If you look through posts here after about 7/4, you'll find a bunch of brews that fuse has reviewed from his recent trip. Being the slow, clumsy fellow that I am, some of my reviews are a couple weeks behind his but I did manage to "scoop" him on one or two. Maybe.
I'll likewise be very interested in what you sample.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
I've pondered this for hours now and honestly still can't arrive at a good answer, but, the closest I might come would be Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Why? It's readily available, reasonably priced, high quality, established (brewed since 2001), high IBUs but perfectly balanced by its 9% ABV and I think pairs with many foods (not breakfasts) from deli sammiches to grilled fare or mildly/moderately spicy beef/chicken/seafood entrees and stands very well alone sipped from a snifter as a nightcap.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
Mother Earth - Berlinerweisse Mojito - 4.9 % ABV -
Nice citrus, minty aroma to this one. The taste is a beautiful lime citrus with some salt. Then the finish abruptly shifts to perfect amount of deep mint mojito flavor. The sour is mild and nicely balanced.
I'll rate it Fuse Category 1 - definitely buy this and try it if you see it and like this style.
Thanks fuse for the rec! Mother Earth makes outstanding beer
Had one this evening also.
Sadly, while I enjoyed it, Mother Earth Mojito was really dissonant with a grilled salmon salad, largely due to the balsamic dressing. Both were excellent apart, so I set aside the beer and enjoyed the salad first. Mojito made for a great after dinner drink.
A brief note that HiWire Rose IPA goes great with mexican cuisine, and I suspect would also pair nicely with most any food, and also be great standalone.
Allagash Coolship Balaton
Bottled 1/3/2019
Open air fermented, aged for up to 2 years.
Near the end of aging, 2 pounds per gallon of balaton cherries are added.
Looks like cherry juice, almost like a beautiful light pinot noir.
Funky barnyard nose.
Wooo- this is a dirty, tart, funky beer.
There is a brief initial burst of cherry juice, which disappears into a funky stew that ends in a dry woody note with a little cherry on top.
Hard to believe a 2 year old beer might be “young”, balaton is a little hot.
I could see aging it for a year.
I’m glad I opened it- incredibly enjoyable.
Cheers! 🍻
First bottle opened after returning from Ohio. Rockmill Brewery out of Lancaster, Ohio. Cask Aged Tripel, golden ale aged in whiskey barrels. 10.5%. Poured golden, nice foamy head. Their Tripel aged on OYO whiskey barrels. OYO is a local distillery. Similar to the Allagash Crueux, the whiskey barrel gives it a lighter finish than a BBA. Clean, crisp ale with a touch of alcohol burn/finish. Easy to drink. A great beer.
Nancy - Allagash Brewing - American Wild Ale - 5.7 % ABV
From the bottle - "a tart ale that brings local cherries together with Brettanomyces yeast. The beer is fermented for over a year in a stainless steel tank on a blend of Maine-grown Balaton and Montmorrency cherries. Copper in color, Nancy's flavor is a medley of citrus, cherry, and pie spice, with a hint of graham cracker. The finish is dry and refreshingly tart."
If you like fruited sour beers, this is a Strong fuse Category 1 - get some, highly recommended, crazy good sour. They have lots at Stella.
It's delicious, and a perfectly balanced cherry sour. It's funky and sour (not puckering), but the powerful cherry flavors are most prominent. The light cinnamon enhances the cherry with some bready pie crust in there too from the malt. It's complex, starting out tart, unripe cherry followed by sweet ripe cherry flavor but not too sweet. That is followed by a dry but still sweet flavor. It's very drinkable, crisp, and refreshing, with bubbly carbonation.
I will revisit. I've found the perfect beer to pair with that dark chocolate cherry ganache pie from Grand Traverse. If only I could win another one!
Last edited by richardjackson199; 07-29-2019 at 10:06 PM.
Final installment of my "consultant fees."
Bright A$S Tank Top-The Unknown Brewing Company
Read what RJ199 posted above. Looked like a Key Lemon Pie (for all you degenerates out there ) with a very small, fizzy head. Wood/oak on the nose with the same along with vanilla (not added), muted rum and a limeade-lemonade finish for me with more tartness than sweetness and a splash of salinity. I'd be happy pairing this with a fruit plate before dinner, with some lightly spiced and/or fruited seafood for dinner or knocking down a couple of these after dinner, with or without dessert.
An excellent final payment by the honorable, suave and debonair richardjackson199. Thanks!
Edit: Forgot to add the Fuse Cat 1 rating here .
Last edited by devildeac; 07-29-2019 at 10:52 PM.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
From 11/25/18:
From last PM:
DKML-Founders Brewing Company
"Kicks you where you most expect it" on the label.
Bottled on:
07/03/17 0421 6
Last of the litter with pretty similar experience to the 1/20/18 and the above. Lots of booze from start to finish with corn (added) likker for the aromas and bourbon-flavored grain alcohol on the palate. The BBA lends wood/oak, butterscotch, vanilla and lightly toasted coconut flavors, too. Minimal bitterness but a continuous alcohol burn over the 60 minutes it took to sip this bad boy from my new Stella snifter, courtesy of richardjackson199 (thanks!!).
This one earns the fuse Cat 2 rating (with some Cat 1 features).
[redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.
DFH Super 8 Gose
Maybe the cleanup batter for upcoming gose day, although I suspect I may not get that far down in the lineup.
A deep pinot rose color.
Smells faintly briney, like an ocean breeze.
Starts fruit tangy, and stays that way.
Any saltiness is fleeting, appearing mid palate and then a light dusting of saltiness in the finish.
A very nice pleasing beverage on a hot day.
I expect Super 8 gose may get a little more complex as it warms up, but what’s the point? Gose is a drink best served cold.
Cheers! 🍻