Mugshot IPA by Jailhouse Brewing Co

Good day folks,

Well, to be perfectly honest, it’s about 1:30am here in Texas as I write this review, so perhaps good morning is a more accurate greeting and salutation.

As I lay in bed I found it hard to quiet my mind, so I thought what better opportunity to play some western swing (not to be confused with country music) and write a review of one of the many beers that made the trip west with me on my return from a recent trip to Atlanta.

A majority of the selection that came home with me, including tonight’s selection were brewed by Jailhouse Brewing Company, a relatively young brewery set up in an old jail located in Henderson, GA, south of Atlanta.

Looking for a more hop forward offering, I passed up a wheat and saison styled beer for a bomber of their Mugshot IPA, with an ABV of 6.7%.

Decanting the beer into a stylish Captain America pint glass, the beer exhibits a pale tangerine color. Clarity is on the cloudy side, and offers moderate carbonation and a healthy, white, half finger head.

The beverage’s offerings on the aroma front are unquestionably hop forward, presenting the drinker with floral and citrus notes that sit front and center. Around the edges of the front line aromas, there are accents of grass and dough.

Hop centric flavors carry, as expected by the aroma and style, on the palate. The frontend of flavor, as in the nose, is floral and grapefruit in nature in a medium full presence, matching the mouthfeel and bitterness also present in the beverage. Augmenting this duo there is a twang of orange zest and a very light malt sweetness that leaves a pleasant, dry finish.

While this beer isn’t earth moving, it is a very strong, well-brewed example of the style. A lot of wonderful, complex, and balanced expression of the flavors available from hops without beating the palate to death with bitterness.

Prosit! 

The Regulator Doppelbock by Rahr and Sons' Brewery

Hello good friends and readers, hope all has been moving along for your fine selves.

I have been plugging away with my usual routine of hunting the elusive job opportunity, doing general chores around the house, and praying at the alter of the Stanley Cup as the playoffs for the National Hockey League begin the second round. Its only a shame that no team I have any vested interest in made it into the playoffs to begin with in the first place.

Tonight, as my wife prepares dinner, I am enjoying a bottle of Rahr and Sons’ “The Regulator,” a dopplebock released as part of their “To Thee Series.”

Pouring the beer, it weighs in on the darker side of the style, with a more traditional dark brown shade, highlighted with ruby red edges. The beer’s crest topped with a light tan head, the beer is opaque in every sense of the word outside of carbonation climbing the inside of the pint glass.

As expected by the style, the nose is sweet and malty, complemented by light dough like accent.

Finally ready to enjoy, the feast of flavors augmented by a wonderful visual aspect and aroma, the first brush of malt on my palate brought elation to my tongue.  On the front-end lots of wonderful chocolate and honey notes define the beer’s malt offering, being sweet and full bodied. While no hop characteristics present themselves in the flavor of the beer, a nice balanced bitterness contrasts the opening volley of flavor on the backend, but the beverage still manages to leave a very warm, sweet finish. 

I am always impressed with the Rahr seasonal and limited time offerings, as they show the skills of the brewmaster’s craft in producing high quality beer. This is a must try for any drinker that craves a malt forward offering.  

Open The Taps! (More fun with Adobe Illustrator)

With nothing but time to search for jobs, waste time, and learn new skills, I have been applying myself to learn Adobe Illustrator, hone dormant art skills, and make myself more marketable for a profession I would like to break into.

Today's image is a play on Grant Wood's American Gothic, in honor of OpenTheTaps.org. Open The Taps is a nonprofit organization which is fighting for change of the antiquated blue laws that hinder the growth of Texas craft breweries, and act as a wall between producer and consumer.

Please feel free to share this image for non-commercial use. For any other use, please email me at intoxicobeer@gmail.com.

Have a wonderful day.
Pope Crisco

Moo Hoo Chocolate Stout by Terrapin Brewing Co.

Over the course of the last 4 days I have had a wide selection of wonderful food and drink in the company of the best friends I have known as my wife and I returned to Atlanta to celebrate her ten-year college reunion. Tonight we will have one last dinner with Sarah, friend to us and blogger of Juicy Bits, and as a pre-dinner beer, I worked my way around her fridge and pulled out a couple bottles of Terrapin Brewing Company’s seasonal “Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout,” brewed in nearby Athens, Georgia.  

The beer pours out a rich black hue that laughs at the suggestion of any translucence, and is crowned with a chocolate milk head that sits about a dimes width atop the brew.

Taking in a large whiff off the top of the beverage, a mild aroma of bitter coffee and alcohol round out a bready nose.

With the first mouthful of this beer, my palate was attacked with a very rich and complex overt chocolate profile.  A milk chocolate front end that was malty and sweet was turned on its head with the bitterness and alcohol hotness of rich dark chocolate. As the second and third sips are consumed, the bitterness subsides dramatically and the beer takes on a wonderfully creamy flavor and mouthfeel with a wet, sweet finish.

This beer is an example of the quality that this brewery brings to the table of craft beer drinkers in the southeast. Moo Hoo makes me go boo hoo for what I miss out on in the Lone Star State.

Big Sky Brewing Co India Pale Ale

Well, its Friday here in the Republic of Intoxico, and time to put the past week behind us, for the weekend is here. My plans are simple and predictable: listen to music, drink a few bottles of beer, try to fit in a cigar, and maybe see a movie or two.

Pandora is queued up, check. A bottle of Big Sky India Pale Ale has been popped and poured, double check.

The beer, brewed by Big Sky Brewing Co.out of Montana, poured out a nice umber hue with a tint more on the orange side as opposed to the brown. The only thing obscuring the clarity of this ale is a good amount of active carbonation that races to a thick, sticky, off-white head.

If you were anticipating this IPA to have a hop forward aroma, you predicted correctly as a nice bouquet of grass and grapefruit greets the drinker’s nose. There is also a moderate tang of bread and yeast that mingles with the citrus scent.

As the beverage hits the palate, as expressed in the nose, grapefruit essence dominates the flavor profile, but is augmented by a slight raisin like sweetness on the backend. Where some IPAs assault with bitterness, the Big Sky IPA’s bittering hops seem to make their presence known at the conclusion of the quaff as opposed to the front, which gives the beer a dry, crisp finish.

Overall this beer was a fine example of the style without abusing the palate of the drinker. Is it an excellent beer? A beer to define what the style should be? Perhaps not, but well worth a try.