Big Daddy IPA - Speakeasy Ales & Lagers

    Big Daddy IPA is an India Pale Ale created by Speakeasy Ales & lagers which is located in San Francisco, California. I received this beer as part of my second shipment of my craft beer club.

    Big Daddy pours a bright copper color with a finger of off-white head which sticks around for a while and leaves a small amount of lacing.

    The IPA's aroma is mainly made up of malt sweetness with small bits of citrus and grassy/herbal notes.

    Big Daddy IPA is medium bodied with a mid-level of carbonation. The IPA has a bit of an oily mouthfeel, though it finishes dry.

Big Daddy's gon' kick you and take your money!

    The ale features great hop flavors that can be likened to citrus fruits such as grapefruit and lemon. A nice subtle malt sweetness balances out the ale keeping the bitterness from becoming overpowering. With an alcohol content of 6.5% ABV, Big Daddy actually has a slight warmth to it, though the ale has no harsh alcohol flavor whatsoever.

    To be quite honest, I'm a little bit afraid of this beer's mafia undertones. Even the bottle describes the beer as:

"No lightweight, Big Daddy I.P.A tips the scales with a huge hop flavor and a clean, dry finish that leaves the scene without a trace."

I find myself a bit scared that the beer is going to beat me up and take my stuff. Either that or provide me with a pair of concrete shoes and take me swimming. I'm almost afraid to enjoy the beer, as if that would be entering into a contract with Big Daddy (he made me a beer I couldn't refuse?) that would end in me needing to kill someone for him.

     Scary mafia references aside, Big Daddy IPA is a very well balanced and enjoyable India Pale Ale. I find the citrus and herbal flavors to be quite nice and somewhat reminiscent of tea, strangely enough. I could see drinking a few of these on a hot summer day, mafia or no mafia.

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Blues' Golden Ale - 16 Mile Brewing Company

    Blues' Golden Ale is an American Blonde Ale crafted by 16 Mile Brewing Company which is located in Georgetown, Delaware. I received this beer as part of my second shipment of my craft brew club. According to the bottle, Blues' Golden Ale is named after the Delaware Blues, a military unit which fought in early every battle during the Revolutionary War.

    Living up to its name, Blues' pours a nice gold color with great transparency. There is barely any head to the beer and the bubbles fade quickly. A very pretty pour even without any head to speak of.

    There is barely any scent to the beer. What little can be smelled are sweet notes as well as a somewhat grassy scent. I'm actually disappointed in the lack of  a scent to the ale.

    Blues' Golden Ale is light bodied with a medium level of carbonation which seems to quickly fade away leaving the beer somewhat flat.

A true American Blonde Ale hero.

   The Blonde Ale's flavor is quite light and sweet. There is a grainy flavor to the ale which tastes almost bisquity. There is a sweet fruit flavor to the ale as well that is reminiscent of white grapes. Very little bitterness can be perceived in the ale's flavor, and at 5.9% ABV there is no alcohol presence.

    At this time, I'd like to voice an obvious concern I have about a beer soldier. Honestly I'm surprised we won the war with a soldier that fought in nearly every battle having a blood alcohol content of 5.8%. I'm surprised that the ale was able to get up and fight, let alone point his gun in the right direction. Those Red Coats must have been plastered as well. I mean, it would take like, what, a single tap on his glass exterior to kill Mr. Blonde Ale here? I suppose it could be beneficial to the fledgling United States if the English should kill Mr. Blonde Ale and drink of his alcoholic blood, reducing their effectiveness as well. I'm probably thinking too far into this.

    Blue's Golden Ale is an extremely light ale that I can see being good paired with seafood or other lightly flavored foods. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend the purely for drinking. The light flavors just don't make the beer special enough to warrant drinking when there are so many better ales in the style out there.

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McSorley's Irish Black Lager - Pabst Brewing Company

    McSorley's Irish Black Lager is, unsurprisingly, a Black Lager which is apparently created by the Pabst Brewing Company located in Woodridge, Illinois. I use the word "apparently" because the bottle tells me that it is made by McSorley's Brewery in Utica, New York, while everything else I can find about the beer online tells me that Pabst makes the beer. Also, another fun fact, I have no idea where this beer came from. I found it at the back of my refrigerator and I honestly don't remember ever buying it. How mysterious! (Yeah I know, I'm kind of wondering if it's safe to drink this as well. Ohwell, the bottle was sealed!)

    McSorley's pours a dark coffee color with a nice khaki head. The bubbles seem to dissipate quickly though, unlike those found in Irish Stouts.

     The Black Lager smells very sweet with chocolate and caramel roasted malts. There is also the faintest scent of dark fruits in the aroma.

    McSorley's Irish Black Lager is actually quite light bodied. The beer has a mid-high level of carbonation that comes off as kind of harsh against the thin body. I would definitely prefer the body be a bit thicker to stand up against the carbonation.

Can beer get much more Irish?

    The Lager's flavor is mostly sweet and roasty. Flavors of molasses and slight caramel hit first followed by a slight bitterness from the hops. There is actually a sourness to the beer for some reason which I find unpleasant. The beer finishes dry with an aftertaste that isn't too overbearing and fades quickly. The beer's alcohol content comes in at 5.5% ABV, a pretty standard level for beers at which no flavor nor warmth can be perceived.

    It's a little known fact that old Mr. McSorley was a fine connoisseur of literature as well as watercolors. They say that he would often sit in his pub reading and painting scenes from the book at the same time. People would marvel at his great works of art while enjoying a pint in his ale house. Yeah, I'm totally just making this up. From what I can find online, Mr. McSorley was quite a woman-hating grump.  The bottle states that it took 116 years and a court order for the McSorley Ale House to allow women inside its doors. Maybe the sourness that I taste in the beer is actually Mr. McSorley's bitterness making its way into the beer with his name on it. From now on I think I'll just call him Mr. McSourly, or Mr. McSorely.

    Overall the flavors in McSorley's Irish Black Lager are pretty spot-on for a beer of this style, if a bit milder than I would like. The sourness in the ale definitely detracts from it's desirability as a session beer. In the end, McSorley's is just another beer that suffers the "good, but nothing special" problem.

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Sofie - Goose Island Beer Co.

    Sofie is a Saison (also known as a Farm House Ale) created by Goose Island Beer Co. which is located in Chicago, Illinois. I recently had the beer on tap at a local bar and loved it, so when I saw this bottle on a random trip to the liquor store I had to pick it up.

    The Saison pours a pale yellow color with a bubbly froth on top. There is a definite effervescence in the beer, the bubbles give the beer an appearance similar to champagne.

    Belgian yeast is prominent in the ale's scent as is the aroma of citrus peel. The smell is extremely bright and interesting with a tiny bit of spice backing the lemony aroma.

   Sofie is light bodied with a huge level of carbonation. Long after pouring, bubbles continue to dance around inside of the glass. The ale is very crisp and pleasantly tart. With an alcohol content of 6.5% ABV, Sofie has little in the way of alcohol flavor nor warmth.

Bubbly and sweet, I've never wanted to date a beer so much before!

     Goose Island's Saison has many light flavors which work together to create an invigorating bouquet. Fruit flavors such as lemon and pear mingle with the fruity tasting Belgian yeast to create an interesting sweetness. There is very little bitterness in the ale, and what bitterness there is comes off as the tartness of citrus fruits. As the ale warms up, flavors of wheat and a flavor almost like that of wine begin to come through.

    When I first tasted this beer I remarked to my friends that I thought it tasted like a pretty girl. No, I wasn't admitting to cannibalism. I was merely trying to express what the Saison's aroma and flavor conjured in my mind. The citrusy effervescence and wonderful aroma bring to mind the flowery perfume of a beautiful girl in the springtime. Perhaps this mental image was shared by the beer masters at Goose Island Beer Co., explaining why the ale received a girl's name.

    I was incredibly surprised that I liked this beer as I do not normally care for the flavor that Belgian yeasts lend to beers. I took a chance in trying the ale and I am extremely glad that I did. The crisp flavors and high level of carbonation really make this Saison seem like a true champagne of beers.

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Smitten Golden Rye Ale - Bell's Brewery, Inc.

    Smitten Golden Rye Ale is a take on the American Pale Ale created by Bell's Brewery, Inc which is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

    The Pale Ale pours a hazy golden color with a decent amount of sediment floating throughout the glass. A nice inch or so of foamy head tops the beer and leaves a decent amount of lacing on the glass as it fades.

    The ale has a very malty smell with some slight spicy notes from the rye. A strong, flowery hops smell is present at pouring, but quickly gives way to the earthier malt scents.

     Smitten is medium-light bodied with a crisp amount of carbonation which keeps the beer tasting fresh. Luckily the sediment is not noticeable.

Will you be smitten with Smitten?

    The APA is considerably less hoppy than the scent might lead one to believe. While there is definitely a presence of citrusy hops and their resiny oils, the malts are definitely more noticeable in the ale's flavor. The earthiness of the malts together with the light hops flavor creates an almost lemon-grass like flavor which is quite refreshing. A very slight rye spiciness can be tasted, though just barely. The malts have an almost bready quality to them which help to balance out the hops and rye flavors. The ale leaves a slight oily bitterness in the mouth which is somewhat unpleasant. Even with the higher alcohol content of 6% ABV, Smitten presents no alcohol flavor nor warmth.

    Smitten Golden Rye Ale definitely has a floweriness about it. From the "he loves me, he loves me not" label to the hoppy aroma released by popping open the bottle. Personally, when it comes to gifts, I'd much rather receive a beer bouquet than flowers. I wouldn't recommend playing the loves me, loves me not game with a six-pack though or it might end up something like "she lovvesh meh naht."

    Overall Smitten Golden Rye Ale is a very decent tasting beer. The rye flavors are a bit milder than I would expect with rye in the name of the ale, but the overall earthiness and hops balance is quite nice in the ale. The aftertaste and oily mouthfeel can be somewhat off putting, but this APA is definitely a refreshing choice.

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