Founders Más Agave

Lately I have been all about the lighter, more refreshing beers that are best enjoyed with warm weather. That is clearly reflected in my previous blog on Naturday. For the past week or so, I have been drinking that and Genesee’s Ruby Red Kolsch. Both of those beers are refreshing and great values, and as much as I want to continue to look at lighter beers that compliment the warm weather, I can’t pass up an opportunity to blog about the latest offering in Founders Barrel Aged Series.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile now, you know I am a big fan of the Barrel Aged Series. My favorite part about it is how creative Founders gets with each new release. While I have liked some more than others, I really enjoy a brewery that continues to take chances, especially one on the scale of Founders. 

With the classics(CBS, Backwoods Bastard, KBS) taking up the last few months of releases, Founders’ Barrel Aged Series returns with an extremely fun & creative take on a beer version of a margarita. Más Agave is an imperial lime gose, brewed with agave and aged in tequila barrels. From the moment this beer was announced, I started counting the days until I could get my hands on some.

It’s fair to say I had high hopes for Más Agave and I was not disappointed. The aroma teased that Founders was successful with their take on a beer margarita. Lots of zesty lime on the nose, with agave sweetness and salt, with a touch of tequila & vanilla and spice. On the palate, Más Agave is a touch syrupy. Tart lime and sweet agave dominate the flavor. The barrel comes through as well, adding a touch of oak, tequila and vanilla. The flavors are strong here and leave little subtlety. The finish adds the perfect amount of salt, which brings a touch of balance to the sweetness and really makes this margarita-style beer work.

With a 10% ABV, the latest entry in the Founders Barrel Aged Series is deceptively easy to drink. I personally am a huge fan of it. I plan on making this the first of many 4-packs in my refrigerator throughout the summer. I also think this is the strongest entry(aside from the classics) in the barrel aged series in quite some time. Founders has crafted a fun, fantastic beer here and I highly recommend you pick it up.


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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Dogfish Head Super Eight Super Gose

From the moment that Dogfish Head & Eastman Kodak's collaboration beer SuperEIGHT Super Gose was announced, it was only a matter of time until I blogged about it. I am a fan of Dogfish Head's beer and I am the son & nephew of long time makers of Kodak film products. For that reason alone, I could not pass up an opportunity to try this beer as soon as distribution hit Western NY. 

What makes SuperEIGHT fun is that it is a 2-for-1 beer. It is a light, fruited session gose and it also develops Kodak's Super-8 film. It pulls this off by having a low pH which means that SuperEIGHT is going to be a touch acidic but that should work perfectly for the style.

As the can says, SuperEIGHT pours a vibrant red. Besides the beautiful color, the lemon, lactic sour aroma was the first thing I noticed as I poured the beer. The aroma is also very fruity, grainy, and a touch floral with the berries and prickly pear really shining. The pear added a really nice note of watermelon and that is the first thing I noticed and loved about my first sip. Raspberry and watermelon really come through in the flavor before a touch of malt and grain. The finish is very tart, with a touch of salt, bubble gum, green apple and lemon rind. The lemon rind lingers on the palate long after the beer is gone and to be honest is not ideal. Also, I can't say all SuperEIGHT ingredients are noticeable. The mango in particular seems MIA which is disappointing but there is still a lot going on here and this beer is a lot of fun. 

SuperEIGHT is one of those beers where Dogfish Head's unrelenting creativity pulls off something really cool. Sometimes, their use of adjuncts goes a touch a overboard and while this beer is no different, I found myself really enjoying it. With summer just around the corner, SuperEIGHT would serve as a wonderfully refreshing beer to both make and develop summer memories. I highly recommend picking it up.

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Last Call for Summer Beer

I seem to complain about this every year but I am not quite ready to drink Fall beer. They are already on shelves and I can't help but think it is way too soon for them, This past weekend the temperature was in the 90's and not once did I think 'man, I could really go for a refreshing pumpkin ale'. So I decided to take a trip to the bottle shop in full defiance mode, looking for light, fruit forward summer seasonals. I left with three fruit forward beers and a couple of fresh IPAs. The latter has no impact on this blog, I just wanted to admit I still could not pass up new hops. For this blog however, I wanted to blog about those three fruit forward beers and let you know whether or not they are worth taking up real estate in your refrigerator.

The first beer is Pineapple Cart from Golden Road Brewing in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the brewery's "Cart" series based on LA's fruit cart vendors. I have not had any other entries in the series but after drinking half a can of Pineapple Cart, I don't think I need to. It is a mess of a beer. While it is a pineapple wheat ale, it is also brewed with strawberries and blood oranges. The latter has basically zero presence in the beer. The strawberry overpowers the pineapple in the nose and left me confused which fruit this beer was supposed to be based on. The heavy graininess of a wheat ale is also very noticeable in the nose. The flavor of the beer is a muddled mess. The pineapple hits up front, is followed by strawberry, lots of grain and a tart, dry, phenolic finish. The whole beer falls apart in the finish. I appreciate Golden Road trying to dial back the sweetness but the end result here is a mess.

Is it worth a purchase? Absolutely not.

Next up is Harpoon Brewery's Camp Wannamango, a mango infused pale ale. I had this beer in Boston for the first time about two years ago. I remember liking it but it got lost in the fold with all the other amazing beer I drank that week. Revisiting it, I realized I still liked it. It is a very easy to drink fruit forward beer that allows both the base beer and the fruit flavor to shine. The pale ale shines at first, with some caramel, toasted bread, passion fruit before the mango extract rushes in and then finishes with a light citrus, pine, herbal hop finish. My only complaint for this beer is the vegetal flavor towards the finish that is not ideal but does not ruin the beer either. This is an easy drinking beach beer and I see it returning to my refrigerator before the summer is out.

Is it worth a purchase? Yes

And last but not least is Victory Brewing's Limey Gose. When I went into the bottle shop, I had every intention of finding a citrus forward gose. When I saw Victory's latest gose, I knew I had to purchase it for two reasons. One, I love Victory's Kirsch Gose. Two, I wanted to see how it compared to my beloved Key Lime Pie Gose from Westbrook. Before I opened the bottle I will admit I had high hopes for this beer and they were rewarded. It is very tart and very refreshing. The lime flavor is strong and hits aggressively, followed by bread dough, a touch of lemon, lactic sourness, green apple and a saline finish. The flavors do not mesh as well as they do in Westbrook's version but they work really well here. It is very effervescent and very refreshing. I know goses are not for everyone, but if you are going to give one a try, this and Victory's Kirsch Gose are a nice place to start.

Is it worth a purchase? Absolutely

While August usually functions as a "last call" of sorts for the summer seasonals, there is still plenty of summer left and still plenty of great warm weather beer on the shelf. That being said, I don't blame anyone who makes the early shift to fall beer. It is easily my favorite beer drinking season. However at this moment, I am just not ready to say goodbye to beer's most refreshing season. Cheers!


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Thanks for reading. Sláinte! 

Westbrook Lemon Cucumber Gose

I love Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose. Whenever I come across it, I pick up a 4-pack. It's practically automatic at this point. If the beer did not sell out so fast it would be a regular staple in my refrigerator. I also love the base beer Westbrook Gose. I buy that with less frequency but enjoy it every single time I have it. When I heard Westbrook was releasing a new Lemon Cucumber Gose variant, I could not wait to give them my money. Lemon cucumber water is super refreshing and Westbrook Goses are absolutely fantastic. I could not help but think that this right here might be the perfect summer beer combination.

As I poured the beautifully hazy, golden liquid in a glass I found myself pondering whether or not it was going to be better than the Key Lime Pie Gose. I thought it had a 50-50 chance to top it. That was, until I took in the aroma and realized it would come nowhere near the Key Lime Pie Gose variant. The first thing that jumped out to me was the tart lemon, it seemed to pop out of the glass. I then noticed a touch of refreshing cucumber underneath it. After that, all I noticed in the aroma was a strong note of pickles. I found this strange and intriguing, but was not sure it was something I was going to enjoy.

Like the Westbrook Gose & the Key Lime Pie variant, the sourness of the first sip aggressively hits the palate. The lemon is the star of this beer and comes out swinging right away. Paired with the lactic sourness of the base beer, they provide a 1-2 punch right to the kisser. As the aggressiveness of the tartness began to subside the further I got into the glass the cucumber started to come through. It was met with sea salt, coriander and a touch of vinegar which really brought out the pickle flavor. All of these flavors worked surprisingly well together. Unfortunately, for me, this is a “one-and-done” kind of situation. Due to the style of beer, this outcome should have appeared obvious and I admit I feel a bit foolish that I did not see it coming.

If you are a fan of sour beer & pickles, I could see you really enjoying this beer. If you are a fan of neither, then I would avoid this at all costs. I had high hopes for this one and I am still glad I tried it. Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to the base beer or my beloved Key Lime Pie variant.

2.75/5


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. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

First Impressions of Young Lion Brewing Company

At this point it almost goes without saying that the beer scene in Canandaigua, NY is very exciting. For the past few years, Naked Dove Brewing Company has been one of my favorite local breweries. Their Russian Imperial Stout, 45 Fathoms Porter and Windblown Amber are absolutely incredible. In fact, I love the Windblown Amber so much, it was served at my wedding. With the addition of Three Huskies Brewing, Twisted Rail Brewing Company and the brand new Young Lion Brewing Company, it is going to be a great summer to brewery-hop down by Canandaigua Lake.

As I surveyed the menu of Young Lion beers with my wife Alicia and friend, Paul, I was excited about trying three beers in particular: the India Pale Ale, the New England Style India Pale Ale and the Czech Pilsner. My wife was excited about the Citrose Gose and Paul was willing to try everything. I'll start with the bad news. The India Pale Ale just did not work for me, Alicia or Paul. It seemed muddled and had a lackluster, astringent finish. I will be looking to revisit it down the road but as of right now, I felt it was the weakest of the Young Lion brews available. The New England Style IPA was a significant step up from the IPA. It was dank, citrusy and enjoyable. I am looking forward to seeing how future batches of this beer develop. As far as the Czech Pilsner goes, we all instantly fell in love with it. It is the kind of beer that compliments warm weather and sitting by the lake perfectly. It's bready, crisp, clean, refreshing with just the right amount of spice. At 5.2%, it is very sessionable. It reminded me of Steam Whistle, which is one of my favorite pilsners. Of all the beers we had in the flight, this is the one we all ordered a second round of. From a personal standpoint, this is a beer I could see becoming a mainstay in my refrigerator. 

I also really enjoyed the Citrose Gose and the Double IPA. The Citrose Gose is another light, refreshing, easy drinking beer that did not have nearly the amount of tart or salt that many in the style do and that worked for me, as well as Alicia, who as I mentioned before is a big fan of the style. The Citrose Gose is another beer that is perfect for a summer day by the lake. The Double IPA was a hit for Paul and I. It is nicely balanced and a bit too easy to drink at 8.8%. This beer has a lot of potential to be one of the best double IPAs in the area.

Overall, myself, as well as Paul & Alicia, see a lot of potential for the Young Lion Brewing Company and we are excited to watch them grow. On a personal note, I am also counting the days until I have cans of the Czech Pilsner in my refrigerator as an everyday drinker.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose

The Gose is a style of beer that I admit is underrepresented here in my blog. Admittedly, I do not typically seek them out. When I do buy one, I buy it to drink with my wife or just for her to drink. The first gose I recall trying was Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose. I heard a lot of positive word of mouth about it, so I bought a 6-pack of it to share with the wife. She instantly loved it and I looked at it like it was on the same level as Bud Light Lime or the retired Miller Chill. I thought it tasted cheap and for some reason it was slightly salty. After paying more attention to the style, as well as realizing the saltiness was part of it, I found some goses that I liked. Now what I mean by that is, I liked them, but not enough to want to drink on a regular basis. That all changed once I came across Westbrook's Key Lime Pie Gose. I do enjoy the Westbrook Gose but the Key Lime Pie Gose is on another level. With one sip, that beer reinforced to me everything I tell other people about sampling beers. Which is that sometimes you have to keep trying a certain style of beer, because eventually you will find one that you love. Well, spoiler, I absolutely love Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose.

As soon as I got my first whiff of fresh, tart lime, Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose instantly pulled me in. There is a hint of bread and salt as well, but the lime beautifully dominates the aroma. The same goes for the flavor. The sourness of the lime stands out in the forefront, with a hint of bread, coriander and spice. The finish is salty, crisp, clean and refreshing. The saltiness in particular provides a beautiful compliment to the tart flavor. Normally, that is the part of the Gose I am not a fan of. In Westbrook Key Lime Pie Gose it works perfectly. There is nothing here I would change. Unfortunately, when I went back to buy more it was long gone. If it was more readily available I would make it my go-to beer for the next couple months. It would serve as the perfect beach beer.

This is an excellent example of a fruited beer and of the gose style. I would highly recommend giving this a try if you are lukewarm to the style. It is certainly the best one I have had yet. It also has me looking forward to trying more of them in the near future.

Overall I rate Key Lime Pie Gose a 5/5. I absolutely love this beer.

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. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

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For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.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!

Victory Kirsch Gose

When I was a kid I loved Cherry Crush soda. On a nice summer day I would ride my bike to the local supermarket and buy a six pack or a 2 liter bottle of it and spend the remainder of the day drinking every last refreshing drop. By the end of the day I would have a tremendous sense of accomplishment, a massive stomach ache and a sugar high so big I could barely blink. But one day, seemingly out of nowhere, my desire to drink Cherry Crush completely vanished. I want to say it was because I realized drinking over 250 grams of sugar in a single sitting was a poor life decision but the truth is my palate changed. To me, Cherry Crush became so sweet it was unbearable to drink. For years I have been trying to relive those days with different cherry beverages, but found none that worked with my adult palate. Cherry sodas were too sweet, seltzer waters tasted too medicinal and cherry beers were typically mediocre at best. I had pretty much given up hope on finding a refreshing cherry beverage that worked me, but that changed when I took my first sip of Victory Kirsch Gose.

Victory Kirsch Gose, which according to the label is a “Sour Cherry Bier” that pours a light red, almost pink color with a white head. The aroma is bursting with tart cherries and little else. The flavor is more of the same. The flavor of sour, tart cherries immediately flooded my palate, before the light flavor of salt(which is common for the Gose style) and malt sweetness come in at the finish. I wish I could tell you I detected more subtle flavors but I did not. While I would have loved to see a little more depth in the flavor, I have to admit Kirsch Gose is an example of when a beer doesn't try to do too much and it works. The simple flavor of tart cherries with the perfect amount of carbonation make this a perfectly refreshing beer for a hot day. It's lack of overpowering sweetness and a low 4.7% ABV make it wonderfully sessionable as well. Basically this is cherry crush for adults.

Overall I would rate Victory Kirsch Gose a 4/5. It's simple, delicious and accessible. It just plain works.

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!