Category: Beer Reviews

Reviews of Beers – (Surprise!)

Mikkeller – 1000 IBU Review

Posted on by Drews Brews Reviews

Mikkeller 1000 IBU.All You Need to Know

Brewery:  Mikkeller
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 9.6%
Cost:  $15 (12oz)
Glassware: Tulip
Temp: 55°F
Availability: Rotating
Purchased@: Friendly Greek

Quick Take: While lacking complexity, Mikkeller’s 1000 IBU beer is much more refined than I anticipated. The 1000 IBU aspect is a bit of a gimmick and the cost is a little steep, but the follow through on a quality, mega-hopped beer makes this one worth trying. You have to be in an IPA state of mind and want the dirtiest, most lingering hops bitter finishes I have come across yet, but even IPA interested people can find something to like here.

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Goose Island – Backyard Rye BCBS Review

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Backyard RyeAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Goose Island
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 12.7%
Cost:  $30 (22oz)
Glassware: Snifter (served in a water goblet)
Temp: 50°
Availability: Limited
Purchased@: Station Taproom

Quick Take: Quite the fruity beer. The syrupy mouth feel and extreme fruit may be overindulgent for some. It’s rich berry teeters on cloying, making a modest pour thoroughly enjoyable, but a single glass (possibly a cordial glass) is all I would want. This doesn’t strike me as a beer you want to age either as the sugary quality could get out of control. The bottom line is that this is a dessert beer built for sipping, sharing, and pairing and one I’m glad I got the opportunity to try even if I had to overpay for it.

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The Alchemist – Heady Topper Review

Posted on by Drews Brews Reviews

Episode 10 of Drew’s Brews Reviews is here! The beer review show you never knew you wanted and no one needs. It’s an IPA time of year I guess as I down yet another bitter-tastic beer, but this is the top hop juice in the world, Heady Topper! At least it was at the time I recorded the review. This is a banked episode that I held onto for a few weeks, which forced me to adjust some information therein, so apologies for that.

I will say that I’m glad to see this review released as beer blog law states that Heady Topper must be reviewed lest I be cast into the malted wastelands and pitted against Lord Humungus in vicious bourbon barrel-aged combat for my crimes against beer blogdom and the blog-o-sphere. Yeah, everyone reviews this.

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Saucony Creek – Hop Suplex (OOH YEAH!)

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Hop SuplexAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Saucony Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial IPA/ DIPA
ABV: 10%
Cost: $2.75 (12 oz)
Glassware: Tulip
Serving Temp: 60° (should be colder, 55°)
Availability: Rotating
Purchased@: Hunger n Thirst

Quick Take: If you treasure hop bitterness and alcoholic warmth over malt sweetness, this may be an IPA for you. The citrus fruit aroma does not follow through on the taste where sweetness is pounded down by lemon, booze, and bitterness. This isn’t a subtle or refined IPA, but a clumsy one that hits hard. Not a bad beer for the bitter is better crowd, but I can think of a number of others that I would line up long before this one.

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Weyerbacher – Rhumpshaka Review

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RhumpshakaAll You Need to Know

Brewery: Weyerbacher
Style: Belgian Ale? (Rum Barrel-Aged)
ABV: 11.8%
Cost: $15 (22 oz)
Glassware: Belgian Snifter
Serving Temp: 55°
Availability: Limited (Brewed Once)
Purchased@: Weyerbacher Visitor Center

Quick Take: Really impressive beer that is wonderfully blended and benefits from a high ABV without becoming a rum-boozed mess. I think this could pleasantly surprise the ABV chasers and craft beer snobs if they are given the chance to try it. Make no mistake, this is a rum forward beer and the tropical/coconut qualities dominate the base beer elements. That said, it’s a fine example of a barrel-aged beer with a nice emphasis on the rum.

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