Founders Doom Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial IPA

The Founders Barrel Aged Series has been fantastic so far. The first entry, Frootwood is a creative example of using a bourbon barrel that held maple syrup to completely transform a cherry ale into something truly unique. The second entry, KBS, needs no introduction. It is an amazing beer that lives up to the hype it generates every single year. The third entry in the series, Doom, is the subject of this blog. Doom is an imperial IPA aged in bourbon barrels that clocks in with an ABV of 12.4%. Due to my love of everything Founders has put in a bourbon barrel(except Lizard of Koz), I had high hopes that Doom, like the others in the series, would deliver another incredible drinking experience.

Founders Doom is a big, interesting beer. From the moment the crystal clear amber-colored liquid hit my glass, I got a whiff of its complex aroma. Caramel, vanilla, oak, spice, bourbon and citrus stand out beautifully. These same notes are what dominate the flavor. When I took my first sip, grapefruit and pineapple greeted me before giving way to caramel, vanilla, bourbon, oak spice and booze. The barrel really shines in the finish here and I absolutely loved that. Then again, this is called the Barrel Aged Series for a reason.

What I had trouble with here is thinking of this an IPA. I know it is, but reminded me more of a hoppy barleywine than anything else. If I had to compare it to another IPA, I could easily compare it to Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA after it had been sitting for a year or more. While I do enjoy drinking an aged Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, at 10 dollars a bottle, I think you should just put that money towards a really nice barleywine instead. In the case of Doom, you get all the benefits of aging 120 Minute IPA, for less money and you do not have to wait to make it drinkable. I think Doom is delicious but as far as the 2017 Barrel Aged Series goes, I think it is the weakest of the 3 releases so far. Do not let that discourage you though, I feel the first 2 released in the series have been particularly strong and it is hard to top KBS. If you are interested in trying Doom, I would highly recommend doing so.

Overall rating: 3.75/5. While I enjoyed Doom, I can't wait for the next release in the series, DKML. The thought of drinking bourbon barrel aged malt liquor is just as exciting to me now as it would have been when I was in college. Look for a blog on that as soon as it hits Upstate NY.

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!

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!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

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!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Grimm Double Dry Hopped Tesseract DIPA

June has arrived and with it comes the best month to be a beer enthusiast in Rochester, NY. The Rochester Real Beer Week is full of amazing events and incredible tap lists. I look forward to this week every year and this year is no different. So for the month of June, I want my blog to mirror how big this month is to “The Flour City”. I am going to be blogging about some of the most popular and sought after beers in my hometown. To do this, there is perhaps no better way to start than reviewing a beer from Grimm Artisanal Ales.

The popularity of Grimm, especially the IPAs and Stouts in Rochester is undeniable. I recall going to a bottle shop without the thought ever crossing my mind that a Grimm IPA was about to be released. When I arrived, the parking lot was full and the line to buy beer was practically out the door. Needless to say, I did not buy beer there that day and sought out another place for a readily available six-pack. To get a can of Grimm IPA in Rochester, you have to look in the right place at the right time. If you are not able to find a can, your only real chance of trying it is looking for it on tap.

I have had a lot of Grimm IPAs. Some I think are fantastic and some I think are worth a lot less than 5 dollars a can, to put it nicely. My favorite one from them is Tesseract Double IPA. I know I am not alone in thinking this, it seems to be the most challenging one to acquire. When I read that they were releasing a Double Dry Hopped version of Tesseract, I basically started drooling. I had to come across a can, I just had to. Lucky for me I was able to find one. When I got home, opened it, poured it and after a moment of staring at it lovingly, I took in the aroma. The aroma was big, dank and piney. There was also a hint of lemon and tropical fruit. The first sip was delightful, resinous, tropical and light on bitterness. After the initial hint of resinous pine, Double Dry Hopped Tesseract softens with the flavors of mango, melon, pineapple, and gummy candy before a nice dry finish. At 8%, this is dangerously easy to drink. The alcohol is hidden wonderfully. This is the kind of beer that can sneak up on you. One minute you are thinking, 'sure I could open that second can.' Then you do and the lights start getting just a little bit dimmer. These things happen when a beer is this well-made.

Much like the Tesseract I know and love, this beer is fantastic. Due to Grimm's unpredictable brewing patterns, it has been a while since I have had Tesseract. I wish I could do a side by side to better explain the difference between the two a bit better. I can say I do not remember the aroma being as big or as dank as it is. However, I do remember it tasting juicy but not as tropical and soft as it is here. Then again, the point of dry hopping is to add to the aroma and flavor without adding to the bitterness. Well, mission accomplished here, Double Dry Hopped Tesseract is a beautiful beer that you should seek out immediately(or during the biggest beer week of the year).

Overall rating 4.5/5. A Grimm beer that lives up to the hype.

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 like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Magic Hat Mother Lager

If you have been reading my blog long for awhile now, you probably know I do not like beer from Magic Hat. Back in my early days of craft beer drinking I enjoyed many of their offerings. Either my palate evolved and their beer was terrible the whole time or their beer has just gone dramatically downhill over the years. The more I talk to fellow beer drinkers, the more I find the latter to be true.

I frequently wonder what happened to Magic Hat's beer from 2005 to now. They were purchased in 2010 and perhaps scaling up distribution did not translate well for their recipes. However, since being acquired, I do remember enjoying their Schwarzbier(Black Lager), Howl. The sad thing about that beer was just when I thought I had finally found something good from them, it was retired. The one good takeaway from Howl is the potential is still there to make a good beer. So, I have started a quest to find a beer that brings back the respect I had in the past for Magic Hat. I do not know how long it is going to take. Maybe the beer I am going to discuss today will bring that respect back. My hopes are not high that this is going to happen but I find myself trying to be optimistic. Perhaps, by picking their limited run Mother Lager, a Euro-Style Lager, I am being too easy on them. If anything, it is a style of beer they could water down to a point that barely any flavor exists. If this turns out to be the case it would still be better than most of the beers I have had from them.

Mother Lager is not a bad beer. So I feel I can start this out on a more positive note than usual. That being said, it is not that good either. It hits the aroma and flavor notes you would expect from a Euro Style Lager. The aroma is bready, grassy, herbal with a light hint of citrus. When I took my first sip I laughed because just as I joked earlier, this is a bit watered-down. However, the flavors that are here work. The notes of bread, grass, pepper and lemon come through. The finish is crisp, clean and everything you would expect from the style. This is a fairly safe beer from Magic Hat. It is by no means good enough to change the negative feelings I have about them. I would equate this to an old friend reaching out to you whom you have had differences with recently. I am trepidatious but hopeful, as well as happy that Mother Lager is proof that they can still make something I won't pour down the sink. I admit, I am looking forward to trying and writing about another offering of theirs in the near future to see if I can continue to build on this optimism. However, at the moment we are talking about Mother Lager. As much as I feel happy I was able to finish an entire 12 ounces of Magic Hat beer, I must tell you that at its price point I can't think of any reason you would buy this over any other classic, readily available European Style Lager. That is with the exception of Stella Artois, that stuff is garbage.

Overall I would rate Mother Lager a 2.75/5. It was drinkable, I finished the entire 12 ounces, so that was good enough for me.

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 like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Prairie Pe-Kan Imperial Stout

When I saw Prairie Pe-Kan on the shelf the first time, I walked right past it. I felt I could not drop another 10 dollars on a 12 ounce bottle that may or may not be worth it. I thought if I ignored it that day, it would be gone and I would not feel the temptation to buy it again. Then I saw it again in another place, and then another, and then I finally caved and bought a bottle. I faced the hard truth that I am a sucker for stouts from Prairie Artisan Ales. I realize this is mainly because I absolutely love Bomb! It's ridiculously overpriced but ridiculously good. I can only justify buying it once in a great while but it delivers every single time. Now when I came across Pe-Kan I did not expect it to come close to the greatness of Bomb. The label even stated that it was a “malt beverage with natural flavors”. Anytime a beer has “natural flavors” in it, my expectations are immediately lowered. Still, I purchased a Pe-Kan, chilled it, hoped for the best and made it the subject of this blog.

Things did not start out as well as I'd hoped with Pe-Kan. As I poured it, the first thing I thought was, “this looks a little on the thin side.” At the price point and ABV level, I was not looking for thin. I was looking for motor oil-like thickness. I thought the aroma was interesting. It was boozy, smokey, roasty, with vanilla, chocolate and caramelized sugar. I did not get much pecan in the aroma but I did get that in the flavor. It really gave the impression that this beer was trying to pull off pecan pie and I think it worked. Pe-Kan is sweet, like really sweet but for some reason I really liked it here. The vanilla, chocolate, pecans, caramelized sugar blended nicely with a nice roasty and smokey malt flavor. Did the beer taste a little artificial? Yes it did, but surprisingly I did not mind it. This is a fun dessert beer, plain and simple. It is not something I could drink more than one of but it is something I am glad I tried. I do not think this beer would work for everyone but if you like pecan pie, I would give it a shot.

Overall I would rate Prairie Pe-Kan a 4/5. It's not as good as Bomb! Not even close actually, but it is a really fun beer, that's worth a try.

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 like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Bells Mars Double IPA

The Bells Planet Series was something I found enjoyable and underwhelming all at the same time. In most cases, I remember something about each of the beers I tried. I remember sitting with my wife drinking Venus, while she cringed through each sip. I looked at her confused because somehow the bizarre blend of ingredients in a blonde ale worked for me. I remember being excited at the price of Saturn for being Bourbon Barrel Aged and then disappointed the more I drank of it. I remember sitting quietly after a long day of work drinking a Uranus and thinking it was a really great Black IPA. Then I remember reading the list of ingredients for Neptune and wondering what the brewing process for that was like. I imagined the brewers were looking at a list of every adjunct they had on hand and saying 'dump it in”. With the laundry list of adjuncts in the beer, barely any of them stood out in the flavor. Still, I thought Neptune was a good stout. I never got around to trying Mars: The Bringer of War because it was sold out every time I tried to buy a bottle. As you can imagine, I am thrilled Bells decided to brew it again and give me a second chance to try it.

Right off the bat, I loved the beautiful reddish-orange color of Bells Mars Double IPA. In beer form, it seemed to perfectly match a photo of the “Red Planet”. The aroma was nice, but from it I knew  I was in for a big beer. Huge notes of grapefruit, resinous pine, caramel malt, pineapple and candied orange stood out with a nicely. The first sip started out with a nice caramel malt sweetness before a massive rush of citrus and pine. Notes of pineapple, orange, and mango complimented those flavors before giving way to a sticky pine, grapefruit rind, slightly spicy, dry, boozy finish. When I say boozy finish, I mean it. The 10.1% is not even remotely hidden. I like a little heat on the finish but this was a bit too much. Still I thought Mars was a fairly good Double IPA, it's just nothing memorable. By the end of my glass, I was happy I only purchased one bottle. It's definitely on the syrupy side and that began to wear me down the further I got into the beer. I am happy I was able to try Mars, but I can't say it is something I could or would want to drink another bottle of.

Overall I would rate Mars a 3/5. I'm glad I got to try it and I hope to see other reissues in the future from this series.

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 like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!