A Little Pick-Me-Up

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

To Øl Sleep Over Coffee IIPA

Freaking Delicious. I wasn’t to sure what to expect when I cracked this thing open. I’ve had one other coffee IPA (Mikkeller Koppi) in the past and it was a decent brew but I didn’t get that much coffee flavor out of it; it wasn’t the hit of coffee that I was expecting. So I didn’t expect much from this beer because of my previous experience with this style and man I am happy to report that this coffee IPA was the shit. Wow. Now when I poured this thing it was a little funky looking with a cloudy orange and tan body but it had nice foamy head (the color in the pic above doesn’t look quite the same as it did in person). When I shoved my nose in there it had an interesting aroma of coffee and Worcestershire sauce; it smelt good though, just kinda meaty in a good way. At this point I was getting a little concerned as to what I was getting myself into. But like any good adventurer I said “fuck it” and gave it a taste. I made the right choice. My palate was blasted with smooth notes of lightly roasted coffee that was balanced with a bright tangerine hoppyness. Those flavors make for a wonderful combination. This brew left me wanting another one and yearning to try some more coffee infused IPA’s. This is not currently a hugely popular beer style so who knows how long I’ll have to hunt to find another. But when I do find one, if it is even half as good as Sleep Over it will have been worth the search.

IPA DAY 2013

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

IPA DAY 2013 – Bell’s Hop Slam IIPA, Omnipolo Moebius IIPA, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA

I hope everyone had the chance to drink some hoppy and heady beers yesterday for International IPA Day. I managed to make some time for a few tasty beverages throughout the day. I started IPA Day off right with a pint of Hopgasm from 5 Seasons Brewery Prado accompanied by a tasty pulled pork Cuban sandwich with french frys. I love some Hopgasm, it is big and hoppy with just the right amount of bitterness and malt. Yum. I want one right now. I wish the brewpub could sell growlers of that tasty shit… And we’re back.

Later in the evening I sat down with a buddy of mine to check out some bigger IPA’s that I’ve been meaning to drink. We started with the Moebius IIPA by Omnipolo brewery from Sweden. I thoroughly enjoyed this brew. It poured a nice hazy golden color that hinted at a fuller bodied drinking experience. When you smelt the beer your senses were slammed with giant pine and grapefruit aromas. Your nostrils do not lie because this beer beats up your pallet with pine needles and grapefruits. Loads of ’em. The bitterness is right on point too just when you think it might be to much it plateaus but keeps you hanging on the edge. This might have been my favorite of the beer of the evening.

The next beer in the tasting line up was a 2013 Bell’s Hopslam IIPA that has been aging for many months. This big ass IIPA is brewed with honey to off set some of the bitterness. It is a tasty brew but this one had sat around just a little to long. I don’t want to say that the age on this beer made it malt forward but it certainly lost lots of its hoppy appeal. On the nose there was a hint of spicy hop aroma that was dominated by a sweet malty fragrance. Once you dove in there was a muted hop presence as the sweetness from the honey took center stage. All in all it was still a tasty treat but not the hop bomb I was looking for.

The final beer in the IPA Day tasting lineup was a heavy weight. Dogfish Head 120 Minute IIPA is a giant IPA clocking in at 17.5% abv. From start to finish this beer was a battling for your senses. The bouquet slammed your nose three different ways. Super boozy, super hoppy, and super malty. This theme continued throughout the drinking experience as it turned my taste buds up to 11. This thing is a sipper if I have ever seen one. It is hard to say what aspect stands out most about this beer as your palate just gets hit with repeated overwhelming waves of tasty booze, hops, and malty sweetness. Either way it was a monster and I enjoyed it.

I hope you folks had a hoppy IPA Day too!

Chocoholics Anonymous

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Terrapin Dos Cocoas – Chocoholics Anonymous

Terrapin Dos Cocoas is a beer for chocolate lovers. This beer is a resurrection from Terrapin’s past. Originally brewed in 2008 this beer was voted back into existence via Terrapin’s loyal fan base. Dos Cocoas is a rich, smooth, velvety, porter that is encompassed in chocolaty goodness. The nose, palate, and finish are all a robust combination of dark and milk chocolate flavors. The beer gets its’ chocolate overload flavoring from cocoa powder and cocoa nibs provided by Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company.

Stone RuinTen: BOOM! HOPS IN YO’ FACE!

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

What can I say about this great fucking beer? It should come out more often? Yes. It is an explosion of hops in your face? Yes. Weak pallet-ed individuals might curl up in a corner and cry? Yes. Ahh whatever… When you smell this beer you might feel like you are sticking your face in a big bag of Centennial hops. It really has a straight up hop aroma with not much in the way of malt on the nose. It is a beast. Big bitterness followed up with a blast of piney, citrus, and spicy hop notes. I am glad that I found this pick that I took of the bottle. I thought I destroyed this thing to quickly to snap a photo. Find this and consume it.

Destroyed in June

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

There has been a lot of undocumented carnage this month. Here are some beers that stuck around long enough to get there picture taken… I missed taking some pictures of some good ones this month though; Stone RuinTen and Avery 20th anniversary IIPA. If you can find either one of those you better drink them or give them to me. Yeah, you should definitely give me the beer. Cheers.

: Avery Maharaja IIPA – One of the best beers Avery Makes. It’s a big mofo of an IIPA!

: 21st Amendment Lower De Boom – A big ass Barley Wine in a little can. This is a nice malty barley wine with a good hoppy kick. The packaging format couldn’t be anymore perfect. Just the right amount of beer.

: 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon – The pool beer for the summer. It comes in a can. It is light, crisp, and refreshing. Watermelon flavor adds just the right amount of character. Low abv so you can pace your self in hot sun. If you are near a body of water on a hot day give this brew a try.

: Widmer Brothers Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout – So BeerGeekATL and I cracked this bad boy open during a power outage drinking party… It was dark when we tried to drink it; the room lit by colored LED lights and candles. The beer was poured. It smelled a little tart. We all tried it. It had some Funk to It. We decided to shine a light on the brew and it was nasty! Chunks of unidentifiable gunk and goo were floating everywhere. Was it a bottle of dregs? Who knows. This little bastard had to go down the drain 🙁 it sounded so tasty too. Hopefully i’ll find another one of these one day.

: Terrapin Monks Revenge Belgian IPA – The fruity esters from the Belgian yeast hide the bitterness in this full bodied IPA.

: SweetWater Brewing Some Strange – This is a velvety smooth double black IPA. This is some strange that you’ll want to brag about.

: Stone Old Guardian Barley Wine – Finely crafted American style barley wine.

: Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog – It is a big brown beer.

: Sixpoint Resin IIPA – This is a big and hoppy west coast style IPA that is brewed in the northeast. It freakn’ tasty so you better damn well try it!

: Sixpoint Bengali Tiger IPA – I tried this at Taco Mac the other day and had to pick up a 4 pack because I liked it so much. Piney and malty through and through. Still leaning towards the west coast style even with the pronounced malt flavor.

: Sierra Nevada Ovila Abbey Quad with Plums – Rich, slightly viscous, and super fucking tasty. This thing was brewed using actual Monks in the wort or something. Deep dark plum flavors with hints of fruit and banana give this quad a wonderful complexity.

: New Holland Imperial Hatter IIPA – This is definitely an east coast style IIPA. It is malty, spicy, and earthy.

: New Belgium Rampant IIPA – This is a very light bodied west coast style IIPA. Nice and hoppy with no real malt flavor to speak of.

: Mother Earth Sisters of the Moon IPA – I think this was an east coast style IPA but don’t totally recall.

: Green Flash Imperial IPA – This thing is a West Coast Hop Monster! Big in your face hoppyness and bitterness! I love it!

: Founders Devil Dancer IIIPA 2013 – An explosion of hops and malt in your mouth.

: Clown Shoes Porcine Unidragon “American Imperial Stout” – I guess it’s American cause it is aged in whiskey barrels? I dunno but it was an oaky beast.

: The Bruery White Oak – This beer is full of bourbon flavors. Tons of caramel, vanilla, and oak going on. It was a nice golden color and had the mouth feel of a good stout.

: Dogfish Head 61 Min IPA with Syrah Grape Must – This is a tasty treat. The Syrah adds a hit of pink to this IPA and cloaks the bitterness. You are left with a hoppy IPA with interesting hits of fruit.

Wrecking Bar Brew Pub 2nd Anniversary

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Flight of Five Russian Imperial Stouts at the Wrecking Bar.

So I went to down to Little 5 Points the other night in search of some good food and drinks before heading to an improv comedy show at Dad’s Garage and ended up at the Wrecking Bar Brew Pub. Man, did I get lucky and head down there on the right night. It turned out to be Wrecking Bar’s 2nd anniversary and this meant that they pulled out the big guns. I started browsing the beer list for the night and was about to order a house brewed Russian Imperial Stout(RIS) that was aged in a Prichard’s Rye Whiskey Barrel. But there were 3 other barrel aged varieties of the Siberius Maximus RIS and the bartender must have seen the concerned look on my face when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to drink four 12% abv stouts without getting to shitty to make it to the improv show. So she offered me a flight of the RIS beers including the non-barrel aged version. This made me happy as I didn’t even think it was a possibility. Thank you bar tender lady; you are a genius! These stouts were each splendid and unique. The original un-aged stout was a malty, sweet, full-bodied monster. Big roasty dark chocolate and honey flavors lead the way in this tasty stout. It is hard to say which one of the “regular” barrel aged versions I liked the most but I think the rum barrel was the winner. The sweetness of the rum played nicely with the chocolate and honey flavors present in this RIS. The Woodford Reserve and Prichard’s version were uniquely different from each other with the Woodford being the smoother and less peppery of the two. But my favorite RIS of the night would be the Mexican RIS aged in a Prichard’s Rye Whiskey barrel. DAMN, it was good. They turned up the heat on the standard RIS recipe and added hot peppers, cinnamon, and other good things that I can not remember. This thing was full flavored through and through. It had complementary but contrasting flavors that would take you from sweet vanilla and cinnamon and then rocket you to caramel and chocolate notes with a big spicy finish that left some residual heat and my mouth begging for another sip. This was by far my favorite but the entire RIS line up, it was excellent. If your in 5 Points swing on down to the Wrecking Bar and check out what’s on tap.

Destroyed in May

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Here are some beers that were destroyed in may. They were enjoyed to quickly to do a real review on each.

: Sierra Nevada Celebration – One of my all time favorites.

: Lagunitas Sucks – A wonderfully west coast style IPA. This was my last one 🙁 Hopefully we will be seeing them on store shelves sooner than later.

: Magic Hat Pistil – An ale made with Dandelions was the best of the Magic Hat beers I tried lately. This one seemed to have a little more going on flavor wise but it was still very similar to the other Magic Hat beers I tried that evening.

: The Bruery White Oak – The Bruery consistently produces some knock-out beers and this one doesn’t disappoint. It is a bourbon filled monster of a wheat beer. Tons of vanilla and caramel flavors going on here.

: Boulevard Single Wide IPA – What is this? A DFH 60 Min Clone? Tasty none the less. I should find out which came out 1st… Same goes for Double Wide IPA, I mean 90 Min, er no Double Wide is right.

: Magic Hat Saint Saltan – A little coriander showed through but mostly tasted like the Ticket to Rye. I think the beers are so mild in flavor that the yeast is at the forefront of what I taste. I don’t know how else to explain the Magic Hat beers tasting so similarly. Then again maybe it is just me.

: Anderson Valley Bourbon Barrel Stout – A Damn Fine Stout. May I have another?

: Rouge XS IIPA

: Westbrook Weisse Weisse Baby – Light and Tart

: Dogfish Head Positive Contact – This was an interesting spicey, cidery, herbal treat. Different then any other beverage I have ever tried.

: Ale Asylum Bedlam – Just drink one.

: Pipeworks Ninja vs Unicorn – Awesome name, decent beer. Not much in the way of hops when you gave it a whiff.

: Southern Tier 2XIPA – I really don’t think this thing is dry hopped. If it is an IPA it should be dry hopped. IMO anyway.

: Founders Devil Dancer – A gnarly, malty, hopped-up, son of a bitch! Try it. Oh, it is 12abv too!

: Magic Hat Ticket to Rye – Meh. I tried three different styles of Magic Hat the night that I had this and they were all very similar in taste. I’m not sure what it is, maybe the yeast they use? Maybe similar ingredients in their recipes? They were all kind of boring.

: Founders Doom – A Bourbon Barrel Aged IIPA. Think Double Trouble blended with your favorite bourbon.

: Clown Shoes Supa Hero – Unfortunately something was wrong with this beer and it smelled like ketchup. Tasted kinda wacky too. Maybe next time I’ll get a good one!

: Boulevard Coffee Ale – A highly quaff-able coffee ale. I need to run down another one of these bad boys.

: Three Floyds Dreadnaught – Badass IIPA

: Dogfish Head 90 Minute – A classic malty IIPA

A Hopgasm in my mouth

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

5 Seasons Hopgasm IPA

I hit up 5 Seasons Brewing Prado location for dinner the other night and got to sip on a great IPA. Their house brewed IPA is called Hopgasm. It is a big IPA that is mellow on the bitterness and it can easily be sipped or slammed depending on your mood. It was Memorial Day weekend and the pigs were rolling deep in my neck of the woods so I chose the former drinking method. The brew pub has a good selection of beers brewed in-house as well as a couple of other craft brews on tap from time to time; but I am usually stuck on the Hopgasm because it is so tasty. For dinner I had the Ropa Vieja which is a marinated skirt steak with vegetables and avocado/lime mashed potatoes. The whole meal was great (probably the 3rd time I’ve had it) and I love the mashed potatoes so much that I have made them at home (I added some fresh jalapenos to mine). If you are looking for some good brews and a solid meal head on down to 5 Seasons Brewing. Oh and try the beer cheese soup too!

Surfs Up

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Port Board Meeting

A perfect beer for a rainy day. Port Brewing‘ s Board Meeting Brown Ale is a medium bodied dark brown ale full of chocolaty goodness. It looks more like a stout than a brown ale but doesn’t have a stouts full body. With one whiff it is very apparent that this beer is brewed with coffee and cocoa nibs. The coffee lends a nice roast to the beer but the chocolate is really the star of the show here. The more the beer warmed the more it tasted like a glass of rich and dark melted chocolate. I enjoyed this brew on a cool, dark and stormy day yesterday and it was quite fitting for the occasion. I will be hunting down another bottle of this beer very soon.

The Last Minute

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Beer Destroyer

Stone Enjoy By: 5.17.13

I couldn’t let this beer sit in my fridge any longer. Yesterday I came home from work, opened my fridge and was accosted by this beer that refused to let me walk away until I consumed it! I have been thoroughly enjoying the “Enjoy By” series from Stone Brewing Company. These big bad double IPA’s are meant to be consumed fresh and have a recommended drinking date that is about a month after the beer has been bottled. These beers do not make it to every market that Stone serves so if you see one sitting on your local retailers shelf feel lucky and pick one up. Here in Georgia we have had the benefit of receiving a couple of the beers from this series. This particular version of Enjoy By had a great combination of pine and citrus going on in the nose and palate. Man it was tasty. I wish they would release one of these beers for every single day of the year. I would love the obligation of having to drink one every day.

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