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Archive for July, 2012

Beer Review: Bridgeport Brewing – Hop Czar

Posted in Uncategorized on July 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

To start, this is definitely one of my favorite beer names.   Hop Czar is a delicious Imperial IPA that is both delicious and strong.  The taste reminds me of  Bell’s Hopslam, which is quite the compliment for anyone outside of the Midwest.  The hop flavor is just about right, though nothing impressive at a listed 87 IBU, and the beer also finishes clean without the bitter aftertaste that some other IPA’s (or IIPA’s) might have.  It’s a little less sweet than others of the same style that I’ve had, but that’s a good thing.  While its a pretty potent beer (7.5% abv), you can’t taste it.  If you are an IPA fan definitely pick up a 6 pack of this ASAP.

Grade: B+

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Beer Event – New Belgium “Clips of Faith”

Posted in Beer Trips & Travel on July 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This past Friday I attended New Belgium’s “Clips of Faith” at Gasworks park in Seattle.  I think most of us that love craft beer and microbrews know New Belgium pretty well.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks of them as one of the “big guys” in the craft beer world as they are well distributed, and with that there is a bit of a negative connotation.  Going into the event, I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical as I was still thinking of New Belgium as the “big guy”, but in the end I had a new found respect for the brewery.

New Belgium simply nailed this event, which was a mix of an Indi-film and beer festival.  To start, Gasworks park is a pretty awesome venue with great views of Lake Union and downtown Seattle, so that certainly helped.  On top of that, it was fairly inexpensive with $5 12 0z beers or a 4 beer sampler for the same price.  The films, though I honestly did not give them my full attention, were well done and easy to watch.  The crowd is pretty hard to explain, as some were already seated in their lawn chairs, but it was very relaxed and happy from what I could tell.  I walked around the tents with my wife for the most part and everything was well done and cool.  From the giant Connect 4 to the beer flavor station, there was a lot to keep us entertained even if we weren’t watching all of the films.

As you can tell from this review I was pretty thrilled with the New Belgium Clips of Faith event.  If they are coming your way soon I definitely suggest you attend.  Oh, and the Matt’s Dubbel was delicious!

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Beer Review: Fremont Brewing Co. – Kentucky Dark Star

Posted in Beer Reviews on July 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I love beer and I enjoy bourbon, but typically I don’t love bourbon stouts as they just have too much bourbon flavor.  I actually tend to avoid them as I seem to be let down more often than not.  I’m not sure what made me try the Kentucky Darkstar when I went to Fremont Brewing Company (especially since it was a fairly warm day and I just had walked a mile to get there), but I’m glad I did.  The beer most definitely had a strong bourbon scent, so I was not expecting to love it.  However, when I tasted the beer….I could taste the beer!  The first flavors were of a delicious stout (oatmeal stout to be exact) with the bourbon flavor complimenting the style perfectly.  The beer is rich, flavorful, very drinkable for such a strong beer (9.5% abv), and really close to perfection.  I’m still in awe of how much I loved this beer.  I even bought one that I plan on aging for awhile, but honestly, it won’t last more than a few months.

Grade: A+

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Live from Seattle

Posted in Uncategorized on July 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Well I just moved to a great beer city from Indianapolis (an underrated beer city) so haven’t had a whole lot of free time to update the blog, but that will change.  I hope some of my Indy/midwest friends will throw in some reviews now and then.

 

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