Fruit Slave - Illuminated BrewWorks

    Uggghh, you've been grocery shopping for what feels like HOURS with your mom. Sure, it was fun to see all the different food - fun for about 10 minutes. Now you're bored to death and getting cranky. Soon your mom pushes the shopping cart toward the front - a sign that your suffering is nearing its end! You somehow managed to stay cool throughout the entire trip, and didn't even entertain yourself by throwing things on the floor or by breaking anything, so your mom says that you can pick out a piece of candy at the checkout. Suddenly, this entire grueling trip has become worth it for that one delectable treat of your choosing! You look over the selection: boring chocolate bars, "old people" candy, mints that burn your mouth, suckers shaped like jewelry or baby bottles - and then you spot it. Before you, glowing with the reflected fluorescent lights of the supermarket lies a bright, multi-colored pack of gum with a cartoon zebra on it. You grab the pack and put it on the conveyor belt. Soon, outside, you break into your treasure while your mom loads up the car with groceries. You pull out a stick (it's your favorite color after all!) and shove the gum into your mouth. WOW! What an explosion of fruit flavors! You can't believe that this gum is so delicious, and that you have AN ENTIRE PACK OF IT! With the boredom of the day's previous events fading from your fruit-blasted memory, you settle in to the car's seat thinking about how well you've got it made. Suddenly, you're shaken from your reverie by the sensation that you're chewing on flavorless rubber. What!? No! How could this have happened? Looking to re-live that life-changing fruit experience you shove another piece of gum into your mouth only to find this time the fruity nirvana you thought you had discovered is just as fleeting as it was with the first piece. You shove piece after piece into your mouth - the wad of chewing gum growing larger and larger. Finally, you reach down for the next piece and find nothing. Could you have really just chewed that entire package of gum!? Maybe you dropped one on the floor? No, nothing there. Could it really be over!? Your mom opens the car door and sits down, finally having finished loading the groceries. You spend the ride home with the flavorless lump of rubber sitting in your mouth - serving as a reminder that the world you're growing up in is dark, and empty.

    Illuminated Brew Works in Chicago, Illinois calls Fruit Slave a Double Dry Hopped Double IPA. The bottle states that it is hopped with massive amounts of Mouteka, Citra, and Mandarina Bavaria hops, and the beer's haziness definitely backs up that claim! I've avoided the trend of New England IPAs for long enough, so here comes the "hazy juice".

    Fruit Slave pours a hazy, brown-orange color. The beer appears quite thick, and almost milky similarly to coconut water. An ivory froth tops the brew with decent lacing on the glass.

A "slam dunk" of fruit flavor!

    The beer's aroma is heavy on the tropical fruit. I'm talking mango, papaya, orange, and pineapple here. The brew smells relatively sweet, but in more of a juice-like way than the normal caramel or biscuit bready scents from malts. There is a slight acidic tang to the beer's smell, which is reminiscent of tropical fruit juices I drank as a younger child.

    Fruit slave is medium bodied with a medium level of carbonation. Together, the carbonation and body make the beer seem almost creamy in your mouth. It honestly feels thicker than a Double IPA would normally feel, and somewhat oily. At 7.5% ABV, Fruit Slave seems a bit weaker than I'd expect from a DIPA, but that just means that I can drink more of it!

    I'd say the beer is aptly named, as Fruit Slave provides some massive fruit flavors. Similarly to the beer's aroma, tropical fruits are at the front with mango, guava, papaya, pineapple, melon, and orange. A very, very slight pine character seems to add some prickliness to the flavor, and plays well off of the beer's acidic fruit notes. Mild, wheaty malts add a sweetness to the beer, making it take on a character that's even more juice-like.

    I had avoided NEIPA style beers for a while because, well, honestly they looked different from what I was used to and sounded sort of silly. I've had quite a few NEIPAs now, and it's been a good lesson to not "knock it before you try it". I've really grown to like the tropical juice flavors that hops impart to beer when brewed in this manner. I can't say that my life is changed and that I only want "juicy" beers from now on, but I definitely enjoy a well made NEIPA quite a bit. Fruit Slave does a great job of showcasing the fruity flavors that dry hopping can produce. You can tell that a huge amount of hops went into this brew. When I had finished my glass, there was literally a thin layer of hop-leaf debris on the bottom. Fruit Slave was definitely a fruit-explosion, but just like that gum from my childhood, the bottle runs out eventually.

Amulets and Ale Rating:

Find Amulets and Ale on social media - Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmuletsAndAle Instagram: @amuletsandale

Wizard King - Pipeworks Brewing Company and 7venth Sun Brewery

    Legends tell of an ancient kingdom besieged by gigantic insects. These monstrosities ate the kingdom's food entire fields at a time. The bones of those peasants unlucky enough to be tending to their fields when the swarm hit would be found by others the next day. Desperate for help, the royalty of the land sent out for a hero to assist in the kingdom's plight. Many mercenaries, champions, and hunters tried their hands at defeating the swarm. Each time their well-equipped bones were found the following day - stripped bare of flesh and lying on the ground. One day, a mysterious wanderer arrived in the kingdom. The man was of smaller than average height, walked with a staff, and wore a long robe with a hood over his head. The man was clearly from a far-off land, as he spoke with a strange accent which seemed to stress the letter "s" in a way that sounded almost like a hissing sound. The stranger met with the royalty and explained that he would rid the kingdom of its flying menace, but that in return he must be made king of the land. Having seen the many previous "heroes" fall to the swarm, the royalty agreed to the man's terms - secure that this strange man who required a cane to even walk would simply become another pile of bones. The foreigner spent the entire next day waiting in a field of ripe barley. Soon enough, the horrible sound of gigantic, insect wings filled the air. Reports of what happened next are sparse and are likely unreliable as most humans in the area fled to safety and were under great duress. What has been heard, however, is that the strange man was engulfed by the swarm immediately. Some witnesses reported great gouts of fire spraying from the man's outreached hands - burning insects out of the sky. Others swear they saw what appeared to be a great tongue darting from under the man's hood, skewering insects and returning them to his waiting mouth. No matter how it happened, the man returned to the castle and left a field full of uneaten barley and torched insect corpses in his wake. The kingdom's royalty, having seen from a distance what this wizard was capable of, scrambled to ready the crown. As the symbol of kinghood was lowered toward his head, the strange man removed his hood. To the shock of all who were present, a green, scaly face with yellow eyes slowly emerged from the cloth. Before the royalty was able to stop it's descent, the crown landed on the creature's head. This wizard was no man. This wizard was a lizard, and now, he was Wizard King!

    Wizard King is a collaboration between Pipeworks Brewing Company in Chicago, Illinois and 7venth Sun Brewery in Dunedin, Florida. Wizard King is a fusion between the mosaic Pale Ale Lizard King from Pipeworks, and Electric Wizard, a strawberry citra IPA from 7venth Sun. As you might expect from it's parentage, the collaborative brew is a Double India Pale Ale which features cryo mosaic and citra hops alongside strawberries.

    Wizard King pours a slightly pinkish, hazy, golden orange color. I saw some huge bubbles on pouring which makes me worry about the beer having poor retention of carbonation. The beer sort of resembles peach soda when in the glass because of these bubbles. A foam of large bubbles makes up about a half-inch of head on the beer's surface, and what few big bubbles stick around leave some funky lacing down the inside of the glass.

A wizard lizard drinks precisely when he means to.

    The collaborative brew smells quite nice! Between the citra, mosaic, and strawberries there are tons of fruity and interesting scents in the beer's nose. I get everything from mango, lemon, grapefruit, apricot, pineapple, and obviously strawberry - to pine and some nice grassy and earthy notes. Clearly the hops are going to be the stars of the show here, though there is a slight malt sweetness in the nose.

    The DIPA has a medium body, though it feels almost full bodied. There is a slight stickiness to the beer which feels right for its fruit content. My glass started out being carbonated at around a medium level, but the gas definitely escaped this one faster than I would have expected. As the carbonation dwindled, the beer seemed to become thicker and a bit more syrupy. The Wizard King is a potent ruler with an alcohol content of 8.5% ABV.

    Flavor closely follows the scents in the brew, and I'm very glad for it! Tropical fruit flavors are probably the most prevalent of tastes in the brew. There are also the classic IPA pine and citrus notes, alongside mosaic's earthy hay or onion-like flavors as well. At first I was disappointed in the level of strawberry flavor in the ale. It seemed to me that since strawberry was called out as a main ingredient that it should be more pronounced in the beer's flavor. As I continued to drink the beer, I came to realize that the sweet and somewhat earthy flavors of the berries perfectly compliment those flavors from the mosaic and citra hops - which I really appreciate! The hoppy bitterness of an IPA is well balanced with the sweetness from the fruit and malts as it should be in a DIPA.

    I really didn't know what to think when I first opened up Wizard King. As I said, I was a concerned about the beer's carbonation level, and I do feel like I wish the bubbles had stuck around a bit longer. More carbonation might have kept the beer feeling lighter than it did toward the end of my glass. My biggest fear was that the beer would just taste like strawberry jam. Luckily, the balance between bitter and sweet ingredients is very well done - making the beer enjoyable even after it started to feel a little bit syrupy. I have had Lizard King before, and now I really want to try Electric Wizard!

Amulets and Ale Rating:

Find Amulets and Ale on social media - Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmuletsAndAle Instagram: @amuletsandale

Hardcore Chimera - Finch's Beer Co.

    Hardcore Chimera is a Double India Pale Ale brewed by Finch's Beer Co. which is located in Chicago, Illinois. Hardcore Chimera has become Finch's biggest seller as the US's thirst for Double IPAs seems to be never-ending.

    Hardcore Chimera pours a somewhat-hazy bronze/orange color. Very little head forms after pouring, though what foam there is forms a resilient ring around the glass, leaving a good bit of lacing.

    Finch's Double IPA features aromas of citrusy hops as well as some tropical scents such as mango and passion fruit. The beer's malts lend a grainy scent to the mix as well.

    The beer is medium bodied with a carbonation level that is on the high end of medium. There is a slightly oily mouthfeel to the ale which likely contributes to its smoothness. An alcohol content of 9% ABV makes this one beer you're going to want to sip, though the text printed on the bottom of my can suggested I shotgun it by the date printed. I suppose shotgunning the beer is the only real way of drinking such a hardcore brew.

This chimera is so hardcore it makes up 3/5ths of its own metal band.

     Hardcore Chimera definitely hits your tongue with some major hops flavor. Citrus and tropical flavors mix with hoppy bitterness. There isn't a huge amount of malt flavor in the beer, just a bit of caramel behind all the hops. Surprisingly though, the bitterness is well balanced even without much malt flavor coming through. In fact, the beer tastes slightly sweet thanks to the fruit flavors imparted by the hops. I detect only the slightest amount of alcohol taste, which isn't surprising with such a high ABV.

    While the chimera is relatively well known as a mythical beast, it's cousin the Hardcore Chimera has somehow avoided the limelight. Hardcore Chimeras' unfamiliarity is likely due to the low numbers of the creatures that were living in the mythical ages. This particular beast suffered low population numbers due to a relatively high risk of death by hardcore stunts. It was well known that these beasts would take on any dare, no matter how hardcore. Ancient texts mention these creatures jumping chariots through flaming rings, stealing underwear from Cyclops's clotheslines, and even base-jumping from Mount Olympus without a parachute. It's nice to see that this under-recognized creature has been remembered and honored by Finch's Beer Co.

    If you're looking for a strong Double IPA that's not too bitter and drinks relatively smoothy, Hardcore Chimera is worth a try. I feel that the beer was intentionally crafted around the 9% ABV, and as such, misses out on featuring new flavors in lieu of balancing flavors to keep its booziness from being tasted. The beer is still quite enjoyable, and it's easy to see why Finch's has been selling so much of the brew lately!

Amulets and Ale Rating:

Follow Amulets and Ale on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AmuletsAndAle!

Hercules Double IPA - Great Divide Brewing Company

    Hercules, the mythological Greek half-god hero was known for his massive strength and heroic deeds. In naming their Double India Pale Ale after Hercules, Great Divide Brewing Company (Denver, Colorado) is suggesting that their beer embodies some of the traits which made this hero a legend.

    Hercules pours a hazy orange color with a long-lasting two finger head which leaves a good amount of lacing on the glass. The beer's color could perhaps be likened to the sun-kissed skin of a Greek demi-god, though I think that this simile might be a bit of a stretch for Great Divide.

    The Double IPA's aroma is actually much maltier than I would have expected. Hops scents are present, though subdued. A piney, resinous scent mingles with citrus against the sweet malts. The ale's aroma reminds me of being in a pine forest after a summer rain.

    Great Divide's Imperial IPA is medium bodied with a light level of carbonation. With a name like Hercules, I was expecting the ale to have a massive body, not that the beer's smoothness is a bad thing. The ale's mouthfeel is a bit syrupy, though with the low level of carbonation it comes off as creamy. At 10% ABV, this beer's strength warrants the name Hercules all in itself.

Hercules Vs. The Hyrda, as recorded on ancient Greek pottery.

     Just as in the aroma, I am surprised by the huge malts in the Double IPA's flavor. Sweet, almost Barleywine-like malts give the ale its main flavors as well as those of candied fruits. Almost in the background are the citrus and pine notes of the ale's hops. For an ale with such a huge alcohol content there is no harshness whatsoever, just a slight warmth on the tongue. The balance of the hops and malts is amazing in an ale like this with so much going on inside it. The ale's massive flavors seem to play out subtly, against all reasoning.

    My comparison with the hero Hercules and the Double IPA Hercules has obviously fallen through. All I can imagine is that Great Divide named their beer after the legend due to the strength of the two. I have to say that I rather enjoy the idea of a bottle of Hercules going around in ancient Greece, beating up Cyclopes and rescuing fair maidens. It would be a dangerous job for a glass bottle however, so I guess I'll just leave it to Kevin Sorbo.

    Hercules Double IPA shows an amazing balance between sweet and bitter that confuses the palette into thinking that the huge flavors of the beer are actually subtle. Even if you are not a fan of IPAs, I would highly recommend that you give Double IPAs a try as they tend to be much sweeter and better balanced than singles. I will warn you, however, that Hercules's 10% ABV will sneak up on you and hit you with a stick as though you were a Manticore if you aren't careful, so drink responsibly!

Amulets and Ale Rating:

Discuss this review and more on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AmuletsAndAle!

Resin - Sixpoint Brewery

    Resin is an American Double India Pale Ale (also called an American Imperial IPA) created by Sixpoint Brewery which is located in Brooklyn, New York. Resin was created to celebrate the resinous character of the hops flower and to showcase the hops bitterness and range of flavors in their purest form, yet still in a way that is balanced and easy to drink. 

    Resin pours a hazy, light orange color with a two-finger, off-white head. The head shows great retention as well as lacing.

    The Double IPA smells unsurprisingly hoppy. Citrus fruits and a floral fragrance are present, as well as the piney scent that comes from resin. The malt character of the beer can only slightly be smelled. There is a slight bit of an ethanol scent to the beer as well.

    Resin is medium bodied with a medium carbonation level. The beer has an oily, almost sticky mouthfeel to it. The carbonation does an amazing job of really presenting the scent and flavors of the ale to the palate. This has to be one of the smoothest Double IPAs that I have ever tasted. There is a nice alcohol warmth to the ale, which at 9.1% ABV, is not surprising. The ease of drinking, however, is extremely surprising, and somewhat dangerous with such a high alcohol content.

Beerzilla attacking Brooklyn aided by hops-baloons.

    Resin is definitely a hops-forward beer, though it is not nearly as overpowering as other high IBU (International Bitterness Units) ales. There is a very nice caramel malt background to the hops flavors on showcase. Citrus hops flavor is much more prevalent in the beer's taste than floral notes, differing from the beer's aroma as both seemed equally present in the scent. Piney resin flavor is definitely the big hitter in the beer. I suppose that's no surprise though, as it's what the beer is named after.

    Hops are extremely important to beer, and have been for hundreds of years. In modern times, hops have become more of a flavoring agent, whereas in the times of nautical journeys which would sometimes last months on end, hops were a lifesaver. The hops plant has natural, anti-biotic properties which were discovered to keep bacteria from growing in sailors' beer supplies. In earlier times, beer contained a much lower alcohol content and was basically a way for humans to store water without worry of parasitic or bacterial invasion. India Pale Ales are so named due to the extremely long voyage between Great Britain and India. After colonizing India, the British found that their beer supplies, even with the alcohol in them, would spoil before reaching their soldiers stationed in India. Extra hops were then added to the beer to help keep it safe throughout the long voyage, hence the extra-hoppy India Pale Ale style of beers.

    In recent years, the American craft brewing movement has begun using hops as a flavoring ingredient. New strains and combinations of the plant have lead to new, and extremely enjoyable, beers. Sixpoint Brewery created Resin in honor of the hops plant's history, and have released this interesting video explaining their thinking on the subject.

   It's no secret that I, too, am a hophead. I really like that Sixpoint released this beer in honor of my favorite brewing ingredient. I find Resin to be a great example of an Imperial IPA, and a great beer overall. While the beer does have a rather high (103 IBU) bitterness rating, I would still recommend that even non-hopheads give the ale a try due to its amazing balance and presentation of hops flavors!

Amulets and Ale Rating:

Discuss this review and more on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AmuletsAndAle!

Hopslam Ale - Bell's Brewing, Inc.

    Hopslam Ale is an American Double IPA created by Bell's Brewery, Inc. which is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This special brew is released only once a year and in quite limited quantities. The ale also has the special honor of being my second favorite beer that I have ever tried. Every year in January I start searching the internet to see if Bell's has announced release dates for that year's batch of Hopslam. Once I find the release date, I anxiously await the two to three weeks that Hopslam will be on shelves. When the time finally comes, I book it into stores in order to claim my one six-pack-per-visit limit and rush back home with my prize like a squirrel with a nut.

    Hopslam pours a golden-orange color with an off-white foamy head.

    Upon first opening the bottle, an aroma of citrus fruits (mainly grapefruit) and what can only be described as a flowery scent burst outwards from under the cap. Upon pouring, the slight sweet scent of honey can be detected.

    Bell's Hopslam Ale is medium bodied and features a light carbonation level which causes the beer to feel extremely smooth. There is a pleasant warmth to the beer which causes the mouth to tingle nicely. At 10% ABV, this warmth is not at all surprising.

    Just as you might expect from its name, Hopslam is packed full of hops flavor. A bitter piney flavor starts out the ale's bouquet with a very nice grapefruit flavor following. One would expect an ale that is so full of hops to be overly bitter, but such is not the case with Hopslam. A great malt backbone works to edge out this bitterness allowing the pleasant flowery flavors to come through without the unpleasant bitter flavors. The sweet, smooth flavor of honey holds up the back end of the bouquet leaving a pleasant sweetness as an aftertaste.

Looks like someone wasn't aware of the one six-pack limit, so I stocked up! Lucky me!

    There is a large amount of hype surrounding Hopslam lately as the seasonal release has become quite popular since its release in 2004. As such, the beer can be quite hard to come across unless you plan ahead and look for release dates online. When I first tasted Hopslam, I was able to purchase a pitcher of the ale for normal price. In the years since, having Hopslam on tap has been reduced to an expensive half-pint that leaves you only wanting more. Interestingly, the first time I ever tasted the ale was in a period of time that I very much disliked strong, hoppy beers. The amazing balance presented by Hopslam just blew me away even though I knew little about beer or what different styles of ale could offer. It wasn't until a couple of years later when I found hopslam by chance at a local store and decided to give it another try that the ale was cemented as my favorite beer.

    Whether or not the hype surrounding Bell's Hopslam is warranted, it remains my second favorite brew even after trying many, many others. To this day, I am still amazed by the balance struck between the hops' bitterness and the honey and malts sweetness. The high alcohol content makes this beer a definite sipper, though it also lends an incredibly pleasant warmth to the ale. This is definitely a beer worth tracking down!

Amulets and Ale rating:

Rye'da Tiger - Three Floyds Brewing Co.

    Rye'da Tiger is a Double Rye India Pale Ale created by Three Floyds Brewing Co. in Munster, Indiana. I picked up this 22oz. bomber on a special birthday visit to the 3Floyds Brewpub. The menu at the brewpub explains that this new December release is dedicated to the late Ronnie James Dio. The beer's name likely refers to a phrase in the song Holy Diver.

    The beer pours a  hazy amber color with a tall white head. It smells slightly malty with a strong presence of citrusy hops. As expected, there is a faint, peppery rye scent to the beer as well.

    The ale is medium bodied and smooth with a moderate level of carbonation.

Rye'da Tiger pours like a rainbow in the dark.

    Rye'da Tiger's ABV is not listed online, nor is it listed on the bottle. If I had to chance a guess based on flavor and style however, I'd say that the ABV is likely around 7.5-8%. Surprisingly, the higher than normal ABV is not noticeable in the beer's flavor. As for the beer's flavor, sweet caramel malts and citrus fruits prevail with a tiny hint of the rye's spiciness at the end. I find Double IPAs to be sweeter than their single batch counterparts, and this one is no different.

    I have heard rumors that Rye'da Tiger is actually a double batch of Rye'da Lightning, a Rye Beer created by Three Floyds for Record Store Day 2012. I have not tried that limited release beer though, so I'm not sure how credible the rumor may be. Either way, I love the two beers' names. I'm hoping that Three Floyds's next creation will be Rye'da Dragon or Mead'a Dragon, but then maybe that's because I've been playing too much Skyrim.

    Overall, Rye'da Tiger features lots of great hop flavor while balancing the bitterness with its sweet malt backbone. I have found that Three Floyds Brewing Co. tends to balance their beers well in this manner, with a few exceptions. I expected there to be more rye flavor in the ale than was present however. This Double Rye IPA is definitely a decent ale, but may not be the best representation of a rye beer.

Amulets and Ale Rating: