Friday, February 26, 2010

A Few Weekend Acquisitions

Mixed up a nice 6-pack at Scalle's Restaurant in Carlisle. Forthcoming reviews therefore, will be on one or more of the following:
-Weyerbacher Brewing: Quad (Easton, PA)
-Smutty Nose: Robust Porter (NH)
-Heavy Seas: Imperial Stout (MD)
-Magic Hat: Vinyl Lager (VT)
-Victory Brewing: Golden Monkey (Downingtown, PA)*
-Tröegs Brewing: Trögenator (Harrisburg, PA)

*The Golden Monkey review is slated to be written in tandem with the fine folks over at The Garlic Press & Co. More to come in the near future on that...

Monday, February 22, 2010

Keeping It Simple Tonight - Lancaster Brewing Amish Four Grain APA (PA)

Sometimes it's great to go with a basic beer. One's taste buds probably should only withstand two or three serious ravages per week to be on the safe side. In moments like that, I turn to brewers like Lancaster who make those great "go-to" brews.

Lancaster Amish Four Grain Pale Ale is an APA, or American Pale Ale. These are (typically) the slightly less hoppy relative of the IPA of British origin. American Pale Ales in general are made from local ingredients and according to many sources, acted as a major catalyst in the resurgence of American microbreweries. If that is true, what a glorious contribution to society. If it isn't...well they're still good beers, so that's all that really counts, right?!

Amish Four Grain Pale Ale is comprised of Saaz hops, rye, malted wheat, and oats (hence "four grains"). The idea is that these four grains will all balance one another and make for a great, smooth - although pale - ale. Let's see how they do.

AFGPA pours a nice copper hue with about a finger-width head that gradually recedes, offering a little bit of lacing. In terms of smell, go figure, it's very grainy: lots of wheat and bread-like aromas, maybe even with a bit of autumnal fruits (apples, etc.). The taste is about the same: slightly malty, almost nutty, but overall, very well-balanced. The hoppiness isn't terribly evident, but for a beer with 22 IBU (International Bitterness Units), that's to be expected.

Overall, there isn't anything too complicated about this beer. It's a great session beer, just for kicking back during dinner (in other words, what I'm doing right now) or even on its own.

Lancaster Brewing - Amish Four Grain Pale Ale ***/***** (3 out of 5 stars)
Image Accessed at: http://www.united-nations-of-beer.com/images/amish-four-grain-pale-ale-41258.jpg

Friday, February 19, 2010

Well Worth Another Try - Tröegs Nugget Nectar (PA)

Everyone needs the occasional second chance. Yes, I'm still talking about beer and not love lost or something generally emo like that. In this case, I'm talking about Tröegs Nugget Nectar.

Anyone familiar with this beer might be a bit surprised by this statement. I mean hell, BeerAdvocate rates it in their "best of," stacking it up against the likes of Russian River Valley, Stone, and a bevvy of Belgian Doubles, Tripels, and Quads that put even the above average brew to shame, leaving it quivering in the deep, dark recesses of beer purgatory.

Here's the thing. I just wasn't impressed the first time I had it. I'm not sure why. Maybe it was a bad day, or the weather was gloomy, or something had so annihilated my ability to taste that I was left blind to the deliciousness enclosed in the 12 oz bottle I bought at a local bar. Something just didn't do it for me. I gave it an initially average review and buried it under a pile of praises I had reserved for other Tröegs' beer like Mad Elf.

Then some glorious person on Twitter alerted me to an event occurring at Carlisle's own Market Cross Pub: on some random night throughout the week, Nugget Nectar would be served for a limited time from a Firkin. I was excited, not only to find out what the hell a "firkin" was, but also to taste this beer. "A Limited Time" in the beer world typically means there's something delicious and rare going on; it's not often that one hears "A Limited Time: Pitchers of Yuengling," particularly in Central Pennsylvania.

It turns out that a firkin is basically a keg laid horizontally, but corked after pressurizing rather than covered with the typical tap. This goes back to the days where "tap the keg" meant "smack the wooden keg with a huge freaking hammer so everyone can drink." The difference is, wooden kegs are a rarity these days so the firkin is one of those novelties within the beer world that people flock to get a pint from.

I arrived at Market Cross about twenty minutes after the firkin was delivered and tapped. Naturally, the thing was frothing like there was no tomorrow and the beer had been shaken up. Regardless, I had a pint poured (yes, Market Cross serves legitimate English-style pints) and let it sit for a bit. Once it did though, I was treated to a bit of aesthetic beery-goodness.

Listening down the bar, I heard the complaints of those who I am sure are a bit more familiar with that yellow fizzy stuff that comes in a can: "It's too cloudy." I don't know if I've clearly expressed it yet in this blog, but cloudy beer is generally something of legendary and epic status in my mind. It makes me go "Hey, there are ingredients in this beer! And the brewer actually cares!" Mostly, this is a result of loving Unibroue and their Ale-on-Lees style. Regardless, I looked to the bartender, who merely commented "Well, that's the best part!" I wanted to shake his hand.

Anyhow. It was a cloudy reddish orange with a minimal head (once the effects of the truck ride over subsided). Strangely enough, it left a ton of lacing once I started drinking it. The nose is very floral and citrusy with some caramel hints as well.

As for drinking it: it begins with some pine and then, slowly but surely, a grapefruit-esque citrus taste with a backing of hops starts to emerge. Then a nice chewy caramel and spiciness comes around with a bit of alcohol (it's a 7.5%ABV). Overall a fun series of tastes to have hit you.

So on second review, yes, I really do enjoy this beer. This isn't as family friendly as the Mad Elf, but for people into some serious beer, I'd recommend it.

Tröegs' Brewing - Nugget Nectar: ****/***** (4 out of 5 stars)
Image Accessed At: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3398/3251992966_2de65dcb20.jpg

Monday, February 15, 2010

Where My Obsessions Collide: Avery Brewing - The Czar (Colorado)



Wine enthusiasts often scoff at the sight of a catchy label or wine name. Even with my wine purchases at a minimum, the influence of sommelier relatives and friends with good taste has led me to stray far from bottles advertising adorable animals, movie stars, and the like.

Anyone who has had a beer in the past fifteen years knows that this is not the case with beer. Names like "Arrogant Bastard" (Oaked being my personal favorite), "Old Leghumper," and "The Edmund Fitzgerald" (either commemorating the shipwreck or that epic Gordon Lightfoot tune) prove that not only can names be out there, but so can the taste of the beer contained within.

This brings me to tonight's beer, "The Czar," courtesy of Avery Brewing Company. The name alone made me happy, let alone the bottle design: a backdrop of the double-headed eagle and the featured portraits of three Romanov Tsars. Not that I'm advocating tsardom, imperialism, or any of the like. But come on, what isn't awesome about 300 years of ruthless - or just plain oblivious in the case of Nicholas II - rule in possibly one of the most complex countries on planet earth? If you answered "nothing," then we clearly have to be friends.

Anyway, back to the beer. It's an Imperial Stout...go figure. For years, I had a bit of an aversion to stouts, primarily because all I had been introduced to was Guinness. People might hate me for this statement, but I just never really liked it all that much. Too much hype, too little substance. Then I began trying Imperial Stouts, Belgian Stouts, Coffee Stouts, etc. and suddenly the world changed. Stouts are a veritable meal among beers, consisting of roasting malt/barley and adding various ingredients until a dark, strong, typically thick beer is produced.

Imperial Stouts are a beer straight out of Russian history. Literally. They're also referred to as "Imperial Russian Stouts" for the simple reason that Catherine II (the Great) ordered an English brewery to produce them back in the late 1700s. In order to ship the delicious brew to the ever-frigid Russian Empire, the alcohol content was increased (from approximately 8% to around 11 or 12% ABV).

Opening up this beer, I was hit in the face with aroma automatically, which is always a good start. Imagine what the French or German Armies felt like when they first heard Russian winter was coming and their leaders had packed light. Surprising, right? I poured this into my handy Piraat glass and simply experienced darkness: the color of this beer is a blackish, murky brown with touches of crimson. The head was minimal, but that was a bit expected. The beer smells rich, complex, unforgiving - traits typically shared by the Russian monarchy. These guys either read their history books, or just brew intense beer. I'm guessing a combination of both.

The taste is sweet, a bit smoky, with dark fruits and the sense that there's some alcohol lurking in the shadows that will probably come and bite you later on. Frankly, having tasted it, I disagree that Nicholas II is pictured center stage; I'll go ahead and say this tastes like something Ivan IV (the Terrible) would take a swig of before bringing the pain on some unsuspecting boyars. Nicholas II just didn't have that sort of intensity. This Imperial Stout is hardly about to give up the throne without a fight.

So before I get too carried away, I'll conclude this review. I'm really enjoying this beer (I still have a large chunk of the bottle to work on) and highly recommend it, particularly for those of you who are Slavophilic history dorks like myself. Just be warned, this is a hefty beer, so enjoy with caution.

Avery Brewing - The Czar ****/***** (4 out of 5 stars)
Image Accessed At: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tdyqVOyT1hw/StyIXd7ULZI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/V0ABg8GJEJA/s320/avery_czar.jpg

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Gifts from Avery

Not going to lie, I just received a beer that I'm content taps into every shred of my obsessions: Avery Brewing's "The Czar." While certain history professors and Russianists have caused me to beg to differ regarding the spelling of that word (I'd say Avery's "The Tsar"...hell it's spelled Царь in Russian..."Ц"="ts"!), I'm content this one will give me something to talk about later this evening. The bottle is designed with some great portraits of Nicholas II, Alexander II, and one other, who I haven't identified yet. Aside from causing my mouth to water at the sight of shamelessly displayed interpretations of Russian history, it's from Avery. If you've been paying attention, this means good things.

More to come this evening...

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Random Names from Awesome Companies - Avery Brewing: Collaboration, Not Litigation Ale (Batch 2) [Colorado]



When your parents visit and come bearing ales, it's typically the start to a good day. Particularly, as I've mentioned before, when they come bearing Belgian Strong Dark ales. I feel like there should be a proverb to that effect written down somewhere.

The bottle my father sent me was none other than Avery Brewing and Russian River Valley's mash-up of a brew, Collaboration - Not Litigation Ale. Apparently, sometime back in 2006, the people at Avery and Russian River Valley teamed up in the effort to make an epic brew between friends. As a note, I was a little wary of Avery; the only Avery beer I'd had up to this point was named "The Beast," a chocolaty badass of a Belgian Strong Dark (at 14% ABV) that knocked me on my tail in less time than it took me to drink it. Delicious nevertheless. To be honest though, they were pairing up with Russian River Valley, a company which, I will wholeheartedly swear is incapable of making bad beer. (Hell, BeerAdvocate gives them an A-rating. I feel pretty comfortable making that statement.)

I cracked a 1pt 6oz bottle of this and poured it into a Piraat tulip glass. The beer pours a nice burnt orange, arguably whiskey-colored brown with some sticky lacing. The head was about a finger-tip thick, but subsided pretty quickly. The aroma wasn't particularly forward, but I caught some basic malts, yeast, and maybe a bit of fruit. The taste was equally subtle. There was a light bit of carbonation, and then a well-balanced series of malts, finished off with hints of turbinado sugar. I was tempted to let it warm up a bit more, but the flavor pretty much stayed the same as before even after I did. The ABV was 8.72, which isn't too harsh for a Belgian Strong Dark. It was just enough to leave me feeling warm and cozy after finishing it.

Overall this was a nice and well balanced beer. For the most part, it's what I expected from these guys. It just makes me a little anxious to see what else these collaborators have in store. Hopefully, we'll see some ridiculously tasty things in the near future.

Avery Brewing - Collaboration, Not Litigation Ale ***1/2/***** (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Image Accessed At: http://www.securinginnovation.com/Avery-Collaboration.jpg

Monday, February 8, 2010

Lunchtime at Cafe Bruges - Urthel Samaranth (Flanders, Belgium)


I get the occasional criticism from friends about being a bit pretentious about beer. This is probably more than merited, but in all fairness, it means I get to enjoy delicious things, and they don't. Cafe Bruges in my little town of Carlisle, PA stokes the fires of my inner pretension, offering me the opportunity to have decent food with outrageously good Belgian beer as often as my wallet allows. As I've addicted my parents to this small establishment, it also gives me the opportunity to have a free meal with free delicious beer at the same time. This naturally happened today at lunch, leading me to this evening's blog entry.

Belgian Quads. Strong in flavor, typically sweet, and definitely strong in alcohol content. Few people who have tried one of these disagree with the flavor and few with a tendency toward the aesthetic fail to notice the dark rich hue of this style of beer. This style is becoming more and more popular throughout the world, although no one does it like the original.

Today, over a pretty awesome meal of fricasseed rabbit and a small salad, I placed an order for an Urthel Samaranth, a Belgian Quad from Flanders. I didn't know exactly what to expect other than something pretty tasty, but the bottle art of a bearded troll imbibing a serious pint was more than enough incentive for me to choose it. It poured a dark, almost reddish caramel into a beer chalice. The head lingered a bit with little flecks of yeast, which also floated quite liberally throughout the beer itself. The beer smelled sweet and spicy the moment it was poured, making me all the more eager to taste it.

Tipping this one back, I couldn't help but continue to notice the intense aromas, which I am sure aided in the tasting process. I got the normal tastes of a Belgian Quad at first - sweet, strong, a bit of candy sugar - and at precisely that moment, was hit with the second wave of flavors. Almond, a bit of bitterness, and last but certainly not least, alcohol (with an 11.5% ABV, that wasn't terribly surprising). Very full - but not heavy.

So in summary, this was another great take on the Belgian Quadruple. While probably not my all-time favorite (a position held actually by a few American-made ales) this is certainly up there. Belgium rarely disappoints in the realm of outstanding beer, and this is no exception.

Urthel Samaranth - ****/***** (4 out of 5 Stars)

Image accessed at: http://www.saveur-biere.com/etiquettes-bieres/urthel-samaranth-barley-wine.gif

Friday, February 5, 2010

When You Order Beer at a Cantonese-Peruvian Fusion Restaurant - Eisenbahn Defumada (Brazil)


This is the point where you go, "Brazil makes beer?" Yea, I was surprised too. But as I'm rapidly finding out, not only do the Brazilians make beer, but Peruvians as well, and it's pretty interesting stuff to say the least.

I had this beer at "Chifa," (http://www.chifarestaurant.com/) a Cantonese-Peruvian fusion restaurant on 7th and Chestnut in Philadelphia. The restaurant is the glorious brainchild of Chef Jose Garces, owner of Spanish Tapas restaurant Amada as well as a few others, and one time ass-kicker of Chef Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. And this guy knows his stuff. I've eaten at both Amada and Chifa and each time, have come out writhing in euphoric pain from the sheer brilliance of his food. An example: spare ribs. You're thinking "backyard barbecue," "Applebees appetizer," and overall, "nothing special." Garces takes the ribs, cures them, glazes them with Char Sui (a Chinese barbecue sauce), adds some Daikon (an Asian root vegetable), peanuts, and offers you one of the most taste bud-ravaging, fall-off-the-bone, forget your buddy's tailgate party experiences you'll ever have. Anyway, I digress.

In addition to this truly epic food menu, Garces and his crew put together a great bar menu. It consists of a few interesting signature cocktails (including my personal favorite, the 5-Spice Manhattan), several South American wines, and finally, a selection of local and South American beers. Despite my love of Chifa's cocktails, I opted to ask my waiter about the beer. He gave brief descriptions of each, yet he managed to catch my attention by stating the following: "This one is a little different." Nothing sounds more appealing than a description like that. Five minutes later I held a bottle of Eisenbahn Defumada in my hand and poured it into a standard Pilsener glass.

Defumada is made in the style of a German Rauchbier (or smoked beer) created by using malted barley dried over an open flame. These are some pretty unique beers that are getting more and more attention as time goes by. Although the style is most popular in Germany, many American microbreweries (such as Stone and Weyerbacher) and foreign companies are starting to market smoky beers. Eisenbahn is a prime example of this trend, yet it also manages to pay homage to the inventors of this "unique" style of beer: Defumada is made from malts imported from Bamberg, the founding city of Rachbier in Bavarian Germany.

The beer pours a dark-reddish brown with a medium-sized head. The scent is about what you'd expect: smoky. If you've ever been to a butcher shop which smokes its own meat, you've got an idea of how this beer smells (that's a good thing by the way). When all else fails, think bacon. As for the taste. Well go figure, it tastes smoky as well, but not overwhelming in the least. As a matter of fact, this beer is kind of sweet and smoky calling to mind standing over a hot grill prepping a beef brisket since five o'clock in the morning. Not too heavy, not too light. Bit of spice as well. It reminded me of all the reasons why I enjoy smoked food and now, smoked beer.

This beer is "different," don't get me wrong. Really, how is one supposed to react when handed a beer with characteristics most commonly attributed to pork? In my case the answer was "happily." This beer may not be for the faint of taste bud, but it's certainly worth a try.

Eisenbahn Defumada (Rauchbier) - ****/***** (4 out of 5 Stars)
Image accessed at: http://www.beermonthclub.com/images/Eisenbahn-Defumada.jpg

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Best Part of Waking Up... - Dieu du Ciel, Péché Mortel (Montreal) and Troegs Java Head (PA)


Coffee. The veritable counter-balance to my beer mania. If there is one thing that I am more of a pretentious pain about than beer (and vodka), it's coffee. I can't stand a weak cup of it, I prefer it produced fair trade (social awareness just tastes much better, right?), and if it's any good, it should be enjoyed pitch black without the contamination of those pesky creams and sweeteners. No day starts without it, and many days end with it. Luckily, some sick and twisted individual thought it was a brilliant idea to blend two of my liquid obsessions, and in the case of these two beers, it produced some damn tasty results.

I'll start with the Canadians (*ducks, assuming some independently-minded Quebecois threw something at him*). Péché Mortel is from "Brasserie Dieu du Ciel!," a small brewing company in Montreal, Quebec. I got this beer from a great spot in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia called "The Foodery" (http://www.fooderybeer.com/). The small store boasts over 800 varieties of beer. The cynic in me did not believe this at first, and then I went there; they aren't messing around. This place is practically "buy by-the bottle" Mecca. There was very little that I couldn't find at The Foodery, thus leading me to believe it might be the greatest thing Philadelphia spawned since the cheesesteak and the Philadelphia Flyers.

I picked this beer out of curiosity. The image - as pictured above - has something just...intriguing about it. You just don't pass up a beer featuring a Medusa drawn in the style of Picasso. Plus, the name alone means "Mortal Sin." It's gotta be good, right?! Either way, I got home that day and selected a pint class and poured.

I might as well have French-pressed this beer. There are actually coffee grounds floating around in it. As a result, I knew I was in good company with the people at Dieu du Ciel. Hell, this is the way I like my coffee! If they make a coffee stout this way, they're clearly doing something right. Enough blabber. Let's get to the coff...I mean...beer.

It smells like - go figure - coffee. We're not talking Starbucks either. Picture the best cup o' joe you've ever had. There you go! You're on the right track. Kicking it back, half expecting to have to wait due to breakfast-related warmth, you get to the true nature of Péché Mortel. The taste is outstanding. Not only do you have a fantastic coffee-flavored beer, you also have a great Imperial Stout. While coffee is the primary flavor, you're also tasting some very solid malts.

On to our friends at Troegs. I'm drinking this beer right now, so it's safe to say it's on my mind. This is pretty much the same deal as the Péché Mortel, up to the point of taste. The Java Head is a bit weaker in flavor; in other words, it doesn't blow you away with coffee taste balanced with a ridiculous amount of malty-goodness. It's just enough coffee, and just enough malt. If this were simply a stout, I might be inclined to rate it incredibly high. However, it's a coffee-based stout, and I've had the aforementioned Quebecois beer, so unfortunately, it's not ringing as many alarm bells. Overall though, it is increasing it's position in the ranks of Troegs brews. This falls just short of Mad Elf in my opinion.

So here's the idea. If you like coffee, you will like these beers. If not, you'll probably still like these beers. Try them out...you won't regret it.

Brasserie Dieu du Ciel - Péché Mortel ****1/2/***** (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Troegs Brewing Company - Java Head Stout ***1/2/***** (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)

Images accessed at: http://www.troegs.com/assets/images/troegs/pictures/beerPhotos/troegs-beer-java-stout.jpg and http://www.vif.com/users/spongiana/PecheMortel.jpg

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Straight from Kitchen Stadium - Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale (OR)

I wish Alton Brown could narrate me drinking this beer, telling me what I'm experiencing and the strangely intoxicating history and biology of it all. What we've got here is Rogue's Morimoto Soba Ale, a collaboration between the beautiful people of Rogue Brewing Company (Oregon) and Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto (Japan).

The beer is pretty unique in that in addition to the normal grains in beer, it adds soba, a popular Japanese grain typically used in the creation of noodles (comparable to udon). In this case however, Morimoto, in typical Iron Chef fashion, teamed up with Rogue roasted the soba "buckwheat" and added it to a light ale. According to Rogue's website, the beer has won several awards (in 2005-6) at the World Beer Championships, and Beer Advocate gives it a steady "B" rating. I personally picked it out, having never heard of it, at a local bar, primarily because I recognized the Morimoto name. Go figure.

Let's get to it, shall we? The beer pours to a pale amber with about a half inch of head, which recedes, but never fully. Light malts and a bit of nuttiness in terms of scent, but nothing too pungent. The taste is very light and a bit nutty at the finish. I've never had soba, but I'm being told that this beer tastes quite like it (oh, the many benefits of an East Asian Studies majoring roommate). Honestly, it reminded me a bit of Unibroue's Blanche de Chambly due to the lightness and dryness, although it did not have the same citrus taste and carbonation (that is relatively typical for Unibroue). As the bottle itself states, I picture this going well with lighter cuisine - fish especially - or perhaps lighter cheese and appetizers. The ABV is hardly an issue at 4.8%. Frankly the beer is light enough that even after a 22oz bottle, I still have room for more beer. Lucky me, those were my plans exactly.

I'm going to be unoriginal and agree with most of the people on Beer Advocate: this beer is about average as Rogue's brews come. However, it is great at one thing: hitting the spot. Something just clicked about this one (thus supporting my theory that Rogue is just amazing at making beer). I'd recommend trying it out!

Rogue Brewing: Morimoto Soba Ale - ***1/2 of ***** (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Image accessed at: www.rogue.com/beers/morimoto-soba-ale.php

Monday, February 1, 2010

An Overdue Review - Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA (DE)

I will begin with an oft-heard quote: "IPA's are bitter." I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone tell me this when I mention being a fan of IPAs. Maybe this is a description slightly merited by the names of many pale ales: Hop Devil, Hoptical Illusion, etc. All imply an intensity of sorts in regard to "hoppiness," an experience of occasionally bitter proportions. I'm not even going to lie, I've described Victory's Hop Devil to friends as "a severe case of taste bud assault at the hands of an angry God" despite its obvious deliciousness. I enjoy that bitterness. I like an alcoholic product that occasionally reminds me that it has taste, even at the risk of wincing slightly at the severely epic nature of its deliciousness. Which brings me to one of my favorite beers in the veritable Beer Universe, Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA.

I don't even remember where I first tried this beer, but I am certain I passed by it multiple times without noticing much. The bottle art is simple and to the point: apart from the above-pictured logo, there are merely a few lines describing the ale inside. When I did get to it though, one question popped up in my mind: what on earth is the deal with the "90 Minute"? It's actually pretty to-the-point: once you have the wort (the extract after the mash-making process) boiling, you continually add hops to give the beer its signature flavor. Dogfish Head simply came up with the brilliant idea of adding them for different minute amounts - 60, 90, and for the truly brave and adventurous drinker, 120. And that's all there is to it.

So to the beer itself. I'm drinking one right now, so this should be easy. It pours a gorgeous amber with about a finger's width of light head. The smell is somewhat floral, and all sorts of malty. Taste is where this beer will get you. You do get a bit of alcohol taste, but it's very thin and hard to notice. The fact is that you get hit by about every flavor in the book at once and you don't even know where to begin. Citrus, hops, and malts that remind one of just about everything good you've ever tasted, childhood birthdays, first kiss, fireworks on the 4th of July, etc. One taste you don't get much of? Bitter. If anything, it's one of the most well-balanced beers ever in terms of flavor. Since I bring it up all the time: ABV. It's a 9% ABV, but don't even let me try and convince you that something like that would hold you back from getting a second one. Actually I think I might get a second one soon, now that I mention it.

I'll end with another quote: "Damn, that's a great beer." I've heard that from nearly everyone who has had this beer, including people that dislike beer (if such people exist). Believe me, pick this one up if you haven't already.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA: *****/***** (5 out of of 5 stars, seriously)

Image accessed at: http://www.asecondcup.net/90minuteipa.jpg