Despite heading into cooler weather, no dark styles in the mix this week. Not a problem.
• Arcadia IPA (Arcadia Brewing Company)
• Beyond the Pale Pale Ale (Fish Brewing Company)
• Caldera Pale Ale (Caldera Brewing Company)
• Hunchback (Evil Genius Beer Company)
• Just IPA (The Just Beer Project)
• Kind Ryed (Otter Creek Brewing)
• SweetWater IPA (SweetWater Brewing Company)
Two thirds of this week's offerings are from west of the Mississippi...
• Black IPA (Otter Creek Brewing)
• Flipside Red IPA (Sierra Nevada Brewing Company)
• India Pale Ale (Avery Brewing Company)
• King's Peak Porter (Uinta Brewing Company)
• Oktoberfest (Great Lakes Brewing Company)
• Vanilla Porter (Breckenridge Brewery)
• All In Amber (Full Pint Brewing Company)
• Circus Boy (Magic Hat Brewing Company)
• Monkey Fist IPA (Shipyard Brewing Company)
• Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA (Flying Dog Brewery)
• Snapperhead IPA (Butternuts Beer & Ale)
• Stranger APA (Left Hand Brewing Company)
• Wildeman Farmhouse IPA (Flying Dog Brewery)
Got a couple of repeats this week -- BUT we also had beers from three previously unrepresented breweries, including a collaboration between a nano and a micro out of eastern Maryland. The Beer Club continues to bring good drinking and new discoveries...
• Bedlam! IPA (Ale Asylum)
• Genesis Dry Hopped Session Ale (Shmaltz Brewing Company)
• Hop Mountain Pale Ale (Old Dominion Brewing Company)
• Loser IPA (Elysian Brewing Company)
• Scratch 'N Sniff Red Rye IPA (collaboration between Pub Dog Brewing and Baying Hound Aleworks)
• Seneca Indian Pale Ale (Mountain State Brewing Company)
• Sprung (Evolution Craft Brewing Company)
A nice variety of styles this week.
• He'Brew Messiah Nut Brown Ale (Shmaltz Brewing Company)
• Headwaters Pale Ale (Victory Brewing Company)
• Saranac Red IPA (Matt Brewing Company)
• Striped Bass Pale Ale (Devils Backbone Brewing Company)
• Sundog Amber Ale (New Holland Brewing)
• Tell Tale Red Ale (Scuttlebutt Brewing Company)
American Craft Beer Week? Yeah, another commercially manufactured observance, but I'll play along. And it's been so long since I posted a review to this blog that I shouldn't turn down an excuse.
Tonight I am sampling Full Nelson Virginia Pale Ale from Blue Mountain Brewery out of Afton, Virginia. I have no foreknowledge of this brewery, so this beer will be my first impression. I am sampling it from a can, but the website reveals it is also available in 12 oz. bottles.
When poured into my tumbler, a massive quantity of foam was produced -- as in, the glass was basically full of it and I had to wait for it to collapse a bit before I could pour more from the can. The head is lovely and fluffy like sea foam, and just a slightly pink-tinged off-white. Honestly, I would say that this beer's ability to raise and sustain a head is one of its most remarkable qualities. The liquid itself is an appealing copper-amber color.
I am able to just detect the sweet, citrusy aroma at a distance of two feet. With my nose next to the glass, the smell is like a freshly sectioned grapefruit -- delicious!
The taste is good, too. Straight into an earthy hop flavor that does not completely obscure the barley backbone. Just behind the flavor peak is a distinct hop-derived fruitiness, then a slight re-emergence of grain as the bitterness really kicks in with the aftertaste. The mouthfeel has a nice weight to it, and the overall drinkability is high.
I like pale ales that are structured like this. Nothing mind-blowing going on here, but a commendable brew from this relatively new producer.
Get a load of all this copy on the can:
Nelson County: Yeah, we've been called Virginia's love child, and we're OK with that. Backwoods botanical experiments, hillbilly shine and mountain music... Not bad livin' when you consier it. So put a little authentic Virginia terroir in your mouth with a brew loaded with out farm-grown Cascade hops and deep-drawn foothills water. Got a bite, y'all.
• Baltimore Pale Ale (Full Tilt Brewing)
• Farmhouse Summer Ale (Flying Fish Brewing Company)
• Full Nelson Virginia Pale Ale (Blue Mountain Brewery)
• Oatmeal Stout (Breckenridge Brewery)
• Starr Pils (Starr Hill Brewery)
• Twisted Pine Hoppy Boy IPA (Twisted Pine Brewing Company)
• Wisteria Wheat (Fordham Brewing Company)
