Rogue – Dead Guy Ale

Dead Guy Ale

Tan: I just looked this up and found out it is considered a German Maibock style ale. Whatever it is, this an excellent ale – well balanced, wonderful malt flavor, smooth finish. I was on vacation and bought this in the large, 64oz growler and WOW was it ever a perfect batch. It seemed more brown sugary out of the growler. It was so good we ended up buying two more growlers, which is really something since I love changing up my beer selection constantly. So gather your friends, crank up your favorite Dead song, and lift a pint to the sweet life.

Ninkasi – Total Domination IPA

Tan: Holy cow, what an aroma. If someone walked by with a pint of this I would be tempted to steal the beer from them just because of the wafting fumes. It has a sunshine hop flower aroma mixed with mango and grapefruit. Luckily the goodness doesn’t stop there. The flavor is a fresh IPA lovers dream. The flowery hop flavor is well balanced and without any heavy bitterness. It has a nice clean finish. This is one of my current favorite IPAs right now. I’m so glad this is now being distributed around Portland now and is available at many of the local supermarkets.

Firestone Walker – Double Barrel Ale

Tan: This is an interesting ale. At the first couple sips I wasn’t sure what to think – an English style ale yet something else is there. Ah yes, now I can taste it… Tea! The aroma is raisin and fig. After a few more sips I can now smell the tea aroma as well. The beer has a light initial bite that quickly subsides. There is a little tobacco in there. The finish is mellow with a tangy fruit flavor.

Orkney – SkullSplitter

Tan: This beer is of the “Wee Heavy” variety of Scotch Ales meaning that it has more alcohol and is stronger flavored than a standard Scotch Ale. This one starts with a nice, tongue warming, big malt flavor. Some raisin notes appear in the aroma and chocolate on the palate. After a few sips it almost has a tongue numbing effect. It’s an excellent example of the Wee Heavy or Strong Scotch Ale style.

Sierra Nevada – Torpedo Extra IPA

Tan: Although I love IPAs, I found this one to be a bit over the top. The aroma is quite nice with a fresh, floral hop fragrance. The flavor was very strong and heavy. The finish was citrus rind. The bitter finish was a bit much for me. I like a lot of Sierra Nevada’s offerings but this one was a tad too much for me. But that doesn’t mean I won’t give it another shot. Recommended for only the hard core IPA lovers.

Guinness – Draught

Aaah – the infamous Guiness. A very popular beer especially on St. Patricks Day.
Most people think that because this beer is dark it has to be thick and hard to drink but that is actually not true. When we tasted this beer we actually thought it was quite tangy even a bit sour at times. Of course as Stouts go they are all pretty hardy and bready.

All in all if your looking for a dark beer that has some flavor but isn’t overpowering this is a great beer to go to.

And make sure to serve it as cold as you can. This beer is definitley better when served cold.

Cheers
TallBlackandTan

Smithwick’s – Irish Ale

One of the best Irish Ales out there.
Nut brown in color, earthy, nutty, flavors extreme clean finish. Provides flavors for the whole entire palate.

This beer can be good for social gatherings. It has enough flavor for people to savor and it’s not to heavy for the domestic beer drinker

Also it makes a great meat and potatos beer

Harp – Lager

 

Harps Irish Lager
The first thing that you smell on this beer is a boquet of flowers. The first taste is very crisp and leaves a bit of bitterness in the back of your tongue.

As Lagers go it’s fairly heavy but the longer it sits it definitley shows more flavor.

We enjoyed this beer. It would be great for bar-be-ques and foods that are spicy.

Cheers!
TallBlackandTan

Beamish – Irish Stout

Beamish Irish Stout

So here’s an interesting little dark beer.
You would think it would be heavy because its so dark. But it’s not.
Very toasty on the palate, clean finish and has some what of a lingering taste that is more like coco.

Good stand alone beer if your looking for that dark toasty flavor but not a heavy body.

Cheers!
Tallblackandtan

Wexford – Irish Style Creme Ale

Wexford Irish creme Ale

O.k. to be straight forward. We did not like this beer. It is a Nitrus beer which basically means it has no pep. It has the consistency like its been sitting out all night.

Even if you are a light beer drinker, this beer will make you want an IPA.
It’s below mild almost water with a hint of beer. Bad all over the palate, no front taste no back taste. Yes, it’s a creme but we were trying to figure out where the creme went.
The only thing we could think that would make this beer better is
START ALL OVER AGAIN

Cheers (I guess)
TallBlackandTan