HopHead Brew Blog

Has anybody but me noticed the trend with the packaging of todays beer? I mean personally, I like the label, when you compare it to the many others that look similar to it, but that is my point, they are all starting to look alike! It’s almost like a bunch of kids with photo-shop went crazy and designed beer labels! Maybe this was the first and the others copied that look? Does anybody know?

The only thing bad is that since they all look alike, how do you get your product to stand out? I can tell you with this one, all you have to do is taste it! One sip and you won’t forget it!

When I opened the first bottle, I heard a familiar crisp sound, which usually means “bottle conditioned” Who knows, maybe it is? I didn’t find anything on the Great Divide website, does anybody know?

As this first brew poured into the glass, the first thing I noticed was that it was actually a bit dark to be a “pale” but, this did not upset me, when I brew an IPA it is always darker than the “specs” say it should be, so that is a good thing!

As I got to the last bit in the bottle, I noticed a sediment! Yeast! Maybe it is bottle conditioned? Then I noticed there was a slightly green tint to the sediment, I got a great big smile at that point because surely they haven’t filtered all the flavor away and green, that means HOPS! (I hoped)

This beer, in my opinion, has a full body and a thick foamy head, compared to many others, so as I took that first sip, I didn’t want that flavor to end, and it didn’t disappoint, the hops were there all they way through!

Below you can read an excerpt from Great Divide Brewing’s Website, and see what they say, and when you click the link to read more, you will also find what others have said about this brewery and their beers, I saw nothing that I could disagree with.

(Read more)

Many of you may be familiar with this brewery, it is new to me, if I have seen it before, maybe that packaging issue got me, and I thought I had already tried
it, it looks a lot like Pyramid, same color etc, but I can
assure you, it doesn’t taste the same! I can’t wait to try the rest of
their brews! That Hercules Double IPA sounds really good!

While I’m thinking about it, I have another question, if a young person can join the military, and vote, why can’t they drink beer? It seems to me that if they can’t be trusted to drink a beer, how can you trust them to vote? Do you have an opinion? Visit my other site, OpinionHead.com, I told you it was coming, now it is here and I need help! I need more OPINIONATED authors, check out the site and drop me a note if you are interested. OpinionHead.com

Technorati Tags: great divide brewing, Titan IPA, hophead, opinionhead

I know that many people, who have done host transfers, may be wondering what all the fuss is about, I’ll explain. I have several domains, each with many layers, many problems you can say, but, it is all done now!

I will be back to my regular reporting on anything I can find about beer! Tonight, I have to do a follow up to the Keystone Light post The main thing I have to say is, if you like beer, not just the expensive stuff, but all beer, you have to have a baseline or benchmark to go from, and personally, for regular beer, it is Budbrewski for me! Since my break, the keystone post, I haven’t had a beer! Tragic I know! However, after it is all done, except for the fine tuning, I wanted to have a beer! Remember, keystone is the norm here, I wanted a bud, and comparing the two is a bit like chalk and cheese! They start out the same, but finish much different.

When drinking the Keystone, I had this overwhelmingly stupid feeling, my brain was out of order, yes, gettin drunk does that, but I barely had a buzz! After drinking just 6 of my Budbrewski’s, I had mor of a buzz, but don’t have that cloud in my head! Hmm, for $3.24 a twelve-pack difference, I will buy the Bud!

I still have some work to do, and guess what, I can do it, even on my “vacation”, I know this, once I get my hands on some Arrogant Bastard, I will appreciate it even more!

Technorati Tags: budbrewski, hophead, keystone

Ok, Ok, I can hear everybody already! No, this beer is not a “real” beer, it is not in the same class as even a Budbrewski, but, I am writing this as an “honorable mention”, why, you might ask? IT COMES IN A LONGNECK!

I mean how often do you find cheap beer in a bottle, much less in a longneck! I do have to admit, for $6.99 a 12 pack, it is drinkable, if you chug down the first 3 or 4, it works just fine!

Where I live, in the sticks, this is actually the beer of choice! In fact, the best beer you can buy around here is Bud! Maybe a Shiner, for $7 a six pack! (Not worth $5), but when visiting a store here in the Somerville area, you will find the most, buying this stuff. Today, I just had to know, so, I looked and there it was, a 12 pack of longnecks for $6.99! This is a place that Bud longnecks are $12.99! Any wonder why it sells?

So, now that I have slammed all 12, what do I think? The buzz sucks! I am going to have a hangover from hell! I can tell that this is an adjunct brew, I don’t think it even has any barley malt in it! Nor does it have any hops! I have a strange buzz, almost scary, yet a Bud is way stronger, you don’t know that you will have a headache until the next day. I have to say this, if you want a cheap headache, this is the way to go, but unless you are an alcoholic, don’t mess with it!

Technorati Tags: beer review, keystone light, coors, alky brew

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After reading many other posts about this brewery, i decided that I just had to try it! Just so that you know, I am not a big fan of beer made from anything but barley or wheat, but this one was really good! I have to say that I will buy it again.

One remarkable thing is that this beer didn’t taste like an ale, which usually has that ale yeast characteristic, I would hate to think that a brewery with a name like “Real Ale’ could possibly be using lager yeast, and no I am not accusing them of that. What I am saying is that it has a very clean, crisp taste. As far as the rye part goes, it just doesn’t have that bitter twang from rye (I don’t mean bitter from hops!), but it does have a nice hoppiness.

Overall I give this beer a thumbs up, it was different from other rye beers that I have tried, I actually liked it, so go get some of this and tell me what you think about it!

Technorati Tags: Real Ale, Full moon Pale Rye Ale, beer review, hophead

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Buffalo Bill’s Brewery: Pumpkin Ale is a beer that is of course a seasonal item, and yes it is January and this review could be considered to be a bit late, but, here it is anyway.

No, I am not a big fruit beer fan, but this stuff is pretty good. I decided to get a second opinion on it before I wrote this because I am a Hophead and I wanted to be fair, so, I gave a bottle to my mom! She is not a beer drinker, although she does like Arrogant Bastard, she just doesn’t drink much of anything. Her first sip of this beer, her eyes lit up! She told me she wants more of this Pumpkin Ale! I was shocked and gave her 3 of the beers in the six pack!

My opinion of this beer is simple, it is good, it is different,and no, it doesn’t taste like pumpkin pie.

Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale has a strong resemblance to a German Hefe Weizen that I used to drink when I lived there, this is a spiciness that I believe comes from not just the cinnamon and spices, but it is also the yeast that gives it a bit of a clove flavor.

I really like this beer, but it doesn’t bother me that I won’t find it again until next year. If anyone sees this in the store, buy it, try it, and see what you think, I feel it is worth drinking  and I will get more next year. I just wonder if I can find any of their other beers?  If so I will try them too.

Check out the Buffalo Bill’s website, it is also pretty unique! They don’t offer much information about their beers but this is a Brew-Pub/ Brewery that sounds like a good place to go and they have a nice website.

If you have tried this beer, any of their other beers, or have been to the restaurant, post a comment and tell us about it!

Technorati Tags: buffalo bills pumpkin ale, pumpkin ale, fruit beer, beer review, brewpub, hophead

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This is an oldie but a goodie to me, this won’t actually be a review, just as much info as I can find and my opinion about this wonderful brew!

It must have been about 6 years ago, I stumbled into my favorite beer store, Joe Blows, which has been bought out by Specs I hear, anyway, I saw this on the shelf and had to try it!

I immediately  fell in  love. No, this is not a “hop monster” as is usually my preference, but it does max out for the style at 40 IBU’s! Hmm, a Maibock hoppier than an IPA (Redhook: Long Hammer IPA), thats ok, they are both good brews!

This is what Rogue says about Dead Guy Ale:

Should you want to brew this yourself, you can either combine those ingredients above, using Beer Smith, until it comes out close, or go to Austin Homebrew Supply, who has a kit ready to go.

You might be able to find this recipe and more in Beer Smith’s Recipe Listing

To sum it all up, Dead Guy Ale is a definite keeper, I buy this one all the time!

Technorati Tags: dead guy ale, rogue brewing, austin homebrew supply, beer smith, hophead, brew recipes

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Tonight I am doing this just a little different, no sip by sip taste test, I am just going to tell you how it was, in my opinion that is, never forget, I am not opinionated, I am just always right! Anyway, lets talk about the beer.

When I opened this beer, and poured it, it somehow reminded me of a Budbrewski! It was a bit “fizzy”, in other words, not much body and even less of a head, and that went away rather quickly. It was just a bit richer in color, but not much. At this point, I still haven’t smelled any hops, “and this is an IPA?”, I’m thinking. For the price, I’ll take a Budbrewski!

Once in the glass, I started sniffing pretty hard, and yes, it has hops in it, but I can’t smell it. The next step is to taste it, well, somewhat cautiously I take a sip, it didn’t taste bad, in fact, I didn’t taste much at all! So, I took a big gulp, and another. Hmm, it’s not bad as you drink it, not very hoppy, but not bad. Then after a second or two, I notice this sour aftertaste, not sour like lemons or limes, but sour like, well, something went bad, or had vinegar it it! Others, I would guess, call that “Dry”, sorry, dry wine, isn’t soured, this was.

Well, I wasn’t expecting all that, I had read on many other sites like ratebeer.com that this got a 2.9/5.0 average, I would probably say that is close, but I didn’t give it that high of a rating, maybe a 2.0.

The brewery, Red Hook, says it like this “Longhammer IPA is the beer you find yourself reaching for again and again” , I would have to agree, I did the same, all the way through the six pack, I looked for more flavor, for more hops! I had hoped for a little more kick, but it was about like a Bud Light with extra hops, this one doesn’t go on my shopping list.

Now you know how I’ll vote on the poll!

Iknow that some want a less “hoppy” beer, and Red Hook says that this is a 38.5 IBU IPA, honest I guess, but, again according to BeerSmith, an American IPA starts at 40 IBU’s, I guess they got close.

I say this, if you too are a Hophead, this just isn’t the one! I’ll take that Snake Dog over this one! I did find this, maybe that explains it?

Redhook Ale
As part of an equity investment in the Redhook
Ale Brewery in Seattle, Anheuser-Busch wholesalers have distributed
Redhook’s superior microbrewery products since 1994 in select U.S.
markets. Brands include Redhook Extra Special Bitter (ESB) Ale, Ballard
Bitter Ale, Blackhook Porter and Wheathook Ale, among others.

Technorati Tags: beer reviews, red hook IPA, hophead

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Here we go with the taste test, I know you want a quick answer, but this could take a minute, hey, I have only finished one so far.

When I first poured this pretty clear beer, the first thing I noticed was that hop aroma jumping up in my face, I started to shake with anticipation!

The way that Flying Dog says it is “the citrus fruit aroma will hypnotize the senses of the most hardcore of craft drinkers”.

To this I must say that I agree, the aroma is really wonderful.

Now finishing the second one, I can tell that the ABV must be correct, because I am actually starting to notice the warmth of the alcohol in my body, hey, it is winter and 37 degrees outside, so that is important!

Back to the appearance of this, oops almost told you how it tastes, “pretty” beer, I would also have to agree with Flying Dog’s scale, it is just almost in the middle between light and dark, but closer to light, in color. Again, not being an expert, and somewhat color blind, I would say that it is a deep golden color,has a very nice white head, sure wish my home brewed beer came out this “pretty”.

Maybe I should tell you, I can be long winded, especially if I am drinking beer, and I have six of them to drink!

I am getting along well with my third one, I am not cold anymore!

There are a few other things about this beer that I want to mention and maybe get some opinions, in a comment. I have been buying beer for years, decades even, I have been buying Craft Brewed, or Microbrewed beer for at least 5, consistantly that is, and I have seen this beer in the stores before, but, I didn’t buy it! Why, you might ask? That is easy, the packaging, it is absolutely ugly, in my opinion! I mean what is this?

This is one reason, I haven’t told you more about how it tastes, I am waiting to see if I get an unreal buzz that allows me to understand that, thing that is, I guess, a Snake Dog, yep, back in my younger days I would have recognized that!

The fourth beer in my hand, I am starting to realize that driving a car would be risky, now, I am not drunk, but a .08 is easy to get, if you know what I mean, so, unless you are a 300lb’er, you will have a “legal” buzz after 3 beers, maybe sooner?

Here comes the fifth beer, and that artwork is starting to look better!

(I need to know, have any of you tried this beer? There are many visitors here, besides the bots, and I need your feed back! Tell me about your favorite beer. In case your wondering if I am chugging these beers, no, I am watching the Houston Rockets play the Boston Celtics, good game reall, if you don’t count the officials. This ended up an exciting game, Boston won 93 - 97)

Now that beer number six is just about gone, I have to give you my final judgment. If you have seen the poll, before this was posted, there is a catagory missing. I am going to add one between “pretty good” , as I am sure you picked up my hints, and the “I love it” categories, that will be, This beer is Damn Good!, and I will buy it again, even if the packaging is ugly, although, after 6, I am really starting to get it! This is why, a simple sip, swish and spit, should never apply to beer! It should be a mandatory 6 pack judging! (Come on, comments!)

How many people buy a six pack of beer, just to sip on one or two? Yes, many will lie about it, but hey, be honest, why does it come six in a package? 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case, coincidence? I think so, 24 beers at about 7 min per beer, is 2.8 hours! Now you know where you stand, somewhere between 2.8 and 24 hours, where do you stand? (Come on comments!)

Here we are folks, this was a test, I drank, I rambled, heck, I had a great time! I watched my Houston Rockets almost beat a team with a much better record, the Boston Celtics. You guys let me know, post a comment, tell me through the polls, all of them!

See ya, the next beer review is…………………..(depends on yur comments, I may just drink it all, you tell me!)

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Ok, this is going to be my first attempt at a Beer Review. I do want to warn you, Arrogant Bastard is not just my favorite, well, one of them anyway, it pretty much defines my attitude toward Beer. I just got home with 6 different six packs of Beer, and each day, give or take, I will write about one particular Beer. The first one up is Flying Dog: Snake Dog India Pale Ale (IPA). (That’s seems to be a lot of dogs for one name). Anyway, not to be too judgemental, at least not yet! I am going to tell you, IPA’s are always a good pick, if you love Hoppy Beer and one can always find a selection of IPA’s just about anywhere, unlike some others that are more difficult. Ok, on with the review!

On Flying Dog’s website, they tell you this is a Colorado-Style IPA (Meaning American IPA), and that it is power hopped, believe me, if it is, I will tell you. Snake Dog’s site goes on to say that “this is the brewery’s hop monsterâ€, mmm, I can’t wait! They have it weighing in at:

Sounds good to me! Let’s see what BeerSmith has to say about American IPA’s:

Technorati Tags: beer reviews, flying dog ales, snake dog IPA, hophead, opinions, polls

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