Otter Creek Alpine Black IPA

Was fortunate enough to stop by the Spirits Unlimited in Pt Pleasant and discover their amazing growler filling counter with 10-12 different craft beers on tap. They let you taste the beers before you decide which ones to fill your growler with and also sell growlers if you don't have your own. If you're in the area you have to check it out, its right on 35 South before you get into Bay Head.

After trying 4 or 5 beers, I settled on the most intriguing one, Otter Creek's Black IPA. Most IPAs are an orangy amber color so for this one to look basically black made for an interesting brew. It poured with a huge head that grew for the first few seconds and tricked me into overflowing my pint glass. A sad rookie mistake, but one that really caught me offguard. After the head settled to form a creamy brown thumb sized top I gave it a smell and enjoyed the citrusy hops and roasted malt that dominated the aroma. It was weird to smell a beer this dark have that scent. The taste was citrusy at first with some piney nodes, but didn't blow me away. It finished a bit harsh, but not too bad and packed some nice hops. Overall its not an amazing IPA, but one that's worth trying because of the dark color and roasted malt flavors which set it apart from most of the other more mainstream IPAs. Its growler time!

Blue Point Brewery Rastafa Rye Ale

Shout out to Michaela Hennessy for buying this beer for me. In honor of Jimmy Buffett playing at Jones Beach tonight it was necessary for me to review a beer from a Long Island brewery. Poured an amber orange with a nice head that hung around the whole time I drank it. Smell was earthy and rye with a tad if malty sweetness. Taste at first was earthy with some floral nodes that quickly turn to rye bread finished off with some nice hops and sweetness. It finishes a lot smoother than I expected, but packs some solid hops in. Not sure that rye beers are up my ally, but this one is not too bad. Worth a shot and the Bob Marley lookalike on the label is sick. One love!

Kane Brewing Company Head High IPA

Ladies and gentlemen, this is by far my most enjoyable review. About one year ago my brother-in-law John brought to my attention that there was a brewery opening up the road from him in Ocean Township. Well, after more than a year of anticipation, the brewery is finally open and distributing. John grabbed me a growler filled with Kane's Head High IPA from Brickwall Tavern in Asbury Park today and after two pints of it, I'm sold. The smell is citrus and floral mixed with hops. Taste is delicious at first with a citrusy sweetness that does not overbear you with maltiness. It quickly turns slightly piney, but with some amazing hops coming through. It is very well balanced and not hard to drink at all. For a brewery's first distributed batch this is extremely impressive. It reminds me a lot of Ithaca's Flower Power IPA and definitely comes close to being my favorite beer. It just might be my favorite IPA. A great beer that you need to get your hands on. As of right now Kane is only distributing kegs to bars and liquor stores with taps. I know its on tap at the Cranford Buy Rite so if you're around there check it out. They also have put out a Pale Ale and Summer Seasonal which I hope to try very soon. For more info on Kane see the below link. Cheers!
Http://borntobrew.blogspot.com

Brooklyn Brewery East India Pale Ale

Had a bottle of this craft brew from one of my favorite breweries the other night and forgot to send my review and I have to say that I'm a fan. Smell was caramel and floral with some slight hops mixed in. Taste was malty at first with the sweetness of the caramel coming through strong mixed with some floral nodes. It quickly turned to hoppy bitterness after that, but never completely lost the sweetness of the malt. Definitely a very interesting beer that differed from most of the IPAs I've had and liked it, but didn't absolutely love it because of the lingering malty taste. That being said its definitely worth trying like everything Brooklyn puts out. Happy Weekend!

Gallagher's Brewing Company Fall Seasonal

When I started this blog I said that I would also feature some of my adventures in home brewing, and after a few months the time has finally come. After much deliberation, I decided that the next beer would have to be a pumpkin flavored one to be released in mid-October. Officially, it will be called Paddy's Pumpkin Porter and is expected to be released on October 15 at Rutgers Homecoming. There will be more details on the official release and brewing process in the next few days and weeks, but for now prepare yourself for a pumpkin pie tasting porter that is perfect for the Halloween season. The initial boiling and beginning of fermentation should began this week and I will have all the updates right here on the blog, so stay tuned.

How to Pour the Perfect Guinness from a Can

I haven't been able to get this video directly on the blog here, but for now I'll post it as a link to Youtube. I have experimented with various ways of pouring a can of Guinness into a pint glass and found that this is by far the best way. Enjoy!

Perfect Guinness can pour

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat

My sister-in-law Mary Beth bought a six pack of this wheat beer to review on a warm summer afternoon in Stirling, NJ. Most people describe this beer as "Fruity Pebble tasting" and I can definitely see why. It smells like sweet berries and tastes almost exactly like Fruity Pebbles cereal. Its not annoyingly fruity but is hard to drink more than two of these. Definitely a favorite for the ladies, but drinking this beer makes me feel like a girly man. Overall, a decent fruity beer but if you're a guy I wouldn't go around bragging that you had it. Its Saturday people, let's jump on the booze train.