Lift Bridge Biscotti Review

Name: Lift Bridge Biscotti
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBUs: 27

Here's a beer from Lift Bridge that I've seen before but have never bothered to try out mainly because the first time I saw this, the asking price was a little higher than what I was willing to pay for it. Thankfully it's not more reasonably priced so I decided to finally pick it up.

I'm of course talking about Biscotti, the brewery's winter seasonal Belgian Dark Ale, which takes it's name from the Italian food delicacy. However this beer is made with vanilla beans, star anise, honey and Grains of Paradise....which an actual biscotti is not made with.

Appearance - Moderately hazy dark amber color with no visible carbonation. The head is rather thin but there's a very sparse amount of lacing left behind.

Aroma - Belgian yeasts and cloves mixed in with some honey notes. Also getting some light roastiness in here along with some mild floral hoppiness. I'm not getting any of that vanilla though.

Taste - Belgian yeasts and light anise notes dominate the from of the palate, followed by some moderate floral hops. Towards the back I'm getting some light roastiness & nuttiness with a slight hint of vanilla that becomes more prevalent as it warms up. Aftertaste is some light honey and yeasts.

Biscotti is a good beer but I can't help but feel that for all the ingredients being used, everything isn't being used to their fullest potential. Nevertheless, there is a certain charm to this beer that is worth experiencing should you choose to try it out.

Lift Bridge Biscotti - 8/10

Lift Bridge Farm Girl Review

Name: Lift Bridge Farm Girl
Style: Saison
ABV: 5.8%
IBUs: 19

I've recently noticed that my reviews of Minnesota-based beers has become somewhat sparse, which happens when you have a good selection to choose from. So I took it upon myself to pick up a couple of beers from Lift Bridge Brewing. One of these beers is their Farm Girl Saison.

I recall taking a tour of their brewery a couple years back and I remember the tour guide telling me that Farm Girl was their highest selling beer and considered by many to be their flagship beer. Makes sense when I think about how often I see it in both 6 & 12 packs in pretty much every store I see. I remember when just 4 years ago, this was an absolute pain to find because the stores literally couldn't keep it in stock, at least the ones I visited.

Appearance - Very cloudy pale yellow color with a very high amount of visible carbonation. The head looks foamy at first, but in all reality, it's quite fizzy and fades away after just a couple of moments almost entirely.

Aroma - Strong pilsner malts paired with some potent grassy notes. I'm also getting some mild Belgian Yeasts and clove notes, along with just a light hint of cardboard & booziness. Those last two may sound bad, but in all reality, they're not.

Taste - Belgian Yeasts & pilsner malts upfront, followed by some moderate floral hoppiness, cloves and some earthy grassiness. Aftertaste is surprisingly dry save for some more mild floral hoppiness and light grass notes.

It's a little too earthy for my liking but I can see why this is so popular with Minnesota beer drinkers, particularly those who are really into imports from places like Belgium or Germany. The most important thing is that it's inoffensive and a solid Saison at the end of the day.

Lift Bridge Farm Girl - 8/10

Lift Bridge Getaway Pilsner Review

Name: Lift Bridge Getaway Pilsner

Style: Pilsner

ABV: 5.25%

Lift Bridge Brewing just released a brand new summer seasonal beer called Getaway Pilsner. Unlike same beers I've had from them (and have not reviewed yet,) this comes in a 16 oz. Tallboy can as opposed to the 12 oz. bottle which I'm used to seeing from this brewery; Although I have seen their Farm Girl Saison in 16 oz. cans as well.

Since it is Memorial Day weekend and only a few more weeks until the official start of summer, what better time to look at this beer than now. Hey, in the event you are out for a summer picnic or a day at the beach, you want to make sure you bring good beer!

Getaway Pilsner pours a pale yellow color with a foamy white head. The visible carbonation is quite mild and the lacing is pretty soapy in appearance. 

The nose starts off with a Pilsner & Pale Maltiness upfront with some floral hops, yeasts and a light grassy/earthy scent. A little maltier smelling and definitely more of a hop kick than most Pilsners I'm used to having.

Likewise the flavor is also pretty Pilsner/Pale malt forward but the floral hoppiness is a lot more prevalent here. In addition to that, there is a nice yeast profile in here and the earthy qualities are quite tame as well. As for the aftertaste, it's quite dry with just a hint of floral hops and Pilsner malts.

The palate as a whole is light; Both in terms of carbonation and overall weight. In other words, it's the way a summer seasonal should feel: light and crisp.

I found Getaway Pilsner to be quite good. I think the floral hoppiness in particular will help draw in people who are not normally fan of traditional Pilsner beers. At the same time, I can also see this beer being a great and sessionable beer during the hot summer months. Be sure to check this out if you get the chance!

Lift Bridge Getaway Pilsner - 8.25/10

Lift Bridge Commander Review

Name: Lift Bridge Commander
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 12.5%

For this review, I'm looking at a beer from Lift Bridge Brewing that I have been seeing on store shelves for the past couple of years but have never really bothered to pick up until now. I'm talking about Lift Bridge's Commander Barleywine. The name comes from the Commander grain elevator located in downtown Stillwater, MN and there are currently plans to open a restaurant in the said building.

This will be my second "strong beer" from Lift Bridge, with the other being their Silhouette Imperial Stout, which I found to be very good. Needless to say, I'm curious to see how this turned out.

Commander pours a mildly hazy red color with a fizzy head that almost completely fades away after a couple of minutes. The visible carbonation is rather high and there is no lacing left behind to speak of.

At the front of the nose is a nice vanilla and oaky scent, giving it sort of a bourbon barrel-aged like quality to it. Behind that are some caramel malts, hops and some booziness.

The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma with notes of oak, caramel malts, mild citrus hops, bourbon and mild booze. As you can probably tell, the flavor is quite malty but the components that make up the flavor feel incomplete and underwhelming

The body is very light in terms of weight but the carbonation comes off as heavy. For what it is, it isn't exactly what I would call ideal when you consider the flavor and style of this beer.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine tried to homebrew his own barleywine. After letting it condition for 4-5 months, he gave me and my friends a couple of bottles for us to try out, Upon having it, I didn't think it was bad, and believe me I've had way worse, but it tasted awfully similar to Commander. It's not terrible but this is definitely more of the "okay" barleywines that I've had.

Lift Bridge Commander - 7.5/10

Lift Bridge Hop Dish Review

Name: Lift Bridge Hop Dish IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.5%
IBUs: 70

As I sit here waiting for Grand Theft Auto 5 to install, I figured I would take this time to review a beer. This one is Lift Bridge Brewing's first venture into the IPA market called "Hop Dish", a tongue-in-check acknowledgement to the casserole called "Hot Dish." According to Wikipedia, the Hot Dish is a popular dish here in the state of Minnesota, which is news to me because it's absolutely disgusting and shouldn't even exist to begin with.

With that said, let's hope that this is alot better than it's namesake "food" which it's named after.

Hop Dish pours a hazy golden color with a semi-foamy head and great lacing. There's some moderate carbonation visible inside of the glass.

The nose starts off with a good mixture of citrus & piney hops along with grapefruit, peach and caramel. Has a nice mixture of both fruity and sweetness.

The flavor starts out with some prominent piney hop and resiny notes before revealing the citrus hop, peach, and caramel malt finish.

The body is light in weight and the carbonation is rather mild, making this an easy to drink IPA.

As expected, Hop Dish beats out a Hot Dish in pretty much every category, including the "Possessing a great flavor that doesn't suck" category. Lift Bridge's first shot at an IPA is a great one and I'm glad to see this one is becoming a regular offering instead of a seasonal.

Lift Bridge Hop Dish - 8.5/10

Lift Bridge Silhouette Review

Lift Brewing Brewing Company is another Minnesota-based Brewery that has grown exponentially in the past couple of years and has just recently announced their third expansion since opening up just a couple of years ago. This is not uncommon seeing how tremendously the craft beer scene has grown these past couple of years. It is indeed a good time to be a beer lover here in Minnesota; Mind you, we are not at Colorado or Portland-level yet but one day I feel we will.

Anyways, Lift Bridge is located in Stillwater, MN; Which is a town literally right across the river from Wisconsin. Their most popular brew based on what I've seen at bars and stores is their Farm Girl Saison. Today I'll be looking at their Silhouette Imperial Stout, which comes in at 10% ABV. According to the brewery's website, this is a Winter Release. To me, Imperial Stouts are a year-round thing and some of them age wonderfully.

Silhouette pours a pitch black color with a filmy dark brown head. You can see little carbonation bubbles on the sides of the glass as well as your own reflection.

The nose has a fairly nice aroma of Vanilla, Bourbon, Cherry, Oak, Chocolate Nibs and Roasted Malts. I know they did a barrel aged edition of Silhouette a couple of years ago and what I have in front of me certainly smells like it but at the same time I know that may not be the case.

When it comes to the flavor, it's surprisingly smokey for an Imperial Stout. At the same time, it also has the rich Vanilla, Oak, Roasted Malt and Chocolate flavor. It's still got that Vanilla-Bourbon flavor to it but not overtly so. The smokiness reminds one of a Baltic Porter, but the other flavors serve as a reminder that this is still very clearly an Imperial Stout.

The body has a moderate weight to it and the carbonation is quite mild. Very smooth and creamy feel to it and compliments the flavor quite nicely.

It's an Imperial Stout with a slight Baltic Porter twist to it, and it works out quite well for the most part. It's got a great flavor and a smooth body and any seasoned Imperial Stout fan looking for something tasty and slightly different should definitely try this one out!

Lift Bridge Silhouette - 9/10