#221 Jolly Pumpkin - Calabaza Blanca

Jolly Pumpkin brewery calls their beers artisan because of they use older process of aging in wood barrel, bottle conditioning, and open fermentation. This process are very traditional and can lead to different yeasts and bacteria growing in the beers causing sour beers.

The beer has a yeast and fruit aroma. The fruit smell is more sour apple or lemon or melon than a banana aroma common with a while ale. The color is yellow or gold with no sediment from the bottle conditioning. The head is low when poured in a wide shallow chalice that is common for Belgium beer, but the head is thick and active in a deep narrow pint glass.

This beer has a pronounced sour taste. The sour taste is fruity, like an apple lemonade without much sugar. There is also a strong spice taste, with coriander, allspice, and cloves. The mouthfeel is thin and hardly noticeable. The finish is fruity with a touch of sour and dry.

This is a sour beer I can enjoy. Maybe my threshold for sour beers is lowering, but this is a fine beer. I might not seek out this beer, but I would recommend it to anyone that lime sour beer.

#220 Flying Dog - Garde Dog

This is another beer mail directly from Flying Dog brewery. Garde Dog is a Biere De Garde style of beer, a light French style beer related to the Belgium Saison. This is Flying Dog's spring seasonal beer, and here is a video from Flying Dog about this beer.

This beer has a slight yeast smell, but not much overall aroma. The apprentice is yellow and clear. The head is low, just covering the edges of the beer.

There is a slight malt taste to this beer with some toasted notes. This is a dry beer, a change from other beers with pretty much no sweetness. There is no noticeable hops in the flavor, a change from other Flying Dog beers. There is some yeast taste, but not yeast sediment in the beer. The mouthfeel is thin, and the finish is dry.

I'm not very impress with this beer. Just not a huge amount of flavor, and it is really quite dry.
I guess for a light tasting spring time beer this works.

#219 BBC - Mephistopheles Metamorphosis Tripel

More beer from Bluegrass Brewing Company.

This beer has a fruity cider smell, and an alcohol aroma. The color is a light amber and clear. There is no head on this beer, only a few bubbles from pouring and nothing else.

This beer has a strong fruit taste, more apple flavor than the normal banana taste of some Belgium beers. The Belgium clove flavor is slight, not very pronounced. The mouthfeel is light and smooth. The finish is sweet with some fruit.

This is a nice Belgium with a stronger apple taste than most. I don't think the apple taste is very close to style, but that don't make the beer less enjoyable. BBC does it again.

#218 Young's - Double Chocolate Stout

This beer is a pretty widely distributed beer, available at many grocery stores and most beer stores. The chocolate flavor of this beer comes from real chocolate and the use of chocolate malt, a dark roast malt with chocolate flavors.

The beer has a sharp chocolate liquor aroma, mixed with roasted malt. The color is black with just a slight bit of light coming through. The head is light brown and just thick enough to be noticed.

There is a lot of dark malts used in this beer, the flavor is roasty and malty. There is a slight coffee, almost burnt coffee taste. There is a chocolate taste, but it is subtle, just coming across in the background. The mouthfeel is thin and smooth, reminiscent of chocolate. The finish is roasty.

This is a tasty beer with a ton of dark malt flavors. I wouldn't drink more than over of these every now and then, but it is a good beer.

#217 Schloss Eggenberg (Castle Brewing) - Urbock 23°

In previous posts I have called Schloss Eggenberg by the name Castle Brewery. Schloss Eggenberg has been brewing commercially since 1681 in Austria. Schloss Eggenberg are currently under the Castle Brewery, but I am not sure if that is the same Castle Brewery that falls under SABMiller. Sorry about the confusion.

This beer has an aged beer aroma of raisins or dark pit fruit. The color is a light brown or dark yellow. The head pours well, but does not last long. This beer has some thick bits of sediment floating around.

The taste is sweet with a brown sugar taste, and a bit of raisin flavor. There is also an aged beer, root cellar taste. With all the aged beer flavors there is a slight malted grain taste to add some complexity. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth adding to the sweet tastes from before. The finish is sweet with some alcohol burning.

This is a pretty good beer. I've been less than happy with many offerings from this brewery and this is a nice change. There is a lot of sweet taste in this beer, but it is still enjoyable.

#216 Magic Hat - #9 Not Quite Pale Ale

Magic Hat Brewery is based out of Vermont.

This beer has some apricot fruit aromas and a slight malt aroma. The color is a light brown on orange, defiantly not quite pale. The head pours thick but quickly effetenesses away. There is a nice apricot taste to this beer. The fruit flavor tastes fresh, and authentic unlike some fruit beers that taste artificial. There is a light caramel flavor from the malt and a hint of hop bitterness, enough to make it clear this is still a beer and not just fermented apricots. The mouthfeel is light to medium, just a slight full feeling giving the beer some substance. The finish is fruity. I really like this beer. There fruit taste is enjoyable and it still is recognizable as beer. All fruit beers should beer this tasty.

#215 Heavy Seas - Peg Leg Imperial Stout

Another beer from High Seas.

This beer has a strong roasted malt aroma, with some coffee and bread notes. The color is black with some red highlights peeking through. The head is light brown and pours a slight head that fizzes away quickly.

This Imperial Stout has a huge malt profile, the flavor is malty and roasty. There is a taste of fresh baked bread mixed with a hint of coffee. There is a slight floral hop flavor with only a light bitter flavor. There is a hint of alcohol to the taste to this 8% beer. The mouthfeel is full and rich giving the impression of a "Big Beer". The finish is malty and dry tasting a lot like the beer.

I really like this beer. I am normally happy with the beers from High Seas and I usually like Imperial Stouts and this beer is a perfect example of both. Lots of roasted flavor, and a hint of hops. I highly recommend this beer.