Anchor Steam Beer

Anchor Steam Beer by Anchor Brewing Company 

Anchor Steam Beer by Anchor Brewing Company is the next beer in the six pack that I have for this review. Which is interesting because this style of beer I have never had before and I am eager to try it for the first time. Steam beer or California Common beer is very distinct in unique beer. The beer style was created during the gold rush. Brewers could not brew normal beer because of the hot temperature, which did not allow them create lagers they had become accustomed to. They began to improvise. Brewers needed to cool the lagers during fermentation and there was no access to ice, which did not allow for proper conditioning of the beer. To combat the lack of refrigeration brewers used a yeast strain that could ferment at a high temperature. What would happen during the fermentation process there would be carbon dioxide that would escape and create steam.   

View of the Steam Beer

Now onto the discuss about this beer. Anchor Steam has an amber tint to the beer and has a nice white foamy head to the beer. The aroma I picked up from this beer is a malty aroma that finishes with a fruity or floral smell. The alcohol by volume is 4.90% (ABV) and the IBU of 35 which is not to high on the bitterness scale. Time to dive into the taste of the beer and see what I can pull out from the beer. The taste that I picked up on was a malt forward during the tasting and then was smooth lager finish. I did pick up on a bitter taste in the beer which I think is not to overpowering. The body to this beer has a medium body and carbonation to the beer is just right. In terms of body, I am referring to the thickness of the beer and I think it is not to think and not to thin, so thats where I came up with medium.  All in all this beer is a refreshing twist on styles of beer and I am glad I got the chance to try this beer. 

Anchor Steam Beer a unique 100% American Style Beer

California Common Beer or Steam Beer is a beer style that I hope does not fall out of existence. Considering its the place it has in American Beer history. The Anchor Steam Beer is made by Anchor Brewing Company, which has been brewing since 1886. This brewery is located in San Francisco, California, when I go visit San Francisco I will make sure I add the brewery on to my list of places to visit. Sometimes it is a good idea to try different styles of beer, you never know what beer is out there. I think that steam beer is a unique and interesting style of beer. If you enjoy lager style beers or ale style beers, this might be a brew for you. It is very drinkable and does not leave you feeling bloated or like you have had too many. If you get the chance make sure you try Anchor Steam Beer by Anchor Brewing Company and enjoy the ride back into American Beer history. 

Mango Wheat

Mango Wheat by Free Will Brewing Company 

Another beer from the reader's choice post, which is a Mango Wheat. This Wheat beer is brewed by Free Will Brewing Company, they are located in Perkasie, Pennsylvania. If you are wondering where that is in relation to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania it is about an hour outside the city. Free Will Brewing opened in 2012. They rapidly becoming a better known brewery and are distributing their beers around the Mid-Atlantic area. I will be visiting this brewery sometime in the near future and cannot wait to sample more of the beers. Now back to the beer of theirs I am currently sampling, which is the Mango Wheat.  

Glimpse of this Pale Mango Wheat 

Mango Wheat is a American Pale Wheat Ale. The alcohol by volume or ABV of this beer is 4.8% and the IBU or bitterness of this ale is 20. An American Pale Wheat Ale is almost and can be compared to a Hefeweizen, which is a German Style beer. Typically Hefeweizens are made with a ratio of 50:50 half wheat, half yeast. In German, Hefe means 'yeast' and Weizen means 'wheat' to give you the half wheat and half yeast ratio. The other interesting face of this beer is that usually the yeast is left in the beer and gives the beer a unfiltered look. This style of beer has high carbonation and gives the drinker a spritzy and creamy head to the beer. When smelling this beer you pick up on the fruity esters, which is another name for the fruity aroma. The color that I notice in this beer is a golden color to the Mango Wheat. Now time to dive in and taste this beer. I am interested to see if the mango is just right or if it is too strong in the Wheat Ale. I think that the Mango has just right taste in the beer. I think that some breweries try to appeal to certain beer drinkers that want a fruity style beer, but this has just enough to make this a great and easily drinkable beer. The spritzy taste or the high carbonation to the beer almost makes me think I am drinking a cider. Mango Wheat is very refreshing and has a smooth taste to the beer. 

Check Out this Mango Wheat Ale by  Free Will Brewing Company

If you are looking for a refreshing change of pace beer for the spring or summer, this is that style you might be looking for. I think the spritzy and high carbonation to this beer make it an enjoyable Mango Wheat Ale. I thoroughly enjoyed this beer and cannot wait to try some more of their different style beers. Make sure if you are ever in Perkasie, Pennsylvania  you go check out this brewery. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Farmhouse Summer Ale

Farmhouse brew is know as an American Blonde Ale. This beer I am having tonight is Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale. If you are wondering where they are located the would be in Somerdale, New Jersey. The brewery was created in 1995 and having been turning out beers ever since. This American Blonde Ale is very similar to a German style Kolsch beer. This is my first American Blonde Ale, I am having so be understanding, if I do not nail it correctly in the first time having the beer. This style of brew usually averages an alcohol by volume or ABV between four percent and seven percent. In terms of beer this style can be on the lighter side of beers considering the ABV. In my opinion not tasting it so far I looks almost like a pilsner. 

Farmhouse Summer Ale Label 

This Farmhouse Summer Ale has an ABV of 4.6% and IBU's of 15, based of looking at that this should not be that bitter tasting. I try not to judge a beer off of the IBU but for me I am not to fond of bitterness and that can kill a beer for me. Looking at this beer, I cannot help but notice the head of the beer its a creamy foam that makes this beer very interesting and I wonder where that comes from. The color is another thing I notice while looking at this beer, I think that the color looks like a pale straw color or almost golden. Now something is hard to pick up on this aroma for the beer. I feel like I smell hops but at the same tone, I think smell a spicy aroma mixed with wheat.

Glimpse of Farmhouse Summer Ale 

Here comes the fun part trying to pick out the taste in the beers, or gain a sense for the style of brew. Things that I picked up in the beers taste are a bunch of different tastes. First thing I pick up on is a bitterish spicy note in the beer. After that I pick up a biscuit or a bread taste to the beer . Last I notice a lemon finish to the beer. Quite a mouthful I will say so myself. The flavor profile is all over the place but I think thats what makes this beer enjoyable. Throws you curves throughout your enjoyment of it. I think the thing that is driving the curves is the yeast used in the beer.

I will say that this being a summer style beer I think I could get behind drinking a few of these on a hot summer day. This seasonal beer is interesting and enjoyable. According to Flying Fish this beer is a tribute to the 'every day' beers from France and Belgium, which in my opinion it makes sense for the profile of the beer. I need to try more American Blonde Ale's to see how close I was to describing this style of beer. I would recommend this beer to anyone that likes the lighter style beers that are still craft beers, not like Miller Lite or Coors Light. 

Bucks County Brewery

Local breweries that support local businesses is where I found myself yesterday. The brewery that I was at was Bucks County Brewery. I had the pleasure of meeting the owners and striking up a conversation about their brewery, which I really enjoyed immensely. I love talking to other beer enthusiasts in general, but talking to an owner of a brewery and talking beer is where it really became fun. The owners are a real awesome couple that have a passion for beer, which is great and makes it all the more enjoyable. The style of beer that I think is most common for this brewery is English Style brews. Not that you cannot get others, but key style that they focus or is their inspiration is English Style. 

One of their growlers they have two different sizes

I sampled a variety of their beers tonight. I think my favorite of the night was the Peregrine India Pale Ale, which if you know me I am not a fan of IPA's. The awesome part about the night is learning about the beers and how they focused and took notes on this particular style of beer. To ensure they captured the essence of the India Pale Ale. Which takes dedication, if you are not into IPA style beers like myself. In an IPA style beer you usually have a smack you in the face sense with the bitterness from the hops, which usually comes from the styles of hops the beer is brewed with. The bitter fact of IPA is where I turn away from India Pale Ale's. This IPA was amazing had all the sense of an IPA without the bitter smack you in the face taste. Which really made me enjoy this beer that much more because it was an IPA, but no bitterness to it. Andrew one of the owners, explained this all to me and as soon as I tried this IPA, I was shocked that it was so good. To me it almost felt like a dry hopped ale, which some breweries do to leave the bitterness out but they still want to add the hop flavor to the beer. Another interesting tidbit was that with this IPA, people who like IPA's can enjoy the beer and people like myself that do not like IPA's can also enjoy it. 

Peregrine IPA 8% and 73 IBU 

Then I explored some of their other style beers like their Irish Red style beer and their Mild style beer, which to be honest was the first time I ever had either styles of beer. Mild May English Dark Mild was the Mild style, which was 3.7% ABV and was very drinkable. Then I tried a bottled version of the Irish Red, which was phenomenal as well as trying a bottled version of the Saison. This Saison is 7.2% and is made with Jalapenos, I thought that it would be too hot for my liking since Jalapenos are usually spicy. But I will tell you there was only a hint of heat and it was so smooth. The fruity profile was amazing. When drinking beers usually it is so hard to go between so many different flavor profiles in beer.  What I had tonight, switching back and forth between different beers I had no problem picking up the flavors of them all. 

Bottled Saison with Jalapeno flavor 7.2% ABV

The thing that impressed me was their focus on using local products to brew their brews. Also I cannot wait to try some of their other beers like their pumpkin style or their Tripel Ale. Ok, I might have tried a sample of an oak barrel Tripel, which let me tell you it was amazing! Smooth banana flavor to this tripel that blended so well with the oak barrel.  The other beer that I am looking forward to trying was their, graham pumpkin style porter. I was told it had the chocolate flavor profile from a porter mixed with pumpkin and graham cracker crust almost. It's like have a pumpkin pie with a chocolate graham cracker crust if that paints a picture for you. 

What was on TAP.

Outstanding hand-crafted beer using only the finest, freshest ingredients. Brewed in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Striving for quality while honoring community. I took this from their website which I think helps someone understand this local brewery.  In addition to this they also brew green, so they try to limit their carbon footprint and they try to use as much as they can. To limit their carbon footprint, they are committer to creating great craft beers with a minimum effect on the environment. Make sure if you get a chance to visit this local craft brewery, if you do make sure you say hello to Andrew and his wife. It was such a great night and I enjoyed talking to them about beer I was invited over for Ribs today. 

I brought over my favorite beer, which is KCCO Black Lager. It is a collaboration between Resignation Brewery and Red Hook. I arrived at their house and we began sampling different beers from all different breweries. 

Here is the List of beers we tried today:

Alpha King by 3 Floyds Brewing Company 

American Pale Ale  68 IBU  and ABV of 6.66%

American Pale Ales and I usually do not like each other because of the bitterness that usually comes along with it. Alpha King was very smooth and did not pack that bitter hop taste in this Pale Ale. 

Black Tie IPA by Mispillion  River Brewing Company

Black IPA  45 IBU  ABV of 6.6% 

I really enjoyed this beer considering it was an IPA, which I am not the biggest fan of. This beer was so good and really enjoyed it being a black IPA made it really smooth. 

Holy Crap! by Mispillion River Brewing Company 

Imperial Red Ale  ABV of 9.0% 

For never really having a red ale before this red was different and enjoyable. I think it was a good idea to have Bucks County Brewery red ale to see a similar style beer, which is what we did. 

Mulley's Tavern Red by Bucks County Brewery

Irish Style Red Ale 

In comparing the two reds they were both really good, similar, yet different and I like them both. In saying that the bottle condition Tavern was phenomenal and I hope to try more some day soon. 

077XX Double IPA Carton Brewing Company

Double American Imperial IPA East Coast style IPA  80 IBU ABV of 7.8

I will say this, probably the only double IPA that I have ever had. I really enjoyed it because it did not have an overpowering bitter taste like more IPA's or double IPA's. 

365 by Bucks County Brewery 

American Porter ABV of 10%

Sampled a bottled condition 365 and man was it delicious.

Convivium by Bucks County Brewery 

Gruit/ Ancient Herbed Ale ABV of 5.0 %

If someone had describe this beer. which I am taking from the brewers. It's like Thanksgiving in a bottle. I cannot wait to try to get my hands on this beer around turkey day. 

Scream IIPA by New Glarus Brewing Company 

Imperial Double IPA 85 IBU and ABV of 9.0% 

Pretty interesting Double IPA, I thought it was sweet but I enjoyed it for being a Double IPA 

Gumballhead by 3 Floyds Brewing Company 

American Pale Wheat Ale 35 IBU and ABV of 5.6% 

Interesting concept for the beer being a Pale Wheat Ale. 

Nice Saison by Tommyknocker Brewery

Saison/Farmhouse Ale ABV of 5.5% 

The Saison was not my favorite Saison and I think it was one of the least favorite of the day. 

Double White and Summer Blonde Abbey Single Ale 

Southampton Publick House  DW ABV of 6.6  and SB ABV of 5%

Double White is a Witbier and Summer Blonde is a Belgian Blonde/Golden 

Cultivator Helles Bock Troegs Brewing Company

Maibock/ Helles Bock  25 IBU and ABV of 6.9% 

I think by this time my palate could not pick of the flavors or taste of the beer. 

Excelsior! White Gold by Ithaca Brewing Company

Rustic Pale Wheat Ale ABV of 8.0%

One of my least favorite from sampling different beers.

SpellBound Brewing Company IPA

American IPA 65 IBU and ABV of 6.5%

This was my least favorite of the day!! 

Make sure you check out a local Bucks County Brewery!!

Check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BucksCountyBrewery?fref=ts

Their website: http://www.buckscountybrewery.com/ 

and on twitter @buckscountybrew

UFO Big Squeeze

UFO BIG SQUEEZE 

   UFO Big Squeeze is the second beer by Harpoon I have had on this blog and the second of their UnFiltered Offering series. This beer is a shandy style beer. That means that this style of beer could also be classified as a fruit beer. The reason that it is a Shandy or Fruit beer is that the beer is brewed with the juice of a fruit. In the case of Big Squeeze the fruit is a grapefruit. The beer brewers make the beer and then mix the grapefruit juice into the beer to mix the beer and juice together. Harpoon is a brewery located in Boston, Massachusetts. They have a wide variety of beers depending on the style you like. I am a unfiltered fan and wanted to try another beer by them since I liked UFO White. 

UFO Big Squeeze is a Grapefruit Shandy and a summer release beer. The ABV of Big Squeeze is 4.5% and the IBU is 13.  

Cloudy pink and orange color to UFO Big Squeeze 

The biggest thing that I take away from this beer is the aroma. I feel like I am right in front of a grapefruit and smelling it. It has the tart yet sweet aroma from the grapefruit. To give a better description of the aroma it was tangy and had a citrus note to the shandy. The other thing that I noticed about this beer is the color. I think that Big Squeeze has the color of a pink grapefruit. The shandy is cloudy, but has a pink and orange tone for it's appearance.Took a sip to see what flavor I could pick up from the Big Squeeze and I picked up a tart sweetness in the first sip. The unfiltered adds a layer of intrigue to the shandy for me. The combination of the grapefruit juice, beer, and unfiltered just makes this very difficult to pinpoint thoughts on this beer. 

UFO BIG SQUEEZE add it to your next six pack

I think that Big Squeeze is a good beer. I think that the combination of the grapefruit and beer is an interesting concept and I like their twist on it. This shandy has a nice and smooth bite to the beer, which you pick up from the grapefruit. For anyone that likes shandy styles of beer I would recommend this beer for you or if you like grapefruit I would highly recommend for you. I also think that if you like fruiter style beers you might enjoy this beer. For me I enjoy this beer and it was very refreshing, but a little to tart for my liking. The unfiltered part about the beer I enjoyed immensely but a little too much tartness for my liking. If I was on the beach drinking this beer I would enjoy it alot because of the refreshing taste of this shandy, but I think the sugar from the grapefruit will catch up to you at some point.  

Reader's Choice Winner Tank 7

Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale/Saison 

The winner of the most recent reader's choice was Tank 7, which was tied with Mango Wheat. Had my friend's dad break the tie and he picked Tank 7. Both are great choices and I can not wait to try the beers in this six pack. Tank 7, is a Farmhouse Ale/Saison, this ale is made by Boulevard Brewing Company. The first time I ever had this beer was at Time Whiskey Bar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Boulevard Brewing Company is from Kansas City, Missouri. They began in 1988 and expanded in 2006. Tank 7 has an ABV of 8.5% and a IBU of   38. Farmhouse Ales/Saison's usually run between 4% and 10% ABV and Tank 7 is right near the middle on the alcohol by volume percentage. 

Cloudy Clear Complexion of Tank 7

Tank 7 has a straw color appearance and has a cloudy complexion. The aroma I picked up from this is fruity and bitter notes. I smell the tartness of grapefruit and the bitterness from the hops. This is an interesting aroma and made me want to dive in to see, which one I would be more apparent in the taste of the beer. Which if you look up a Saison they have a slightly tart bite to them and adding the Grapefruit aroma makes that tart bite come to life in the aroma. Took a dive into this beer and first thing I tasted was a bitter hop tart taste to this ale. I think I like it because of the smoothness of the brew. The body of Tank 7 is light to medium body. To explain body of the beer it refers to thickness of the beer. This beer is not thin but it does have a thick quality to it, so this beer has a light to medium body. Now I want to make sure you the reader understand that this beer should be serve in a goblet style glass like seen below.  

Goblet Style Tank 7

The style of glass and style of beer usually go together. The style of the glass brings out certain qualities of the beer you are drinking. For example, a Stout should be enjoyed in a Stout glass. In addition a Pilsner should be enjoyed from a Pilsner style glass.  Now to finish the taste aspect of Tank 7. This Saison/Farmhouse Ale is very smooth and towards the end of your sip you pick up a peppery finish to the beer. Tank 7 has a dry and peppery finish to it that makes it pleasantly enjoyable. I think that Tank 7 is a great brew and I think that you should try it in your next six pack. Its a must enjoy beer in my opinion. Caution I will say that if you do get a six pack of Tank 7 make sure you drink responsibly and if you do have to make sure you are not going anywhere for awhile. I look forward to trying some other brews by Boulevard Brewing Company in the near future. 

Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale/Saison