Hoppin' Frog BORIS the Crusher Reserve (8/10)

A few years ago, I took part in The Winking Lizard's World Beer Tour.  Although I'd learned to avoid beers with certain words in the title (American, Imperial, Pale Ale) because they tended to be hop-forward and unpleasant to me, I gave Hoppin' Frog's BORIS the Crusher a chance.  This Imperial Russian Stout turned out to be a favorite.

When I recently saw that Hoppin' Frog had relased BORIS the Crusher Reserve, I was intrigued.  I picked up a bottle at Savor Pint and brought it home.

This version of BORIS, according to the label, is "brewed with even better dark grain - the finest imported dark grain" to make it even better.

The beer pours a thick, black motor-oil-like color with a thin brown head that doesn't last long and leaves behind no lacing.

The aroma is chocolatey, malty, and sweet.

The flavor starts malty and dry, but then turns sweet, bitter, and warming.  For my taste, it's a bit more bitter than I care for but still quite drinkable.  The mouthfeel is creamy and silky, similar to a melted milkshake.

It's a good stout. I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.  Beer Advocate has no official number yet, but the reviews there as of this writing work out to around an 8 out of 10 also.  Rate Beer gives it a 98 overall.

Cigar City Brewing Jai Alai IPA (5/10)

This week concludes our three-beer tour of the Miami area with Cigar City Brewing's Jai Alai India Pale Ale (IPA).  Cigar City Brewing of Tampa produces this beer.

It pours slightly hazy amber color with thick white head that lasts a while.

As would be expected for an IPA, the aroma is hoppy, loaded with pine and grapefruit.

The flavor, also as expected for an IPA, is predominantly hops and grapefruit.

Not being an IPA fan, the beer gets a mere 5 out of 10 from me.  I don't know that I've ever rated an IPA higher than that. That doesn't mean it's a bad IPA.  In fact Rate Beer gives it a 99 out of 100 overall and Beer Advocate gives it a 100 out of 100 or "outstanding" rating.  If you like IPAs, then you'll definitely want to check this one out when you're in Florida.  If, like me, you don't care for the style... well... this one isn't going to change your mind about it.  It's a typical American IPA as far as I'm concerned.

As far as I know, Cigar City isn't shipping its beer into Ohio yet, so you'll need to take a road trip south to try it.

Funky Buddha Floridian Hefeweizen (7/10)

On the same trip in January that brought you last week's Shark Bait mango wheat ale comes this week's beer, Funky Buddha Brewery's Floridian Hefeweizen.

Floridian won the brewery a Gold Medal in 2015's Best Florida Beer Championships.  The brewery says "our unfiltered and refreshing German-style wheat beer is full on flavor yet light on the palate.  Authentic hefeweizen yeast creates the compelling aromas of bananas, citrus, and cloves, while the all wheat and malt body perfectly captures the brilliance of a golden Florida sunset."

Floridian pours a hazy gold with a thin white head that doesn't last long.

The aroma is indeed malty and citrusy, though I didn't pick out the usual hefeweizen clove and banana in it.

The flavor is a mix of malt and citrus at the start, followed by clove and hops, with a mildly bitter and citrus finish.  I'm not a huge fan of wheat beers, but all things considered, this is a decent one.

In all, I give it a 7 out of 10.  Beer Advocate liked it a bit better than I did, giving it an 86 or "very good" rating.  Rate Beer liked it slightly more, giving it an 89 overall.

Unfortunately, I don't think Funky Buddha's shipping beer to Ohio yet, so you'll need to head south if you want to sample this one.

Miami Brewing Co. Shark Bait (8/10)

While passing through the Miami airport in January, I stopped to sample a few local beers.  One of them was Miami Brewing Company's Shark Bait.

Shark Bait is a mango wheat ale.  It pours a hazy yellow gold as you see in the picture to the left, with a finger-thick white head that lasts a while and leaves behind spotty lacing.

The aroma is a mix of mango, malt, and possibly noble hops.

The flavor starts slightly sweet, then the mango swells up and adds tartness.  Hops follows that.  The finish is a mix of mild mango and hops bitterness. It's a very easy to drink beer, as you can see from the amount that had already vanished by the time I took the photo.

I am not a big wheat beer fan in general, but I liked this one. Drinking it made me feel not like I was sitting in an airport restaurant, but like I was on the beach in Miami listening to steel drums and watching the tide come in.  That's not a difficult image to take in January.  In the end, I rated the beer an 8 out of 10 for its overall experience.

Surprisingly, Rate Beer gives Shark Bait only a 55 overall.  Beer Advocate didn't have a score when I checked in March 2016, but the few reviews that were posted were in the (approximate, adjusted) 6-7 out of 10 range.  I think they're being a bit hard on it, myself.  While it may not be the equal of some of the world's most-celebrated beers (like Westvleteren XII or Pliny the Elder) it's a competent beer that is easy to drink and is more palatable than the macros.

Sadly, the last time I checked this beer isn't available here in Ohio.  You'll have to make a trip south to pick some up.

Seventh Son Abbadon Belgian Quad (8/10)

As of this writing, the Upper Arlington location of The Daily Growler has Seventh Son's Abbadon Belgian Quad.

According to the marketing literature "Abbadon is the angel of the abyss. He controls a plague of locusts that resemble horses with crowned human faces, women's hair, lion's teeth, wings, and scorpions' tails that torment anyone who does not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  A rich, malt-forward, monastically-inspired beer featuring flavors of dried fruit, bitter orange, white pepper, and an elegant port wine sweetness."

As you can see in the photo, Abbadon pours a dark brown color with reddish hues.

The aroma is malty with a strong dark fruit element.

The flavor starts with a solid balance of malt and hops, without too much of either. After this, sweetness and dark fruit, sweet malt, a touch of cloves, and a peppery warming element make their appearance.

As a fan of Belgian style beers, I was impressed with Seventh Son's work here.  It's nicely balanced, has typical Belgian flavors to it, and is neither cloying or too dry.  It's a really nice beer.

Beer Advocate has only a single review at present, which gives the beer a 4.25 out of 5.  Rate Beer has three reviews, which average out to around 78 out of 100.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10, because it's a well-executed quadrupel.

Ommegang Game of Thrones Iron Throne Blonde Ale (6/10)

Being a sci-fi geek in addition to a beer geek, it should probably be blasphemous to say this, but I don't watch Game of Thrones.  There were too many characters to keep track of and the story just didn't grip me.  To take the blasphemy a step further, although I love several Ommegang beers, I've found them all to be overly hoppy, unlike my favorite Ommegang brews.  My favorite of them so far is the Valar Morghulis Dubbel Ale.

That said, I'm always willing to give Ommegang a chance.  I picked up a bottle of Game of Thrones Iron Throne Blonde Ale on a recent beer shopping trip for $8.99.  I don't recall where it was, but these beers get such a wide distribution that you shouldn't have trouble finding them.  I typically see them in Giant Eagle and other local retailers.

Iron Throne pours a hazy blonde color with enormous white head that has the consistency of whipped cream  The glass in the photo at the left was poured fairly slowly and carefully, yet generated the head you see in the image... which lasted a while.

The aroma is a mix of hops, cloves, and has a bit of a grassy farm feel to it. Some citrus comes through as well.

The flavor starts with hops and cloves (probably from the wheat). The hops recede a bit after that and allows the underlying spice and lemon peel notes to rise up a bit. The finish is pure hops bitterness. While Ommegang describes this as a “gently hopped” beer, I’d say it’s only gently-hopped if you compare it to an IPA or American Pale Ale.