Castle Danger Danger Ale Review

Name: Castle Danger Danger Ale
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 6.5%

Time to look at another beer from Castle Danger Brewing, based out of Two Harbors, MN. Today I have their Danger Ale, which is the brewery's flagship beer. The name comes back in the days when Minnesota's North Shore was only accessible by boat. As boats travelled up the shore, there were cliffs that resembled old castles and between them were rocks reefs, which were dangerous to travelling ships and hence the name Castle Danger. And you thought the drive up the North Shore was bad.

I've also been sitting on this review for the better part of a month. Why, you ask? I originally thought that I had taken a photo of this beer but upon going through my folders, it had mysteriously vanished. So I'll have to make due with a picture I took this past weekend, but it sadly doesn't have the can with it (I had gotten it on tap.)

Photo courtesy of The Growler Magazine

The reason why I care so much about the can is that not only I find it eye-catching but it was done by a local artist by the name of Andy Saur, who is responsible for all of Castle Danger's can designs so far.

Appearance - A mildly hazy amber color with some very mild visible carbonation. The head takes on a foamy khaki colored appearance and the lacing is on the spottier side.

Aroma - Very malt forward as I'm picking up on some strong caramel maltiness, a bit of toffee sweetness & oak. In the back I'm picking up on some dark fruitiness, some yeasts and some mild citrus hoppiness.

Taste -  Like the nose, the flavor is quite malty. Right away the caramel & toffee sweetness make themselves known before giving away to some dark fruits that are reminiscent of blackberries, light oakiness, moderate citrus hops and some mild yeastiness. There is also a bit of an encompassing roastiness and some light alcohol warmth.

It's very easy to see why Danger Ale is Castle Danger's flagship. The maltiness makes a great first impression but the other complex elements of the flavor come together nicely to make a really tasty beer; So much so that I consider this a textbook example for how to do a strong ale the right way! Should you ever have the chance to check this out, I would highly recommend you do so.

Castle Danger Danger Ale - 9.5/10

Tommyknocker Legend Review

Name: Tommyknocker Legend
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 10%

Tommyknocker Brewing is a brewery that I have not had since I was in college, but about 2 years back I had a couple of their beers and I thought they were pretty good. Thanks to the growler station over in Superior, I'm able to do my first actual Tommyknocker review and it's a fairly special beer. Tommyknocker Legend was brewed to commemorate the brewery's 15 years in business. According to the brewer, it's a Nut Brown Ale brewed with maple syrup and aged with toasted Hungarian Oak.

Interestingly enough, when I go to look this up on Beer Advocate & Ratebeer, quite a few of the reviewers got their fix of this beer from a 2009 22oz. bottle. At the place I got it at, it was available at the growler fill station and in 4 pack bottles.

Legend pours a clear crimson color with a thin filmy head. The lacing left behind is somewhat sparse but sticky and the visible carbonation is quite mute.

The nose has a very pungent aroma of oak, maple syrup, chocolate malts, yeasts and roasted barley. It smells quite powerful, but thankfully not in a boozy sort of way.

The flavor profile is made up of mainly maple syrup, oak, roasted barley, molasses, nuttiness, chocolate malts and a lightly roasted aftertaste and malty aftertaste. Each flavor is fairly well balanced and it's worth noting that this is the first beer I've had that utilizes the maple syrup to it's fullest potential.

The palate is quite heavy in weight, but the carbonation is rather mild so it allows you to really get to know the flavors in this beer.

Even though it's classified as an American Strong Ale, I'd be more inclined to call this an Imperial Brown Ale (If such a category even exists) because that's what this pretty much is. As such, it's got a very robust flavor profile that may not be for anyone but I enjoyed this alot and, as I mentioned before, it utilizes the maple syrup flavor to it's fullest more than I've seen in any other beer.

Tommyknocker Legend - 9/10

Lakefront Bridge Burner Review

So I've been on a bit of a Surly Spree these past few days, so let's get back to something that isn't Surly, and that's Lakefront Brewing's Bridge Burner with an ABV of 8.5%. Now when I picked this up, the clerks told me it was a Barleywine, but when I got home, I found it was an American Strong Ale; Much to my minor disappointment.

Bridge Burner pours a fairly clear but dark crimson color with a off-white head that has a brownish tinge. The lacing it leaves behind is decent as well.

The nose has some fruity-plum notes followed by a spicy & licorice scent before ending with a citrus hop and caramel malt finish. The smell almost reminds me of Stone Arrogant Bastard but with a couple of differences; In fact if you were to blindfold me, I would probably mistake this for a Arrogant Bastard solely based on the smell.

The flavor has a fairly strong citra-hop kick up front, followed by licorice, caramelized malts, fruity notes and spices. Again it reminds me of Arrogant Bastard, but the big difference is that Arrogant Bastard uses Piney Hops, not Citrus Hops.

The body is moderately weighted and the same can be said about the carbonation. At the same time, it feels quite watery and thin feeling; It doesn't really feel right considering what kind of ale this is.

Even with it's imperfections, Bridge Burner is a solid Strong Ale with a great taste that is worth checking out. It's nice to see a change-up in how Lakefront has been doing business in terms of beers they offer. Hopefully their Chad Barleywine will be as good as I was told.....but that's another review.

Lakefront Bridge Burner - 8/10