Beer Reviews

Beer Camp Weizenbock - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico
Beer Camp Weizenbock
Weizenbock California Chico Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. American

I have a thing for the Weizenbock style, and I've been hearing a lot about the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp offerings this year, so when I saw bottles of Beer Camp Weizenbock at my local liquor store I didn't think twice about picking one up. The Beer Camp program is a sort of invitational Pro-Am event that takes place at Sierra Nevada in Chico. The group collaborates on a couple styles of beer and, if they turn out pretty decent, Sierra Nevada will bottle and release the beers to retail. It's a cool program, I'm anxious to see how the beer turned out.

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Monster Ale - Brooklyn Brewery, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Monster Ale
Barleywine Brooklyn Brooklyn Brewery New York American

The last several Barleywines I've had have been fantastic. This is a style of beer I really got off on the wrong foot with somehow. I often tell people the same thing about Brooklyn Brewery, we just got off on the wrong foot and I was hesitant to try many of their beers after that. In the past couple of months I've picked up several Brooklyn beers and I've really enjoyed what I've had so far. Brooklyn and Barleywines have both impressed me recently so I figured I'd give this Brooklyn Barleywine a go.

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Rauch Geek Breakfast - Mikkeller, Copenhagen
Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast
Stout Copenhagen Danish Mikkeller Oatmeal Stout Smoke Beer

I consider myself a Rauch Geek so of course I had to try a bottle of Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast. Mikkeller's Breakfast series of Stouts all have a basic Oatmeal Stout with coffee underpinnings with each iteration dressed up with some exotic ingredient like Civet weasel coffee beans, Brandy barrel aging or smoked malt. I lived in Bamberg, Germany for a year and really enjoyed the local Rauchbier there. The Smoke Beer in the US isn't quite the same though, the Germans do a salty bacon style of smoke but American brewers seem to prefer a campfire flavored smoke. I'm firmly in the bacon flavored camp and I've heard Rauch Geek Breakfast is a beer that I'd enjoy for that same reason.

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S'muttonator - Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth
S'muttonator Double Bock
Doppelbock Maine Portsmouth Smuttynose Brewing Co. American

Ah, the noble Doppelbock. Such a great style of beer, only rivaled in delicious maltiness by the Scotch Ale. I recently had a couple lighter style Smuttynose beers and found them lacking in a number of areas so I decided to try and find a heftier Smuttynose beer and ended up bringing this bottle of S'muttonator home a couple weeks ago. The label of this beer is great, it's a painting of a majestic big horned ram rather than a goat like most Doppelbocks would put on the label. Given the S'muttonator name, it's fitting... and kinda funny.

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Misery - DuClaw Brewing Company, Abingdon
DuClaw Misery
Wheat Wine Abingdon DuClaw Brewing Company Maryland American

I know next to nothing about DuClaw Brewing Company. I saw a few DuClaw bottles at a liquor store in Maryland a couple weeks ago and figured I'd give them a try. I opted for the black bottle with a menacing red "MISERY" scratched on the label. This beer is a Wheat Wine, a style not too many breweries produce. The Wheat Wines I have had before have been all over the board. Some Wheat Wines were very similar to Barleywines and others have been more closely compared to sweet white wine. I'm anxious to try this DuClaw Misery out and see where it falls.

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