Wham, Bam, Thank You Ma'am

Victory Hop Wallop

I just got walloped - Hop Walloped to be exact (it was an obvious pun, but it had to happen) - by Victory's robust, year round Imperial IPA offering. 

Bearing the image of the legendary coal miner Horace "Hop" Wallop (he's fictional, just FYI if you get upset when you don't find his name on wikipedia) this delicious beer pours a golden yellow color with about a finger of head. 

When I went in to smell it I was immediately hit with a strong aroma of grapefruit with some piney undertones, possibly from the use of Cascade hops (?). I'd heard of grapefruit being a taste present in many IPAs but never was it so obvious for me as in the Hop Wallop. 

Not being a huge grapefruit fan, I wondered how that character would carry over to the taste, but upon drinking it was very pleasantly surprised at just how great the flavor was. Its very hoppy while managing to remain well balanced. The finish is especially great; the zingy hop flavor sits on the palate and back of the throat for some time allowing you to really enjoy the complex flavors. As the beer warms the flavor continues to evolve, staying very hoppy, but becoming more and more balanced. 

All in all an great offering from an great Philly brewery.

-Andrew

QUICK TASTE

Victory Hop Wallop

Downingtown, PA 

American Double/Imperial IPA

8.5% ABV

Appearance: golden yellow with low carbonation

Aromatics: stroooong smell of grapefruit with spicy piney undertones

Taste: very crisp on the tongue, bright

nice lingering finish, zingy hop flavor stays on the palate and back of throat for quite some time

Notes: Delicious, one of my more favorite Imperial IPAs due to the fact that its hoppy, but not mind-blowingly so

87/100

Goldilocks and the Three Bastards

The Arrogant Bastard label states that: "This is an aggressive beer, you probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful you have the taste and sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."

Today's fairytale-like review will focus on the Bastard, the Double Bastard, and the Oaked Bastard... One taster, one Goldilocks. Three beers, three bowls of porridge. Coincidence? I think not.

I, who we can affectionately refer to as Goldilocks, got to choose between these three pours. So follow along as I take you through this storybook tasting... that is, if you have the courage to enter the house of the Arrogant.

Arrogant Bastard: Like Mama Bear's porridge, this is the first impression that we have to this family of beers and the flagship beer of the Stone Brewing Company. Its the original, the one and only, the Bastard! It was one of my first craft brews and my first American Strong Ale. The first time I had it I didn't like it (just like they said), but I loved the idea of it so I pretended like I did. However, after 3 or 4 Arrogant Bastards I developed the taste and appreciation of it and it is now one of my go-to beers. It tastes of pine hops with a little citrus and some light caramelized malt flavor. It's the strong hoppy bitterness that is the dominant flavor and the lasting impression of this beer.

Quick Taste

Arrogant Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 7.20

American Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head

Aromatics: Malty Sweet

Taste: Bitter and Malty, Light hops flavor

Notes: One of my first craft brews, great character and awesome bottles

87


Double Bastard: Again, the beer is mostly pine-tasting hops with a little citrus, but this beer is very malty and much stronger on the back end. When beers use a lot of hops, sometimes more malted barely has to be added to balance out the bitterness. I feel that a lot of times this creates an alcohol flavor and sweetness that I don't tend to like, and that starts to happen a little bit with the aftertaste in the Double. Like Papa Bear's bed, this might be a little to hard for most, but then again, you may be more worthy than I.

Quick Taste

Double Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 10.50

American Double Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head

Aromatics: Malty and Alcoholic

Taste: Harshly Sweet and Malty, the flavor lingers and improves as it fades

Notes: The alcoholic flavor is the almost too much

84

Oaked Arrogant Bastard: Just to complement this story even better, this Baby Bastard comes in the smaller 12oz bottles that the other two do not. This beer is strong, yet smooth; just right - like Baby Bear's porridge and bed. The oak barrel aging process works very nicely with this beer. It helps to balance out the strong and overpowering flavors that can mask some of the subtleties of the classic Arrogant Bastard. The Oaked Bastard has a much more complex taste (or it could just be that I actually notice it in this one) than the other two. And, unlike a lot of other barrel-aged beers you don't get an overpowering whiskey taste. In my opinion, it's the best of the three, and it's just how Goldilocks, er... I, like it.

Quick Taste

Arrogant Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 7.20

American Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head, least head of the three

Aromatics: Malty and oak

Taste: Mellowed and more balanced vierion of AB (Bitter and Malty, Light hops flavor)

Notes: By far the most balanced and smooth of the three

89

Don't judge a beer by its color.

Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout

This beer pours an opaque deep, dark brown with very little head. Despite the dark, thick appearance there is good bubble formation, you can actually hear them crackling on the surface like Rice Krispies.

The first smell that I detect is a relatively mild and sweet nutty coffee scent.

However, despite the standard stout appearance and smell, this beer has a surprisingly light mouth feel with an also surprisingly effervescent feeling - very crisp, oddly enough - like a soda. It has nice tastes of roasted coffee malts. There is some other interesting flavor in the finish that is quite sweet (expected from a Milk Stout). I'm not sure if it is the lactose, but it almost tastes like... cola? 

The finish just matches the rest of the beer - nice flavors are present, but there aren't enough of them and they're all too thin. Theres also a weird hint of sourness as the beer warms more… that too, could be a result of the lactose. 

Overall, this beer is quite lacking in flavor and feel - not at all what i saw coming, though I feel like I should have expected something closer to this (due to the style). Like the optical illusion that is the brewery's namesake, this beer is quite the taste illusion. I can't call the beer bad, but when wanting to sit down for a stout this creamy-looking but light-tasting beer is not at all what I'd be looking for. 


-Andrew

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Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout

Farmville, NC

Milk/Sweet Stout

5.7% ABV

Appearance: Very deep, dark brown - no light passes through

Aromatics: Nutty coffee, faint though

Taste: Almost like a coffee soda… odd, but not necessarily bad

Notes: Drinkable due to its thinness, sweetness, and average alcohol level. But, while its drinkable, its not anything special. Theres just something… weak… about it.  I'd give it an 78/100: I'd drink it again, but certainly not a go-to brew in the least. 

IT'S LINT, ITS DIRT, ITS UNFILTERED YEAST!!? UFOs???

Harpoon UFO White

First things first, Harpoon's UFO series are their "UnFiltered Offerings", inspired by the cloudy brews (due to the presence of suspended yeast) of Germany. They have 4 of these UFOs: 3 wheats and a Pale Ale.

I was fairly excited to taste this beer, mainly because it was a nice day; perfect for the type of beer. Witbier or White Beer was made popular by Pierre Celis, the original brewer of Hoegaarden (named after his home town). Eventually Celis moved to the states and opened the Celis Brewery in Michigan. Celis White was born. After Hoegaarden and Celis came more whites, like Blue Moon, Allagash White, and this beer: the UFO White.

I poured it into the pint glass and the first thing that I noticed was that the smell was not what I was hoping for or expecting. I was expecting a fruity and clean smell. Instead, it smelled kinda like frat-party-warm Natty Light. Ok, maybe not thaaat, bad but not what I expected.

The flavor was much less offensive. It had the expected wheaty flavor and very slight banana notes, but not as much of either as I would have liked. It did, however, have a very clean finish and taste from the ale yeast.

Maybe this just isn't my type of beer, but I would much rather have a Celis White over this one any day.

- Nathan

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Harpoon UFO
Boston, MA


ABV% ~5%

American Pale Wheat Ale

Appearance: Cloudy yellow, orange

Aromatics: "Beer Smell" (like Bud, Miller, or Coors), slight sweet and orange smell

Taste: Wheaty, orange, Very watered down taste

Notes: To be honest it just seems like a weak attempt at a witbier style (Celis White, Hoegaarden) i gave it a 77

Need a Nice Session Beer After a Controlled Fall Down A Moutain?

Sierra Nevada Glissade


Session beer? I hate the term... really, really hate it... but this qualifies. It's easy to drink; not a lot of flavor, and you don't really want it to have much more either.


If mowing the lawn is your first association with the spring, then this beer is a great spring beer for you. It smells like freshly cut grass and wet hay... unfortunately, I feel that it doesn't taste much different.


The beer doesn't finish like most of the Sierra Nevada Beers; they all have a very distinct finishing flavor that I am normally not a fan of - its not a taste I enjoy. The only other Sierra Nevada I've had that lacked that distinctive taste was the Kellerweiss. It was a good for that beer, but the Glissade needs that extra kick. It lacks a lot of taste and finish, and what it does have of those is not that great.
-Nathan

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Sierra Nevada Glissade
Chico, CA

ABV% 6.4

Golden Bock

Appearance: Clear Golden Yellow, Thick foamy head

Aromatics: Fresh cut grass, hay

Taste: Slightly bitter, skunky, light hops flavor, bitter finish

Notes: No typical Sierra Nevada after taste, Grass Smell is so unusual

I gave this beer a 77

Founders Nemesis

There is absolutely nothing that i can really say that describes this beer better then HOLY @#$!@$%!!!!!!????? It blew my mind as well as the minds of the four other experienced beer drinkers that I was with. We were all blown away by the taste. The maple flavor almost made me want to start singing "Oh Canada." That was, until I remembered that Sidney Crosby goal for Canada put the dagger in USA's heart in the gold medal game of the Olympics. Being a Pittsburgh Penguins fan (of which Crosby is the captain), I don't know which was more confusing the game or the beer.

OK, sorry, back to the beer:


The beer was a yellow, orangey color and very translucent. There was a nice two-finger head and decent lace. (Lace is the head that sticks to the sides of the glass after a few sips or the pour.)

The smell was mostly of sugar and bourbon; not surprising from a wheat beer made from maple and aged in bourbon barrels.

The taste... wow! The taste was sweet and very alcoholic, like a straight shot of Kentucky bourbon. Its strong initial flavor quickly begins to blend with a very strong taste of maple syrup that almost seems to roll around the alcohol flavor and consume it, leaving a smooth (but strong and sweet) finish. The combo of maple and alcohol almost creates a wheaty butterscotch flavor that I'm not a huge fan of.


- Nathan

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Founders Nemesis
Grand Rapids, MI


ABV% 12.0


Wheatwine

Appearance: Cloudy yellowish brown


Aromatics: Sweet, Bourbon


Taste: Overly Sweet, Bourbon, Maple Syrup, Butter Scotch

Notes: Much too sweet for me but worth the taste and time to locate. One of the most unique and strongest flavored beers I have ever tasted.

Even though the actual flavor of the beer was not my favorite I still have to give this beer a fairly high score based on uniqueness and quality. 85

America and The UK together again...

... OK, at least working together.

Stone (famous for Arrogant Bastard and other big character beers) teamed up with Brew Dog (famous for the former world's strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin) to create a Belgian Style Double IPA.
If you take everything you know about Stone and everything you expect from a Belgian style black beer you'll end up with Bashah.

When I poured it I initially noticed the dark, dark brown color, and the lighter brown head.

The aroma of the beer is about what I expected from the combination of the dark look and from a Belgian. Its dominated by the fruity sweet smells of a belgian dark, but with definite smokey undertones.

The taste is like no other beer I've ever had... it was good, and I enjoyed it, but I had to wait for it to warm up for a bit before I could dissect the flavors. It has a rich fruit and light chocolate flavors, and smokey undertones that I smelled that are caused by the roasted malt. This very light smokey flavor that is not overpowering or dominating at all and are very pleasant. The combination is very nice and well balanced.

When two of the most progressive and dedicated breweries in the world combine their powers anything could happen. In this case they not only hit the target but they blew it up like a Nuclear Penguin, or a stone hitting Goliath... or something like that... I'd have to but this beer up pretty high on my list of all time favorite beers.



- Nathan

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Stone & Brew Dog Bashah
Scotland/California


ABV% 8.6


Belgian Style Double IPA

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black; Lighter brown head


Aromatics: Sweet fruit and smoke


Taste: Light hops, dominating fruity and smokey malt taste

Notes: A Scotland-brewed, combined effort between Stone and Brew Dog is exactly what you'd expect from great breweries like these two. Worth hunting down and paying a little extra for. It also has a pretty sweet label...

One of the top beers on my list I gave this beer a 93.