Lucid Dyno Review

Name: Lucid Dyno
Style: American Pale Ale
ABV: 5.2%

Lucid Brewing is a newer brewery that opened it's doors here in Minnesota in the past couple of years. What's unique about this brewery is that they share the same space with another newer Minnesota brewery: Badger Hill Brewing, whom I have reviewed a couple of their offerings before.

For my first review from Lucid, I'm going with Dyno, their American Pale Ale style beer.

Dyno pours a hazy orange color with a foamy head. The lacing is quite abundant and possesses some mild carbonation.

The aroma is rather yeasty, with notes of floral hops, caramel and barley.

Taste is fairly identical to the aroma but with more of a resiny taste. Aside from that are floral hops, yeasts, biscuits and mild caramel maltiness. It tastes a lot like another well-known Minnesota beer: Summit Extra Pale Ale.

The palate is moderately weighted and mildly carbonated. It's somewhat crisp but very easy to drink.

They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, which holds true in this case because Lucid Dyno is strongly resembles Summit EPA. From the flavor right down to the ABV, it's hard not to draw comparisons between the two. Regardless, it's a solid American Pale Ale that's worth checking out.

Lucid Dyno - 8/10

Lake Superior Old Man Winter Warmer Review

Name: Lake Superior Old Man Winter Warmer
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 10.3%

Today I received word that we are on track to have the coldest winter on record here in Duluth, as it is already the 2nd coldest on record at the time of writing this. I certainly picked a good year to move here, as my co-workers have told me and I have to agree with them. Oh, and schools around the state have been closed for the second consecutive day in a row. I think school has been closed more times this year then I had during the entire time I was in K-12 schools.

To honor this occasion of cold temperatures that Siberia would consider "too much", I've decided to review a local seasonal beer from Lake Superior Brewing called Old Man Winter Warmer, which is their Barleywine style ale, which clocks in at a healthy 10.3%.

Old Man Winter Warmer pours a black color which gives off a nice crimson hue when held up to a light.  The head retention is decent and the lacing also has some mild retention to it as well.

The nose has a nice aroma of caramel, licorice, vanilla and chocolate. There is an encompassing oak-like characteristic which gives it an almost "bourbon barrel" like quality to it.

The flavor has surprisingly smoky quality to it, which was not present in the nose. Along with that are notes of licorice, chocolate, oak, hops, roasted barley and vanilla. The oak/bourbon characteristic is still pretty much here and it's a very nice touch. The aftertaste is a very chocolate & vanilla finish.

The palate is surprisingly lightweight and the carbonation is also very mild as well. The overall feel of the palate works tremendously with the flavor.

I have to hand to Lake Superior Brewing, this is a very smooth (and not overpowering) tasting barleywine. The best part? It's very affordable and priced about as much as the other selections from Lake Superior. It won't be around for too much longer so pick this up while you can!


Lake Superior Old Man Winter Warmer - 9/10

Keweenaw Pick Axe Review

Name: Keweenaw Pick Axe
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.7%

I'm doing something a little different for this review because it's from a brewery that is still relatively obscure according to what I have learned. I'm talking about Keweenaw Brewing, a small brewery from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They're a pretty new sight on store shelves and we here in Duluth have access to their offerings.

For my first offering, I decided to review their Pick Axe Blonde Ale. Based on the other beers offered by Keweenaw, they all come in 12oz cans.

Pick Axe pours yellow color with a slight haze. The head takes on a filmy white appearance and no visible lacing.

The aroma consists of pale malts, barley, floral hops and slight grassiness. It has sort of a Czech-Pilsner quality to it.

Flavor is pretty much the same as the nose but a bit heavier emphasis on the pale malts which take on a light Pils quality. Aside from that, the barley and mild floral hops are present here. Aftertaste is on the drier side with just a hint of barley.

It's pretty lightweight in terms of body and it has some light carbonation as well. It does feel a bit watery but at the same time it's also a very easy to drink beer

Despite it's simplicity, Pick Axe is a very approachable beer and an affordable one at that. It isn't as good as my favorite blonde ale, Fulton Lonely Blonde, but it makes for a sessionable beer and perfect one for any occasion.

Keweenaw Pick Axe - 7.75/10

New Glarus Raspberry Tart Review

Name: New Glarus Raspberry Tart
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 4%

I've been going through an awful lot of New Glarus' fruit beers as of late and for good reason: They are all highly regarded and quite tasty. Tonight I'm looking at one of their other highly regarded fruit beers: Raspberry Tart. As the name suggests, it's brewed with raspberries; Much akin to Belgian Red which is brewed with cherries.

Raspberry Tart pours a fairly clear ruby red color with a fizzy red head and some mild carbonation. As expected, the lacing is pretty much non-existent. It looks like poured a bottle of Belgian Red into my glass.

The aroma is a mix of sweet raspberries, cranberries and some light maltiness. At least I can make out more of a "beery" scent here as opposed to Belgian Red which was pretty much all cherries (Which is by no means a bad thing.)

As for the taste, it's pretty much a sweet raspberry taste with some cranberries and light malty notes. Overall the flavor is pretty identical to the nose. The aftertaste does have a nice fruity

The palate feels pretty light but comes with some moderate carbonation. It's almost like drinking a bottle of sparkling red Moscato.

Much like Belgian Red, it isn't a complex-tasting beer by any stretch of the imagination. It is, however, a robust tasting beer which more than makes up the sum of it's parts. Some won't like the overall fruit-sweetness that Raspberry Tart has to offer but it is a must have for any dedicated fruit beer fanatic.

New Glarus Raspberry Tart - 9/10

Brau Brothers Moo Joos Review

Name: Brau Brothers Moo Joos
Style: Milk/Sweet Stout
ABV: 5.8%

It's time to review another offering from Brau Brothers Brewing Company. I've reviewed a couple of their beers before and enjoyed them quite a bit. Since I am currently homebrewing a milk stout and finished transferring the beer to the carboy for secondary fermentation, I decided I would review their Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout.

Moo Joos pours an opaque black color with a khaki-colored head. The lacing is fairly abundant and the carbonation is very faint which is probably thanks in part to the color of the beer.

The nose has a nice oatmeal scent mixed in with some lactose and sweet chocolate. The floral hops provide a nice foundation along with notes of roasted barley, malt and yeast.

The flavor is very oatmeal and chocolate forward with some malts and a hint of caramel and hops to help even things out.

The palate is on the heavier side and some rather mild carbonation. This gives the the beer a nice creamy texture which compliments the flavor nicely.

All in all, I really enjoyed having this.It's got a great flavor and a nice creamy palate to boot. I would happily recommend this to anyone looking for a good milk stout

Brau Brothers Moo Joos - 9/10

Kona Longboard Island Lager Review

Name: Kona Longboard Island Lager
Style: Pale Lager/Adjunct Lager
ABV: 4.6%

It's time to review another beer from Hawaii's own Kona Brewing Company. Today I'm taking a look at their Longboard Island Lager, which one again shows Kona's effort to make it painfully obvious that this beer was made in Hawaii.

To start out, it pours a pale yellow color with a barely foamy head. The carbonation takes on a more mild appearance and there is no visible lacing either.

The nose consists mainly of pale malts, barley, and cooked corn with a rather grassy aftertouch.

Flavor doesn't differentiate too much from the aroma. I'm getting pale malts, barley, cereal grains and grassiness. The aftertaste is a semi-resiny hop flavor.

The palate has a lighter weight but it comes with some heavy carbonation. It does have sort of a crisp feel to it but only if it's cold

It goes without saying that you should know what you're getting into when you buy this. It isn't as bad as other pale lagers out there but I still wouldn't recommend trying this out unless you get it offered to you for free at a party or get together.

Kona Longboard Island Lager - 5/10

Bell's Cherry Stout Review

Name: Bell's Cherry Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 7%

Since we are in the dead of winter, Bell's Brewery has released their winter seasonals and lucky for me I have them in my possession. The first one I'm gonna take a look at is their Cherry Stout. I have had one other cherry stout which was from New Glarus as part of their Thumbprint Series, so let's take a look shall we?

The beer pours a pitch black color with a reddish-brown head and no lacing.

The nose has a nice cherry tartness with some chocolate, licorice, roasted barley & malt notes to round things out. Almost reminds me of a chocolate covered cherry!

The flavor starts out with tart cherries with notes of dark chocolate, roasted barley and floral hops. The aftertaste is quite roasty, perhaps a little too much so.

The palate has a rather thick body and a syrupy texture. The carbonation is mild but it doesn't go particularly well with the overall body.

It's an interesting concept, but the flavor, while not terrible, is too roasty & imbalanced for my liking and the palate doesn't feel right. Needless to say, I wouldn't go out of my way to try it again if there are better options available.

Bell's Cherry Stout - 6.5/10