Dogfish Head Aprihop

Dogfish Head holds a special place in my heart. If I had to pick the one brewery that sparked my interest in craft beer it was them. The Eastern Shore of Maryland didn't have any micro breweries when I was growing up. The closest one in Maryland was a three hour drive to Baltimore. So instead we turned to our neighbors of Delaware to get our craft fix in from Milton. 


The first craft beer that I tried was Dogfish Heads "Raison D'Etre"with my buddies Jon, Dennis and Rachael. We were sitting in the garage of his parents house playing Cheers to the Governor while splitting a sixer. Maybe it wasn't the best choice to start of with a Belgian Strong Dark Ale as our first craft beer.

Today we will be reviewing something a little lighter. Dogfish Head once a year, around spring time releases Aprihop. A sure sign that warmer weather is around the corner. They refer to this brew as "our fruit beer for hopheads" so I'm pretty excited to try it.

A: Comes out of the bottle a deep amber color. With a semi aggressive pour you get a solid 2 inches of frothy white head that dissipates rather slowly, leaving a nice lacing around the glass. It appears to be fairly clean and clear.

S: Big notes of sweet malt up front. You can definitely smell the apricot in the background, present but not dominate. The hops are in there as well, giving off notes of citrusy grapefruit and tangerine. 

T: Sweet malty flavors roll off the tongue that are followed by a slight hop bite. Like the smell, the apricot is definitely present but not dominate. The combination of apricot and sweet malts gives this beer a fruity characteristic. Its difficult to isolate one flavor over another. Everything blends together nicely making this beer very drinkable.

M: A medium bodied beer that has moderate carbonation. The sweet malt gives this beer a silky sweet mouthfeel. On the backend the hops remain present as a reminder, that it is in fact an IPA. 

O: Once again Dogfish Head takes its "Off Centered" approach and comes out with a unique but extraordinary brew. This isn't a kick in the pants in any category, not overwhelmingly sweet, hoppy, or fruity. Its a well balanced beer that explores a new approach to the American IPA. 

Drink Locally, Enjoy Everywhere! Cheers!

-Taylor

The famous Bell's Hopslam Ale

First off I would like to introduce myself being that this is my first post.  My name is Dunn.  I grew up on Long Island, NY and am currently living in one of the major beer capitals in America in Grand Rapids, MI.  I love the craft community and trying all and any kinds, especially West Michigan crafts.  I'm really excited for this site and to see where it takes all of us in our experimenting of different crafts from all over the country.  My excitement for craft beers started when Joe and I found an amazing liquor store; (D Schuler's fine wine and Spirit's) definitely check it out if you are in the West Michigan area.  They have a great selection of wine, liquor, but most importantly craft beers from all around the country.  Anyway, Joe and I would often visit and each make our own six packs to try new beers, thus my love began.

The beer I'm reviewing today is Bell's Hopslam Ale.  I'm a huge fan of hops and had never had the pleasure of this beer until this year.  I had read reviews about it and how amazing it was, and fortunately I'm in an area where it's not all that difficult to find.  Although it is highly sought after and disappears from shelves quickly, I managed to get my hands on a couple sixes.  I also tried it on tap at a local restaurant.  Although Bell's is within an hour drive of the more popular Founders, they still produce some excellent beers that happen to be some of my favorites.  Let's jump into this fantastic beer shall we...

Bell's Hopslam Ale
ABV: 10%
IBU: 70
Double IPA

A: It pours a light copper color with some haze to it.  I slow poured it into my mug and there wasn't much of the foamy white head; I'm sure there would have been more with a more aggressive pour.

S: It has a fantastic smell to it.  One of the greatest I have encountered for this style of beer.  A blast of hops, honey, and citrus hit you all at once.  There are other fruit smells that hit you (pineapple, grapefruit, etc.), but the hops, honey, and citrus are definitely what hit you the most.

T: Where to begin!?  Hops, hops, hops!  It's quite an interesting beer in the sense that the hops really bite and are apparent in every sip, but at the same time this is not the most bitter IPA I have had.  I excpected more bitterness out of it.  I didn't see the 70 IBUs before trying this out, which is the same as one of my favorites (Founders Reds Rye).  The bitterness is definitely on par with Reds Rye.  The first notes are citrus and hops mixed with light bitterness and then the finish is where the hops bite you with the honey finish.

M: A very smooth beer for a DIPA and for being 10%.  There is medium carbonation to Hopslam with a medium body.  Again very light for an IPA, but still probably quite strong for a non-IPA drinker.  Steer clear domestic fans!

D: I'm all about the hops, and this beer quickly moved into my top 5 favorites overall.  To give you an idea of how good this beer is, I received a six pack for my birthday a few weeks ago and I swore I would just have one and enjoy the rest at a later date.  At the end of the night they were all gone, I couldn't keep from drinking them.  This isn't one of those beers where you can only have one.  Enjoy multiple and enjoy responsibly!  If you like IPA's and a smooth but hoppy taste, then look no further.  You will not be disappointed with this beer at all.  You may have to take a trip to West Michigan to try it out though.

Happy reading and tasting!
Feel free to follow me on instagram @Craftadventures

Dunn

Stone  Enjoy By 04.01.13

I just want to start off by saying thank you to Joe and Dunn for inviting me to be a part of this blog. I am very excited to be able to share my East Coast experience of craft beer, and at the same time gain some insight on Midwest and West Coast styles and perspectives. 

My name is Taylor, I currently reside in Beverly, MA (about a half an hour north of Boston). I count myself blessed to be in what I consider a hot spot for craft beer. Now, if someone mentions Boston beer, the immediate association is Samuel Adams. Look, I'm not going to discredit the largest craft brewery in America because I believe they put some great beers, but there is much more to the New England craft scene and I hope I get the chance to share that with you.

But today we are going to the West Coast to try the hot- off- the- press Enjoy By 04.01.13, a DIPA from Stone Brewery based out of Escondido, California. I love the premies of this beer- while many beer fanatics that acquire rare beers want to save them and age them, Stone purposely brewed this beer NOT to last. Freshness being the main ingredient. This beer was bottled on February 22, 2013, SIX DAYS OLD!

I have been waiting and waiting for this beer to hit the shelves. It doesn't always come to Massachusetts but when it does, its gone in a couple hours. So naturally, when I heard that my favorite craft outlet had gotten a shipment today, I packed up my things and left work early. 

A: It pours a crystal clear golden color. Its very crisp looking. Even with an aggressive pour you're left with about an inch of snow white head. The retention on the head is moderate, leaving a slight lacing around the glass as you drink.

S: Big notes of citrus come to the forefront; grapefruit and orange mixed with hints of tropical pineapple and mango. There is a very nice floral undertone that gives it a piney sweet scent. 

T: Again the grapefruit is the first thing to hit the senses. The hops provide a huge wave of tropical flavors that immediately stimulate and destroy the palate. Its quickly followed by a delicious sweet piney characteristic from the malt and then shortly gives way to a fantastic bitter finish. This beer has amazing layers that compliment each other perfectly. The freshness is absolutely present in the taste, you almost get earthy notes on the backend as if the hops where picked and thrown directly into the barrels. 

M: Unbelievably smooth for 9.4% ABV. Its light and crisp on the tongue but leaves your mouth with a very nice foam like coating. The bitterness lingers on the back end as a reminder to keep drinking. Very nicely carbonated. 

O: I'm a hophead and this one really impressed me. Everything that you want in DIPA, big hop notes that wreck the palate with waves upon waves of tropical citrus flavor. If your looking for a balanced beer....look elsewhere. This one is for those in the pursuit of hoppiness!

Feel free to follow me on Instagram @BEERSOFTHECRAFT

Cheers!

Buffalo Bill's "Alimony Ale"

I hope you guys are excited as I am to get this blog up and going. It's something that Dunn and I have talked about in the past but it wasn't until just recently that we started to really take a genuine interest in it. I hope this blog will be informal, fun and informative. 

Just as an "intro" to those who don't know me...

My name is Joe Pedersen and I currently live in Grants Pass, Or (southern Oregon near the California boarder) where I am a youth pastor at a small church. My love for craft beers started about a year ago when I was living in Grand Rapids, MI. Dunn and I found an awesome liquor store that sold individual bottles of tons of different crafts from around the country. It started as a "trial and error" type of tasting but the more we tasted and learned the more I started to appreciate the art and "craft" of microbrew/craft beers. Lately I have been on a Imperial IPA fix...so many of my post may be about IPA's APA's and all the different variations within that realm. 

My beer and coffee Instagram account is "Westcoastcraftandcoffee"

I'd love to hear where the rest of you guys are coming from as well...

I recently bought a six of Buffalo Bill's "Alimony Ale". I'm not sure what drew me to this beer other than I was looking for a new American IPA to try. Buffalo Bill's is mainly out of California, so they are not too big in my area. I have had another one of their beers before, but in MI...Dunn you might remember this one...it was their Blueberry Oatmeal Stout. I remember thoroughly enjoying that beer, as weird of a combination as blueberry and oatmeal sound. So I figured Alimony Ale was worth a shot.

• It poured a beautiful carmel copper color with little to no head, which was a little disheartening. I may have had a bad pour as well, but none the less the experience wasn't off to a great start. 
• It had a sweet, maybe carmel, taste in the front with an interesting citrus/veggie taste to go with that beginning. (reminded me a bit of a east coast Magic Hat #9 to begin with)
• As I finished, I really noticed the carmel/malt in the body. The interesting citrus taste dissipated and it seemed to have a burnt finish...hard to explain.  
• It was not what I was expecting from a west coast style American IPA. It had a fuller body with the carmel and "burnt" notes than a "normal" beer in this category. 
• Overall, I would not recommend this beer. I'm definitely not going to be buying another six. It's worth a try if you want to drink something a little different but I wouldn't say it's six pack worthy. 

If you've had this beer before I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Looking forward to reading what you guys are trying these days!

- Joe