Arbor Brewing Company

Red Snapper Amber Ale

• Red Snapper Amber Ale -  Hazy bronze color with an ever changing variety of designs being left behind in the lace on the sides of my glass so that I can hope to find baby Jesus or the reknowned virgin Mary Christ and then auction my glass on ebay and get rich.  Fresh fruity, floral and roasted maltiness on the nose.  Medium bodied and nicely hopped  with a good malty counterbalance. I can easily see why this is the house favorite.  Very good.  Very drinkable.  Thumbs and bottoms up! 4.7% ABV.

Pair of Sacred Cows

• Sacred Cow Cask Conditioned IPA -  Served up with a beautiful creamy 1/4 inch head that clings to the side of the glass like spandex on a figure skater. Cloudy and thick looking golden brown. Weighs in at 6.9% ABV and 70 IBU. Plenty of floral hops bursting from the glass as I bring it to my nose.  Due to the cask conditioning it is not overly carbonated and has a smooth citrusy flavor with a lingering finish that is only mildly bitter. I saw plenty of these being served up to mug clubbers as well as the unwashed masses such as myself and I can understand why. This is a good beer and there's just something about watching a bartender work the handpull and the hypnotic dance of the swarm of bubbles in the glass as the head settles that just makes it all that much tastier.  Bitterness on the back end intensifies as it warms along with some malt sweetness and a little alcohol bite. 

Also see The Full Beer Belly review of Arbor Brewing Company

Copper Canyon

Heidrun - The write-up on this one by the brewer is that it is his "take on a Finnish Sahti" and that it is brewed with rye, oatmeal, juniper, caraway, honey, and black and white pepper.  Strangely enough I detected almost none of those except for maybe the oatmeal and honey sweetness.  I'm not always a fan of spiced ales and would likely not have ordered one until after sampling Chuck's.  There is virtually no hops aroma or flavor and overall I found it to be pretty good if not a bit too sweet for my liking.  There is an interesting bitterness in the finish that seemed to come more from the spices rather than hops.  Definitely an interesting beer.

The Beer Wench - A Belgian IPA brewed in honor of a beer blogger who interviewed the brewer for her blog.  Cloudy golden amber.  Hoppy and spicy with a nose similar to a wheat.  The hop bitterness lingers a bit but not overly long.  A good beer by a good brewer inspired by a good beer blog.  What else can you ask for?

Also see The Full Beer Belly review of Copper Canyon

Photographs compliments of Fermentation Nation

Kuhnhenn - Breakfast of Champions 2010

Kuhnhenn had a number of special release offerings on St. Patricks day to go along with a number of standard brews.  Virtually anybody could have found at least one beer to their liking on this day.  The best part was there was not a single green beer in sight.

• Blueberry Pancake Ale - If this beer was not so heavy bodied, I could have quaffed it all day.  The experience was not unlike eating a plate of blueberry pancakes covered in syrup.  Very malty but not too sweet and just the right amount of blueberry flavor. The color was a cloudy amber with a delightful purple hue.  There was virtually no detectable hops, which is a good thing in this particular instance.  There was a mild alcohol warming that helped remind you that you were actually drinking a well crafted beer.  This would be a great selection to bring out for someone who "doesn't like the taste of beer".

• Banana Bourbon French Toast Mead - It was a toss up as to whether this or the pancake ale were my favorites on the day.  I'm not particularly a fan of all things banana, but I had to give this one a try and I'm glad I did.  The nose was very strong and sweet and was an excellent indicator of the taste that was going to follow.  There was a very subtle banana flavor that was enhanced with notes of vanilla and cinnamon.  There was strong, but not overly so.  This mead would make a wonderful dessert beverage.

• Imperial Creme Brulee Java Stout - The nose was primarily of strong roasted coffee.  The Imperial was not as sweet as it's non-imperial cousin.  I found that the coffee and vanilla flavors came through strong and were well balanced. 

• Kaptain Krunch Koco Berry Ale -  Smelled sickly sweet, very much like bubblegum.  This was the "green beer" of the day for it's novelty value.  It was way too sweet and was closer to Kool-Aid than beer.

• Breakfast Sausage Ale - I am not at all a fan of smoked beers.  I've yet to sample one that I didn't find revolting.  That being said, this was probably one of the worst things I've ever put in my mouth, except for maybe Fallon Smoked Porter which tasted like the butt of a wet dog that has been standing next to a campfire for two hours.  The nose was what I imagine cold smoked band-aids to smell like. There are definitely people out there that like smoked beer and at least one guy at the bar near me actually downed a full glass of this stuff.  All the power to him!

• Sticky Bun Olde Ale (Hand Pull) - Talking with some people at the bar, I wasn't expecting much here and actually ordered one by mistake.  Earlier in the day they had their regular old ale on the hand pull but ran out and put some Sticky Bun on unbeknownst to me.  I'm somewhat glad this happened.  The nose was strong to cinnamon but I thought I picked up a little cherry in there as well.  It was not as sweet as I was expecting and had a strong alcohol warming that lingered for awhile.  I found the amount of cinnamon flavor to be just right and overall a good addition to the Breakfast of Champions theme.

• Special Bitter (Cask) - Very low bitterness, smelled a little of slightly unripe banana and smashed green apples.  Extremely drinkable and low carbonation.  Even had a bit of a cidery flavor to me.  I'm not a fan of bitters, but I'll get this one from Kuhnhenn again.

• Oud Bruine - Very deep, nearly opaque red color.  11.5% ABV.  Delightfully sour with a hint of tart cherry.  The cherry flavor intensified and a bit of hops seemed to emerge as it warmed.  I like sour beer and this one did not disappoint.

For another take on the day's festivities, visit Fermentation Nation

Also see The Full Beer Belly review of Kuhnhenn Brewing Company