Sprecher - Double IPA

Tonights review is another from Sprecher's Premium Reserve line-up.  Their IPA2, or Double Indian Pale Ale, is one of five in a special offering of beers from this Wisconsin based brewery. Sprecher claims this imperial IPA focuses more on the hop and malt balance as opposed to the standard 'West coast' style imperial IPA's that focus primarily on hop explosions and lupulin torpedoes to the tongue.  Judging from the color and viscosity of the liquid I just dumped into my pint glass I can already tell they are going in a different direction then our hop-loving friends from the West.

Sprecher IPA2 certainly fits the bill as a malt forward imperial IPA.  The color is a cloudy orange while boasting a plume of off-white foam.  Peering closer into my pint I find tiny clumps of yeast hovering throughout.  A little unexpected, but not a deal breaker.  Aroma-wise, it is unmistakably a malty IPA.  Lots of bready citrus, lemon zest, a little caramel and an off flavored tang.  Not very pleasant unfortunately.  Diving deeper into the flavor profile I find heavy melanoidin and bready characteristics intertwined with an abrupt bitterness and unsatisfying carbonation level.  This brew finishes a little sweet for my liking and does little to lure me back for a second helping.

Overall - As I've said before, IPA's and Imperial IPA's are a tough category to compete in.  You either really nail down a great recipe and brew process or make a deviation of the style that is intriguing enough to bring the drinker back.  Unfortunately, at least for me, Sprecher's IPA2 fails to meet both criteria.  While its not an entirely bad brew, I wont be going out of my way to find this imperial IPA again.

Sprecher - Abbey Triple

Ill forewarn all who read this post... it isn't going to be pretty.  My brain hurts.  Aside from last Friday, I feel as though I have been studying nonstop for the past two weeks.  My exam is in 25 days and I feel utterly under prepared.  These posts give me a nice chance to sit back and take my mind away from the books for a bit.  That, and it helps me wind down at the end of the day.  So hopefully throughout the next 25 days you will bear with me through mindless run-on sentences, abrupt endings, random punctuations, and poor humor as I struggle to keep a piece of my sanity within reach.  Believe me, after June 4th, I am going to go to my favorite beer store and buy at least $300 worth of deliciousness.  Its going to be a fantastic day.

Tonights brew is from Sprecher Brewing.  Many of you may know them more for their soda (pop if you are from the East) line-up, especially their root beer.  I wouldn't blame you.  I was unaware they brewed beer until I saw their four packs in the store!  And actually, I did know they brewed beer... after looking at their website I found that they brew Black Bavarian.  I love that stuff!  But I had never put two and two together.  I guess you learn something new every day!

I picked up Sprecher's Abbey Triple since I was in the mood for a Belgian golden strong ale at the time.  I drank three back in late December when I originally purchased the four pack and saved the last one for a review.  I would have reviewed this earlier but there is a note on the bottle saying "Excellent when young and better with age".  I don't know I would consider 5 months as putting some age on the beer but its good enough for our purposes this evening.  This is a part of Sprecher's Premium Reserve series.  I'm not entirely sure what that means but I gather from the other beers in the series that they are bigger and more robust than there standard, year-round line up.

Cloudy with an orange hue, the bottles 16 ounces fill up my mug to the brim.  A bright white foam builds and quickly recedes with sweet malt and tangy fruit aromas readily present.  The flavors play right into the aromas with white grapes, raw sugar, and alcohol clearly discernible.  A very smooth mouthfeel is somewhat offset by a prickly carbonation while also accentuating the tart fruit flavors.  Alcohol finishes this brew dry and with a warmth.  Easily drinkable throughout.

Overall - Decent.  Its a good beer.  Well brewed and balanced.  A bit on the fruity side and lacking the prominent 'Belgian' characteristics I like to taste when the beer is brewed as a Belgian Triple.  Go ahead and pick it up if you are curious, but don't expect anything ground breaking.

Central Waters - Mudpuppy Porter

Tonights review is courtesy of Central Waters Brewing Co. out of Amherst, WI.  Dunz reviewed their Illumination Double IPA a little while back and found it to be a fantastic brew.  There was a lot of buzz around the city when this Illumination beer was released but I never heard a lot about the rest of their line up.  When I was making my six pack the other day I decided to throw in this Mudpuppy Porter and see how it holds up against the buzz around Central Waters.

The bottle label is standardized across all Central Waters brews.  Aside from their limited releases, all of their bottle labels, that I've seen at least, are yellow with a unique picture that depicts the name of the brew.  Since this porter is named after a mud puppy there is a picture of a strange looking lizard in the middle of the label.  I'm not entirely familiar with what a mud puppy looks like but Ill assume it has four legs and looks like a lizard.

The color is lighter, relatively speaking, than most other porters I've had.  Its almost a dark brown when held up to the light.  Roasted, dark fruits are the first noticeable aromas.  The flavor is more of the same.  A mild yeasty quality blends in with a muted roast and coffee flavor.  The finish is bitter, partially from the hops but I think its more from the roasted grains.  Very smooth and easy to drink.

Overall - This has turned out to be a nice session porter.  The roast character is present throughout the brew and not overdone.  A nice fruity quality from th yeast balances out the roastiness.  A good quality porter, I'd pick up a six pack next time I'm in the mood.

Stevens Point - Wholehog RIS

Friggen Twins... seriously?!  Pavano goes out and pitches 8 flawless innings.  Nathan comes in and jacks everything up.  Then, oh hey!  Valencia gets us back on the board with a RBI and we bring in Capps to seal the deal.  Guess what Capps?!  You cant pitch around Johnny Damon even though he is about 74 years old!  Bye bye win for Pavano, hello walk off home run for the Rays in 10... ugh.  I swear the Twins are going to give me an aneurysm one of these days.  Good thing I have a fridge full of beer to dampen the sadness.

Tonights sadness-curing beer is a Russian Imperial Stout brewed by Stevens Point Brewery.  These guys are located to our East (for once!) in our neighboring, cheddar filled state of Wisconsin.  As cheese loving natives, Wisconsinites are surprisingly adept at brewing beer as well.  Famous mostly for breweries like Miller and Leinenkugel in non-craft beer loving circles, Wisconsin has plenty of smaller breweries putting their "craft beer approved" seal on the state as well.  New Glarus, Lakefront, and Capital Brewing are all making solid names for themselves in the Midwest.  Stevens Point is one that I have heard little about.  Their RIS is a winter special release that comes in a four pack.  I had the other three back in November when I originally purchased it.  Lets see what an additional six months in the fridge does to this 8.6% ABV stout.

Prying off the cap yields threading around the top of the bottle... twist caps (booo...), one of beers worst enemies.  Twist-offs, when compared to pry-offs, generally allow more oxygen to seep through the seal causing the beer to go stale.  The pour looks good.  A nice tan head forms and hangs around for a bit, leaving a thin layer of foam to settle after a few minutes.  Bittersweet chocolate and subtle hop aromas are noticeable as I go in for my first sip.  Roasted malts are first to the taste party with the strong presence of bitter hops crashing in quickly thereafter.  A creamy texture and smooth finish keep me coming back, sip after sip.  Hardly any evidence of alcohol to be found throughout with only a slight warmth sneaking in towards the end as this brew warms.

Overall 3.7592/6.0 - Its not my favorite RIS but its not bad either.  The body is a little lacking and the finish is a little thin for what I like to experience with the style.  To me, Russian Imperial Stouts should be thick, bold, chewy but not so cloying that you cant have more than a few drinks without developing diabetes (insert Wilford Brimley mustache joke here).  The flavors were nice and the beer was easy to drink.  A well balanced brew overall, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to pick it up again next season.

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.