The Drunken Polack

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery is one of the best breweries out there that doesn’t bottle their brew.  Tap only.  I’m lucky enough to have someone who lives pretty close.  Whenever something new goes on tap, he offers it for trade.  I think  I have something around 8 Town Hall growlers in my collection.  This time around their seasonal Smoked Hefe went on tap.  Suddenly a box appeared at my door.  No idea he was even going to send it.  So how is the Smoked Hefe.  It’s basically just what it sounds like.

Smoked Hefe pours a glowing, cloudy, orange color.  Small thin white head forms and quickly disappears. 

The smokiness of this brew doesn’t really hit the smell to much.  It’s there but muted.  But you do get the usual Hefe smell.  A little bit of spice, lemon, and most importantly banana.  I love banana smell and taste in my beer.  What can I say, Hefe Weizen was one of the first styles of craft beer that I loved.

Now in the taste it’s a different story.  The Beechwood smoked malted barley hits first.  It coats the tongue and sits in the mouth.  It gets smokier and smokier as you take sip after sip.  It’s really a nice welcome to the usual Hefe.  Then the same ingredients come in.  Banana, clove, lemon, wheat, etc.  It’s a lovely taste and the smoked malted barley hits the spot here.

The mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied.  I just wanted to keep on drinking and drinking.  I wanted to finish the whole growler at one sitting but I was a good boy.

Another fantastic beer from these guys.  I love the addition of the Beechwood smoked malted barley.  Some Hefes can get boring.  With the addition of the smoke, it ‘s wonderful.

Found: Straight from the brewery.  Beer Trade
ABV%: 5.20%
Price: N/A
Website: http://www.townhallbrewery.com
What the company says: A beer style native to Bamberg, Germany. made with 40% malted wheat, traditional German Hefeweizen yeast, and 60% Beechwood smoked malted barley
Other beers to try from this brewery:Town Hall Masala Mama, Town Hall Oatmeal Stout
Other beers to try within the same style:Live Oak Hefeweizen, Shiner Hefeweizen
Rating: A-

This coming weekend I’m going to a lake to hang out with my good buddies from high school.  For the last week or so I’ve been pondering on what beer I could bring.  Something that is tasty and sort of sessionable.  Early in the week I got to try A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale from Lagunitas and I automatically knew then what to bring.  While not a session beer, it’s close enough dammit and it goes down so nice.  This beer is classified as a American Pale Wheat Ale.  It’s a hoppy version of this style.

This brew pours a clear copper color.  A two finger head is poured.  Fluffy, white, with great retention and lacing throughout the glass.  Bubbles can be seen from the bottom and rise to the top of the glass in a endless trail. 

Smell on this beer is fantastic.  Fruity.   Citrus, lemon, and grapefruit.  A slight amount of spice and a nice wheaty background. 

Taste is much more the same.  I did pick up more of the grapefruit taste followed by the lemon and then the citrus.  The wheat comes through really nice mixed in with a nice bready malt character.  While the beer is a nice hoppy brew, the malt comes through nicely to really balance nicely.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, nicely carbonated, crisp, and smooth.

This beer is a total winner in my book.  I tried it’s big brother, Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Extra last year and this holds up nicely to it’s bigger hoppier brother.  What is so fantastic about this beer, well any Lagunitas beer honestly is that their stuff is cheap and all of it is quality.  Now why can’t other breweries be like this?

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
ABV%: 7.30%
Price: Less than 2 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.lagunitas.com
What the company says: Sneaky Smooth with a Touch of What we Call Wheatly-esque-ish-ness. Crispy Wheat and Pale Malt flavors with a Zippy Hop Finish. A Return of the Brand-Spankin’ New Beer From The Summer of 2009.
Other beers to try from this brewery: Lagunitas Gnarleywine, Lagunitas The Hairy Eyeball
Other beers to try within the same style: Southern Tier Uber Sun, Bell’s Oberon
Rating: A-

For your Wednesday reading, here is a quick review for a beer I’ve many times but for some reason never wrote about.  Festina Peche is a fantastic seasonal beer from Dogfish Head.  It’s light and low and alcohol.  They stuck it in as a Summer beer and well it matches it perfect. 

It’s pale yellow, fizzy, and highly carbonated but don’t let that scare you away.  It’s not a Coors Light.  It’s smell is sweet and tart.  Peaches and wheat blast the nostrils. 

In years past I thought the taste on this brew was more tart and sour.  This years version seems to be a little bit more toned down.  I think it brings even better balance and drinkability.  The taste is wheaty, grainy, slighty malty, and has a nice amount of peaches in it.  Like I said about, it’s slightly tart and sour.  Not overpowering.  Great introduction into beers that are sour.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp, dry, and more importantly, refreshing.    Refreshing is the most important part.  As it is a really good beer on a hot summer day.

I picked a growler of this stuff up from the brewpub and it was more than halfway done the first night I picked it up.  It really hit the spot and it’s better than I remember it being.

Found: Straight from the brewpub but you can find it in every store pretty much
ABV%: 4.50%
Price: Cost me about 13 dollars for a new growler
Website: http://www.dogfish.com/
What the company says:  A refreshing neo-BerlinerWeisse fermented with honest-to-goodness peaches to (get this!) 4.5% abv! Because extreme beers don’t have to be extremely boozy! Available in 4-pack and draft during the sweaty months.

Sadly, there are only a few breweries left in Berlin still brewing the Berliner Weisse style which is characterized by its intense tartness (some say sour). There were once over 70 breweries in Berlin alone making this beer! In addition to fermentation with an ale yeast, Berliner Weisse is traditionally fermented with lactic cultures to produce its acidic or green apple-like character. It is delicately hopped with a pale straw color and served as an aperitif or summertime quencher. To soften the intense sourness, Berliner Weisse is traditionally served with a dash of essence of woodruff or raspberry syrup.

In our Festina Peche since the natural peach sugars are eaten by the yeast, the fruit complexity is woven into both the aroma and the taste of the beer so there is no need to doctor it with woodruff or raspberry syrup – open and enjoy!
Other beers to try from this brewery: Dogfish Head Namaste, Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
Other beers to try within the same style: The Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse
Rating: B+/A-

Surly Hell - Before I get started with any kind of reviews, I’d like to thanks Aaron over at The Captains Chair for providing both of these beers.  It’s great try beers I normally couldn’t get a hold of.  Thanks bud.

Surly Hell is one of the newest brews from Surly out of Minnesota.  The brewery who loves to can all their stuff!  Except Darkness of course.  This time around they went with a sessionable brew.  A Helles lager to be exact.  Since I’m not really a lager drinker I had to look up what to expect fromt his style of beer.  Straight from Beer Advocate I got this description.

“When the golden and clean lagers of Plzen (Bohemia) became all the rage in the mid-1800′s, München brewers feared that Germans would start drinking the Czech beer vs. their own. Munich Helles Lager was their answer to meet the demand. A bit more malty, they often share the same spicy hop characters of Czech Pils, but are a bit more subdued and in balance with malts. “Helles” is German for “bright.”

Ok so now I have an idea of what to expect?  Well what did I get?  Read on.

Surly Hell pours clear golden color.  Nice fluffy white two finger head.  Great retention and minimal lacing.  Smell is what you usually expect from a lager.  Well most lagers, Southern Tier Krampus is a exception to the rule =)  The smell is grainy, malty, and grassy.  I also picked up a bit of a fruity aroma.  Very sweet aroma and very malty.

Taste really isn’t much to write home about.  Don’t expect a huge flavorful ale kind of taste here.  Because well that’s not what they were trying to do here.  They tried to create a nice sessionable and enjoyable brew and they did a hell of a job doing so.  Up front from me what the grassy hoppy flavor followed by the nice little fruity taste.  The ending is mostly a yeasty and bready grainy taste.   The mouthfeel is light and crisp.  Like I said sessionable.  I could pound down a six pack of this stuff and not even blink.

I like what Surly did here.  They made a nice drinkable beer available during the Summer.  For those hot days.  How hot does Summer in Minnesota get anyway?

Found: Beer Trade
Price: Not to sure on this one.
Website: http://www.surlybrewing.com/
What the company says: Finally, a Surly beer my German mother will drink. She says this one tastes like a bier from back home. Not unlike a Zwickel Bier from Germany, Hell is our filtered and fermented with lager yeast, American hops takes a back seat to the Pils malt sweetness and fresh bread aroma. The color is well… hell (Deutsch for light). It’s fiendishly drinkable, and you don’t have to sell your soul to get another.
ABV%: 4.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Surly Furious, Surly Bender
Other beers to try within the same style: First time I’ve had a beer in this style
Rating: B

New Glarus Unplugged Cran-bic Ale - Oh New Glarus.  What you do with fruit just makes me a happy camper.  I was blown away by their Wisconsin Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart.  This time around they are working with Cranberries.  This time they made a Lambic that has been pitched with cranberries and aged outside in oak barrels.  It’s light, funky, tart and just a beautiful beer.

Cranic pours a mixture of light red and amber.  Really a beautiful color that you can see in the pic.  A small head forms but quickly fizzes away like a champagne.  First thing I noticed in the smell is a light fresh dose of Cranberries.  Mixed in their is a small amount of acidity and tartness that makes your nose sting just a tad.  In the end is a hint of malt and oak.  It’s just a very light smelling beer.  Heck if you can even call it a beer.  To me it’s more like a mixture of a beer and wine.

The taste came in three parts for me.  The first part was definitely tart and slightly funky on the palette.  As the ale hits the middle of your mouth it starts getting richer.  The cranberries start to really come in.  Mix that in with the oak and it’s a nice rich deep taste.  Then in the end the tartness comes back a tad mixed in with some bitterness.  Just a beautiful beer.  Mouthfeel is on the lighter side with the perfect amount of carbonation.  Just a joy to drink.  This beer blurs the line between a lambic and a wine for me.  It’s just amazing.  Pick it up soon folks, it’s a limited brew and might only be brewed once.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: No idea on this one
Website: http://www.newglarusbrewing.com/
What the company says: A few times a year we will cut Dan loose to brew whatever he chooses, uncensored, uncut, unplugged. Always handcrafted, the bottle you hold is brewed for the adventurous soul. This is a very limited edition and we make no promises to ever brew this style again.

Sparkling and bright this is a Wisconsin original created for you in the traditional method employed by the Lambic Brewers of Belgium including five months of outdoor resting in oak barrels. Indigenous yeast and cranberries from the “wilds” of Wisconsin flawlessly pair to dance on your palette. You have discovered a rare and delightful treasure to be served cold in a fluted glass.
ABV%: 6.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: New Glarus Belgian Red, New Glarus Spotted Cow
Other beers to try within the same style: First time I’ve had a beer in this style
Rating: A

Terrapin Gamma Ray – My first dealings with Terrapin was earlier this year when I went to see my family down in Georgia.  I picked up their 4 year round beers and after I was done sampling all 4 I really wasn’t very impressed.  Fast forward to a few months ago and Terrapin is starting to show up in my area.  I decided to give them another try.  I picked up some of their bigger beers and I haven’t looked back.  My outlook on this brewery changed 1oo%  They make some really fantastic brews.  Stuff like Rye Squared and Big Hoppy Monster and even some of their Side Project beers.  Speaking of Side Project beers, the one you see up above used to be one.  I guess enough people liked it to turn it into one of their beers in the Monster Beer Tour.  Their seasonal offerings.  Gamma Ray is a Wheatwine.  A very different Wheatwine at that.

Gamma Ray pours a hazy honey color.  Barely any head is poured.  Whatever head is poured quickly disappears into a thin film that sits on top.  Smell on this beer has a huge herbal and spice aroma.  This beer is brewed 2 kinds of honey and it shows really well.  Aroma has a nice wheat background with a mixture of banana.  Overall it’s a big smell.  Biggest smell I’ve noticed from any Wheatwine I’ve ever had.

Taste is just as big.  It’s big but really tasty at the same time.  Up front is the spiciness of the beer.  It just sits there right in front of the sweet sweet honey.  Once in a while a little bit of alcohol will peak through.  Definitely a big beer and a sipper.  This beer is medium bodied, crisp but smooth.  Goes away to easy for 11%.  Dangerous.

This is defintely a tasty brew that I would visit again.  I went from not enjoying Terrapin brews to becoming a true fan.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.terrapinbeer.com/
What the company says: This massive wheat beer is brewed with an obscene amount of locally grown Tupelo and Sourwood Honeys from Savannah Bee Co. This Gamma Ray will stop any super hero’s arch enemies in their tracks!

The high content alcohol of these beers make them perfect for cellaring…hide them away and pull one out for a special event 2-3 years later.
ABV%: 11.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster, Terrapin Rye Squared
Other beers to try within the same style: Smuttynose Wheat Wine, Three Floyds/Mikkeller Oatgoop
Rating: B+

Bell’s The Oracle – What we have here is a Double IPA from Bell’s.  If you know anything about Bell’s, they can make a hell of an IPA.  Hello Hopslam.  This beer in particular is brand new.  It’s also only available in Michigan.  I was lucky enough to trade for it.  So what do you get when a fantastic brewery releases a one time release beer and only distributes it within the state of Michigan?  Hype!  Hype is what you get.  So much hype that this beer is currently sitting on Beer Advocates Top 100 (#33 to be exact) and it hasn’t been out for more then 3 months.  So is this beer good?  Yes.  It is.  No doubt.  But does it deserve to be on BAs top 100?   I’m going to have to say no.  Hype is at it again.

The Oracle pours a nice deep amber color.  A big fluffy white head appears.  Great retention and a ton of lacing throughout.  My first smell of this beer presented a ton of fruit.  Fruity and hoppy.  Grapefruit and pine.  Very fresh hops.  As I pulled the glass away and took another whiff I picked up more of a malty smell.  Like the damn hops had rendered my nostrils useless.

Taste is full of bitter grapefruit and piney hops.  There is a ton of hops but there is also a hearty malt backbone that balances out the hops nicely.  There was also a decent amount of alcohol that would peer through.    It’s a fantastic tasting double IPA but with the alcohol showing it’s also letting you know that this is a big beer.  I can’t find the ABV on this beer but if I had to guess I would think it’s sitting between 8 – 10% abv.  Mouthfeel is medium bodied and chewy.

Is this IPA fantastic?  Yeah it’s good.  No doubt.  BA Top 100 worthy?  You decide but for me no.  There are a ton of other IPAs that I think are just as good and aren’t on that list.

Found: Beer Trade
Price: Around 3 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.bellsbeer.com/
What the company says: Nothing about this beer on their site.
ABV%: ?
Other beers to try from this brewery: Bell’s Hopslam, Bell’s Java Stout
Other beers to try within the same style: Harpoon Leviathan IPA, Dogfish Head Squall IPA
Rating: A-

Stone 13th Anniversary Ale – I had this beer on draft at Stone when I visited San Diego.  It was pretty damn good fresh.  But since I was lazy and didn’t write down anything, you’re getting the bottle review which most of you will be trying anyway.  Stone claims this is their hoppiest beer to date.  When I first took the first whiff of this beer I had to agree.  It was full of piney, grassy hops.  In the background lurked a earthy aroma and caramel malt.  I also noticed some dark fruits.  But the hops took the lead as far as the smell goes.

The taste gave me something a little bit different though.  Sure the hops are there.  They are bitter and piney.  But the malt plays a bigger role here.  It’s actually pretty damn big.  Caramel malt matches the bitterness of the hops.  Making for quite a good brew.  Mouthfeel is pretty damn nice.  It’s one of the more smoother beers I’ve in a while.  It just goes down the gullet.  Along with that though is the bitter hops.  They linger in your mouth.

I’ve seen some reviews bash the hell out of this beer.  I don’t agree really.  I’m glad they went with something different for their 13th Anniversary beer.  I wish I had another bottle on me.  If you get this try to drink it as fresh as you can.  I can see this one becoming even more of a malt monster if it sits for to long.

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: I believe it was around 6 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.stonebrew.com/
What the company says: Nothing on the site about this one.
ABV%: 9.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Stone Old Guardian, Stone IPA
Other beers to try within the same style: Lagunitas Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale, Rogue Brewers Ale 2008
Rating: B+

The Bruery Trade Winds Tripel – The Bruery out of Placentia, CA has only been around for over a year but they have quickly got my attention and have become one of the best breweries out there (well in my opinion anyway) They take styles and seem to kick it up a notch.  They recently brewed a huge Imperial Stout that I am dying to try.  Ahem guys would you mind me sending me a bottle.  Ok sorry to go off the beaten path.  Ok so I said that these guys like to take changes on certain styles of kick it up a bit.  In this brew instead of using Candi Sugar, they used rice in the mash, which they state lightened up the body and increased the gravity of the brew.  I don’t care what they do.  They just make great beer.  Oh and did I mention I can get their regular lineup in Virginia now.  Oh boy!!

Trade Winds pours a cloudy golden orangish color.  Huge fluffy head with good retention.  Spotty lacing throughout the glass.  The biggest thing I noticed from this beer was the spice.  It’s the king here.  Peppery.  Mixed in their is a nice amount of banana, citrus, and apple.  In the background is a nice yeasty aroma and flavor.  This brew is nicely carbonated.  Light and crisp but one of the more stronger tasting Tripels I’ve had.  It packs a lot of flavor.  Great stuff and a Tripel I most definitely go back to.  Oh and send me some Black Tuesday guys.  Seriously =)

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 10 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.thebruery.com/
What the company says: Our Summer seasonal, Trade Winds Tripel is a Belgian-style Golden Ale with a Southeast Asian twist. Instead of using candi sugar (typical for such a beer), we use rice in the mash to lighten the body and increase the gravity, and spice with Thai Basil. The result is an aromatic, digestible and complex beer made for a lazy summer evening.
ABV%: 8.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: The Bruery Saison Rue, The Bruery Orchard White
Other beers to try within the same style: Westmalle Trappist Tripel, Allagash Tripel
Rating: A-

Belgica is a fairly new beer from Great Divide Brewing out of Colorado.  It’s classified as an Belgian IPA.  A class of beer I’ve been seeing more and more of lately.  They range from the very good like Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel to the decent like Stone Cali-Belgique.  I would put this brew in the decent category.  Not as good as Dobbelen or Le Freak but just as decent as Stones version.

The look of this beer is beautiful.  A nice clear straw color with a huge white fluffy head.  Great retention and lacing.  Tiny bubbles float from the bottom to the top of the glass.  The only real issue I had with this brew was the lack of any IPA characteristic in the smell.  What you get is a fairly big shot of Belgian yeast, spices, sweet Candi, and fruity esters.  No real aromas of hops.

The taste is a little different.  You do get a mild and I mean mild taste of citrus and grassy hops.  But still the Belgian side takes over the beer.  Especially a musty earthy Belgian yeast taste.  You also have the nice sweet taste to go along with it.  This one ends with a nice spicy kick that lingers.  Along with the spices a dryness lingers.  There is no sign of the 7.20% abv.  It’s an easy drinker.  Medium bodied, a little sticky but just easy to drink.

This is a great beer on a hot summer day.  A question to anyone who is more familiar with this type of beer.  Am I looking for more of IPA characteristics when I shouldn’t be?  An overall decent beer that I wouldn’t mind trying again.

Found: Grape and Gourment, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 2 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.greatdivide.com
What the company says: The Roman name for the Low Counties – is a marriage of the best in American and Belgian brewing traditions. Belgian pilsner malt, a generous amount of American and European hops and a unique Belgian yeast strain combine to give Belgica big notes of citrus and spice, creating a lively concoction perfect for spring in the Rockies
ABV%: 7.20%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Great Divide Titan IPA, Great Divide Old Ruffian
Other beers to try within the same style: Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel, Stone Cali-Belgique
Rating: B

What we have here is a beer I really wasn’t looking forward to trying for some reason.  A lot of the fruit/vegetable beers out there just aren’t for me.  There are a few like Dogfish Head Black and Blue or Dogfish Head Fort that I really enjoyed but for the most part this style is not for me.  So when I poured this beer into the glass and saw it’s reddish color I though oh boy cherries.  This really isn’t going to be good.  Boy was I wrong.  Cerise is delicious.  So delicious that I really wouldn’t minded having another bottle.

Cerise pours a reddish color.  You guessed it, because of the cherries.  It pours very little head.  What little head that is poured quickly fizzes away like a soda.  The smell is what got me right off the bat.  The nice aroma of tart cherries.  Not overly tart, just right for me.  Back that up decent malt base and you have a nice aroma.  Like I said it’s not huge at all. 

To me Cerise really didn’t taste like a beer at all.  Of course I gave my girlfriend a sip in hopes she would like it but all she said was, “It tastes like beer”  To me Cerise tasted almost like a very well done fruit drink.  Yeah I know sounds weird.  The tart cherries just set everything off nicely. I saw reviews that said the cherries were so tart that they puckered.  I didn’t get that.  It’s a nice amount of tartness mixed in with a nice amount of sweetness and a bready malt flavor.  Just a delight to drink.  The mouthfeel is velvety like their porter.  It’s medium to full bodied and a little syrupy.

Like I said fruit beers aren’t usually for me but I would easily buy another bottle of this stuff.  It’s the right mixture.  Not to sweet, not to tart.  Easy drinking.

Found: Grape and Gourment, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: Around 2 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.foundersbrewing.com/
What the company says: You’ll have a soft spot for this one. Using only fresh Michigan tart cherries, this beauty tantalizes with intense flavors combined with a no hesitation malt bill. Adding fresh cherries at five separate stages of fermentation achieves the ultimate balance between tartness and sweetness
ABV%: 6.50%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Founders Devil Dancer, Founders Double Trouble IPA
Other beers to try within the same style: Dogfish Head Black and Blue, Unibroue Éphémère
Rating: B+

Ahh it feels like it’s been a while folks.  I haven’t updated in a while but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been drinking some new brews!  One that I had last week was a Hefeweizen from Southern Tier called Heavy Weizen  Now if you know anything about Southern Tier and their Imperial line you know they don’t mess around.  They make some big and tasty brews for the line.  This beer is big no doubt.  But I feel like the bigness of it gets in the way of everything else.  This beer is full of alcohol taste and feel.  It attacks your mouth.  It burns and it hides a lot of the flavor that this beer would normally have.  Before I go any further let me start with the usual review stuff.

Heavy Weizen pours a cloudy golden color.  I watched this beer for a while.  It’s like a lava lamp.  The bubbles just keep on coming and coming.  The head on this beer was huge as you can see in the picture.  It had great retention and a ton of lacing.  Now like I said above get ready for the onslaught of alcohol.  When you take a whiff of this brew it might be all you pick up in the beginning.  Eventually the typical Hefeweizen smell peeks through.  Banana, cloves, lemon, wheat, and yeast.  Same thing with the taste on this.  The alcohol will burn your mouth.  As I went to take a sip a few times I swore that my nose was burning.  In between the waves of alcohol you do get some rather tasty ingredients such as the banana, cloves, wheat, etc but then the alcohol rears its ugly head again.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t mind alcohol taste in beers.  Heck a lot of my favorite beers out there has a slight taste of it,  But this just seemed a little overboard for me.  If they would of toned it down just a bad I think this beer would of been a little more enjoyable.  As for the mouthfeel, it took me by surprise,  It was smooth, nicely carbonated, but very thick and syrupy. 

Give this a try.  Don’t let my review up above scare you,  It’s a good beer.  It just goes a bit overboard for my taste. 

Found: Grape and Gourmet, Virginia Beach, VA
Price: 7 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.southerntierbrewing.com/
What the company says: Heavy Weizen explores the inner depths of creativity and craftsmanship, taking a style of ale that is delicate and quaffable and shaping it into something exuberant and sturdy. The foundation of Heavy Weizen begins with prodigious quantities of North American malted barley and wheat. Next, the finest European hops are added to complement this ale’s unique disposition by giving it spicy aromas. Its spirit is forged during fermentation where our Bavarian weizen yeast consumes sugars and creates flavors reminiscent of bananas and cloves. then by aging this ale, we allow the divergent characteristics to blend together, becoming one. To capture Heavy Weizen’s spirit, this wheat ale remains unfiltered to leave some of the yeast in the bottle. Serving this ale with a wedge of lemon is recommended, but optional.
ABV%: 8.00%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Southern Tier Jahva, Southern Tier Unearthly
Other beers to try within the same style: Victory Sunrise Weissbier, Gordon Biersch Hefeweizen
Rating: B

For this Great Divide review I hit up their Belgian Strong Pale Ale called Hades Ale.  If you know anything about Greek Mythology, Hades is actually the name of the Greek Underworld.  Why exactly Great Divide went with this as the name of the beer, I have no idea. 

Hades pours a golden straw like color.  There is a good amount of carbonation with a fluffy white head. 

The aroma on this one is quite inviting.  A good amount of sweetness and fruit.  Pears, apples, honey, spices, and yeast. 

With the taste, you’ll get some fruit just like the small.  A good amount of apple and pears.  The honey is also evident.  Now we must remember this is a Belgian type beer.  So the Belgian yeast and spices are also there.  The feel on this one is a little dry like a champagne.  Light bodied, well carbonated, and crisp.  I would easily give this beer another go.   

The Final Word

Found: State Line Liquor – Elkton, Maryland
Price: 6 dollars for a 22 oz bottle
Website: http://www.greatdivide.com
What the company says: Hades is a Belgian-style strong golden ale brewed with a rare Belgian yeast strain that gives the beer a distinctive spicy flavor and aroma. Noticeable hops and medium malt character make it an extremely well-balanced, crisp ale.Hades is a Belgian-style strong golden ale brewed with a rare Belgian yeast strain that gives the beer a distinctive spicy flavor and aroma. Noticeable hops and medium malt character make it an extremely well-balanced, crisp ale.
ABV%: 7.30
Other beers to try from this brewery: Hercules Double IPA, Yeti Imperial Stout
Other beers to try within the same style: Delirium Tremens, North Coast Brewing PranQster
Rating: B