Alosta & Live's Throwing Copper Ale

In the mid-90s, I was a young kid that enjoyed listening to modern rock radio. At the time I appreciated a few genres of music but nothing was better then riding the school bus home listening to FM radio’s The Nerve 95.1, 95.5. They had everything I loved at the time: Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Garbage and a lot of hits from Live’s Throwing Copper Album. Without possessing the album, I found myself constantly singing along to all of Live’s radio hits. “Lightning Crashes” & “I Alone” in particular were huge favorites of mine. The songs were on the radio so much in the coming decades that I would instantly be taken back to my youth every time I heard them on the radio.

Fast forward to the summer of 2009, a good friend let me borrow a copy of Throwing Copper. From the first full listen I was blown away at what a fantastic album it was. From top to bottom, the songs were strong. I found myself enjoying the “deep cuts” just as much as the nostalgic hits.

After 10 years of fondness for the album as a whole, I made seeing Live in concert a huge priority. Once I heard they were touring for the 25th anniversary of Throwing Copper, I made sure I was in a seat to catch a show. I was blown away by what an excellent show they put on and listened to the album frequently in the weeks to follow. It was in that post-concert euphoria that they announced a craft beer brewed by California’s Alosta Brewing Company celebrating the release of Throwing Copper. Without a hint of hesitation, I purchased a 4-pack. For months, I waited for this beer to arrive. Now that it is here, I just hoped the beer inside the amazingly designed cans would half as good as the album. I felt that would have made it a satisfying purchase.

Throwing Copper Ale's appearance was a gorgeous, rich copper with a little but of haze. The aroma was caramel, toffee, creamy peanut butter(uh oh) and earthy, spicy hops. The first sip and every sip after that was rich with buttery diacetyl. There were hints of nuts, coffee, caramel and spice much like the aroma along with an unwelcome vegetal note. To be honest though, the buttery off-flavor stole the show. I wish I could give more insight but to be honest, the beer is barely drinkable. Which is super disappointing, especially when considering the cost of getting the beer shipped to Western NY.

Throwing Copper Ale is a disappointingly bad beer and now I am stuck with a 4-pack of it. As I write this I am staring at a glass half full wondering how I am going to finish it. I certainly do not want to pair this with listening to the album because that would tarnish the experience of listening to the album for me. Honestly, I think this beer is so bad that every time I hear a song off of Throwing Copper from this point on, I am going to think about the great show I saw them put on and how bad the beer they put their name on was. This is without a doubt the worst musician collaboration beer I have had. If you are on the fence about buying a 4-pack, don't. Your money is better spent on literally anything thing else.

Overall rating: 1/5

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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Oskar Blues & Cigar City Bamburana

From the moment the Oskar Blues & Cigar City breweries announced Bamburana, a double barrel aged collaboration imperial stout, I had been counting the days until I could get my hands on some. It took longer than I hoped but it finally hit shelves in Western NY. I was so excited to purchase it that literally moments after it hit shelves I found myself in the car going to purchase it. I am a huge fan of both breweries and had extremely high hopes for this beer. Everything about it sounded fantastic and I am pleased to report that Bamburana did not disappoint.

Bamburana gets its name from amburana, a South American wood. It is a wood that adds unique flavors and reduces acidity. It successfully accomplished both in Bamburana. In fact, this is one of the most unique stouts I have had in awhile.

Bamburana spent time in both whiskey & brandy barrels but in both the aroma and on the palate they only play a complimentary note. Dates, figs, chocolate and the amburana wood are front and center here. The aroma caught me off guard in that aspect. Figs, dates, cinnamon, molasses, chocolate, caramel, an earthy woodiness and smoke shine with brandy complimenting the fruitiness. On the palate, the fruitiness of the figs and dates, along with notes of dark cherry and brandy come through initially before savory notes of cinnamon, licorice, molasses, ginger, coconut, caramel, vanilla and fudge. There is also a subtle espresso note, with a touch of whiskey before a tobacco, woody, spicy finish. With each sip, I found myself enjoying Bamburana more and more. It's a full-bodied, velvety smooth-sipper that offers a ton of complexity. In short, I am a huge fan of this beer.

These two amazing breweries have brewed a fantastic imperial stout. Since Oskar Blues contract brews some of Cigar City’s offerings I hope this is the first of many collaborations to see a wide release. That is looking to the future though. In the meantime, I highly recommend picking Bamburana up as soon as possible,


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2018 Sierra Nevada & Weihenstephan Oktoberfest

I had been trying to resist purchasing Fall beer until the start of September, but I recently caved. Three beers immediately caught my eye and I was waiting for any reason to drink them. A couple nights on the cooler side occurred recently and I felt it was the perfect time to start sampling some of my Fall favorites. The first was Southern Tier Warlock and this year’s batch is delicious. It delivers the taste of Fall in a bottle. The second beer I could not pass up on is Genesee Oktoberfest. It is an unmatched value that delivers tremendous flavor. Finally, I could not resist purchasing Sierra Nevada’s latest Oktoberfest collaboration with the world's oldest brewery, Weihenstephan Brewery.

Cutting right to the chase, Sierra Nevada & Weihenstephan have brewed the best Oktoberfest beer in the series so far. Up until this point, the 2015 collaboration with Riegele was my favorite in the series. That delicious beer now takes a distant back seat to this year’s collaboration. The look, aroma and flavor here is wonderful. The aroma is floral and slightly sweet with caramel, biscuit dough, a light nuttiness and fruitiness, with grassy and spicy hops. The first sip pretty much matches the nose. The caramel sweetness shines initially before some biscuit dough comes in adding another beautifully complimentary layer. The nuttiness I mentioned in the aroma is bit more pronounced in the flavor. There is a touch of fruit before a light, grassy, spicy hop flavor that provides a beautiful balance to the sweetness of the malt. Everything works here and I am actually feeling giddy here writing about it.

I mentioned earlier that this was the best Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest collaboration with a German brewery yet. That feels like an understatement. This year’s collaboration takes its place as one of my favorite Oktoberfest beers of all time. I assure you, it is well worth a purchase.

Overall rating: 4.75/5


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!

2017 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World

The 2017 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Across the World mix pack was a must-have purchase for me. It's also the reason I'm a little behind on my blogging. I wanted to give each beer the proper attention it deserved. The last thing I wanted to do was quickly go through them all in a couple of days. So I took my time and gradually made it through the 12-pack. In the past, I have enjoyed going through the Beer Camp mix packs. I find the whole concept of a fantastic brewery collaborating with other fantastic breweries very exciting. Unfortunately each year, after all is said and done I usually find myself underwhelmed by most of the beers in the pack. Perhaps underwhelmed is the wrong word, a better way to put it is I find most of the collaborations forgettable. Of the mix packs from the past, I honestly can only remember a handful of the beers from them. That's not to say that the beers were bad, they just were nothing I would find myself buying a six pack of. When I saw the list of the 2017 Beer Camp collaborations, I immediately put my thoughts of the previous Beer Camp mix packs aside. Opening it up to breweries around the world is a tremendous idea. I just hoped it would yield some amazing results. This blog is not about reviewing each beer individually, but more about reviewing the pack as a whole. Is it worth the 25+ dollar price tag? Or is your money better spent elsewhere?

The truth is the Beer Camp Across the World is a mixed bag of great, pretty good and bad. We'll start things off with the bad. The worst beer in the pack is the collaboration with The Bruery. Raspberry Sundae may have sounded like a great idea on paper but it is bland and tastes more like soap than beer. Like many others I really enjoy beers from The Bruery, so this one was a huge disappointment. Another disappointment was the Dry-Hopped Berliner Weisse collaboration with Saint Arnold Brewing Company. With a massive cat urine aroma and a bland flavor profile it did not work for me at all. The only other one I really did not like is the Hoppy Belgian-Style Golden Ale collaboration with Duvel Moortgat but I would not put much stock in that. I am not a Duvel fan, so this one tasted pretty much how I expected it to, I just did not enjoy it.

Pretty good is the way I would describe the majority of the beers in the pack. As a one-off they worked for me, but I would hesitate to invest in a 4- or 6-pack of them. In this category I would put Boneyard Beer's West Coast IPA, Garage Project's Campout Porter, Mikkeller's Thai-Style Iced Tea Ale, Fuller's Atlantic Style Vintage Ale, Avery's Dry-Hopped Barleywine and Kiuchi White IPA. I wanted to love the Avery collaboration but found it a touch metallic. The Kiuchi White IPA was a beer I found myself enjoying more and more the further I got into the glass. Of any beers in this category I would want to try again, it would be that one.

The beer I wanted to love was the East Meets West IPA collaboration with Tree House Brewing Company. This was by far the one I was most excited about in the entire pack. I thought it was great, but not as great as it could and should have been.

The best beers in the pack are the Dunkle Weisse from Ayinger Brewery and the Ginger Lager from Surly Brewing Company. The Dunkle Weisse is not as flashy as other beers in the pack and that is what works for it. It's just a great dark wheat beer. I would love to see this get a wide release. The Ginger Lager was something I thought I would absolutely hate. The addition of cayenne pepper added a nice touch of spice and the oak added complexity. When the glass was empty I was legitimately sad at the thought that I might not be able to drink it again.

For me, the Dunkle Weisse and the Ginger Lager were two beers that will stick with me from this year's Beer Camp Across the World collection. For the most part, I enjoyed the beers in this years pack. Sure, a lot of them are better suited as one-offs, but the pack as a whole delivers more hits than misses. If this year's pack did anything, it left me looking forward to seeing what collaborations next year brings.

My overall rating for the entire Sierra Nevada's 2017 Beer Camp Across the World pack as a whole is 3.5/5.

More importantly, is Beer Camp Across the World worth the 25+ dollar price tag? For the most part, yes.

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!

Jack's Abby & Søle Wicked Philthy IPL

When I think of reliable breweries, one of the first breweries I think of is Jack's Abby Craft Lagers. Jack's Abby consistently makes great lagers and on a regular basis can be found in my refrigerator. One of the things I admire most about Jack's Abby is the fact that they seemingly continue to find new ways to enhance their diverse catalog of beers. Each year, I look forward to the release of their Kiwi Rising Double IPL, their Framinghammer Baltic Porter and its barrel aged variants in particular. For this blog, I wanted to take a look at their latest IPL release which is a collaboration with Søle Artisan Ales, Wicked Philthy IPL.

Due to my love of Jack's Abby Kiwi Rising and Excess IPL, I was certain Wicked Philthy was going to be a winner. It poured a beautifully hazy golden-orange with a fluffy white head. A strong floral, almost perfume-like aroma practically jumped out of the glass. The nose also contained lots of grapefruit, malt breadiness, and tropical notes. My first sip was herbal, spicy at first, giving way to flavors of melon, grapefruit, bread, and grass before a pine, bitter, boozy, astringent finish. There are some nice things going on here but unfortunately overall, this beer is underwhelming. The herbal, earthy spice started things off nicely but seems to overshadow just about everything else. The tropical and citrus hop flavors are present as I mentioned earlier but unfortunately are not nearly as bold as they should be. They get lost in the shuffle between the spice and the finish, which is ridiculously bitter. The finish in particular is where things completely fell apart from me. After each sip, the astringent bitterness seemed to get stronger. I found myself laboring to get through the last few sips of this beer.

For the past few blogs, I seem to have started a streak of positive reviews. When I selected Wicked Philthy IPL for this blog, I thought that streak would continue. I also thought that things might start getting a little boring around here if I sang the praises of every beer I drank and wrote about.  Fortunately, things are not getting boring around here, the streak is now officially over. Unfortunately, this is a surprisingly disappointing offering from the normally reliable Jack's Abby.

Overall I would rate Wicked Philthy IPL a 2.5/5. It's not a terrible beer, it's just nowhere near as good as other Jack's Abby IPL offerings.

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Evil Twin Brewing & Westbrook Brewing Co. Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break

Two weeks ago, I mentioned I waited in line to get Westbrook's Mexican Cake. From that, I am certain you have already figured out that I love that beer. What you may not know is I absolutely love Evil Twin's Imperial Biscotti Break. Like many other beer enthusiasts, I think it is a fantastic beer. To make things even better, recently it has become less expensive, easier to get and produced in cans. All three of those things are fantastic and they happened because Evil Twin Brewing contract-brews out of Westbrook Brewing Co. So a collaboration brew between the two breweries is definitely a no-brainer. What I did not expect however is the combination of both Mexican Cake & Imperial Biscotti Break. On paper, Westbrook & Evil Twin's Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break sounds like a fantastic idea.

The first time I saw a picture of a bottle I stopped in my tracks and hoped it would make it to Western NY. It took a few months but it finally hit my hometown. I rushed out and purchased it as soon as I could. Like Mexican Cake, I expected it to sell out as soon as it hit the shelves. For that reason, I did not expect to do a blog on it. Shockingly after two weeks, it is still sitting in beer aisles and shelves everywhere waiting to be purchased. The 16-18 dollar a bottle price point might have something to do with it but even with that, it is still fairly surprising. At that price point though, I hoped the beer would be as good, if not better, than the sum of its parts.

Westbrook & Evil Twin's Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break works. However it does not work as well as the beers it's supposed to be combining. The aroma is a reminder of both beers. It is roasty and nutty, with dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, pepper spice and a hint of cinnamon. That seemed to hit every note I expected it to. The first sip, however, did not. It starts off slightly sweet, roasty, with coffee, dark chocolate cake batter and vanilla, and finishes bitter, spicy and boozy. Occasionally, I would find the cinnamon and each time I did, I wanted more of it. The pepper finish was what I was looking forward to the most. A criticism of last year's batch of Mexican Cake was that the habanero peppers were very understated. I hoped this beer would showcase them more and it did. Honestly, I wanted it to have a little more heat on the palate but no complaints, it was nicely spiced. I actually found my chest warming up quite a bit the more I drank.

As I made my way through the glass, I continued to get a wide range of flavors but they never seemed to go well together. Everything seemed a bit muddled, even when it warmed. Vanilla and dark chocolate cake batter rose more to the forefront which helped but did not make the beer any better. At 16 to 18 dollars a bottle this beer is dramatically overpriced for the results you get. You are better off buying a 4 pack of Imperial Biscotti Break at a cheaper price and enjoying that. If you are insistent on looking for a special occasion beer with similar flavor notes, just buy two bottles of Prairie Bomb! Trust me, you will feel significantly less cheated out of your money.

Overall I would rate Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break a 3/5. It's not horrible, it's just nowhere near as good as it should be.

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!

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

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Marble / Odell / Stone Megawheat IPA & Stone Ripper Pale Ale

For some reason I appear to have a surplus of beer from Stone Brewing Company in my refrigerator. My previous blog featured their brand new Mint Coffee Milk Stout. Like many of their beers I found it to be quite enjoyable. At the time I purchased that beer, I also picked up their brand new collaboration beer. Later that week I picked up a few cans of Stone Ripper Pale Ale as well. I do not know why I picked up so much Stone beer but that appears to be my predicament at the moment. So I thought, why not keep the trend of reviewing Stone beer going for one more blog?

The reason I was drawn to Stone's brand new collaboration beer, Megawheat IPA, is because of one brewery in particular that they collaborated with. Odell Brewing Company is a brewery I have heard a lot of good things about but have yet to try anything from. My uncle moved out to Fort Collins, Colorado and says they are quite popular out there. He has sent me glassware and t-shirts from Odell, reinforcing the fact I need to get to Colorado for a visit and to check out their local beer scene. I admit I do not know much about Marble Brewery unfortunately, but I definitely would like to. From a standpoint of Odell though, if this is my first taste of their beer, I think it is quite good. The huge aroma was noticeable about a foot from the glass. Tangerine, orange peel, tropical fruit and lime seemed to jump out of the glass. The first sip was interesting, full of citrus notes, tropical fruit with a silky smooth mouthfeel. Notes of tangerine, orange, mango and spice gave way to a bitter lemon, lime and boozy finish. I have to admit, the finish was particularly jarring, especially early into the glass. I did not expect it to be as bitter and tart as it was. The lemon and lime flavors were so aggressive that my mouth was puckering. From an ingredient standpoint, the finish is really a showcase of the Motueka hop, which really brings out those flavors. I really enjoyed this beer for it being aggressive and unique. It definitely gives me reason to see what else they are doing at Odell. As far as Megawheat goes, I enjoyed it but at 8 dollars for a 22 oz bottle, I do not foresee myself picking up a second bottle.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

The reason I picked up Stone Ripper Pale Ale is a lot simpler. I wanted to drink a solid, sessionable beer out of a can to drink while watching professional wrestling. Stone Ripper Pale Ale fit that bill nicely by delivering exactly what I looking for. I realize at 5.7%, that is borderline sessionable ABV-wise. Still, its light, easy-drinking flavor can be enjoyed for a duration of time. Juicy citrus and tropical notes work beautifully with Ripper's nice malt backbone. The only thing about this beer that is not ideal is the bitterness in the finish. The grapefruit rind bitter finish lingers for quite sometime. It's not ideal but it's not a deal breaker. If this is a regular part of Stone's lineup, I am looking forward to drinking a few cans of this when the weather gets warmer. For the time being, I think it makes for a great game day beer.

Overall rating: 3.75/5

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!