Cosmic Eye Brewery: Unlock The Time Dragon IPA

With the long anticipated (relatively) warm weather this past week, an IPA was more than appropriate. I received a six pack of Cosmic Eye Brewery's Unlock the Time Dragon IPA in exchange for helping a friend file her taxes. India Pale Ales are known for moderately high alcohol content and elevated hoppiness (expressed as International Bitterness Units). Unlock the Time Dragon IPA fits both of those requirements: the ABV is 6.1% and the IBUs are a staggering 72. Despite the high hop content, the bitterness isn't the take-the-paint-off-the-hood-of-your-car kind of bitterness, but is more of a smooth citrussy hoppiness. It pours a hazy apricot hue, with a two-finger snowy white head. Peach and pineapple are the dominant notes in this orchestra, with pear, apple and white grape back in the second row. There's a bit of piney hops that show up as it warms up with some brown sugar and caramel to round it all out. A definite keeper at 9.0 on the IGB IPA scale; I'll be enjoying the other five. 
 

Surly Brewing Company Razor Gang Dry Irish Style Stout

The proliferation of small batch craft beer breweries has resulted in multiple takes on traditional beer styles in addition to new configurations. Stouts, porters, imperial stouts, Russian Imperial stouts, milk stouts, cream stouts, oatmeal stouts, oyster stouts, coffee stouts, barrel-aged, Baltic porters, plus any number of hybrid styles. In my youth the only "dark" beer around was usually Guinness Stout, a brew that people were convinced was stronger and heavier than the mass produced lagers, when in reality it had a ABV right in the same range, and it wasn't nearly as thick and creamy as people remember. Razor Gang is similar to Guinness in that it's a dry Irish stout. The ABV is 4.5% and the bitterness is around what you'd expect in a pale ale, around 35 IBUs. Overall, it's a decent stout, but nothing outstanding about it.

 

White Elm Brewery's Flat Roofin' Brown Porter

Another local brewery that's making a name for itself, I haven't had a lot of their beers, but I've liked what I've tried so far. I couldn't find a description of this beer on their website, but I wonder about the style. Porters don't usually need to be described as "brown", since they always are brown. Possibly a hybrid between a brown ale and a porter. I'm going to proceed as if that's the case. Flat Roofin' pours a deep brown, almost black, with a three-finger beige head. It's got that nutty-caramel taste that you'd expect from a brown ale, but some subtle coffee and chocolate notes that is the mark of a porter. The lack of creaminess suggests that it's closer to a brown ale than a porter. The IBUs are likely pretty low, since I'm not detecting any hop bitterness. Overall a decent brew, but nothing special. 6.5 on the IGB scale.  
 

Zipline Milk Stout

We're certainly still in the stout season (winter, cold, ice, dark), but milk stouts, also known as sweet stouts or cream stouts, usually make an appearance around Imbolc (Groundhog Day for you civilians). Typically, sugars are converted to alcohol during the fermentation process, but the sugar known as lactose does not convert to alcohol. By including some lactose in the brewing process a subtle sweetness is imparted to the finished beer. Zipline, as usual, does a fine job with this style. It pours a deep chocolatey brown, with a towering four-finger tan head. The hops register at 47 IBUs, which theoretically make it pretty bitter, but the sweetness of the lactose balance out the hoppiness giving it a solid character. A hint of chocolate, coffee and vanilla notes tickle the taste buds. If you're a stout/porter novice, a milk stout might be where you want to start on your dark journey.