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COAST Brewing Company HopArt

Friday, January 13th, 2012
coast brewing company hopart ipa

COAST HopArt

The usual Thursday night get together was interrupted by the first snow storm of the season. Rich, being an American craft beer trooper, made it out in his over sized, 4-wheel drive vehicle. So we shared three American craft beers. We had:

All three beers were solid but I am choosing HopArt as today’s beer. Why? Hopslam is just coiming out in my area and I will have my fill tonight :) and I picked up six of the Daly Double (not all for myself), placing my thoughts in an earlier sips entry.

HopArt has a nice compliment of citrus, fruity, and pine hops that play perfectly together in the aroma and taste. The malt sweetness is held back by the hops while allowing a bitterness that lingers without being obtrusive.

It has been a year since my first and only other HopArt tasting. The experience was equally fulfilling but hopefully I won’t have to wait another year for my third helping. Enjoy!

Aroma: 10 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 8 (35%), Overall: 8.9

Useless Fact: Flies prefer to breed in the center of a room. This is why experts advise placing flypaper away from corners.

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Snow Day – New Belgium Brewing Company

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

A few weeks ago I was out to dinner with my wife at a local steak house.  The beer selection was not very impressive and of all the choices of beer on tap the Snow Day from New Belgium was the most interesting. I had never had it before, and I always enjoy a chance to try a new beer.  It hit the spot that night and paired perfectly with my steak with crumbled blue cheese on top. 

Beers like this one from “main stream” micro brews are not my usual go to beers very often any more.  With that being said, I think that’s a shame.  Many of the main stream micro breweries make good beer, but they tend to get forgotten as us craft beer drinkers are always hunting down the latest new rare beer.  New Belgium Brewing Company opened in 1991 and I would bet a few bucks that they are a brewery that has started a large number of people down the road to being craft beer drinkers.

So here is a challenge for you.  The next time you are at the store picking up beer, go back to your roots and pick out a beer that you had back in the beginning of your journey down “craft beer road”.  What was your first “Micro Brew”?

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Tyranena Brewing Company Chief Blackhawk Porter

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
tyranena brewing company chief blackhawk porter

Tyranena Chief Blackhawk Porter

Chief Blackhawk Porter by Tyranena Brewing Company is one of the very first American Porters that I had that hooked me on the style. I had dabbled in porters before but Chief Blackhawk really helped define the style and what it could be.

Chocolate and coffee carry this malty beer on the nose, both come through in the taste with minimal bitterness in the finish. The combination of body and carbonation perfectly fit the beer.

I will continue to frequent Chief Blackhawk each time I have a chance as it always leaves a smile on the senses. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 9 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 9.0

Useless Fact: Only female bees work. Males remain in the hive and literally do nothing, their only mission in life being to fertilize the queen bee on her maiden flight. For this purpose literally thousands of males are hatched, out of which only one or two mate with the queen. After they have served their function, the males are not allowed back into the hive but are left outside, where they starve to death.

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Half Acre Beer Company Daily Double

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
half acre beer company daily double

Half Acre Daily Double

I feel lucky that Half Acre Beer Company is within an hour of the house. I like American craft brewers that are willing to make and release one offs on a regular basis. I have yet to have one that I haven’t liked. I knew I couldn’t make it on release day and was surprised, after a phone call on Saturday, that they still had plenty left of Daily Double.

My next thought quickly changed to how to convince the wife to drive out the brewery while on a date night. I barely made the suggestion and my wife was all for it. Awesome. Getting good American craft beer is always easier when the wife is 100% all in.

Daily Double is loaded full of Citra hops. The tropical fruit aroma can be had from a few feet away from the glass. Joined by caramel, bread, and wood, the scent is top notch and mildly remind of Zombie Dust. The taste follows and is quite the easy drinker.

If this became a year-round release, I wouldn’t complain one bit. Time to share with my each coast trading buddies. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 9 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 8 (35%), Overall: 8.8

Useless Fact: TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

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Rising Tide Brewing Company Atlantis

Saturday, January 7th, 2012
rising tide brewing company atlantis

Rising Tide Atlantis

My trading partner from Maine, Matt, continues to send me fantastic American craft beers from his nape of the neck. This last shipment included a bevy of Rising Tide Brewing Company options. The first pull of the lot is Atlantis, a Cascadian Dark Ale.

American craft brewing is about letting the artisinal side show through. This beer does with a heaping helping of smoke malt that becomes the dominant malt in the beer. Roast and even chocolate find their way, while strong pine and citrus hops balance. In spite of the peat level, the beer is well balance and quite easy to drink. The peat that I mention, in spite of being dominant, isn’t huge which is a saving grace for the beer. I would definitely have this beer. I hope the hint sinks in.

I don’t know how long the Rising Tide has been around but it doesn’t seem like there are ton of different brews of theirs floating around. I think Matt sent me just about everything. Now I just need him to upload pics onto the site. ;) Enjoy!

Aroma: 8 (25%), Taste: 7 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 8 (35%), Overall: 8.1

Useless Fact: Saudi Arabia, which contains one of the largest expanses of desert in the world and through which great camel caravans have traveled for centuries, must import both sand and camels. River sand is sent to Arabia by the ton from Scotland for use in construction; desert sands are not suitable for building purposes. And since camel herds are dwindling in Arabia, camels must be imported from North Africa.

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Take one down and pass it around..

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Hello Beer Drinkers!  This is my first time blogging on TwoBeerDudes.com, so I thought that I would introduce myself.  My name is Steve (tikibeer) and I am a…….craft beer drinker.  I was introduced to the craft beer world by Scot a few years ago when he set me up with a six pack of beers from his beer cellar.  I actually remember thinking “weird beers”.  But I tried the first one (Scurvy from Tyranerna) and I started to understand why he was into craft beer!

 I just wanted to thank Scot and Rich for letting me get in on the action here on the site.  I have been reviewing beers on TwoBeerDudes.com for almost a year now.  I started things off with a review of Arctic Panzer Wolf back in February and have been hooked ever since.  I have had an opportunity to have some great beers in that short time, thanks to Scot,Rich, and Chuck sharing some great beers over the last year at our Thursday night beer group. 

 So long for now………Take one down and pass it around..

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Hub City Brewing Company Snowbunny Ale

Thursday, January 5th, 2012
hub city brewing company snowbunny ale

Hub City Snowbunny Ale

If you have followed my ramblings over the past few years, you might recall that I have wanted to complete the 50 states of American craft beer. For those out of the loop, simply put it is having at least one rating on Two Beer Dudes from each of the 50 United States. I have slowly chipped away. This is not the post that celebrates me finishing said endeavor. This post is about knocking Iowa off the list. I believe I am down to five give or take a couple. Maybe this should have been one of my New Year’s resolutions.

Snowbunny Ale, a cream ale, by Hub City Brewing Company becomes the cherry popper from Iowa. They say you never forget your first. That is unfortunate in this case. Snowbunny did nothing to remind me of one. The look and aroma started off half-way decent but once I tasted the beer, that was it. I was done. It tasted like a cream soda. Yuck!

One below average beer from Iowa won’t scare me away, I will be back for more. I will have to plan my next American craft beer from the state better. Enjoy!

Aroma: 8 (25%), Taste: 5 (25%), Look: 8 (15%), Drinkability: 5 (35%), Overall: 6.2

Useless Fact: Dartmouth was the only college in New England to remain open during the entire Revolutionary War.

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2012 American Craft Beer Resolutions

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

I can’t believe that 2011 is already gone. So many broken resolutions but at least I kept the most important one: 365 American Craft Beers in 365 Days. This endeavor was probably the highlight of my year, especially since I made it.

What did I lose out on? The biggest is my waist line. Bigger than ever and growing. I wanted to lose weight or at least maintain but that eroded rather quickly. I have remade that my number one 2012 goal. I would like to drop 10 pounds the first quarter of the year; trying to make my goal feasible and reasonable. I think if I break the weight loss into smaller segments, smaller goals I will find a way to achieve and thrive. I will not give up my American craft beer but I will cut back on food intake and junk food intake while trying to up the number of salads. I will keep sweets in but not on a daily basis but, hopefully, a weekly basis and under control in portion size. I am too embarrassed to list my weight but I will try to update on the weight loss/gain periodically.

Now onto the good stuff: American craft beer resolutions. I don’t have many and none are complicated.

  • Home brew more. I really enjoy home brewing. I brewed last Monday and Friday. I am ready to brew again, I just need more carboys. The goal here is to get really good with a core group of beers that I can serve all the time. If I was younger and had money, I would probably pursue this as a career path.
  • Visit at least five breweries I haven’t been to. This past year I sort of slacked. If it wasn’t for the summer trip, I don’t think I would have hit any up.
  • Limit my American craft beer budget. American craft beer is getting more and more expensive, especially as the hipsters try to get in, trying to turn a buck. Home brewing will see a bigger piece of my budget so something has to give. This is the obvious choice.

My last resolution: spend more quality time with the family. I hope everyone has a prosperous and healthy 2012. Enjoy!

Useless Fact: North Texas State University gives a degree in “dance-band arts”.

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The Bruery Oude Tart

Saturday, December 31st, 2011
the bruery oude tart

The Bruery Oude Tart

New Years Eve. The year is over. It is necessary to celebrate with an American craft beer that would send the year off with a bang.

Oude Tart by The Bruery, from what I understand, is a one-time release that could only be picked up a the brewery. Does it come out annually? I believe it is aged some eighteen months.

The funk of the beer seemed to arise from some type of Brett inoculation as there are barnyard and earthy aromas and flavors. Cherry dark fruit adds complexity while there is tart rather than sour tones.

Quite a nice drinking beer, mildly dry, that kept the senses wanting. Nicely done. Enjoy!

Aroma: 9 (25%), Taste: 8 (25%), Look: 10 (15%), Drinkability: 9 (35%), Overall: 8.9

Useless Fact: A ‘jiffy’ is a unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

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Goose Island Beer Company Christmas Ale

Thursday, December 29th, 2011
goose island beer co. christmas ale

Goose Island Christmas Ale

No matter how much I try to get into the Christmas spirit I never really go much for seasonal American craft beer. Christmas Ale by Goose Island Beer Company doesn’t really fall into that category as it is an American Brown Ale but any beer with “Christmas” in the title brings those notions to my head.

Christmas Ale should definitely be left out for a bit before drinking as straight from refrigeration isn’t a good idea: bitter dark malt and grotesquely bitter overall. After a bit of warming the beer settles done and drinks quite well.

My orginal rating, almost two years ago, probably should be updated as Christmas Ale is better than an average beer. I would say it is in the lower eight range.

Tonight is the last Thursday night get together for Rich, Chuck, Steve, and myself. I hope all is up for a few good beers before the New Year. Enjoy!

Aroma: 7 (25%), Taste: 7 (25%), Look: 7 (15%), Drinkability: 7 (35%), Overall: 7.0

Useless Fact: Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.

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