Monthly Archives: April 2015

Beer Reviews

757. Trillium Brewing Mosaic Dry Hopped Fort Point Pale Ale

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Trillium Mosaic Dry Hopped Fort PointAnother beer from Trillium that proves they are making some of the finest hop forward beers out there. This is a dry hopped variety of Fort Point Pale Ale which is an exceptional beer by itself and adding a round of dry hopping with Mosaic only made it better.

Appearance is similar to the original Fort Point with a hazy pale orange and nice white head that leaves a lot of lacing. The aroma is great and full of tropical fruits and a slight dankness. Taste follows with fresh tropical and citrus. This beer is not as over the top as Double Dry Hopped Melcher Street and was less bitter as I would expect a pale ale to be. Mouthfeel was excellent and alcohol was non-existent making this a very easy beer to drink.

I have yet to make the trip to Trillium but hope to soon.
Pros:
Cons:
Alcohol Content: 6.6% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): ??
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Trillium Brewing
Brewers Description: 

Beer Reviews

756. Trillium Brewing Double Dry Hopped Melcher Street

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Trillium DDH Melcher StreetEnded up with several bottles from Trillium after a friend of a friend made the trip to Boston. So far I drank all the hoppy beers and will get to the others some time soon as everything I have tried from Trillium has been excellent.

If you buy a double dry hopped beer you better like hops. Everything about this beer screams hops. Appearance is a hazy yellow, no floaties but there is still a lot of hop left in this beer. Aroma is mango, passion fruit and it is big. The first sip is an assault on your taste buds with huge juicy tropical fruits, some dank pine. After a few sips my taste buds adjusted and the beer was very enjoyable. Bitterness was there but not overpowering.

Another great beer from Trillium but it may be too much even for those that usually enjoy a nice IPA. 
Pros:
Cons:
Alcohol Content: 7.3% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): ??
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Trillium Brewing
Brewers Description: 

Beer Reviews, Maine Beer

755. Baxter Brewing Ceremony

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Baxter Brewing CeremonyI drink three things; milk for breakfast, tea (usually iced) during the day and beer in the evening so when Baxter Brewing announced a green tea IPA I had to find some and give it a try. Looking at other reviews of this beer many note the lack of flavor but one has to remember this is a 4.2% session beer so flavor usually is a bit muted. That said Ceremony met my expectation and is another solid offering from Baxter.

The beer pours a super clean golden yellow color with a thick white head. It seems the can shaped glasses give a larger than normal head. Aroma is light with some lemon, pine and maybe a hint of tea. Taste follows with a mild lemon and subtle citrus and tea flavors. Finish is fairly bitter but overall this is a nice beer that will not blow you away but shouldn’t disappoint either. 
Pros: Subtle yet flavorful
Cons:
Alcohol Content: 4.2% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): 55
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Baxter Brewing
Brewers Description: Session IPA brewed and flavored with green tea. This Fourth Anniversary Release uses Chinook, Mosaic and Sorachi Ace hops as well as gunpowder green tea. Look for Ceremony to be packaged in 16oz cans and the beer comes in at 4.2% ABV and 55 IBU.

Beer Reviews

754. Revolution Brewing Anti-Hero IPA

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Revolution Brewing Anti-Hero IPAMaybe I am just spoiled but it seems like when I try IPAs from other parts of the country I am almost always disappointed. There are a few exceptions with 3 Floyds and Russian River being two that come to mind but overall I generally find them to be blah. Part of the problem could be freshness as most of the beer I drink from the Northeast is purchased directly from the brewery and the IPAs I get from other parts of the country are through trades.

It is almost unfair to review these beers from away but I feel I have to so others do not end up trading their top quality IPA for a mediocre IPA from the Midwest. Of course this, like all of my blog posts, is just my opinion. Anti-hero is a single IPA coming in at 6.5% ABV, color is typical of the style but it had a huge tan head that left a lot of lacing. Aroma was mostly flowery hops and taste was sweet with a big bitter finish. With the words “hop assault” in the brewers description I was hoping for so much more.

Maybe it suffered due to the time and distance traveled but this one simply does not compare well with most of the IPAs I enjoy. 
Pros:
Cons: Big bitterness
Alcohol Content: 6.5% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): 70
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Revolution Brewing
Brewers Description: An American hop assault for all the ambivalent warriors who get the girl in the end. “Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, Princess.” This iconic ale features a blend of four hop varieties which creates a crisp bitterness and imparts massive floral and citrus aromas.

Beer Reviews, Vermont Beer

753. Foley Brothers Brewing Fair Maiden DIPA

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Foley Brothers Fair MaidenVermont is home to some truly exceptional IPAs and DIPAs with The Alchemist, Lawson’s Finest, Hill Farmstead and Fiddlehead getting the most attention. These beers can be hard to find but great when you can get them. Then there are a few beers that fly under the radar like this one from Foley Brothers. Fair Maiden is their DIPA and I see it on the shelf regularly when I am in Vermont.

This beer pours a deep unfiltered orange with a nice white head. Aroma has a nice blend of citrus and grassy hops. Taste starts off with the sweet malts then the hops come in with a big citrus and earthy hops with a fairly bitter finish. Alcohol is well hidden making this very easy to drink.

If you find yourself in Vermont looking for Heady, Lawson’s or making the trip to Hill Farmstead keep an eye out for Foley Brother’s Beer you will not be disappointed. 
Pros: Very flavorful, alcohol well hidden
Cons:
Alcohol Content: 8.2% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): ??
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Foley Brothers Brewing (FB Page)
Brewers Description: 

Beer Reviews, Maine Beer

752. Bissell Brothers Brewing i-Lucky

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Bissell Brothers i-LuckyI believe i-Lucky was first brewed for Pai Men Miyake a Japanese Restaurant on State Street in Portland. It was also available for tasters at the brewery and eventually made it into cans. Unfortunately this beer simply did not work for me and I ended up giving away three of the four cans I purchased.

Appearance and aroma were fine with a nice light orange color, solid white head and a muted aroma of ginger and other spices. Taste is where it fell apart as it was all ginger. I tried this beer on its own and then with my dinner and the ginger simply overpowered everything. Maybe my taste buds are sensitive to ginger or maybe the beer would work with Japanese or Thai food but it didn’t do anything for me. By the time I was half way through the can my tongue was tingling and I decided to move on to something else.

I feel like there was a well crafted beer in there somewhere but the ginger was simply too much for me. 
Pros:
Cons:
Alcohol Content: 7.0% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): ??
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Bissell Brothers Brewing
Brewers Description: IPA brewed with rice & fresh ginger. a homage to restaurant workers everywhere.

Beer Reviews, Maine Beer

751. SoMe Brewing Apostrophe IPA

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Some Brewing Apostrophe IPASmall update to this post SoMe Brewing has started to can a few of their beers including Apostrophe IPA. I bought a 4-pack and drank it over the course of a couple weeks and the beer actually seemed to get better over the course of a couple weeks. Really easy drinking IPA with loads of Mosaic hop flavors.

Some Brewing ApostropheDave from SoMe Brewing gave me this beer to try when I met with him at The Great Lost Bear. It is one of their best selling beers and a bit different than most of the IPAs out there. All Mosaic hops for this beer but unlike many single hop beers Mosaic works well for all three components; aroma, flavor and bittering.

Apostrophe pours a deep orange with minimal head and very light on the carbonation. Aroma has lots of tropical fruits and hints of onion. Taste switches gears entirely with some pear and a bit of citrus but the beer is also very sweet. Bitterness is light for an IPA.

Overall a pleasant beer that I recommend you try.
Pros: Mosaic hops
Cons: Needs more carbonation
Alcohol Content: 6.0% ABV
IBU (Bitterness): ??
Rating: 
Brewers Website: SoMe Brewing
Brewers Description: Mosaic hopped IPA