World market blitz part 2, Skullspliter

World market blitz part 2

Skullspliter, 8.7%

I had this brew right after drinking a glass of my very own Scottish landfall ale (scotch ale, 7.6%), and wanted something to peg it too.....because you really need to see how a homebrewed recipe stacks up to a pro-one. Ill save some time and come right out and say it.................I was very disappointed with this beer. I wasn't disappointed with the price. I got this beer for about 1.30, and really felt that it was one of the best deals World market had (with a sale or without)...........and despite that, I had clear standards that I wanted this brew to have and it did not meet them at all.....and really, I was immensely surprised by the online reviews.

Their really is no saving grace for this one. No "its out of date" excuse for why I did not like it. If anything, a older bottle should in-fact taste BETTER than a new one. I just had a serious problem with this beer, and I feel as If I'm the only one who had such misgivings about this brew. People on the internet seem to love this beer (or at least they seem to on Beer advocate and Ratebeer)

That brings me to my other criticism. Sometimes when I look at online reviews, and see the flavors that people list off I think "yea, that was their! It was on the tip of my tongue, but just couldn't quite name it!". This was not one of those moments. It looked like people where just making up characteristics that they expected or wanted to be in the brew and listed them off ( that pretty much did not exist), and seriously let their bias get the best of them for a brew named "Skull Splitter", which seems to be the strongest point this brew has......A cool name.

If this beer was made by Boston Brewing\Shipyard (or any other larger, critically underrated brewery) and under a different name, its reviews would be a LOT lower, and peoples tunes would a lot different. I salute the few people who put similar reviews online. Its nice to have company in a dissenting opinion.

Just my 1 cent of course.................


Anyho, the review:

• Orkney Brewery 
• orkney brewery
• Beer name: skull splitter, 1.99 bottle at world market. higher elsewhere.
• Style: Wee heavy\Scotch ale, 8.5%
• rateing: Ratebeer(94\100), beer advocate (91\100)
• appearance: My own beer does do something wrong: it has way too much color. It comes off far more brown than it should, and this brew does it right in my opinion. It has the color of pale malt syrup (which oddly enough, is in fact amber in color), with virtually no head (remember, alcohol kills head!) which is not a problem. I think that this brew requires close to a perfect score in appearance. 4.5\5
• Smell: really, I'm sorry to say, not much here. A bit of alcohol sweetness and Scottish eastery yeast aroma (what, that's the only way to describe it) fits in as well. Its OK, but id hope for more. 3\5
• Taste: I was kinda worried about my own Scottish ale. It tasted kinda hot, and I assumed that it was because it was very young (kegged about 2 weeks ago). This stuff makes me feel that its going to be a great Scottish ale.....because this stuff had heat coming out of the wazoo. This stuff has huge amount of "warmth" to it, which I would really call "booz" (tomato to tommato correct?). Of course it has a bit more to it than booz....lots and lots of butteryness....my god....its just terrible...That is pretty much the scope of flavor that this brew has. I'm not sure, I guess that I give it a 2.25\5, but its a disappointment to say the least.
• Mouthfeel: The beer has a oddly light mouthfeel, probably dried out via the use of brewing sugars. It is balanced out by a decent level of snappy carbonation. 4\5
• overall: I think I was expecting more from this one. seriously. With a name like that, you expect greatness. but its just a bit above average. It comes off WAY too hot, way too buttery, and way too sweet. I might say that its not offensive, but suprise suprise, it is. I poured this beer DOWN THE DRAIN. I just couldnt finish it. I can understand someone elese liking it...but wow....that was not my experience. I suppose its worth having once to make up your own mind about the stuff (or to get the bottle, which DOES look cool), but really, its not worth a 4 pack or really trying again. 2.25\5. On the whole, a disappointment. Looking forward to when my own scotch ale matures up in about 2-5+ weeks. Hopefully that will scratch my scotch ale itch
• BA average: 2.69\5. I personally give this one a 45\100. very poor.

DRAIN POUR! Kinda felt like this....

Prost!

World market blitz, beer 1: Founders Centennial IPA

World market blitz

Beer 1: Founders Centenial IPA

Recently I discovered that World market (1480 Apalachee Pkwy) had a great deal going on: 30% off build your own 6 pack.....well, OK, I did not just find this out .I've known about it for some time, but never managed to take advantage of it up until about a week ago.

I stopped in after work while crashing due to a small breakfast, and decided for no reason to check out their beer. I ended up talking to one of the employees their while looking at their winter beer packs, and was reminded that they still had this deal for member's. Since I was a member (it is free after all), I immediately picked up a 6 pack and went home feeling very accomplished.

Later on I went back for a wine tasting, and picked up another 6 pack. And then just for good measure, a day later I got one last 6 pack just to make sure that I had hit all my bases. Now I have 17 beers that I have never tried (I accidentally got a 2ed vanilla porter), and I figure that I can make a decent series about this huge blitz of new beers.

Lets start off with one of the first beers I selected (since, hey, anything founders is excellent), Centennial IPA

• Founders Brewing company
• Beer: Centenial IPA, about $9-11 a 6 pack (1.20 a bottle with the 30% deal)
• Style: American IPA, 7.2%
• Rating: ratebeer(99\100), Beer advocate(93\100)
• Appearance: a perfectly clear amber color with a amazingly long lasting fluffy head. Ill be honest, this beer pretty much looks perfect.    5\5
• Smell: pine and citrus hops, with a bit of fruit loops and a decent malty aroma. Very well balanced and pleasant. very nice, but is not perfect.     4\5
• Taste: Pine, neutral hop bitterness, and a grainy malty backbone. very well balanced and easy to drink, at least from my perspective. I like it! 4\5
• Mouthfeel: It feels very syrupy and heavy to me, but that works quite well with the hops. 3.5\5
• Overall: This beer is one that I feel fits the "go-too" beer category, much like my current one x2IPA. It is easy to drink ,of decent ABV, very drinkable, and sweet yet quite hoppy. It might be a more hop forward beer if it was consumed fresher or had been refrigerated prior to sale, but even so, its a great choice and one of my current favorites for when I want something that will be predictably good. A well deserved 4\5
• No surprises here, this beer is great. It got a average score of 4\5 from me on BA, and I feel that its about a 91\100 brew. I hope I can try it again real soon

Would have again!

Prost!

Sam Adams Odyssey part 7: White Christmas

Sam Adams Odyssey part 7: 

White Christmas

I do love a good holiday beer. They are not easy to drink in bulk, but their is just something warming about a beer with a good amount of spicing. It just helps warm me up in these HARSH Florida winters (well in my perspective, they feel harsh!). I was happy to see this beer at the nearby ABC liquor, and even happier to be able to pick it up as a single. I was expecting something more like X2mas (which is more of a spice beer), instead of the witbier that White Christmas is, but still, I can enjoy a good wit on a cold winter night.

well, lets just get to the review!

• Sam Adams (Boston brewery)
• White christmas, 1.99 single (about 7.99 for a 6 pack)
• Beer style: Witbier, 5.8%
• rating: ratebeer(46\100), beer advocate(79\100)
• personal rating: Ba style
• appearance: semi-clear golden colored brew, with a decent bit of rising up carbonation. 4\5
• aroma: Very malt and spice forward. It smells like cloves, a bit or coriander, and sweet malt. Good, but nothing to boast about. 3.5\5
• flavor: The smell does not betray this one, the flavor is all spice and malty goodness. Lots of sweet grainy malty flavor comes first in this brew, with a nice burst of warmth from the spices. A bit of honey flavor on the finish as well. Not too shabby. 4\5
• feel: it feels heavy, mostly due to its sweetness, which is helped out by its carbonation. 3.75\5
• overall: I was surprised by this beer. It is a surprisingly easy to drink well made witbier. Its flavors follow the wit style quite well, and the final product is actually a fairly decent desert beer (I classify it as such due to how sweet it is). I would be happy to drink it again and found no real problems with it at all. 4\5
• BA average(3.88\5), personal score(83\100)

Worth it on sale!

I found this beer to be quite good. Not the best winter beer, but a good one non-the-less. It was very warming, and its spice character was well received. I thought that I could easily enjoy a whole 6 pack of this beer and found it to be another worthy brew from the Boston brewery.

Worth picking up to try!

La Cheim!

spot updates: proof, new leaf, and some more beerstop

Proof bottle shop

Proof has managed to load up on an impressive collection of very good hop forward beers. If you have never tried any of them, Id say that it would be very hard to chose between them! really, the best option is to pick up all three. They are all must-try brews that I highly recommend.

• Victory brewing
• Dirt Wolf, 9.49\4
• Beer style: Double IPA, 8.7%
• ratings: ratebeer(99\100), beer advocate(95\100)
• personal ratings: BA(4.8\5), personal score (98\100). Best ipa of 2013.

• Victory brewing
• Hop ranch, 9.49\4

• Beer style: Double IPA, 9%
• ratings: ratebeer(98\100), beer advocate(96\100)
• personal ratings: 

• Founders brewing
• Harvest ale, 10.99\4
• Beer style: American IPA, 7.6%
• ratings: ratebeer (99\100), beer advocate(95\100)
• personal ratings: BA (4.5\5), personal(96\100)

New Leaf

Not exactly "beer", but common, that just looks damn interesting! I do wish that more sodas came like this........I mean, common....it just looks cool..... and fyi, its soda made by a brewery.

• sprecher brewing, 7.49\4
• Bootleg bourbon barrel hard root beer
• Beer style: root beer, 5%
• ratings: ratebeer (n\a), beer advocate(80\100)
• personal ratings: n\a

This one looks cool because its a type of beer that everyone wants to try, and according to what I've heard online it does what it claims to do well. Also available at beer stop (and likely many other stores) for the same price 

• Shipyard brewery
• Mint chocolate Stout, 7.49$
• Beer style: Imperial stout, 9%
• ratings: ratebeer (75\100), beer advocate(74\100)
• personal ratings: n\a

Now this i have not seen around town, and it looks like a good buy for a serious fan of Ommegang, or for someone curious about trying a Belgian stout (though  Weyebacher's Tiny might be a better starting point for a Belgian stout)

• Brewery Ommegang
• Chocolate indulgance, 14.99
• Beer style: Belgian stout, 7%
• ratings: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate(86\100)
• personal ratings: n\a

This beer looked cool as well. A collection of 4 ancient style Scottish ales made with modern equipment and ingredients? Sign me up! Id be happy to get this as a present any day of the week.

• Williams brothers brewery (Scotland)
• historic ales from Scotland, 12.49\4
• Grozet
• Beer style: Scottish Gruit (pre-hops ancient beer), 5%
• ratings: ratebeer (39\100), beer advocate(80\100)
• personal ratings: n\a, but as a beer history lesson, it should be seen as an important part of the gift set. Its also one of the only Gruits even sold nowadays, so take that for what it is.
• Heather ale
• Beer style: Scottish Gruit, 5%
• ratings: ratebeer (85\100), beer advocate(90\100)
• personal ratings: n\a, but I've always wanted to try heather ale.
• Alba Pine ale
• Beer style: Scottish Gruit, 7.5%
• ratings: ratebeer (85\100), beer advocate(85\100)
• personal ratings: n\a
• Elderberry black ale
• Beer style: Scottish gruit, 6.5%
• ratings: ratebeer (62\100), beer advocate(85\100)
• personal ratings: n\a

All of these beers look interesting. They are ALL a portal into the past.....to what beer was like in ancient times (hence the name!). That makes them all the more enticing, considering that I'm the kind of person that loved it when Boston brewing worked to remake the first craft beer, New Albion's pale ale (I love the taste of history). Its ratings are also pretty good, which helps a lot. If your like me and have both a passion for history as well as beer, it looks like a solid buy.

And with that the spot update is complete! I hope that everyone finds what they are looking for when they go out shopping!

Prost!

Whole foods brewlist, 1\6\14

Whole foods: Bringing beer into focus

I hope that no-one takes that the wrong way......its merely a mater of fact. Whole foods is expensive. Their food, groceries, and home supplies all cost more than their competitors (Trader Joes, Costco, Publix, Wallmart, etc). Can't fault me for saying that, and its pretty obvious that no-one goes to Whole Foods to save money.....besides me I suppose (I obviously like to bargain hunt). However, if your a beer fans, you should give them a shot, because against all conventional wisdom, whole foods often undercuts their competitors by quite a bit on beer prices.

No lie. I first thought that was a fluke when I found the two leading Ballast point stouts marked down so much, but when I started working on this list, I was surprised to continue seeing the trend for lower priced beer. I cant find every point where they have a better price than competitors, but I will point out when I notice that they beat the rest on certain items.

However, their surprisingly lower-prices is not why I find this place to be fantastic for beer. Its also not because of their occasional stocks of rare white whale level beers, and its certainly not the free samples (but Ill admit, those help a lot)............no its because you can drink in the store! And not just at the bar, you can drink the RETAIL single bottles (after you pay for them that is). That's just crazy to me. You can pick up a bottle, open it, and drink it. Anywhere in the store.

Finally, the concept of buying a single bottle makes sense to me!

Its just amazing. Its pretty much makes them the cheapest pesudo bar in town, and can make for a great stroll around the store, a good chill-spot at the cafe, or a good place to take friends out to have a few nice cold ones. And common, who doesn't want a beer when they are shopping for organic goodness? With free samples? That's just a match made in heaven.

And to add to that, the place is expanding the beer selection. The expansion will allow for more single beer purchases, a greater variety of beers, and a larger percentage of the refrigerated shelf space. Currently they are planned to take effect by next week (as of today, 1\5\14).

As a final point of interest, I personalty know that at least 2 of the staff are experienced homebrewers, and are more than happy to talk home-brew with you if they have the time and if you bring it up! This is a serious plus for me. 

If you haven't already gone and enjoyed what their offering, your missing out. I highly recommended it.

The Brew List:

Bombers\singles

• Avery brewery
  • the beast grand cru, 9.99, 12 oz
    • style: Belgian dark strong ale 16.83%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (86\100)
    • personal rating: 83\100. This is a remarkably furious beer.....but that's just the problem. Its too furious. Its flavor too strong, its body too thick. Its a beer that ozzes out 'too much”. But that's just the way we like it, isn't it? A good example of extreme beer, and well worth trying one just to say that you did, but really, in may ways it just goes too far.
• Ballast point
  • Victory at sea coffee vanilla porter, 7.49
    • style: Imperial porter, 10%
    • rating: ratebeer (100\100), beer advocate (98\100)
    • personal rating: n\a, yet............
  • Sea monster, 7.49
    • style: Imperial stout, 10%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (90\100)
    • personal rating: n\a.....yet
• Samuel Smith
  • Organic chocolate stout, 4.99
    • style: sweet stout, 5%
    • rating: ratebeer (97\100), beer advocate (94\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Eel river brewing
  • Trippel exultation, 5.99
    • style: old ale, 9.7%
    • rating: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (85\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Stone
  • Old Guardian, 7.99
    • style: American barleywine, 12%
    • rating: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (89\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Sierra Nevada
  • Brux domesticated wild ale, 14.99
    • style: American wild ale, 8.3%
    • rating: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (86\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Legacy brewing
  • Hoptimus prime, 6.99
    • style: Imperial ipa, 9%
    • rating: ratebeer (93\100), beer advocate (90\100)
    • personal rating: n\a

4\6 packs

• Brasserie d'Achouffe
  • La Chouffe, 11.99\4
    • style: Belgian strong ale, 8%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (94\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  • Houblon Chouffee
    • style: Belgian IPA, 11.99\4
    • rating: ratebeer (99\100), beer advocate (94\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Wells and Young
  • Banana bread beer, 9.44\4
    • style: fruit beer, 5.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (42\100), beer advocate (79\100)
    • personal rating: 94\100. This stuff tastes like banana bread. Its mission is accomplished. And it tastes delicious. Give it a shot. You wont be disappointed. Unless you don't like banana bread, then you will be disappointed
• Coronado brewing co.
  • Islander IPA, 12.99\6
    • style: American ipa, 7%
    • rating: ratebeer (95\100), beer advocate (85\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Holy Mackerel
  • Panic attack, 9.99\4
    • style: Belgian strong ale, 10%
    • rating: ratebeer (61\100), beer advocate (77\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Lagunitas
  • Brown sugga, 10.99\6
    • style: American strong ale, 9.99%
    • rating: ratebeer (97\100), beer advocate (90\100)
    • personal rating: 95\100
  • Ipa,
    • style: American IPA
    • rating: ratebeer (94\100), beer advocate (87\100)
    • personal rating: 85\100
• Founders
  • dirty bastard, 11.49\6
    • style: Scotch ale, 8.5%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (91\100)
    • personal rating: 93\100. One of the best scotch ales on the market.
  • Centenial, 11.49\6
    • style: IPA, 7.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (99\100), beer advocate (93\100)
    • personal rating: 87\100
• World brews
  • 4 in hand IPA, 4.99\4 pints
    • style: American ipa, 6.3%
    • rating: ratebeer (24\100), beer advocate (73\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  • St cloud, 4.99\4 pints
    • style: Witbier, 5.4%
    • rating: ratebeer (22\100), beer advocate (66\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Narragansett brewery
  • Narragansett lager, 6.99\6 pints
    • style: American adjunct lager, 5%
    • rating: ratebeer (12\100), beer advocate (77\100)
    • personal rating: 83\100. In terms of the American adjunct lager style, this is simply the best there is. It is my go too choice when friends want to drink something that their familiar with (and I don't feel like drinking bud). A high recommendation for anyone who says that you cant make a good American adjunct lager.
• Joseph James brewery
  • Red fox Russian Imperial stout, 10.99\6
    • style: Russian imperial stout, 9%
    • rating: ratebeer (80\100), beer advocate (79\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Fat head
  • Holly Jolly, 12.99\6
    • style: herb\spice beer, 7.4%
    • rating: ratebeer (76\100), beer advocate (85\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Hinderland
  • pale ale, 10.99\6
    • style: English pale ale, 5.3%
    • rating: ratebeer (63\100), beer advocate (76\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Victory
  • headwaters pale ale, 10.99\6
    • style: American pale ale, 5.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (94\100), beer advocate (89\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Red Brick
  • Hoplanta, 9.99\6
    • style: American ipa, 6.7%
    • rating: ratebeer (64\100), beer advocate (84\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• La Rossa
  • Birra Moretti, 8.99\6
    • style: Doppelbock, 7.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (74\100), beer advocate (83\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• left hand brewery
  • Nitro milk stout, ?\6
    • style: milk stout, 6%
    • rating: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (89\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Siera Nevada brewery
  • Narwhal, 9.99\4
    • style: Russian Imperial stout, 10.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (99\100), beer advocate (92\100)
    • personal rating: 98\100. I flat out love this beer. Its easily one of the best stouts on the market, easily the best in the store right now (unless a surprise bomber comes around)
• Southern Tier
  • 2xmas, 9.99\6
    • style: herb\spice beer, 8%
    • rating: ratebeer (93\100), beer advocate (84\100)
    • personal rating: 97\100. I thought that it was a perfect spiced beer, at the time anyway. Are-review might be necessary, but yea. I liked it a lot.
  • 2xIpa, 10.99\6
    • style: Double ipa, 8.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (97\100), beer advocate (91\100)
    • personal rating: 98\100. Its my go-to big ipa. Enough said. I love this stuff.
• 6 point
  • crisp, 9.99\4 pints
    • style: German pilsener, 5.4%
    • rating: ratebeer (59\100), beer advocate (88\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  • Bengali tiger, 9.99\4 pints
    • style: American ipa, 6.4%
    • rating: ratebeer (94\100), beer advocate (88\100)
    • personal rating: 90\100. This beer is my prime choice for a nice, crisp, hoppy American IPA. Its large container also adds a lot to what makes this beer great. Highly recommended beer for starting your night, before you really break out the big guns. I also recommend it as a picknick or sport event beer. Not exactly sessionable, but highly portable and large can size make it useful for such events. Highly recommended.
  • Sweet action, 9.99\4 pints
    • style: cream ale, 5.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (79\100), beer advocate (88\100)
    • personal rating: 85\100
• Fullers
  • London porter, 11.99\6
    • style: English porter, 5.4%
    • rating: ratebeer (100\100), beer advocate (94\100)
    • personal rating: I had this one at the store. A great, highly malt forward brew, and a hard one to resist when I'm shopping at whole foods. A good go-to porter, and a proven classic. 95\100
• Lexington brewery
  • Bourbon barrel ale, 12.99\4
    • style: English strong ale, 8.19%
    • rating: ratebeer (61\100), beer advocate (83\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  • Bourbon stout, 13.99\4
    • style: Imperial stout, 8%
    • rating: ratebeer (88\100), beer advocate (81\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Julius Echter
  • Heff-weiss hell, 11.99\6
    • style: Hefewisen, 4.9%
    • rating: ratebeer (85\100), beer advocate (89\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  Bulk, 12 packs
• Oscar Blues
  • multipack, 18.99
    • dales pale ale, 6.5%
      • style: American pale ale
      • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (88\100)
      • personal rating: I hate this one. I think that it tastes like cheesy socks. But its a classic to many, soo ehh. 2.5\5
    • Old Chub
      • style: Scotch ale, 8%
      • rating: ratebeer (97\100), beer advocate (90\100)
      • personal rating: I love this beer, and its my former go-to scotch ale (right now its after Dirty bastard), but I still love this ale. 87\100
    • Mama'a little yella Pills,
      • style: Czech pilsener, 5.3%
      • rating: ratebeer (52\100), beer advocate (81\100)
      • personal rating: 73\100
        • Average pack score: ratebeer(82\100), beer advocate(86\100)
        • Overall impression: The only place in town to get this one. It looks like a GREAT bulk purchase of craft if you and some friends are curious about the original canning craft brewers, Oscar blues. And for what you get, the price is quite nice. If its ever on sale it should be an immediate purchase!
          • P.S. For the money, this one also has a high concentration of alcohol! Just saying :p
• Magic hat
  • Winterland variety pack, 14.99
    • Number 9 not quite pale ale
      • style: Fruit Beer, 5.1%
      • rating: ratebeer (45\100), beer advocate (77\100)
      • personal rating: I'm not a terrible fan of this beer, But I think that my old review of it is a bit off. I find that I can finish the beer and enjoy it for what it is. Its nothing special, but I find this beers apricot flavor to work in the short run. I cant drink more than one of them, but I think that it can work for a single severing durring the winter. 70\100
    • Heart of darkness
      • style: English stout, 5.7%
      • rating: ratebeer (91\100), beer advocate (88\100)
      • personal rating: n\a
    • Encore ipa
      • style: American IPA, 6.4%
      • rating: ratebeer (n\a), beer advocate (82\100)
      • personal rating: n\a
    • G-thing ginger spice ale
      • style: herb\spice beer, 5.7%
      • rating: ratebeer (46\100), beer advocate (77\100)
      • personal rating: n\a
        • Average pack score: ratebeer(60\100), beer advocate (81\100)
        • Overall Impression: I honestly did not know that this was a variety pack until I did the list. I think that its diversity of style can make it a good choice to spice things up, but I still really don't have much of an opinion of the box set. A good one for magic hat fans is what I would say, or for a good purchase for the money, its a solid buy. Not sure if it would be so those two factors are not important to you.
• Boston Brewery
  • Winter lagger, 14.99
    • style: spiced bock, 5.6%
    • rating: ratebeer (64\100), beer advocate (82\100)
    • personal rating: I found this beer to be highly refreshing, crisp, and lively winter offering. Perfect in quality for price, this bulk order is a must try for anyone interested in seeing Sam Adams when they get things right. 84\100
• New Belgium
  • Sunshine wheat, 17.99
    • style: American pale wheat ale, 4.8%
    • rating: ratebeer (48\100), beer advocate (79\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
• Siera Nevada
  • Torpedo extra, 15.99
    • style: American ipa, 7.2%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (93\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
      • P.S. For the money, this is the best craft beer ABV (booz) return per dollar. Just saying.......
  • Pale ale, 15.99
    • style: American pale ale, 5.6%
    • rating: ratebeer (96\100), beer advocate (91\100)
    • personal rating: n\a
  • Celebration, 15.99
    • style: American IPA, 6.8%
    • rating: ratebeer (98\100), beer advocate (93\100)
    • personal rating: I found this to be a great hop forward brew, but not nearly as hoppy as the torpedo. A good choice for less hop-forward friends looking to get a buzz going and enjoy a decent brew at a great price. 90\100
• Innis\gunn
  • box set, 9.99, 3 pack + glass:
    • Original
      • style: Scottish ale, 6.6%
      • Stats: ratebeer (64\100), beer advocate (84\100)
      • personal rating:70\100
    • Bourbon Stout
      • style: Scottish stout, 7.4%
      • Stats: ratebeer (63\100), beer advocate (85\100)
      • personal rating:Anyone looking at this one, be advised: its quite sweet. A lot of this sweetness comes from its bourbon aging (giving it a hot and estery\fruity character), and the rest from its Scottish-style yeast. Their is not nearly enough chocolate\roast to back it and balance out the bourbon sweetness. I think that this beer would had tasted better if it had a stronger hop bitterness or a dose of smoked\roasted malt barley to curve its sweetness. However, as you drink it, it grows on you a lot, and because of that I give it a 75\100. Easily worth trying once.
    • Treacle Porter,
      • style: Scottish porter 7.4%
      • Stats: rate beer (n\a), beer advocate (78\100)
      • personal rating: 80\100
        • box average rating: ratebeer (64\100), beer advocate(82\100)
        • Box overall impression: Now this one is quite interesting. Besides having a box that, in my opinion, is worth getting just for the art (Innis and Gunn have always had a sense of style), its a great chance to try a good chunk of the brewery’s main offerings. I also love the glass that it comes with (which is perfect, obviously, for Scottish style beer), and the glass was one of the primary reasons why I picked it up in the first place. Overall I give the box set a score of 85\100, with an extra 5 points added because of the glass.

Spot update: Quite a lot of new things at Beer stop!

Beer stop really loaded up on some good brew very recently, because last I went I realized that i did not bring nearly enough cash with me!

In addition to STILL having cases and cases of bourbon county stout, they also have quite a few new treats......lets start off with the best first!

Hummmmmn, I wonder what this could be.....

Yup. Its the god damn World Wide Stout

Anyone want to to hafsies? or Quarters?

• dogfish head
• World wide stout, 
• Style: American imperial stout, 17%
• rating: ratebeer(100\100), beer advocate (93\100)
• personal rating: n\a

This is one uncommon beer, and i would say its the rarest Ive seen since 120 minute IPA in the store, or when they had a bottle of Utopias. An expsneive, but must have brew. Who knows how long it will still be available!

lets move on to another stout, but one that.s scaled back a bit....Founders Imperial stout!

• Founders
• Imperial stout, 13.29\4
• Style: American imperial stout, 10.5%
• rating: ratebeer(100\100), beer advocate (97\100)
• personal rating: 96\100. An extremely dark, roasty, and rick imperial stout. A must try.

Lets move on to something a bit smokier, Stones vanilla bean smoked porter!

• stone
• Smoked vanilla bean porter, 7.49
• Style: American porter, 5.9%
• Rating: ratebeer (97\100), beer advocate (88\100)
• personal rating: n\a

And now, here is a beer that I haven't seen in some time, The one and only sculpin.

• Ballast point
• Sculpin ipa, 14.69
• Style: American IPA, 7%
• rating: ratebeer(100\100), beer advocate (98\100)
• Personal rating: I would have to say that this is one of the finest ipa's I had in 2013. not quite as good as dirt wolf, but it is damn close. A must have. Pay the extra 3 bucks and enjoy this 6 pack immensely. 95\100

And now just for fun, these fellows looked pretty nice as well............even if they are not as rare or in short supply as the above brews.

• Terrapin 
• Wake-N-Bake coffee oatmeal imperial stout, 12.99
• Style: Imperial stout, 8.1%
• rating: ratebeer(99\100), beer advocate(96\100)
• personal rating: n\a

Not exactly super rare at all, but yea, they have plenty of this stuff. i just thought that the case box looked cool!

• Dogfish head
• Burton Baton, 14.49\4 ( I think)
• Style: Imperial ipa, 10%
• rateing: ratebeer(99\100), beer advocate(94\100)
• personal rating: n\a

As you can see, their are a lot of nice choices at the store right now. more good ones than usual! I hope that I can decide what it is I'm going to do. I hope that you can do the same!

Cheers!

spot update: Woodchuck cellar series dry hop

This little gem was found at beerstop, and my god, is it a good cider. Of course, its title can be misleading. This beer has no bitterness whatsoever. Of course, anyone with any brewing knowledge would know this, since dry hopping adds absolutely NO bitterness to a brew.

Bitterness can only occur when hops are boiled in a process of isomerization, where the alfa and beta acids of hops become soluble to the liquid as a result of the heat. However, the boiling process vaporizes the sensitive hop oils and resins present on the hops, which is why late additions and dry hopping is used to enhance beer aroma and hop flavor.

This liquid is unique because it is a cider that has the aroma of a well hopped beer. I found it to be both a fantastic deal and a fantastic bottle of cider.

I honestly did not believe the price. 3 bucks a 22 oz bottle? Really? I had to ask the clerk to be sure. And had to buy a bottle when I left after looking around and adding some new material for the next beerstop brewlist update.

This cider does quite a lot. It finds a good balance between being too dry and being too sweet, coming off with a champagne like mouth-feel, but with a much sweeter taste (yet not approaching what i would call apple juice sweetness). The hop aromas also make for a very unique experience.

I suggest that you pick it up for new years, especially if your not a big fan of beer but are curious to seeing the positive effects of hop aroma and flavor.

ratebeer (84\100)
92\100. and for 3 bucks, their is no excuse.

La' Cheim!