Deschutes Brewery - Fresh Squeezed IPA

welcome to michigan deschutes! i'm very happy to finally be getting this Oregon brewery on the regular. having just tried this beer yesterday i can happily say i'm eager for more. this year round ipa offers such a juicy, citrusy flavor given to it by the citra and mosaic hops. two of my favs. great malt balance, this beer doesn't have too big of a mouth feel. very easy drinking at 6%abv. this is one of those ipas that has such a balance and just the right amount of sweetness that is going to make you want one after another. pair with seafoods, red sauce pastas and cold cuts. duh. cheers!

my score: 100

rate beer: 98

beer advocate: 95

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Green Flash - Silva Stout

Ever since trying my first Green Flash brew when I had met their marketing team, I knew these guys had a penchant for big flavors. Just one sip of that west coast IPA and they had a fan for life. Now, I've had their double stout, and while it is delicious, it is not what I expected out of the Silva. Silky and creamy, and this amazing butterscotch flavor I have never tasted from a barrel-aged stout. Even on the nose you get that burnt sugar smell, like a crème brûlée. As far as I've read this is a blended stout. They first age the double stout for 17 months(!) in bourbon barrels, then blend in fresh stout as to not overwhelm the palate with whatever happened in those barrels. Sure there's the usual roasty-chocolatey niceness that comes with stouts, but this one has that little something else that I've just never come across in an aged beer. Which makes for a very unique and desirable brew. Cheers!

my score: 100

rate beer: 100

beer advocate: 96

Stillwater Artisanal_Contemporary Works - Surround

When first seeing Stillwater come into the state it seemed as if they were sort of a one trick pony. Everything I saw was a saison, or a take on a saison. I'm not a huge saison fan but they seemed to have an allure to them that made me try every single beer of theirs. Then some other stuff started to trickle in with an eye-catching packing and style descriptions that begged to be sampled. Specifically the new Contemporary Works series that has just been released. The Surround is... wait for it, an oak-smoked imperial wheat stout. Oh yeah. Unfortunately this is a one-off brew so you may never see it again but for now it's in abundance. Taken from Stillwater's site: "Like a sound system that fills the room with audibles swarming in every direction. This massive stout overtakes your senses with aromas & flavor of dark chocolate, caramel, roast, smoke, earth & wood, It's heavy I know, but you have to drop that bass every once in a while if you really wanna get down." Fuckin' A Stillwater. I'm always tryin' to get down. Pair with all of the bbq. Especially a fat Delmonico steak. Cheers!

My Score_95

Rate Beer_97

Beer Advocate_90

Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales_Oro de Calabaza golden wild ale

If you've never had a Jolly Pumpkin or aren't really used to the whole funky-brew thing yet, all the beers they have to offer may lead you to assume they've gone bad. They have not. Also no, they're not all pumpkin beers. In fact they only make one pumpkin beer and it's once a year. Jolly loves to infect all their delicious beers by letting them age in wooden barrels that have been carefully infused with bacterias such as brettanomyces, lactobacillus.  These leave the beers with fruity esters, smelling of barnyards and having champagne-like characteristics on the tongue. Oro de Calabaza is brewed in the traditional Belgian Strong Ale way, but then aged on the bacteria barrels for some time. This is a nice light, not too sweet, but delightfully refreshing beer. Sort of spicy but in a zesty kind of way. Slightly floral with a nice acidity to it. Honestly, you can't really go wrong with anything from Jolly Pumpkin. It's obvious they are brewers who truly care about beer and see how many ways they can originate themselves by coming up with unique beer experiences such as this one. This could easily be paired with salads or white fishes. Maybe some chicken or turkey dishes. Cheers!

My Score: 99

Rate Beer: 99 

Beer Advocate: 92

Lagunitas Brewing - Night Time Black IPA

I wish more breweries made them, or at least made them this good. Black IPA's are in a league of their own. With all the characteristics of an IPA, juicy and citrus flavors and bitter, sometimes dry, but with roasted malts. Taking your palate to a whole different place.

First came the Lagunitas Day Time, which is a great session IPA. Low abv and extreme drinkability was the idea behind that one. Well, every yin has it's yang. Night time is the dark, dinner beer. Bigger abv at 7.9% yet hardly noticeable. Last year it was available in 22oz bottles but this year it has been put into 6 packs. Cool. More for less. This beer is available in Jan/Feb. Cheers!

My Score: 100

Rate Beer: 99

Beer Advocate: 92

Victory - Hop Ranch Imperial IPA

I think I said I was going to write about stouts all winter. Or maybe just toyed with the idea. Either way, I changed my mind. I opened and inserted into my face Victory's Hop Ranch just a bit ago and decided I wanted to tell you how much I'm enjoying this juicy bitch. It's an Imperial, so already I expected big. But what this beer looks like, and what this beer tastes like, are two different things. The lightest straw yellow I've ever seen in an IPA with this much flavor. In my light it almost looks like an unfiltered pilsner. Good carbonation, mid to light. Crisp on the tongue. Very citrus and bitey bitterness. Doesn't really dry the mouth out. I'm stoked on this beer. I don't know that I've had it before and I really enjoy it. Oh, it's also 9% and I don't think I realized it before I smashed through a glass. Certainly can't taste that. Bravo, Victory. Another one crushed. Cheers!

My Score: 97

Rate Beer: 99

Beer Advocate: 94