Year-in-Beer Week 11

Year-in-Beer Week 11 is Left Hand Brewing Company's Fade to Black Volume 3

From Left Hand's website:

Imagine Robert DeNiro sitting in your darkened parlour near the fire in his Louis Cyphre persona smoking a Tuscan cigar. This may be the beer with which to save (or lose) your soul. Dried fruit flavors entwined with smoky pepper and licorice embossed on roasty malt sweetness open on your tongue as the slow warmth of chilis creep up on your tongue and throat, finishing in an herbal smoke ring flourish.

Year-in-Beer Week 10

Magic Hat's Demo

From Magic Hat's website:

It is a deliciously dark lick of an India Pale Ale. It’s medley of roasted malts and heady hops will have your senses dancing to the beat of a different I.P.A.

• TYPE: Black IPA
• YEAST: California Ale
• HOPS: Apollo, Goldings
• MALTS: Pale, Carafa, Caramel, Cara Vienna, Chocolate

• ABV: 6.0
• GRAVITY: 14.00 Plato
• BITTERNESS: 45
• SRM: 55.0

Year-in-Beer Week 8

Year-in-Beer Week 8 is Narragansett's Bock.

Here is the info from their website:



Roll out the Barrel: 6.5% Alcohol by Volume and 32 IBUs. This year’s Bock is a Helles Bock!  A traditional Bavarian helles lager beer brewed to bock strength, therefore still as strong as traditional bock, but lighter in color and with more hop presence.
Quality Supreme: Brewed with Light and Dark Munich malts, Pilsner Malt, and Malted Wheat.  It is hopped with Northern Brewers and Hallertau hops.  Northern Brewers is a clean bittering hop and Hallertau is a classic German aroma hop associated with Bavarian style lager beers. Winner of the Silver Medal in the 2011 World Beer Championship!
Taste & Enjoy: Gansett Bock is a deeply flavorful beer with a rich golden color and a full body.  It is drier, hoppier, and slightly more bitter than a traditional bock, but still with a relatively low hop flavor.  It offers an extremely approachable craft experience not to be confused with the double and triple bocks out on the market.  The beer pours well, producing a large creamy, persistent white head, and moderate carbonation.  Despite its full body, the flavor is not overly malty and delivers an elegant spicy character from the hops that produces a balanced, smooth finish.

Enjoy!

Spring Seasonals

March was a preview of Spring Seasonals

Overall there seemed agreement that each of the beers was good.  They also seemed to represent the different parts of Spring.  Some were more robust matching the early Spring melting snow, and others seemed almost ready for summer.

Here are the rankings:

Overall
1. Dogfish Head's Aprihop
2. Samuel Adam's Alpine Spring
3. Newport Storm's Spring Ale
4. Magic Hat's Vinyl

Individual Rankings

AB
1. Dogfish Head's Aprihop
2. Samuel Adam's Alpine Spring
3. Newport Storm's Spring Ale
4. Magic Hat's Vinyl

AP
1. Dogfish Head's Aprihop
2. Samuel Adam's Alpine Spring
3. Newport Storm's Spring Ale
4. Magic Hat's Vinyl

SD
1. Dogfish Head's Aprihop
2. Newport Storm's Spring Ale
3. Magic Hat's Vinyl
4. Samuel Adam's Alpine Spring

BC
1. Dogfish Head's Aprihop
2. Samuel Adam's Alpine Spring
3. Newport Storm's Spring Ale
4. Magic Hat's Vinyl