Review! Two Brothers' Domaine du Page

Tonight I'm sampling Domaine du Page from Two Brothers Brewing Co. I've been looking forward to this beer because I have heard good things about Two Brothers from Groucho and Chud of the Beer Report and I can't find them in Michigan. So this comes from my stash o'beerz from Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati.

The beer poured well, and is a dark amber color. There's not a whole lot of smell coming off the head save for some dark fruity notes, like sniffing a date. Or something. I don't know what a "country ale" is and I'm too lazy to Google it but if it's like a farmhouse ale, then it's supposed to be drinkable and a little funky. The first sip speaks to both of these facts. This is a malt-centric beer, with sweetness giving the backbone of the flavor throughout the profile. I also get a bit of winey notes, which is probably what is bringing the funk of the beer. There is just the beginnings of a sour note which is not unpleasant. The beer is 5.9% ABV so while it doesn't knock you out it's not something you'd drink a lot of after a day as obnoxiously hot and muggy as what we've been experiencing here in the midwest/east the past week. Nothing new is really brought to the beer as it warms, which is all right, it's packing a solid taste, but I kind of expected some more flavors and tastes to come out with temperature.

Overall, this is a good beer: I'm not sure it's a fair representation of the farmhouse style but it does call itself a country ale. But it proves that just because a beer is French-styled doesn't mean it's going to surrender to your mouth.

Review! Smuttynose IPA

Decided to restart bloginating. Tonight I'm going to try reviewing a beer my wonderful fiancee picked out for me, Smuttynose's "Finestkind" IPA.

Apologies for my poor photography skills, the only digital camera I have right now is the webcam on my MacBook and it's hard to angle shots well.

The beer pours perfectly, I got a good half inch of head off that stuck around a bit. It's a reddish amber color, hazy with a little bit of sediment. I got a faint whiff of citrus from the pour. Grapefruit aroma is definitely present when you sniff the beer, this is an Amurrican IPA. This is good because the beers I've been drinking lately have been a little lacking in the hop character and I could use some bitter in my life. The first sip is a piney, grapefruit ambrosial experience that mellows into the malty backwater flavors of the beer, along with a not unpleasant alcohol burn. It's hard to forget this is a 6.9% ABV (alcohol by volume) but this doesn't detract from the hop-forwardness, just livens up the tongue for the next sip. As the beer warms the malt flavor starts to drown out the alcohol, which is nice. This is a little less balanced between hops and malt than I'm accustomed to, but the hops are balanced within themselves so the bitter is not overpowering and there's a full spectrum of hop flavors.

Overall, Finestkind is  a quality American IPA, no surprises, no flaws and a good way to spend an evening