Brainerd Lakes - First Pull IPA

Tonight I stumbled upon some left over brew from my trip last week.  No, its not the Oktoberfest or Lake Maid I mentioned on Monday.  These bottles were actually ones that went unconsumed from a six pack we purchased up in Crosslake.  They were stuffed under some cheese and crackers that we stuck in a cooler which then went into our fridge during the frenzy that was unpacking and were left there until today.  The beer I speak of is First Pull IPA from Brainerd Lakes Beer.

Brainerd Lakes, best I can tell, is brand-spankin' new.  Their website is a single page that boasts the only two beers they currently produce - First Pull IPA and One-Eyed Pike.  Had I known these guys were just getting started I would have picked up both six packs!  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you see it, I am left with two bottles of First Pull for my... nay, our reviewing pleasure!

First Pull IPA is clear, almost on the verge of hazy bright orange.  The foam is an egg-shell white and lingers around as a thin layer throughout the pint.  Aromas come at you with a sweet fruitiness of peaches and light grapefruit and a subtle malt forward presence.  Not the IPA I had expected but still very pleasant none-the-less.  The flavors are nice and full.  More fruity flavors come through from the hops.  Grapefruit, orange and peach come together with a light bready and malty backdrop.  There is a bit of a hot alcohol flavor that comes through towards the end but nothing that really detracts from the overall experience.

Overall - For a small brewery in the Brainerd Lakes area I'm certainly impressed.  I think these guys have a bright hoppy and malty future ahead of them.  First Pull IPA is not the West coast hop bomb most are used to these day.  I'm guilty of it.  This IPA is, dare I say, more delicate?  Its lighter, fruitier and well balanced.  Easy to drink and refreshing on a hot summer day by the lake!  Good work guys!

Lucky Bucket - IPA

Tonight I'm going to review an IPA from Lucky Bucket Brewing based in La Vista, Nebraska.  This brewery is completely new to me, I'd never heard of them until I came across this 6-pack at the local craft shop yesterday.  They first opened up back in 2009, so they've been around for a while and I'm guessing they are just now starting to distribute here in the Twin Cities.  So, why the name Lucky Bucket?  They explain the origin of their name on the website, "In the days before kegs and bottles were available, the only way to get beer was to take a bucket to the local brewery, fill it up and lug it back home.  We admire the work it took to enjoy a great beer.  Our name pays homage to our humble beginnings, the original Lucky Bucket."

The Lucky Bucket IPA is a west-coast style IPA with 6.3% alcohol.  It has a dark, hazy orange color with an egg-white head that stays low on the glass.  The aroma is scrumptrulescently bouquetous!  Fresh citrus - grapefruits and tangerines, extremely fresh and sweet.  Oily pine mixes with a hint of alcohol and caramel malts completes the package - awesome aroma.

The taste starts off with a prickly bitterness - pine resin slams the palate, then gives way to a load of acidic citrus.  Grapefruits aren't sweet like they were in the nose, far more bitter and edgy, and contains a hint of mouth-puckering pineapple along with it.  Lemon peels and general bitterness continue to linger through to the finish.  Some buttery biscuit bread malts are present and become more pronounced as the beer warms.  Medium body with a creaminess that adds to the character of the brew.

Overall Rating:  I guess Nebraska does know how to brew some good beer....who knew?!  This is a well-balanced, very drinkable IPA.  Definitely on the bitter side, but not overwhelming.  If you can get your hands on it, this one is worth a try.  B

Alaskan Brewing - IPA

Happy Friday folks!  Don't forget, this weekend is Mother's Day weekend, so do something nice for your mums!

Tonight I'm going to be drinking Alaskan Brewing Company's IPA, a year-round offering from this Juneau, Alaska based brewery.  A cool thing to note, Alaskan Brewing is donating 1% of the proceeds from all IPA sales to promote the health and sustainability of the Pacific Ocean and it's coastlines - philanthropy always wins.  Now down to the beer-geek tidbits - this is a 6.2% brew with 55 IBUs, brewed with glacier-fed (that's right, fresh from a damn glacier!) water and a fervent mix of Northwest hops (my favorite).  They recommend this beer be paired with grilled prawns and other spicy foods.

The label on the bottle pictures a huge snowy mountain in the background...with a surfer riding a wave in the front.  Probably a symbol for this beer, bold and adventurous?   This is going into my ale glass with a small half inch of white-white foam that proves to be super sticky.  The beer is a bright golden straw color, just slightly hazy.  The aroma is fresh, greens, not necessarily pine, but almost a fresh spring scent.  Also some honey-wheat and lemon show up.

The taste starts off crisp and juicy, with a big dose of red grapefruits and musty, herbal malt sweetness.  The body is bold enough to carry the flavors, very smooth.  The hoppiness carries on, throughout the rest of the drink, but there is an omnipresent malt sweetness that reminds me of biscuits, bread, butter, but it remains only an underlying factor in the overall profile of the beer.  The finish leaves a lingering sticky resin that is really pleasant.

Overall Rating:  This was a beer that started good, and got better with each sip.  This is a beer I could recommend to beer-drinkers that may not necessarily prefer hoppy beers - it's never overly bitter, but presents the hop flavors in a calm, relaxed, smooth setting.  I'm excited to have Alaskan Brewing Company in Minnesota, these guys make great brew!

Brew Dog - Punk IPA

I've had tonights bottle lurking in my fridge for about a month now.  I don't know why its taken me this long to get around to tasting it.  The brew is one that I've wanted to try for a while but I guess I just haven't been in the mood for an IPA.  Well tonights the night.  Lets give this Punk a shot.

Brew Dog Brewing is located in Scotland.  They have made a name for themselves by brewing absolutely ridiculous beers.  One example being their Tactical Nuclear Penguin which comes in at a crazy high 32% ABV.  If I recall properly, when this beer was released it was close to getting banned across the UK due to worries that patrons wouldn't understand that a beer could contain that much alcohol.  I wont be reviewing anything that crazy tonight.  In fact, I'm most likely drinking their most tame beer within their line up, the Punk IPA.

Slightly hazy, pale-straw colored.  A frothy white foam billows and maintains its form without dissipating.  Pretty impressive foam retention!  The aroma is nice.  Full of citrus, lemon rind and some fresh grass.  Flavor-wise, not nearly as impressive.  Mostly hops, thin body, no malt backbone and an astringent bitter finish.  I had a tough time going back for another sip.  After I stared at it for a while and debated dumping it to the sink gods I had another drink.  Luckily after some warmth my opinion of this IPA increased.  The bitterness dropped out a bit and the maltiness was more present to balance the remainder of the hops.

Overall - I was disappointed.  First impressions weigh heavily on me and this IPA gave me a poor one.  In a space thats highly competitive in the beer market its tough to shine above the others.  If I were Brew Dog, I would leave the IPA style to us Americans.  We know how to make 'em right!  Try a bottle if you are curious.  Otherwise, dont be sad when you pass this one up in the beer aisle.

Tyranena - "Brewers Gone Wild" La Femme Amere

Tonights brew is one that I figured I'd take a chance on.  I had never had Tyranena before and knew nothing about the brewery.  So what better way to get to know a beer and the people behind it than trying one out while poking through their website!

Tyranena Brewing Co. was founded in 1998 and started brewing just under a year later in '99.  They don't have a whole heck of a lot of information on their site.  Plenty about current events and news releases but little about their history.  So instead of focusing on Tyranena's past we will take a good look into what I'm drinking this evening, Brewers Gone Wild La Femme Amere.

I chose La Femme Amere over my other choice at the store, Benji's Smoked Chipotle Imperial Porter.  For some reason peppers don't appeal to me in a beer but I guess thats why its in their Brewers Gone Wild (BGW) series.  "A series of big, bold, ballsy beers... each beer in this series is to the extreme.  Big flavor, wild names and... well... do you need more?" is the description affixed to their BGW page.  Normally this would be a cause for concern since any beer that claims to be an extreme version of something just means that there are too many ingredients included for the brews own good.  And more often than not the beer is overdone and tastes like a syrupy mess of malts and hops.  My hope is that this Belgian IPA will not reinforce the "Extreme beer" stereotype.

This brew is Tyranena's popular Bitter Woman IPA brewing with a Belgian yeast strain.  Should be a fun combination to enjoy!  Very little head with a small lacing left behind in the pour.  Floral, hoppy, fruity, spicy, a hint of black pepper, malty all in the aroma.  Color is orange/amber and clear.  I'm almost positive its filtered since there is no residual yeast at the bottom of the bottle.  Taste... wow!  Very surprised.  Nice and hoppy with a very balanced mild mix of spice and fruit.  So much going on here.  Somewhat difficult to describe.  A mild sweet malt comes through to support the madness of flavors.  Finish is slightly sweet, not cloying, but sweet enough to notice.  Could be a bit dryer.  The hops help bitter it out but not as much as I would like.

Overall 4.8/6.0 - I was surprised.  I wasnt expecting much from this beer but this really came out of left field.  The bouquet of floral and Belgian flavors come together nicely.  The finish could be dryer but only slightly so.  I could drink a few of these and be happy.  Ill be buying this again if I can find more of it!

I'm pretty sure this cheese head is saying "Will you drink a beer with me?"  My French is a little rusty though.

A little story about the supposed journey of this brew.

Sierra Nevada - Celebration Ale 2010

Tonight is a very exciting night for me....tonight I get to review one of my favorite winter seasonals - the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale! Sierra Nevada is one of those craft breweries that always seems to get it right, probably because the founder, Ken Grossman, is a damn genius. He studied chemistry and physics at California State University back in the 70's, and soon after opened up his own Home Brew Shop. After a couple years, he pieced together a brewery from salvaged dairy tanks and other big pieces of old shitty equipment - in those initial years he focused on using premium ingredients (including obscene amounts of quality hops), which they are known for now. They've stuck to their guns over the years, maintaining a lot of the same techniques and attention to quality (and shitloads of hops), and it shows - this Celebration Ale is a Sierra Nevada showcase - OK let's drink!

Statistics:
Alcohol (ABV): 6.8%
Bittering Hops: Chinook

Finishing Hops: Cascade and Centennial

Dry Hopping: Cascade and Centennial

IBUs: 65

Malts: Two-row Pale and English Caramel

Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale yeast

The bottle is red and festive - on top of the bottle is listed "Fresh Hop Ale". I like fresh hops, I like Ales, and I like festive things, this is a good start!

Pouring this brew into a pint glass - it pours with a nice copper hue, a bit cloudy but still looks clean, with a big frothy egg-white head. It smells very citrusy, kind of reminds me of that opening theme scene on Dexter, when he is cutting the orange and they show the citrus spraying all over the place. There's also some pine-cones in the nose, all very fresh.

My first drink of this brew makes me think of....wanting to take a second drink. It's like a masseuse on my palate, it hits all the right spots. First thing that comes through is a slightly sweet maltiness, but the hop-hulk loaded with oranges, grapefruits, and pine trees comes through immediately after that and body-slams my tongue. Kind of a bitter ending, but in a good way, with a little alcohol warmth to wash everything down.

Celebration Ale has a medium, smooth body that is almost creamy - carbonation is just right. The drinkability is outrageous and flat-out dangerous....

Overall Rating: Excellent (5.10 out of 6.00) This is a great, well-balanced American IPA that really hits the spot on the cold winter nights in this arctic tundra of a state. I don't typically think of IPA's as "winter warmers", but this beer fits in the category well with those big stouts and porters that are more commonly used for thawing. This 2010 edition is even better than the 2009, and that's a hard thing to do, the 2009 was pretty damn good. Pick up a 12-pack of this ASAP!