Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Tap at Lucky Monk. Chewy, true West Coast IPA. Really solid for the style. Quite true to style, nails it.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bravo, Cascade, Bravo hops here. A pretty legit IPA, more bitterness than typical, nice depth underneath that. Classical IPA everyone yearns for.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
Sampler at Lucky Monk. This was a special on tap in place of the Fallen Angel. A tawny color beer that starts with a fruity nose. Brewmaster Anthony Caollo told me this beer was celled at 50°F. Only the second kellerbier I’ve had "young" from the tap instead of bottled. Does handle itself well, though I can see how it might be considered a little "unrefined" against Kellers that were bottled in Germany and had some time to condition. Anthony also said they didn’t give this one a name, so "Keller" it is.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Nitro taster at Lucky Monk. Black in the glass with red highlights. last beer of my sampler tray, but it still has a puddle of brown stout foam. Smooth smell of chocolate with some mocha and a surprise note of butterscotch. Mouthfeel is much like a good nitro pour. Then some effervescence to let the roastiness show off a bit better. Something like the little brother of an Older Viscosity, though it does not suggest any more alcohol than it really has. The roast leaves quietly with very little aftertaste. Some fruitiness at the end.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Sampler at Lucky Monk. Cloudy yellow with a slight rosy cast to it. Head has thinned out after sitting a few minutes. The fruity nose gives it a bit of a Belgian, more than a weizen character. Also an surprise hint of smoke in the nose. The taste has more of a hefeweizen character, though. A note of passionfruit, probably from the yeast. Also finding that trace of smoke on the palate as well, but that seems to make it rather nicely rounded off.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Sampler at Lucky Monk. Looks good: golden and clear of particles. A thin ring of foam around the glass. Pils malty comes in nicely, but over a slight tinge of lager yeast. I think the malt is proper for a well-tuned Pilsener. And hop use really matches well: Nobles, mostly, with a peppery and spicy bite and an understated bitterness. I like this just as much as the Haymarket Speakerwagon. I’d call this more of a German Pils while the Haymarket was a Czech pils. I think. A bit maltier, at least.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Sampler at Lucky Monk. Still holds a short head after waiting 40 minutes in my sampler tray. A reddish-brown body, but pretty clear otherwise. Some Centennial and Cascade to my nose, before I read the description, anyway. Rather clean taste, and clean in the accidental snootful I got when sniffing it. Turns into an assertive hoppiness with citrus and pine, but it also has basic hop bitterness on the back end. A potent ale finish.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Sampler at Lucky Monk. An amber-brown haze under a thin head. My stuffy nose picks up some sweet Belgian malts, but not an overdose of Candi sugar. This has a good dubbel-ish profile, but with a lot less sweetness. I can definitely find some Belgian specialty malts. European noble hops are these to leave a tingle on my tongue.