Santa Fe - Pale Ale

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Pale Ale

Santa Fe Brewing Company

35 Fire Place

Santa Fe, NM USA

Est.1988

www.santafebrewing.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 5.4 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Rich golden amber color.

Caramel malts up front and hops in the background, on the nose.

One finger, near-white head. Disappears quickly leaving some spotted lacing.

Malty with a balance of starting and finishing hops. Rather lager like in flavor profile.
Tingly carbonation.

Medium bodied malt and hops flavor.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy

Another of the west coast finds while travelling, Santa Fe Pale Ale caught my eye by the pleasing juxtaposition of the blue sky, green grass and rocky outcropping on their simple but pleasing looking label. The beer was equally good. It is a solid offering that doesn't go to extreme in the style, nor does it underwhelm. Nicely balanced, full bodied and some zip to the carbonation...it kept well on my journey back to the crypt.

The Cascade and Willamette hops were in nice balance to the malt side of the brew. It went down easy, without any fuss. An easy to session pale ale no matter how you look at it. I've another of their brews in the fridge for review. Can't wait to try it soon.

Dogfish Head - 120 Minute IPA (2009)

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120 Minute IPA (2009)

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

6 Cannery Village Center

Milton, DE USA

Est. 1995

www.dogfish.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 18.0 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 3.0 (On Tap)

Postmortem Brew Review

Amber to orange color with a bit of cloudiness on the pour.

Sweet, sugary scents. A bit of raisin.  Powerfully resiny pine notes. Alcohol detected on second whiff.

There's not much head, but there are legs of lace on the glass.

As with the smell, it is a sugary, honey and candy-like taste. Citrus hops come through after a sip.

Low amount of carbonation.

Lightly syrupy mouthfeel.. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 

Dogfish Head's famous 120 Minute IPA is hard to find in a bottle. It's even harder to find in a keg on tap. But that's the way you'd find it if you attended the 2011 Hoptomic Bitter Beer Festival held on June 18th at the Straz Center in Tampa, FL. This highly sought after, highly hopped (120 IBU's), high alcohol beverage is about as rare as a UFO sighting. But it has equal deer in headlights drawing power.

I was tipped off by a friend at the festival that it would be making an appearance. The first order of business after having my wristband slapped on, was to locate the jockey box's location. It was soon spotted outside, under a tent, tucked away in the corner of the festival. I was allowed behind the pourer's table to snap the photo above, after asking. I wasted no time in stepping up for a close encounter of my own kind.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the beer. All I know is a 120 minute hops boil, achieving 120 IBU's at 45-degree plato and 15 to 20 ABV makes for one helluva big brew. Caution, this is an extreme beer. Indulge responsibly. Muahaaahaahaa!

Mendocino - Blue Heron Pale Ale

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Blue Heron Pale Ale

Mendocino Brewing Company

1601 Airport Road

Ukiah, CA USA

(Saratoga Springs, NY)

Est. 1983

www.mendobrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 6.1 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Amber golden color with very slight haze.

Yeasty smell.

Off-white head that covers nearly to the end of the glass.

Moderate carbonation.

Nice amount of stringy lacing on glass.

Crisp taste with light malts and nice hops finish.

Light bodied and easy to drink. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy 

Another in the "birds of prey" beers by Mendocino. This pale ale is an easy to drink brew. Must be the great ingredients listed from their website such as the premium two-row Pale malted barley and two types of hops; Cluster, used for bittering and Cascade, used for the finishing.


This magnificent bird of prey (the Blue Heron) is found right here in Florida, in great abundance. We are also home to the White Heron variety. Both species frequently drop into the back yard of the crypt, usually with a fish in their beak, caught from the nearby lake.  Next time one stops by, I will reach in the fridge for one of these, Salute!

SanTan Brewing - Hop Shock I.P.A.

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Hop Shock I.P.A.

SanTan Brewing Company

8 South San Marcos Place

Chandler, AZ USA

Est. 2007

www.santanbrewing.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 7.1 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Rich copper color.

Pine hop aroma and a bit of malt on the nose.

Two finger head that leaves great spiderweb lacing.
Tastes hoppy up front with a good twinge of malt in the backbone.

Modest amount of carbonation.

Full flavor, medium bodied. Tasty hops.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
The time has come when I finally review this brew. I had a pint on tap at SanTan in Chandler earlier this year. I was glad to see they packaged in cans. So this one was brought home to compare with my tasting notes from the tap. It is quite a rocking West Coast style India Pale Ale, and one that I won't soon forget!


SanTan had such a great lineup of beers when we visited, we also ordered one of their surfboard shaped flights. It included 7 of their best from the tap. I truly enjoy a good IPA and find that this one ranks right up there in my top ten. But that's just my opinion. The bottom of the can says it all, "Craft Beer For Beer Drinking."  They may be masters of the obvious, but at least they included these instructions for its application, lest you forget what to do with it. Muahhahaha!


Along with great beer, SanTan's brewery is also a full service food pub, and the fare is oh, so good! If you ever get a chance to visit the Phoenix area, make it a point to swing by Chandler for a visit. You will be well rewarded.

Crazy Cat Lady Beer - Monks on the Beach Black Belgian Imperial IPA

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Monks on the Beach Black Belgian Imperial IPA

Crazy Cat Lady Beer Co.

Gainesville, FL USA

Est. 2010

http://crazycatladybeer.com
and
twitter.com/CatLadyBeer

Brain Damage Quotient = 17.4 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 12.0

Postmortem Brew Review

Solid, deep brown color.
Sweet malt aroma with hint of yeast and alcohol.
Defined hops on the nose.
Moderate carbonation.
Two finger, caramel tan head with stringed lace.
Full mouth feel; malted bodied.  Full-on hops. Trace alcohol as it warms. 

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
Another of my special reviews by "pico brewers" - - - Black Belgian Imperial IPA by Crazy Cat Beer Lady.

To bring you up to speed, here's what I wrote in a past entry for Crazy Cat Lady Beer:

It's about friends, and beer. And then, it's about good friends and good beer. The FLAbrew crew came, saw and conquered a tweetup at The Cock & Bull in Sarasota recently. In the house were some of the best cellered micro beers and ales, opened between friends.

After a while, we all realized there was a bit too much to be drunk, even by us seasoned beer aficionados. What to do with all this good stuff? Well, this is where my good twitter friend Amie put a couple of her home brews in my direction. Remember, I said good friends and good beer...

Here's the brewer's self proclaimed Black Belgian Imperial IPA from Amie. What an outstanding billet! This 17.4% ABV 'bomb' has a bunch of great ingredients to pack a punch. Amie divulges this about Monks on the Beach,

"I brewed that {MOTB} for my Iron Brewer entry, and I'm pretty happy with it... ...We had to use chocolate malt, citra hops, and tea. That beer is made to be a black IPA (I hopped the hell out of it), and I wanted some serious malt presence, so I used a lot of it and Belgian Strong Ale Yeast so that it could turn all that lovely malt into alcohol." - Amie

It warms in the glass to bring out the malts and the yeast components in great aroma and tongue textures. A wonderful, make that dangerously wonderful concoction. The bittering hops round out the malty sweetness.

Amie admitted to me that the carbonation might be light:

"Unfortunately, I've never had one that carbonated.. but if you would shake it up, put it somewhere in the 70 degree temp range, it should carb up nicely in a couple of weeks."

Fortunately, I kept it stored at room temp for several weeks longer, then chilled it up for 48 hours. What you see in the photo is the carbonation results I got. I was expecting a wimpy head by her description, but instead was rewarded with a magnificent pour.

With a mouthful of a name and a mouthful of ingredients, I found this to be a very enjoyable brew. Banging hops with wonderful malt and yeast components. Cheers, Amie!

Stone - Double Bastard Ale (2010)

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Stone Double Bastard Ale (2010)

Stone Brewing Company

North San Diego County

Escondido, CA USA
Est. 1996

www.stonebrew.com

Brain Damage Quotient = 11.2 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 22.0

Postmortem Brew Review
Brilliant copper color.
Sweet malts, fruity citrus hop oil aromas.
Minimal off-white head with dots of lacing on the glass. Head disappears quickly.

Aggressively hopped flavors. Bready malts and a bit boozy on the back part of the sip.
Good amount of carbonation.
Complex flavored, full body. Oak flavors as it warms.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy
"Ye Shall Know the Bastard, and the Bastard Shall Set You Free" written at the bottom of the bottle, as it is on the Bastard series, serves to warn you of what lies ahead. If you've had any of the others, the original Arrogant Bastard, the Oaked Bastard or the Lukcy 13asartd, you had better take notice that this time the warning should really be telling you something.

This over the top hopped, over the top ABV brew will really ring your bell. So take it slowly and settle in. You'll be arm wrestling this Double Bastard with both hands. The ABV of 11.2% is pronounced subtly but firmly as you work your way through each sip. The unclassified nature of the hops and the fact there are somewhere well north of 100 IBU's should also give you a heads up as to its potency.

The back label diatribe warning leads off with, "Double Bastard Ale is not to be wasted on the tentative or weak. Only the worthy are invited and then only at your own risk." So easy mate. Share with a worthy friend, or slowly and steadily at your own pace. You have been warned. Muaaa haha haaaa haaaa!

Schneider & Brooklyner - Hopfen Weisse

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Hopfen Weisse

Schneider & Sohn GmbH

8938 Krum Ave.Kelheim, Bavaria, Germany
Est. 1872

www.schneider-weisse.de 

Brain Damage Quotient = 8.2 % ABV

Fluid Oz. = 16.9 

Postmortem Brew Review

Murky golden yellow color; a little bit turbid in appearance.

Spice, banana, citrus fruit and bread on the nose.

Some good lacing at first from the near-white head.

Bready upfront with clove like spice and some citrus in taste. Hops finish is pronounced.

Moderate carbonation. 

Light to medium bodied. Alcohol is only slightly detectable, if at all.
Complex for a hefe.

Grim Reaper's Eulogy

This is the Schneider version or a brew that is the result of a friendship between Brooklyn's Garrett Oliver and Schneider's Hans-Peter Drexler. The two brewers had admired each other's differences in styles; Garrett's hoppier side and Hans-Peter's soft & smoother style. This concept brought them together to produce a hoppy style wheat beer. This was a perfect collaborative symbiosis for the two brewers as well as the two styles. The resulting weissbock beer is dry-hopped using Hallertauer and Saphir hops. (Note: The body is a bit disturbed as it appears to be left unfiltered. Best to gently roll the bottle to incorporated any sediment residue.)

Who knew this could exist in a weiss? Certainly Garrett and Hans-Peter did. The ending result is a smooth and soft wheat beer that has a strongly pronounced amount of hops. Unusual for a wheat, but wonderful to behold.

Oh yeah, beware the generous 8.2% ABV in the equally generous 16.9 ounce bottle. This ain't your standard summer refresher hefeweizen. But, do enjoy, nonetheless. Their website called it "Hoppy Fireworks!"

I'd love to find some of the stateside Brooklyn equivalent.