Ballast Point Calm Before the Storm Cream Ale

Since my first sip of Grapefruit Sculpin, I have been a fan of Ballast Point Brewing Company. I found Grapefruit Sculpin to be delicious, fun and unique. It instantly became a summer favorite of mine. I had a similar reaction during the winter when I tried Victory at Sea Imperial Porter. It was rich, full bodied and showcased the coffee & vanilla in it wonderfully. Victory at Sea was something I felt I could drink year round but the fact that it is full bodied, complex and strong(10%) does not always pair well with a 90 degree humid summer day. So when I first heard Ballast Point was making a warm weather alternative to Victory at Sea, called Calm Before The Storm I became instantly excited. It lived up to the hype when I tried it last summer and I hoped to see its return this year. When I finally saw it again last week, I realized I was not as excited as I wanted to be. This is because my feelings towards Ballast Point Brewing Company had taken a turn for the worst. This change of heart occurred over the past year when they started drowning the base beers in their catalog with flavoring, leading to mixed results. While I admire them trying something different, I feel like saying mixed results is being very polite. For example, the Pineapple Sculpin is a huge letdown compared to the base beer and the Grapefruit variant. The Mango Even Keel tastes like candy sweet mango soda. And the Watermelon Dorado is completely undrinkable. The Thai Chili Wahoo was fun but not something I am looking to have again anytime soon. Basically what I am trying to say is if my feelings towards Ballast Point have changed, would my opinion of Calm Before the Storm change with it?

I pondered that thought as Calm Before the Storm poured a beautifully clear gold with a fluffy white head. Upon closer inspection there was a light amount of sediment floating in the beer but it is barely noticeable. The aroma is slightly sweet, toasty, with coffee standing out. There is a light vanilla in there as well, along with very little hop presence. After my first sip, I realized Calm Before the Storm Cream Ale was just as good as I remembered it. There is a light toasty malt, coffee, a hint of cream and vanilla before a clean, refreshing finish. The coffee is showcased wonderfully without being overwhelming. It reminds me of the refreshing feeling of enjoying an iced coffee on a hot day. The light vanilla only reinforces this. There is no real noticeable hop presence and it is not needed here. This is a cream ale that works well.

While I may not agree with overusing fruit flavoring in beer, I admire the creativity Ballast Point Brewing Company continues to display. Beers like Grapefruit Sculpin, Victory at Sea, Calm Before the Storm, Indra Kunindra and even Habanero Sculpin offer something different and unique to beer drinkers. While the beers they have released recently, that I mentioned earlier have been inconsistent, they are consistently trying to create something different. That alone is what makes trying their beer fun. I look forward to seeing what is coming out next from them.

Overall I would rate Calm Before the Storm a 4/5. This beer is a must try for summer iced coffee drinkers.


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!

Clown Shoes Bluegrass Billionaire

The first barleywine I ever tried was somewhere around 2004-2005. I remember it like it was yesterday, I was at a bar with my dad and as usual I looked for something on the menu I had yet to try. The only option I found was Brooklyn Monster Ale. So like most beers at the time, I ordered it without any idea of what it was and just hoped I would like it. It turned out I absolutely hated it. It was thick, rich, sweet, boozy and had the consistency of cough syrup. It was safe to say it was unlike anything I had tried up until that point. I actually thought it was so bad that maybe the entire barleywine style was not for me. It literally took almost a decade for me to try another barleywine. The only reason I did that was because it was part of the Goose Island Bourbon County line of beers. I absolutely loved that one and from that point on I have absolutely loved the style. Lagunitas Olde Gnarlywine, Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Ale and Bells Third Coast Ale have become just a few of my fairly easy to find favorites. But even though I am not afraid to try it again, I have still yet to revisit Brooklyn's Monster Ale. The reason for that is aside from Sorachi Ace, I have not liked anything I have had from the Brooklyn Brewery. But perhaps it would be fun to revisit Monster Ale down the road for another review. For this review though, I decided on a more “out of the blue” barleywine, Bluegrass Billionaire Bourbon Barrel Aged English Style Barleywine from Clown Shoes.

I realize I could have reviewed a non-barrel aged barleywine but I did not for two reasons. The first being the most obvious; bourbon barrel aged beer in general is more fun to try. And second, reviewing Bluegrass Billionaire also helps me justify my 14 dollar impulse purchase of this 22 oz. Bomber. So as I poured the dense, cloudy reddish-brown barleywine with a light tan head, I could not help but think this was a win for everyone. The aroma was pleasant and really showed off the barrel aging. There was caramel, vanilla, fig, bourbon and oak. When I took my first sip I immediately noticed a pleasant, earthy hoppiness. As I continued to work my way through the glass the flavors of caramel, vanilla, fig, date, raisin and bourbon shined nicely. But an earthy, oak & boozy finish subtracted from the beer. I realize I am complaining about a 12.5% ABV beer having a boozy finish, but I feel it could have been hidden better. If I had patience I realize it probably would have smoothed out a bit by placing it in the cellar for awhile, but I did not want to wait to drink it. A definite positive trait about this barleywine is that it's not too sweet. I recently had Bourbon Barrel Aged Thor's Hammer from Central City Brewers and the syrupy sweetness of that wore on me the further I got into the glass. The earthy hoppiness of Bluegrass Billionaire helps prevent the sweetness from becoming overwhelming. providing a nice sense of balance.

I would consider drinking Clown Shoes' Bluegrass Billionaire a fairly positive experience. It may not be as good as I hoped it would be, but that's not saying it was a bad beer either. What I am trying to say is there are better barleywines out there. While I would like to see what Bluegrass Billionaire tastes like with some aging on it, I do not foresee a second purchase in my immediate future. Even though I liked it, I would still recommend spending that 14 dollars on something else.  The main thing I want you to take from this review is just because a style of beer did not work for you in the past, it is still worth giving a second chance to down the road.

Overall I would rate Clown Shoes' Bluegrass Billionaire a 3.25/5. The main thing I want you to take from this review is that just because a style of beer did not work for you in the past, it is still worth giving a second chance to down the road.


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!

Galaxy Andromeda IPA

It dawned on recently that I have been writing beer reviews for the past two years and I have yet to review a draft beer. Each and every single review I have done has come from a bottle or a can. Now I realize I could remedy this by purchasing a growler/bomber, but if the beer is bad finishing one of those can turn into quite a commitment. The other reason I have not reviewed a draft beer is when I go to a bar, I don't typically take a notepad or a laptop. For this review I decided to do something different. Much to the chagrin of my lovely wife I decided to take notes on my freshly poured pint of Galaxy Brewing Company's Andromeda IPA on our most recent date night. After several long pauses for note taking, awkward glares and some quiet contemplation, I felt I had all of the information I needed to write this review.

Andromeda IPA has been a beer that up until now I have seemingly ignored. Despite being told time and time again it is worth trying, I always found a way to order something else. What makes it strange is I have had several really nice beers from the Binghamton, New York Brewery. I just had not tried their flagship beer. So as I stared at its beautifully clear copper color and off white head, I had high hopes I was in for a long overdue treat. The aroma reinforced that thought with toasted malt, pine, citrus & tropical notes. The flavor matches the aroma, blending the tropical flavors of tangerine, pineapple and passion fruit with pine, citrus and a nice toasted malt backbone. If I had to describe Andromeda IPA in one word it would be balanced. The malt and hops compliment each other nicely providing a smooth, easy drinking experience.

Galaxy Andromeda IPA is a good beer plain and simple. While it doesn't really stand out as one of the best IPAs I have had. It is definitely good enough to merit a purchase each time I see it from this point forward. They seem to be doing some pretty nice things at the Binghamton Brewery.


Overall I would rate Galaxy Andromeda IPA a 3.75/5. A solid IPA for a dinner date night, a solid IPA for any night.


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!

Narragansett Summer Ale, Anderson Valley Summer Solstice & Magic Hat Stealin' Time

While summer has officially arrived, summer beer has been here since April. While that is all well and good, I am not interested in drinking a beer with a beach or sun on the label if snow could still fall at any moment. Now that it's late June and there have been consecutive 90 degree days, it's time for some light, crisp summer beers. But where to start? Beer aisles right now are loaded with summer beers trying to catch your eye and find their way into your coolers. So instead of letting you know if just one beer is good or not, I am going to review three very different summer beers so you can have a better idea of what is out there.

First up is Narragansett Summer Ale. This is a light, crisp pale ale that pours a clear gold with a white head. The aroma of bready malt, citrus and pine is very light but pleasant. After tasting, the flavor is very similar to the aroma. There is a light malt sweetness up front before the light flavor of citrus comes in and washes away fairly clean. I keep using the word light because that is exactly what this is. To be specific, it is a watered down pale ale. Normally I would make this a huge issue, but for a summer beer it works. This is an easy-drinking, sessionable beer that would work perfectly on a very hot day. Its 4.2% ABV puts it on the same level as Bud Light, it just tastes a lot better.

Overall I would rate Narragansett Summer Ale a 2.5/5. If you are looking for a light, easy-drinking beer for a day at the beach, this works nicely. If you are looking for something with a bolder flavor profile, I would leave this on the shelf.

Next up is Anderson Valley Summer Solstice. This is an interesting cream ale that pours a slightly hazy ruby brown with an off-white head. The aroma is slightly sweet, with caramel and lots of vanilla. Much like the aroma, the vanilla really stands out in the flavor as well. Right off the bat I was hit with caramel malt, followed by the bold flavor slightly sweet vanilla. These initial flavors work really nice together. They provide just the right amount of sweetness. But pleasant flavors then give way to a bland hop finish which really takes away from how good this beer could have been. That's not saying it's a bad beer, it's not. It's just a fun take on a cream soda beer with an underwhelming finish.

Overall I would rate Anderson Valley Summer Solstice a 3/5. I wanted to love it, I really did, but the finish just did not work for me. That being said, it's still too fun not to try.

Finally, we have Magic Hat Stealin' Time. Before I get started, I want to take a moment and mention that I really wanted to like this beer. This past winter I reviewed Magic Hat's Snow Roller and gave it a fairly harsh critique(you can read that by clicking here). I was hoping this pale wheat ale with ginger would restore my faith in the Magic Hat name. I am sad to say, it did not. Stealin' Time poured a crystal clear golden yellow(I thought it was unfiltered) with a fluffy white head. The aroma contained wheat malt, citrus, pine and ginger. Just from the aroma, I was fairly optimistic I would like it. When I tasted it, I realized how mistaken I was. Grainy malt comes through right away before pine, a light hint of lemon and a whole lot of ginger. The ginger is fairly strong and it could have worked if not for the strong metallic flavor that came along with it. Midway through the glass, all I could taste was ginger and metal. I ended up dumping out my glass which makes this the second Magic Hat beer I've reviewed and not finished.

Overall I would rate Magic Hat Stealin' Time a 0.5/5. It certainly lives up to its name. It steals time from drinking a good 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　

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!

Boulevard Ginger Lemon Radler

Over the past few years I have watched with a puzzled look on my face as the Shandy/Radler became a popular variety of summer beer. Just like any style of beer, I found myself trying different interpretations from various breweries. Each time I sampled a new one I was left wondering what all the fuss was about. As a beer cocktail, I understand the idea behind the Shandy/Radler. A homemade mixture of beer and a sparkling lemonade or fruit beverage sounds refreshing. But a canned or bottled mixture of a poorly made base beer with a lot of “natural” flavoring to drown it out is something I find completely undrinkable. So, as I purchased a can of Boulevard Ginger Lemon Radler my expectations could not have been any lower. To add to that, I began to wonder if anyone will take this review seriously after reading this introduction. But I put that thought in the back of my mind as I began to pour what I hoped would be the first Shandy/Radler I would enjoy.

Boulevard Brewing Company's Ginger Lemon Radler pours a cloudy light yellow with a white head that falls off very quickly. There is not a lot of complexity here so to go into very specific details of what is in the aroma seems unnecessary. To put it simply, this smelled like ginger ale with a light, tart lemon backbone. It tasted exactly as it smelled. There was almost zero distinguishable beer flavor. To reinforce that point, this is the first beer in 13 years of trying that my Mom actually liked. The weird thing was, I liked it too. I found it light, crisp and easy to drink. The ginger flavor tastes genuine and the lemon provides a nice, tart balance to keep it from being too sweet.

The main drawback of this particular beer is that the beer itself seems to be missing. I say that because I feel like this review almost comes off as more of a soda review than a beer review. In fact I would say if you handed me a can of this and told me it was a lemon ginger ale I would have believed you. The 4.1% ABV is almost completely hidden as well, making this a dangerously sessionable, easy to drink summer beverage. It also makes this the first Shandy/Radler I have had that merits a second purchase.

Overall I would rate Boulevard Brewing Company's Ginger Lemon Radlar a 3/5. It's more of an alcoholic soda than beer, but it 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!

Hamburg Sweet Tang Grapefruit Lager

Sometimes there is nothing nicer on a hot day than a lager. While I may have just stated the obvious, I want you to understand this is coming from a guy who would drink an imperial stout on a 110 degree day. Lagers are a style of beer I tend to forget about. Maybe it is because they are most famously made by breweries I tend to shy away from. Or maybe it is because they were the beers I learned my drinking limits on in college. Whatever the reason may be I rarely leave a bottle shop with one of them. That being said, I am frequently reminded particularly during the hot summer months that a Budweiser, a Heineken or a Pabst Blue Ribbon can be particularly refreshing. So I asked myself what about some of the craft beer options? That brings me to this week's review, Hamburg Brewing Company's Sweet Tang.

Sweet Tang is a lager brewed with grapefruit and it pours a densely cloudy orangey yellow with a white head. The aroma is bursting with grapefruit. I could smell it very clearly as I was pouring it into the glass. There is also a light, bready malt sweetness in the aroma but not much else. On aroma alone Sweet Tang appeared to have a lot of potential. After my first sip I was not sure what to think of it. While the flavor of the base lager is light, it is there. The grapefruit however dominates the flavor. What threw me off initially was that I expected the grapefruit to compliment the sweetness from the malt. It did not, and that is what makes this beer successful. It adds a beautifully refreshing flavor to the lager backbone before giving way to a very bitter and clean finish.

While a bitter, clean finish worked for me I understand the bitterness of it will not be for everyone. In fact, it took some getting used to for me but by the time my glass was empty Sweet Tang had won me over. This is not only a fine example of a craft lager, it is a fine example of how to use fruit in beer. Both distinct flavors mesh well together. While I may have wanted to see a little more of the lager shine, everything works here. I can safely say this is a beer that will be in my regular summer rotation.

Overall I rate Hamburg Brewing Company's Sweet Tang Grapefruit Lager a 3.75/5. Simple, fun, and easy to drink, a great beer to kick off the summer season.

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!

Uinta Cucumber Farmhouse

The first time someone offered me cucumber water I thought they were messing with me. At that time I did not see much use for the cucumber. I found it to be the boring veggie I would typically eat first in my salads to make sure it did not affect the flavor of anything I actually did want to eat. I had no idea adding a cucumber to water would not only pleasantly enhance the flavor of the water, it seemed to make it even more refreshing. From that point on, I developed an appreciation for the cucumber. I found myself enjoying it more on its own. I stopped eating it first in my salads. I also felt it was only a matter of time until the refreshing flavor of cucumber found its way into some of the beers I drink. At a recent bottle shopping excursion, I was excited to see Cucumber Farmhouse from Uinta Brewing Company on the shelf. To make the first cucumber beer I have seen on shelves even more interesting, I saw that it was aged in gin barrels. I quickly picked it up, placed it in the fridge and waited to drink it on an incredibly hot day. Well, that day is today and I hope this beer is as flavorful and refreshing as it appears to be.

Cucumber Farmhouse pours a dense cloudy gold with a fizzy white head. The aroma is lightly spiced with clove, banana, coriander and cucumber. I rushed the aroma part because it is extremely hot and I had high hopes that this beer would be extremely cooling and refreshing. I was half right. The cucumber flavor stands out nicely. It hit my palate immediately before giving way to lemon, banana and clove. The finish then hit me with a lot of pepper and a hint of gin and oak. To put it simply, there is a lot going on here. Some of it works and some of it does not.

For my longtime readers you know I am a huge fan of barrel aging. In this particular case, I do not think it was needed. The light gin and oak notes do not seem to add anything positive to the beer. If anything they subtract slightly from the saison yeast in the finish. I think the light, crisp lemon flavor adds a nice touch to the beer. It provided a nice balance to the sweetness of the cucumber. Sadly, it got lost in a muddled finish with the a strong pepper flavor and a hint of oak. That being said there are some really nice flavors going on here, they just do not compliment each other well. I do feel there is a lot of potential for cucumber in beer. I would not be surprised if various styles of cucumber beer become a summer mainstay in the next few years.

Overall I would rate Uinta Cucumber Farmhouse a 2.5/5. There are just too many flavors here that do not go well together. There is potential for cucumber in beer however and I look forward to trying more of it in the future.

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!