Craft Beer Reviews and Ratings
We've done tastings and written reviews on some of our favorite beers. We hope you'll find the information useful, and you'll be inspired to try some of these fine beers. However, in reality, these reviews were just another excuse for us to drink good beer.
"A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure." - Czech Proverb
After each brew review you'll have an opportunity to give the beer your personal rating on a scale of 1 to 5. If you've tried one of these beers, please let everybody know what you think of it. If you would like to submit your own brew review for addition to this section, there's a form at the bottom of the page you can fill out.
Boulevard Single-Wide IPA
Single-Wide IPA is a newly released year-round beer from Boulevard Brewing Co. (Kansas City, MO). Single-Wide is an American IPA that was spun off from the Smokestack Series' Double-Wide IPA. If you've enjoyed a bottle of Double-Wide, this is a much easier drinking model, but at 59 IBUs, it still packs plenty of hops punch.
Singe-Wide pours a golden, yellowish-orange color with a very tall, thick head. The head has a tremendous amount of staying power, and a heavy carbonation level is very obvious. The aroma is heavily hopped, as you would expect from an IPA. The prevalent aroma is lemon zest with pine resins and hints of herbals and grasses. There is some bread-like maltiness for balance, and noticeable wheat malt.
When you take a sip of Single-Wide, you're immediately hit with a punch of carbonation. The beer has a medium to light body and feel, and the hops flavor is excellent. The wheat character comes through much more in taste than it did in smell. The finish is a very IPA like dryness, with a light oiliness from the hops. The alcohol is well hidden.
Overall, Single-Wide is refreshing and easy to drink. This would be a great IPA to drink on a summer day. It has the right amount of hopping, without killing the palate with bitterness. We feel the high level of carbonation could be toned down, but other than that, it's a solid American IPA. Single-Wide won't make the top of our favorite IPA list, but as usual, Boulevard doesn't disappoint with this beer. We've given it a rating of 4 out of 5 pints.
Abita Amber
Abita Amber from Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs, LA is an Octoberfest style beer brewed with local spring water. Abita's Amber was the first beer they brewed, and is their top selling favorite today. The beer definitely falls on the light side for a Munich style lager, but it does have some good qualities, and is certainly one of Louisiana's finest.
Abita Amber pours a hazy brownish-orange color with very little head that quickly dissipates and leaves almost no lacing on the glass. This left us with a bit of disappointment in the beer, that quite frankly, never went away. The aroma was lackluster, but had some bread-like sweetness from the malts, a hint of citrus. An alcohol odor was present.
The taste of the beer was similar to the aroma, with the exception of the alcohol was well masked. There were light tastes of toasted malts, along with hints of caramel and citrus. Much like the aroma, the taste left something to be desired. The body and carbonation were both light, especially for a Munich style lager.
Overall, we felt the beer was lackluster and somewhat bland for an Octoberfest. On a positive note, the beer is smooth and easy to drink. So, if you're looking for a beer that you're just going to pound down while tailgating, this is a good choice. However, if you're looking to enjoy a fine Munich style lager, there are much better choices available. We've rated Abita Amber 3 pints.
Sierra Nevada Torpedo
Torpedo is the newest year-round beer from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA. The beer is an Extra IPA style beer brewed using American hops (and lots of them). The name comes from Sierra Nevada's unique method of dry hopping, that they call the "Hop Torpedo". The result is one big (and flavorful) American IPA.
Sierra Nevada Torpedo pours a clear caramel with orange tint in color, and has a two finger, foamy head. As the head recedes, it leaves behind nice white lacing. The aroma is dominated by Cascade hops, as you would expect from Sierra Nevada, but it also includes subtle hints of black pepper, and a solid malt backing.
The flavor mimics the aroma. The bitter hops dominate the flavor, but a malt sweetness is apparent. The pine and citrus notes from the hops definitely show through in the taste, and the alcohol is well hidden. Torpedo is about what you would expect an Extra IPA from a brewery like Sierra Nevada to be.
Overall, if you're a fan of Sierra Nevada's hoppy style, and you like their Harvest Ale, you'll most likely enjoy a Torpedo, as well. If you're not a hop head, you might want to pass on this one, because the bitterness is definitely in control. Since we are hops aficionados, we really enjoyed the beer, and have rated it as 4 pints.
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