Am I loud and clear, Or am I breaking up?

We live on front porches and swing life away. We get by just fine here on minimum wage... in a Rise Against mood

So in recent days I have tastes three beers that have tasted mostly the same two of which are imports Bass and New Castle and one is from what I understand "supposed" to be an import it is Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale (tempered over burning witches) but this English themed beer is brewed and bottled in Rochester NY.

These three brews are pretty good depictions in my mind of what a English Pale Ale is they were all dark amber and malty almost like eating steel cut oatmeal and what I recommend for these is a bunch of friends sitting around eating greasy bar food. Definitely a social bunch of beers not that EVERY beer isn't but these beers just tasted like hooliganism. (I thought I made that word up but spell check says it's real)

Now for the IPAs

Green Flash Brewing: West Coast IPA

Ok this thing was a beast of an IPA. The most intensely hopped beer I yet tasted. When I say this was bitter I mean this stuff will rip the fillings right out of your mouth and I say that in the most endearing way possible because it was quite delicious but definitely not for everyone.

Ithaca: Flower Power IPA

This has been my absolute favorite IPA so far. Extremely complex but I can't figure out if it's solely because of the hops of something else. It tastes like lemonade, potpourri, and beer, again, in all the best ways. This one was actually recommended to me by Cat's coworker, and I recommend it to all of you. If you don't know if you like IPAs this might change your mind.





Now for the Bocks.

So this is some info on Bocks because I was unclear myself. I thought a bock can only be brewed in December and served by April and this is true for Australia but I can not find a definitive answer for the rest of the world.

Traditional bock is a sweet, relatively strong (6.3%–7.2% by volume), lightly hopped lager. The beer should be clear, and color can range from light copper to brown, with a bountiful and persistent off-white head. The aroma should be malty and toasty, possibly with hints of alcohol, but no detectable hops or fruitiness. The mouthfeel is smooth, with low to moderate carbonation and no astringency. The taste is rich and toasty, sometimes with a bit of caramel. Again, hop presence is low to undetectable, providing just enough bitterness so that the sweetness is not cloying and the aftertaste is muted.

this information was true for both bocks I have recently had they were both very malty and almost creamy in the smoothness category. I will probably pick another one up next weekend to find any major differences.

Oh, one of the bocks I tasted was Narragansett's and it was quite good. I know I have bad mouthed Gansett in the past and I will still bad mouth there lager because that shit's gross but if a Gansett Girl gives me a bock or stout I will take a swig.















Now to end this one I will give you my FAVORITE so far.

Samuel Adams: Scotch Ale

This is a malty sweet smooth creation that I wish I thought of first with the pallet of a triple malt scotch and the sociability of a Sam Adams this is a true social lubricant. I was enjoying myself with Cat's friends when I had this one so it is hard to make recommendations for this but the beer itself is worth having and having more then one. I almost wanted to pick up a full case as soon as we left Cat's friends. If I ever throw a kegger this is what will be in it.

I am sorry these are not in my usual format but most of these beers were impromptu tastings and I didn't have my notepad and some of them I didn't have a glass for color and clarity, but I kind of like this social format more of a review then informative. I may stick with this style at least until I get a new camera.

We're OK until the day we're not. The surface shines while the inside rots. we raced the sunset and we almost won. we slammed the breaks but the wheels weren't on... I said I was in a Rise Against mood