Beer Reviews

Ithaca Happy Pils. Smell of floral hops, mint, black pepper, lemongrass, corn, sweetness. Taste of mint, floral hops, bitter hops, light malt, cardamom. Finish of bitter hops.

Light on the pilsner taste for me. Good, not great.


Ommegang Glimmerglass Saison. Smell Sweet, peppery. Taste Caramel (not caramel malt). Orange. Nondescript fruit. Like Juicyfruit gum. Which I read tastes like
ripe jackfruit. As opposed to unripe jackfruit. Which I read tasted like pork. I have not tasted jackfruit in any stage of development. But I have tasted
Juicyfruit. Mmm Juicyfruit. That is from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The movie anyway. I never read the book.

Neshaminy County Line. Very good prototypical IPA. Big W Coast hops. Troeg's Perpetual w balance. Hard to get outside Neshaminy brewpub.
I think sell kegs only. Buy a draft of Neshaminy County Line if u see one!

Kona Firerock IPA. Malty. Sweetness at start disappears at finish. Which is good. Unfortunately everything else disappears w it. Not bad. Just not blend well.

Great Divide Titan IPA. This one I thought boring at 1st. But I came to like it. Grapefruit. Allspice. Orange. Malt comes through. Still too sweet in finish.

Starr Hill Saison. Belgian Style. Aroma very mild. Sweet, floral. Taste sweet, European hops, coriander. Finish malty. Then pleasant bitterness that lingers.
Color lt copper. Darker than smell, taste wd indicate. OK but Another "session" beer. Lite beer for craft beer drinkers. Not: good beer, lite as byproduct.

Founders All Day IPA. Less aromatic, malty, hoppy than typical IPA. More like briefly bitter APA. Piney at first. All flavors fast to come and fast to go.
Except for pleasant sweetness that lingers. And sourness. But not lemon or lemongrass. Grapefruit fr hops usually comes up front. In All Day in finish. With a
little orange. Hint of spearmint lingers. Founders designed beer to be flavorful but light enuf to drink in quantity. They succeeded. I wd prefer heavier beer.
I not drink fast no matter how light. But All Day well balanced. Performs as advertised.

Neshaminy Creek Milk Stout. Smell of vanilla. Coffee, molasses stays thru taste. Taste Nutty. Chocolate. Sasparilla. Finish slightly bitter. Nice stout.

Had new bottle Breakfast Stout. Fr store refrigerator to home refrigerator in < 15 min. Did taste better than bottles stored too cold. But not taste as good
as I remember draft. But been year since I had draft. I not know where get draft now.

St. Cloud Belgian White. Vanilla smell and initial taste. Orange. Cinnamon. Coriander. Malty throughout. Sour, peppery, tamarind finish.
This beer is good example of danger of snap eval. At 1st taste thought bland. Flavors came out. Not sure how much me noticing more & how much beer chngd fr air.

Tried Dark Horse Too Cream Stout beside Breakfast Stout. Too Cream more creamy (of course), Bold, malty, sweet and bitter (simultaneous tastes), molasses.
Breakfast Stout more chocolate, velvety, peppery. Leafy taste. Like dandelion. But well placed dandelion! My bottles Breakfast Stout not taste as good as draft.
May hv been stored too cold. Never visibly froze but maybe microcrystals. Or maybe AnBev explanation why Bud better on draft: draft usually fresher.

Dark Horse Too Cream Stout. It IS creamy. Choc Malt. Coffee. Molasses. Not topple Breakfast Stout as my fav stout. But very good. Michaganders can brew!

Deschutes Hophenge IPA. Similar to Daisy Cutter Pale Ale. Less attenuated. So sweeter. Honey taste. Doubt fr Honey.
Lemon and grass. But not lemongrass. Odd huh? Anise. Some leaf herb I cannot place. More complex than Daisy Cutter. Good. But overall I prefer
Daisy Cutter Pale Ale. What has, Daisy Cutter gets right.

Half Acre Daisy Cutter Pale Ale. Floral, grapefruit, W Coast hops. Cd pass for IPA. Malty. Jasmine.

Shawnee Biere Blanche. Bookend to Shawnee Weizenbock. This is Belgian-style wit. Yeasty. Sour. Representative of style.

Shawnee Weizenbock. Taste starts as German-style weissbier. Less yeasty than Belgian-style wit. Time in the glass takes away most of the weissbier flavor.
Dark, malty, fruity. Imagine a cherry wit. I am guessing that actual fruit flavoring in beer. But not sure. I not fan of most fruit beers fr outside
Belgium. Definitely not fan of most sour beers. But I like this one. Long aftertaste that pretty much extends primary taste but maltier.

Founders Imperial Stout. Not good as Breakfast Stout. But what is? Higher alc (10.5% vs 8.3% ABV) but not taste alcoholic to me. Molasses smell. More like
treacle in taste. (Treacle is UK version of Molasses. More bitter.) Aftertaste lingers. Bitter turns to sour. Malt residue. Beer has Odd smells and tastes.
But I like them! Corn. Cross btw cob and flakes. Not strong as tortillas. Doubt actually corn in beer. Smells like beef in BBQ sauce! But not taste too sweet.
I not usually give this advice for good beer. But do not dally drinking it. Most beer (and wine) becomes interesting in different ways as exposed to air.
Founders Imperial loses many of the interesting tastes as it sits in glass.

Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel is very good in a bottle. And better on draft. I have never had a Flying Fish beer that was not at least good for its style. Go Jersey!

I forget what I wrote about why I not like Green Flash Double Columbus Double IPA. But I retract it. I like Double Columbus Double IPA.

Oskar Blues G'Knight. I think they call it American Pale Ale. Hoppy enuf to be IPA. But fruity. Am hops smell. Taste grapefruit, pears, pepper. Malt comes out
in Finish. Pleasantly bitter hop taste remains.

Ommegang Fleur de Houblon. Smell sweet w capers, wintergreen. Taste of yeast, Capers, green olives. Which sounds bad. Especially since I do not like capers.
But Ommegang makes it work. Not cheaply tho.

Dominion Cherry Blossom Lager. Faint aroma. Barely smell cherry. Taste of tartness, pale malt. Cooked cherries. Like cherry pie. Finish malty. Only tartness
lingers. Not a great fruit beer. Not much to it. But refreshing. Not awful like Cherry Soda beer varieties fr Sam Adams.

Weyerbacher Heresy Imperial Stout Aged in Whiskey Barrels. Smell of whiskey. Most beer I hv tasted aged in whiskey/wine barrels has overpowering taste of
barrel's former occupants. Smell of whiskey is a bad sign to me. But here a false sign. Taste of whiskey mild and fitting. Appropriately sweet. Malty.
Finish of nuts and toffee. Not great. But Well balanced and interesting.

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Smuttynose Noonan Black IPA. Smell of molasses, orange peel. Taste of chocolate malt, paler malt. Creamy. Muted bitter hops. Lingering creaminess and increasing
but pleasant bitterness. 2 factors make a beer notably good to me.

1) Overall taste grabs me as fabulous

2) Individual flavors come out

Noonan has neither. But it is well balanced. Not great. But good without bad. I recommend it.
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Clipper City Black Cannon Black IPA. Dark version of Loose Cannon IPA. Smell sweet. Maybe too sweet. And coriander. Oddly. Not likely actual coriander in this
beer style. Taste of molasses, chicory. Sweetness in smell erased by bitter hops. This beer shows how hard is to brew malty + hoppy beer that mixes well.
Clipper City good brewer. Loose Cannon good IPA. Black Cannon not good Dark IPA. Not bad. But not good. But few good malty IPAs. 90 Min is quite a feat.

Goose Island Illinois IPA. Smell of citron, cinnamon. Taste Less malty than 90 Min. But more hoppy. Maltiness comes thru. But more bitter than I like. Ginger.
Lingering pleasant sweetness. Expensive. Good but not worth $ to me.

Schlafly A IPA. One of a series of IPA varieties by Schlafly. I have not tested others. Smell of grapefruit, apricot. Taste of grapefruit,
yeast, ginger. Finish pepper. After few minutes, dull spearmint. Excellent IPA. Tastes like I remember Bert Grant's IPA.

Troegs Troegenator Doublebock. Weak smell. But sourdough. Taste of molasses, chicory. Finish slightly bitter, slightly alcoholic.
Good. Not great. Better Doublebock than Troegs Perpetual is IPA.

Southern Tier 2x1 Ale. Smell of grapefruit, orange, apricot. Color golden. Taste crisp, clean. Grapefruit, apricot. After sitting awhile,
strawberry. Floral, metallic. Coriander and cumin. I never heard of a beer tasting like cumin. Label not mention spices. May not contain
Coriander either. From hop taste I would suspect at least 1 American (citrus, floral) and 1 European (metallic) hop variety. But 2x1 means
1 type of malt and 1 type of hop. If Southern Tier not add flavors, they got a lot of work out of 1 type of malt and 1 type of hop.
It is good. So try it! It is seasonal. So try it soon!

Abita Mardi Gras Bock. Tastes like maibock. 1 I have had before but cannot place. Maybe Stoudt's.
Color light for maibock. Smell, Taste sweet. Not too sweet. Taste of caramel malt and very light caramel candy. Like Sugar Daddy.
Finish Slightly and appropriately bitter. A bit of orange taste. Though I doubt actual orange.

Dominion Abbey Ale. So called. Spiced like Belgian. But tastes & smells like hefeweizen. Odd pairing. But good.
Finish yeasty. Slightly bitter. Eventually toffee. Nice Belgian style ale. But too sweet for me. Not worth price. Ironically if I were to
recommend a beer by Ommegang (an American Belgian-style brewer) it would be their most expensive: 3 Philosophers. All Ommegang beers expensive.
3 Philosophers is especially expensive. But especially good.

Against the Grain Sho'nuff Begian Table Ale. Sour, but not too sour, even for me. Not much else either. Smell is a little sweet. Maple? Taste of slight bitter
hops. Has bit of body. But mostly watery taste. Finish of bitter hops , sourness. Start w Killians. Add sourness and a little complexity. End up w Sho'nuff.

Freewill Saison de Rose. Smell of some sour fruit. Apples? Cherries? Maybe sour mash. Tastes like it. But cherries more strong, sourness less strong.
Sweet w the sour. Apple, hops pop out more in finish. Overall too sour and too much like cherry soda for me.

Hill Farmstead Brewery. Mary Farmhouse Ale. Smell of starch and sugar. Maybe crepes w thin layer of strawberry jelly. Some other fruit peeking thru. Maybe
boysenberry. Taste of fennel, pale malt, floral hops. Finish of floral hops, light spearmint.

Stillwater Vacuum. That all says on draft board. Stout or Porter. Smoked malt. Which I like. Too hoppy for rest of beer. Smell of smoke, floral hops. Taste
of smoke, floral, bitter hops. Finish of bitter hops. Hoppy stouts can work. But they most often do not. Vacuum is the rule not the exception.

I hd this memory fr prev yrs that Founders Breakfast Stout was better on draft than in bottles. Maybe not. Bad draft lines? Bad memory? From this draft, seems
about same as bottle. I wd like to compare draft and bottle side-by-side.

I do not often drink Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I usually try a new beer. But combining taste, price, availability, Sierra Nevada is my standard for hoppy beer.

Harpoon Pumpkin Cider. Smells like pumpkin pie mixed w cider. Initial taste of apple,wild cherry, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, and a Mexican drink called jamaica.
Delayed taste of citrus. Some bitterness. Maybe lime rind. Maybe hops.Finish of pumpkin, cider, cinnamon. Color of urine. Cider not bad as my description reads.
It is what I usually call an obligatory pumpkin beer. This is a cider. And too sweet is today's cider style. But Harpoon Pumpkin tastes more like a soda.

Penn Brewery. Oktoberfest. Little lighter than I like Fest. But well w/in bounds of style. Light taste of cloves. Odd for Fest. But works.

Lavery Brewing. The Devil's Pumpkin Ale. Not hoppy. But too hoppy for rest of beer. Still good. More pumpkin than spice. Which I like.

Clown Shoes Clementine Wit. Smell of teast, orange, allspice. In taste wd hv said tangerine. So Clementine makes sense. Taste of yeast, orange peel, coriander.
Slight hefeweizen taste of banana. Finish of malt, yeast, sourness. I had some other Clown Shoes brew I not remember. Did not impress me. Clementine does!

Dominion Double D Double IPA. Smell of nothing but citrus and floral hops. Taste of grapefruit, malt, menthol
(Yeah. Like the eucalyptus taste fr other beer. Taste w/o the burn). Finish of malt, bitter hops, pepper. Not taste of butterscotch; but feel of butterscotch.
Beer instructor at Total Wine likes > 90 Min. Not me. DD is typical IPA + malt. 90 Min almost own style. But DD good IPA w malt worked in well.

Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. Smell of chocolate, chocolate malt (which does not contain chocolate), milk. Oddly choc, choc malt not come thru to me in taste.
Carbonated and thin for stout. More frothy than creamy. Taste of milk, molasses, bitter hops, eucalyptus (w/o the burn). Finish of molasses, bitter hops.
Lighter than I wd prefer. But good.

Anchor IPA. Bartender claimed too much malt. I think worse than that. Bad keg. Like old beer. Want to taste in other venue.

Prism Shady Blonde. Not a beer by my std. Weird. Popcorn flavored soda.

Rivertowne Hop Lace White IPA. Cloudy like hefe. Not hoppy for IPA. Simple but well done.

Nebraska EOS Hefeweizen. Almost no smell. Muddled taste. Finish nice malty hefe. But not nice getting there. Drinkable. But I do not recommend it.

If u r looking for the beer that tastes the most like grapefruit w/o using grapefruit, Moving Parts 03 wd be a good place to start.

I do not like grapefruit
much. But I liked this beer. Still, not my fav. Not cuz too much grapefruit to enjoy. But cuz too much grapefruit to taste anything else.

Moving Parts IPA 03. Moving Parts is Victory's experimental IPA series. I did not taste 01 or 02.

Smell: grapefruit. Taste: grapefruit. Finish: grapefruit.

Coney Island Freaktoberfest. Smell of honey, peach, cinnamon. Taste of good Oktoberfest, with more bitter hops. Plus coffee. And cumin! Finish of coffee,
sweetness, metallic hops. Supposed to have pumpkin. I could not detect. My description sounds strange. Their beer works well.

At 1st smell and even first taste I thought Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale wd be better. A few seconds more proved me wrong. This beer does not even taste like
the usual combo of pumpkin pie spices. The taste is dominated by cinnamon, distantly followed by honey. It tastes like Apple Jacks, which I am not crazy about
about in a cereal. And certainly do not want in a beer. Unless u want to drink Apple Jacks, stay away from Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale.

Fordham Spiced Harvest Ale. My main complaint for most pumpkin beers is that the pumpkin beer is just the brewer's standard beer with pumpkin pie spice added.

Founders Porter. Smell of molasses, caramel, vanilla, Irish cream. Taste of molasses, chocolate, apricot, chicory. Finish of chocolate, cherry, chicory.
I have not tasted Founders Porter next to Founders . But I think I like Founders Porter better. Not better than I remember Breakfast Stout tasting 3 years ago.
But better than I remember Breakfast Stout tasting more recently. 3 years ago I called Breakfast Stout a dessert beer. Now I call it a good dark beer.
I do not know if the recipe for Breakfast Stout changed. Or my taste did. But something is different. Maybe different enough to make Breakfast Stout my
SECOND favorite Founders dark beer. Only a side-by-side taste test will tell.

Wild Onion Pumpkin Ale. Smell of light cinnamon, cloves. Sarasparilla (root beer). Taste of malt, bitter hops. Light cinnamon. Finish of malt, light sourness,
and ... Dr. Pepper. Which I not like as soda but I like here. I making this beer seem like an alcoholic soda. It is not. Beer is well balanced. Lightly spiced.
And not sweet! Wild Onion Pumpkin Ale is a good beer. Try it if u find it.

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest. Smell of apples, pepper, nutmeg, sweetness, malt. Floral, but not hoppy. Taste of malt, light bitter hops, orange, caramel, squash.
Bitter hops emerge in the finish. Finish is a nice blend of sweet, sour, and bitter. A great light fest. Try Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest while it lasts!

Bells Octoberfest. I tend like heavy fests > light fests. Even for light fest I was disappointed. This is Bells! I expect greatness w every release. But worth
trying. Smell surprisingly sour for fest. Sour mash, cider. Taste of malt, piecrust, apple. Finish floral hops, light bitter hops, raspberry. Finally molasses!
Maybe this is a fest after all. I doubt any fruit in beer, but very fruity for style. For good light fest try Sierra Nevada Octoberfest.

Mikkeller Texas Ranger. I think they call it a chipotle porter. Nice idea. Needs work. Flavors too distinct. Not blend well. 6.6% ABV. Tastes like more. Much
better at finish than up front. Finish of coffee, hot pepper (w capsaicin!). And since is me and a dark beer, chicory. Pepper sensation not hot but lingers!

Troegs Hop Knife Harvest Ale. Smell of piney, citrus hops. Light sweetness. More rounded hops taste. Pine, citrus, but also floral, bitter. I usually not like
this much pine. But works for Hop Knife. Slightly sour finish. Troegs solves my pblm w Shaun Miller standby (Perpetual IPA): hops for hops sake. Hop Knife is
hops with a purpose. Hops strong enuf that malt taste not come thru to me. But malt body does. Body well suited to hops. If u like hops, try Hop Knife.

Susquehanna Pumpkin Ale. Another shortcut pumpkin beer: Brew std beer. Add pumpkin pie spice at any point in process. Label as pumpkin beer. At least Susquehanna
went light on the spice. Bad news is that spice they DID add makes beer taste peppery - Dr. Peppery. And I do NOT like Dr. Crapper. Good brewer. Boring beer.


Firestone. Union Jack IPA.

Smell of grapefruit hops. Taste of grapefruit hops, bitter hops, tangerine, malt. Finish of bitter hops, sourdough.

As strong as hops are, a little watery. Decent IPA.


Sierra Nevada Brewing. Tropical Torpedo IPA. 6.7% ABV. Smell of grapefruit hops, sweetness. Taste of grapefruit hops, metallic hops. The label says it has the taste of mango, papaya, and passionfruit. I have never tasted passionfruit. I am not sure it exists. I know passionfruit as the name that fragrance manufacturers give to any indistinct fruity scent.

I have tasted mango and papaya. But not in Tropical Torpedo. I taste a little cucumber. Not in a bad way. Which is odd because I go not like cucumber. Overall not a lot of complexity to Tropical Torpedo. If you want straight ahead hops, this beer's for you. Not quite what I call 'hops for hops sake'. But verging on it.

Finish of metallic hops, yeast, astringency.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is my touchstone for hoppy beer. It is very good, widely available, and pretty cheap. From Sierra Nevada, Tropical Torpedo is disappointing. Overall, hoppy, simple, and serviceable.


Troegs Field Study IPA. 6.2% ABV. Smell of grapefruit hops, very light lemon. Taste of grapefruit hops, malt, lemon, baby-aspirin-orange. Finish of malt, light bitter hops. Surprisingly light grapefruit hops. Grapefruit hops fade quickly for a Troegs IPA. Which works well for this beer.

Label says taste of mango, pear, and melon.  I do not taste any of those. Label also says grapefruit and malt. I do taste those! So I am not completely dense to what the brewer is trying to convey.

Troegs Field Study is hoppy, Oddly there is no IBU rating. Even on the Troegs website. I am guessing around 60 IBUs. Hops are well balanced for this lightish beer. Welcome and uncharacteristic hops restraint by Troegs. Not spectacular beer. But good beer anytime of year. Targeted at summer. Target hit!


Bonus Entry!

This was my ranking of Troegs hoppy beers in the Summer of 2018

    1) Hop Knife (Fall beer)

    2) Hopback (Winter beer in 2018. Year round in 2019. )

    3) Blizzard of Hops (Winter beer)

    4) Nimble Giant (Summer beer)

    5) Perpetual (Sure. Troegs brews the worst of these beers all year round.)

I do not have good enough taste memory to place Troegs Field Study precisely in my ranking of Troegs hoppy beers in the Summer of 2019. I am guessing somewhere between New #4 and New #5. Definitely not last. Troegs would have to screw up a 2nd beer for Perpetual to lose that title.


New Belgium Brewing. Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA. 7.5 % ABV. 50 IBU. Smell of grapefruit hops, wintergreen, carrots. Taste of bitter hops, floral hops, malt. Finish of malt, metallic hops, slight sourness. And carrots🥕🥕 again!

From my description, Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze sounds great. It is not great. But it is good.


Southern Tier Brewing. Lake Shore Fog Hazy and Juicy IPA. 6.5% ABV. Nice looking color. Like a vibrant pale hefeweizen. It does not taste like a hefeweize, though. Smell of floral hops, coriander, rhubarb. Taste of floral hops, bitter hops, lemon, orange peel, spaghetti squash. Finish of bitter hops, yeast.

Southern Tier maintains its unblemished record. I have never had a bad beer by Southern Tier. Lake Shore Fog is between good and very good.


Troegs Lucky Holler Hazy IPA. 6.8% ABV. Smell of grapefruit. Rind and all. Taste of grapefruit hops, light sweetness. Light orange. Like orange Sweet Tarts. Slight pale malt. Moderate sour finish. Still grapefruit hops.

Not a bad beer. But suffers from what I call 'Hops for hops sake'. Like its sibling, Troegs Perpetual. At least Perpetual has a lot of flavors going on underneath. I would not call Lucky Holler a one-dimensional beer. But I would call it a two-dimensional beer. And short in both directions.


Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA. 6.8% ABV. Smell of  citrus, raisins, apricots. Taste of citrus hops, bitter hops, malt, wintergreen. Finish of bitter hops, sourness. From Sierra Nevada. How bad can it be? A little too much "hops for hops sake". But a drinkable beer.


Sierra Nevada Little Big Thing Imperial IPA. 9% ABV! Smell of citrus hops, lemongrass, slight malt, coriander, and ... peanut butter! Typical American sweetened peanut butter. Like Jif. Choosy brewers choose Jif? Of course there us no peanut butter in Little Big Thing. Just a combination if smells that SUGGEST peanut butter.

Taste of citrus hops, bitter hops, orange, watermelon, coriander. But not alcohol! Which at 9% takes a well balanced beer. Finish of floral hops, sweetness, slight malt, slight sourness.

As I remember, Sierra Nevada traditionally brewed 2 beers year round. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and a barleywine, Bigfoot Ale. Plus a lighter (but not light) barleywine in winter, Celebration Ale. Then Sierra Nevada started filling out its product line. My complaint was that the follow-on beers were OK. But did not measure up to the original 3. This one does! Little Big Thing is a very good beer from a very good brewer.