Cigar City Jai Alai

This isn't the first Cigar City beer I've had, or even the first time I've had Jai Alai, but I know that I haven't reviewed one of their beers on here before, so it's long overdue. Cigar City is located in Tampa, Florida and get their name from the fact that the first brewery in Florida was started by cigar industrialists. As an homage to those pioneer brewers, they also named a few of their beers with the cigar theme. For instance, there's the Maduro Oatmeal Brown, and their Humidor beers. Jai Alai, along with the Maduro Oatmeal Brown are their only year-round offerings, which is a little unusual for a brewery, but their seasonal beers definitely make up for it. Their distribution stretches sporadically along the east coast, but their claim to fame mostly comes from their once a year releases of Marshall Zhukov's Imperial Stout and it's variations.

The beer pours a hazy copper with a one finger off-white head. There's a fairly substantial amount of lacing left in the glass even though the head dissipated to a thin dusting on top after a few minutes.

The aroma initially has a strong citrus hop character up front, but it does seem like the malt comes through as well. A lightly toasted bread scent wafts through the thick resins to blend and provide a certain level of sweetness.

The first sip of the beer has a distinct biscuit quality to it, giving way to some hop resin flavors. After swallowing a decently bitter aftertaste swells up in the mouth. The citrus comes through somewhere in the middle, striking a balance between the bitter and the sweet. It's somewhat of a creamy citrus quality, like an orange creamsicle rather than a tart and sharp citrus flavor. The flavors are robust, although the bitterness is a little sharp.

In the mouth, the beer has a medium body, with a high level of carbonation. In the mouth it has a decent amount of coating from the resins. It's refreshing and a little malty rather than dry.

Overall it's a very good IPA. While not the best I've had, the flavors are a little different from the usual IPA. It's bready, a little sweet, and has a substantial bitterness in the back. I suspect it's not really fresh, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I know I've had this beer before and remember it being extremely good, but it was also on draft. Either way, it's certainly worth a try.

- Adam

Stillwater/Mikkeller Two Gypsies - Our Side

Even though Stillwater and Mikkeller are in different countries, they have one thing in common - they don't have a home. Both breweries consider themselves "gypsy brewers", as they travel around borrowing and renting equipment from different breweries to produce their beers. Having had beers from both breweries, I was particularly interested in this one.

The beer pours initially with a substantial billowing white head. Light, fluffy, and with large bubbles. It has a dark golden hue, and is somewhat cloudy. The head sticks around for a little while, but dissipates to an 1/8th of a finger thick that hangs around for a long time. Through the glass there is some nice lacing as well. As the beer warms up, some of the haze disappears.

The aroma had a decided funk quality to it right away, with wild grassy and hay notes. Sweetness follows underneath, with an apple-like sense to it. It's almost a little woody as well, if I close my eyes I can picture standing in an area of dense overgrowth. There's a mix of flowers and dirt, although I somewhat miss the horse-blanket that sometimes accompanies wild yeast.

The first sip has a slight sweetness up front, with some decidedly funky notes and a substantial bitterness in the back. There's a bit of grass, and some citrus hop flavor as well. Lots of classic saison flavors come through as well, with a dominating Brettanomyces character. The bitterness and hay flavors linger in the mouth, leaving the flavors of this beer with you for minutes after swallowing. As it warmed up, I also noticed a little bit of a cider-like apple flavor. The presence of the hops in the flavor is probably the most unique thing about this beer, even if they mostly just boost the already classic saison flavors.

The beer is pretty strongly carbonated, which is a little much for me but not unusual for the style. The prickly bubbles tend to overwhelm my palate making it feel like I'm missing out on flavors. Surprisingly I felt that there was a bit of warmth from the alcohol in the throat, even though this beer is 7.5% and I've had much stronger ones with no trace of the alcohol.

Overall, I felt that this was a classic saison. It's easily drinkable but has some nice funk to it. The fruit flavors and sweetness add a decent balance without being cloying. This collaboration is well done, although I don't see that it brings much new to the table. The added hop quality is somewhat unique, but it doesn't change much about the style. Maybe it's just that the added bitterness seems subdued to me after so many hoppy American styles that I've had recently. Either way, this beer was still delicious and worth trying.

- Adam

Oskar Blues Ten Fidy

Good beer doesn't come in cans, or so many craft beer drinkers have thought for years. While it's true that a TON of bad beer comes in cans, it is possible to get a good beer in a can. In fact, in some respects a can is a better container than a bottle. For one thing, light can't get through to skunk the beer. It doesn't break like glass does, so it's easier and safer to take some places, and it's easily crushable so it takes up less room after consuming. However, there's something elegant and classic to a glass bottle that makes a beer feel "right". This can be less of a concern at times, but more importantly for many companies, the equipment needed to bottle is much cheaper than what it takes for canning. In fact in some cases it's possible to bottle by hand, whereas you need a large production line to make canning worthwhile, and it takes a much larger scale to make the cost offset of the materials from canning beneficial. Oskar Blues is one of the few craft breweries so far that has made the jump over to canning, but assuredly one of the most famous.

The beer pours thick, black, and viscous, with a thin brown head that dissipates almost immediately. It almost seemed to come out in slow motion, and clung to the glass on it's way towards the bottom. It seems almost impossible for light to travel through this beer, quickly being lost in it's murky depths.

Even more noticeable than the black opaque nature of the beer though is the strong aroma that comes immediately upon opening the beer. There's a strong roast quality with underlying cherry and alcohol. Touches of dark chocolate, caramel and coffee float along as well, providing a denseness to the smell.

The first sip offers roast, vanilla, and toffee with a light smooth sweetness at the tip of the tongue. However it is swallowed the flavor develops to more coffee, bitter, and burnt flavors that combine with the sweetness to offer balance. After swallowing, roast, toasted marshmallow, and bitterness linger on the tongue for a very long time. It's as if the beer is so thick that it coats the taste buds, and won't let go. As the beer warms, new flavors develop. I began to notice more caramel and sweetness up front, along with a touch of fruity flavor. It's possibly a little syrupy as well. However, the bitterness raises as well, with the coffee flavors becoming more prominent.

This is most assuredly a heavy bodied beer. Along with it's fairly low level of carbonation, this provides a viscous sensation in the mouth. While the alcohol may not be readily apparent in the taste, being masked by the rather strong flavors, it is noticeable after swallowing as it quickly warms the throat.

Overall, this beer is thoroughly enjoyable, but absolutely a sipper. I could not imagine trying to get through more than one of these in a single night. Unlike the Clipper City Russian Imperial Stout I tried earlier this week, this is a classic example of what one expects from the style. It's thick, strongly flavored, and strong in every sense of the word. So there you have it. Great beer, and from a can.

- Adam

Clipper City Peg Leg

I haven't made it any secret how I feel about Clipper City as a brewery. They are one of the local breweries that I consider to be among the top nationwide, especially when it comes to consistent quality of their offerings. Although they might not all be the best renditions of a particular style that I've ever had, they always are flavorful and good. I picked up a 6-pack of Peg Leg to give to a guy in California who is a fan of Imperial Stouts. I don't think that I had ever tried it before, but it was pretty highly rated, and I trust Clipper City.

The smell of the beer is not weak, but not exactly strong. There's a healthy dose of roasted malts, coffee and chocolate, and a sweetness that evokes a fruity sense, possibly of cherry or fig. There's not much else beyond that in complexity, but possibly a touch of alcohol.

The first taste of the beer offers a toasted bread quality, backed up by a mild caramel sweetness. Shortly after the roast kicks in full gear, with a present but not overbearing bitterness. Beyond this is a dash of chocolate, and a smooth overall silkiness. The aftertaste had a lingering smokiness to it as well. I felt that it could possibly have used some coffee flavor as well, and a bit more bitterness, but even though it was a bit on the sweet side for the style it was far from cloying. Don't expect this one to be a crazy over-the-top Russian Imperial Stout.

In the mouth the beer has a medium body, not as thick as many in the style. There's a moderate level of carbonation to match. There's a slick coating in the mouth as well, combined with just a touch of warmth in the throat. It's on the wet side a bit as well.

Overall, it's an enjoyable beer, although not the intense RIS that some brewers tend to make. I would consider this an every day Imperial Stout. I wouldn't place this at the top of Clipper City's offerings. Honestly, this probably belongs more at the high end of a regular stout rather than an Imperial. It would make a decent introduction to the style, or be great when you want a flavorful stout that doesn't fill you up too much. It also goes great with food for that reason. If you go into the glass expecting that rather than a boozy, bitter, thick stout, you won't be disappointed.

- Adam

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

I'm going to be rounding out my recent IPA kick with a pretty major offering from the folks over at Bell's brewery in Michigan, Two Hearted Ale. I picked up a 6-pack of this while we were on vacation in Virginia, since Bell's doesn't get distribution in Maryland or Delaware just yet. I've had this one before, but knew I enjoyed it thoroughly. Bell's is probably more well known for Hopslam though, a major hop bomb that's sought after by hop heads nation wide.

The first thing I noticed upon pouring was the pungent and sharp leafy aroma from the hops. As it sat the resin broke up a bit, making room for a sweeter grapefruit scent. While there may be some malt smell as well, I didn't really pick it up, instead the beer was drowning in intense hoppiness.

In the glass the beer takes on a golden color with a touch of reddish hue, and supports a thin white head. Being bottle conditioned, I may have poured a bit of sediment into the glass, and ended up with a bit of haziness in my otherwise clear beer.

Grapefruit assaults the tongue on the first sip, then makes way for a substantial bitterness at the back of the mouth. There's a light bread aftertaste on the sides of the tongue that lingers along with the hop bitterness for a few minutes. The beer is most assuredly balanced towards the hoppy and bitter side, which is certainly not unwelcome. It does however lack some of the intensity of Hopslam, which assaults the palate thoroughly with its hoppy nature. That isn't to say that it's lacking in flavor, but rather that it is more of an every day beer.

It certainly doesn't lack for carbonation, actually having a somewhat light body with constant tiny bubbles. The hop resins leave a stickiness in the mouth as well, quickly coating the tongue. The beer goes down easily though, with just a touch of warmth on the tongue and in the chest.

There really isn't much left to say, I love this beer. It's flavorful but not overwhelming, and has a great blend of hop flavors and aroma. The only criticism I can come up with is that there's the slightest touch of either metallic or phenolic taste, barely enough to notice. While sometimes this can be a welcome addition to the mix of flavors, in this case I didn't feel that it added anything. Still, this was a very minor issue for me, and for a standard IPA this is one of the best I've had. I imagine this beer is even better fresh, I don't know how old it is, but I know that it's at least from January. All things considered, it has held up rather well.

Clipper City Loose Cannon

I'm just getting back from a trip to Virginia with my wife and some friends. It was a good time filled with memorable events, but it also gave me the opportunity to try some different beers and pick up some new things that I normally wouldn't get in Delaware. However, today's review has nothing to do with those. Even though the trip was enjoyable, it feels good to be home, and as such I'm relaxing for the evening with another favorite local standby, Clipper City's Loose Cannon. This beer is an IIPA, and one of my favorite offerings from the brewery.

Initially the beer has a grapefruit character mixed with a vinous quality. It's a thick and full hoppy smell if that makes much sense. As it sits it becomes more leafy and open, allowing a bit of bready malt to come though as well. As expected, the hops dominate the nose, so there's not much room for anything else.

The first taste offers a bit of mild citrus flavor, followed by a gripping bitterness as it's swallowed. Although there does seem to be some caramel and bready flavors in there, again it's really the hops that dominate the mouth. It's a pleasantly sharp flavor, but be careful because it will just about ruin your palate if you're going to try anything else in close succession.

The beer is medium bodied, and not very heavily carbonated. I actually prefer this in my beers, although I know others do not. I find that it can distract from the flavors if the beer is highly carbonated. This beer evokes somewhat of a cask feel, perhaps like it would have been on a ship transported from England back when IPAs were first created.

Overall this is another excellent offering from Clipper City. I've been consistently impressed with their Heavy Seas series, in fact I don't think there has been one that I didn't like yet. This is definitely one of the under-appreciated breweries of the East Coast, pick it up for sure if you can.

- Adam