Bell’s Hopslam Ale is one of those beers I look forward to its release each year. After getting word a semi-local distributor received cases, I promptly drove 50 minutes one way to acquire one. Bottled on 1/9/2012, these are extremely fresh and hopefully tasting just like I remember last year: hoppy, bitter, citrusy and sweet.
Maximus and IPA are two words that belong together, their destiny is to be imprinted on a bottle of beer. That’s just what Lagunitas did, they took plenty of hops, malt, and yeast to make the Maximus IPA. Clocking in at 72.41 IBUs there should be some decent bitterness, but not so much that it is difficult to create a well rounded IPA.
Even though the holiday season is over you can still readily find holiday beers in your local store. And while they may have a holiday theme, they still make great beers for the winter season. This happened to me recently when I stumbled upon the Lump of Coal from Ridgeway Brewing. Ridgeway hails from the far away land of the United Kingdom and I haven’t sampled any holiday offerings from overseas (that I can think of), so this was certainly one that I had to try.
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In a totally unplanned coincidence I have another in New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series to review. This one, called Super Cru, is a 10% ABV Belgian Strong Pale Ale brewed with Asian pear juice. An interesting additive to be sure, and not one I’m very familiar with, or one that I have seen before. When this happens I find that it is best to dive right in.
Barleywines can be hit or miss for me, I either love it or can do without it. When you get a good Barleywine it hits all the perfect notes and you just want more of it. Sam Adam’s most recent entry in the world of Barleywines is the Griffin’s Bow, which is an 11.5% ABV oak-aged Barleywine. Promising notes of honeysuckle, pineapple, brown sugar, and toffee, it looks good on the outside.
