Big Sky - IPA

Dead Wapiti

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Big Sky India Pale Ale
Big Sky Brewing Company
Missoula, MT USA
Est. 1995
www.bigskybrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.2 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Golden to amber and clear colored.
Piney resin notes in the aroma.
Two-finger off-white head. Slowly dissipates leaving stretcy strings of lace.
Satisfying hops punch with a bit of caramel malt in the taste.
Modest amount of carbonation.
Medium mouth feel. Easy to session.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
More liquid gold from Big Sky. They are fast becoming a favorite of mine.  Sure glad I took the lunch hour at the Beer Bloggers Conference in November to pick up the mixed 12 pack of their samplings.  Every one I tried from the box has been a hit in taste and this one was no exception.

This IPA has that right 'zaaz' of hops in the smell and taste, making it a great (ob)sessionable beer! The grapefruit and pine aroma right up front and a warming biting amount of hops in the finish is tantalizing. Its creamy caramelized  finish coats your tongue and throat with the delicious hops flavor; great if you are a hop-head like me. It's very well balanced between malts and hops. Get your hands on some if you can.

Ska - Buster Nut Brown Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Buster Nut Brown Ale
Ska Brewing Co.
225 Girard Street
Durango, CO USA
Est. 1995
www.skabrewing.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.15 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Toffee brown color with some ruby highlights when held up to light.
Deep bready aroma with nutty notes. Roasted malt background.
Nicely foaming two finger tan head with decent lacing on glass.
Creamy sweet malt taste up front. Some nuttiness and a bit of hops.
Nice amount of carbonation.
Medium bodied mouth feel. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
New brew for me straight outta the west. I returned from Colorado in November with a mix 12 pack of Ska and this is the first one opened for review.  They are a funky fine brewery; just take a tour of their website.  Try not to bust into a ska dance snit while the music blares over your PC speakers! Very cool attitude from this bunch.

The Buster Nut Brown is a great English style brown ale done pretty straight up.  It's easy to sit around all day with a bunch of these. Enjoy the music, enjoy the commentary and by all means, enjoy some Buster Nut!

Gotta get out to Durango one day and meet these cats!

Odell Isolation Ale

Dead Soldier 

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer

Isolation Ale
Odell Brewing Company
800 East Lincoln Avenue
Fort Collins, CO USA
Est. 1989
www.odellbrewing.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.1 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Light amber brown color.
Nutty, wood and spice smells with malt aromas to the nose.
Short head disappears to a cover but leaves clingy lacing.
Soft, sweet malt taste with hints of spice that balances the sweetness.
Soft carbonation.
Full flavored, medium bodied. More flavorful as it warms. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
I have been trying to retrieve some of this ale from my trips to Colorado without much success...that is, until I visited this fall and found some just at release. This is an Odell seasonal selection, so being there during the winter months is necessary in order to score some for your very own.

I find this a quite interesting departure from their other 12 oz bottles. And it lives up to the label's enchanting vision of being stuck in a warm cozy cabin on a cold winter's evening. Believe it or not folks, the temps in South Florida have dipped into the low 30's this week. I had my CSU beanie on this morning, sporting the Rams colors on the way into the office. So when evening came, I remembered the Isolation Ale was in the back of the fridge. A good brew to 'hunker-down' with on a cold winter's evening, for sure. One beauty of a Winter Warmer!

Magic Hat - Howl WInter Seasonal

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Magic Hat - Howl Winter Seasonal
Magic Hat Brewing Company
5 Bartlett Bay Road
Burlington, VT USA
Est. 1994
www.magichat.net

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.6 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Brown to black in color.
Malt and chocolate (bitter style) dry aromas.
One finger tan head that slowly but certainly vanishes.
Caramel malt creamy taste with zip of a hop finish at the end.
Active amount of carbonation that tingles.
Medium bodied.Very sessionable.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Easy to session, this Schwarzbier is tasty and leaves you wanting more.  It finishes nicely but has just a slight bit too much carbonation, (only drawback I could find.) All in all it makes a great session beer and I could easily see myself drinking a few of these.  The alcohol content is low enough and the taste is impressive to keep you coming back for more.

This winter, pick up some of this sinister looking beer and 'Howl" a little yourself! 

Inside the cap says, "Behold the power of yeast!"

Boulder Beer - Singletrack Copper Ale

Dead Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Singletrack Copper Ale
Boulder Beer Company

2880 Wilderness Place
Boulder, CO USA
Est. 1979
www.boulderbeer.com 

Brain Damage Quotient = 4.9 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0 

Postmortem Brew Review
Clear and copper in color.
Bread-like malt with distinct but buried aromas of hops.
Two finger, off white head upon pour that dissipates slowly and leaves little cover.
Tastes just as it smells but with sharp hops at the end.

Some lace coating on side of glass.
Light to medium bodied. Easy to drink.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Here's a beer in the American Pale Ale category that defies the description. Now while it is a great, drinkable beer with some quirky characteristics, I didn't find that it was exactly like any other American Pale Ales that I have tasted before.

It is a super little beer that needs its own category. It's really easy to drink and the malts and hops play around in an off beat way. But that is exactly why I think I liked it in the first place.

Try some for yourself.

Cigar City - Maduro Brown Ale

Resurrected Soldier

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Maduro Brown Ale
Cigar City Brewing Company
3924 West Spruce Street
Tampa, FL USA
Est.2008
www.cigarcitybeer.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.5 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Rich brown color.
Deep malty aroma, not much else.
Tan colored, minimal head that settles quickly to a cover.
Lacing is also minimal on the glass.
Malty sweet with a slight sugary sweet taste at end of each sip.
Nice amount of carbonation.
Medium bodied mouth feel. Pretty easy to drink in a session.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 
V I C T O R Y !  Raise your glasses folks.

Went to my favorite watering hole tonight and ordered the Maduro in celebration of the Cigar City Tasting Room's approval for wet zoning.  The Tampa City Council passed the decision in a close 4 to 3 'yes' vote.  CCB had previously been allowed temporary permits that had to be renewed on a regular basis to keep the Tasting Room open.  All seven Tampa council persons showed up on this important vote.  It was a great relief to the local craft beer community of Florida and beyond to hear that Tampa's multi-award winning brewery was allowed to have a permanent wet zoning license.

Cigar City has grown in just two years from two employees to over twenty. People I know have planned portions of their Florida vacations just to visit this renown brewery, showing they have the drawing power to bring tourism into the state. I have visited the place and found it nice to see where the beer is made and enjoy one or two of their delicious beers.  Half growlers or double growlers are available for purchase along with 12 oz and 750 ml bottles. You can also buy shirts, hats and other CCB logo items.

Remember to support your local brewery, your local brewer and fight for the right to drink decent beer. It's the only fight worth having over beer.

Big Sky - Heavy Horse Scotch Ale

Dead Horse

Where to Dig Up More About This Beer
Big Sky Heavy Horse Scotch Ale
Big Sky Brewing Company
Missoula, MT USA
Est. 1995
www.bigskybrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.7 % ABV
Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Dark brown and clear colored.
Toasted malty, dry aroma.
Two-finger tan colored head. Slowly dissipates leaving a yeasty cover.
Malty with a caramel sweetness with a drying scotch-like taste. Caramel finish.
Modest amount of carbonation.
Medium mouth feel. Easy to session.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Returned from the first ever Beer Blogger's Conference in Boulder, CO with a mix 12 pack from Big Sky.  I loved their Moose Drool so much that I thought it would be worth a risk on more of their products. Good choice!

The Heavy Horse is a super easy to drink Wee Heavy style and does not disappoint in the least.  I found that it has some very satisfying caramel and toasted flavors along with the drying scotch-like finish.  The caramel note at the end was also nicely unexpected.

Hitch your plow to this Scotch Ale next time you're out plowing the "north forty".