Full Sail Amber

One of the last beers that I havn’t reviewed from Full Sail is their flagship Amber ale. I’ve had this beer many times, and as someone who isn’t a huge amber fan, I keep going back to it. It’s also been around awhile; according to their website it’s the first bottled craft beer. This brew features Pale, Crystal, and Chocolate malt with Mt. Hood and Cascades.

Stats:
Amber Ale. 5.5% ABV. 31 IBUs. Oregon.

Dark caramel brown with a very loose head that fades quickly.

Lots of sweetness and caramel on the nose with a little bit of vanilla and honey and just a hint of black pepper and tobacco.

Mouthfeel is a pretty light on the body with medium high carbonation.

Lots of caramel sweetness with brown sugar and raisins. Hint of plums carries to a slight tobacco and pepper mid-palate and then to a vanilla and grain finish.

I think this is a classic of the style. It’s a fairly light brew, but has a ton of flavor and surprising complexity. Definitely a buy. 90 points.

Full Sail Phil’s Existential Alt

This is the second in the new Brewer’s Share series from Full Sail. The cool thing about this series is that a portion of the proceeds go to the Brewers charity of choice. In this case, it’s the Friends of the Children charity in Portland. This alt features a “generous amount of Munich and Vienna malts” with some kind of German Noble hops. It’s also been lagered for 6 weeks.

Stats:
Altbier. 5.1% ABV. 43 IBUs. Oregon. Limited Release.

This is just a beautiful looking beer. It’s got this nice dark caramelized color with a fluffy off white head.

Caramel and vanilla on the nose. Just a hint of plums and blueberries.

Mouthfeel is a bit of a surprise. It’s actually quite full bodied, as I was expecting a light and carbonated body.

Caramel, vanilla, custard, and roasted plums on the palate. The finish is fairly grainy with a lovely length and a nice hop bitterness to balance out.

Well, this is just a fantastic beer, especially on this rainy afternoon. It’s got a great price point, supports a good cause, and tastes damn good. Buy it. 91 points

New Belgium/Elysian Collaboration The Trip XII Pink Peppercorn IPA

So New Belgium and Elysian has this collaboration series called The Trip. I’m under the impression that these are actually brewed in Seattle, but I could be wrong on that. Neither brewery website has updated information on the series. Anyways, it’s an IPA with pink peppercorns. What else do you need to know?

Stats:
American India Pale Ale. 7.5% ABV. Washington. Limited Release.

Burnt orange in color with a really nice, fluffy head.

Well, you definitely get that peppercorn aroma on the nose. Just go open a tin of black pepper, that’s what it smells like. I’m not sure how a pink peppercorn differs, but it’s certainly peppery. You don’t get much else here other than a little bit of caramel.

Mouthfeel is really nice in this beer. A nice medium body with a lower carbonation level leaves this beer with a fairly heavy mouthfeel.

Peppery, with a little hint of caramel and vanilla. It’s like a spice cabinet in my mouth, but the pepper isn’t spicy and obnoxious. It does over power the hop flavor until the finish where you get some medium bitterness.

I like this beer. If you like pepper, then you will probably also like this beer. I’m glad it’s not overbearing, but it does over-power the hop flavor. 89 points.

Silver City Panther Lake Porter

I found me a couple new Silver City brews for me to try. This is their year-round porter which features Pale, Chocolate, Honey, Munich, Brown, and Caramel malts with flaked barley, Nugget, and Liberty hops.

Stats:
American Porter. 6.0% ABV. 35 IBUs. Washington.

Nice dark brown color with quite a nice off-white head.

A little bit of chocolate and roast on the nose, not too much else though.

Mouthfeel is quite lovely with a silky medium to full body.

Chocolate, roast, little bit of vanilla. Nice length with a really lovely roast flavor.

Not much to say about this beer. It’s just a solid porter. Nothing that’s going to amaze and wow you, but it’s good. 88 points.

Widmer Raspberry Russian Imperial Stout ’12

Well this is new, a raspberry RIS. This beer features Pale, Caramel 60, Midnight Wheat, Chocolate, and roast barley with Alchemy, Willamette, and Cascade hops. Then they add raspberries during the fermentation.

Stats:
Russian Imperial Stout. 9.3% ABV. 70 IBUs. Oregon. Spring Seasonal.

Dark brown color with a lovely tan head.

This smells like chocolate raspberries. Seriously, it’s like a cake or something. It smells a bit sweet, but not overwhelming.

Mouthfeel is huge. It’s very thick with a nice level of carbonation.

Chocolate, raspberries, caramel. There’s a little bit of roast. I love how the raspberries play with the chocolate of the malt. There’s flavor everywhere on the palate, but it has a really beautiful balance.

Well, I think this is an exceptional beer. It’s got some amazing flavor with a nice balance. It’s bit too rich for me. This is the definition of a dessert beer and will go amazing with chocolate or maybe even a cheesecake. 90 points.

Bridgeport Dark Rain

This seems to be a new seasonal for Bridgeport, but no mention is made on their website. They call it a Black Pale Ale, so I’m assuming a slightly less hoppy black IPA? Anyways, it features dark Crystal and wheat malts with Nugget, Chinook, Crystal, Centennial and Cascade hops.

Stats:
American Black Ale. 5.6% ABV. 60 IBUs. Oregon.

Very dark brown in color with a little bit of head and lacing on the glass.

A little bit of caramel, toasted malts, and chocolate on the nose.

Mouthfeel is light to medium body, but fairly light and has a fairly high carbonation.

Chocolate and a little bit of caramel coming through on the palate, hint of spicey hops and a slight earthy quality. Hops come in on the finish with a little bit of pine, grapefruit, orange, and just a little bit of bitterness.

It’s not too bad. It’s a fairly typical black IPA with just a little bit less hops, but worth a buy. 85 points.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale

Summer? Yes, please! The Sam Adams Summer seasonal is wheat beer with some special ingredients added. This beer features 2-row Pale, malted wheat and Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops with lemon zest and Grains of Paradise (that’s basically a peppercorn).

Stats:
American Pale Wheat Ale. 5.3% ABV. Massachusetts.

Yellow and fairly pale with very little head and some carbonation streams.

Definitely lemon-y on the nose, but I don’t get too much spice going on here. That’s about it on the nose.

Mouthfeel is light with high carbonation, but that’s not too bad in a Summer beer.

Lemon, wheat, and just a hint of spice going on. It’s got a lovely malt finish with at hint of lemon zest.

Nothing amazing here, but I like this one. It’s a nice, easy-drinking, and citrusy beer. All things I like. 84 points.