Castle Danger Red Hop Rising Review

Name: Castle Danger Red Hop Rising
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.9%
IBUs: N/A

It's time to look at another beer from Castle Danger Brewing, based out of Two Harbors, MN because they have a new canned release. Well, to be fair it isn't exactly new as it's been in existence for about two years now. I'm talking about Red Hop Rising, their fall seasonal IPA.

You see, back in 2014 when their taproom & brewery opened up in downtown Two Harbors, this beer was part of their taproom grand opening lineup and it was a crowd pleaser to say the least. I'm guessing it was popular enough to warrent a can release. Unlike previous Castle Danger beers I've reviewed, this one comes in tallboy cans as opposed to the standard 12oz. cans.

Appearnace - Mildly hazy dark crimson color with a light amount of visible carbonation. The head is quite foamy and the lacing is abundant.

Aroma - Strong citrus & piney hops paired with an equally strong caramel malt backbone with some orange rind notes. I'm also getting a hint of toffee sweetness in here too.

Taste - Piney & citrus hops on the front of the palate with a strong caramel & toffee maltiness in the middle. In the back, both the malts come together with the piney & citrus hops to create a well balanced flavor. The aftertaste is mainly some bitter resin hops with a raisin-like sweetness, both of which linger on for a few moments.

Still as good as I remember it and that's always a good thing. It's still got that hop and malt balance that I remember from my days living in Duluth. You know the drill, if you are able to find it, this is most certainly worth checking out.

Castle Danger Red Hop Rising - 9/10

Epic Tart 'n Juicy Sour IPA Review

Name: Epic Tart 'n Juicy Sour IPA
Style: India Pale Ale/Wild Ale
ABV: 4.5%
IBUs: 50 (per Untappd)

Here's another beer from Epic Brewing and I'll admit I didn't exactly know what this was until I got home. I give to you Tart 'n Juicy Sour IPA, a name that I'm convinced Epic got from watching a Juicy Fruit bubble gum commercial, though Juicy Fruit isn't exactly what one would call tart.

When I first got this beer, I assumed it was sour on account of the supposed lemon/lime slice on the can but apparently this is a kettle soured beer. I'll admit that the idea of a Sour IPA sounds a bit off putting since you never associate those two styles ever, but if Jester King can pull off a Sour Imperial Stout, then I think there's no reason why this couldn't work.

Appearance - Very hazy & cloudy dark orange color with a high amount of visible carbonation. The head is pretty thin for the most part and there's no lacing left behind.

Aroma - Citrus hops and mango sweetness with hints of lemon & lime juice. Despite the overall appearance, I'm getting more of a pale malt aroma out of this as opposed to a caramel malt base but it could just be the overall scent.

Taste - Citrus hops on the front of the palate, but the sourness just dominates the middle of the palate with some strong lemon & lime tartness with just a tiny bit of funk, but even that's hard to pick up on. The back end of the palate is more of that tartness, but I do get a small hint of caramel malts. As for the aftertaste, I'm getting some more lemon tartness that lingers for a couple of moments.

I do enjoy sour beers and everything, but I feel like I'm sucking on a lemon more than I am having an actual wild ale. In short, it's an interesting idea but I can't really say this is going to be amongst my favorite sour beers anytime soon.

Epic Tart 'n Juicy Sour IPA - 6/10

A visit to the Minnesota State Fair - Beer Edition 2016

Two years ago, unbeknownst to myself at the time, a legend was born.

It was a different time back then: I was not even married for a month, I was still living in Duluth, I still drove a Dodge Durango, and it would be another year before I would become a full-time graduate student. I'm talking about my Minnesota State Fair - Beer Edition 2014 Post that I put together one afternoon two years ago. I didn't know it at the time, but it went to to become one of my most viewed posts of 2014 and the feedback I got from it was excellent. So last year when the State Fair came around, I got a couple emails asking if there would be a State Fair 2015 Beer Edition Post, but I had other commitments at the time so I was unable to go.

This year is different because the legend has returned. That's right, it's the Minnesota State Fair 2016 Beer Edition Post. It's back and bigger and better than ever before!

As proud as I was of my last State Fair post, I didn't get to try out some beers that I was looking forward to and I kicked myself for not getting around to finding them. This time around, instead of going in the early afternoon like I did last time, I decided to wake up bright and early and get there right when the gates opened. With a bottle of water and a can of Red Bull, I was determined to try out as many beers as possible.

Name: Excelsior Maple Bacon Brown
Style: Brown Ale
ABV: 5.3%
Found at: Giggles Campfire Grill 

Served with a piece of cold bacon, which thankfully wasn't raw. It's got a good chocolate malt and roasty profile with a light smokiness and, of course, bacon. Maybe it's just me, but the beer also had an oily palate characteristic which may have been caused by bacon and that kind of ruined it for me. In any case, it's a solid brown ale but it definitely could've gone without the bacon. Don't get me wrong, like bacon and all, but this whole cult of personality surrounding bacon needs to go away. Yes, it's the State Fair and all but, seriously, gross!

Excelsior Maple Bacon Brown - 4/10

Name: Lakes and Legends Sweet Corn Summer Ale 
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.1%
Found at: O'Gara's at The Fair

A cream ale made with locally made Untiedt's Sweet Corn. This had a solid pale malt and light floral hop profile. The sweet corn used actually gave it a nice light sweetness that accompanied the rest of the flavor profile quite well. Simply put, it was the perfect kind of beer for that day and dare I say....it reminded me of New Glarus' Spotted Cow.

I may have been a critic of Lakes & Legends before, but they knocked it out of the park with this one right here. If anyone from Lakes & Legends is reading this, please make this available outside of the State Fair!

Lakes and Legends Sweet Corn Summer Ale - 9/10

Name: Summit Hop Merger White IPA
Style: White IPA
ABV: 6.5%
Found at: Summit on a Stick Booth

To my knowledge, this is the first White IPA Summit has ever done, unless they did a Taproom-Only or Unchained release at some point. This one had a nice citrus hop profile with some light Belgian undertones and just a light hint of a clove-like zing, along with a bittersweet finish. Much like the Sweet Corn Summer Ale, this beer could potentially be a nice seller for Summit if it weren't just only available at the State Fair. For the time being, try this out while you can because you won't be disappointed.

Summit Hop Merger White IPA - 9/10

Name: Schell's Grain Belt Frozen BLU
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 4.8%
Found at: Schell's Pavallion at Lulu's Public House

This is one that I actually missed two years ago and I kicked myself for not trying it. This is nothing more than Grain Belt infused with blueberries and it has a rather fruity & slightly tart finish. It's also served with a semi-frozen slush/foam of the same beer. In other words, Liquid Frozen BLUE with semi-frozen...Frozen BLU on top. It's nothing special, but it's damn refreshing when consumed and that's what they were going for. This may be more of a novelty, but it's a good one at that.

Schell's Grain Belt Frozen BLU - 8/10

Name: Bad Weather Funnel Cloud
Style: Amber Ale
ABV: 5.2%
Found at: Mancini's al Fresco

Inspired by the Funnel Cake food served at the State Fair. This one has a solid chocolate malt profile with some mild vanilla notes, accompanied by some very light citrus/floral hoppiness with just a touch of yeasts. It really doesn't remind me too much of an actual funnel cake but it's a solid and drinkable amber ale.

Bad Weather Funnel Cloud - 8/10

Name: Big Wood Chocolate Chip Cookie Beer
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 5.2%
Found at: Andy's Grille

Three years ago when Lift Bridge's Mini-Donut beer was unveiled, there was a line around the block. That wasn't the case this year, but it did inspire other breweries to come up with their own spin on State Fair Classics. This beer is served with mini-chocolate chips along one side of the rim of the glass. Much like the mini donut beer, it's quite yeast forward in flavor with a touch of floral hops but when consumed with the chocolate chips, it does taste somewhat like a chocolate chip cookie.

However, by itself it's nothing special and I feel that they got lazy with this. If you want to impress me, I suggest making this same exact beer but using Sweet Martha's Cookies. Hey if breweries can make beers with chocolate cake or ice cream, then there's no reason why we can't use cookies!

Big Wood Chocolate Chip Cookie Beer - 7/10

Name: Bent Brewstillery Sweat Together IPA
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.3%
Found at: Ball Park Cafe

This beer was apparently made in collaboration with a State Fair winner in homebrewing for 2015, so they are giving us a West Coast-style IPA and it is a very good one at that! Rich citrus hops permeate throughout the palate with a nice caramel malt backbone keeping things in balance without making the flavor too bright for its own good, with a bitter hop finish.

It may be a bit higher in alcohol content, but this one is definitely worth checking out. I believe their words for this beer was "It's strong enough to help you brave the crowds, but not strong enough to place you on the bench all day people watching." It was something along those lines, but point being that you most certainly must check this out.

Bent Brewstillery Sweat Together IPA - 9/10

Name: Bent Paddle Hopmosa
Style: India Pale Ale
ABV: 6.2%
Found at: Ball Park Cafe

This is Bent Paddle's Bent Hop Golden IPA, but infused with actual oranges and all I have to say, Wow! They took an already great IPA, and gave it a sweet citrus spin. You've got a nice citrus hoppiness upfront with some caramel malts, but there's an encompassing orange juice sweetness that is reminiscent of a mimosa that finished with a bittersweet citra finish.

Out of all the beers at the fair, this was by far my favorite. Again, it's rather sad that this is only a State Fair-exclusive beer because I would imagine Bent Paddle could make a killing off of this. Oh well, for the time being, just swing by the Ball Park Cafe and get a pint (or two) of this.


Bent Paddle Hopmosa - 9.5/10


So overall....

Best Beer - Bent Paddle Hopmosa. They took an already great beer and somehow made it 10 times better. I would love to see this in canned or bottled form someday

Worst Beer - Excelsior Maple Bacon Brown. This is proof that adding bacon to something doesn't make it beer. It was decent tasting but the grease/oil on the palate from the bacon made it hard for me to enjoy it.

All and all, I enjoyed this State Fair outing much more than the one 2 years ago. On top of that, I got to try out a lot more beers this time around than I did before and I feel much prouder of this post than the one I did two years ago. At the time of writing this, there's just over a week left for the Minnesota State Fair, so make your way out there and use this as your guide.

Cheers!

- Nick

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down Review

Name: Ballast Point Pumpkin Down
Style: Scottish Ale
ABV: 5.8%
IBUs: 22

A caveat before we start this review, I've received quite a few emails regarding my Oktoberfest op-ed article. Sure enough, I gotten some "All Oktoberfests aren't alike, so try *random Oktoberfest beer*" emails and tweets. Rest assured I will get around to reviewing them when I have the chance, there are some other beers I have to review first plus this week is rather busy for myself as you will see later one.

With that said, let's look at the other style of fall beers: Pumpkin Ales. This one is from Ballast Point and it's actually a variation of their Piper Down Scottish Ale, which I have sadly not had as of yet. It's called Pumpkin Down, and it's their Piper Down but made with pumpkin..and is pretty much stating the obvious at this point.

Appearance - Mildly hazy dark amber color with no visible carbonation. The head is rather thin but there's a good amount of lacing left along the sides of the glass.

Aroma - Getting some moderate pumpkin spice & roasted barley notes followed by some chocolate malts and light hints of toffee.

Taste - Not terribly different from the nose. You've got those fairly potent pumpkin spice notes that linger throughout the palate with some chocolate malts & roasted barley to back it up. The key difference here is that I'm picking up on some mild bitter hoppiness primarily towards the middle.

While I can't speak for the original Piper Down, this rendition of it is quite good! The pumpkin spice is complimentary to the overall dark flavor of the beer and, in ways I can't put my finger on, it just works. I know I've been a fairly harsh critic of Ballast Point in the past mainly because of their price vs. quality, this one is very good and worth checking out should you come across it.

Ballast Point Pumpkin Down - 9/10

Millstream Great Pumpkin Imperial Stout Review

Name: Millstream Great Pumpkin Imperial Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 7.6%
IBUs: 41

Alright, I guess I should start reviewing fall seasonals since any more summer seasonals I've been trying to locate are now AWOL. I might as well start things off with Millstream's Great Pumpkin Imperial Stout. As you may have guessed from the name, it's an Imperial Stout but made with pumpkins.

Appearance - Pitch black with no visible carbonation. The head is initially quite thin in overall appearance and fades away just after a few moments and there's not much in terms of lacing

Aroma - Chocolate malts and pumpkin that reminds me of a chocolate orange. I'm also getting some light spicy notes along with some mild coffee grounds. It kind of reminds me of halloween candy!

Taste - Strong pumpkin spice notes and coffee grounds upfront, the former of which lingers throughout the palate. In the middle, I'm getting some mild bitter hoppiness, which is overlayed by that pumpkin spice. In the back, I'm getting some light yam notes and moderate chocolate maltiness, along with hints of graham cracker. As for the aftertaste, It's mainly pumpkin spice and chocolate malts.

It's definitely a different spin on the Imperial Stout Style, and it's one that I feel you'll either love or hate. As for myself, the pumpkin spice aspect could've been toned down just a notch and give more balance to the chocolate/roasty profile of the flavor. As it stands right now, it's a solid stout that's worth checking out.

Millstream Great Pumpkin Imperial Stout - 8/10

Against The Grain Citra Ass Down Review

Name: Against The Grain Citra Ass Down
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 8.4%
IBUs: 68

I've been trying to follow through on my promise to review more Against The Grain beers, which is helped by the fact that it's no longer available exclusively in overpriced bomber bottles. What I have today is a beer that I've actually heard quite a bit about and, according to what I've been told, is their flagship beer.

I'm of course talking about Citra Ass Down, which is a citrus forward Imperial IPA, of which that you "Citra Ass Down and drink this now." The artwork looks like something I would see in a college art exhibit complete with a mish-mash of paraphernalia on the label. I'm also told this is allegedly one of the best citrus IPAs in the country but I'll reserve judgement until I've actually had it.


Appearance - Hazy dark orange color with a mild amount of visible carbonation. There's a fairly foamy head her and there's some great lacing here as well.

Aroma - Right away I'm getting some rich citrus hops paired with some moderte caramel malts and a hint bitter hops and some light toffee sweetness.

Taste - Much like the nose, I'm getting some strong citrus hoppiness upfront which continues on through the palate, with a moderate caramel maltiness in the middle but the back end is mostly citrus hops with a very light touch of bitter hops in the back. As for the aftertaste, I'm getting some light orange rind sweetness.

Well now, this is rather good. Great even! I'm not sure exactly how widely available this beer is, but if you are able get a hold of it, then I would highly recommend checking this out. As far as citrus forward IPAs go, they don't get much better than this!

Against The Grain Citra Ass Down - 9.5/10

Founders reDANKulous Review

Name: Founders ReDANKolous
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.5%
IBUs: 110

Look at that, I'm actually keeping my promise to stay on top of beers released by Founders.....sort of! With today's beer, I've been seeing this for roughly a year now. Which beer is that, you ask? Why it's reDANKulous! And yes, that is the correct way of spelling.

What's the story behind reDANKulous? Well from what I have gathered, it's an Imperial Red IPA which started out as a limited release series in bomber bottles but it has since been released in 12 oz. bottles. Also according to the things I've heard about reDANKulous, it's is actually supposed to be one of the dankest IPAs out there, which is just an absolute shock. Well if you're going to call your beer reDANKulous (God, I love saying that!), you might as well do your best to live up to the name.

Appearance - Mildly hazy dark red color with some light carbonation. There's a reasonably foamy head here along with some decent lacing.

Aroma - Strong piney & bitter hops with some Munich, toffee and caramel maltiness along with just a light touch of citrus notes. It certainly smells dank at this point.

Taste - Pretty strong piney and citrus hops upfront that linger throughout the palate.Towards the middle is where 'm getting a big toffee & caramel malt backbone that continues on to the back. In the back, you do just get a touch of citrus hops on the very end. The aftertaste is fairly bitter hop and caramel malt forward and lingers on for a few moments after a sip is taken.

Is reDANKulous as dank as the name suggests? The answer is a resounding yes! It's hoppy, piney and bitter all rolled into one but the malt backbone gives it enough support that it doesn't collapse on itself into a dank mess. If you're not into bitter IPAs, then it goes without saying that this isn't the beer for you. But for those of us looking for a really dank IPA, then you will get more than your money's worth with reDANKulous.

Founders reDANKulous - 9/10