The Alchemist Heady Topper

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

Call me Ishmael. I dare you. We are back with a vengeance, and oh, how we have missed you! If one is to make a comeback after a two-month absence, one might as well go big or go home. It doesn't get much bigger than this, right? Tonight we bring you the esteemed, the highly sought, the deservedly highly rated Heady Topper from the Alchemist in Vermont. This beer has been called the best beer in the world. The world!

If you aren't familiar with Heady Topper, it is a double IPA made in Waterbury, Vermont. Currently The Alchemist is undergoing an expansion, so this beer is even harder than normal to obtain. It is distributed according to a very strict release schedule in Vermont only, and most places sell out of Heady within hours. No, we haven't been to Vermont lately. A pilot friend picked some up on a recent trip there and was kind enough to share it with me. It comes in a 16-ounce can, and you are encouraged to drink it straight from the can, which I fully intend to do. I did pour a little out for photographic purposes, just for you and well, because its color is utterly gorgeous.

We have talked about it long enough. I need this in my life right now, so let's just get to it. The color of this is the most beautiful pale color I have seen in a DIPA. It pours a beautiful pale orange with a little chill haze when you pour it straight from the fridge. As mine has warmed while typing this so far, it has developed into a gorgeous pale straw color that is pretty translucent. If I didn't know what I was about to drink, I would guess a pilsner (and oh, how delightfully wrong I would be!). Confession: this isn't my first Heady Topper. Oops. Sorry. There was a finger or so of fluffy white head atop this as I poured a bit, but it dissipated immediately. The aroma on this is amazing (OK, that's another reason I poured a little bit into a glass, so that I could get a better idea of the aroma). Mango, papaya, passionfruit, grapefruit, a hint of pine all waft past my nose and lure said schnozz into the beer. I've licked worse things off my nose. Taking a sip, each of those are present in the taste, along with a lovely light cracker note that serves as a reminder that this is no session IPA. This is a wonderfully complex IPA, with each sip delivering a different layer of delight. The exotic fruits, the citrus, the pine, the utter deliciousness all come in waves across the tongue. There is very little, if any, perceived bitterness, not at all what many averse to IPAs would expect. It's also not overly sweet, like so many DIPAs tend to be. The body on this is perfectly balanced, not too heavy, not too light. This tastes like superior craftsmanship in every sip. This might be the best DIPA I have ever had.

When we first had the opportunity to have this, we put it next to Fat Head's Hop Juju and Bell's Hopslam, my favorite beer. Heady Topper was head and shoulders above both. We recently brewed a DIPA for a competition, and I shot the moon on it. I wanted it to be better than Pliny the Elder or Heady. I think it's better than Pliny, and we will see how it stands up to Heady. I don't expect it to be quite as good as Heady, but we will see.

5/5 caps

-Jennie

As Jennie eloquently said, WE'RE BACK BABY! To let you loyal readers know what has been happening, well, Porn Maker 5000 (former computer) totally shit on us. We've been looking for a computer that screams out to us, but nothing has yet. We're temporarily borrowing our neighbors' XP-based computer, trying not to use it too much (only things we've downloaded have been 3-4 pictures, OpenOffice and Google Chrome browser). Not our computer, not ours to put 4 ½ months of music on. Countless hours of work and homebrewing has consumed our time.

Enough about us, you don't care about our banter. You care about the beer and what our opinions are on it.

I pulled this out of the fridge about 10 minutes ago to let it warm up. I, too, am going to drink straight from the can on this. I'm also doing a palate cleanser of Burger after an IPA, a hoppy red ale and dinner of corned beef.

Why drink from the can? Well, the giant letters at the top of the can tell you to. What else does the can tell you?

“Heady Topper is an American Double India Pale Ale. This beer is not intended to be the biggest or most bitter. It is meant to give you wave after wave of hoppy goodness on your palate. Tremendous amounts of American hops will creep up on you, and leave you with a dense hoppy finish in your mouth.

So drinkable, it's scary.

Sometimes I wish I could crawl right into the can. Freshness and control have always been my main concern when it comes to our beer. We are committed to providing you with an unfiltered and unpasteurized hop experience.

Why do I recommend that you drink it from the can?

Quite simply, to ensure a delightful, hop experience. The act of pouring it in a glass smells nice, but it releases the essential hop aromas that we have worked so hard to retain. If you MUST pour it into a glass, you may find that some of the hop resins have settled to the bottom- leave them in the can while pouring. This beer is perishable, and at its best when it is young, fresh and hazy.

Keep it cold, but not ice cold.

Drink this beer immediately, we are always making more.

John Kimmich

The Alchemist

Waterbury, Vermont

DON'T BE A D-BAG, RECYCLE THIS CAN!”

Yes. I enjoy reading the text on bottles and cans. I picked up this habit from the delightfully humorous text on the labels of Flying Dog (but if I delve deep into my psyche, it probably stems from reading the 'flavor text' at the bottom of Magic: The Gathering cards. Yes, I enjoyed the game, don't judge).

Ok, that killed time and allowed this to warm up. As I crack it open, I'm entranced by citrus, tropical fruit, and faint hints of pine in my olfactory senses while my auditory senses are being blasted by Frank Turner's “I Am Disappeared” through the ear buds. We are electric pulses, yes indeed, Frank, but right now, my nose feels like it was just plugged into a light socket. The enjoyable onslaught of hop aroma makes me forget all of life's worries. WHY IS THERE NOT A CANDLE THAT SMELLS LIKE THIS?!?!?!?!

As this gently slides down my throat (HA! That's what she said), the hop oils start taking a stranglehold on my tongue, pummeling it with a fantastic array of tropical fruit (mango, passionfruit, faint lychee), grapefruit and a tinge of pine. This isn't bitter in the least, no, my friend; just fantastic flavors blasting your taste buds and coating your tongue in a awesome resin. The resin leaves a slight stickiness, reminding you your tongue was just Hiroshima'd with hops. The alcohol of 8% really isn't noticed while sipping on this delectable brew. Holy Hopsus. This is fan-fucking-tastic.

5/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: Corned beef (biff as my dude J-Doles calls it). And cabbage, bitches. Because we're Irish-American and Jennie can't wait until Tuesday.

Music pairing: Cherubs singing

Cheese pairing: Mango habanero cheddar

Evil Twin Falco

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

To begin- Happy Holidays to those celebrating any variation. I'd break it down and give a holiday-by-holiday greeting, but for sake of my fingers, let's just all give praise to Hopsus and agree to disagree on the rest of it.

This is the first Evil Twin beer we've reviewed. This came from a suggestion from Jay at one of our favorite bottle shops. The last IPA he guided us to was Smashbomb Atomic (which we try and purchase when able [Jennie edit: every chance we get]). I've read different things about Evil Twin, one being that the brewmaster is the twin brother of the brewmaster at Mikkeller. Apparently, there's some sibling rivalry. I guess that would explain the name.

So, the Falco, the only thing I can really find out about it online is what's on the label. 7% ABV. There are a couple of pages saying it has Falconer's Flight hops, other reviews are saying Mosaic. Nothing found on a search of the ol' Google for the IBU on this. If I were to guess the IBU, it would be between 1 and 500. With the 'technical' aspect of this beer covered, I think it's safe to say that we should delve nose first on this.

The color on this is a hazy yellow orange color. The carbonation is clearly visible while staring at it, imagining that I didn't have to use Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" for the music pairing... It's a terrible song! Fuck it... I'm not going to use it, but something from the same era that I can actually listen to without wanting to stick a red hot soldering iron in my fucking ears.

The aroma on this is a nice bouquet orange, grapefruit, some earthy notes and some faint sweetness. The initial sip is... like a hoppy orange juice. Huh... There's a predominant orange flavor that stays in the back through out the first blast through the end. There's a grapefruit zest/pine blast up front that mellows out as the orange flavor rides into a weird backend. The backend is weird with a dank and almost dusty like flavor. The malt does not really appear in the flavor profiles, letting the hops shine through. There's a nice bitter and mouth puckering finish on this that I expect/love out of IPAs.

Not bad, worth checking out, especially for $3 a 12 oz bottle.

Fuck you Falco (the musician, not the beer).

4.3/5 caps

-Nathan-

Wow, I am a little surprised to hear such derision over one of the best Eurotrash electronica bands of the 80's. I still chuckle a little bit every time I hear "Rock Me Amadeus".... just me? Perhaps it helps that I don't speak German, no matter how much my parents encouraged me. It was one language that never triggered wanderlust. I speak two other languages (French and Russian, natch), but I can merely count to three in German and give a functional toast as well as "Hello", "Good Morning", and "Good Night". That's it. I know more about German beer than I do the language. Oops. Perhaps I should, um, brush up before I aspire to attend my first authentic Oktoberfest. Don't worry, it won't be next year. There is time. Don't fear.

Really, I'm listening to "Der Kommissar" and wondering how this doesn't pair with this beer... That's a real head-scratcher there. Perhaps I should actually delve into this beer before the song ends and find out what is so offensive about that pairing. I mean, it practically pairs itself, doesn't it??? Shall we find out what it is about this beer that caused Nathan to be so reticent about pairing the two?

This is a lovely light golden color with a modicum of white head gracing the top of my glass. The aroma is beautiful pine, grapefruit, some mango floating in there with some cracker-y malts. When I drink it, though, a completely different set of flavors arrive. Freshly dug earth, faint grapefruit, pine resin, and eventually tropical fruits come through. This beer is weird: it has a wonderful aroma that I could spend in forever, but the taste is so different it's a little off-putting. I taste Falconer's Flight, Amarillo, and some Mosaic hops that could have been better utilized. What makes me so sad is that this is a great base IPA for some wonderful hops. Indeed, there are some wonderful hops in here, but they aren't used in the showcase manner that my nose had desired and even presumed. In more layman's terms, this has a killer body, like Gisele before she had a kid, and yet it is an actual hop mess. There is a slight stickiness on my lips as the earthy notes prevail the end of this taste.

It's definitely not terrible, yet like Santa Claus, it disappoints a smidgen. I would consider it an interesting experiment into some hops that I don't always love. It's nothing against the brewery or the hops, it's more of a bizarre jumble that has me scratching my head again. Kinda like hearing "Maschine Brennt" again from Falco, which I haven't heard since, well, I can't remember. A long time. Let's just leave it at that, please.

4.1/5 caps

- Jennie

Food Pairing: Cheese danish. Because just yum.
Cheese Pairing: A rather sharp Havarti, no dill required this time.
Music Pairing: "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister

Schlafly Tasmanian IPA

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad

We follow up tonight's reviews with another brew we can't get in Ohio. Schlafly is a brewery out of St. Louis, Missouri, that we've enjoyed in our western trips to Peoria, Illinois. A friend of ours obtained this selection of theirs. Huh, we've only previously reviewed 3 of their brews. We need to up the ante on this.

My bottle didn't really have a hard 'psst' to it. The head on this bottle was almost non-existent. Shit. Oh well, no beer left behind. This was pulled straight from the fridge and into a pint glass. There's an epic chill haze to this. The color of the beer is a little darker than the golden orange color on the label. Speaking of label, this was bottled 9/18/14, this needs to be drank before hops start to die off. We've been slacking so much in our reviews with everything else going on this year (this review makes the 51st blog post of this year, compared to the 215 of 2013, hell even 22 in 2012 when we started the blog around Thanksgiving). Oops. We didn't get through some of the brews we wanted to- we had to drink some instead of saving for reviews just to not let it go to waste. To see all of the beers we've quasi-reviewed, you should follow us on Untappd. But back to the current beer review.

Weird, in the time that this has had to warm up, more head is coming out. Alright. The aroma is citrus and sweetness on this 7.2% ABV brew. The flavor on this is.... oh shit.... I don't know if I can give Jennie her bottle of this... It wouldn't be fair to her. Why would anyone make a beer like this? This smooth drinking citrus bomb starts off starts with a mango and other tropical fruit blast, some pine starts to make a precious before more juicy flavors of orange quenches the bitterness. This is one of the juiciest IPAs I've had. This apparently is a SMaSH brew (Single Malt and Single Hop) being made with the Galaxy strain hop. 65 IBUs on this brew, but it's not really bitter at all. Big, juicy. While you're drinking it, it's more like a tropical punch- medium bodied, perfect carbonation. The aftermath of each sip leaves a nice orange/mango/pineapple flavor lingering while your mouth is slightly sticky; half hop oils, half sweetness. This is a fantastic showcase of Galaxy. Hell. This is a fantastic beer. Hopsus be praised. I'm off to confiscate Jennie's bottle so she doesn't have to go through this torture. Side note, I now want to experiment with Galaxy in our homebrews.

4.9/5 caps

-Nathan-

Whew! That was close... Nathan actually tried to block the fridge so that I couldn't get mine. And then attempted to tell me how horribly disappointing this was. Not buying it for a second, mister. I did steal a sniff of his before cracking mine open, and wow... that aroma!

Doing my own research after a conversation with a friend this morning about this precise beer, I see that Schlafly's website is a bit confusing and contradictory. It lists this as a SMaSH beer (see Nathan's portion for a definition of this), but it also says that it contains Australian Topaz hops, which is a milder hop strain from the land down under. All I can do at this point is shrug my shoulders and delve back into that luscious aroma.

This has copious amounts of chill haze, having been liberated from the refrigerator about 15 minutes ago. It is a pale orange color, about the color of our newest rescue kitty, a fluffy blond ball of love (the other three kitties would disagree, although after nearly a month, they seem to have reached some kind of temporary detente). There is a minimal bright white head that sits atop my beer. As Nathan noted, there was not as much auditory acknowledgement upon opening this. I want to swan dive into this aroma. Notes of melon, passionfruit, and a ton of pineapple waft past my nose. Oh hell, this is goooooooood. Flavors of pineapple and mango seem to dominate, but passionfruit, guava, and melon come through, as well as a nice crackery note from the 2-row Pale malt. This finishes wonderfully dry and almost with a hint of black pepper. This, my friends, is delicious. Galaxy has quickly become a darling among hopheads from both commercial and home brews, and this is a perfect example of why. This leaves a little sticky sweet feeling in the mouth, but that wonderful dry finish makes up for that and then some. No wonder this lovely hop has become such a fan favorite.

I always look forward to Schlafly beers, as they so rarely disappoint. They do Special Release IPAs to play with the various hops and showcase styles from various hemispheres. This is a beautiful example of the most popular and utilized hop from the Southern Hemisphere. I hope to see this in Ohio soon!

4.9/5 caps

Food Pairing: bacon wrapped jalapenos (that have been stuffed with an herbed cream cheese or Boursin's Garlic and Herb variety)
Cheese Pairing: Pecorino Romano
Music Pairing: Vivaldi, "Four Seasons" (yes, all four. We have opposite seasons than Australia, of course)

Potosi Snake Hollow IPA

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad

This is another brew that we picked up at Friar Tucks in Peoria, Illinois. We went through and each grabbed 6 beers that we can't get in Ohio (along with the pack of Destihl Hoperation Overload). As we move our way through these, I'm brought slightly down. That was our only trip to Peoria that wasn't for pleasure. As I've said in previous post, craft beer helps with feelings that you bury deep inside. Anytime those feelings start to come out from the cage you think you've trapped them in, chase them back in with some craft beer. I'm pretty sure 5 out of 4 doctors who struggle with fractions would agree with me.

So, Potosi Brewing Co seems to have an interesting, long history. I won't go into the history (for sake of losing readers) but you can check it out here. This is a 7% IPA that seems to be readily available in their distribution area, although Columbus, Ohio isn't part of that. This pours a nice light copper color with minimal off white head that dissipates quickly. The aroma on this is caramel with grapefruit and citrus. With each swirl, the grapefruit and citrus come more toward the front while the caramel fades. Wow, yeah, I just swirled beer. Does that make me a pretentious beer snob now? Damn, I hope not. Regardless, the aroma on this is good. The first sip of this is a slightly sweet caramel flavor with building, refreshing blast of hops toward the back end. Once the hops kick in, it changes my mind about this beer. At first, it was 'eh, another malt heavy beer that people are trying to pawn off as an IPA,' but no. The hops kick in and give a nice juicy burst of grapefruit and orange. The bitterness that's left is welcoming; slightly sticky yet not overwhelming.  This finishes dry, making me want more. Sadly, my portion is done, leaving me longing for more. This is good now, I'm sure if we had it fresher, it would be better.

This is our first beer from Potosi. Despite the name (I fear snakes. I feel like Indiana Jones "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?") I would love to try their other selections. Sadly, it will have to wait until we travel to one of their distribution areas.

4.1/5 caps

-Nathan-

Did you know??? This site can tell you what states can get the beer you seek, and vice versa. I have found it quite useful and it seems to be updated frequently. Insert "The More You Know" bleep and theme here.

I had no idea that each of the beers that I threw into the fridge tonight were from Wisconsin. I would insert some taunting here to Nathan about the Big Ten, but I will suffice it to say that I have Melvin Gordon on my fantasy football team. Yeah, because shit is gonna go down Saturday. Not like the shit going down in Ferguson, Missouri currently, but still, shit's goin' down. That said, our thoughts go to the people in Ferguson. Michael Brown's family said it beautifully, "While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change." Do the right thing, people, please.

Well, that got heavy quickly. So, how about this beer? I walked past it earlier, while my partner-in-equality was writing his portion, I sniffed it, and commented either that there are a bunch of Amarillo hops in this or that the hops were past their prime. I have since learned that Amarillo hops are present in this, but Nathan promised that it tastes better than it smells. So, let's find out for sure. It is a transparent, medium golden color with minimal white head remaining on top of the beer. The aroma is, to be frank, disappointing. Vague citrus, caramel heavy, and just bland are what come to mind when I smell this, perhaps along with some pineapple that is two weeks past its prime. It tastes about the same until that finish... oh, that finish is lovely. It is crisp and dry and lovely. The pineapple note seems fresher in the taste than in the aroma. The finish on this is nothing less than fantastic, and it saves the beer for me.

I am definitely iffy on the Amarillo hop. I don't always love it, and I identified the reason for that tonight: it tastes like hops that have seen better days, even when fresh. I would not mind trying more beers from Potosi, and indeed, would like to drink this a little fresher. Definitely not a bad pick from Peoria, though.

3.7/5 caps

-Jennie

Cheese Pairing: A medium-bodied white cheddar
Food Pairing: Ham and potatoes au gratin
Music Pairing: Anything by The Lizard King

Deschutes Chasin' Freshies (2014)

Every autumn, many breweries harvest hops either grown onsite or at a farmer they collaborate with and brew a fresh-hopped beer, which means that they are added to a beer within 24 hours of being harvested. I don't care for cold weather or winter. In fact, I so loathe winter that I don't even really like autumn, simply because it means that winter is right around the corner. There is one thing to celebrate during the autumn, however, and that is harvest season. Harvest season means fresh-hopped beers. That is the one bright, shining light to this time of year.

Every year Deschutes changes up the hop variety in Chasin' Freshies, and this year's release features Mosaic hops, one of my favorite hops. I have heard a rumor that there is going to be a shortage of Mosaic next year, so I plan to drink and brew with it as much as possible. It is a beautiful, complex hop with a distinct aroma and flavor, and I think it elevates most beers to a new level.

This pours a beautiful light straw color with no chill haze and tight carbonation bubbles rising rapidly through the beer. When I initially poured this, it had a moderate white head with loose, soapy bubbles that has now diminished to about a half finger. The aroma on this! For the love of all things fresh, this smells absolutely amazing. Passionfruit and guava and grapefruit and grapefruit zest hit my nose. There are some light crackery notes in the aroma, but it's mostly a showcase of the hop. I can wait no longer; I must have this in my mouth immediately. It is as good as it smells, for certain. There is a faint pine to go along with the copious passionfruit, guava, and grapefruit that were present in the aroma. There is a slight black peppery note toward the back end of this that is a welcome little surprise. Notes of cracker float in and out of the flavor. Dudes. This. This is good. It has a light body and soft mouthfeel. I think I'll go sneak some of Nathan's and hope he doesn't notice.

5/5 caps

-Jennie

Really, dear? On the eve of the celebration of my day of birth, you're threatening to steal some of my half WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED YOUR OWN?!?!?! Wow, it must be good. Jennie hasn't threatened to pilchard beer in a while.

This has had time to warm while I showered and Jennie took lead. As I slide back into this chair, ear buds blaring music, I gaze at this beer. It's a clear light straw color with a small amount of white head sticking around, much less than when it was poured. Still some carbonation bubbles floating up.  This 7.4% ABV, 65 IBU fresh-hopped IPA has been calling my name all day. I've been longing for this today, despite never having it. It's like the desire to have the open road in front of you while not really knowing where you're going, but never looking back. The aroma on this is a huge blast of hops. Tropical fruit, grapefruit, and some faint pine climb into your nose and start a mini-mosh pit, enticing you to stage dive into it and join the pit. "Get in the pit," you hear tiny voices saying, beckoning you to be one with the hop aroma. I don't need much convincing with a fantastic aroma like this, but I always wonder if it's angelic voices telling me to join the hops, or if the sound is coming from the sirens, leading me toward the rocks. Upon the first sip, I can tell it's divine voices calling to me. Slight pine and grapefruit with slight bitterness initially, then a big juicy blast of tropical fruit that quenches the bitterness, leaving a refreshing feeling. The juicy notes fade as grapefruit and building bitterness takes the forefront. This drinks more like a session IPA than a 7.4%. The little cherubs with hops for heads sing the praise of Hopsus with each sip, giving a refreshing blast, leaving the mouth sticky with hop oils.

This is fantastic and a great way to forget the potential of snow tomorrow (only in Ohio can you have a high of 65 then it drops 30 some odd degrees and gives you snow). Do yourself a favor and give praise to Hopsus by going out and purchasing some.

5/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: Colorado enchiladas (you know, with pork and the green sauce)
Cheese pairing: Fuck it, go for broke. A damn good quality Asiago.
Music pairing: Neil Young, "Harvest Moon"

Fat Head's Hop Stalker

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad

"Deep in the Yakima Valley, our hop-obsessed Head Brewmaster went commando in seach of his prized nuggets. His mission: Capture the freshest hop flowers he could sneak up on. Then he wet-hopped this bad-ass brew for a deliciously dank IPA. Out of the wild emerged The Hop Stalker."

"Pour it slowly, Unfiltered beer captured inside, go commando, drink it fresh"

All the text on the 16 ounce can of this 7% ABV, 80 IBU, wet hopped IPA seems so inviting to go Gonzo. Go commando, I take that as a challenge to go balls to the wall. Challenge accepted, Fat Head's.

This barely fit into a pint glass (makes sense as 16oz is a pint) with a nice golden amber color with small amount of white head. Very little head, which is fine with me, as it leaves more space for the wet-hopped liquid. You can see tiny bubbles constantly rising through this crystal clear beverage. The aroma on this is dank, like, well, Colorado knows. There is also a nice citrus aroma that washes over, with hints of slight spice to lend for a very hop heavy aroma. It's the season of wet/fresh hop, and I personally don't feel like going into that debate once again (Google it or check our prior reviews on such beers as Sierra Nevada's Estate or Founder's Harvest), we did that too much in previous reviews.

The initial sip on this is an initial blast of unadulterated bliss for hop heads like myself. This is so hop heavy I'm in my own version of Heaven, holding hands and skipping hops across beer vats with Hopsus. Sweet Jesus, if you aren't a religious person, and you're a hop head, this will make you believe in some sort of higher power. That higher power is Hopsus, btw. So the initial sip is just face melting, tongue rocking hops. There is citrus and pine and and and and and. There are so many different flavors coming from this, the taste bud to recognition process is overwhelmed. Dank at first, but instantly kicking into grapefruit, pine, mango, pineapple at times.. Flavor of the hops changing in less than a second between the color wheel, so-to-speak. The malt flavors are not noticed in this, to where this would be classified as "unbalanced" for those who do not have the same love, nay, lust for the Humulus. Dank, tropical, grapefruit, pine, citrus zest, fuck.... I can't type as fast as the flavors are changing. Even after this has been swallowed and copious amounts of hop oils are still around your tongue, gums and cheeks; the flavors are still shifting, running the gauntlet. The drinkability is decent, drinks like a typical IPA, but the palate wrecking oils makes this more of a sipping beer. The mouthfeel on this makes me have a semi-chub. Fuck it, I'm not even going to lie. I'm half-mast drinking this. The mouth puckering oils that are running rampant around are something spectacular. Hopsus, you have let your glorious light shine, and your light has landed on my tongue. With this drink, I accept you into my world, with this swallow, I realize you're all powerful and all knowing. May Hopsus be with you, and also with you.

All religious experience from drinking this beer aside, it's fucking good. Do your taste buds a favor and find some. If Fat Head's isn't distributed in your area, I've heard rumors that people do beer trades, and there may be Facebook groups for trades, for all you social media fiends.

5/5 Caps .... cause FUCK YEAH!
-Nathan-

I am not even sure how to follow that. Well, other than to drink it. And to hope that they introduce themselves in Portland in the next few days with this beer, because we like Portland people, and they should have this beer. And no, I haven't tasted it yet. Nathan wants to stare at me creepily when I take my first sip, so I may be procrastinating a bit.

This is a wonderful, clear golden color with some moderate white foam sitting atop it. The aroma is wonderful: heavy with tropical fruits, such as passionfruit, mango, guava, and a hint of a spice note. The taste? Oh yes, I just called Nathan over to witness the expression on my face. He ended up crawl-scuttling across the floor because he had banged the hell out of his foot on the coffee table. Eh, tall guy/Bigfoot problems. Apparently, I did not disappoint. He wasn't lying about the Color Wheel Effect: it's fast and hard. Prepare yourselves. I'll try to take you through each spoke of that wheel, but as my beertner could not, I give no guarantees. Passionfruit, guava, mango, grapefruit, caramel, pineapple, fermented pineapple (ever had 2-day-old cut-fresh pineapple? Only it's not bad here). I don't get so much dank out of the initial sip; it's more of the mega-coaster at Cedar Point as you are chugging up that first hill, waiting for the bottom to drop out of your stomach. And as soon as I say that and take another sip, there it is, right out of the gate. It's 4:20 somewhere, right?!? Holy hell, this is fantastic. This is palate-wrecked in a good way. This has a medium body: not too thin, not too malty, like Goldilocks' search, just right. Moderate carbonation, and Nathan was right about the hop oils lingering on your tongue long after you swallowed (in a side conversation). Yes, that is what she said, in fact.

Also, a fair warning: Nathan mentioned that people do beer trades. We are definitely cough cough not among those people. And he isn't coming off the last beer we have (as one most certainly is not earmarked for a trade).

5/5 caps
-Jennie

Food Pairing: fucking whatever you want cause your palate is destroyed!
Cheese Pairing: see above
Music Pairing: Bob Marley, "Three Little Birds" because with this beer, everything is, indeed, going to be all right.

Revolution Unsessionable

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

This little beauty made an appearance on the Columbus beer scene this week, and it flew off the shelves. It was originally released in September, apparently, and has been a very popular beer from Revolution Brewing, who claims it is the biggest beer they have ever brewed, and their first specialty beer to be canned. If you will recall, we love what Revolution is doing. Anti-Hero is one of our favorite go-to IPAs. We recently fell in love with the movie Drinking Buddies, which is set at Revolution Brewing. I was raised not far from Chicago, and I love the city. I am thrilled that Revolution is doing so well, although next time, would it be too much to ask for a Giordano's pizza delivered with my six-pack? Goodthanks.

This 10% ABV, 100IBU behemoth pours a medium golden color. There was a pretty good amount of white head as I poured it, but it quickly dissipated. The aroma on this just made me sigh with pleasure... notes of grapefruit, pine, lychee, passionfruit, and light crackery notes floated past my nose. Taking a sip, the taste is not quite as bold as I expected from the aroma. This beer does not punch you in the taste buds, but instead, quietly invades them. The same flavors are in the taste as the aroma, but it is really sweet, and there is also a grassy note that I am getting in the flavor that I did not notice in the aroma. Fortunately, it is not excessively cloying in sweetness; I have really come to dislike IIPA's that are too sweet and clash malts with hops. In this beer, the sweetness just underlies the beer, complementing the hop flavors and aromas so nicely instead of overpowering them. It is well-carbonated and leaves sticky hop residue in the mouth.

This is Anti-Hero's fantastic big brother. Apparently, it was only brewed once, but let's hope that vigorous sales and demand turn this into a seasonal offering from Revolution. Now, about that pizza...

4.8/5 caps

-Jennie

Blah blah blah my random banter that I'm sure no one really reads. Fuck this, let's just get straight to the beer. I needed to get this, as it's the talk of Columbus right now.

I, unlike Jennie, am enjoying mine straight from can. As soon as I crack open the can, my olfactory senses are overwhelmed with pine and grass, with initial hints of grapefruit and lychee that come out more with each sniff. The aroma is worthy of noting the old "they should make a candle that smells like this".... Now, exactly who 'they' are has never been determined, so instead of trying to figure out who 'they' are, I will let this 10%, 100 IBU behemoth slither past my lips, hoping the bliss obtained in the aroma is equally as gratifying in the taste. Well fuck... it is. Big hop flavors that onslaught the taste buds, wrecking them with grapefruit, lychee, pine and some earthy notes. Eventually, there is some light malt flavor, but it fades quickly as the hops continue marching their way across your tongue, changing the flavor profile once again to bitter with grapefruit and orange zest. Shock of shocks, it's a nice bitter finish, but this drinks smoother than any other 10% beer I've had. It's abusive on the taste buds, but has the body and carbonation of a 6% IPA. This is fantastic.

We have 4 more cans of this, one of which will be spoken for. What to do with 3 more of these? Hmmm...

4.85/5 caps

-Nathan-

Food pairing: A spinach and cheese pie from Giordano's. Seriously. Please send one.
Cheese pairing: Provel
Music pairing: Rise Against, "Savior"

Toppling Goliath PseudoSue

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

Tonight we delve into a beer sent to us from Iowa, not available outside of Iowa and a few locations in Wisconsin. Lucky bastards. This is a highly touted beer from a brewery that just medaled at GABF a week and a half ago. Reading the comments on Toppling Goliath's website, as well as the high praise that our beer trade partner has continuously lavished, I'm definitely excited. I also noted that it received a perfect score of 100 on BeerAdvocate. I typically ignore BA as I find that so many contributors and "The Bros" tend to be condescending beer snobs who borderline on the intolerable. For them to give a beer a 100, though, I know I'm in for a world-class treat that is deserving of its cult following.

We intended to review this the other night in a horizontal tasting with Seventh Son's Humulus Nimbus. Shit happened, our awesome neighbor showed up and hung out for the evening, and writing just doesn't happen as much as it should then. When this arrived in the mail and was dug from the bottom of the very well-insulated box, I actually squealed. I explained to my seven-year-old that beer mail is the equivalent of Christmas morning for adults. This beauty is an American pale ale that is single-hopped with Citra, which, if you've been paying attention, is one of our favorite hops. The expectation and anticipation are both extraordinarily high for this beer. I realized this evening that I would be so very disappointed if I were to contract ebola before I got to taste this (too soon?). So, without further ado, let's get to it already!

This pours a medium golden straw color that is moderately hazy with a smallish white head. We need to presently discuss this aroma. I wonder if it's possible to swim in a smell, because that is exactly what I want to do. My nose is seduced in the most pleasant manner imaginable with grapefruit, mango, an almost lemony citrus, and light cracker. The aroma is straight-up sensual, like an understated vixen on a sultry summer night. You feel yourself being pulled into this beer. Even if you wanted to (and why, oh, why would you??? If that thought even crossed your mind, you are not someone with whom I want to commingle). Taking a sip, I realize that this is the quintessential showcase of Citra hops I have ever encountered (take note, Zombie Dust). It's like I just bit into a giant, juicy lychee fruit at first, then my palate is overcome with freshly zested grapefruit, a hint of spruce tips, and a finishing punch of grapefruit. Yet it is exemplary for the style, with none of the flavors overwhelming, and it shows itself to be a perfectly balanced beer. You know there is a solid malt backbone, but it's so mild that the hops shine. The mouthfeel on this is soft yet well-carbonated, not overly sticky but with just enough to leave you wanting more.

Quick, while Nathan isn't looking, I'm going to sneak his portion.

We received another beer from Toppling Goliath in the trade, and I'm very much looking forward to it. This beer is a game-changer. Well made, I look forward to drinking every last one of their beers. Suddenly, a trip to my home state of Iowa is in short order.

5/5 caps

-Jennie

After wrestling Jennie away from my portion of this (joking, or am I), I jettisoned back to the computer in a stealthy haste in order to enjoy my portion. Jennie has a glimmer in her eye for this beer. It's a glimmer I once saw for me, but now, nearly 5 years later, I don't get the same glimmer from her, no. Sadly the sparks died years ago and the only shining that emanates from her eyes now is for fantastic beers. I wish I was a beer.

So, as she-who-will-most-likely-leave-me-for-this-beer stated, this pours a gorgeous color, medium straw. Mine has had time to warm up while she pined and tried to woo this brew, but there is still about a finger of white head floating on top, taunting me, reminding me "I got your girl, fool!" The aroma on this 50 IBU, 5.8% ABV, girlfriend stealing beer is amazing. Lemon, mango, lychee, and light biscuit. I'm starting to understand Jennie's lust over this as I take my first sip. Juicy lychee, like biting straight into a lychee. If you're unfamiliar with lychee fruits, go to the Asian section of any good store (or even an Asian grocery store) and pick up a can. After the fantastic lychee flavor starts to mellow out, my old friend grapefruit makes an appearance, riding off with me into the sunset. Fuck. I think I might leave Jennie for this beer. I get it now. This is smooth drinking with a nice finish. Fuck. Yeah.... I'm going to go pack a bag right now and move to the brewery. I'll live among the grain bags; undetected in the day, sneaking fresh bottles of this at night. Eventually, I'll grow and beard and walk among the brewers unbeknownst to them that I am a stow away.

5/5 caps

-Nathan-

Music pairing: The Lemonheads' cover of "Mrs. Robinson"
Food pairing: Sticky Burger (bacon cheese burger with grilled onion and peanut butter)
Cheese pairing: A non-smoked gouda

Seventh Son Humulus Nimbus

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

So to start off, yes, we've quasi-previously reviewed this at the Fiery Foods Fest back in February. With the palate shot then after a still-memorable inferno pizza, I don't believe we did justice to the 6% ABV, 53 IBU fantastic brew. It's still shocking to me that we haven't done as many local breweries as we should, as we have a fantastic brewing community that gets along all while producing fantastic brew. We've met a good portion of the professional brewing community here in town and I cannot speak ill of any of them. They're all good people and there's no animosity between any of them. To quote Frank Turner, "Colleges and friends condensed with a smile, yeah, but this is my culture, man, this is my home." The community is another reason I want to quit my factory life and get into the brewing scene. Even helping out different breweries with festivals or canning/bottling days, they treat their customers like they are part of their family.

So tonight, we thoroughly review a highly touted local beer; soon, we get into a highly touted brew that we obtained in a beer trade (Matt, we had every intention of getting to it tonight, I swear!). Seventh Son's website has this:
"A pale golden ale that is both super crisp and super hop forward with a refreshing mouthfeel and a summer friendly 6% abv. Mosaic & simcoe hops lend tart blueberry and fragrant pine to a pleasingly bitter dandelion finish. We wanted the hops to be the star in this seasonal offering taking its name from both the hop plant, Humulus Lupulus, and its light color and cloud-like feel, nimbus."

The color is, well, a perfect golden color. Good carbonation, leaving a nice white, foamy head that sticks around. The aroma on this.... yeah. Their website nailed most of it with blueberry and pine. I'm also picking up notes of almost mango-like notes. Amazing aroma.  The flavor on this is a wild trip of what you got in the nose, plus a whole lot more. It starts off with the blueberry, mango combo, and kicks in with some orange, all with a juicy blast that quenches your thirst. Midway through, there's some bitterness that starts to appear, with some faint earthy notes giving way to the pine notes that take hold at this moment, faint tea notes come through for a second. The hop stickiness is definitely making itself noticed by the time you get to the finish, which I will argue with their website's description. You get the dandelion in the finish, but there's so much more. The tropical fruits make a reappearance along with some faint grapefruit and orange notes. This finishes sticky from the hops. I don't really get much malt flavor from this throughout the entire thing. It's a great showcasing of the hops without overdoing it. Colin and Max rock.

4.8/5 caps

-Nathan-

Mmmmm. Mosaic hops, currently at the top of my hops list (no worries, Simcoe is on that list, too). They lend such a lovely, complex note to each beer to which they are lovingly added. At the North Market Microbrew Festival, I recall immediately identifying them in the flavor profile of a couple of IPAs (Truth from Rhinegeist and Musk of the Minotaur from Hoof Hearted come to mind, as well as a fantastic offering from Wolf's Ridge). Funny, as often as I have had this extra(ordinary!) pale ale, I have never picked up on Mosaic in here. It's most definitely time to remedy that.

Also, let me just mention how much I love Seventh Son's Seventh Son American Strong Ale. It's hoppy, yet lovely and just enough boozy. It was their flagship, and how I fell in love with Seventh Son.

As Nathan so well described, this pours a perfect golden color, with just a slight haze (and this has been sitting awhile). In the aroma, I pick up more grapefruit, but yet it's also blueberry and piney, with just a hint of mango and cracker. I am completely in love with this aroma. I want to swan dive into it. Alas, as my human form will not fit into a pint glass, let's reverse engineer this and force it into my body, instead of the other way around. Taking a sip, I would swear there were fresh grapefruit peel in here (proper subjunctive, bitches). Eh, fuck it, Nathan's description of it perfectly describes the roller coaster in your mouth, so go re-read his portion (if you have even made it thus far). Plus grapefruit zest. And just a hint of crackery malts hanging around in the back end. This is also perfectly carbonated, and leaves such a happy feeling in my mouth that I can't help but smile with each sip.

Do you remember the image of Snoopy doing his happy dance? That is what this beer evokes from me. Every happy moment I have had in my life flashes before my eyes as I drink this.

4.999999/5 caps

-Jennie

Food Pairing: Barbecued chicken, Wargoland style.
Cheese Pairing: Irish cheddar -- and this part is important -- on a Dill Triscuit
Music Pairing: "I Am Disappeared" Frank Turner (yeah. I know, I talk a lot about Frank Turner, but seriously, go listen to his music!)

Dark Horse Smells Like a Safety Meeting

Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram. You can also follow us on Untappd with our names of @jenniek and @guitaristshad.

As we continue cleaning out our secret stash (read: beers we purchased to review but life shit got in the way and prohibited us from doing so), what else to review except an IPA that references a secret stash. This was released last year on 4/20, we missed last year. This year, it was released on draft around the same date, and in bottles shortly after. We picked up a 6 pack of bottles. The artwork beckons questions of what goes on in the mad genius mind of W. Ralph Walters, along with why haven't we drank with him yet? We're artists as well as beer consumers/reviewers/home brewers. My personal artwork is Ralph Steadman influenced. Here's an example of a pen and ink drawing:

Nowhere near the detail or talent of W. Ralph Walters, another reason I want to sit down is to talk art, not just beer. But speaking of beer, I seem to be missing the point of this, this is for a beer review, not art review.

This has sat in our stash for a while, as previously mentioned. With each one from our stash, we hope, nay, pray to Hopsus that it's the same as when we purchased it. We've had some that were and others where we were smacking ourselves for letting the hops die. We checked this into Untappd when we first drank it. I gave it a 4.5 star rating (probably because Untappd does intervals of .5 stars). I initially said:
"Nice citrusy aroma... flavor matches the aroma.... full review coming soon on behind the tap's blog"

Well, that was May 16th. It may not have been soon (see note above), but it did happen. At this point, I'm just hoping the citrus notes are still there.

This pours a nice, clear amber color with a small amount of white head, looks to have decent carbonation, judging by the happy little bubbles that are making their way to the top. The aroma on this is caramel, citrus, pine and earthy notes. This smells more like the only thing on my criminal record (read: 2006, it shouldn't keep coming back to haunt me) than it did back when it was fresh. The initial sip is caramel heavy with some earthy notes, mango, peach, and fading into slight tinge of grapefruit. It's not as citrusy as I remember, a little more dank at this point (hence the name, I'm sure). This has a medium body that goes well with the 8.5% ABV. It finishes with a sticky mouthfeel from the hops, which come out more and more with each sip.

So, with this being aged nearly 5 months:

4.5 caps (apparently, the rating hasn't changed)

-Nathan-

Since Nathan is going to go all fanboy on the fantastic label art that W. Ralph Walters creates, I am not afraid to go a little fangirl on Dark Horse. Congratulations, Wiggs, on the nuptials. If you will recall, I went to college a few miles down the road from Dark Horse, and I love their beers in general. I have recently battled my fangirldom for so many brewers, and Wiggs is one, in particular, who I adore. If I weren't already thoroughly enamored with Nathan, I might snivel. Just a smidge, though. Sincerest congratulations and much happiness to you both for many, many years to come.

In incandescent lighting, this appears almost a garnet color. In front of the monitor, however, it's more of a reddish amber. The aroma is citrus, caramel, tropical fruit, pine, and a little freshly baked bread. This has developed into a danker version of its original, but six months later, it's still tasty. Nathan described the taste quite well, except there's almost a toast flavor toward the back end that caught me off-guard. There are a ton of tropical fruits in this toward the front. And then, just when you think you had quit the habit, a ton of dankness lashes the tongue to remind you again why you did. And then, way later, there is a note of apricot nectar that reminds me of Christmas mornings with my parents (my mom used to serve apricot nectar with her ham and cheese casserole as we were preparing to open gifts. As a child, the waiting game was pure torture). This has developed into a rather lush mouthfeel that leaves just a bit of stickiness on my lips, not from hop resins, but more from caramelized malts.

Last week we reviewed a Double Crooked Tree that had aged for several months. This one isn't quite as old, but I'd be intrigued to see how it stands the test of time (even though it's technically not an imperial, weighing in at 8.5% ABV). It's hung in there quite well, even for letting it sit for a few torturous months.

4.2/5 caps

-Jennie

Food Pairing: Green Thai curry, especially if made by my former Thai chef in Hilton Head, Anan.
Cheese Pairing: Cheetos, preferably the cheddar jalapeno variety
Music Pairing: "Santeria" by Sublime