Brews and Blues Beer and Smokin’ Blues

Highland Brewing Company – Gaelic Ale

This is my first sample from Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, North Carolina. I thought it was sort of interesting to read the label on the Gaelic Ale bottle to find the following:

A deep amber colored American ale, featuring a rich malty body. Cascade and Willamette hops add a complex hop flavor and aroma. This ale is exceptionally balanced between malty sweetness and delicate hop bitterness.

IBU: 32
Alcohol Content: 5.8% ABV
Hops: Chinook, Willamette and Cascade

North Carolina definitely isn't known for its beer, but this is the second NC brewery that I have sampled recently that had some really good beer to offer. Asheville is only about 90 miles west of me, and this brewery offers tours, so I might just ride up there one Friday afternoon and have a look around. There is a brewery here in my home town of Hickory, but they do not produce a bottled beer for sale. They sell mini-kegs and full-sized kegs for taps at local restaurants, as well as their local brew pub and restaurant. I'm working on a feature for this brewery that I'll post here in the future...

Retro Red

Today, I decided to try another beer from an assorted six-pack of amber ales.  I
picked out one that I have tried before and five more that I have not. 
My first sampling was “Retro Red” from the Fort Collins Brewery
in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Anyone who boasts their beer as “The
Official Beer of Earth” deserves a try.  Ambers are my overall
favorites for any time of the year, and this one was worth the taste. 
Retro Red is made with English Crystal malts and Tettnang hops to
create smooth taste and excellent aroma. 

This is a brew that will make my to-drink list easily.  Sources for
this beer here in North Carolina might be rather week though.  I might
have to call in some favors from my friends out in Colorado :)

Bell’s Amber Ale

This Bell's Amber Ale is my last sampling from my first mixed six-pack that I purchased from the World Market. The bad news is that this six-pack is gone. The good news is that I picked up another mixed six-pack today! Bell's Amber Ale is a product of Bell's Brewery, Inc. in Comstock, Michigan.  The flavor and color of this beer are excellent, but as you can see from the photograph, my particular sampling is displaying a sediment from the bottle.  I don't know if this is normal or not, but I'm definitely not used to seeing sediments in manufactured beers.  As a home brewer, I'm used to dealing with sediments in home brewed bottled beer, so I'm aware that it's nothing harmful.  This sample does not display any flavor issues.  In fact, it's quite nice. 

From the bottle:

You hold in your hand the Flagship of the Bell's family, Amber Ale.  A unique copper ale crafted from mostly pale malts for a rich sweet flavor unlike any other.

From the website:

Our flagship beer is made from mostly pale malt with some Munich and
caramel malts. This gives it a slightly sweet flavor that is balanced
by a melange of American hops. The result is a deep copper color and
rich flavor.

This beer boasts an original gravity of 1.056 with an ABV of 5.8%.  It does have a nice crisp and refreshing taste and will make my list of stuff to buy again in the future...

Alleycat Amber Ale

Alleycat Amber Ale is a product of Lost Coast Brewery & Cafe in Eureka, California. I picked up a six-pack of this last week at Gail's Hops and Grapes to try out. This beer has a nice copper color and the head retention is rather poor overall. The beer has an excellent aroma along with a nice crisp flavor... definitely another good summertime beer with a medium body. They definitely get an A+ in the label design department... I wish all brewers spent this much effort on their labels :)  I would have also preferred a bottle without the twist-off top type so I can reuse it in my own homebrewing...

Mendocino Red Tail Ale

When I first decided that Amber Ales were going to be one of my favorite beers, I went on a search for some favorites. It didn't take me long to find Mendocino Brewing Company's Red Tail Ale. To this day, the Red Tail Ale is still one of my favorites. 

From the bottle:

Red Tail Ale, naturally brewed in the traditional style, is a full flavored amber ale.  Red Tail Ale has a lasting character created by a blend of Pale and Caramel malted barley and is balanced to a slightly dry finish with whole hops. Red Tail Ale has delighted fine ale drinkers and is legendary for it's crisp, clean flavor.

Mendocino Brewing Company has added a Red Tail Lager to their line-up as well, but I haven't been able to try that one yet.  I'm gonna have to keep my eyes peeled for this one because I haven't seen it locally.  I'm going to make another run to the World Market sometime during the next few days to pick up another assorted six-pack for sampling and maybe they will have it.  I got the Red Tail Ale there but I don't recall seeing the lager or I would have certainly grabbed it...

Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale

The Duck-Rabbit Amber Ale is another sampling from a mixed six-pack that I bought at The World Market a few weeks ago.  This beer is one of the more nicely balanced amber ales I have tried recently.  It has a wonderful malty aroma that is followed by a nice hop presence on the palate.  The color of this brew is very nice... It has a darker ring to it than some in its class...  It's on the upper level of hop bitterness that I like in an amber ale, but it's worth a second shot down the road.  This beer is brewed by The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery in Farmville, North Carolina. 

I'm thinking about ordering the stuff I need to rebuild my homebrewing kit in the next week or so... I'm looking forward to getting back into this again...