The Official INGO Beer Snob Thread

[Boba]

Brother Benjamin
Imperial IPA
Greenbush brewing company
10.1% abv


From the fridge and from the bottle, Darker than I remember it being on tap and a bit more high octane tasting. It mellows as the glass warms... or maybe I'm mellowing as the glass empties. Sweet and malty with a deep flavor. Rich and satisfying. Brewed with honey. What quality of honey I wonder. And how much more a satisfying and complete experirence it possibly makes. This challenges my canon of greats, and may have a spot at the top. Although upon further investigation I see they add beet sugar as well. Of this, I am not a fan. Tis a shame such a good tasting brew would be soiled by such a sub par ingredient. No beet sugar, thank you.

 

[Boba]

[organic] Chocolate Stout
Samuel Smith's

This was a gift. Hot damn, is this good. A dessert stout beer so good I sucked it down before I could give it a proper review. Went well with my oatmeal raisin cookies. What a treat! I could've used a few more as it is incredibly drinkable. Yummy. But I try not to over-treat. Great dessert.

 

[Boba]

Key West Sunset Ale
American Amber Ale


Light, balanced, and went well with my, "All you can eat Fish and Chips." Well ventured local beer, out of town adventure. Probably good for those beach volleyball experiences. That's all I can say.

 

[Boba]

Kermit The Hop [organic]
Double Simcoe IPA
Bison Brewing
Ukiah, CA
8.5% abv


Pours a frothy thick head that mellows and sticks to the glass real lacey-like. Clear and amber in color and bubbly. Mmm. Hop-tastic. Not bitter. My better half says, "hop candy" but I say it's not that sweet. It is light, transparent, and flavorful. Not too dense or heavy for a double. Dare I say refreshing? Can a double IPA be refreshing? This is, without giving up that floral, green hop oily flavor. It's punctuated to the front center of the palate and satisfying. Let me just say this about Bison if you haven't had the opportunity to partake... I am thoroughly impressed by the brews I have had by them. Their staple organic IPA is straight up good. I drank it regularly until it disappeared from our local spirits joint. This specialty double IPA is no different. Very well done. I seem to be drawn to this brewery. And an organic brew is a plus. A paradigm shifting brew that potentially shatters the typical canon of big hop hitters out there. It may be time to re-challenge my top 5 of all time. About $12 for a bomber. Hunt the Bison! You will not be disappointed.

 

[Dudley]

Two Brothers Brewing Co.
Outlaw IPA
6.3 ABV


I had to go to Aurora, IL for business, my hotel was in the same parking lot as the Round House/ Two Brothers brewery. I went for dinner and a few beers and came out with a growler of this.
Description from web page:
As bold as the name suggests but as friendly as the masked man. This IPA is full of citrus and pine hop character and aroma. The hop flavors play off the pleasant malt complexity like a good sidekick. Giddy-up.

 

[Boba]

I had to go to Aurora, IL for business, my hotel was in the same parking lot as the Round House/ Two Brothers brewery. I went for dinner and a few beers and came out with a growler of this.
Description from web page:
As bold as the name suggests but as friendly as the masked man. This IPA is full of citrus and pine hop character and aroma. The hop flavors play off the pleasant malt complexity like a good sidekick. Giddy-up.

Two Brothers make some solid brews. I tried their Outlaw via a six pack last summer in cans no less! along with their Sidekick Ale and DogDays Lager (#268) via cans. The Outlaw was surprisingly decent from a can; a flavor and experience you normally would not expect (from a canned beer). I have yet to taste anything sub par from Two Brothers. It appears you can't go wrong with picking some up. Check out a review of their Laughing Panda Green Tea IPA here #258 as well.

 

[Boba]

Unicorn Killer
Flavored Ale
Greenbush Brewing Co.
Sawyer, MI
7.3% abv

Ale brewed with pumpkin and spices. Initially out of the bottle it smells sweet, like halloween candy almost. Real good. Minimal bubbles or head but the ones present are ultra tiny. Pours a deep darker type amber, and it gets cloudy and more sediment-ary to the bottom of the bottle. Reminding me of the bubble gum you'd get in the red & blue wrappers in your trick or treat bag or those banana candy things. This is a refined sweet and just enough bitter to keep things balanced (42 ibu) wrapped up in a roasted feel. The spices keep things focused and concise and come out more as the glass warms. Sort of a watery mouthfeel but still keeps the palate active. Nutmeg comes through. Real good flavor.

 

[Dudley]

Just sent out a few untapped invites. User name SethMac

 

[LanceRobbins24]

Just sent out a few untapped invites. User name SethMac

Accepted!

 

[Boba]

Closure Ale
Greenbush Brewing Co.
Sawyer, MI
5.9% abv




Satisfying, with remnants of sour/bitter that sweetens the longer it sits with you... closure.

 

[kestersonj]

I'm partial to Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. Heaven in a bottle.

 

[Boba]

Dunegräs
IPA
Greenbush Brewing Co.
Sawyer, MI
6.7% abv

Cloudy light brown and yummy. Cream colored head.
Mouthfeel starts watery but grows to fulfillment. Lightly sweet malty and bitterly balanced. Floral-hoppy... its floppy. Its citrus-tang becomes more prominent as the glass warms.

 

[Boba]

Yuzu
Imperial Berliner Weisse Style Ale
New Belgian Brewing
Fort Collins, CO
8%abv

Wheat beer brewed with Yuzu juice. WTF is Yuzu you wonder? Me too. So with a little research I discovered it is a citrus fruit originally from east Asia now cultivated in Japan. Looks like a small uneven skinned grapefruit. Tastes like a subdued cross between a lemon, grapefruit, and a mandarin orange (what, no lime or cumquat thrown in too? ...lazy Japanese, total underachievers). It's three times the vitamin C content as a lemon and poised as a super fruit. Coming soon to some media hype near you!
Hmm, it is cold hardy to 15°F so perhaps it could be cultivated in our more cool temperate climates here. Local micro brewers take note! Flank, surround, and takeover the niche!
Pouring a hazy cadmium yellow...It has a pleasant aroma, and pleasing light mouth feel. Sweet-tart (sourish) and finishing dry. A light fruity wheat. Good. Enjoyable. Ladies will most likely enjoy it. Would go excellent with seafood! Lightly sweet, delicate, and citrusy. Foodies will clamor over it (briefly as with most trends). But hey, I'll give credit where credit is due. This is real good. And my new vitamin C supplement... in liquid form. Beer!

 

[Boba]

Cucumber Kölsch
Flat 12 Bierwerks
Indianapolis, IN
5.2% abv



Freakin' awesome. This is so good, but that's all I got since after I enjoyed one, my better half drank all the rest before I could give it a proper friggin' review! It's good! Damn good! Damn-it!!

 

[Boba]

Wild² Dubbel
Ale brewed with Schisandra
New Belgian Brewing
Fort Collins, CO
8%abv


I've heard of Schisandra berries; aka Chinese Magnolia vine. In fact I tried to get some starts to plant this year around but everyone I tried was sold out. Temperate cold hardy vining edible berry plant. NB is hard up on the unique, fringe, edible fruits in beer thang right about now. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised and intrigued to try. This is dark! Deep reddish, burnt sienna color. Mouth feel starts cool, clean, watery, transparent but expands and organizes across the palate. The faintest roast, but opens up a complex fruity-ness. A marked sweet profile but not at all cloying. I wish I had tried schisandra berries by themselves beforehand. Ah well. I was worried this might be too sweet, but not at all.
The bottle mentions clove (eh, maybe), dark fruit aromas (definitely), hints of black pepper and cinnamon (uh, okay. Less the cinnamon and more the black pepper which explains the "heat," "roast," "carbon," element I'm picking up). I'm liking this a bit more than I thought I would. Not just a another old LoF series craziness brew.

 

[Lammchop93]

Just turned 21 this past weekend, so I will be joining in on this. Just got home from the store today with a nice selection.

 

[littletommy]

Just turned 21 this past weekend, so I will be joining in on this. Just got home from the store today with a nice selection.

Congrats on the 21st birthday! So what beer did you get?

 

[pjcalla]

I just thought I'd share a little beer mail that I received from the East Coast. I know Dirt Wolf is available here, but I had no idea he was sending it.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

Just got back from vacation to VA (home state) and tried some local beers while there and figured I'd share.

Great Dismal Black IPA - O'Connor's, Norfolk, VA
7.5%ABV
Dark brown with a light tan head. Somewhat malty/coffee aroma yet the hops still pull thru. Makes a nice bitter and easy to drink but IMO it was almost like a bitter stout.


Northern Lights IPA - Starrhill Brewery, Charlottsville, VA
6.5%ABV
Amber with a light white head. Kinda fruity aroma/taste (maybe citrus or grapefruit) and almost a sweet tea tasting finish. Would be good on a hot summer night sitting around a fire.

Eight Point IPA - Devils Backbone, Lexington, VA
5.9%ABV
Golden in color with a white foam head (not much and didn't last long). First taste you get a huge dose of floral hoppiness with a pine/citrus taste, but kinda dry. Almost 2 dry for my likings.

Overall it was a good trip with A LOT of beer drinking. Had lots of new to me beer and liked just about everyone. Went to a place called the Yard House, and if anyone is ever on vacation or visiting VA Beach, I'd highly recommend it. They have at all times 141 different beers on tap and the food was awesome! Didn't get pics of all my beer, mostly because by the time I thought about it I was usually pretty intoxicated.

 

[Lammchop93]

Congrats on the 21st birthday! So what beer did you get?

In these past 2 weeks I've tried as many as I could without being a complete drunk.

So far, my favorites are:

New Belgium Fat Tire
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
Lugunitas A little Sumpin Sumpin Ale
Oberon (probably my favorite)
Lagunitas IPA
Black Butte Porter
Robinson's Trooper (Iron Maiden beer)
Founders All Day IPA
Guinness Urban Wheat 312
KCCO Black Lager
New Belgium Summer Helles

Really, out of all the beers I have had, the only ones I didn't enjoy were the Stone Brewing Company ones.