Flying Dog Brewery Snake Dog IPA - A Microbrew Review

I haven't seen alot of microbrews from Flying Dog Brewery around these parts here in Western Pennsylvania until just recently. In fact, my favorite craft beer bottle shop has started stocking three or four offerings lately from Flying Dog Brewery and I was excited to give Flying Dog's Snake Dog India Pale Ale a try, so I grabbed a bottle this evening.

Flying Dog Brewery started out in 1994 as a small Denver, Colorado based microbrewery that's since relocated all of it's beer brewing production to their Frederick, Maryland brewery (where they'd been brewing a good portion of their beer since purchasing the second brewery in 2006).

The Flying Dog Brewery bottle labels are famous for featuring the eclectic artwork of Ralph Steadman of Hunter S. Thompson Gonzo fame. This bottle of Snake Dog IPA literally jumped off the shelf at me with its eye catching labeling. I couldn't pass it up.

Cracking open the bottle and pouring the 12 ounces of chilled libation into my glass, the head of this beer was fantastically aggressive, billowing up into an overwhelming 2 finger eggshell white, fluffy head that stuck a good several minutes before begrudgingly dissipating to a more managable drinking level. Color was nice, shimmery and coppery with lazy bubbles of carbonation sauntering upwards to the surface.

The aroma wasn't quite as aggressive though. A little bitter and astringent with piney scents taking the front scene of the beer's smell. There's definitely hops in there and I'm going to get them!

First couple of sips boasted a deliciously crisp brew. As with most IPA's, this beer was bitter but not to a fault. It was nicely balanced with just enough malty sweetness at the swallow but that familiar bitter hops presence stayed with the aftertaste for a while. Flying Dog Brewery has produced a balanced beer with a good mouthful of flavor. I detected a mild hint of smokiness in the beer that nicely complimented it's royal hoppy bite. Snake Dog IPA has a distinctive liveliness to it, it's very zesty for lack of a better word. Not a lot of that often grapefruity flavor however, which I found to be a good thing.

The alcohol makes its presence known and becomes progressively noticeable in a burning sensation as the beer warmed in my glass. Checking the bottle label, I notice that this craft beer clocks in at a hefty 7.1 percent alcohol by volume which is approaching an imperial IPA level. It's not overbearing to the beer flavor however, but the ABV is something to bear in mind if you're sampling Snake Dog IPA and plan to partake in more than a couple servings. This microbrew will bite you if you're not careful!

All things being equal, I must say that I love Flying Dog Brewery Snake Dog IPA. Everything in this beer I thought went well altogether. The cool looking label artwork, the quirky story and themes behind the brewery itself and of course the well put together beer inside the cool bottle. While nothing stood out as incredibly shocking or groundbreaking with this beer's flavor, no characteristic took anything away from it's excellent India Pale Ale attributes.

Flying Dog Brewery Snake Dog IPA has definitely bit me and I'll be getting off the porch and running with the big dogs right back to the bottle shop for a few more of these before the day ends tomorrow. I'd recommend Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA to any microbrew lover especially if you favor the more hoppy Pale Ales and India Pale Ale style beers. Get some today!!

If you even remotely enjoyed reading this microbrew beer review and if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at my===>
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Pyramid Breweries Thunderhead IPA - A Microbrew Review

Here's a real nice microbrew that's relaxing enough on the palate yet moderately challenging to the taste buds. I'm from way back east here in Pennsylvania but was lucky enough to snag myself a bottle of a longtime Washington state favorite microbrew from Pyramid Breweries. Pyramid was originally established in Washington way back in 1984 as a very small Seattle-based microbrewery.

Pyramid Brewery beers are not all that available here in the eastern part of the U.S. but I did notice a few other Pyramid offerings in the cooler on my beer hunt excursion tonight. I picked their Thunderhead IPA as my sampler for the evening out of the several Pyramid beers just because the name sounded cool, the label stood out and I typically like IPA's.

Pyramid Thunderhead did not disappoint either. I cracked and poured the 12 ounce bottle into my 10 ounce pub glass and was greeted with a fiery copper toned ale bursting in bubbly carbonation with a respectable 1 finger egg white frothy head that stuck for several minutes. The clarity was surprisingly clear, no haze and bubbles dancing eagerly.

This microbrew aroma offered much of the typical when it comes to an India Pale Ale. Fruity and pungent grapefruity citrus, just a mild hint of piney esters in the far distant background. Fresh and crisp came to mind from the scent. Nothing spectacular but nothing off or out of place.

First few sips gave off a super hop bomb impression. I've had quite a few IPA's in my time and like them very much but this beer was awesome. Very fresh flavor for being trucked across the country from the West Coast hoppy beer headquarters. The hoppy bitterness was surprisingly smooth and sweet at the finish of the swallow. There's some respectable malt backbone in there and a coating of piney oily aftertaste that left me sucking in my cheeks well after the swallow. A salty residue stood present acting almost as a chaser. This IPA makes you want to take another sip and fast.

Impressive doily-like lacing graced the beer mug walls and didn't go anywhere for the duration of the session almost like a skeleton of a beer long gone. Pyramid Thunderhead IPA was long gone before long.

This beer is very slick and easy drinking for how hoppy and bitter it is. I was surprised a little with how brewery fresh it tasted. The 6.7 percent alcohol by volume made itself noticeable but not so obtrusive as to distract or take anything away from the overall IPA experience.

I've had a lot of IPA's through the years. It's one of my favorite styles. While some might say this preference leads to biased reviews of IPA's, I think the opposite in that it makes me more discriminating as to what is or isn't a good India Pale Ale microbrew.

Pyramid Thunderhead IPA did surprise me with everything about it. I was wary at the start with the "twist-off" cap, but beyond that, this is one well built craft beer and an excellent IPA to boot. Fresh, smooth, well-balanced and representative of the style. The Washington, Oregon and West Coast microbreweries have a long standing history of producing some of the better bitterly hoppy beers and Pyramid Breweries Thunderhead IPA follows suit with some of the better that I've tried.

I'd recommend this microbrew and would personally pick up a sick pack if I could for a late summer event like a Labor Day picnic (when all your friends are drinking Coors Light). The only issue would be the higher than government issue 6.7% ABV that could get you in some trouble by beer number four or five. Watch it and enjoy Pyramid Thunderhead responsibly. I know I will! Cheers!!

If you found any enjoyment in reading this microbrew beer review and if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at===>
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Cheers, and please drink responsibly!

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Lagunitas Brewery India Pale Ale - My Microbrew Review

This cool looking small brown bottle with the plain aged parchment looking label caught my eye in the local six pack shop cooler this evening. What's the microbrew I'm referencing you ask? It's Lagunitas Brewery's very own special IPA (or India Pale Ale) offering that's on tap here at the house tonight.

As I mentioned, the label was cool because it was so plain (although it features a small depiction of the famous Lagunitas brewery spotted dog in the top right corner of the label. It was sort or reminiscent of one of those old Wild West "Wanted" posters.

For those of you who may not know, Lagunitas Brewing Company is a Petaluma, California-based microbrewery with a somewhat famous and storied history and a very cool and entertaining website (Lagunitas Brewery). Anyway, on to the beer at hand in in the plain, brown, cold 12 ounce bottle.

As I poured the microbrew into my 12 ounce pub glass, I took note of the awfully clear, clarity of this beer which is not out of the possibility for an IPA but in my experience somewhat rarer than most for such a chilled brew. Hues of robust burnt orange copper and bubbles bustling everywhere and mostly upwards greeted my eye blossoming into a wonderfully foamy eggshell marshmallow two finger head which stayed and lasted a good three minutes or so.

Dryed citrusy floral aroma wafted strongly off the top of the glass and surrounded my drinking vessel with a "come hither" hoppy scent. Already I'm liking what I see and smell.

The taste of Lagunitas Brewery's IPA does not disappoint, whether you are a huge fan of hops or just an adventurous microbrew and craft beer sampler alike. This beer is well put together.

The first sip went down very crisp with a pretty extreme dry hoppiness tang. Extreme but not offensive as I put it if that makes any sense. This is a beer that will not leave you guessing as to its style if you were drinking it blindfolded in some sort of blind microbrew taste test.

There's a citrus sense of grated grapefruit peels and clove in the the far background that contributes to the drinking enjoyment. As the beer warmed at about halfway through the twelve ounce mug, the swallow became stickier but still with a welling up of hoppy "kaaa-chow" at the end the crawls up the back of the roof of your mouth. The beer finished with a mild ripe peachy pine aftertaste that left me personally wanting another bottle. Unfortunately, that's not to be the case tonight unless I get the energy up (and the wife's purse change) to ride back down to the store to grab another bottle.

Overall, I'd give Lagunitas Brewery Company's India Pale Ale a 7.75 on my 1 to 10 microbrew and craft beer rating scale. I have no idea on what the alcohol by content is for this beer but there's no warming or burn effect that I could perceive during my beer session. I'd say you could have a few of these just about any time without getting too out of hand and the flavor and visual of this beer in your glass will be interesting enough to have you wanting to keep them coming. Not an out-of-the-bottle sipping beer.

If you're lucky enough to pick up California's own Lagunitas Brewery offerings any where in your neck of the woods in the continental US, I'd recommend picking up a bottle or two of the IPA whether you're an India Pale Ale fan or not, this beer's worth cracking the cap for.

If you found any enjoyment in reading this microbrew beer review and if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at Microbrew Review or Best Craft Beer Reviews. Click the links above and please let me know what you liked or hated and let me know any beers that you might like to see me review next time. Cheers and please drink responsibly!

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Weyerbacher Brewing Company Hops Infusion India Pale Ale - A Microbrew Blog Review

I picked up Weyerbacher Brewing Company's Hops Infusion this evening along with several other nifty looking India Pale Ales since I guess I'm in a hoppy mood. What else could it be that I focused on this particular style of microbrew to review for the remainder of the weekend?

Weyerbacher Brewing Company is based in Easton, Pennsylvania and has provided me with quite a few favorable reviews of many of their craft beer products I'm happy to say. I'm hoping their Hops Infusion India Pale Ale doesn't let me down and continues a fine track record for producing some good to great microbrews.

Cracking the bottle cap of this chilled 12 ounce brown bottle of brew, I poured carefully into my unchilled 10 ounce glass beer mug to find a visual display of an almost mahogany, copper colored liquid, slightly hazy from the chill is my initial assumption.

The beer smells pretty good just waving my nose several times intently across the brim of my beer mug. Zesty, spicy and that oh-so familiar hoppy scent that leads me anxiously into the first of many sips of the microbrew. Tinges of mild floral aroma add some character to the beer's bouquet.

The very first sip is crisp and crunching with the hops. There's a very good punch of tip-of-tongue bitterness with lively enough carbonation to make this beer "jump" on my tongue. Swallow is full and rich with an unobtrusive coating of malty sweetness on the sides of my mouth filtering to the far back of my tongue. There's an expected presence of piney citrus abound, but the malt ingredient in this Pennsylvania craft beer is very well balanced for the IPA style.

It's definitely bitter from the hops, as you would commonly expect from any India Pale Aleworth its salt, but very nicely balance and almost rich as silk from it's sweeter sidekick Mr. malt. I like it and I suspect many others might as well (if you're into hoppier beers and it's available in your neighborhood).

Weyerbacher Brewing Company continues to produce some of the better microbrews which I've been lucky enough to have the pleasure of sampling and reviewing. Hops Infusion follows suit and does nothing to tarnish that great microbrewing reputation. I'm not sure just how far west the Weyerbacher beer brand reaches in its marketing and distribution, but if you're in the mood for trying a new India Pale Ale, I'd recommend Weyerbacher Hops Infusion as a microbrew that will not set you into orbit, but will certainly make you want another one or two if you get the chance. It's a very good summer's evening back porch sitting with friends kind of IPA. Try it, you'll like it!

P.S. Weyerbacher Brewing Company Hops Infusion clocks in at 6.2% alcohol by volume according to the bottle label and website. Not over the top in ABV but enough to make you want to bear it in mind if you grab a six pack. Might be good to split with a friend if you plan to finish all six at an outing. One last note, the bottle beer label is a cool closeup photo-type image of a hop flower. Real nice and indicative of what you'll be getting inside the bottle.

If you found any enjoyment in reading this microbrew beer review and if you love craft beers in particular, you'll find more craft beer reviews of both new and old microbrews and also fun microbrew and craft beer-related info at Microbrew Review or Best Craft Beer Reviews. Click the links above and please let me know what you liked or hated and let me know any beers that you might like to see me review next time. Cheers and please drink responsibly!

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Carolina Brewing Company India Pale Ale - A Microbrew Review

On my long-awaited week long getaway to the Outer Banks this week, I stopped by a few of the local bait, tackle and brew shops in hopes of finding some new North Carolina microbrews and craft beers to sample and review. Well, I'm sorry to say after 3 days, I think I've pretty much narrowed it down to just one local microbrewery I've been able to locate any beers available from here. We'll make due with what we have I guess.

What we did find was an India Pale Ale produce by local North Carolina microbrewery the Carolina Brewing Company located in Holly Springs, NC. I'd not heard of this brewery before but the label states that the brewery started out back on July 3rd, 1995, so as microbreweries go, it's no baby.

The brown bottle boasted a navy blue label featuring a gold cartoonish lion giving a fearful roar. Nothing too overly dramatic though. The "brewed on" date was a nice feature, with this particular bottle just recently brewed on 7/25/07 with a best-by date of 10/25/07. This one obviously was pretty fresh so my hopes were high, especially with this being an India Pale Ale, one of my favorite styles.

Once poured fairly aggressively into my standard 16 ounce pint glass, the beer hardly hooked my attention solely on its appearance. The brew looked very cloudy, rusty orange and overly just seemed to lack life. Only a few weak streams of the ole' bubblies emininated up from the bottom to the surface where a slick of mild, creamy foam lingered after a short stance as a one finger head.

Aroma was fairly standard but faint. The typical hops scent was noticable and reasonably floral but again, nothing too dramatic or catchy here. I'm looking for something striking though in a microbrew. C'mon now, give me something to get excited about.

Taste is ho-hum. Not overly hoppy, not overly crisp, zesty, grapefruity, or any of the other adjectives typically used to describe an India Pale Ale. The mouthful was fairly thin, but it did seem to leave a filmy sense in the aftertaste. Not crisp, clean and all that refreshing. I finished my pint glass of this microbrew over the course of about only 20 minutes so it did go down pretty quick, so maybe the "drinkability" factor gives it a few points. Although, I really have no desire for another bottle at least not right now.

I hate to be negative about a microbrew or a microbrewery in particular. Most microbrewers have a true sense of pride in their craft and want to offer a great product. I want to find great microbrews for my own reference and to review to recommend to others. In this instance though, with this microbrewery, this beer and this bottle in particular, I'd say that I'd not recommend Carolina Brewing Company India Pale Ale to someone who's savvy and heavily into the India Pale Ale microbrews. It would be worth a shot to someone just sampling some IPA's for the first time or someone who's just hanging out and wants a few beers they don't really have to think all that much about to drink.

I'll give Carolina Brewing Company's India Pale Ale a 5.0 out of 10.0 and will vow to give it a try again in the future to make sure I'm thinking straight here. I'll try reviewing their Blonde Ale in the future as well to be fair.


You can check out more reviews of new microbrews and fun microbrew and craft beer related info at Microbrew Review or My Squidoo Lens. Check out Summer Microbrew too!

Redhook Ale Brewery - Longhammer India Pale Ale

I was a little shocked to discover a brand spankin' new brew from Redhook Ale Brewery located right here at my local six pack shop in little ole Western Pennsylvania. Longhammer IPA (proudly brewed by Redhook Ale Brewery) was located in plentiful 12 ounce bottle supply on the second shelf of the IPA section in the cooler at my favorite microbrew beer shop and I just had to grab a couple of bottles for sampling and review.

Upon getting the two chilled bottles home, there was no time to waste in making an immediate pour and sampling of one of the two. Pouring the now, not-so-perfectly chilled bottle into a standard unchilled pub glass brought a fairly respectable presentation of a caramel, amber colored clear brew. Plenty of bubbles abound here with a suitable 1 finger head of floof. It only stuck around for maybe two minutes though. But hey, things were not looking too bad here so far for longhammer ipa. Let's see what's next shall we?

Aroma, hmmmmm. Citrus? Grapefruit? A little hard to put a standard, hard line description here. Some floral is present and grapefruit as well but with something just a little bit "off" for an Indian Pale Ale. What exactly it is, I couldn't put my finger on it. Stale perhaps? Can't be for a brew this brand new though, right?

Upon first sip, I perceived alot of zest to this one. A little bit harsh in a pungent sort of way. There is the standard IPA sense of citrus and hops, but for whatever reason, this microbrew wreaks quite a bit of alcohol presence. Upon review the now empty glass bottle, I realize this brew is only clocking in at 6.5% alcohol by volume. Not exactly over the top. It takes away, however,from what little uniqueness this IPA offers.

Not a great India Pale Ale in its own right, I'd have to say the alcohol sting only sets this brew back even a little further from those I'd consider the benchmarks that I've tried in my brief microbrew sampling history.

If you enjoy microbrew beers, and india pale ale craft beers in particular, I'd say that the Longhammer India Pale Ale is probably not going to ultimately live up to your overall expectations in IPA's. It's probably not going to become your instant favorite IPA but it's still probably worth a try on your part just to be sure. I'll try the second bottle I purchased and will update this review accordingly if I find anything earth shatteringly different in the second bottle.

To their credit, redhook ale brewery has a history and a reputation of producing some very excellent microbrewed beers over the years. I have enjoyed there beers for sometime now, and while they're now my favorite as far as microbreweries go, I know that Redhook Ale Brewery can, and does product far better beers than this. I'm going to put this one down as a 5.75 out of 10.00 in my microbrew rating book. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.


You can check out more reviews of new microbrews and fun microbrew and craft beer related info at Microbrew Review or My Squidoo Lens. Check out Summer Microbrew too!

Victory Hop Devil Ale - The Devil Made Me Do It!

Grabbing a nice cold 12 ounce bottle of Victory Brewing Company's Hop Devil Ale out of the vegetable crisper bin of the ole spare fridge tonight, I knew I would be in for a special treat just based on the awesomely, cool label design of this fine IPA microbrew.

The bottle label features a wonderfully conceived likeness of a smiling devil's face cleverly crafted from the image of a perfectly harvestable hop. Smiling, devilish and oh so tempting! I just had to drink it. And I did!

Victory Brewing Company, is an awesome pony in the stable of Pennsylvania microbreweries which I've been blessed enough to have the often opportunity to sample, having them located conveniently in my own Pennsylvania backyard, so to speak.

Pouring this baby into an unchilled 16 ounce pub glass, this microbrew foams to the max and featured a billowy two finger head in all its majesty for a good two to three minutes before settling down into something a little more manageable.

A golden rusty copper color burned bright in my glass, clear and crisp and full of bubbling supremacy. I just had to take a sip, and quick!

This is refreshing folks. If you've seen any of my other reviews on A Microbrew Review Blog, you probably know I have a soft spot in my heart for the India Pale Ales. I love them and they're one of my favorite microbrews without a doubt.

Victory Hop Devil Ale takes the IPA to a whole new level however. This is a far more than solid craft beer here. It features the typically hoppy bitterness and a citrus grapefruit tinge as well. But adding to that, I sense a certain heavier "spiciness" of some sort that I've just never placed in a previously sampled India Pale Ale. What that spiciness is, I just can't put my finger on it, at least not just yet. Maybe I'll have to try another bottle or two to narrow it down. If you can place it, please do let me know. Maybe it's only my imagination but I get the impression that it's a unique style of IPA, almost like a "winter warmer" with its spiciness.

All of this goes against anything I've ever sampled in an India Pale Ale making it a little bit alien and strange, but at the same time, making it extremely unique and a standout amongst the other IPA's you'll find out there in the craft beer world.

I've sample several of the Victory Brewing Company's offerings over the past couple of years and all of them I'd have to rank as outstanding or at the very least far beyond average in my microbrew rating scale. This beer is not a lightweight however. Coming in at 6.7% alcohol by volume, this is another microbrew that you'd want to keep track of your intake with. It's wonderfully good and very easy to drink without filling you up. But more than two or three in a sitting, and you'll have the "devil inside" you and at that point, he sure isn't going to be happy.

I recommend going out and trying Victory Brewing Company's Hop Devil Ale today if you have any access to it in your region. It's definitely an out of the ordinary experience in the microbrew review arena!

You can check out more reviews of new microbrews and fun microbrew and craft beer related info at Microbrew Review or My Squidoo Lens. Check out Summer Microbrew too!