Bell’s Pooltime Ale

I love canned beer offerings for Summer. I’m a big fan of drinking by the pool, so I picked this up during a trip to New York. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 5.2%

Style: Witbier

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Pooltime Ale is a refreshing Belgian-inspired Wheat Ale with light clove notes. The truly distinguishing feature is the use of 100% Montmorency tart cherries grown in the Traverse City region of Michigan. These cherries add a subtle tartness and bright counterpoint to the other flavors, enhancing Pooltime’s fruity character and making it the perfect beer for all summer activities.”

Random: This is available on draft and in cans.

The beer poured with a two finger, thick, slightly off white head. It took a little while to dissipate and left some lacing on the glass. The body was hazy and was orange with a slightly red tinge. It had moderate carbonation visible. The nose started with wheat and orange segments, but quickly went into tart cherries. The taste was much of the same, except with a more significant cherry presence. It had red, tart cherries and a small amount of spice. Wheat and orange cleaner came through next. The body was on the light side, which was to be expected. It had a lot of carbonation. The finish was quick with cherries. A can of this was $2.03, which broke down to $.17 per ounce. I thought this beer was above average, but I thought it needed the citrus dialed up.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Evil Twin Imperial Mexican Biscotti Cake Break

Today’s beer is one that I had been on the hunt for. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 10.5%

Style: American Double/Imperial Stout

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “We Have All good intentions to disturb, disorder and enlighten you with unforgettable beer after beer. Because We are so much in love with good taste, all the beers from Evil Twin are prepared in 10 of the best breweries around the world. Exclusively hand picked to please you with delicate, funky, extreme and by all means rare flavors. Maybe not the easiest way, but certainly the most fun!!! One More Thing A clever man once said: ‘Stay thirsty… stay foolish.’ That sounds like our vision, just with a tad less attitude.”

Random: It’s getting to be late for stout season. Soon, I’ll need to transition to warmer weather beers.

This beer poured with a one and a half finger of dark brown head on top of an inky, black body. Due to the color, there was no visible carbonation. I let the beer warm for a few minutes before getting into it. When I did, the nose had notes of cinnamon, milk chocolate shavings, almonds and a touch of chili pepper and smoke for good measure. The taste started with smoke and milk chocolate. It quickly went into almond milk, vanilla and chili pepper. There was cinnamon and nutmeg present as well. The booze made a slight appearance at the end. The body was on the thicker side with light carbonation. It had a lengthy finish with cinnamon and chili peppers. I picked up this bottle for $14.99, which came to $.68 per ounce, which was definitely on the more expensive side. Despite this, I thought it had really good flavor and would pick this up again.

Untappd Rating: 4.5/5.0

Departed Soles Hops Cover A Multitude Of Grain

Here’s another Jersey beer that I popped open. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 6.6%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Our brewery is proud to offer one of the most unique selections of craft beer not only in New Jersey, but all of the Tri-State Area. Departed Soles is one of the only brewery’s crafting beer with tradition ingredients, such as barley and wheat, as well as options with 100% Gluten Free ingredients, fermented in dedicated fermentations vessels. Below is a selection of beers that we brew in our Jersey City brewery throughout the year, many of which are served in our Tasting Room any given weekend!”

Random: This beer doesn’t exist on the Departed Soles website or Beer Advocate. The only information I found was from Untappd.

The beer poured with a thick, ecru colored head. It took awhile to go away, but left a decent amount of lacing on the glass. The body was slightly cloudy and a dirty orange color with only moderate carbonation visible. The nose had some pine needles along with grass. There were also some tropical mango notes as well with caramel malt at the end. The tropical notes were not all that strong. The taste was a bit maltier than I expected. It had some caramel malt sweetness and then went into grass and pine. The tropical note was a bit lost in the taste. The finish was quick with malt. I can’t recall how much I paid for this one, but I believe I picked it up as a single. It was a pounder can, which is my preferred contained, but the flavors were just muddied on this one. I wouldn’t rush to have it again.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Evil Twin Sumo In A Sidecar

Tonight’s beer is another IPA from Evil Twin. I love apricots, so I was curious to see if this one delivered.

ABV: 7%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “We Have All good intentions to disturb, disorder and enlighten you with unforgettable beer after beer. Because We are so much in love with good taste, all the beers from Evil Twin are prepared in 10 of the best breweries around the world. Exclusively hand picked to please you with delicate, funky, extreme and by all means rare flavors. Maybe not the easiest way, but certainly the most fun!!! One More Thing A clever man once said: ‘Stay thirsty… stay foolish.’ That sounds like our vision, just with a tad less attitude.”

Random: I rarely buy bottles now. There are so many good selections in cans.

The brew poured with a huge, three and a half finger, white head. It was loose and dissipated quickly and left limited lacing on the glass. The body was a dusky, dark orange color with limited carbonation visible because of the cloudiness. The nose had the normal attributes of an IPA with pine resin, floral hops and a touch of grapefruit, along with a touch of apricot extract. The taste started with some apricot extract, but not as much as I would have liked. It quickly went into tropical hops with notes of pineapple and mango and then went into pine. It had a touch of malt at the end. The body was on the thicker side with a little less carbonation than I would have liked. The finish was quick with pine. A pounder can was $2.50, which broke down to $.16 per ounce. This was an alright beer, but in a flooded market of IPAs, it does little to stand out.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Avery Ginger Sour

When Val and I were out in Colorado, we visited Avery, which was awesome. They had a bunch of different bars in the brewery, each serving different things. One of the series of beers they do is Botanicals and Barrels, which this belongs to. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 6%

Style: American Wild Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Verdant fresh ginger is artfully rooted in radiant tartness, peaking in the unmistakable burst and bite of this bright barrel-aged sour ale.”

Random: This beer is available on tap and in bombers.

The beer poured with less than a full finger of white head. It went away quickly, but a small crown remained, although no lacing was left on the glass. The body was a cloudy, bright orange with lots of carbonation visible. The nose was very tart. It had some fresh ginger along with apple cider vinegar. There was also some toasted oak and light vanilla. The taste was intense. It started with the same apple cider vinegar, but quickly went into a combination of powdered ginger and fresh ginger. It transitioned into toasted oak and vanilla. Then, some white pepper came through along with an unexpected melon note. The body was on the lighter side with lots of carbonation. It had a lengthy finish with the sourness from the vinegar and the oak. A bomber of this set me back $13.49, which came to an expensive $.61 per ounce. I thought this beer brought a lot of interesting flavors to the table, I just wish it wasn’t as pricey.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Demented Scarlet Night

Tonight’s selection is a local beer that reminds me of college. I went to Rutgers, so I’m assuming the beer name is a play on the name of our mascot, the Scarlet Knight. Given our colors are red and black, I assume that the beer being a red ale is also an homage of sorts. Let’s see how it stacks up.

ABV: 5.8%

Style: American Amber/Red Ale

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “A blend of five different malts gives this brew intense red color and complexity, a medium body with light caramel sweetness and a feint roast finish.”

Random: At the brewery, this beer is $6 for a pint.

This beer poured with a two finger, tan-colored head that hung around for awhile. It left some lacing on the glass. The body itself was clear and reddish-brown in color. There was a nice amount of carbonation visible. The nose was filled with generous notes of malt and caramel. It had some brown bread as well. There was also a touch of floral hops at the end. The taste was more of the same. It started malty with brown bread and caramel, but quickly went into hoppy notes of grass and perfume-like floral hops. It had a touch of citrus as well. The body was on the thicker side with generous carbonation. It had a lengthy finish with citrus and floral hops. A pounder can of this was $3.25, which came to $.20 per ounce. I thought that this was a decent beer, but nothing that I feel the need to search out again.

Untappd Rating: 3.0/5.0

Stone Mocha IPA

Tonight’s selection is a beer from Stone that I was very interested to try. I thought this beer would either be great or just completely miss the mark, with no middle ground. Let’s see how it was.

ABV: 9%

Style: American Double/Imperial IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Clearly, style lines have been crossed. Is it half-IPA, half-stout? Not quite. It’s definitely all IPA, but it’s also the best of both styles, making this love child of a beer simply just a beautiful, pleasure-seeking meld of imperial IPA and mocha indulgence. How did we come up with this inexplicably delicious creation? Well, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it exists and that it’s here for you now, thanks to our deliberate disregard for brewing norms. Some things are not meant to be known, just enjoyed…thoroughly.”

Random: Val and I love a good cup of coffee or a good mocha.

This beer poured with a fluffy, two and a half finger, slightly off white head. It took awhile to dissipate and left a lot of lacing on the glass. The body was quite cloudy and bright orange in color. There was some carbonation visible. The nose was definitely interesting. It had the normal notes that I’ve come to expect from the style: pine, lemon, grapefruit pith. But, it transitioned quickly into cocoa powder and instant coffee. The taste was equally unique. It had a nice dose of booze along with pine resin, but quickly went into milk chocolate shavings, instant espresso and cocoa powder. It had some tropical notes as well, specifically pineapple. The body was on the thicker side with lots of carbonation. It had a lengthy finish with coffee and chocolate. A bottle of this was $2.50, which came to $.21 per ounce. Despite the price, I think this beer combined some interesting flavors and is definitely worth a shot.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0

Omnipollo Shploing!!

One of the cool things about our wedding venue was that we had firepits where you could make smores. We didn’t really have time to get out to the firepits (except when I was sent to get one of our friends to come in to dance to R. Kelly’s “Ignition,” but it look liked everyone else enjoyed them. At least I found a beer that tastes like smores.

ABV: 7%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Shploing!! is our first ever beer to go into cans and we wanted to make something extra special for the occasion. A mango s’mores IPA brewed with mango, vanilla, marshmallow fluff, graham crackers, rock salt, lactose sugar and an abundance of our favorite hops.”

Random: We have smores at every family reunion barbecue.

The beer poured with a half a finger of white head. It dissipated quickly and left no lacing on the glass. The body was slightly hazy and lemon yellow color. There was moderate carbonation visible. The nose was very fragrant. I got some lactose along with mango and orange. It also had some malt at the end. The taste was an enhanced version of the nose. It definitely had the same lactose and candied mango that I picked up on the nose, but had a touch of vanilla as well with some brown sugar sweetness. It also had a brine note as well that countered well against the sweetness of the fruit. This was a full-bodied beer with lots of carbonation. The finish was lengthy and slightly sweet with candied mango. A can was $3.75, which came to $.31 per ounce. This was definitely an expensive beer, but brought a lot of unique flavors to the table. I would definitely have this again.

Untappd Rating: 4.5/5.0

Forgotten Boardwalk Pocket Trick

This is another beer from a brewery by the house, although we’re still on our honeymoon. For the first time in a year, I actually ran out of posts, so I’m at least trying to get current. Let’s see how this was.

ABV: 8.5%

Style: American Double/Imperial IPA

Trivia: This beer comes in at 100 IBUs.

Random: I don’t understand why it’s more expensive to buy beer from the brewery than a regular beer store. One would think they would get a discount from going to the source.

This beer poured with a huge, three finger, loose, pure white head. It dissipated quickly, but left lots of spider web lacing on the glass. The body was cloudy and a dark orange color. I only saw a little bit of carbonation through the haziness. The nose was relatively muted. I picked up orange and mango segments, but not much else. After a few sniffs, there was also some grass clippings as well. The taste was much of the same and was more reminiscent of a pale ale than a double IPA. I got some mango, orange and grapefruit, but it quickly transitioned into grain and bread. It wasn’t overwhelmingly bitter and the alcohol came through, but not to the point of being a double IPA. The body was on the thicker side and had just enough carbonation. The finish was relatively quick for the style with grass. A can of this was $2.08, which came to $.17 per ounce. This wasn’t the best example of the style that I’ve ever had, but not the worst either.

Untappd Rating: 3.5/5.0

Uinta Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA

Breweries are getting into the craze of adding fruits to IPAs. I’ve had a few that were good and some that were just flat out terrible. Let’s see how this one was.

ABV: 7.3%

Style: American IPA

Trivia: According to the brewery website, “Your new main squeeze. A play on our flagship IPA, this beer features an aromatic menagerie of tropical hops and tangerine zest. Wraps up with a crisp, bitter finish.”

Random: Uinta products are sometimes really easy to find in Jersey, but other times are super difficult to find.

The brew poured with a half a finger of pure white head. It dissipated rather quickly, but left limited lacing on the glass. The body was a cloudy, bright orange color. Despite the cloudiness, there was still some visible carbonation. The nose was pungent. It had fresh tangerine juice, pineapple slices and grapefruit pith and segments. After those notes, I picked up a touch of breadiness, but this was all citrus, all the time. The taste was just as good. It had definitive notes of tangerine that tasted authentic, as opposed to just super-sweet extract. It was quickly followed by grapefruit and grain at the back. The alcohol did make a slight appearance, but nothing overwhelming. The body was on the heavier side of the style, but wasn’t overwhelming. It had a lengthy finish with tangerine juice. A bottle of this was $2, which came to $.17 per ounce. I thought this was a good beer and executed the fruit addition of an IPA well. I would have this again.

Untappd Rating: 4.0/5.0