Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA Review

Name: Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.8%
IBUs: N/A

Last week, Castle Danger Brewing released their very highly anticipated Moasic Fresh Hop IPA. At the time of the release, I was at work and unable to make it out to grab some. When I finally did get out of work, I was met by disappointment as all of my regular haunts had sold out of them in just a few short hours. Defeated, I figured that I would probably find it on tap somewhere down the road and savor that Mosaic goodness. Sure, I have access to other great Mosaic IPAs like Fulton's 300, but it just isn't the same as having it fresh.

Then today, as I was browsing the store shelves at one of my other regular places, there it was sitting in the cooler! Apparently, not all of it was sold last Friday and I had, for lack of a better term, lucked out. In any case, I'm very eager to try this out. Also, I did a review of their Local Fresh Hop IPA back when this blog was fairly new, but that beer was made with Brewer's Gold & Cascade Hops; So in case you were wondering if these two beers are the same, they're not.

Appearance - Mildly hazy orange color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head starts out foamy and eventually settles down the a thin film, but the lacing is abundant and sticky.

Aroma - Rich Mosaic hop and tangerine notes mixed in with a toffee malt sweetness and just a hint of yeasts.

Taste - Once again, the Mosaic hops dominate the palate throughout and they are quite potent to put it mildly, while that toffee maltiness shows up primarily in the middle. I'm also getting some mild bitterness shows up in the back end of the palate. The aftertaste is more Mosaic hops mixed in with light tangerine notes and just a touch of bitterness.

Maybe it's my own bias for loving Mosaic hops, but this is one of those beers that I could drink for days on end and not get tired of it. With that said, it's by no means the most complex tasting beer out there, but it's a very robust one at that and one of the best Fresh Hop IPAs I've had in recent memory. I'm not sure what availability is like at this point, but you definitely need to grab this one should you so happen to see it!

Castle Danger Mosaic Fresh Hop IPA - 9.5/10

Brau Brothers Rubus Black Review

Name: Brau Brothers Rubus Black
Style: Imperial Porter
ABV: 8.5%
IBUs: N/A

Today I've got a new offering from Brau Brothers....or do I? I give to you Rubus Black, an Imperial Porter made with blackberries. When I first picked up this bottle, I had never seen it before and assumed it was a brand new beer that was just added to Brau Brothers' regular lineup and thought nothing of it.

Upon doing some research, it turns out they made a small batch of this stuff back in 2006 when Brau Brothers first opened their doors, and has seen limited release over the years, with the most recent release having been within the past month or so. While we're on the topic, if there's one beer I want to see from Brau Brothers again, it would be their Barrel-Aged Quad from 4 years ago; That was some good stuff!

Appearance - Pitch black with an initially foamy light brown head that quickly fades away after a few moments. The lacing left behind, however, is somewhat sparse but present.

Aroma - Strong chocolate and roasted malts with some blackberry undertones. I'm also getting some light smokiness in here as well and maybe just a hint of caramel sweetness.

Taste - Potent blackberry and bitter hop notes upfront with some chocolate malts and roastiness towards the back, along with some light smokiness. The back end of the palate consists of more blackberry sweetness and just a light touch of hoppiness to compliment everything else.

You know, as much as I enjoyed it, I would love to see made with raspberries. It's hard to explain, but I'd like to see a version of this made with raspberries. However as it stands, the blackberries make this beer stand out from other Imperial Porters I've had so far and it's also one of the best Imperial Porters I've had in a long time. If Brau Brothers decides to release this again, I will definitely seek it out.

Brau Brothers Rubus Black - 9/10

Deschutes Sagefight Imperial IPA Review

Name: Deschutes Sagefight Imperial IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8%
IBUs: 75

Well, Deschutes' love affair with IPAs keeps chugging along with the release of Sagefight Imperial IPA, which is their newest IPA offering. The twist on this IPA is that it's made with botanical sage and juniper berries. Why the name? According to Deschutes, Team Hops and Team Botanicals (Yes, those are the names actually used on the label) are supposed to square up against one another in the flavor, calling it a "true battle royale." I say let's just try this beer out and see how it is.

Appearance - Mildly hazy dark orange color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head is fairly foamy with some good retention, along with the lacing which is also quite abundant and sticky.

Aroma - Fairly strong bitter piney hops and resin with some juniper berries and other floral/woodsy aromas, which I'm assuming is the sage being used in the brewing process. This is where I say that I have never had sage before and wouldn't know what it smells or tastes like so it's a shot in the dark for me here.

Taste - Bitter resin hops upfront with a juniper and woodsy/floral taste in the middle (again, which I think is the sage) with a caramel/toffee malt backbone towards the end of the palate. As for the aftertaste, it's more of that bitter hoppiness with some mild booze heat and a hint of sage.

It's definitely more of a hop forward beer, but the "botanicals" are certainly nothing to scoff at either as they make themselves known and actually makes this beer stand apart from other Imperial IPAs. In fact, having this more than makes up for the disappointment that was Hopzeit from earlier this fall. So if you so happen to see this, you definitely need to check this one out.

Deschutes Sagefight Imperial IPA - 9/10

612 Brew Red Stack Farmhouse Ale Review

Name: 612 Brew Red Stack Farmhouse Ale
Style: Saison
ABV: 6.3%
IBUs: 19

It's been well over a year since I reviewed anything from 612 Brew, and frankly based on the canned releases I've seen from them, I haven't been missing too much but that's more or less speculation on my part. In any case, today I've got a brand new release from them called Red Stack Farmhouse Ale, which is a new fall seasonal from them.

Also according to what I've read, it's their first new canned bear release since early last year when they first started doing canned beers. Aside from that, there's not really much else to say about it, so let's try this out.

Appearance - Very hazy yellow color with no visible carbonation but I am seeing tons of sediment floating around inside. The head starts out foamy but settles to a thin appearance. As for the lacing, it's on the spottier side, but it's also sticky for what it is.

Aroma - Pale malts and Belgian Yeasts with some mild clove notes and a light hint of banana. I'm also picking up on what also smell like lager yeasts as well.

Taste - Belgian yeasts and cloves upfront with a solid pale maltiness towards the middle and back, while those banana and lager-like yeasts show up on the back end of the palate. The aftertaste is also quite dry with just a light hint of Belgian Yeasts and some faint hoppiness.

If I could describe this beer in one word, it would be "crisp." It's light in body and easy to drink. No it's not as robust as other saisons out there but all the components are there and fulfill their purpose; Perhaps adding a bit of rye to the mix to liven things up? Either way, it's a good beer worth checking out while fall is still around!

612 Brew Red Stack Farmhouse Ale - 8/10

Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Belgian Quad Review

Name: Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Belgian Quad
Style: Quadrupel
ABV: 10%
IBUs: N/A

I recently came into possession of yet another Barrel-Aged beer from Central Waters Brewing and this time around it's their Bourbon Barrel Belgian Quad, which puts me in a unique position. You see I've only reviewed one Quadrupel Ale so far since I started this blog three and a half years ago. This is mainly because Belgian Quads are somewhat of a rarity; Either that or I'm just not looking in the right places.

In any case, this just became available and since I've been a big fan of Central Waters' Barrel Aged beers for quite a while, I thought that I would try this out to see if the quality is consistant with the others I've tried out so far.

Appearance - Murky dark brown color with no visible carbonation. There's not much in terms of a head as it fades away completely after a few moments and there's no lacing left behind either.

Aroma - Strong bourbon, vanilla and oak notes paired with some plums/blackberries and Belgian yeasts. I'm also getting some caramel malts in here as well and it accents the rest of the nose rather well.

Taste - Very prominent oak and bourbon flavors on the front of the palate with the vanilla on the mild side yet it's just right. Towards the middle I'm getting that blackberry/plum & caramel malt backbone, all of which is rather robust. In the back, all of the flavors seem to come together all at once. The aftertaste is mixture of oak, plums and light caramel malts.

One thing I've noticed recently with the Barrel Aged beers from Central Waters (including one I never got around to reviewing) is that they all don't look the best in terms of overall appearance; Meaning lack of head or lacing retention. However beneath that seemingly flawed look is a complex and robust beer.

With that said, this one is no different. It has that complexity and robust flavor that I've come to expect from Central Waters. Is it my favorite in the Brewer's Reserve series? No, but it certainly is a beer that they should be extremely proud to call their own and anyone who sees this in the store would be very wise to pick it up and try out what it has to offer.

Central Waters Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Belgian Quad - 9/10

Insight Banshee Cutter Review

Name: Insight Banshee Cutter
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.5%
IBUs: N/A

It's another new beer from Insight Brewing and this outing is treading into somewhat familiar territory. It goes by the name Banshee Cutter (or The Return Voyage of Banshee Cutter if you want to get technical), and the reason why it's so familiar is that it's a Blonde Ale made with coffee. kind of like another beer from another brewery I did a while back *cough*Ballast Point*cough*.

In any case, it's nice to see a local take and what has been a huge hit across the country and it's even better to see that this waaaaay more reasonably priced. Alright, enough being salty, let's look at the beer!

Appearance - Mildly hazy yellow color with a high amount of visible carbonation. The head is pretty thin and stays that way for most of the time and there's a small amount of lacing left along the sides of the glass.

Aroma - Strong coffee ground & roasty notes that almost completely eclipse everything else, to the point where if you were to blindfold me, I would think I'm smelling a coffee stout. As it warms up, however, I am starting to pick up on some pale malts and light floral hops.The look and nose do not match up to each other, needless to say.

Taste - Unlike the nose where the coffee pretty much dominates, the coffee ground & pale malt aspects of the flavor are more or less equal and I'm even picking up some light yeasts and floral hop notes. The most interesting thing about this beer is the aftertaste because it is rather dry save for some floral hops and light yeasts.

Overall, I think it's pretty well executed for what it is and I'm even more impressed the aftertaste is as mellow as it turned out to be. Now I picked this up a couple weeks ago after seeing on the shelves for about a month so I'm not exactly sure what the seasonal/rotating availability of this is, but this is for sure looking at if you haven't already tried it out.

Insight Banshee Cutter - 8.5/10

Indeed Rum King Review

Name: Indeed Rum King
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 10.5%
IBUs: 70

I remember a few years back when Surly Darkness was the first Minnesota beer that developed a strong enough following to the point where people would camp outside the brewery itself or be put on the waiting list at liquor stores just to get a bottle of the stuff. Even though Darkness is still a big deal, the new Imperial Stout to have a huge following has been passed to Indeed Brewing's Rum King, which is an Imperial Stout aged in Rum Barrels.

For the past 2 years, I have missed out on getting this. The first time in 2014 was because Indeed wasn't readily available in Duluth at that point and the second time last year was because I was working at the time and unable to reserve or find any by the time I got off. This year is different because I actually managed to secure a four-pack for myself, I'm guessing people are willing to pay more for a 4-pack of cans as opposed to a single 750ml bottle; Who would've guessed?

Appearance - Pitch black with no visible carbonation. The head takes on a very foamy brown color tons of lacing left along the sides of the glass.

Aroma - Rich chocolate malts with some vanilla and rum raisin notes, along with some oak and roasted barley. I'm also picking up on some fairly strong bitter hop notes as well.

Taste - Bitter hops and roastiness upfront followed by some vanilla, rum raisin, and oak notes towards the middle...which is followed up by some more bitter hops, toffee and dark chocolate malt sweetness. The back end of the palate is made up mostly of roasted barley and light cherry sweetness. As for the aftertaste, it's more vanilla and oak notes with a slight bitter hoppiness.

It's got a complex flavor and it goes down smooth to cap things off. In short, this is one of the best Imperial Stouts to come out of Minnesota since Darkness first burst onto the scene 10 years ago. Now as much as I loved this, my favorite barrel aged Imperial Stout still belongs to Central Waters but this one comes pretty damned close in terms of quality.

With that said, those who are wondering whether or not to purchase it, my answer to you is still a resounding yes and the fact it's aged in Rum barrels as opposed to bourbon barrels give it a nice twist, that which alone makes this worth trying out.

Indeed Rum King - 9.5/10