Long Awaited Reviews

I swear, I am going to get better about getting these reviews out while the beers in them are still in season. Thankfully, you can still find every single one of these at select stores. So I won't beat around the bush...here goes!


Anderson Valley Blood Orange Gose

This is the first Gose I have ever sampled and rated for a blog, whether it be my old LBSM blog or this new one. That alone makes this intriguing. For those of you who don't know, a Gose is a salt beer. It is a style that originated in Leipzig, Germany and is made from over 50% wheat. It is known for the fact that they add salt to give the beer a little sharpness that melds well with the flavors of the style. Just like the Berliner Weiss, many of these beers have flavors added afterwards. Enter Anderson Valley's take. The nose is champagne-like with hint of cherries, applesauce, and citrus soda. The initial taste is immediately sour and tart. However, strong flavors of cherry, lemon, orange, and Sweet Tart candy conquer your palate afterwards. Just like that, however, the beer is gone. The finish is practically non-existent with only small hints of white bread and effervescent water.

Mike's Rating - 8/10


Schlafly AIPA

This beer has always had a special place in my heart. It is one of my all time favorite single IPA's. Almost every year Schlafly hits it out of the park with this one, and this year has been no exception. The nose is just a fresh burst of tea, grapefruit, and citrus. Those pungent aromas make my mouth water every time. A blast of bitterness hits you at the front with flavors of black tea and lemon zest appearing in the aftermath. The finish is nicely toasty with hints of perfume and pine. The bitterness lingers on, but it doesn't overpower the delicious flavors that this beer provides. This is a well-balanced IPA, and one that any hop lover would enjoy.

Mike's Rating - 9.25/10


Great Lakes Rye of the Tiger IPA

We continue with the IPA trend with this relatively new iteration from Great Lakes. This is its third year in production, and it still remains a solid Spring offering for the hop lovers out there. The nose is intense with hints of soap, coriander, pine, and lemon pith. The first sip pulls no punches and gives a blast of bitterness with hints of pine, snow peas, and earth notes. The finish finds the bitterness weakening pleasantly in time for strong flavors of pine and grass. So many Rye beers I find to either have too much Rye or not enough. This one has hit the nail nearly square on the head.

Mike's Rating - 8.5/10


Uinta Detour Double IPA

Uinta has been a pleasant surprise since bursting onto the scene over 2 years ago from Utah. All I had to go on before that was stories from the Salt Lake City olympics about the nightmarish legislation on alcohol in the state of Utah. So it was a huge surprise to see such a quality brewery coming from Utah. This new offering, a hoppy DIPA, didn't disappoint much. The nose had strong hints of pine, citrus, and soap. The taste starts off intensely bitter. More so than any of the previous beers I reviewed today. Strong hints of pine resin mix with softer hints of carmelized onions and cough syrup to form a weird opening. The finish ended up being quite creamy and thick with strong hints of pine. All in all, this beer wasn't bad. Yet it seemed to just be missing that final push.

Mike's Rating - 8.5/10

Who Wants a Belgian Trip?

This is the part where I hold up a stop sign. It seems the new fad with festivals and events is giving away free tickets to lucky winners. I have no luck at all when it comes to these things, so I post these in hopes that one of my faithful readers will win the opportunity. New Belgium Brewing is doing a drawing and all you have to do to enter is merely sign up for their website and fill out a profile so they know where to send those winning tickets. Link here. Good luck folks!

Founders to Release Redankulous Imperial Red IPA

I don't know about everyone else, but when I see a new Founders beer I tend to get incredibly excited. I have not shied away from stating that Founders is my favorite brewery. That has not changed even as the craft market changes drastically from year to year. Founders also has a history of knocking new IPA's out of the park. So seeing an Imperial Red IPA titled only "Redankulous" has goosebumps prickling my skin. I can't wait to see bombers on the shelves. Check out the description on Founders website here.

Fall Has Arrived...Beer Style!

The coming of Fall usually heralds the arrival of the beers we crave as the weather mellows and the wind picks up. Breezy days of Autumn make you want to crack open Spicy pumpkin beers, creamy Oktoberfests, and chocolatey brown ales. However, with each year it seems the beers normally reserved for Fall are arriving as the scorching weather of Louisville is in full swing. I don't know about you, but none of the beers I mentioned (sans Marzen-style Oktoberfest beers) makes me want to drink them in 90 degree weather with the humidity in full swing.

So why do we release them earlier and earlier when people do nothing but lament their arrival? The first culprit would no doubt be commercialism. If you get the product on the shelves first, then you have first dibs on the market. That is huge to some degree. If you are the only option for those looking, then you are the one they will buy 4 out of 5 times. I myself found myself craving an Oktoberfest and bought Great Lakes as it was literally the only option on the shelves at the time.

The second reason is what makes this a more formidable combination than a string of blows from Ali in his prime: If you don't buy them before they are gone, you get none. Pumpkin Beers and Oktoberfests sell like wildfire, and they hardly ever last until the months where you want them (November and October respectively.) That in and of itself is frustrating enough to get you to pick a few up and hold the last couple bottles until you truly want them. Especially for the many of you who are looking to drink some bottles of Southern Tier Pumking or Schlafly Pumpkin Ale.

So how does this disgusting trend stop? The sad part is that it probably won't. People are insatiable, and craft beer is hotter than ever right now. The only way to reverse this trend would be for many, many people to be on board and abstain. Even then it would be doubtful, as who could resist the desire not to buy one of their favorite seasonals? We are slaves to the man. So let's all toast those cases of Fall beer that we will be holding onto until Fall actually arrives. Cheers!

Great American Beer Festival

I am sure most of you all have heard about the Great American Beer Festival. It takes place every year in Denver, Colorado and features one of the most extensive craft beer assemblies in the world. Getting to see this first hand can be costly. First, you have to be one of the few to buy tickets before they sell out. Then you have to travel to Colorado and pay for lodging. By the end, you are looking at hundreds of dollars for one event. Oskar Blues this year has kindly decided to offer up FREE tickets...to those who win the sweepstakes. Not just that, but they will pay for your lodging, air fare, and food for you AND a friend. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and everyone should check it out. Someone has got to win, might as well be one of us, eh?

Link: http://draftmag.com/ordeal/

I Have Returned...With News!

Hello Ladies and Gents! Yet another long absence but this one will be punctuated with activity. I am back and with a vengeance. We will start by saying that you will see a TON of reviews posted over the next two weeks. Just because I was MIA from here, does not mean I wasn't doing what I love best: sampling and rating beer. So check back often and don't lose faith in yours truly. We will end this post with a completely unrelated tidbit where I recently have read articles that show that beer has generated over 253 billion dollars this past year and 1.75 million jobs. It is a great time to be a craft beer drinker! Cheers!

Flat 12 Christmas In July

Many people associate certain beers to certain seasons. I will admit that even I will raise an eyebrow to anyone who exclaims "give me a stout!" in the middle of July. However, for barrel-aged Pinko, I can make an exception.

On July 25th, at the Flat 12 Brewery in Indy, Flat 12 will be busting out several different varieties of their delicious Pinko Russian Imperial Stout. A few probably have grumbled about the heat already, but fear not. All of this drinking will take place in a 30,000 square foot cooler. Check out Flat 12 on Facebook for more info.