Terrapin - Rye Pale Ale

Brewery: Terrapin Beer Co. http://terrapinbeer.com/

Style: Rye Pale Ale

ABV: 5.5%

Container: Weissbeer Glass

Location Bought: Crestview Publix

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: Post 4.5 mile run

Appearance: Golden Orangey...ish, with a nearly nonexistent head, pencil thin with quick dissipation.

First Reaction: God I love rye!!!!! The best thing about it? Almost no one else knows or appreciates it- More for me!

This is a fantastic beer. For those of you who don't know about Ryes they are in my personal opinion one of the most underappreciated of all forms that our favorite hops-ickles come in. Rye is as this one says is a American style Pale Ale with the gain Rye added to its brewing process. This small addition makes what I feel is a mediocre style at best, into one of my favorites, and if you know me that's saying a lot about a beer that you can see through! Ryes have an aggressive and powerful flavor while staying smooth and very refreshing throughout the entire drinking experience To me they are an ultimate summer beverage. 

Terrapins Rye starts off with a muted slightly bitter malt note and transitions into the signature tongue bite that makes Rye the brewed wonder that it is. That bite roles off slowly down our though lingering till it gets relived with a minor hoppy end. Overall the drinking experience stays fairly constant through the entire beer with very little variation which works well for this brew as its good overall and needs not to adapt to keep you interested till the last drop. 

This is one of few examples of Rye I have found during my travels. I enjoyed it and will buy it again for sure but side my side to RedHook's Sun Rye, or Lost Falls Rye it is not as strong and aggressive with the Rye flavor I love. I must say though, I am ABSOLUTLY impressed that this beer came out form south of the Mason Dixon, maybe there is some hope......

Breweries Description:

By using an exact amount of rye, a grain seldom found in other micro brewed beers, the Rye Pale Ale acquires its signature taste. Made with five varieties of hops and a generous amount of specialty malts, it offers a complex flavor and aroma that is both aggressive and well balanced – a rare find among beers.

The Terrapin Rye Pale Ale was released in Athens, GA in April of 2002 at the Classic City Brew Fest. Six months later this beer which was sold only in Athens was awarded the American Pale Ale Gold Medal at the 2002 Great American Beer Festival, the most prestigious competition in North America. We hope you will agree with our peers in the brewing industry that this is truly one of the best pale ales in the country.

Flying Dog - Amber Lager "Old Scratch"

Brewery: Flying Dog Brewery http://www.flyingdogales.com/

Style: "Old Scratch" Amber Lager

ABV: 5.5%

Container: Half Liter Stiegl Mug

Location Bought: Crestview Publix

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: After a long day with some Pasta Salad

Appearance: Nice Amber hue with deep red tint, thick tight head of a almond color.

First Reaction: Not too shabby.

This is a nice attempt an Amber I'll give it that.  It starts out promising with a nice mellow malted mix of flavors but it hollows out in the back half and while it has a little Hop kick, it doesn't have a solid finishing note or a long satisfying flavor tail. Now while that sounds harsh don't get me wrong I like this beer.  It is refreshing and crisp and that makes up for it lack of overall complexity. This beer is good, its just not exactly my cup of tea. If you like lighter beers with nice malt and, really hate heavy hop kicks this will be perfect for you.

Brewery's Description:

"Some itches can't be scratched. Like your fantasy involving latex and flavored lotions.  So it's best to concentrate on the ones you can scratch. Like your itch for this Amber Lager with a Malty Mellow flavor. As for your other fantasies you'll probably need to find a chat room for those. This dog enjoys his days in the sun... Old Scratch Amber Lager is a malty, mellow beer that is fermented at medium temperatures to develop both ale and lager characteristics. "Gold Scratch" raises the standard in the amber lager category."

Sierra Nevada - Porter

Brewery: Sierra Nevada http://www.sierranevada.com/

Style: Porter

ABV: 5.6%

Container: .5 liters of Quality German Beerware

Location Bought: Crestview Florida Publix

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: Saturday Night In a big empty house watching Super Troopers With a Steak and Corn on the Cob.

Appearance: Deep color with a light tan head that comes on heavy but quickly settles back into the beer.

First Reaction: God I miss the West Coast.

You taste that? Yeah that. You know what that is? That my friends is the wonderful, beautiful, like no other taste of: Willamette Hops. Now it is my duty to poke fun at California so I must say its surprising to find something good from that state. After all this is only the second good thing I know of to come from there. The other knows who she is.

This really is a great Porter its full and rich with just the right bitter touches. It doesn't have the deep swirling flavors you get with some other porters and I know exactly what you're going  to get when you crack open a bottle as I have found batch control to be right on the mark with every one of these I have drank, all for the sake of the readers of course. This has the tingle of coffee that I like in a porter but its hard to pick out from around the basic malted flavors. The use of Hops in this beer is what makes it worth drinking. The Willamette hops used in this Porter give it a nice crisp clean closing salvo of flavor that leaves you satisfied and feeling good about every drink you take from opening till the last tip of the bottle on the way to the fridge to get another.

Breweries'  Description:

"Sierra Nevada Porter is a completely natural beer, full of roasted malts, which give it a ritch, bittersweet and roasted toffee flavor. This medium bodied ale is perfectly balanced, with a smooth malty flavor and crisp American hops. "

Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Golden Lager "Dortmunder Gold "

Brewery:  Great Lakes Brewing Co. 

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/ 

Style:  Golden Lager "Dortmunder Gold "

ABV:  5.8%

Container: Straight From the Bottle

Location Bought: WPAFB Class Six, Ohio, August 2010

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: Sitting in the setting evening sun next to a pool.

Appearance: nice deep golden color, tight white head

First Reaction: Oh now that is good!

This beer just blows all my expectations of a Golden Lager out of the water. The beer starts out with a nice lager front, and instead of petering out like many lagers do it only grows form there. After the initial taste you get a king of sweet malty taste that transforms into a mild peachy flavor. The end is a nice mellowed roasted hop taste that lingers on your tongue for quite a while after the sip is gone. It's a nice reminder of what you just had, and an excellent use of hops to accent and close out a brilliant brew.

At first I kind of want to describe this beer as sweet, but then you realize it's not. It has an exceptionally complex flavor overall and it's hard to even capture all of the tastes as they fly by your tongue. Not only that but each sip is a different experience, its almost like the speed and volume of the drink you take has a huge impact on how the beer tastes. I recommend at least 3 to 4 bottles to get a decent handle on it haha.

This is the second beer form Great Lakes that I have tried and I must say I am just as impressed, if not more so, with this option as I was with their excellent Porter.

A smooth lager that strikes a delicate balance between sweet malt and dry hop flavors. Our Dortmunder Gold is a consistent Gold Medalist and a balanced golden lager (do you see a pattern forming?). In the Middle Ages, this style brewed in Germany was so popular ir required armed escorts when exported to surrounding towns. As you can see, this beer was and still is as good as gold!

Back in the Groove.

Well now that my housing situation is slightly settled, at least for a couple months I can get back to business.

To come:
-A couple reviews of GOOD beers to be found in Florida.
-Time to brew our own?
-and who knows what else!

Saranac - Black and Tan

Brewery: Saranac http://www.saranac.com/

Style: Black and Tan

ABV: 5.1%

Container: Straight from the bottle

Location Bought: WPAFB Class Six, Ohio, August 2010

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: In a cruddy Hotel, called the Hope, more like Hopeless.

Appearance: Deep brown, to Black, nice light amber color head.

First Reaction: What a great stout! It is definitely mellowed by the amber, but lucky for this beer I love Ambers as well!

My first reaction really was Damn this is a good stout, but obviously the amber mellowed and brought the beer down before a classic strong stout finish. The beer is a nice ride starting with a strong stout front, then mellowing to a nice Amber center that is deep and rich yet light enough to be enjoyed in the heat of the day, while not being oppressive as a full stout can be. It finished with a nice hop bite, just enough to be an excellent cap to a great beer.

I really like this beer and wish I could find it more readily further south from here. I know many may have tried a Black and Tan made by that brewery with a huge and rather annoying East Coast fan buy following, Cough*Yeungling*Cough. But don't pass this by if you didn't like that one, this is a different beast entirely and any good beer lover owes this a fair open minded try I think you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Brewery's Description:

A beer lover's dream! This classic Irish stout and amber lager blend is malty, yet pleasantly bitter with many complex flavor notes. Look for a deep brown-black color and full-body. Saranac Black and Tan is a judicious melding of our Irish style Stout with and all malt German style Amber Lager. The result is a brew that is hearty, pleasantly bitter, and full of flavor, yet can be enjoyed bottle after bottle. Our unique Black and Tan has multiple flavor notes.

 

Great Lakes Brewing Co. - Porter "Edmund Fitzgerald"

Brewery: Great Lakes Brewing Co. http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/

Style: Porter " Edmund Fitzgerald

ABV: 5.8%

Container: Straight From the Bottle

Location Bought: WPAFB Class Six, Ohio, August 2010

Location/Situation Enjoyed Under: In a cruddy hotel.

Appearance: Deep Brown Black with a frothy white head 

First Reaction: A nice bittersweet, almost like semi-sweet chocolate front. 
When I first tasted it I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I thought In had found yet another "Porter" that would leave me wishing for a swift return to the true hearty Porters of Stumptown. But it definitely grows upon you after the second sip. I really wish I could have enjoyed this beer from a frosty glass instead of the bottle. After a couple sips and letting the beer settle its flavors really opened up and you could appreciate more of the beers complexities. This is definitely an excellent regional beer and I encourage anyone who comes across it to enjoy a bottle, it really is a pleasure. This is on the bitter end for a porter, so If you tend to prefer Stouts over Porters I think you may find this to be just the thing to wet your palate with.

I wish I had more time here now simply to try the rest of this family of beers.

Brewery's Description:

Thanks to our craft brewing process, when you take a swig of our Edmund Fitzgerald, it will taste smoky, robust, dark, and bittersweet. Named after the ship that frequently docked in Cleveland and sunk in Lake Superior in 1975, our Porter combines a complex, roasty aroma with a bittersweet, chocolate-coffee taste.