Singlecut Beersmiths Softly Spoken Magic Spells

First off, I want to thank all of my new readers who saw me on 13 WHAM'S Good Day Rochester(here is a link in case you missed it). Thank you for taking time to check out my blog. I have really appreciated all of the positive feedback. For this review, I felt it would be appropriate to touch on one of the many interesting beers I discussed on the show. In particular, I want to focus on one of the more sought after beers or “whales” I talked about in the last segment. The “whale” I will be reviewing today is the Softly Spoken Magic Spells Double IPA from Singlecut Beersmiths.

The best way to enjoy an IPA is fresh. Over time the strong hop flavors can fade and a beer can became a shell of its former self. For this review, I am drinking a bottle dated 5/17. This should be absolutely bursting with strong hop flavors and I could not be any more excited. 

Softly Spoken Magic Spells pours a cloudy yellow gold with a white head. From about a foot away from the glass I can smell the hops. They are bursting with tropical fruit. Tangerine, pineapple, grapefruit and (light) pine are all present. The taste is close to the aroma. Tangerine, pineapple, mango, pine jump out right away before a bitter grapefruit finish. The best way I could describe the mouthfeel of this beer is juice. While it is nicely carbonated, the hops have created bold, fresh citrus flavors. 

I want to remain critical but when a beer is this good it is difficult not to gush over it. Beers like this one are the reason I love beer and insist everyone continue to try new beers. Softly Spoken Magic Spells is a world class double IPA and has earned every bit of its “whale” status. If you are a fan of IPAs, this beer is well worth going out of your way for.

Overall I would rate Softly Spoken Magic Spells a 5/5. This beer is so good, I wish my morning orange juice tasted just like it. The Pink Floyd reference is really cool too.

Rating Scale:

1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Keuka Brewing Ghost of Rita

The gose style of beer has been hit or miss to me since I tried my first one about 2 years ago. For that reason it is not the kind of beer I regularly seek out. I feel that some breweries seem to get the odd mix of wheaty, tart saltiness to taste really well, while others find a way to make those flavors completely unappealing. One thing I have found is people who love this style of beer(like my wife) are truly passionate about it. So with an open mind I continue to try them in hopes of gaining a better appreciation for the style. This quest brought me to try Ghost of Rita from Keuka Brewing Company. The can immediately caught my eye and the description of a gose style beer with lime seemed to be the beer equivalent of a margarita. So with an open mind for the gose style and a fondness for margaritas, I popped the top of the can for this review.

The Ghost of Rita pours a slightly cloudy yellow gold with a white head that dissipates quickly. The aroma is tart, with strong wheat notes, salt, light citrus and coriander. The beer itself however barely has any bold flavor or almost any flavor at all. At first I got a light malt and wheat sweetness, with lactobacillus sourness to balance. There is a light hint of salt and lime in the finish but I really had to look for it. It washes away cleanly but the flavors I mentioned before were so light that they barely register. 

I wish I could say this is a light, crisp, clean beer that is perfect for the summer but it is not. To me, this is barely beer. If you take away the very subtle malt and sour notes there is no difference between this and a club soda with lime. I do not want to appear overly negative about Ghost of Rita. I think there is a great amount of potential here. If in future batches the flavors are a bit more developed that has the potential to be a wonderful option for the style. But unfortunately I do not rate beers on their potential. I rate them by what is in front of me, and what is in front of me is a disappointment.

Overall I would rate the Ghost of Rita a 1.5/5. An example of trying to be ambitious while playing it safe. It just does not work.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

New Belgium Citradelic Tangerine IPA

When I heard the news that New York was getting distribution of New Belgium Brewing out of Fort Collins, Colorado, I was fairly indifferent. This reason for this is while on vacation I went out of my way to sample a few of their beers and was fairly underwhelmed. Most notably I remember trying Fat Tire Amber Ale for the first time, looking down at my glass and thinking 'that's it?' But I do not want to start this review giving you the idea that all New Belgium Beers are underwhelming. I felt based on their reputation that perhaps I need to give them another chance. That is why on a recent trip I picked up New Belgium's latest offering, Citradelic Tangerine IPA. I felt that if I enjoyed that beer, perhaps I could get excited for them hitting the beer isles in New York.

New Belgium Citradelic Tangerine IPA pours a crystal clear golden yellow with a white head. The aroma is immediately noticeable. It is bursting with tangerine, grapefruit, orange zest, mango and just a little malt sweetness. The flavor pretty much matches the aroma. A light malt sweetness hits the palate before the citrus and tropical fruit notes come flooding in. Tangerine, orange and bitter grapefruit shine before giving way to a slightly sweet almost melon like finish. There is a lot going on here and I probably missed a few flavor notes, but that is what a second and third bottle is for. To put it simply, if you are a fan of a more tropical fruit forward IPA this is for you. It works and it works well.

Citradelic delivers the bold tropical aromas and flavors it promises. It also got me excited to see what else New Belgium Brewing has to offer when they become a mainstay in the New York beer market. My only real complaint about Citradelic is that I wanted it to have a little more body to it. That is nitpicking though, but that is what I do here. The lighter body and the 6% ABV does make this beer is fairly sessionable. That means it is a perfect beer to compliment warm summer weather or if you just want to try a lighter-bodied IPA.

Overall I would rate New Belgium Citradelic an 4/5. This is a perfect summer IPA if you are looking for something with bold flavor but on the lighter side.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Founders Mango Magnifico

I'm no stranger to malt liquor. In fact I spent more than a few nights in college at the local food mart trying to decide between Mickey's, Old English, Colt 45 and Magnum 40 as my pregame beverage before heading out on the town later that night. While I did have trouble deciding which one I thought tasted the best, I knew Magnum 40 tasted the worst. To me it tasted like bottled urine with a hint of kerosine. But this is not a review of Magnum 40(that might work in the future), this is a review of Founders Mango Magnifico, a beer which flavor took me back to my college days and not in a good way.

Founders Mango Magnifico pours a slightly hazy gold with a fizzy off white head that faded quickly. The aroma reminded of the cheap malt liquor I drank in college with a ton of mango sweetness. Frankly, the smell was so sweet I began to worry about what the flavor would bring. Upon first taste, I knew I hated this beer. The flavor is of malt liquor, drowned in candy mango with a boozy, spicy pepper finish. To cut right to the chase, absolutely none of this works together. On its own the base beer would have tasted fine if it was in a 40 ounce bottle and cost about 8 dollars less. Where it starts to go wrong is in adding the mango. It has no place here and normally I enjoy bold tropical flavors in my beer. The habanero pepper finish just seems like someone added it as a joke. If anything, it draws more attention to the fact that Mango Magnifico has a 10% abv by adding to the burn of the alcohol.

I struggled to see if I could say anything positive about this beer because up until I tried Mango Magnifico, I had yet to have a truly bad beer from Founders. In fact, they make some of the best beers I have ever had. It actually blows my mind that the same brewery that makes KBS, CBS, Backwoods Bastard, Mosaic Promise and Blushing Monk could make something this awful. I love when brewers take risks and experiment with creating new flavors but at no point did anything in Mango Magnifico seem like a good idea. The next time I drink a 40 of malt liquor it won't just bring back college memories. It will help me forget this disaster of a beer.

Overall I would rate Founders Mango Magnifico a 0.25/5. This beer is so bad, I felt bad for my sink as I poured it out.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!