RyansBooze

Brooklyn Brewery Pennant Ale ’55 English Pale Ale at 5% ABV

Pours a clear medium copper with a short head diminishing rapidly to nothing, no lacing. Nose is caramel and biscuity malt, very faint hops, yeast. Taste is similar. Medium body, with low persistent carbonation and a mildly bitter finish.

A decent enough English Pale – nothing to distinguish it, but nothing offensive, either. I don’t regret trying it, but moving the remaining five out of my cellar might be a challenge.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Double Jack American DIPA at 9.5% ABV

Pours a clear amber gold with two fingers of fluffy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and limited spotty lacing. Nose is tropical fruits, piney hop resin, and sharp citrus. Taste is mango and papaya, pine and citrus, perfectly balanced with medium malt. Medium to heavy and chewy on the palate, with a lingering resiny bitterness.

Really, really good. Nose and taste are pretty much bang-on dead nuts perfect examples of the style, with neither hops nor malt overwhelming the palate or distracting from the other. My (very minor) objections are aesthetic: I’d’ve liked better retention in the head, more lacing, and more sustained carbonation to lighten the mouth feel.

9.5/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Stochasticity Project Grapefruit Slam IPA American DIPA at 8.2% ABV

Pours a slightly cloudy golden amber with three fingers of loose frothy white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and spotty lacing. Nose is strongly citrus, grapefruit and piney hops, slight green apple and faint caramel malt. Taste is intensely bitter, huge IBU’s – gotta be, what, a hundred plus? – with a distinct grapefruit peel astringency and yet a subtle malt sweetness. Medium body, with mild carbonation and a dry, bitter finish.

Helluva beer. Hops first, and the grapefruit really supports without overwhelming, with just enough malt to provide balance – my kind of beer. Some minor aesthetic quibbles regarding carbonation aside, there’s not much I’d change.

9.5/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale American Black IPA at 8.7% ABV

Pours a deep cola red with two fingers of persistent tan head, heavy lacing. Nose is piney and earthy hops with a hint of citrus, dark roasty malt, coffee and chocolate. Taste starts out with sweet malt but is quickly overtaken by astringent dry bitterness. Medium bodied and creamy, with a lingering bitter finish and gentle warming.

Wow – big and bombastic, sublimely self-righteous, indeed. Take all the best characteristics of stout and IPA, and combine. No caramel malt here, it’s all dark and roasty goodness. I don’t care if it makes me look like an amateur with the RateBeer crowd, I don’t see there’s any possible way to improve on this, and so don’t see how I can give this anything less than a perfect score.

10/10 #ryansbooze

Wychwood Brewery Company Ltd Dr. Thirsty’s No. 4 Blonde American Blond Ale at 4.1% ABV

Pours a clear straw gold with a fat finger of loose, soapy head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, minimal lacing. Nose is pale malt, yeast, hint of fruit, suggestion of adjuncts. Taste is similar, biscuit malt and weak hops, bitter finish. Body is light and watery, with moderate to low carbonation.

Boring, weak, watery, and bitter. Very little of the promised fruit, and nothing to recommend it. An awful lot like a cheap adjunct lager.

4/10 #ryansbooze

Stone Brewing Co. Enjoy By 07.04.14 IPA American DIPA at 9.4% ABV

Pours a clear golden amber with one finger of white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim and spotty lacing. Nose is huge pine resin hops and not much else. Taste is extremely mild, very little bitterness, and a sweet caramel malt base that isn’t apparent in the nose. Medium body and decent sustained carbonation, with an off-dry lingering bitter finish and a gentle warming.

This is the most mellow Enjoy By I’ve tried to date – which, let’s face it, is not necessarily what one looks for in a DIPA. As an aside, the hop profile is utterly dominated by pine resin, with no herbal or floral aspects – which is neither here nor there, but could be subject to personal preference. And it is one seriously sneaky brew: the large ABV is completely hidden by the softness of the flavour. This is a beer that pretends to be all sweetness and light, right up until it sucker punches you and rummages through your pockets for spare hops.

#ryansbooze 9/10

Rockbottom Bar & Brewery Deadwood Wheat Weizen at 5.0% ABV

(Tasting flight) Pours a cloudy straw with minimal head and spotty lacing. Nose is yeasty wheat, slight fruit. Taste is citrusy, with a little bubblegum and clove. Light bodied with a mildly bitter finish.

7/10 #ryansbooze

Evil Twin Brewing Evil Twin Yin Imperial Taiji Stout Double/Imperial Stout at 10% ABV

Pours a true solid black without a hint of colour, with a short mocha head diminishing to a thin skim and no lacing. Nose is deep roast malts, hint of smoke, coffee, very slight booziness. Taste leads out with roast malt and faint chocolate, giving way to booze-soaked dark fruit. Medium to heavy body, slick and smooth, with low persistent carbonation and a lingering boozy finish.

Quite nice. A very well-behaved Imperial, not too boozy but enough that there’s no doubt about what you’re drinking. Almost like a rum-soaked dark fruitcake and definitely a great beer for a cold winter night.

And if you’re thinking about commenting on the glass? Don’t. There’s a method to my madness – stay with me.

8.5/10 #ryansbooze

Evil Twin Brewing Evil Twin Yang Imperial Taiji India Pale Ale Imperial/DoubleIPA at 10% ABV

Pours a slightly cloudy copper with a creamy one finger head with good retention and moderate spotty lacing. Nose is sweet malt, tropical fruit and piney hops. Taste leads out moderately to strongly sweet leading to moderate bitter, finishing with nicely balanced bitter and sweet. Medium bodied and slightly creamy, with moderate sustained carbonation and a slight warming.

A little more malty than I prefer my DIPAs, but a solid performer regardless. A nice balance of malt and hops on the finish makes up to some extent for the malt forward nose. Not world-class, perhaps, but definitely very good.

Oh, look, there’s that wrong glass again. You see where I’m going with this, right?

8.5/10 #ryansbooze