Post from: Beer N Bikes

Ska Brewing Co.’s Snowdown 2010 Beer: Hyper Fierce Gnar Gnar Hefe

This is a good and hoppy double IPA from Pizza Port, one of my favorite brewpubs. While I can’t make the drive up the coast to eat pizza and drink beer anymore, luckily I can find one or two of their beers at the better liquor stores. I’d never had Hop 15, but know Pizza Port is known for some hoppy beers. This one didn’t disappoint. I opened it up after dinner and couldn’t finish all 22oz’s though, the one downside to drinking bombers.

The Lost Abbey: Judgment Day 750ml bottle poured into a pint glass

The Lost Abbey is an offshoot of Pizza Port Brewing. They focus on big Belgian beers. While I’ve had plenty of Pizza Port beers, this might have been my first beer from Lost Abbey. They have quite the reputation, making strong and experimental beers. I was sadly disappointed by the fact that I hated this beer. The bottle said it was made with raisins which is one of the reasons I bought it. I was a little afraid the raisin flavor might taste weird, but I couldn’t taste anything other than alcohol. I like big, strong beers, but I like it when they mask their booze flavors a bit. Strangely, Kinsee loved this beer.

Left Hand Brewing Company: Warrior IPA 22oz bottle

Headed to a party one night I picked up Left Hand Brewing Company’s Warrior IPA. Left Hand is a brewery I’d never heard of before coming to Colorado, but they’ve quickly become one of my favorites, so I figured I had to try their IPA. Warrior IPA is wet-hopped (at least some of the hops are added wet, those that they grow themselves at their brewery). It’s a good IPA, hoppy but not too floral tasting. Easily drinkable.

Ska Brewing Company: Mexican Logger on draft at Old Tymers Cafe

I’ve said it before that I don’t like lager’s much, especially Mexican lagers. But after trying and enjoying Carver Brewing Company’s Cerveza Real I felt I had to give Ska’s Mexican Logger a shot. While I wasn’t blown away by it, I did find it enjoyable. It’s probably not something I’ll drink too often, but definitely not a bad beer.

Ska Brewing Company: Modus Hoperandi. 12oz can

I haven’t written much about Modus Hoperandi. Ska released it a day or two after I moved here and the release party was the first time I went to Ska Brewing World Headquarters. It was a great party, great beer and made me excited to be living here. This past weekend we went up to the mountains to do a bit of boating and some hiking. Canned beer was in order and Ska’ Modus Hoperandi was the perfect fit. Even drinking straight out of the can it was delicious. Nice and hoppy, very fresh tasting it has become one of my favorite local beers. I forsee drinking a lot of it this summer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company: Summerfest. 12oz bottle

Kinsee and I picked this on a whim, we couldn’t really decide on anything at the liquor store and we needed to take some beer to a friend’s house. I realized later that this is a lager and neither of us liked it much.

Carver Brewing Company: El Oso Agrio. On Draft at the Brewpub

I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve tried nearly all of the regular beers available at Ska, Carver, Durango and Steamworks Breweries (at least those seasonally available in the last few months), so whenever I see a new beer I haven’t had at one of the breweries I make sure to try it, even if it might not be my favorite style of beer. I can’t remember exactly how they described El Oso Agrio, I know it’s a barleywine, I thought I saw that it was aged in (brand maybe?) barrels, and our server said it was either 9% or 11% ABV. After I ordered it she brought a taster out that the bartender said I should try it before getting a full pint, which I thought was really cool as it’s not a style of beer everyone will like. It’s pretty sour, but not in a bad way. If it really is around 10%ABV it hid that alcohol taste well, it was less carbonated than most beers and not too sweet, sort of a sour-sweet taste, but pretty good. It’s not a beer I’ll order often, but a very interesting barleywine for sure.

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Beer Roundup: What I’ve Been Drinking

Durango Bootlegger’s Society: Spring Tonic Elixir

I first had Spring Tonic Elixir at the release party at Carver Brewing Company a few weeks back. I liked Spring Tonic Elixir, I’ve heard it’s a pre-prohibition recipe lager, I don’t like lagers much at all, but I guess that’s because they’ve become bland and tasteless. Kinsee on the other hand LOVED this beer. After the first few sips she proclaimed this was her favorite beer yet. We picked up a growler when we were at Carver Brewing Co the other night and took it home to drink of the weekend. We shared with people at The Red House Gallery opening, and it went fast.

Dogfish Head: India Brown Ale

I’ve had some beers from Dogfish Head that I’ve liked and some that I’ve hated, this one was probably my favorite. I’d never had an India Brown Ale, never even heard of it, but it was good. As most Dogfish Head beers are, it was strong and flavorful, it didn’t look like it, but it tasted more like a stout than a brown ale to me. Very interesting and unique beer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co: 2009 Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

I usually drink a Bigfoot or two a year, hoppy Barleywine’s are a favorite of mine. This one didn’t seem as good as I remember it in the past. Maybe it’s because I’ve been drinking so much other great beer lately. Maybe it’s because I drink it in April when it was 65F instead of February when its colder outside, I’m not sure. Not a bad beer, but not as fond as I remember it being.

Breckenridge Brewery: Agave Wheat

I’ll admit, I’m not a fan of wheat beers, I can’t remember the last time I had one I enjoyed. The only reason I bought this is because I was a little lonely for Mexico and this one is brewed with Agave nectar. It tasted flavorless like most wheat beers to me. One of these days I’ll learn my lesson and not get my hopes up by buying beer I’m almost certain I won’t enjoy.

Left Hand Brewing Company: Smoke Jumper Smoked Imperial Porter

I’m a big fan of stouts, especially imperial stouts, and I’ve never really gotten the whole porter vs stout distinction down. I generally like stouts more than porters, but when you throw an imperial porter into the mix it gets confusing. I’ve had a few smoked porters and enjoyed them, and this one was no different. It was full bodied, strong and not too smokey.

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Beer Round Up, What I’ve Been Drinking

Juju Ginger

Brewery: Left Hand Brewing Company, Longmont Colorado

Region: USA, Colorado

Style: Herb/spiced ale

Alcohol: 4.38% ABV

IBU: 17

Personal Rating: 4 (out of 10)

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a 16oz pint glass.

Left Hand Brewing Company’s Juju Ginger poured a golden-copper color with minimal head the receded quickly. There isn’t much aroma too it.According to the bottle it’s an “ale brewed with ginger”.

The first taste is ginger, it’s clear that there’s ginger in this beer. It’s sweet but not too sweet. The ginger tastes very fresh. But it isn’t sweet enough to be a sweet beer for those that don’t like the hoppy bitterness of beer. And I don’t think it brings enough to the table to attract people that do like good beer.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like beer, and I like ginger, and I especially like a good spicy ginger beer (of the non-alcohol variety), that’s what attracted me to this beer, but it just doesn’t work too well. It tastes a bit like a watered down ginger ale. There isn’t enough malt or hops to bring it past that initial ginger flavor. It’s not a bad beer by any means, but not something I’ll be buying again. Next time I get the hankering for beer and ginger beer I’ll have just that, a good ginger beer and a good beer, one after the other without mixing the too.

This is only the second beer I’ve had from Left Hand Brewing Co, I love the first. I’ll be trying more of their stuff as soon as I can, but I won’t be buying this one again.

Post from: Beer N Bikes

Left Hand Brewing Company Juju Ginger