanced.

The flavor has some very strong piney hops compounded with some fairly strong strong citrus hop notes that give it an almost mango like taste. The caramel & toffee sweetness do provide some excellent balance throughout the drinking experience. The aftertaste however is a very bitter resiny flavor, which is a stark contrast to most of the components of the flavor.

Palate-wise, this possesses an extremely heavy body with some moderate carbonation. It's enough to help one enjoy the flavors this has to offer.

Do I think the hype surrounding Heady Topper is warranted? Honestly, I think it is. It's got an extremely nice and robust hop profile and some great maltiness to help balance it out. As for the whole drinking from a can vs. glass debate, I didn't notice any difference between the two what-so-ever. Bottom Line: anyone who appreciates the Imperial IPA style owes it to themselves to check this out.

The Alchemist Heady Topper - 9.5/10