French Broad Brewery Rye Hopper Ale

The French Broad Brewing Company Rye Hopper Ale is an American Pale ale that is sufficiently hoppy and has some rye malts added.  It is definitely an American Pale Ale.  I have to admit that the name on this one threw me off a bit.  It gave me some expectations of something else.  Now Hopper is definitely the biggest word on the label and had I been paying attention I might not have been so thrown off.  The hops is definitely the primary contributor to the flavor of this beer.  Now this isn't a bad thing I just got excited based on my expectations from the name.  All of that said this is an excellent American Pale Ale.  The beer pours a nice gold color and builds up a nice white head.  The level of carbonation seems low based on the head that forms.  After those first confusing sips of this one I finally was able to wrap my head around what I was drinking.  As American Pale Ales go this one is excellent.  The hops characteristics in the beer make it an excellent spring or summer choice.  You get the full citrus and some other floural aromas.  All of the malt character is rather subtle and added to give this beer something to differentiate it from other American Pale Ales out there.  Using rye gives this one a pleasant but light spice flavor that helps to mellow the hops bitterness quite well.  You can find a listing of current beers by French Broad here or if you find a bottle at your local bottle shop you should definitely consider it.  French Broad is one of those consistent Asheville breweries that make the area such a great beer destination.  They deserve to be one of your go-to brewery choices.

Big Boss Brewing Co. Hell's Belle

Hell's Belle by +Big Boss Brewing Co is a Belgian style ale.  This one comes in at 7% ABV and is listed as 30 IBU.  This is right in line with what you generally see with this style. They claim some citrus flavors as well.  The beer pours a very light yellow with generous carbonation showing.  A medium head forms that is more foamy than lacy.  There is a distinctly sweet and yeasty smell to this beer.  They are clearly trying to showcase the malts and yeasts like they said.  The citrus flavors don't come through as strongly as I might have hoped but this is otherwise a solid Belgian.  It has the strong malt character that I've come to expect from this style.  The finish is all malts and you get an excellent appreciation for the craft that goes into this brew.  There is a subtle pine flavor more so than citrus.  There are also hints of wood and caramel that suggest that the grains were malted shortly before brewing.  This is the kind of craft beer that is easy to enjoy for what it is but is much more rewarding when you begin to dissect it for what it is underneath.  The craft behind this beer is subtle but impressive.  You can taste the wood in the kiln that was used to malt the grains.  You can taste extra flavors and sweetness that the yeast imparts to the beer.  This is certainly one that deserves more than one glass.  You are likely to find something new in this beer to appreciate every time you drink it.  I enjoyed this one so much I didn't even have time to get a picture before I'd had nearly half the beer.  Find a six pack of this and enjoy, 'nuff said.  For more information Big Boss Brewing Co has an excellent website here and you can also find them on twitter @bigbossbeer.  

Highland brewing little lump

First off, Highland Brewing does a great job on their website of giving you information about their beers.  They list ingredients, include the vitals, and give some nice background.  This one is listed at 4.5% ABV and has an IBU of 32.  They dry hop this one which is probably the reason for the great aroma from this one.  Little Hump has a strong bouquet of hops aromas that becomes noticeable as soon as the bottle is opened.   The aromas are typical of hops and the predominate scent on the nose.   If you enjoy the smell of hops in your beer you may not get to actually drinking this one for a bit as the smell is just that good.  There beer is playfully carbonated and produces a thin buy lacy head.  The head does persist for quite  a while which is nice to see.   Serving temperature of this beer is refrigerator temperature.  This helps make this an excellent spring beer. The beer is a very balanced, smooth beer.  Nothing is particularly overpowering and it is an all around nice mellow drinking experience.  You can see my first impressions on the YouTube video. As it warms the hops bitterness will overpower the citrus flavors; while this isn't a bad thing if you enjoy hops, this beer really is better cold.  I like the fact that this beer has a relatively low alcohol content as it makes for a nice light drink and you could easily enjoy several of these out on the porch with friends.  The beer isn't so overpowering that it should nicely complement your favorite springtime cookout foods.  The nice thing about this beer is that it reminds me of several summer "beers" that have strong citrus character.  The excellent thing about this beer is that it hints at those beers to come while actually being a beer.  This should be a very approachable drink for anyone.  The 32 IBU seems high as you drink it.  I only noticed a strong hops bitterness as the beer warmed.  With spring festivals now in full swing this would be an excellent six pack to pick up, spread a blanket, enjoy some friends and music, and have some great beer.  You can find more information on this one at the Highland Brewing website.

Green Man The Dweller Imperial Stout

Green Man Brewing Company's The Dweller is an Imperial Stout that they claim to have spent some time in the basement before becoming worthy of being bottled.  They list an IBU of 62 and an ABV of 7.5%.  The alcohol content is on par for an Imperial Stout but the IBU value seems a tad high.  This should prove to be a hoped up version.  The beer pours a wonderful dark brown and slowly forms a thick golden head.  This was surprising based on the amount of visible carbonation.  The initial aroma was a strong sweet malt flavor which you should expect from an Imperial Stout.  The chocolate flavor with the malt was very perceptible with this beer.  The balance of hops and malts was very nice.  The coffee flavors that are common with an Imperial Stout were masked by the hops flavor.  Now coming from a serious coffee drinker this may not mean much.  It takes a lot for me to say I taste coffee in my beer.  I mean if I want to drink a Java Stout that's what I'll get.  This beer comes across as a very traditional Imperial Stout with some added hops.  The fruit flavors that are traditionally associated with these beers was replaced by the mild hops flavors.  This made the Green Man take an interesting variation on this beer.  You probably know by know that I'm a fan of breweries that take some liberties with common beer styles and this is a subtle variation that I definitely approve of.  The presentation of the beer was a big plus.  The bottle made the experience seem a bit more sophisticated.  While it is easy to find many Green Man offerings on tap at my local restaurants I'd not be offended by having this bottle brought to my table.  All in all this beer should be rather approachable for anyone at all interested in darker beers.  Like many other North Carolina brewers Green Man strikes an excellent balance in all things that go into their beers.  For my initial reactions check out the YouTube video.  As always keep enjoying North Carolina Craft Beer.

Blind Squirrel Brewery IPA

The Blind Squirrel Brewery India Pale Ale comes in at 7%ABV.  Blind Squirrel describes this as an effort to be something other than a hop bomb.  They describe the flavors as citrusy, piney, and floral.  As you probably know by know I'm a big fan of breweries giving accurate descriptions of their beer.  One thing they failed to mention is that this beer forms a generous head that remains rather persistent.  The head has a creamy texture that would make many English pub ales jealous.  Generally I would attribute this to the yeast but they claim to have used an American Ale yeast which I wouldn't thing would produce a head like this.  This could then be from the two row and caramel malts.  At any rate it gave the beer some character not common to an IPA.  The pine was the predominate scent and the predominate flavor.  In my initial impression, see the YouTube video here,  I quickly compared this to Modus Hoperandi.  The flavor, color, and amount of head produced were very similar.  The Blind Squirrel offering is a bit more subdued than the Ska IPA.  I would certainly also describe this beer as "drinking a pine cone."  Now this may sound a bit intense to some people but you have to remember that this is an IPA and this is North Carolina.  Here we like to brew big, flavorful beers that rival those of the more well known breweries.  This IPA is no exception.  This isn't going to be an IPA for everyone but if you enjoy citrus and pine flavor in your IPA this is an exceptional example of blending these two flavors.  Now if you can allow this to warm just a bit you will quickly find that the piney flavors mellow and become replaced by an entire bouquet of citrus and other floral flavors.  This may be a difficult feat for some as this is an excellent IPA and perhaps my favorite from North Carolina thus far.  I didn't feel like they just threw in as much hops as they could to get an insanely high IBU number, it lists as 65 by the way.  I am a big fan of pine in my IPA but was pleasantly surprised by how it mellowed and became a very complex beer after it warmed just a few degrees.  It really felt like I got two different beers in just one bottle.  So for those of you that are fans of in your face pine flavored IPAs drink this one at fridge temp.  For those of you looking for a more traditional experience with a moderately hoped IPA let it warm a bit and you should find this one to your liking.  If you want more information about the other beers that Blind Squirrel offers head to their website.  If you find yourself in Plumtree the brewery is attached to a lodge, restaurant  and winery.  The menu looks to be standard pub fare including pizza, burgers, sandwiches, and the crow favorite fish and chips.  They seem to have a great selection of Blind Squirrel brews on hand as well.  During summers they are open Wednesday through Saturday.

Frog Level Salamander Slam IPA

Salamander Slam weighs in at 7.0% ABV.  Unfortunately the brewery website doesn't offer any more information about this specific brew.  It pours as expected, a light golden color with a thin but persistent white head.  The nose on this beer departs from a traditional IPA in that in addition to the hops there is a distinct malt aroma.  The malt aroma transitions quite nicely into a light and smooth taste.  At first this beer has a deceptively smooth and mild flavor.  The hops flavors then come on slowly but strongly.  This progression of flavors is the most striking aspect of this otherwise standard IPA.  You can see my reaction in the YouTube video.  The hops flavor will be familiar to regular IPA drinkers.  This beer boils down to being a rather text book IPA.  While the extra malt character and slowly developing hops character in the flavor give this beer a bit of personality it just fails to be much more than an excellent IPA.  Now the great thing about this beer is that Frog Level packages many of their beers in these wonderful half growler bottles.  This gives you about 3 glasses of beer which is more than enough to share with friends.  Since Spring is trying to arrive here in North Carolina finding a good beer to sit out on the porch and enjoy with some friends is important and this is certainly a candidate.  The hops flavor is not so overpowering that it's going to keep you from enjoying this beer with food or enjoying another beer after this one.  Just because it isn't a stand out IPA doesn't mean it is a bad beer.  If you are a fan of IPAs, and really if you are reading this you probably are, you should certainly try this one just because of the nice malty start.  If IPAs aren't your thing you can probably skip this one.  Since this is an IPA you probably shouldn't try to introduce your lager drinking friends to craft beer with this one.  Some of the flavor may be due to the yeast that they use.  As of this writing the Frog Level website lists what I hope is a British Cream Ale which they seem to be calling Lilly's Cream Boy.  That may be an interesting brew.  Based on how the hops work in their IPA I'd also like to see them tackle a Kolsch style beer.  I would certainly stop by the brewery if you find yourself in Waynesville, NC.  For more information about what's currently on tap at Frog Level check out their website.  As always keep enjoying North Carolina beer.

Cheers!

Big Boss Brewing Company Big Operator

Big Boss Brewing Company the Big Operator weighs in at a robust 8%ABV.  The label describes this one as a belgian ale conditioned with raspberries.  The Countess was the opening act to this big beer.  Since it is a Belgian I expect more hops character than was present in the Countess.  There is only one way to find out and that involves opening and tasting.  The beer pours a rich black, it shows little carbonation but forms a short velvety brown head.  The most pronounced aromas on the nose are the toasted malts and the cocoa.  Some lighter notes suggest some sweetness either from the malts or the raspberries.  The predominate flavors are the toasted malts and the cocoa which isn't surprising based on how strongly they are smelled.  These mix very well and keep this beer from being overpowering.  While it wasn't what was expected from the aroma it delivers big.  The base of the beer would compete well with well known Black Belgians.  The additions of the cocoa and raspberries really set this one off as being a unique beer.  The raspberry flavors are unfortunately not as pronounced as hoped but are very much on the same level as they were in The Countess.  Once again the primary flavor the raspberries impart is their tartness.  It blends well with the mild hops bitterness.  The beer has a very smooth rich texture and an almost thick moth feel.  This isn't going to be the Spring Ale you sit out on the porch and drink to refresh yourself in the early evenings.  This is the beer you sit down with in the evening to finish off the day.  This one is bold enough to go with food but should stand on it's own very well.  You should also note that this is beer is 8% ABV and while that isn't outrageously high this is a very drinkable beer and you could quickly find yourself in some trouble if you have very many.  For more information on this one check out the YouTube video or check out the information on Big Boss Brewing Company.  As always thanks for reading and keep enjoying North Carolina Beer!