77/100) More Ciderboys

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Magic Apple, Cranberry Road, Pineapple Hula

Ciderboys. After how excellent their Peach County was, I had to come back for more of their combination ciders. This time we take a walk down Cranberry Road as we brandish our Magic Apple. The army of Pinapple Hula dancers will never see us coming.

Magic Apple) was just what it said it would be. As an apple cider with strawberry, initially, I thought the balance was good, but the strawberry grows in intensity until you can only taste it. At least it was a very fresh strawberry flavor. If you don't love strawberries though, you probably won't find it as overpowering as I did. ☆☆☆

Cranberry Road) was a perfect marrying of flavors. Perhaps, I am biased towards tart/sour beers/ciders, but I really enjoyed this one. Try it on a hot summer day and see if you disagree. I can't help but wonder if the cranberry road is much like the yellow brick road, and if there is a Dorothy or perhaps an Edith, who needs to travel that road for her homesickness to be cured. Either that or I need less cider in my life because my judgment is becoming obscured. I'll just have to watch out for flying monkeys, I suppose. Knowing my dreams though, they'd be flying tapirs. ☆☆☆☆

Pineapple Hula) unlike the magic apple, the pineapple did not come across as overdone. However, pineapple just might not be my favorite flavor as I found it hard to want to come back for more. You get a bit of the apple towards the beginning, middle, and finish, while the linger leaves you with that fresh pineapple sweetness. So, they succeeded at making what they set out to make. ☆☆☆

Bonus: Why Tapirs? In Japanese mythology, the Baku (Tapir) eats people's dreams.

76/100) More Woodchucks 2

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Pear, Lemon Shandy, Smoked Cider

The woodchuck, how much could he chuck? Well, if he'd get out of the apples already, we'd have a clearer idea. The closest we got to solving this age-old conundrum is the Cellar Series Smoked Cider. It took a bit to get the woodchuck out of that woody smokehouse. Instead of chucking more wood on the fire though, he ran off with some delightful smoked apples.

Pear) I don't really need to say more about this one than that it tasted like a ripe brown pear. If that's what you want in a drink, this is it. If not, run screaming. Or just don't drink it. Me, I enjoyed it. ☆☆☆

Lazy Hazy Lemon Crazy) and just like it's name this one is indeed crazy. I'm not sure what Woodchuck was going for on this one. Perhaps a cider shandy? The result was very sweet, tart, and lemony. I couldn't finish it because the flavor reminded me too much of either green apple jolly ranchers or lemon heads that got dissolved into a normal cider. I usually try to come up with something positive about a drink, but I am having trouble on this one. I'm too lazy and this lemon crazy drink made my thoughts hazy. ☆

Smoked Cider) As much as I love this one I know it is not for everyone. The apple mash was smoked before being processed into cider, and the end result was a very smoke-heavy cider. No surprise there. The apple flavors are a bit on the stronger side of a deep amber cider, but they are subdued. Drink this while having a pork chop, bacon, or something else equally greasy. It goes amazingly well with them, and also works well as a a glaze. It's bottled instant smoked sweetness. Try it sometime! ☆☆☆☆

75/100) Founder's Backstage Series

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Dissenter, Blushing Monk, reDANKulous

Founder's normal fare is already something I can consider a safe bet on any occasion. This time I amassed a couple of their rarer fare, bottles that were part of their backstage series. They were all seasonal and harder to find that I expected. I also have to apologize for the wonky photo. Something Redankulous has crept into it. Just when I was going to give up and post only about two beers, I found myself a third.

Dissenter) Nay? Nay! Nay I say. Lagers are not for me. And, then for such dissenters like myself, Founder's came along and made an Imperial Pale Lager which is a hopped up stronger lager. This one had light citrus hops, a touch of bitterness on the finish, and smooth malty characteristics that gave it body. It's probably one of first lagers that I've rather liked, albeit it is an imperial one, and a rather robust one at that. I am not a dissenter over this beer. Excellent. ☆☆☆☆

Blushing Monk) The Blushing Monk is essentially an imperial Rübæus. If you haven't had a Rübæus before, you are missing out. If you haven't had a Blushing Monk though, you're really missing out. I suppose that is unless you dislike raspberries, because both are the epitome of what a raspberry beer can be. You get fresh berries on the nose and through to the finish. It was lovely, and I want another. ☆☆☆☆☆

reDANKulous) First of all, the name is awesome. I just wish the font reflected the emphasis that Founder's official spelling does. DANK is the only part of it that should be capitalized. The bottle confuses this by having all the letters uppercase, but I suppose at least "dank" is a font size or two larger. Regardless, this was a crazy IPA. The pine resin hop punch lingers and lingers, but before you reach that you have to wade through a misted jungle of tropical hop flavors and earthy malts. If only the 60s weren't so lacking in beer this unusual, I might describe this beer as a bottle-shaped time capsule back to beaded curtains and shaggy carpets. ☆☆☆☆

74/100) Samuel Smiths (Dark Beers)

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Taddy Porter, Imperial Stout, Yorkshire Stingo

Samuel Smith's is most well-known for its organic and fruit-based beers, but did you know they made stouts, porters, and barrel-aged ales? Not only are the bottles classy, but the beers are quite good and affordable. Quite affordable. 

Taddy Porter) An unusual porter that at first spiked on my tongue with an astringency in the finish that I wasn't sure I liked. It was light and somewhat uninspiring at first. Because of that, Taddy wasn't the kind of porter that I expected to like, but I did. The flavors grew and though it was not creamy, thick, or sweet, the smoothness to that ale and the dry finish won me over.  ☆☆☆☆

Imperial Stout) Engine oil dark at only a 7% ABV, this beer surprised me before I even opened it. A little sweeter than I expected with a backdrop that touched off reminders of soft candies and powdered sugar. The finish was not harsh, like a Russian Imperial, but not really smooth either. The middle and linger boasted lots of spices and dark fruits, and while clearly a malt-heavy stout the usual malt flavors were rather muted. Instead if I could I'd classify this as an herbal stout. ☆☆☆

Yorkshire Stingo) Molasses and sorghum syrupy touches rested in the backdrop on this one. It finished very dry and perhaps because of that, the nose was subtle to nonexistent. The middle had a bit of raisin or dates. Honestly, one of the more unassuming aged ales I've had. Despite it's strong ABV, the flavors were light and slow. A nice change of pace from my heavy usual fare. ☆☆☆☆

73/100) Mexican Inspirations

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Oculto, Cocoa Mole, El Mole Ocho

I'm not sure when the craze started, but a growing abundance of tequila-touched or Mexican-flavor oriented beers have started appearing. While most of us know or have experienced tequila, Moles (pronounced Mow-laze) can be a bit of an unknown. They manifest as dark sauces that vary in flavor from spicy and smokey to bitter and sweet, but all go very well with Mexican food or even Tex-Mex. I rather like moles so I am stoked to see that flavor profile is being set into beers.  

Also who could forget? Tomorrow's Halloween! What better way to celebrate than with a Dia de Los Muertos themed beer? Check out these one's from last year: Dia de Los Muertos Beers 

Oculto) First of all, this beer is not "craft." At best it is pseudo-craft, because its being produced by an offshoot of Anheuser-Busch. Doesn't mean it's not potentially worth a shot, but I just had to find out why practically overnight this beer spread all across the nation. When you're an InBev beer, you get all the perks of distribution that their massive company has to offer.

Oculto means "Hidden" in English. This drink is.. odd. I get the agave qualities, but there is too much tequila flavor. Truthfully, I'm still debating whether or not "tequila flavor" is an appropriate description. However, I can't say "the tequila" since there was no tequila in this beer. I had a lot of trouble drinking this one enough so that I can say I did not like it. I even added a splash of lime juice to fix that. It changed to tasting a bit like a Corona. I can't say that was an improvement. Funny thing is that I really wanted to like this one too. The bottle has some wicked ribbing and a cool day-of-the-dead skull. I didn't though. ☆  

Cocoa Mole) had lovely chocolate touches and a subtle burn on the finish. Even a bit of smokiness from the chipotle came through. The bottle's art though confused me. It's Day of the Dead-ish, yes, but that's not what baffled me. Why the odd color scheme? If anybody knows why, let me know. I couldn't figure it out. Regardless of the external oddness, the internal contents were excellent. I bet this one would go great with chips and salsa while I've got my legs kicked back watching a movie or a game. ☆☆☆☆

El Mole Ocho) First off, there is no El Mole Siete, Seis or any other permutation in Spanish. There is only this one, err eight?
As to the actual beer, it was very similar to the Cocoa Mole with a solid balance of heat, spices, and smoke. Something was different though that made me like this one better. I think it was the more robust chocolate, or some spice that might have been clove. However, this one looked amazing when poured into a glass. The golden amber's waters swirled below a wispy smoke of trailing foam. I'm adding this beer to my "must have on hand" list. ☆☆☆☆☆

72/100) Stone W00T

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Chai-Spiced, HiFi+LoFi Mixtape, W00tstout

My Birthday was this week and these seemed like the most appropriate beers to celebrate my further aging into wackiness. How often do you find a chai-spiced stout after all? That one's odd enough, but the Hifi+LoFi Mixtape is a combination of barrel aged and a young un-aged ale. And finally, you have the crazy collaboration with Wil Wheaton, the Stone's Farking Wheaton W00tstout! W00t!

Chai-Spiced Imperial Russian Stout) The chai spices were in the aroma, the finish, and hover in the linger. They succeeded in making exactly what they set out to make, but I am not sure if I really want it. I'd like to mix it with a dairy liquor to see if it can become a chai milk tea. Soy milk didn't work all that well. I am unfortunately allergic to dairy so I couldn't actually try anything beyond the soy milk I had on hand. I hope someone will experiment further! ☆☆☆☆

HiFi+LoFi Mixtape) had an aroma of mahogany. To combine my friend's thoughts on this beer: It's like "licking furniture, but I like it." This beer seemed confused like a barrel got varnished and then grew a crazy hair. The bitterness was low, but the finish remained moderately boozy. This "MidFi" if you will, was an interesting experience, but probably not again for me. ☆☆☆

W00tstout) was extremely easy drinking for all that ABV. The booziness only crept into the backdrop as it warmed up. The finish has just enough harshness that I think it would be a lot better with a little age on it. The chocolate and wheat combination came through as it warmed, but remained muddled against a faint unremarkable aroma when it was cold. Somehow the combination of it all reminded me of liquefied chocolate wafer sticks. Yum! I'll be socking a bottle away for a while (6-12 months) and looking forward to how it smooths out. W00t! ☆☆☆☆

71/100) Smokestack Chocolates

I have set myself the goal to review three beers or ciders every week for 100 weeks. I will be learning about beer and ciders more as I do this, and if I am successful in this venture, I will have tried about 300 unique drinks. If you're curious how I'm doing, the number in the post's title tells you which week I am in now.

Chocolate Ale, Imperial Stout Coffee, Imperial Stout Aztec Chocolate

October is pretty much the opposite time of year for Valentine's day so this line-up of Chocolate beers didn't work as any sort of romantic gift or wooing attempt. However, I suggest you keep them in mind for next year. If you have someone awesome who like beer, perhaps a chocolate beer or two is in order.

Chocolate Ale) First of all, throw out all your ideas as to what happens when chocolate and beer collide. This ale was a whopping 9% ABV but as clear and as light in color as an amber. The initial even tasted like an ale, but the finish had bittersweet chocolate overtones. They vanished as soon as they arrived, and the linger was short. I could see myself having this on a consistent basis. ☆☆☆☆

Imperial Stout Coffee Ale) As expected, the taste was somewhat similar to the normal Imperial Stout X. I presume that would be obvious, but if you could remove the coffee flavors, the two would be identical. Boulevard didn't skimp on their coffee, so instead of adding an astringency and harshness, the coffee brought touches of mellow smoothness. Rich and pleasant, I liked this one more than the Aztec one that follows, but just less than the normal version. However, as might be my one complaint about Boulevard, they make a decent imperial coffee stout. I just want something more crazy is all especially when splurging on a larger bottle. Regardless, I just need to remember that coffee in beer still imparts caffeine. I couldn't sleep until about two in the morning after this. Oops. ☆☆☆

Imperial Stout Aztec Chocolate Ale) Again, the taste was similar to the normal Imperial Stout X. I can only guess that the addition of the Aztec chocolate made this one a bit sweeter, but in exchange it softened the richness of the normal version. I wasn't enamored with this one. It's still a decent representation of the style, it just played safe when that wasn't necessary. I am making it sound bad, but I really enjoyed it. It just wasn't bowling me over with over-the-top impact. ☆☆☆