NAME: Stone Enjoy By 2.14.14.
TYPE: American Double IPA
ORIGIN: Escondido, CA
ABV: 9.4%
REVIEW: Golden color, foamy head, lots of fruit on the nose. Definitely smelling some pineapple and mango in there. Sweet, refreshing, very fruity IPA with a nice bitter finish. Methinks it would be a great summer IPA. Too bad it’s still the dead of winter. Oh and don’t worry, this photo was from a couple weeks ago, I enjoyed it well before 2/14/14.
goodwilltasting grade: A-
NAME: Schloss Eggenberg Samichlaus Bier
TYPE: Seasonal Winter Doppelbock
ORIGIN: Austria
ABV: A big ol’14%
REVIEW: Pours medium brown, sweet smelling with a honey and a little maple, strong malt backbone. Sweet taste and a little boozy at the end. Full, creamy mouthfeel. Nice, warm beer for a bitterly cold night in Portland Maine. BTDubs, if you ever find yourself in Portland, do yourself a favor and check out Novare Res. Probably the best beer bar I’ve been to in New England.
goodwilltasting grade: B+.
NAME: Great Lakes Eliot Ness
TYPE: Amber Lager
ORIGIN: Cleveland, OH
ABV: 6.2%
REVIEW: Rich, full-bodied amber lager. A little smokey initially, faint hop nose, smooth sweet finish. Pretty good.
goodwilltasting grade: B
NAME: Dogfish Head Old School Barleywine
TYPE: Barleywine
ORIGIN: Rehoboth Beach, DE
ABV: A whopping 15% ABV you maniacs
REVIEW: Dark amber color, minimal head, very sweet, fruity taste with a thick syrupy mouthfeel, minimal carbonation and lingering figgy aftertaste. I kinda wanna pour this on pancakes and see how that goes. As you can see, this review is from days of yore, before the blog existed. Almost got all my old IG reviews up on here!
goodwilltasting grade: Trying to be impartial since I’m not a huge Barleywine guy. B+.
NAME: Green flash Imperial IPA
TYPE: Imperial IPA
ORIGIN: San Diego, CA
ABV: 9.4% ABV
REVIEW: Light amber color, rich crisp pine on the nose, very fruity IPA with hint of peach and a sticky, bitter aftertaste. A little fuller mouthfeel but not too heavy. A nice spring beer, wouldn’t mind having this with some good BBQ, I think I prefer their traditional West Coast IPA though.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
NAME: Allagash Four
TYPE: Quadrupel
ORIGIN: Portland, ME
ABV: 10%
REVIEW: Dark amber, thick head with sweet fruity smell, notes of cherry and peach. Super smooth finish but a little too sweet aftertaste for me. From Allagash: “We brew this beer with four malts, four sugars, four hop varieties and we ferment it four times, using four different yeast strains.” Hence the name, I guess.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
It’s Valentine’s Day, playas. I hope you’re treating your ladies right. If you’re single, I hope you’re enjoying a cold one with good friends. If you don’t have friends, get off the computer right now and put yourself out there man!
Anyway, here is a Valentine’s Day review of a VERY SPECIAL beer I tried around the same time last year. This here is Russian River’s ever elusive Pliny the YOUNGER!!!! This beer only makes an appearance once a year, is released in draught form in VERY limited qualities, and is usually kicked come happy hour (or if you’re in Massachusetts, come closing time, since happy hour is illegal here, which is ridiculous). Anyway, I tried this at Local 44 back in Philly last year. In case you were wondering, I took a day off from work and got to the bar by 10 am to try it, and I don’t regret it one bit. It is an incredible beer. So without further ado, here is the review:
NAME: Russian River Pliny the Younger
TYPE: American Triple IPA
ORIGIN: Santa Rosa, CA
ABV: 11%
REVIEW: Golden amber color, white foamy head, medium-strong hop nose with nice citrus fruit, nice, crisp bittersweet taste with a crisp mouthfeel, smooth, sweet, finish. Huge, smooth, delicious IPA that you wouldn’t know was 11% unless you read the menu. Despite the anticipation, I actually still prefer Pliny the Elder but still very much worth the effort.
goodwilltasting grade: A
By the way, in case you haven’t yet, you should definitely check out my QUICK BEER REFERENCE, where you can find all my reviews in convenient spreadsheet form. Do it.
NAME: Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA
TYPE: American IPA (Blend of the 60 and 90 Minute IPAs and Bottled with Maple Syrup)
ORIGIN: Rehoboth Beach, DE
ABV: 7.5%
REVIEW: Golden brown color, minimal head. Sweet pine bouquet, crisp mouthfeel with a lingering bittersweet finish. Very slight hint of maple makes this a great breakfast IPA if you’re gangsta enough.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
NAME: Deschutes Inversion IPA
TYPE: American IPA
ORIGIN: Bend, OR
ABV: 6.8%
REVIEW: Amber color, golden head. Subtle pine and grapefruit on the nose. Crisp, full mouthfeel with good carbonation. Nice and hoppy with light citrus notes, kind of a flat bitter finish but otherwise a solid IPA. Gets better as it warms.
goodwilltasting grade: B.
NAME: Allagash Curieux
TYPE: Belgian-Style Tripel Aged in Bourbon Barrels
ORIGIN: Portland, Maine
ABV: 11%
REVIEW: Golden color, foamy head. Caramel and bourbon on the nose, sweet taste with woody, bourbon notes. A bit of a sharp finish but smooth overall.
goodwilltasting grade: B+
goodwilltasting 