"Test Product" Pale Ale (bottle) - 3.8

"Test Product" Pale Ale
American Pale Ale
Arvada, CO
ABV: About 5%

Mark has been making his own hard cider for a while, then made a batch of that into applejack, and now he's finally ventured his way into brewing his own beer. His first batch is a pale ale using Warrior, Amarillo, and Cascade hops. Mark didn't want to rate his own brew, so his brother-in-law Chris is sitting in on this one.

Jon:
Clear, golden honey color. There's something interesting going on with the nose... I smell orange and banana but Mark says my smeller is off today. A tad sweet and a tad fizzy, otherwise a really great pale ale. I like the mix of hops, the flavor is right on.

3.7	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 8/10 3/5 7/10 5/5 3/5 7/10

Chris:
Great beer, almost more enjoyable than the beer is hearing about how it's made and everything that went into it. The flavor has lots of dimension and character. Two thumbs up!

3.9	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 7/10 4/5 7/10 5/5 4/5 7.5/10

Jere:
Even though it's not specifically intended to be sweet, I appreciate that unexpected quality. Considering it's a homebrew I'm definitely impressed. Can't wait for the IPA!

3.9	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 3/5 7/10 4/5 8/10 5/5 4/5 8/10

Hazed & Infused (bottle) - 3.1

Hazed & Infused
American Pale Ale
Boulder Beer Company
Boulder, CO
ABV: 4.85%

Jon:
Looks hazy. Ha! The bitterness is sharp and lemony. Very fizzy and acidic, it's got a lot of bite. Quite refreshing.

3.0	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 6/10 3/5 7/10 2/5 2/5 6/10

Mark:
Very bright and sparkly for an unfiltered beer. The combination of Centennial and Crystal hops gives it a sharp lemon rind, sour herbalness.

3.2	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 7/10 3/5 7/10 2/5 2/5 7/10

Jere:
Stronger than I remember, or maybe it's the glass... I'm guessing this is usually drunk out of the bottle.

3.2	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 6/10 4/5 6/10 3/5 2/5 7/10

JuJu Ginger (bottle) - 3.0

JuJu Ginger
Herb/Spice Ale
Left Hand Brewing
Longmont, CO
ABV: 4%

Jon:
One of my favorite ginger beers! Slightly sour nose, pretty hefty amount of ginger on the first sip. Slightly sweet and very bubbly. This is one of the priciest beers I buy on a semi-regular basis... usually the pricey beers I lean toward have a much higher ABV.

3.2	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 6/10 3/5 7/10 3/5 2/5 7/10

Mark:
Sweet and spicy gingerbread beer. I'm not really sure I like the sweetness of this. I feel an immediate urge to eat something salty.

2.3	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 4/10 2/5 3/10 4/5 2/5 4/10

Jere:
After trying some of Mark's latest distillery efforts, I probably should've had a palate cleanser before trying this ginger beer... Perhaps ginger would've done the trick! I could drink some more of this, which is high praise coming from me.

3.6	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 7/10 4/5 8/10 3/5 3/5 7/10

JimBrew 2.0 IPA (bottle) - 3.9

JimBrew 2.0
India Pale Ale
Arvada, CO
ABV: 5.4%

You won't find this one in stores... partly because we already drank all of it, and partly because it was never in stores to begin with. Our friend Jim has started brewing his own beer, and he sent a few bottles of his first IPA our way.

Jon:
Cloudy and dark. Citrus and caramel aroma. Smooth up front then considerable lingering bitterness on the end. Quite malty for an IPA, but that's a big part of what makes this really unique. The nose and finish are a bit contrasting for me, but I think things would've started to match up had I tried it more than twice. Extra point for home brewing!

3.9	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 3/5 8/10 3/5 8/10 5/5 3/5 9/10

Mark:
I'm very impressed with Jim's foray into home brewing. This IPA has a malty, slightly dark chocolate feel with a very bitter, dark aftertaste. Get job! I'm going to have to get the recipe!

3.9	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 8/10 3/5 7/10 5/5 3/5 9/10

Jere:
I've had this twice before, and if anything it's gotten better with age. Considering it was a homebrew, I appreciate it even more. Kudos to the brew meister!

3.8	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 7/10 3/5 6/10 5/5 4/5 9/10

Alaskan IPA (bottle) - 3.7

Alaskan IPA
India Pale Ale
Alaskan Brewing Company
Juneau, AK
ABV: 6.2%

Jon:
Lovely citrus nose, but has a strange herb/sage quality on first sip. Feels bright and fizzy on the tongue. Loses pretty much any distinctiveness after saturation. A good buy when on sale.

3.3	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 8/10 3/5 6/10 3/5 3/5 6/10

Mark:
This is my economy IPA, as it's been on sale for a long time at my local liquor store. Bright carbonated mouthfeel with a lemon peel bitterness.

3.9	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 8/10 4/5 7/10 5/5 4/5 7/10

Jere:
It's different, but a good different. Perhaps the 2° Below I had prior to this is coloring my judgement, but for now I don't mind. We'll see how I feel after I finish it I guess...

4.0	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 4/5 8/10 4/5 8/10 4/5 4/5 8/10

Bard's Gold (bottle) - 2.4

Bard's Gold
American Lager (Gluten-free)
Bard's Tale Beer Company
Minneapolis, MN
ABV: 4.6%

Jon:
Pretty sure this is my first sorghum beer. Nicely sweet orange aroma--but looks and tastes like someone put a drop of soap in a Shock Top. Very unique. I guess not a horrible option if you really need to go gluten-free, but I haven't tried many in this category to compare.

2.2	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 2/5 7/10 1/5 3/10 2/5 2/5 5/10

Mark:
Bard's is an odd beer. It looks great, tastes slightly sweet and slippery with a bitter and sweet molasses aftertaste.

2.4	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 2/5 7/10 3/5 3/10 2/5 2/5 5/10

Jere:
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, and taste. But I somehow toughed it out. Or at least I'm trying to...

2.3	Appearance Aroma Palate Flavor Price Buzz Overall 2/5 7/10 2/5 2/10 2/5 3/5 5/10

GABF 2009

The Great American Beer Festival was over a month ago, but I can still taste it like it was yesterday. Here's some of the great stuff I came across:

• I had somehow never tried a brew by Shmaltz Brewing despite the fact that I've passed it by at more than one local liquor store. What a mistake! The Bar Mitzvah 13th Anniversary Ale was great--built like a barley wine with lots of extra hops, very balanced. They also put out a rye IPA that I will definitely be looking for again.
• I finally got to try Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale and it didn't disappoint. It had a sweet maple syrup nose with herby, peppery undertones. Complexity can be good.
• I once drank an awful green chili beer in New Mexico that I thought had ruined me on the concept forever, but CooperSmith's green chili beer won me back. Reminiscent of Twisted Pine's Billy's Chilies, maybe even a tad more flavorful.
• Dogfish Head always brings some crazy stuff to the GABF, but they topped themselves this year with a beer they call Chicha. This selection was brewed in a traditional South American method which apparently involves chewing and spitting out the maize that goes into the beer in order to break down the starches. Brewer saliva? I couldn't pass that up! It was very sweet and floral, heavily dominated by the flavor of strawberries (not sure if the strawberries they used made it into any mouths or not). One of the most interesting beers I've had the pleasure of drinking, at least in terms of back-story.
• I got another taste of Sam Adam's Utopias this year (I somehow missed it last year), which I already wrote about in 2007 so I'm not sure why I'm bringing it up again. Oh right, because it's frickin' epic! Everyone needs to try this stuff. Seriously.

I'll be there again next year, and you should be too. Hurray beer!

-Jon