Brewery: Bell's Brewery, Inc.
Where: Comstock, Michigan
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
IBU: Off the Scale
ABV: 10%

Today's sampling is going to include a personal tirade about the state of craft/micro beers in America, but first, let's talk about this beer...

Bell's Hop Slam Ale is an American Double / Imperial IPA style of beer, which means two things.  First, its stuff full of hops for bitterness and aroma, and second, it's got a lot of alcohol.  At 10% ABV, you can consider a 12-ounce bottle to have a full 1.2 ounces of alcohol.  That doesn't sound like a lot, but when you consider a shot of whiskey is 1.5 ounces, and that most whiskey is 80 proof, drinking a 10% ABV beer is like having just over two shots of your favorite liquor as far as alcohol content is concerned.  It's not a beer to be consumed in large quantities. 

This beer poured with the standard golden color and foamy head of a good IPA.  The hop aroma is immediately present, without a doubt.  This beer is also quite bitter, but it does have a fairly decent malt presence.  As this beer warms up, the maltiness comes forward with a little more power, but the bitterness hangs on to the very end.  As far as I'm concerned, you won't find a beer any hoppier than this one.  Your hardcore beer enthusiasts will start to discuss a beer called "Pliny the Elder" in comparison, but it is a rather different beer than this one.  It does not have as much of a malt backbone as the Hop Slam does, but it may be just a bit more drinkable in the long run...

Now, for my personal rant...

I am finding myself in a minority when it comes to the current state of affairs with American beers.  Being in a taste minority in the world of beer really sucks sometimes.  I'm jealous because a lot of the great craft brewers in the US are spending their time and efforts developing beers much like Bell's Hop Slam.  These beers are all higher gravity (more alcohol) and high hops (more bitterness).  For a person with my personal tastes in beer, this is a travesty.  I'm a bigger fan of the maltier (sweeter) beers where there is a nice balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness.  I even like the sweeter beers where the hop presence is relatively minimal.  I don't dislike the hop bombs with a ton of alcohol, but I'd usually choose a different beer when choices are available to me.  Even thought I'm not personally happy with the current trends in the craft beer market in the US, I am VERY pleased that these beers are available and becoming more popular and easy to find on the store shelves.  What this means to fans of craft beers is that our favorite brewers and beers are gaining a market share in a world that is still dominated by the yellow fizzy beers of the Bud/Miller/Coors manufacturing titans.  It wasn't that long ago that a trip to any grocery or convenient store in North Carolina would yield exactly zero options for anything other than cheap yellow fizzy beer.  It's getting a lot easier to find beers I love locally...

Until next time...

Brewery: Rogue Ales
Where: Newport, OR
Style: American IPA
IBU: 70 IBU
ABV: 6.2%

Once again, we trek back into the world of one of my favorite American breweries, Rogue Ales.  I simply don't know what it is about Rogue, but everything I have tried from these guys is simply excellent beer.  Today's sampling is the Yellow Snow IPA. 

This beer pours with the rich golden color that is characteristic of the IPA style along with a thick foamy head that slaps you in the face with the citrusy aroma of the Amarillo and Revolution hops that went into this brewing process.  One of the differentiating characteristics of this beer seems to come from the grain bill.  This beer is made from Cara Foam, Melanoiden, Rogue Micro Barley Farm Dare and Risk malts, the last two being unique to Rogue.  The beer has a very nice medium body with a huge malt presence that is followed quickly by an extraordinary hop punch at 70 IBU.  From the website:

Yellow Snow IPA was originally introduced for the 2000 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Yellow Snow is Rogue’s
tribute to winter sports everywhere—downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross
country, ice hockey, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and even curling.

It will be available November 1st in select states where mountains and snow can be found.

At 6.2% alcohol by volume coupled with the nice hop punch, you might consider this beer to be a great winter warmer... give it a shot!

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Where: Chico, CA
Style: American IPA
IBU: 65
ABV: 6.8%

Thanksgiving Day... I nice day to take a ride with Sierra Nevada's Celebration Fresh Hop Ale...  I picked up a big 24-oz bomber of this brew in a local grocery store cooler the other day and decided to chill it for today's tasting run.  Speaking of... I have too much beer sitting around here.  I have 65 different bottles of beer that need to be sampled and logged in this blog.  I have been through a spell of buying beer when I see it and not drinking any of it, so I hope to have a daily tasting for the next two months or so in order to clear the shelves.  I have quite a few really nice beers along with some more run-of-the-mill samples to work through...

This Celebration Ale is a nice big fat American IPA that just bowled me over with hop aroma when I poured from the bottle.  The hops in this recipe include Chinook for bittering and the lovely combination of Cascade and Centennial for flavor and aroma.  This hop trilogy is a true staple of the American ales, especially those from the west coast.  The grain bill consists of "two-row pale and English caramel" malts which is also a rather standard 'generic' bill for a pale ale or india pale ale, but Sierra Nevada's combination comes together for a brew that has an excellent body, flavor, aroma, and all-around 'welcome to winter' experience.  From the website:

The long, cold nights of winter are a little brighter
with Celebration^® Ale. Wonderfully robust and rich, Celebration^® Ale
is dry-hopped for a lively, intense aroma. Brewed especially for
the holidays, it is perfect for a festive gathering or for a quiet
evening at home.

Sierra Nevada, like a few of my other favorite breweries, seems to have a difficult time making a beer that I don't like.  Give this one a whirl...  Cya tomorrow!

Brewery: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Where: Milton, Deleware
Beer: 60-Minute IPA
Style: American IPA
IBU: 60
ABV: 6.0%

It's the first day of fall, and finding a beer choice to commemorate this change of seasons isn't too difficult.  A beer with a nice hop punch is as good as any, so I decided to pop open one of Dogfish Head's flagship beers. 

For those of you who might not know about the hopping process involved in making beer, here's a quick rundown... Hops are leafy flowers that are added to beer for three different purposes.  Hops are added to the boil stage of the brewing process to help balance the sweetness of the malted barley, to provide flavor, and to create a nice aroma in the beer.  Each of these aspects requires that hops be added at different stages in the boil.  Hops added early in the boil are strictly for bittering to counter the sweetness of all the sugars in the wort.  Hops added in the mid boil are for flavoring purposes.  Hops added near the end of the boil are for their aromatic properties.  Different amounts and types of hops are added in each of these stages to create unique flavor and aroma profiles in the different beers. 

In Dogfish Head's 60-minute IPA, hops are added continuously throughout the 60-minute boil process to create it's flavor and aroma profile.  In the style of an American IPA, this beer fits really well with an excellent malt flavor backed by hop bitterness and aroma.  Excellent beer overall...

Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
Where: Downingtown, PA
Beer: HopDevil India Pale Ale
Style: American IPA
IBU: N/A (Estimated 80 IBU)
ABV: 6.7%

It's Friday night, it's snowing, and my work has been cancelled for the evening.  I guess it's time to have a beer, so I popped the top on a Victory HopDevil India Pale Ale that I picked up at The World Market as part of another mixed sixer.  I haven't tried many Victory Beers, but they are definitely on my list.

The HopDevil poured with a rich amber color and a nice creamy tan head.  There is an immediate aroma of caramel malt followed by a strong floral hop character.  The beer is very hoppy in bitterness, flavor, and aroma, but the Victory website doesn't give up any real information about what gives this beer its kick.  It just speaks of American whole flower hops which could include quite a few common varieties used in this style of beer. 

When a beer has this level of hops in it, you really do need to let it warm up a little before you really begin to taste any significance of the malt backbone.  These pale ales traditionally have a rather simple malt bill consisting of a standard two-row and crystal malted barley.  This particular beer really comes alive at 55°. 

Brewery: Olde Hickory Brewery
Where: Hickory, North Carolina
Beer: Table Rock Pale Ale
Style: American IPA
IBU: 50
ABV: N/A

I really enjoy it when the guys at my local brewery bottle some of their beers.  Today's sampling is one of the original and flagship beers of this brewery.  The Table Rock Pale Ale is a nice malty pale ale with an excellent presence of cascade hops.  From the bottle:

Table Rock Pale Ale is brewed using the finest two row barley malts with a generous amount of American Cascade hops making a balanced full bodied pale ale with a lively floral aroma and taste.

The guys at the Olde Hickory Brewery have recently bottled some of this beer along with three others from their lineup.  I purchased some of each last week so stay tuned...

Thanks Steve and Jason!

Brewery: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Where: Chico, California
Beer: Torpedo Extra IPA
Style: American IPA
IBU: 70
ABV: 7.2%

Today, we are sampling a rather new offering from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  The Torpedo Extra IPA is an American IPA that is loaded down with hops.  This beer, in fact, is all about the hops.  The Torpedo makes use of Magnum, Crystal, and Citra hops to provide the bold citrus, pine, and herbal character that this beer uses to slap you across the face when you take your first sip.  The aroma of this beer alone is enough to make you want to come back for more. 

This beer poured with a pale golden color and a thick foamy head that managed to hang around for the duration of the glass.  The 7.2% ABV is very nicely masked by the malts in this beer, and even more by the aroma and powerful kick in the ass by the hops.  If you have tasted the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, this beer is sorta similar to that one, but with a lot more hop punch...  Don't wait too long to try this beer if you are a fan of the style.  You won't be disappointed!

Here we are at number 101... I haven't had time to drink for critique lately but I hope to get back to doing this 3 or 4 times a week if possible. I don't know if I mentioned it here or not, but I finally got a part time job in x-ray. So, my foot is in the door on my new career path, but it has also kept me very busy, but that schedule is easing up now, so hopefully time for beer will be forthcoming :)

Today's sample is yet another from Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan.  The Two Hearted Ale is an India Pale Ale (IPA) that rings in at 7% ABV.  This beer poured with a nice orange/gold color with a thick head and an immediate floral aroma from the hops.  IPAs are hoppy by nature, so they are heavy on the hop bite and the aroma in most cases.  This beer is a lighter bodied ale with a very crisp flavor.  The Bell's website doesn't share any detail about the ingredients used.

As far as IPAs go, I think this is a rather nice choice.  The floral hop bouquet on this beer impressed me more than most, and the crisp lighter body is also a plus for me on pale ales.  The lighter body of the beer allows the hop flavor and aroma to be a more dominating element of the style.  My past experience with Bell's beers have been good, and this is no exception...

I was in Gail's Hops and Grapes again the other day when Monica popped out from behind the counter modeling this beer like one of Bob Barker's Price is Right merchandise models ;)  I have learned to watch out for her.  She's a hop head.  So what did she have for me?  Today's selection is Sierra Nevada's 13th Release Harvest Wet Hop Ale.  Here's the blurb from the website concerning this special release:

The cornerstone of our Harvest series is the beer that started the modern-day fresh hop ale phenomenon in America, our original Harvest Ale.

Created in 1996, Harvest Ale features Cascade and Centennial hops from the Yakima Valley in Eastern Washington.  These hops are harvested and shipped as "wet" un-dried hops - the same day they are picked - to our brewery in Chico where our brewers eagerly wait to get them into the brew kettle while their oils and resins are still a their peak.

There is no doubt in my mind that Cascade and Centennial hops combine to create an excellent mix of bitterness and aroma.  It's a common combination and very worthy of its purpose.  This beer is also quite malty as well with a significant punch from the caramel malts that are combined with the two-row pale malts to conjure up this pale ale.  The body of this beer is heavier than the average pale ale, and the alcohol levels out at 6.7% ABV.  On the hop scale, this beer rings in at 60-65 IBU which defines a nice punch of hop presence as well. 

Sierra Nevada makes good beers.  In fact, they really do make excellent beers.  One of my favorite aspects of Sierra Nevada's brews, especially when it comes to these special releases, is they don't break my bank when I want to give it a try.  This 24-oz bomber rang up on Monica's register at $5.09 plus tax.