Lazy Monk Rye IPA Review

Name: Lazy Monk Rye IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.1% (Per Untappd)

Today I've got another beer courtesy of Lazy Monk Brewing based out of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. This time, I have their Rye IPA which is aptly named......Rye IPA. Having had their Pilsner last time around, I'm quite eager to try this out. Plus it has been a good while since I've had any beers with rye in it.

Appearance - It pours a fairly hazy orange color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. The head is thin in width, but has a rather thick feel to it. To top it off, the lacing is quite abundant

Aroma - I'm getting some potent citrus hoppiness in the nose upfront, but that rye spiciness manages to poke its head though. It also possesses a fairly strong caramel maltiness and even a hint of grape-fruitiness as well

Taste - The citrus hops & caramel maltiness are the strongest flavors here and linger throughout. However the second half of the flavor is where the rye and bitter hops start to shine through....sort of. While the bitter hops are most certainly there, the rye element of the flavor is very underwhelming when compared to the rest of the flavor.

As it stands, Rye IPA is a good beer but as I just mentioned, the actual rye aspect of the flavor falls flat, even after it warms up. However the rest of the flavor is quite good and that alone merits checking out this beer if the availability permits.

Lazy Monk Rye IPA - 8/10

A second visit to Pitchfork Brewing

Right after our visit to American Sky last Sunday, me and Frank made our way to Hudson, Wisconsin's other craft brewery: Pitchfork Brewing. This time, we were there for the Sunday tour that was offered by the brewery. Some of my regular readers will remember that I visited the brewery back in May during Minnesota Craft Beer Week as a last minute decision; A decision which I don't regret at all.

Sure enough when we walked in the door we were greeted by Mike, the owner & brewmaster of Pitchfork, who was working the taplines along with another gentleman. After sampling their Oktoberfest beer (more on that shortly,) me and Frank along with 2 others took a tour of the brewing area (Sunday at 2PM for those wondering.)

Now the brewing area is, admittedly, quite small as expected. However with Mike giving us a tour, he kept us hooked by telling us about starting in homebrewing, his experiences working at Northern Brewer, his efforts to relax homebrew laws in Wisconsin, as well as getting Pitchfork Brewing started. He could've kept talking all day and I still wouldn't have been bored. Mike also expressed his desire to stay small, a decision I respect because I feel like it would give one a lot more creative control over deciding what to brew.

After the tour, we decided to try out some of the latest offerings from Pitchfork. Like last time, it was a mixed bag of offerings that provided a craft beer lover with a good amount of diversity.

Pitchfork Oktoberfest - Much like my visit to American Sky, an Oktoberfest was also the first beer that we tried out. Solid Munich/Marzen malt base with some caramel sweetness and a fairly strong-for-the-style floral hop profile. It may not be autumn yet. but it sets the mood right.

Pitchfork Thistle Scottish Ale - Fairly roasty and chocolate malt flavor overall with just a bit of vanilla sweetness. It does taste pretty sweet though, especially on the back end of the flavor. I've been on a bit of a streak with having some fantastic Scottish Ales lately and this just continues that trend.

Pitchfork Night Shift Dry Stout - Usually I don't find dry stouts outside the spring months and yet here was one right in front of me. The flavor starts out with some chocolate maltiness and even a flaked oats taste. The aftertaste, as expected by the given name, was quite dry with just a slight hop bitterness on the back end of the palate. This is a pretty good "sessionable" stout!

Pitchfork English Old Ale - An old ale during the summertime? Count me in! The flavor is very molasses and caramel malt forward with some chocolate sweetness and a strong licorice aftertaste. Very heavy body and very thick to boot, thanks to the molasses. Needless to say, this was very tasty and I can only imagine the work that Pitchfork had to go through to make this!

Pitchfork Dig Deep Double IPA - There is always a spot for an Imperial IPA, regardless of what season it may be and this beer is no exception. Strong citrus hops and grapefruit notes make up the bulk of the flavor with a nice caramel maltiness with a piney/resin bitter hop aftertaste.

After I left Pitchfork with my growler of their Pale Ale in hand, I stopped by Casanova like I always do whenever I'm in Hudson and ended up picking up some beers for reviews down the road.

Overall, it was another fantastic visit to Pitchfork Brewing with some quality brews to boot. Having their beers makes me wish that I could drink them on a regular basis. For the time being, I'll just have to grab a growler (or two) whenever I'm down in the Twin Cities.

Keep up the great work, Mike!

A visit to American Sky Brewing

Over Labor Day weekend while I was down in the Twin Cities for the State Fair, I decided to pay a visit to a couple of breweries over in Hudson, Wisconsin on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. I was invited by Frank, who hosts the Minnesota Skinny Radio Hour on Sizzlin' 99.9, over to American Sky Brewery where we met up for Beer and Free Bacon.

Upon entering the taproom, the first thing that popped into my head was that it was exactly how I had imagined it would look. It resembled a giant airplane hanger and adorned on the wall were photographs of men & women, both past and present, in uniform. Even the bar itself looked like it was ripped from a World War 2-era hanger.

While we were there, I decided to get a flight along with some bacon and try out the offerings that the brewery taproom had to offer on a cool propeller flight board. All the while we were talking about beer, culture, politics, and everything else in-between.

Amber Salute (5.5% ABV) - Starts out with a solid roasty maltiness with some nuttiness and a sweet malty and light dry hop finish. Nothing that I haven't already seen in an Amber Ale before but it was drinkable and quite good.

Tailgunner Blonde Ale (5.0% ABV) - I want to make a formal apology to American Sky on this one. In my original review, I said that this beer was bland, unremarkable and that anyone looking for a decent blonde ale should pass this one up. Upon having this again, I noticed a vast improvement in terms of flavor. Everything from the pale maltiness, the hop profile and even the overall quality were much better from when I had it in a bottle, which leads me to believe that the bottle I had was older.

Wombat Combat Belgian White IPA (6.3% ABV) - Starting out with a nice citrus hop profile, this beer has some nice Belgian yeastiness and a nice wheat malt base. White IPAs have been gaining popularity in recent years and this is one example as to why that is.

Hellcat Munich Helles (5.2% ABV) - A nice, lightly hopped Helles lager with a good pale malt backbone. Considering that it was a was a nice, warm summer afternoon, it's a perfect beer for such an atmosphere.

Red Tail Oktoberfest (5.6% ABV) - Is it fall already? Well, it's pretty darn close when you start seeing Oktoberfest beers on tap. Red Tail has a solid Munich Malt base with a nice mild hoppiness, light boozy and roastiness. Not overly complex but it was nice!

Dogfight Sorachi Ace Saison (9.2% ABV) - The brewery's Saison. In addition to a strong Belgian Yeast profile, there's also a prominent lemon and berry sweetness and a light hoppiness and dill tanginess on the end of the palate. I can safely say that if this were available in my area, this would definitely be a regular of mine.

All and all, me and Frank had a great time at American Sky....and we weren't finished! After finishing up, we made our way over to the other Hudson-based brewery. Stay tuned for my next post as I revisit an old favorite of mine: Pitchfork Brewing!

New Glarus Scream IIPA Review

Name: New Glarus Scream IIPA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: N/A

Since starting this blog, I reviewed a wide range of beers from New Glarus Brewing (23 including this one and not counting the other ones I've had before I started writing) but not once have I had a traditional IPA from New Glarus and IPAs aren't typically what they are known for. Today that is all going to change because I have their Scream IIPA which was recently released as part of their Thumbprint Series.

The first thing you'll notice right away about the label is that the State of Wisconsin that usually acts as a centerpiece on most Thumbprint beers is replaced by an eagle who has the look of wanting to peck your eyes out while clutching some hops in it's talons. According to the New Glarus website, the name derives from the eagle which circles the brewery on a regular basis. You do have to give credit to New Glarus for switching it up for a change though.

Scream pours a pretty orange color with just a tinge of darkness. It looks fairly clear in appearance with only some minor haze and only a couple bubbles of carbonation rising up from the bottom of the glass.

The aroma is very grapefruit forward with some citrus hop notes and a bit of caramel maltiness in there as well. There is also a bit of fruitness in here too, consisting mainly of mangoes and apricots.

Much like the nose, the flavor is very grapefruit heavy followed up by some tropical/citrus hops with some noticeable hop bitterness at the very end. The caramel malt base is substantial but not as much as the apricot/mango fruitness.

The palate is moderately weighted and there is a bit of thickness. The carbonation is fairly low and it actually has a very creamy texture. For an Imperial IPA, this is very easy to drink!

Scream is another solid offering from New Glarus. It doesn't do anything that I haven't already seen in an Imperial IPA before but it packs a robust taste and I got this at a very reasonable price. Any hop head looking for a fix will definitely not be disappointed by this beer!

New Glarus Scream IIPA - 9/10

Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor Review

Name: Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor
Brewed by: Miller Brewing Company
Style: Malt Liquor
ABV: 5.6%

Every once in a while, I like to look at beers that have either a questionable (at best) reputation or something that I very well know will taste bad. That's why for this review, I'm changing things up a bit by tackling a beer that has a fairly low opinion in the craft beer community, to put it mildly. That's right, I'm reviewing Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor from the Miller Brewing Company; All of it contained in a 40oz "shatter-proof" green plastic bottle that I picked up for $2.

Now some of you may be wondering why exactly I'm reviewing this? The same reason why I review beers like Molson XXX and Miller Fortune: I review it so you don't have to deal with the experience of drinking a bad beer.

And in case you're wondering: No, I didn't drink the entire thing.

Mickey's pours a very clear pale yellow color with a soapy white head. There's no lacing to speak of on the sides of the glass and the visible carbonation is quite high.

The nose consists mainly of cardboard, pale malts, cooked adjuncts and a very mild but noticeable skunkiness. I'm not picking up on any boozy scents which I'm actually pretty surprised about.

The flavor is mainly just pale malts, some booziness, cardboard, cooked veggies, adjuncts like rice and cereal grains and a fairly dry aftertaste. The skunky flavor does start to become a bit more noticeable as it warms up. The body is fairly light but, as expected, it's got some fairly high carbonation.

To it's credit this isn't as bad as I expected it to be. At the most it's like a less intense version of Bud Light Platinum. Don't get me wrong, it still does taste pretty rank and there's no getting around that but at the same time, I've had much worse than this. My advice though would be to spend an extra dollar or so on a bomber of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale instead; You'll get much more of your money's worth with that.

Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor - 3.5/10

Ale Asylum Unshadowed Review

Name: Ale Asylum Unshadowed
Style: Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.5%

I have one more beer from Ale Asylum out of Madison, Wisconsin called Unshadowed. From my understanding, this is also one of their newest beers to be released and has been added to their year-round lineup. I also regret not snapping of a photo of the full label because I think the bottle artwork is extremely cool.

Picture courtesy of Beerpulse.com

Unshadowed pours a bright yet hazy orange color with a white soapy thin head. There is some mild visible carbonation and some soapy lacing.

The nose has a fairly sweet malted wheat and banana scent upfront. There is also some pale malts on the back end with just a light touch of floral hoppiness.

Flavor starts out with a banana sweetness which is followed up by some wheat & pale malts. Also much like the nose, there's also a light floral hoppiness on the back end of the palate.

The body is reasonably light and the carbonation is also very mild and quite manageable. I don't think anyone should have a problem drinking this.

Unshadowed is a fairly standard, albeit, good Hefeweizen and fans of the style will no doubt enjoy this. I would say that this is worth checking out if you aren't 100% sure what to get next time you go beer shopping.

Ale Asylum Unshadowed - 8/10

American Sky Tailgunner Gold Review

Name: American Sky Tailgunner Gold
Style: Blonde Ale 
ABV: 5%

It's time to look at another beer from American Sky Brewing based out of Hudson, Wisconsin. Since my last review, I found out that American Sky is also known as the Hudson Brewing Company but the website makes no mention of that, which leads me to believe that the latter is used as an LLC name.

The beer we will be looking at is their Tailgunner Gold, which is the brewery's Blonde Ale offering. As you will notice in the photo above, the label actually fell off of the bottle while I was removing the the beer from the fridge.

Tailgunner Gold pours a very dark & hazy yellow color with a thin filmy head. I am picking up on some mild carbonation but there are a ton of tiny sediment pieces floating around in the beer. I'll be honest, this isn't exactly the prettiest looking beer I've come across.

The aroma has a distinct dry hoppiness at the front of the nose that comes off as floral more than anything else. Aside from that, there are some pale malts and noticeable grassiness in here as well.

Flavor-wise, it's very dry from when it first touches your lips up until you swallow the beer. What I am able to up on are some mild dry hops and a light pale maltiness...and that's pretty much it. When I have to dig, figuratively speaking, for flavors, that's never really a good sign. The palate is rather moderate in weight but light when it comes to carbonation.

Tailgunner Gold is not offensive by any stretch of the imagination but it's just so very bland. The nose is somewhat promising but the flavor is just so incredibly dry and borders on being almost non-existent. It just lacks the flavors that I'm used to seeing in a Blonde Ale. I know that Blonde Ales aren't exactly held to the highest standards in the craft beer industry but even those have some type of flavor most of the time. If you're looking for a decent blonde ale, I wouldn't advise picking this up.

American Sky Tailgunner Gold - 6/10

American Sky USA IPA Review

Name: American Sky USA IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.8%

Up until a couple of years ago, Hudson, Wisconsin was the small sleepy town on the St. Croix River that residents of Minneapolis/St. Paul flocked to for their Sunday beer run and that was pretty much the only reason why people even went there. Then last year, two breweries all of a sudden popped up in Hudson and it has since been gaining a reputation aside from the one it's already known for.

As mentioned before, Hudson currently has two breweries to it's name: Pitchfork Brewing (which is a fantastic place to go to if you haven't been there already) and American Sky Brewing. Today we'll be looking at a beer from the latter called USA IPA and it has perhaps the most patriotic name I've ever seen on a beer, hands down.

USA IPA pours a very hazy dark orange color with a thin foamy khaki colored head. The sheer haze of the beer also makes it very hard to pick up any type of visible carbonation.

The nose has a pretty nice citrus hop and grapefruit scent backed up by some caramel malt sweetness. On the back end, I am picking up on some faint piney hops but they're subtle at best.

The flavor is surprisingly piney hop and resiny resin forward upfront with the citrus hops taking more of a backseat. The maltiness definitely isn't as strong here but it manages to provide somewhat of a balance in terms of flavor.

Body is moderate in weight but fairly thick and the carbonation is actually quite mild. This also has somewhat of a creamy texture so it's fairly easy to drink.

In the end, USA IPA is a pretty standard IPA that doesn't really do much to stand out from the crowd. With that said, it possess a good taste and is easy to drink. So while there's nothing to write home about, you aren't doing anything wrong by checking this out.

American Sky USA IPA -  8/10

Weekly Duluth Beer Roundup for June 15, 2014

Since the my last post regarding the Duluth Craft Beer Scene received was mostly positive, I will continue doing these Roundup posts every week if I'm able to do so. This week was a busy one for me and I'm still in the process of getting everything unpacked and set up from my move a couple weeks back. Between work and all of that, I was only able to venture out to one brewpub this week and that was Thirsty Pagan Brewing over in Superior, WI.

Since I was last there they have added a ton of seasonal beers to their lineup. Around September of last year it was around maybe 3-4 seasonals but this time around I counted 9 and a couple of which caught my eye to the point where I just had to try it out.

Thirsty Pagan Rauchbier (5.5% ABV) - Finally, a Rauchbier (smoked beer) that is locally made and it has been a long time since I've had a good Rauchbier. It starts out with a solid smoked malt flavor followed up with some mild but nice hoppiness before ending with some lightly toasted barley. Definitely lighter in terms of appearance, body and even a little bit in the flavor than what I'm used to seeing in Rauchbiers but I would still highly recommend checking this out!

Thirsty Pagan India Pale Lager (6.7% ABV) - It's nice to see that the IPL-style is starting to gain traction amongst the craft beer crowd. This starts out with a nice citrus and piney hop profile with a solid pale malt base and a bitter resiny aftertaste. I usually see IPLs come out around the springtime so this makes for a very nice seasonal.

Thirsty Pagan The Patriot (4.8% ABV) - A Pilsner made with All-American malts and hops, hence it's name. This has a nice floral hop profile backed up by a Pilsner malt base with a hint of oakiness thanks to the hops used in this beer. The light body and relatively mild carbonation give this a nice crisp and clean finish.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this. Hopefully I will have inspired some of you to go out and try these beers out if you get the chance.

Cheers!

- Nick

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

Couple of upcoming changes

Hello fellow readers,

As some of you may already know, I moved this weekend into my brand new place. Right now, I am currently without internet until tomorrow evening at the very earliest and I'm writing this post from my phone.

Anyways, there's going to be some changes made in terms of posts. About a year ago when I moved to Duluth, I mentioned that I would focus more of my posts on the craft beer scene here.
Well, I feel that almost a year later, I have not been holding up my end of the bargin enough. Drawing inspiration from my Minnesota Craft Beer Week posts, I've decided that I'm going to do a ”weekly roundup” post of sorts every week.

The idea is this: Every week, I do a weekly recap of various beers I try at the breweries/brewpubs in the Duluth/Superior area. I'm looking to do 1-2 beers a week, permitting that I'm not too busy with other things going on in my life. These posts would be in addition to my beer reviews, of course!

Thanks once again to all my readers for your patience! With any luck, I'll be back at it tomorrow night.

Cheers!

- Nick

Tyranena Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale Review

Note: Since this photo was taken, my Tyranena glass broke

Name: Tyranena Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale
Style: Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy
ABV: 7.5%

Based out of a sleepy little town called Lake Mills, Wisconsin, which is just 15 miles west of Madison, Tyranena Brewing was one the many craft breweries I dabbled in when I first got into craft beer. They are also the makers of, in my opinion, one of the best pumpkin beers out there: Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale.

However I'm here to look at their Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale, which to my knowledge is a seasonal beer. Beer Advocate claims it's a fall seasonal but I've always seen this beer come out around March/April. Now some of you are probably wondering: Why such a bizarre (disturbing) name? Well according to Tyranena's website, the term "shagging" means retrieving and sure enough, the dictionary can back up that claim, though they refer to it as "pursuing."

Sheep Shagger pours cloudy dark brown color with a thin light-khaki colored head and some sparse lacing.

Aroma-wise, it starts off with a nice caramel maltiness, peated scotch and some vanilla notes. There's also a subtle roastiness and a light hint of maple syrup on the back of the nose.

In the flavor, the vanilla and peated scotch characteristics take more of a center stage. These are backed up with a solid caramel maltiness, some roasted barley and there are even some floral hoppiness thrown in for good measure. The aftertaste is mainly caramel and toffee sweetness with a hint of smoke on the back of the palate.

When it comes to the overall mouthfeel, it's pretty thick bodied almost to being chewy but the carbonation is very subdued so it's easy to drink. All of this gives this beer a nice creamy texture.

At the end of the day, Sheep Shagger is a quality scotch ale that possesses a vibrant flavor and some easy drinkability to boot. If this were a year-round offering, this would be a regular visitor in my fridge. If you're able to get Tyranena in your area, this is a beer worth checking out!

Tyranena Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale - 8.5/10

Milwaukee Brewing Hop Happy IPA Review

Name: Milwaukee Brewing Hop Happy IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.7%

Milwaukee Brewing Company (or MKE) based out of.....you guessed it, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has recently started shipping to Minnesota; Although right now we currently don't get them in my neck of the woods in cans. Up until now, my experience with MKE has been their Louie's Resurrection (Fantastic beer, by the way!) from the growler fill station over in Superior.

So on my recent visit to the Twin Cities, I decided to grab a can of their Hop Happy IPA since I have trying to get myself back onto IPAs as of late, along with a few other goodies which I'll be reviewing in the near future.

Hop Happy pours a mildly hazy orange color with a thin foamy head. The lacing is quite abundant and there is very little carbonation to be seen.

The nose has a nice scent of citrus hops with some sweet caramel maltiness, and a mild floral hop profile at the very end.

Flavor is more of the resin/piney hops side along with citrus & floral hops and a solid caramel malt backbone. Each type of hop used in this beer (Columbus, Fuggle, Cascade) are nicely put on display here and are distinguishable to the point where I would say they co-exist for the most part.

The palate is fairly heavy when it comes to body weight but the carbonation is mild at best and it helps keep the drinking experience a steady one.

Judging by the flavor and overall quality of Hop Happy, I would say that this is a very well balanced and put together IPA that is worth your attention. Anybody looking for a robust yet balanced tasting IPA would be wise to give this one a shot.

Milwaukee Brewing Hop Happy IPA - 9/10

Lakefront Beer Line Review

Name: Lakefront Beer Line
Style: Barleywine
ABV: 12.5%

It's been a long time it seems since I had a barleywine, after all spring seasonals tend not the be heavier in alcohol content. That's why I bring to you Beer Line, the latest barleywine offering from Lakefront Brewery. From what I gathered, this actually hasn't been brewed for quite a few years and Lakefront only recently brought it back.

It seems to me that Lakefront also has a thing for brewing organic barleywines as this is the second one I've had from this brewery; The first being Chad Barleywine, which was released under the "My Turn" series.

Beer Line pours a dark hazy red color with a thin filmy head. The visible carbonation is on the milder side and the lacing is somewhat sparse.

The nose has a strong caramel malt base with some strong citrus hops, vanilla, some mildly roasted malts and an encompassing yeast-doughy scent. It smells a bit like bourbon almost!

The flavor is also very malt forward with notes of caramel, yeasts and some citrus hops that make themselves more known as it warms up. As a whole it's very similar to the nose, though I can't help but feel that this should be barrel aged. There is also no booziness here and considering the ABV, that's quite an accomplishment!

The palate possess a very heavy body but with some mild carbonation. The overall texture is quite smooth, which makes this very easy to drink.

Beer Line is an excellent example of how to do an English-style Barleywine right. It's got a nice flavor profile and it's extremely easy to drink. My only gripe about this beer is that it had the beginnings of a nice bourbon barrel-aged flavor and I feel it really could've benefited from that. With that said, Beer Line is still definitely worth checking out, especially if you are into the barleywine style!

Lakefront Beer Line - 9/10

New Glarus Coffee Stout Review

Name: New Glarus Coffee Stout
Style: Stout
ABV: 5.75%

It's time to look at New Glarus Coffee Stout, another beer from the brewery which was recently added to their seasonal line-up. Like many other beers I've looked at from the brewery, it's occasionally brought out of retirement; Much akin to a cheesy 80's action movie where a former green beret soldier is approached by his former commanding officer and is told he is only one who can get the job done.

The beer pours a pitch black with a khaki-colored head. There isn't any visible carbonation to be seen here but the lacing is quite good.

The aroma is quite roasted and consists mainly of roasted barley, coffee ground and chocolate malts. There is a hint of hops in the nose, but it isn't immediately apparent.

Like the nose, it's got a very roasty flavor with coffee notes, some floral & bitter hops which make themselves known on the back of the palate, and a solid chocolate malt base. The coffee flavor becomes more prominent as it warms up. The aftertaste is also fairly roasty with a slight hop bitterness.

The palate as a whole is quite heavy in terms of body weight but it's got some very low carbonation and a semi-smooth texture. It's not quite drinking an iced coffee but you get the idea.

I'm not really too much into drinking coffee as a means to wake up in the morning mainly because I can't stand the taste but I found this to be pretty good. It's nice and roasty and there are other flavors (particularly the chocolate malts) that help balance out the coffee flavors quite well. I'd say give this one a try, you might be surprised!

New Glarus Coffee Stout - 8.25/10

New Glarus Back 40 Bock Review

Name: New Glarus Back 40 Bock
Style: Bock
ABV: 5.5%

It's time to look at one of latest releases from New Glarus Brewing. For this review, I have their Back 40 Bock, which is another one of their Bock-style ales. If my memory serves me correctly, it was listed on brewery's website as an archived beer at one point but it's since been moved to their "Seasonal" listings.

Back 40 Bock pours a clear dark red color with a foamy khaki colored head. The visible carbonation is fairly moderate in appearance and the lacing left behind is pretty good.

The aroma starts off with some caramel and chocolate notes, followed by some roasted barley and mild floral hoppiness.

The flavor consists of caramel malts, mild roasted barley, chocolate notes and a mild hoppiness. The aftertaste is fairly dry with a mild caramel sweetness and floral hoppiness. The palate has a surprisingly heavy body and the carbonation as a whole is also very strong, which is unusual for this style.

As a whole, this is actually a good beer. It has considerably more flavor than New Glarus' last Bock offering, Uff-da, and has an overall more robust profile. My only major complaint about this beer is that the carbonation and overall palate are way too heavy for my liking. Still I say it's worth checking out if you get the chance.

New Glarus Back 40 Bock - 8/10

Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison Review

Despite what the growler says, this is indeed a Thirsty Pagan beer.

Name: Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison
Style: Saison
ABV: 6%

I feel that I've been neglecting the local craft beer scene for a while in terms of reviews so I decided to switch it up tonight and review an offering from Thirsty Pagan Brewing, located over in neighboring Superior, Wisconsin. For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Thirsty Pagan is the only brewery located over in Superior, Wisconsin whereas compared to the numerous breweries located over in Duluth. I also think that they serve the best pizza in the area but of course that is just my opinion.

For this review I have their Velo Saison, which is their Saison-style ale and it's usually on their regular line-up whenever I go in. A quick fun fact: Velo is the French word for "Bicycle"

Velo Saison pours a hazy yellow color with a average foamy head with decent retention. The visible carbonation is mild and the lacing is decent.

The aroma starts off with some notes of cloves and Belgian Yeasts backed up by some nice floral hops and a solid malty backbone.

Likewise, the flavor isn't too different from the nose. It starts off with a strong Belgian yeast spiciness/cloveiness before the floral hops make themselves known at as it finishes up. There is also an encompassing malty backbone that helps even everything out. The aftertaste is a light Belgian yeast and floral hoppiness.

The palate as a whole is more moderate in weight but thankfully the carbonation is very mild so you shouldn't have any difficulty trying to drink this.

Velo Saison is a very enjoyable and rather robust Saison-style ale. Usually if I'm not really sure what to get while I'm there (or not feeling like a sour that day), I can always rely on this beer in terms of flavor and quality.

Thirsty Pagan Velo Saison - 8.5/10

Lakefront Big Easy Imperial Maibock Review

Name: Lakefront Big Easy Imperial Maibock
Style: Maibock
ABV: 7.6%

After being in absentia for a few days, I feel it's time to get back to doing reviews. It's been a long time since I have reviewed anything from Lakefront Brewery. In fact, now that I mention it, the last time I reviewed anything from Lakefront was from back in July of 2013; Where does the time go?

Anyways, tonight I have Lakefront's Big Easy Imperial Maibock. While looking it up, I found out that it is sometimes referred to as "Big Easy Lager" and the ABV is listed from 6% all the way up to 7.1% (per RateBeer and BeerAdvocate respectively). However, Lakefront's website lists it at 7.6%, which is what I will be going with.

Big Easy pours a hazy orange color with a thin white head. The visible carbonation is very mild in appearance and I'm not getting any lacing along the sides of the glass. Doesn't look too lager-y from my point of view.

The nose starts out with a solid malty base with notes of caramel, sweet honey and light floral hops.

The flavor also isn't too different from the aroma, consisting mainly of caramel, sweet honey and light floral hops. All of which are backed up by a solid malty backbone.

The overall palate is moderately weighted and lightly carbonated, making this a pretty easy-to-drink and refreshing beer.

All and all, this is a solid Maibock-style beer. It doesn't do anything terribly different as far as Maibocks are concerned but I've certainly much worse than this. I'd say this one is worth checking out at the very least if you get the chance to do so.

Lakefront Big Easy Imperial Maibock - 8/10

Rush River Minion IPA Review

Name: Rush River Minion IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6%

Thanks to our neighbors over in Superior, Wisconsin, I have gotten the opportunity to review and try out many beers that I otherwise would not have been able to try out via growler. Tonight I have a growler full of a Rush River Minion IPA. They have a couple other IPAs in their lineup, but Minion is only available on draft and not in a bottle.

Minion pours a clear dark golden color with a thin foamy head and moderate carbonation. There is no lacing left behind so it has a clean finish.

The aroma of starts out with a citrus hop and grapefruit scent. To go along that is a mild caramel maltiness and some slight yeasty notes.

The flavor is mainly citrus hops but there are also mild piney hops in here too. The caramel malts are a bit more prevalent here but the yeasts are just as mild as it was in the nose. It finishes off with a bitter resiny aftertaste. The palate as a whole feels pretty heavy body with some mild to moderate carbonation.

It's a pretty solid IPA, but it doesn't do anything different that we haven't already seen and plays it safe for the most part. Still, if you're out at a bar or get it in a growler like your's truly, I think you'll enjoy it!

Rush River Minion IPA - 8/10

New Glarus Dubbel Review

Name: New Glarus Dubbel
Style: Dubbel
ABV: 7.6%

New Glarus Brewing has released yet another beer in their Thumbprint Series: a Dubbel Ale, complete with a brand spanking new label redesign. It's a style which we have never seen before in their Thumbprint Series lineup, however they DID release a Belgian Strong Ale last year to celebrate their 20th year in business. In my review of that beer, I mentioned that it tasted alot like a Dubbel even though it was classified by the brewer as a Strong Ale.

New Glarus Dubbel pours a hazy crimson red color with a thin khaki-colored head. The carbonation is moderate in appearance and there is no lacing left behind, giving it a clean finish.

The aroma of has some notes of brown sugar, dark fruit, caramel malts and belgian yeast. The Belgian yeast does give it a light clove scent and the overall aroma does have some of the influences found in the 20th Anniversary Ale.

Flavor-wise, it's quite Belgian yeast and caramel malt forward, providing some flavors of cloves, spices, brown sugar and licorice. The dark fruitiness is very mild here, primarily in the aftertaste which also contains some caramel malt notes. The palate is quite light and moderately carbonated which allows for some of the flavors to shine a bit more.

There is definitely some influences from the brewery's 20th Anniversary Ale here, but they're different enough to be distinguished from one another. With that said, this is an excellent addition to the Thumbprint Series. Also for a Dubbel style ale, this is very reasonably priced so pick this up if you get the chance!

New Glarus Dubbel - 9/10