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The Sister – Fremont Brewing – Craft Beer Review

Some times the craft beer industry really confuses me. Take the dank IPA trend for example. What is the real goal? Are brewers trying to create a beer that smells like a frat house on a Sunday morning?


The definition of dank is as follows: disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold. Why would any one want to set damp and musty as a goal for a beer? That just sounds wrong.

From the Fremont Brewing website:

Sister is the most imperious of our Imperial Series and is inspired by our desire to thank Sisters everywhere. Without our Sisters, we would have never learned the finer points of emotional warfare, or the art of huffing and puffing, or snide remarking, how long to carry a grudge, or the true meaning of loyalty when one of us is hurt. This Sister is fittingly bitter and a little sweet but she will always be there for you…Because Sisters Matter. “Never Let An Angry Sister Comb Your Hair.” 

ABV: 8.5% IBU: MYOB SRM: N/A

Malts: 2-row, White Wheat, Vienna
Hops: Calypso, Mosaic, and Ekuanot with Amarillo extract.
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Clear
    • Moderate head retention
    • Medium carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine, citrus
    • No malt aroma
    • Dank esters
  • Flavor
    • Low alcohol
    • Pine, citrus, dank
    • Moderate hop bitterness
    • Light malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Drying body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Medium finish.

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Music:
Pacific Sun
Nicolai Heidlas
https://soundcloud.com/nicolai-heidlas/

Big Hoppa Triple IPA – Martin House Brewing Company – Craft Beer Review

When you come across a triple IPA you expect a few things. Aggressive bitterness, lots of alcohol and giant hop aroma. Big Hoppa delivers on the bitterness which comes out fighting but not over the top. The alcohol is there but not over powering. There is a very nice pine//tropical fruit aroma to this. It’s not what I would have expected. Overall this is a very nice IPA that I would definitely drink again.


From the Martin House website:

Big Hoppa is a hop lover’s dream. And a malt lover’s dream. Maybe it’s just a dream. This big, boozy Triple IPA clocks in at 12% abv and 93 ibus. Massive additions of Columbus, Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, Equinox, and Falconer’s Flight hops pair with two row and Munich malts to create this beautiful IPA.

ABV: 11.99% IBU: 93 SRM: 7

Malts: 2-row, Munich
Hops: Columbus, Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, Equinox, and Falconer’s Flight
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Amber
    • Slight Haze
    • Low creamy head retention
    • No visible carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Tropical fruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Mango/tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Medium alcohol
    • Pine, Tropical Fruit
    • Aggressive hop bitterness
    • Heavy malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Medium astringency
    • Sticky body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Medium finish.

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Music:
A way for me
Nicolai Heidlas
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Mage Fight – Urban Family Brewing Co. – Craft Beer Review

Naming your beer Mage Fight implies something. It comes with the expectation that the flavor will be a big hop battle. That It will be aggressive with a big hop aroma. None of that is happening here. The bitterness, flavor and aroma are all soft. Not that it’s unpleasant. It’s just unexpected. Kind of like the nice friendly mage that lives down the street. The one that uses his magic to get your kitten out of a tree.


Mage Fight is a tropical DIPA with strong flavors of tropical fruit. If I actually knew what a mango tasted like I would probably say that. Mango is not something I want in my IPA. This isn’t a bad beer. It’s just not what I expected.

ABV: 8.5% IBU: N/A

Malts: Unknown
Hops: Unknown
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw
    • Hazy
    • Low foamy head retention
    • No visible carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Tropical fruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Mango/tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • No alcohol
    • Mango, orange
    • No hop bitterness
    • low malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Soft body
    • Low carbonation
    • Short finish.

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Music:
Beat Your Competition
Vibe Tracks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9RmlH2Yx8M

Ojuice DIPA – Three Magnets Brewing Co. – Tasting Review

Ojuice is a NE inspired IPA that does something unique. It sets out to be extremely juicy while pushing the flavor profile as close to orange juice as possible. It achieves it’s goal. I’ve never had a beer that is quite like this.


From the Three Magnets website:

Brewed in celebration of Oly Taproom’s 3rd Anniversary, our latest in the Juice series features a soft bitterness and packs a huge dry hop component of Simcoe, Cascade, Citra and Amarillo hops. With a thick orange hue in the glass, there’s sure to be debate in whether you’re drinking beer or orange juice!

ABV: 8.2% IBU: 40

Malts: Unknown
Hops: Citra, Simcoe, Cascade, Amarillo
Yeast: Unknown
Other Ingredients: None

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Straw/Orange
    • Hazy
    • Moderate foamy head retention
    • No visible carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Citrus, orange, tropical fruit
    • No malt aroma
    • Orange/tropical fruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Mild alcohol
    • Cirtus, orange
    • Mild hop bitterness
    • low malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Soft body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Short finish.

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Music:
Cute
Bensound
https://www.bensound.com/

Oaked Category 5 DIPA – Due South Brewing Co. – Tasting Review

Oak aging a beer can be great. It can also be a marketing ploy. Unfortunately, in the case of Oaked Category 5, the later is definitely the case. The oak flavor is very subtle. More of the oak flavor comes out as the beer warms. It’s not enough to warrant paying a premium for. Due South is not clear how this was aged on their product page.


From the Due South website:

We aged our award-winning Category 5 IIPA on American oak to create this malty, hoppy, oaky can of resiny goodness. Serve this limited edition brew in a snifter to fully experience the complex flavors and aromas found in this beer.

From reading that I’m going to assume they used oak chips or spirals in the fermenter. It’s also possible they used oak staves. The flavor is so subtle I can’t believe that they aged this for very long.

ABV: 8.5%  IBU: 95

Malts: 2 Row Barley, Caramel Malts
Hops: Citra, Simcoe, Cascade, Columbus, Centennial, Chinook
Yeast: American Ale
Other Ingredients: American Oak

Tasting Notes

  • Color and Appearance
    • Gold/amber
    • Slight Haze
    • Good rocky head retention
    • No visible carbonation
  • Aroma
    • Pine
    • No malt aroma
    • Slight grapefruit esters
  • Flavor
    • Mild alcohol alcohol
    • Pine
    • citrus
    • low malt
  • Mouth Feel
    • Low astringency
    • Medium body
    • Medium carbonation
    • Long finish. Hangs on the tongue for a while.

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Music:
Watch it Glow
Silent Partner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqA1QF82YOA