Bell’s Amber Ale – One of the backbone’s of Bell’s success in Michigan, and one of the last active beer styles by them that I hadn’t tried.  Got it in a trade recently and was very pleasantly surprised – a somewhat bready, very aromatic, hoppy Amber Ale.  Like most of Bell’s offerings, balanced when it needs to be.  Awesome.  One of the best 6pm work beers I can think of.

New Glarus “Uff Da” Bock – Stinky swears we’ve tried this before but I don’t recall that being the case.  Cracked a bottle for the boys at Bierkraft and Ben, Jonah, Stinky, and I were all fauning over the heavy dried cherry aromas, the undercurrents of black coffee and the incredibly balanced sweetness.  New Glarus has yet to disappoint.  I received 4 beers beyond this that I haven’t had of theirs yet in a trade, so expect more updates.  Don’t be surprised if I like all of them, though.

Victory Harvest Pils – At a Victory Brewing event at The Gate, Stinky and I got the chance to catch up while drinking beer outside (gasp! spring in winter!) and this was my pick for the evening.  A pale, golden, very clear pouring beer with an overwhelming fresh hop aroma that kept tricking my brain into thinking I was smelling Belgian Yeast.  Crisp and yet very well balanced malt-wise considering the color and dryness of the beer in general.  Victory is an outstanding brewery — get behind them.

I should have some updates on my homebrewed Porter soon as well, and will hopefully be brewing a 100% Brett beer this weekend.  Thanks for checking in.

I could try to explain this beer and the style, and of course I’ll try — but here’s what the brewer has to say:

“Napoleon hailed this tart beer style “the Champagne of the North.” A lively and elegant masterpiece this Berliner Weiss is a kaleidoscope of fresh flavor. Barrel fermentation, Pinot Grigio, Riesling grapes and Wisconsin White Wheat are bottle fermented with five proprietary yeast strains. A connoisseur’s rare jewel both spirited and subtle, enjoy your sparkling toast under summer stars.”

Indeed.  Carey continues his “Unplugged Series” with one of the most perplexing and amazing German Beer styles — the Berliner Weiss.  Like a normal wheat beer, but never boiled and expressely made with the use of non-standard yeast strains which produce sour flavors and smells, this style is often consumed in Germany with fruit or herb syrups — famously, a green syrup made from Woodruff.

The New Glarus version is extremely refreshing — light bodied, citrusy, and sour, the beer is extremely well-balanced and drinkable.  I’m not sure what the ABV on this is but I’m guessing around 5%, perfect for a summer refresher.  Not quite as complex as an aged or blended Belgian sour beer, and more complex than a standard wheat beer, this brew really has it all.  A beautiful golden color, a quickly disappearing head, and an insane amount of weird grape and apple smells and flavors.  Like an alcoholic lemonade or a beer and apple juice hybrid, both in a good way, this is a truly artful beer and is another notch in the belt of Carey who is clearly one of the most talented and adventerous brewers in the States.  Highly recommended and seasonal, so track it down soon.

New Glarus has a series of beers known as the “Unplugged Series” where the brewer can feel free to brew any styles that he is interested in exploring.  It’s a common way for craft breweries to stay creative, to have an outlet beyond the beers they make which become popular and ostensibly kinda boring to brew.  Troegs has its “Scratch Series,” Avery and Stone have their yearly contributions and anniversary beers, and many other breweries go this route.  The “Unplugged” Series has a few entries so far, amongst them a favorite style for a couple brew dogs, the Imperial Weizen.  Taking a normally mild-mannered beer, albeit a fragrant and spicy one, and amping it up is the obvious quality in American beers which people point to over and over again.  New Glarus succeeds here big time, offering a beautiful take on the German Hefe style — a fuller bodied, spicier beer with a fuller hop presence. This beer pours a bit darker than a normal Hefe, with the characteristic huge white head in tact.  The nose is incredibly spicy with only a small hint of the banana flavor that some Hefe Weizens are known for.  This is more on the clove side of things, and also boasts a bready malt flavor, big German yeast smells, and a nice amount of carbonation to balance a heavier mouthfeel.  Any beer that says “Thanks for Supporting the Arts” on the bottle, and maintains a breweries committments to exploration and creative expression is alright by me.  New Glarus hasn’t failed me yet, and I’ve already put the feelers out there to get my hands on some of their Berliner Weiss.  Got some?

The Dark Horse Brewing Company is one of the fabled breweries of Michigan who produce beers that sadly don’t make it to New York City.  I haven’t sampled any of their beers yet so I was very excited when a trader threw this in as an “extra” in a trade — a common practice amongst beer traders, they’re a nice lot.  Dark Horse has a few “special” series of beers as well, and this is from their Holiday Stout series — five stouts to help you “get through those tough Midwestern winters.”  Well, this mid-atlantic summer didn’t do too poorly by this brew either.  I’m not that familiar with the Cream Stout as a style, but after recently getting very excited by the Southern Tier Creme Brulee, I was stoked to give this one a shot.  It delivered big time.  A creamy, milky mouthfeel with low carbonation makes this beer pour more like a thick soda than a typical beer, but is typical for the stout style.  Almost no head to speak of, but an awesome, sweet-forward aroma dominates along with a super dark brown color which is very appealing.  The right amount of biterness from both the chocolatey malts and hops makes this an all around awesome beer.  I’m not sure how strong this is, but if this was winter and I had a bunch of these around, I wouldn’t be mad.