Hell or High Watermelon

Beer Name: Hell or High Watermelon
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I think that watermelon beers have been hit or miss in the past, as most fruit beers tend to be. This is a seasonal beer, specifically for the beer season of summer, which apparently runs from April to September. If only the actual summer was as long...

Hell or High Watermelon is another canned beer, so, much like its brother Brew Free! or Die, I don't have a whole lot of information for you about its appearance. I would be willing to bet that it's a very pale colored beer based on it being a wheat beer. The aroma is grains and watermelon, so the watermelon flavor should be pretty noticeable.

Well, it definitely is. Not upfront, but this beer finishes with a very strong watermelon flavor. This tastes like a normal summery beer with a nice watermelon surprise. It's sweet without being overdone, and it doesn't taste fake like some fruit beers do. There's a pretty high carbonation here, but it seems to work well with the watermelon.

Final thought - This beer is a good summer beer. It's light and crisp, and it's not too strong. Price might be an issue though, as I think it was a bit steep. Give it a try sometime, and invite me over for it.

-Jon

Brew Free! or Die IPA

Beer Name: Brew Free! or Die IPA
Brewery: 21st Amendment Brewery
ABV: 7%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Yup, that is not a typo. Somehow, a beer in a can has cracked the formerly impenetrable wall that was my bias against beer served in an aluminum tube. I am not sure how this happened. Actually, I am. When Bill and I returned the bottles from the last few months, the total return came to $22, so I bought some crazy beer that was being sold in a box of 6 cans. I figured if a company was brave enough to package their beer like crap beer, there has to be something important going on there.

Brew Free! or Die IPA is a beer with a cool name and a stupid punctuation mark in it. It also made me thing that this beer was brewed in New Hampshire even though it's apparently from California. Since the can was pretty opaque, I have no idea what kind of appearance this beer has or whether or not it leaves a cool lacing pattern. However, I will say that it had a nice aroma of citrus hops mixed with a strong malty presence.

This is a nicely balanced IPA, and it even was palatable to Kate! Not that she liked it, but she didn't make a face and even rated it as "not bad," which is the highest rating she's ever given to an IPA. There's a nice hoppy flavor here, but the beer finishes with a nice maltiness and no bitter aftertaste. There's a good amount of carbonation here, and the flavor doesn't really hint at the 7% ABV. Nicely enjoyable for an afternoon or evening of beer consumption.

Final thought - Aside from the fact that it took me 3 cans of this beer to finally get past the mental obstacle that came from drinking a beer from a can, this beer was very good. I find it a little strange that my brain added a metallic taste to the beer for the first and second beer just because I knew it was coming from a can. If you can get past that, this is a delightful brew.

-Jon

Robust Porter

Beer Name: Robust Porter
Brewery: Smuttynose Brewing Company
ABV: 5.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 10/11

There was a Smuttynose tasting over at Ryan & Casey, so Kate and I got to taste test a bunch of there beers. Sadly for her, and awesomely for me, there was a porter, a pale ale and an IPA as 3 of the choices. She really needs to expand her beer palette. I guess that's up to me.

Robust Porter has a funny picture of an old-timey weightlifter on the bottle and is a very dark beer. Super dark. Like, stout dark. There is a little bit of head on it, but it fades pretty quickly. Even with this fast fading head, there is still a very heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is delicious chocolate and roasted malts.

This beer starts off with a bitter chocolate flavor upfront and sweetness in the middle. It finishes with roasted bitterness and an aftertaste of roasted malt. This beer feels very big in the mouth, with each taste seeming like a big event. There is a decent amount of carbonation here, appropriate for this style.

Final thought - This is a good beer, but it feels very heavy. After drinking it, I have a feeling like I just ate a big meal. I would drink it again though. As far as porters go, this one is near the top of the list.

-Jon

Hop Devil

Beer Name: Hop Devil
Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in an octagonal pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Wow, has it really been that long since I tried a new beer? Well, technically no, it hasn't, but it has been that long since I had a beer that I can write up a proper opinion about. Although I suppose that at some point I'll have to revisit those other beers in the interest of journalistic integrity.

Victory's Hop Devil is an amber colored beer with a hint of orange in it. The draft poured with about half an inch of head which faded very slowly, leaving a moderate lacing pattern behind. With a name like Hop Devil, I was expecting my nose to be assaulted by hops, but the aroma was actually very mellow, with a combination of hops and malt.

The flavor of this beer matches the aroma nicely, which is not always the case with beers. The beer has a nice flavor, with some noticeable hoppiness without being overwhelming. There's also a sweetness to each sip from the malt. There's a slightly bitter finish (hops again), and there is also a little bit of a bitter aftertaste. Compared to most IPAs, this one is not nearly as strong of a hop assault on the palette.

Final thought - I liked this beer a lot. In fact, I drank 2 of them with dinner. In comparison with Victory's Hop Wallop, this beer is definitely more drinkable. I doubt that people who don't like other IPAs would change their minds after drinking this, but I think it would be a good introductory IPA for the more open minded drinkers out there.

-Jon