Brew Review: North Coast Brewery's Acme California India Pale Ale

Welcome back guys! This week I'm reviewing North Coast Brewery's Acme California IPA.


Before I picked up this bottle, I'd never heard of Acme. I had heard of North Coast, though, as they brew Red Seal Ale, a great, great beer. Apparently Acme was an old San Francisco/Olympia, Washington brewery that started back in 1869. North Coast resurrected the brand and they now make a Pale Ale and an India Pale Ale under the Acme name.


But enough about that. Let's get to the beer. Let me start by saying IPA's are in general my favorite beers. It's hard to make a bad IPA in my opinion. This, however, is not only not bad, it's incredible. Honestly, I think this may be the 3rd best single bottle of beer I've ever had (#1=Milwaukee's Best Light at the LaFayette Golf Course in LaFayette, Georgia. I was on the clock. And underage. And #2=Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at my kitchen table at Milstead Village in Kennesaw, Georgia. That was just a flat-out good beer. I think Boston's "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" was on the radio too, which was nice (If I ever own a bar, I'll play that every night 10 minutes before closing time).


As far as taste goes, there's really nothing new here. It's just a straight-up delicious IPA. It's super, super dry. The finish is really round and, again, dry and crisp. It's lip smacking good. There's not really much else to say other than I give it a 5/5. Try one as soon as possible. Total Wine in Kennesaw sells them in singles and six-packs (they have Red Seal Ale there, too, if you want to check that out as well...I suggest it).



I found a lot of great Acme art too. Check out the link to see old Acme logos, ads, and steins. It's really neat stuff.

Brew News: Terrapin Brewery Open for Tours

Got some brew news guys,

Terrapin opened up their brand new brewery yesterday in Athens. They're doing tours on Mondays and Thursdays from 5-7 plus the second Saturday of each month from 2-5. I went on the 2nd tour ever given yesterday, and I must say it was pretty cool. Getting to see where your favorite beer is made, who makes it, how it's brewed...it's neat. It makes the beer better too. They even had live music.

The facility is in Athens, Georgia at 256 Newton Bridge Rd. It's a fairly easy drive (and a decent ways from downtown) and well worth it. You can do the tour for free, but you only get a tiny medicine cup to sample their beers, or you can pay $7.00 for a free Terrapin glass and 6 tickets (each ticket gets six ounces of beer). They have Rye Pale Ale, Golden Ale, India Brown Ale, All-American Imperial Pilsner, and the just-out-of-the-brewery Rye Squared on draft.

Also, I was able to talk to the Marketing Director, Dustin Watts, and he said the India Brown Ale will start being bottled in the next few months (trust me, if you haven't had it...it's great). He told me that a new line called Side Project will be starting soon too, where single 50 barrel batchs of a special one time only brew will be made. The first one is called, ironically, Hop Shortage (there's a huge world-wide hop shortage). Be on the lookout.

Cheers!

Brew Review: Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale

Alright guys, this week I'm reviewing Flying Dog Brewery's Double Dog Double Pale Ale (that's a mouth full). This monster of a beer has double the ingredients of a normal pale ale and double the alcohol content (10.5% ABV). With that said though, this is a really smooth beer. It's by no means a session beer, however...one made me a little light-headed.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not normally a big fan of Flying Dog fan. Whether its Roger Steadman's (the guy who did the art for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) crazy gonzo art on the bottles or their too-big-to-keep-up-with beer line, they've never struck me as a serious brewery. This beer, though not great, has convinced me to give them a second look.

Double Dog is a thick, hazy beer. It's almost neon yellow. Even though the smell is a little thin, it has a nice fresh, citrusy aroma. Add that to the bottle art (rabid dogs running amok) and everything about this brew screams over-the-top. It really isn't though. While it it is very potent and definitely not for the faint of heart, it is a genuinely tasty beer.

At first it has a piney, citrusy taste -very abrupt and bright, maybe even tangy. That flavor stays with the beer all the way over the palate, but calms down a little toward the middle and back. The pine notes strengthen after each swallow too, making Double Dog enjoyable from beginning to end, if not leaving it slightly unbalanced. It is a double pale ale after all. Balance probably shouldn't be expected. The aftertaste was dry and bright and probably account for the strong pine aftertaste. The dryness did leave me hanging though, so this was an unintentionaly quick drink (I had to quinch my thirst, guys).


Terrapin makes a great double pale ale too, Rye Squared. It should be coming out in the spring. Sweetwater also has a good India Pale Ale (not quite double) and Atlanta Brewing makes a good regular pale ale called Peachtree Pale Ale. If you like Double Dog you'd like these too (and vice versa).

So with all that considered, I'm giving Flying Dog Double Dog Pale Ale a 3.5/5. This beer is a great example of a "super-beer," but it falls short in creating a complex taste. The taste notes are wonderful, but pretty straight-foward and without variety. Given the nature of the beer though, it may be hard to expect the subtle notes that other Pale Ales achieve. I'd only suggest this to folks who enjoy Pale Ales already or people who lean towards more hoppy beers.

Brew Review: Samuel Adams Double Bock

Hey guys,

Today I'm reviewing Sam Adams' Double Bock, a seasonal beer that the Boston Beer Company released this Winter. Until 2005 this beer wasn't able to be sold in Georgia because of its high alcohol content (8.8%); but now that it's here I can say, with only a hint of irony in my voice, "Thank you Georgia House Bill 645!"
(Before HB645 6% was the limit. It's now 15%!)

Seriously though, this is good beer. When I first started drinking beer my favorite brews were malty, sweet beers like Bass and Amberbock. I've since grown away from those beers, but Sam Adams Double Bock just made me remember why I loved malty beers in the first place.

The first thing you notice about this beer is the deep ruby color with very little head. It smells great too- like roses and weak whiskey. The first flavors to come across are warm, sweet, mild roasted malts. In the middle the flavors build up to show more of the cereal grain flavor and a smooth alcohol reminder that this beer is 8.8% ABV. It finishes smooth, with what I say (and my friends disagree) tastes like rose petals and velvet (if something can taste like velvet, that is). It left a pretty weak aftertaste, kind of dry and a little sugary. As I finished the beer I noticed it getting sweeter and sweeter, with less of the alcohol taste.

I'm giving Sam Adams Double Bock a 4.5/5. It's a great malt-heavy beer that gets everything right. I'm keeping it .5 short only because the sweetness would probably get old with a whole 6-pack. Still though, this is an excellent beer made by an excellent brewer.

Drink up!