Nice surprise today at the store 3 new bombers to try. Pours a cloudy, murky orange, amber color with a bubbly white head that dissipates quickly, but leaves some nice lacing on the glass. Smells of citrus hops and fruity yeast that has an almost Belgian flair to it. Caramel malt in there as well. Taste is caramel and citrus, lots of esters from the yeast and even some phenolics. Are we sure this isn’t a Belgian inspired brew? Medium body, ample carbonation, watery/syrupy mouthfeel. Not a bad brew but not what I was expecting.

Hop Devil Grill 16oz ($3.25): Pours a clear amber with a long-lasting creamy head. Aroma is mostly of caramel malts and maybe some bubblegum or butterscotch. Essentially, this is a good amber ale and it is a good amber ale without overhopping it (Troegs, Green Flash). It manages to take the amber ale lameness and create a very smooth and very drinkable beer that is actually interesting and not just lame like most beers of this style. Sure there are hops and bitterness in this beer, but they don’t make the beer. It is rather the balance with the butterscotch flavors and malts that make this an example of what the amber ale could be, but seldom is.

22 ounce bottle from the Libation Station in Johnson City, TN. Pours a hazy brown color with a medium sized head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of caramel malts and leafy hops. Taste is citrus hop notes with a nutty finish. Medium bodied.

on tap-pours a retaining white head and hazy gold color. Aroma is sweet light malt. Taste is sweet light malt, tart fruit, some perfumy.

22 oz bomber, best before December (what year, I have no idea). Poured into my tulip glass with an incredible (edible) hulk type head. Starts to make me suspicious, just too big. However, when I taste the head it’s very hoppy. The color is very very muddy and thick dark copper. Its like someone just threw in a bunch of sand into an amber. Aroma is a citrus-y (lime mixed with tangerine), light and airy, caramel. There is a moldy (even light isopropanol) aroma in there, which makes me even more suspicions. The taste definitely confirms my suspicions of a slight infection. There is a lightly sour moldiness flavor that actually overtakes the hops thus make the beer lose its, umm, hoppiness, do you get it? Which leads to a flavor of fruity maltiness but you know its really just a weird interaction of the infection and its really hops and malt and not just a weird kind of maltiness. Finishes light and slightly sweet.

Pours a hazy amber into a shaker. Significant fluffy conglomerate head does not recede but peaks above the rim and continues to top hat. Refreshing pine and citrus aromas. Dy, crisp and tingly with upfront citrus which briefly changes to malt and a bitter resin finish.

2004 bomber. Pours a vibrant reddish-amber with a big off-white foamy head. Huge fruity aroma, tons of yeast, apples, raspberries, plums, nectarines, strawberries. Wow. Lightly dry toasted malt. Little sweetness. Flavor seems to echo the aroma. There is a hugely dry yeast presence adding a spectacular amount of fruity ester characteristics. The dry toasted malt seems to only make this more papery/astringent and dry. I appreciate that this is high quality stuff, bottle conditioned and all, but it just needs more sweetness and body. The fruitiness gets boring as I finish off the 22. Highly floral bitterness, good zesty carbonation and smooth medium body as typical.