Hennepin - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown)

Hennepin - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown) 7.7%

A big foamy white head with a gold and cloudy body. A lovely and intriguing aroma mix. It taste firstly of citrus, light herbal and honey tones with some nectar. Most of these (though not really the citrus) would fit in a Belgian Golden Ale but there is also an earthy character with spiced aspect (I gather that is the ginger) and a hint of hops. This second grouping of aromas makes it quite clear that this is a Saison not a Belgian Golden Ale.

Hennepin has a strong yeast character as well: herbal and there is a flavour that is close but not quite banana along with some drying hops touches. It is quite bitter actually, nearly tart at times too, and very refreshing as a result. It's also quite carbonated and that would be, I suppose, the "champagne-like effervescence" from the label and it is an apt comparison. The malty body comes out in the finish, lightly roasty, toasty and with biscuit touches. It has a somewhat bitter aftertaste with traces of the nectar, herbal, hops mix that makes me like Hennepin so much.

This would definitely be a good aperitif beer and I think Hennepin would also go well with pasta dishes, barbecue and stir-fry.

Iron Throne Blonde Ale - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown) 6.5%

 Iron Throne Blonde Ale - Brewery Ommegang (USA - New York - Cooperstown) 6.5%

Full gold and slightly cloudy in a glass with a big frothy white head. The aroma is yeasty with banana, cloves and is also just a little minty - the latter two traits are from the seeds of paradise the label mentions.

The taste is spicy, lightly bitter (more so it is cold) with a bit of a creamy mouthfeel, from the wheat, and yet it seems a tad thin at times. Some coriander flavours, that also turn out to be accreditable to the seeds of paradise. The slightest bit of lemon. Iron Throne Blonde Ale is a Belgian Blonde Ale that is just a little bit more hoppy than usual and whose mouthfeel come across as a bit attenuated at times but is, overall, pretty nice.

This beer is the first in Ommegang's Game of Thrones series. The next one to be released is a stout by the name of Take the Black.

Blueberry Ale - Wachusett Brewing (USA - Massachusetts - Westminster)

Blueberry Ale - Wachusett Brewing (USA - Massachusetts - Westminster) 4.5%

Smells like real, fresh blueberries; tastes like it too. Also sweet, malty and floral with the coriander-esque spiciness of the wheat beer. Blueberry and first and foremost then the taste shifts to the sweet malt and then onto the floral and spice (and everything nice) but the blueberries make a reappearance in the lingering finish. Pale gold and clear in a glass. Quite light for all its flavour.

Pumpkin UFO - Harpoon Brewery (USA - Massachusetts - Boston)

Pumpkin UFO - Harpoon Brewery (USA - Massachusetts - Boston) 5.9%

Smells just like pumpkin pie, gingery also. Tastes just like it too. A little bitter and even more bitter towards the finish as well as somewhat tangy with hops. This would be a really fun beer to serve at Thanksgiving or Halloween, it really suits autumn.

As I drank it in the latter stages of August I got that familiar flutter of excitement in my chest that I always get during the fall. An orange cloudy amber colour in a glass.

White UFO (Un-Filtered Offering) - Harpoon Brewery (USA - Massachusetts - Boston)

White UFO (Un-Filtered Offering) - Harpoon Brewery (USA - Massachusetts - Boston)

A bright gold colour. Smells like moderately bitter, moderately sweet orange juice. While there certainly are citrus tones in the flavour it is more lemon & lime than orange. Also quite floral with some spiciness and some nice bread tones in the background that balance out this beer nicely.

Shock Top (USA - Missouri - St. Louis)

Shock Top Belgian White (USA - Missouri - St. Louis) 5.2%

A nice orange apricot colour in a glass, slightly cloudy. This beer has a pleasant wheat and peach aroma. the taste is more floral and citrus (orange) than spicy but you can definitely taste the added coriander. Made by Anheuser-Busch/In-Bev this is actually (in my opinion) a nice beer. Pleasant fruit tones to go with the wheat flavour and a very slight kick of spice. I'd still prefer it with a little more coriander flavour and I have the sneaking suspicion that they may have used adjuncts like rice or corn in the brewing process but that could just be my natural suspicion of mega-breweries.

Shock Top Raspberry Wheat (Saint Louis, Missouri) 5.2%

Smells strongly of raspberries but doesn't taste all that much like them. Spicy and sweet, fruity and malty; a little bitter. Because it is not drowned in raspberry flavour it is distinctly a wheat beer and a cloudy gold colour in a glass.

Winter Ale - Newport Storm (USA - Rhode Island - Newport)

Winter Ale - Newport Storm (USA - Rhode Island - Newport) 5.9%

Very dark brown, mostly opaque actually. Pleasant bitter coffee and roast tones with a mellow milk chocolate middle; a nicely lingering bitter and coffee smoky aftertaste. The aroma has a chocolatey aspect to go with bitter coffee and roast. A really nice ale and aptly named and fits the brewery name as well: it reminds me of Christmas holidays and sitting, sipping by a fire while a snowstorm rages outside.

Black Chocolate Stout - Brooklyn Brewing (USA - New York - Utica) 10.0%

Black Chocolate Stout - Brooklyn Brewing (USA - New York - Utica) 10.0%

Thickly black and opaque in a glass with a short tan coloured head. A deep dark chocolate aroma with toffee, dried fruit tones and some hints of earth - sweetness and bitterness intermixed but with bitterness coming out on top. Hints of alcohol come through as a suggestion of wood tones.

Dark chocolate is the first flavour along with a high alcohol hum that carries with it lots of dried red fruit tones and more than an inkling that some floral hops tones might be underneath all this delicious malt. Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout is also pleasantly earthy and has an almost charred finish of smoke, espresso and dark chocolate that is quite nice and just what I expect from an Russian Imperial Stout inspired brew. There are some sweet points that fade in and out providing a nice counterpoint to the primarily bitter primary flavours of dark chocolate, espresso and dried fruit. An excellent beer, really an impressive brew for special occasions rather than a session and although, Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout is delicious on its own, it could probably pair nicely with some chocolate heavy deserts.

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - North Coast Brewing (USA - California - Fort Bragg) 9.0%

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout - North Coast Brewing (USA - California - Fort Bragg) 9.0%

When I spotted this beer, named after one of the more interesting figures in history (in my opinion) and brewed by the folks responsible for one of my most favourite beers ever I had to have it.

It pours black and opaque in a glass with a nice and thick tan coloured head. The aroma is boozy, and a little hoppy with plenty of dark fruit and dried red fruit as well as a certain black licorice hint to the dark chocolate that itself smells like Black Forest Cake. It's enough to set my mouth watering.

The taste is divine: dark fruit and dried red fruit at first, and really throughout, followed by wood tones, I think from a mix of a light pine hops character, smoky dark malt flavours and the alcohol which will warms your cheeks and tickle your chest; sweet and chocolatey middle but balanced by the aforementioned wood tones and hefty bitterness that arrives just before the delectable coffee finish and the lingering coffee and smoke aftertaste.

Anyone not familiar with the Grigori Rasputin's tale should do themselves a favour and give it a read before they drink this Russian Imperial Stout to add some background. Oh and it wouldn't hurt to check out the song too.

Anchor Porter (USA - California - San Francisco) 5.6%

Anchor Porter (USA - California - San Francisco) 5.6%

A black in a glass that is nearly opaque but with amber hints anywhere the light sneaks through. Quite a fluffy, creamy tan head. Roasty, black licorice and molasses, some red and dark fruit and just a little resiny hops.

An amazing but light black licorice flavour from mixing the touch of resiny hops and the full dark malt flavours. The hops are most noticeable in the finish but still not as prevalent as I expected from this American Porter. There's also molasses, a little grain and some red fruits. There is definitely some but I'm not getting a lot of chocolate or coffee tones. Of what there is there is more coffee than chocolate, which is a little different from a typical porter but the licorice flavour is really nice in my opinion and goes very well with the light coffee that does come through.

Overall a very nice American Porter with a more subtle hops touch than Victory Brewing's Storm King Imperial Stout (but sort of along the same lines) and a unique lightly licorice twist. Definitely worth trying.

Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - Anderson Valley (USA - CA - Boonville) 5.8%

Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout - Anderson Valley (USA - California - Boonville) 5.8%

Dark brown, opaque really, in a glass. A very thick frothy head with great lacing (see below). A doughy, fresh bread, dark malt coffee flavour with oatmeal thickness, and that just in the aroma! Maybe just a touch of the raisin aroma mentioned on the label.

Coffee, oatmeal, a bit of toffee, dried cherries, a touch of smoke and some wooden hop tones. A slightly watery mouthfeel at times but intermixed with a creamy oatmeal feel; still refreshing with a sweet finish and a smoky aftertaste. A really nice stout with a cool label.

Headstrong Pale Ale - Big Hole Brewing (USA - New York - Utica)

Headstrong Pale Ale - Big Hole Brewing (USA - New York - Utica) 5.5%

This ale is well balanced and easy drinking with some interesting features that make it worthy of tasting as well as quaffing. The taste and aroma are sweet and malty with a hint of orange zest; there is more than a hint of hops but it fades before any strong bitterness kicks it. The is also a herbal touch of something like coriander. A different take on a pale ale that is both drinkable and interesting.

Two from Geary's (USA - Maine - Portland)

Geary's Pale Ale (Portland - Maine - USA) 4.5%

Bitter and moderately hoppy. Amber in a glass. Tangy with a little caramel malt taste. A metallic tang to the hoppiness. A floral sweetness that reminds me a bit of clover. The hops of this American Pale Ale makes it a nice beer to pair with food.

Geary's Summer Ale (USA - Maine - Portland)

Smells like roasty caramel and clover with some wooden tones. Tastes quite bitter and hoppy with floral hints. This beer is complex and full bodied; again the strong hops lends it to food pairings.

Rolling Rock (USA - Missouri)

Rolling Rock (USA - Missouri) 4.5%

A lightly sweet, lightly malty creamy aroma. A gold in a glass that is just a shade pale. A light malty taste with just a bit of a creamy mouthfeel. The barest hint of hops but the beer is mostly quite sweet. I have found in the past that when I have had Rolling Rock in the United States it is slightly nutty but the version Canada (read: brewed by Labatt) there is no such nuttiness. An acceptable beer, but I really prefer the American version which (unless I've imagined the nuttiness) makes it more of a mild English Pale Ale.

Storm King Imperial Stout - Victory Brewing (USA - Pennsylvania - Downington)

Storm King Imperial Stout - Victory Brewing (USA - Pennsylvania - Downington) 9.1%

Opaque and very black. Smells strongly hoppy and of dark chocolate. It tastes quite bitter both like hops and bitter like dark chocolate and has an alcohol finish. The hops character mixes heavily with the chocolatey stout but there are melon hints before the two forces intertwine. This hoppy stout is called an American Stout (Americans do love their hops) which I think is a tasty and interesting take on traditional stouts.

9 - Magic Hat (USA - Vermont - South Burlington)

#9 - Magic Hat (USA - Vermont - South Burlington) 5.1%

An orange apricot gold colour in a glass. A very floral apricot flavour, sweet but not overly sweet with a nice hoppy hint in the background. Well balanced and although malty and a little bitter (especially in the aftertaste), #9 reminds me of a fruit wine, in a good way. Interesting, well balanced and refreshing, this is a very pleasant beer - perfect on this hot early Autumn day.

Samuel Adams Octoberfest (USA - Massachusetts - Boston)

Samuel Adams Octoberfest (USA - Massachusetts - Boston) 5.3%

A deep amber, nearly brown in a glass. A delicious deep and full malt flavour as well as aroma. The slightest hint of dark cherries. Somewhat sweet fresh-baked bread taste with a slightly bitter finish. This beer has a great full colour and a wonderful taste. Can't miss this one, it is easy drinking but full of flavour.

Oh Red Seal Ale, how I adore thee!

Red Seal Ale - North Coast Brewing Co (USA - California - Fort Bragg) 5.5%

An appetizing dark brass and amber colour in a glass. A full creamy head and a nice hoppy aroma with some dark hints of not quite coffee. A roasty, bitter, sweet and hoppy flavour. Initially it is the bitterness and red roasted malt that greets you, then sweetness with a hint of maple, a nutty flavour and the spicy hops character reveals itself along with some wooden tones. The wooden tones persist and soften into an aftertaste of spicy hops flavour which puts me in mind of rappinni or a similar green that is bitter, darkly green and mildly spicy.

I could drink this everyday: Red Seal Ale is intensely malty with pleasant roasty flavours, sweet with those bits of maple syrup and then bitter and spicy with a great mix of hops. It is a delicious, complicated, well-crafted and interesting beer but not strongly flavoured so I think everyone would like it unless they are die-hard lager-only drinkers (in which case who cares!?). Needless to say, a very nice beer.

On a personal note, I actually had Red Seal Ale for the first time 6 or so years ago while living Vancouver and not again until today and I remembered quite clearly liking it a whole lot then too - that doesn't happen with most beers from that pre-blogger stage of my life.

Two from my International Neighbour: Shipyard (USA - Maine - Portland)

Fuggles IPA - Shipyard (USA - Maine - Portland) 5.8%

A brass colour in a glass. Very bitter, a tacky sticky spruce sap hops flavour with a slightly metallic tone. A toasted bread flavour comes through as well; especially in the aftertaste which is also bitter. A slight hint of the somewhat elevated alcohol content. Not particularly sweet although the malt is present, roasted and a touch dark.

Shipyard Export Ale (USA - Maine - Portland) 5.1%

A sweet caramel aroma with a light cedar hop smell. The aroma changes from strongly caramel to more of a mix of caramel and light cedar smell. A taste that is at first nearly evenly split between hop bitterness and malty sweetness. Although it isn't very sweet, the caramel and slightly roasty sweetness eventually wins out. A nicely constructed and easy drinking beer with some character.

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.