Boulevard 80-Acre Hoppy Wheat Beer

Had a couple of these down at O'Rourke's this afternoon and was impressed to say the least. 80-Acre poured a hazy pale yellow, with a tall white head. Immediately a flurry of aromas tickled my nostrils: mango, apricot, pear, green apple and the obligatory pine. Much sweeter than I expected, but balanced by the sting of the hops. Citrussy as I approached the bottom of the glass. If you like hops, if you like wheats, heck if you like beer, grab yourself a six-pack today!

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale

Light orange in color, minimal head, smells and tastes like pumpkin pie and nutmeg. Some cinnamon as well. Good choice for a Halloween party, but not so much of an everyday beer.

Sam Adams Thirteenth Hour Belgian Stout Aged in Oak Barrels

The Barrel Room series ( 3/4 of it anyway) finally made it to Nebraska! Cracked open the first one for the August Joyce Family Dinner was Thirteenth Hour, a Belgian Stout. It poured a deep, dark brown, with a tall frothy tan head, and surprisingly heavily carbonated. Not nearly as thick and creamy as one might expect from a stout, but with a complex taste nonetheless. All kinds of fun secondary flavors fighting for attention from chocolate and coffee to licorice and black cherries. Figs, plums and raisins make an appearance as it warms up. Definitely a special occasion sippin' ale.

Sam Adams Barrel Room Series

Coming soon to IGB Beer Reviews!

http://www.samueladams.com/beers/thirteenth-hour/

http://www.samueladams.com/beers/new-world/

1800 Big Log Wheat from Blue Blood Brewing

Donated by the new kid on the block, Brian from Blue Blood Brewing, because he knows I'll tell people about it! Brewed especially for "The Lodge" at Wilderness Ridge (where I just officiated at a wedding) Pours a hazy golden apricot hue with a tall, tall snowy white head. Lots of depth in this summery brew. Tangy hints of orange and lemon peel and a little nutmeggy spice sneaking in the back door. Most importantly, a full-on wheat taste reminiscent of a fine hefeweizen.

Tommyknocker Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest Ale

Pours a dark brown, kind of like a porter in hue, rich brown head. The pumpkin taste is somewhat subdued, but tasty. Up there with the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin.  Chocolate malts give the ale some character and some subtle molasses rounds it all out.

Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Looks good: nice head, mahogany brown color, spicy aroma. Tastes pretty good too, although like with all flavored brews, the pumpkin kind of overwhelms the "real" flavor of the malt & hops. In addition to the pumpkin it tastes like they threw some nutmeg and cinnamon in there too. Pretty drinkable, a fun beer for the upcoming Autumn season

Sam Adams Dunkelweizen

Another offering from the Harvest Collection, Dunkelweizen is definitely a Fall beer. A huge head when pouring, copper colored with a caramel tinted head. Initially a hoppy taste, with a hint of banana in the aftertaste, maybe a tad bit of cloves. Good balance between maltiness and hoppiness. (I believe that I may have made up two words there.) The clove taste gets stronger the more you drink, the banana less evident.

Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin

Like I've said many times, you can't go wrong with a Weyerbacher beer. And when Fall is here (I count Fall starting on Lughnasadh, August 1st) you can't go wrong with pumpkin ales. Probably the best pumpkin ale that I've tried to date. Pours a light coppery hue with a minimal head. 8% ABV, with malty undertones. Cinnamon, nutmeg and other Autumn spices evident in the mix, even a little vanilla.The higher ABV gives a subtle whiskey tinge to the aftertaste.  I'd recommend this little beauty to any of my disciples.

Lucky Bucket Octoberfest

Pours about a fist and a half head (yes, I really did write that), copper colored with a nice malty aroma. A bit more hoppiness than I expected, and not as sweet as a lot of other Märzens, but a good solid Autumn ale. I could see myself knocking back a few of these on a cool Fall evening.

New Belgium Red Hoptober

Pours with a gigantic caramel hued head, dark red. First mouthful hit me with a bunch o'hops. Following up right after with the caramel sweetness that one with expect from an Irish Red. There's some serious grapefruitness going on here too. Keep on going, there's pine notes as well. Great fusion of a pale ale and an Irish Red. Yummy.

Sam Adams Hazel Brown

The Sam Adams Harvest Collection is here and I've got one! It's full of old favorites, but there's always a new one in the box. Hazel Brown is an American brown ale brewed with hazel nuts. I've had some hazel nut flavored beers before and not been impressed, but Hazel Brown is different. It pours a deep brown with a tall, three-finger tan head. There's  plenty of sweet hazel nut flavor along with some cocoa and toffee. maybe a hint of maple syrup. This was a great addition to the Fall variety pack.

Blue Moon Caramel Apple Spiced Ale

This beer has "Autumn" written all over it! Pours a deep orangey-red, with an aroma laced with cinnamon and apples. Lots of caramel sweetness. Similar in some respects to their pumpkin ale, but with, you know...apples. Get out your rocking chair and flannel shirt and sit out on the porch. If you're going to have a Halloween party, I would recommend featuring this limited release ale.

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat

Hey let's take two things people like - wheat beer and cherries - and put them together - it'll be great! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Sam Adams makes a good wheat beer, and I am not at all opposed to cherries in my beer (a Kriek - a cherry lambic comes to mind) - this just isn't cutting it. Boston Brewing has included Cherry Wheat in several of their variety packs, Harvest Collection and Summer Styles, and maybe even the Holiday Classics, but I can't get to where I really enjoy this - there is too damn much cherry!

Pyramid Curve Ball - Blonde Ale

Is it true that blondes have more fun? Or that gentlemen prefer blondes? I don't know about either of those statements, but I do know that I like this blonde ale from Pyramid. I wasn't sure what I was getting when I selected Curve Ball as part of my mixed six-pack, but a little digging revealed that this was a Kölsch, that summertime favorite that's an ale, but also kind of a lager.  What I like about this style of beer from Köln (Cologne) Germany is the refreshing crispness from the lagering paired with the complex tastes from the top-fermenting. As far as the corollary tastes and aromas, I'm catching some white grape and pear, maybe a hint of orange peel too. Pick up a six-pack and you won't regret it.

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

Pours a clear gold color with a lacy white head.Heavily carbonated. This one, unlike many of the summer beers, is a lager, not an ale, and doesn't have any extraneous flavoring, like lemons. Hops aren't real obvious, but they hit you on the back of the tongue. This might be the winner of the "what to take to Nick's July 4th party" contest. Great beer for when it's 95 degrees outside...like today!

Sam Adams Belgian Session

Somehow I managed to make it through the entire summer beer season without picking up a Sam Adams Summer Styles 12 pack. I just wasn't interested in getting the Boston Lager, Summer Ale, Noble Pils,  East-West Kolsch and espcially not the Cherry Wheat just to try the one new one the Belgian Session. Don't get me wrong, I love the East-West, but I held out and was able to get some Belgian Session in the aftermath of a couple broken bottles.

The Belgian session pours a clear gold with a fluffy white head. Kind of a creamy consistency with the distinctive flavor of the Belgians. I can detect some orange peel and a little lemon - some clove on the back side. If you're having a variety pack, not the worst of the bunch, but there are better examples of the Belgian style by American brewers out there.

Sam Adams East-West Kölsch

Orangey color, citrus aroma, foamy white head. Kind of fruity. Great summer beer. Supposedly flavored with jasmine (hence the "east" in east-west) but I couldn't taste any myself. I was a little worried after that lavender ale I had last week! All in all a good brew to enjoy on a hot summer's day.

Empyrean Ales - Super Nova Summerfest

Empyrean is now bottling their seasonals, and this is the first of the series. Pours a medium head, honey-gold in color. Tastes slightly of sweet corn and a little bready. Obvious hoppiness, but paradoxically not too bitter. Great for these hot days and nights that we're experiencing lately. Rich Chapin knew what he was doing with this baby!