Leviathan IPA

Beer Name: Leviathan IPA
Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 10%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Something on 10/15/11

After trying this beer at the Harpoon brewery, I was eager to get some of this particular Leviathan (it's a whole series of giant ABV beers) for home use. This turned out to be surprisingly difficult, as the only bottles I was able to find were all supposed to be consumed by April. 2011. As in, over half a year ago. I finally found some that had a date that was close enough, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The Leviathan IPA is a slightly cloudy beer with a golden orange color. It pours with a thin layer of surprisingly thick head. It fades fairly soon, but it leaves a nice lacing pattern behind. There is a strong hop aroma here, mostly piney hops.

Strong hop flavor here, but also a lot of malty flavors. It's slightly bitter, but it finishes with a combination of bitterness and sweetness with a light aftertaste. The piney hop aroma was an accurate precursor to the piney flavors present here. The beer is pretty smooth, with a light carbonation and a slightly creamy feeling to it.

Final thought - While obviously not as good as it was when it was fresh straight from the fermenter, this is still a delightful beer. But be careful, as it also will kick you right in the head with it's alcohol content. Ten percent is a pretty strong level for a beer that is pretty easy drinking (for an IPA). Watch yourself.

-Jon

Encore

Beer Name: Encore
Brewery: Magic Hat Brewing Company
ABV: 6.4%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 2/29/12

Encore is another addition to Magic Hat's IPA On Tour series of beers. I believe this is the last one, although maybe they'll add some more to the rotation.

Encore is a cloudy beer with a pale orange color. It pours with about a finger and a half of head (and yes, "finger" is the measurement unit for a beer's foamy hat) that lasts for quite a while before slowly fading and leaving a heavy lacing pattern behind. The aroma is strongly citrusy hops, with a little bit of a florally hop smell in there as well.

This beer has a nice hop flavor without being overly bitter. That's a little surprising since there really isn't much of a malt presence here that often balances out the hops. I could see that being an issue, but since Encore doesn't really pack a hop wallop, everything works out nicely. I doubt that this beer would convince the hop-haters out there to change their tune, but I don't find it to be an overwhelming hop-bomb like many beers out there. The beer has a nice light carbonation, and it finishes with only a slight aftertaste.

Final thought - This might be my favorite of the touring IPAs, although hI.P.A. is certainly a close second. However, if you ask me while hI.P.A. is out, that ordering might be switched around. I guess they are both quite good. I like Encore's hoppiness without the dry finish that a lot of IPAs have. It also works well both with food or on its own, which is a great quality.

-Jon

Chocolate Stout

Beer Name: Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 5.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 2/15/12

I learned about this beer from the Friend of Harpoon newsletter, and then located it on my first try. That is probably the smoothest new beer experience I've had in a while. Too bad I can't find the same success as I look for Harpoon's latest 100 Barrel Series beer.

The Chocolate Stout is a very dark beer that looks solid black at first, but seems to be more of a very dark brown. It has a very thin head that fades almost immediately. The aroma is very chocolately, much more so than standard stouts. It's a combination of sweet chocolate, like a milk chocolate, along with a bitter chocolate smell, sort of like the stuff for baking.

With so much chocolate in the aroma, the flavor has a lot to live up to. Luckily there is a good amount of chocolate flavor in here. It's mostly a dark chocolate, with a bittersweetness to it. It also has a nice finish and aftertaste. The beer has little bit more carbonation than I was expecting, but it starts to mellow out after a few minutes. Unfortunately, the beer's flavor is better while it's cold, so letting it mellow out means letting it warm up, where the flavor does not improve.

Final thought - This is a bit sharp for a stout, and I bet it would be fantastic if they figured out some way to smooth it out. It has a very nice flavor, but I just want it to be smoother for each sip. Perhaps I'm just being picky.

-Jon

Grateful Harvest

Beer Name: Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale
Brewery: Harpoon Brewery
ABV: 5.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 2/15/12

It has cranberries. I would be willing to bet anything that it is going to be better than that simply awful Cranberry Lambic beer.

Grateful Harvest is an amber colored beer that pours with a very light head that does not last very long. There is a faint aroma of cranberries here, but if you're expecting something like the blueberry aromas in all those blueberry beers or the pumpkins in the pumpkin ones, it's not there. There is also a sweet aroma here, so this beer seems like it's going to be a malty one.

Well, there is a tartness that seems like it's coming from the cranberries, but there isn't really much of a cranberry flavor. It ends up just seeming like a sweet & sour beer, and it doesn't really work for me. There is a nice amount of maltiness, so there's that if you're into malty beers. Lightly carbonated, the beer has a nice mouthfeel, which is one of the only things it has going for it.

Final thought - It was nice to give it a try, but I doubt I'll ever have it again.

-Jon

Lagunitas IPA

Beer Name: Lagunitas IPA
Brewery: Lagunitas Brewing Company
ABV: 6.2%
Serving method: 16-oz draft in an octagonal glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I don't know what kind of glasses they use at Magpie, but they definitely have some tasty beverages to put in them. And for me, that's good enough!

This particular IPA from Lagunitas is a nice golden color with some orangey highlights. It's a little bit cloudy, and it came with a nice amount of head. The aroma is strongly hoppy, mostly in the citrus department. There's also a little bit of piney hop aroma, but it's faint.

As expected, this packs a hoppy punch. I am getting only the citrus flavor, which is just fine with me. There's also a malty flavor in the background, but it's only very faint and just enough to keep the hops from overwhelming the tastebuds. This beer is pretty smooth, even with a medium amount of carbonation. The finish is bitter, but not too bitter for an IPA, and it's not as dry as a lot of others. I think you could probably drink a couple of these without suffering from a hop overload.

Final thought - Fantastic IPA. I tend to prefer the citrus hops with at least enough maltiness to notice, and this one works perfectly. California tends to be the king of the American IPAs, and this is no exception.

-Jon

B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher

Beer Name: B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout
Brewery: Hoppin' Frog Brewery
ABV: 9.4%
Serving method: 22-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

Ok, first off, the bottle had a frog drinking on it. Second, the name was B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher. Finally, it was an oatmeal stout. There was no way I was going to be able to pass this beer up.

B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher is a solid black beer that poured with a very thin layer of head that was pretty much gone before the first sip. It looks like a glass of dark velvet, and will hopefully be super smooth. Not much lacing here. The aroma is deep roasted chocolate with a mixture of alcohol in there. I suppose that at 9.4%, this beer is going to pack a punch.

This beer has lots of nice flavors going on, with coffee and chocolate as the dominant ones. Both of them have a little bitterness, and there's also some sweet fruity flavors that balance it out. Also there's a touch of alcohol in there as well, although it's probably going to be too much for some people. I'm not really getting much in the way of oatmeal though. The beer has a very light carbonation, which I think works well for it. Anything too much more would probably contrast unfavorably with the other flavors.

Final thought - If you only kind of like stouts, pass on this one. This beer is strictly for the stout fans, as it is a heavy beer that hits you like a brick. Maybe two bricks. Not like a ton of bricks though, as I believe that may leave you in a state of being not-alive. If you are a stout person though, you'll probably enjoy this one. I'd give it a few minutes to mellow out. It lets a lot more flavor come through.

-Jon