IPA - Southern Tier Brewing Company (USA - New York - Lakewood) 7.3%

IPA - Southern Tier Brewing Company (USA - New York - Lakewood) 7.3%

A full gold in a glass with a thick white head that fades but shows some resilience. Melon, pineapple and citrus hops aromas first, followed by sweetness, a bit of mint and some cedar or resin.

The taste is not as hoppy as I expected, don't get me wrong it is still hoppy and bitter, but the malt flavours are very nicely blended and intricate with touches of grain, sweet toasted bread and a not-quite-caramel flavour that latches onto the sweeter more melon-like hops flavour and melts it over you palate. The finish is sweet and somewhat bitter with the aforementioned fruity and floral hops but some cedar and resin reveal themselves in the late finish and aftertaste leaving you with a pleasantly hoppy glow. Speaking of glow, there is no way to tell that this beer has such a high alcohol content. It is very easy drinking and smooth as well as being 7.3%: all this translates into Southern Tier's IPA being deliciously troublesome, try one.

A Pair From Sierra Nevada (USA - California - Chico)

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (USA - California - Chico) 5.6%

Deep gold. Quite hoppy but also malty and sweet. Nicely balanced. With a quite bitter aftertaste of sprucy hops - leaves tones of the forest lingering for some time afterwards. Aroma of caramel and hops. A great American Pale Ale.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest 2011 (USA - California - Chico) 5.0%

Tastes quite hoppy: bitter with pronounced melon tones. A nice malty sweetness rounds out the body followed by a somewhat spicy finish. Quite an interesting beer, it looks and smells like just another yellow and fizzy beer but has a unique and enjoyable flavour.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (USA - Delaware - Milton) 6.0%

Very hoppy in taste and aroma. Quite bitter with strong hints of coffee in both the aroma and the taste. Not sweet with an earthy finish. A really nice IPA with an interesting twist of coffee roasty tones and low sweetness.

Take the Long Trail

This great craft brewery located in Vermont makes great beers and also has directions to the brewery printed on every bottle, gotta love it. Funny labels too.

Long Trail Ale (USA - Vermont - Bridgewater Corners) 4.6%

A deep amber colour, sweet but quite bitter. A full malty taste, roasty too. A nice change from bland beers and those that only show bitterness with a strong hops taste. Quite a malty and roasty aroma.

Long Trail Double Bag (USA - Vermont - Bridgewater Corners) 7.2%

Hoppy and caramel malt aroma. Light caramel flavour with quite a bit of bitterness. Not much of a hops flavour (other than the bitterness) but there is certainly some hops discernible. Also quite a hefty mix of dark malt tones: coffee, roast and dark chocolate flavours. In the same vein as the Long Trail Ale (bitterness and in colour) but definitely a unique beer that is quite good in its own right.

Long Trail IPA (USA - Vermont - Bridgewater Corners) 5.9%

Deep gold in a glass. A tangy strong hops aroma that tingles the back of your jaw and the sides of your tongue. A very hoppy taste and quite bitter but also a little sweet and nutty, floral with a strong malty finish.

Happy Fourth of July!

For this Independence Day I thought it would be a good for me to post a bunch reviews of great American beers I've tried over the last year or so. Cheers!

Allagash White (USA - Maine - Portland) 5.2%

Smells very fruity and floral, hint of banana. The taste is also floral, orange, spicy, coriander, bitter, a little yeasty. The suggested technique of pour most of it then swirling & pouring makes a great frothy head. Very cloudy gold or pale gold in a glass. A great Belgian style white beer.

Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale - Berkshire Brewing Company (USA - Massachusetts - South Deerfield) 5.3%

A heady mix of nutty and spicy malt and hops. Caramel sweetness and a perfect bit of bitterness. Described on the label as what the water in heaven should taste like and I am inclined to agree.

Pennant Beer - Brooklyn Brewery (USA - New York - New York) 5.1%

Caramel aroma and taste, quite sweet but also tangy with hops and a little bitterness that lingers on. Quite nice and well balanced. I drank this at the Cheers bar in Boston.

Gritty McDuff's Red Claws Ale (USA - Maine - Freeport)
A caramel and toasted bread aroma with some bitterness. Sweet caramel flavour with a spicy green hops bitterness. The warm round tones of toasted bread and caramel are nicely contrasted with, and the sweetness is cleaned out by, the spice of the hops and fairly bitter finish. Very enjoyable and drinkable. Would go well with food or on its own. An amber-brown colour in a glass.

Old Plowshare Stout - North Coast Brewing (USA - California - Fort Bragg) 5.7%

Not quite opaque, A roasty, chocolatey, oatmeal scent. A milk chocolate taste, sweet and smooth, some wood tones also. Has tiny bubbles, as a proper stout should. A pleasant slightly chalky mouthfeel with mild bitterness. A very pleasant stout; for those who favour organic food and drinks this one mustn't be missed.

 Redhook ESB (USA - New Hampshire - Portsmouth) 5.8%

A deep pumpkin orange. Sweet, earthy tones at first; a bitter tangy almost coppery finish that is quite hoppy. Sweet caramel malt combines with the mild earthy and wooden tones as well as a fairly pronounced hops taste for a pleasant-drinking and somewhat rustic beer which seems appropriate for a beer from northern New England.

Beer Maven's Superbowl Picks

In honour of the single biggest event in American sport, I am reviewing a handful of American beers that I think would go great with this year's (or, I suppose, any year's) Superbowl.

Miller Genuine Draft (USA - Milwaukee - Wisconsin) 4.7%

Light tasting but not without character; it's malty and sweet. This beer is lightly carbonated and as a result does come across like a draft beer. Not at all strong tasting, MGD is a nicely drinkable beer that still has something to its flavour which makes it my pick for Superbowl viewers who are looking for something that is very easy to drink but isn't just another international lager.

Samuel Adams - Boston Lager (USA - Boston - Massachusetts) 4.8%

Reddish gold in a glass. A little malty, sweet, hoppy and pleasantly bitter. Smells of spicy hops. This is a very pleasant beer, if only more lagers were this interesting. A good American drinking beer for the Superbowl viewer with a taste for better, more flavourful beers.


Lagunitas - Little Sumpin' WILD (USA - Petalume - California)

An interesting hop flavour with strong tastes of melon, grapefruit and passion fruit, and a mild bitter bite. Smells a little of pine and is a nice gold colour in a glass with a frothy head. The bitterness does not overpower the aftertaste but instead fades into the background to allow the beer's sweetness to come to the fore. It's hard to believe this beer is almost 9% but it's obviously crafted with care and this beer is well balanced. This beer is included in this list of Superbowl beers for the true beer geek out there that won't even take the Superbowl off from tasting.

Cheers!