REVIEW: Sixpoint Global Warmer & Die Hard

I'm excited about this one. A new beer from one of my all time favorite breweries and one of my all time favorite movies. I knew when I started this whole Christmas beer and movie pairing excursion that I had to check out Sixpoint's newest, Global Warmer, and Die Hard, what might be the definitive American action movie. At first blush, neither is easy to come up with a celluloid or brewed counterpart to. I think I've come up with something though. Let's get to it.

REVIEW: Ommegang Take the Black

Alright, folks. I hope everybody had a great weekend. We've got a cool one today, the second in Ommegang's Game of Thrones series. Craft beer and epic fantasy, two great tastes that taste great together! I talked about the first beer in the series Iron Throne Blone Ale back in March. Check that one out here. I liked it quite a bit, but something about it didn't feel super Westerosi (Maybe Dornish? I don't know). Take the Black though? This is more of what I had in mind, a big hearty black ale. One minor critique, that will only be apparent to idiots like me. I love the name, Take the Black, very evocative, but the art on the bottle doesn't really mach up. Take the Black refers to the Night's Watch. The weirwood tree on the label isn't a symbol of the Night's Watch though. The weirwood is an important part of the religion of the old gods. And While Jon and Sam Tarly took their oath before a weirwood tree that is because they keep the old gods. Most of the brothers of the Night's Watch are worshippers of the Faith of the Seven. The old gods are still kept in the north and beyond the wall so the weir wood is more of a symbol of the north than the Night's watch. Whatever, it looks cool and it's a cool name, and only weirdoes like me will take any exception to it. What is far more important than anything on the label is what is inside the bottle, a 7% ABV Belgian style stout. To the beer!

REVIEW: Brooklyn Lager

Alright, better late than never right? So, today we've got a dry hopped Vienna lager in a 16 oz can from Brooklyn. This sounds like a winning recipe. I don't really have a ton to add here! To the beer!

REVIEW: Brooklyn East India Pale Ale

It's been far too long since I've taken a look at a beer from Brooklyn. Almost a year in fact since I talked about their terrific Oktoberfest. But the liquor store down the road from my new apartment has had the East India Pale Ale here on sale so here we go. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Compass

So I have no idea what to make of this beer. It's a new imperial offering from Southern Tier, I do know that. But as far as style goes, or what to expect it to taste like? I couldn't begin to tell you. The bottle refers to it as a bottle conditioned sparkling ale brewed with rose hips and citrusy hops. In wine sparkling refers to carbonation, but all beer is carbonated. Maybe it's brewed with a champagne yeast similar to Sam Adams' Infinium? But if there was champagne yeast in here I feel like they'd call that out specifically. So who knows. But Southern Tier has earned my trust, I'll give anything that they brew a shot. To the beer!

REVIEW: Ommegang Iron Throne

I've beer waiting to get my hands on this beer since it was announced. If you've been following this blog for a while you saw a taste of my Song of Ice and Fire nerdery back when I talked about New Holland's Dragon's Milk. But that beer only had a dragon on the label. This one has the Iron Throne of Westeros! Forged by Aegon the Conqueror out of the swords of his defeated enemies! Seriously, it's pretty cool seeing a craft brewer get involved in a big marketing thing like this. Usually this is the domain of the big boys. But really, do you think they're drinking macro lager at Castle Black, or Dragonstone, or across the Narrow Sea? Of course they aren't! They're drinking fine hearty ales. Perhaps something like this. A 6.5% Belgian style golden ale from Ommegang, out of Cooperstown New York. When this beer was announced I found it a bit odd that Ommegang went with a golden ale. I don't know if it quite fits with the show. Winter is coming and all that. I thought that it would make more sense if it was a hearty black ale. But once I thought about it I sort of got where Ommegang was coming from. This is a perfect beer for spring. And since this beer is being released in concurrence with the premiere of season three this coming Sunday a lighter beer, appropriate for spring, makes a whole lot of sense. Also, I imagine this beer will be sought out by a whole lot of people who are fans of the show who may or may not be craft beer enthusiasts. It makes sense that Ommegang would go with a style that's a bit more approachable. I'm excited for this one. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint 3Beans

You guys know I couldn't let a new Sixpoint beer pass by the wayside without taking a look at it. I love these guys and their fabulous beers. Their newest ale, 3Beans is brewed with coffee beans, cacao beans, and romano beans, hence the name. A beer brewed with coffee and chocolate is old hat around these parts. But romano beans, which are similar to green beans? That one seems a bit odd. Turns out that brewers in medieval Europe, in many Baltic countries, didn't have access to traditional brewing ingredients. So they often had to turn down different avenues for fermentable sugars. They used, you guessed it, beans. Sounds intriguing to me! As always, with any new Sixpoint beer youtube is required viewing. This video chronicles the creation of and tribulations involved in getting the beer into my grubby little hands. If you can watch that video and don't come though on the other side excited about beer you're nobody I want to be friends with. So, we've got a 10% ABV, 85 IBU imperial stout brewed with Mast Brothers chocolate, Stumptown cold pressed coffee, and romano beans. Three Brooklyn companies, three beans, one beer. Sounds good to me! To the beer!

REVIW: Sixpoint Diesel

Alright. Christmas is finally over. And along with it, hopefully this wonky schedule as well. Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday and the lateness of this one. The three posts on Christmas and then a busy day yesterday threw everything off. So Today's post is the one that I had planned to go with yesterday, and then tomorrow we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming. Hopefully. So anyways, Christmas is over, so gone are the spiced winter warmers, but the cold is still here in a big way. That has me hankering for a stout. Enter Diesel from one of my favorites, Sixpoint. In the grand Sixpoint tradition, Diesel bucks traditional style guidelines. For all intents and purposes diesel is a stout, but theres also a lot of black IPA inside that beautiful can as well. Sounds quite delicious. One last Christmas related tidbit, that beautiful Sixpiont tap handle in the background of the photo up there? That was a very thoughtful and incredibly cool Christmas gift from my lovely girlfriend,m Meredith. Thanks again, Mere! To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Krampus

So everybody is super familiar with Santa Claus/ St. Nicholas/ Father Christmas all that right? Jolly old elf, gives presents as rewards to all of the good girls and boys. Well originating in pre-christianity Alpine Europe is a rather terrifying and bizarre character, Krampus, who sits firmly in opposition of St Nicholas. A demonic satyr-like creature that beats bad children with sticks and rusty chains! Weird and wild stuff right? If you've got the time to fall down a pretty fascinating Wikipedia rabbit hole, check out all of this historical Santa Claus/ Krampus stuff. So, just as Krampus is the opposing figure to Santa, This beer is the opposing figure to all of the hearty Christmas ales that I've been drinking lately. Southern Tier's Krampus is an Imperial helles lager. A Christmas lager? Very interesting. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier 2XMAS

Fist things first. Sorry today's post is going up so late. I had planned on posting this review this morning but internet connectivity issues reared their ugly heads. But better late than never, right? Also, today's post is pretty cool so it ought to make up for the lateness. I've been looking at a lot of Christmas beers lately, Winter warmers, old ales and the like. It seems that the vast majority of Winter ales are all slight variations on a certain theme. Southern Tier has decided to go a bit of a different way with this one. Their Christmas ale, 2XMAS, is a beer brewed to be reminiscent of a Swedish Glögg. A Glögg is a mulled wine made with spices and citrus. Now, obviously 2XMAS isn't a wine, it's a beer but it is brewed using some of those traditional Swedish Glögg ingredients. 2XMAS is brewed with figs, orange peel, cardamom, ginger root, cinnamon, and clove. Sounds like it ought to be pretty interesting. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint The Crisp

So I've taken a look at just about all of the beers to be had from that Brooklyn beer maker I hold so near and dear, Sixpoint. Up until now those beers have all been ales. Today's beer, The Crisp, Is the only lager in their rotation. Take a minute to notice the subtly different shape of the "label" on the can here which serves to differentiate the lager from the ales. That's a pretty damn good piece of design work. The Crisp is a German pilsener that clocks in at a rather robust 42 IBUs and 5.9% ABV. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Pumking

Happy halloween folks! I know some of the people out there reading this have been waiting for this post for quite some time. I have a lot of friends who hold this beer near and dear to their hearts. I proudly count myself among their number. Hell, that tap handle in the photo up there? My girlfriend Meredith got me that for Christmas last year for a keggerator that doesn't even exist. Just because I love this beer that much. I've had this beer sitting in my fridge for a couple months. I bought it when it hit stores in August. Now, that was far far to early to be drinking any pumpkin ale, let alone Pumking. But, this beer goes quick. If I wanted to drink this beer when the weather turns cold and a hearty beer like this makes some sense I needed some patience. And now my patience has paid off. Also, what better day to talk about Pumking than Halloween! To the beer!

REVIEW: Brooklyn Oktoberfest

Another day, another fall seasonal. Today's is the Oktoberfest from Brooklyn Brewery. Not really too much to say here. It's a style I like and a brewery that makes great beer. Let's see what we're getting into. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint Autumnation

The two prominent trends for fall seasonals are rich, spicy pumpkin ales and fresh, hoppy wet hopped ales. It seems that the mad scientists at Sixpoint couldn't be bothered to choose between the two. Autumnation is brewed with pumpkin, ginger, and has been wet hopped with fresh Citra. Now I love pumpkin ales and I love fresh hop flavors so this could be something special. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Stout

Today's beer comes courtesy of a glowing recommendation form my good friend, Grant. This was always one that I wanted to try. One that I knew I'd get around to one of these days. But Grant's enthusiasm for the beer definitely bumped it up the list. Crème Brûlée is an Imperial milk stout. It's brewed with 2 row pale malt, dark caramel malt, columbus and horizon hops lactose sugar, and plenty of vanilla beans. It checks in at 9.5% ABV. This ought to be intense. To the beer!

REVIEW: Southern Tier Harvest

When folks hear fall seasonal and Southern Tier this is probably not the beer that they're thinking of. We'll get to that one. All in due time, it's coming. But not quite yet, today I'm taking a look at Harvest.  Harvest is an ESB (Extra Special Bitter) brewed with fresh hops. It's cool to see an autumn seasonal that isn't a pumpkin or an Oktoberfest. Not that I don't dig on those styles, I certainly do, but it's cool to see some other styles as well. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint Brownstone

Try as I might, I'm just not ready for fall seasonals. I'm really not ready for fall period. I'm still in summer mode. Even though I spent last night at Nippert Stadium watching my Bearcats kick the hell out of Pitt and in doing so keep the River City Rivalry trophy in Clifton for a good long while, it somehow doesn't really feel like football season yet, like fall yet. Part of that is still because it's quite warm out. Part of that is because the Reds' magic number is down to 17. But whatever the reason, I'm not quite ready to get into Oktoberfests and pumpkin ales just quite yet. Don't worry, they're coming. I've got quite a few already in the fridge waiting for the first evening with a palpable chill in the air. In the meantime, let's take a look at the newest canned offering from what has become one of my favorite breweries, Brownstone, from Sixpoint. An American Brown Ale checking in at 6% ABV and a rather hefty 45 IBUs. To the beer!

REVIEW: Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55

A little bit of a peek behind the curtain here. Last Saturday I found myself thirsty for a beer, as I often do. Ryan Ludwick had just hit a walk off home run to lift the Reds to a 3-2 win and complete a huge three game sweep of the Cardinals. Big big win. I think it goes without saying that when I saw this beer in the fridge it seemed awfully appropriate. Baseball and beer. It doesn't get much better. Like my favorite beer to drink while watching the Reds, Christian Moerlein's OTR, Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 is a pale ale. How does it stack up? To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint Righteous Ale

The beers I've tried this week have left a lot to be desired. Ranging from bad to mediocre. You'll have that from time to time. They can't all be great. But I need a good one to end the week on. So, with that in mind, I turn to the brewery that has quickly joined my pantheon of all time favorites, Sixpoint. Today's offering is their rye beer, Righteous. Clocking in at 6.3% ABV and 57 IBU. To the beer!

REVIEW: Sixpoint Apollo

I believe my love for Sixpoint's beers ought to be quite clear by this point. I can't seem to go to the liquor store anymore without coming home with one of their four packs. Case in point: today's offering, Sixpoint's Summer seasonal, Apollo. A Bavarian style Kristallweizen. A very cool video of showing the inception of and inspiration behind the beer, as well as Sixpoint's founder and brewmaster heading over to Germany to drink and find the perfect authentic yeast, can be found here. Highly recommended viewing. Well, does Apollo stack up with the rest of the great beers from Sixpoint? One way to find out. To the beer!