All About Beer Magazine » Steve Winegar

Great Lakes Brewing Co. Lake Erie Monster Imperial India Pale Ale

Steve Winegar — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:41:33 +0000

My brother Paul and my brother-in-law Rick Deakins are really great guys – I can count on both of them to bring along beers from Great Lakes Brewing Co., a home town favorite of mine, every time they come to visit me in North Carolina. Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s beer are currently not available in the Triangle, so it is a real treat to have them delivered to me. Rick arrived for the recent Memorial Day holiday with a nice selection, including a couple of seasonal beers that I had never tried. I was excited to see the Lake Erie Monster Imperial Pale Ale in the mix. On a very hot summer-like day (90 plus degrees!), I grabbed myself one. It poured a slightly hazy, golden color – this is an unfiltered ale after all – and had a cream-colored head with plenty of retention. Very hoppy aroma. This beer is a hop monster! It has a dry mouthfeel with a hop character that tends toward the citrus rather than floral, and more orange than grapefruit. Nicely balanced with some notes of dried fruit buried in there. It’s a big beer (9.1 percent ABV) that doesn’t drink like one. Overall, this beer is really awesome… but having a great family is even awesomer!

Twisted Pine Brewing Company Hoppy Man

Steve Winegar — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:00:29 +0000

Another warm spring day in NC – humid with temperatures well up into the 80s. I’m thirsty again, which to me means it is time for something hoppy. Hoppy Man? Yeah that sounds like a fit. This beer from Twisted Pine Brewing Company pours a cloudy amber color with a thin head that dissipates quickly. Verrrrry hoppy, as you’d expect given the name. Pine dominates the aroma. Balance is definitely leaning towards the hops, but being an imperial IPA there is a bit of malty sweetness. All that hoppiness makes this a big beer (10.5 percent ABV) yet it doesn’t drink like one.

Grand Teton Brewing Co. Lost Continent Double IPA

Steve Winegar — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:24:51 +0000

I’ve got regularly-scheduled racquetball match on Wednesday evenings. I usually come home thirsty and last Wednesday was no different – I was ready for a beer and wanted something hoppy. Grand Teton’s 2010 Lost Continent Double IPA sounded good to me… and it was! This seasonal beer pours a cloudy, golden color with a nice cream-colored head. Lots of hops on the nose and on the tongue (a little more citrus than floral). The broad range of hops used in the brewing make it a complex beer. This beer is not to be confused with those one-note, single hop IPAs. There is plenty of malt as well which balances out the complexity of the hops. Overall, this was a refreshing, thirst quenching beer. And at 8 percent, it was a good thing I enjoyed it at home because I wanted another.

Boulder Beer Company Flashback India Style Brown Ale

Steve Winegar — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:29:24 +0000

I was working late at the office one night because I had plans that kept me on this side of town. And I was ready for a beer! Looking through the office fridge I saw lots of interesting options, including a style I’d never heard of: India Style Brown Ale. The cool logo intrigued me. The beer pours a deep amber/brown with a very full creme-colored head. “India Style” clearly is in reference to the hops… because there are lots of them. On the nose. On the tongue. Somewhat citrusy. Very nice. The beer was balanced but toward the hoppy side with a nice malt finish. Brown ale is usually not on my list of favorites but making it “India Style” really brings it around. I highly recommend this one from Boulder Beer Company.

Victory Brewing Company’s Yakima Twilight

Steve Winegar — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:15:37 +0000

Beer culture has invaded the far reaches of the earth. I’ve got proof. On our tour of potential colleges for my son David, a high school junior, my family found ourselves in Scranton, PA, for the night. After having enjoyed burgers the previous night we were in the mood for seafood. Cooper’s Seafood in Scranton is billed as having the best seafood as well as being voted the best restaurant overall in town. When I saw a note on their menu about having 400 plus beers I was hooked. The beer list is awesome – lots of my favorites and many I hadn’t heard of before. The draft list included Victory Hop Devil on cask. I tasted their very nice house lager, brewed especially for them by Stoudt’s, but that’s not what I’ll review here. I ordered the seafood crepes – stuffed with shrimp, lobster and scallops in a cream sauce. I wanted something hoppy to cut through the richness of the dish and chose Victory’s Yakima Twilight to pair with it. The beer pours a deep amber with a medium brown head. The nose is very floral hops. Relatively dry on the palate for a beer with an ABV of 8.7 percent, it possessed a nice malt/hop balance. And the hop level was just the right match for my dinner. Overall, the food, beer and hospitality made for a really great evening on the road. It was a nice surprise to see such an extensive beer selection in the middle of the Pennsylvania mountains.

Great Divide Brewing Co.’s Claymore Scotch Ale

Steve Winegar — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:23:31 +0000

I hurt my back on the racquetball court last night. I guess that means I’ll have to take tonight off… perfect excuse for a beer at the end of the work day. We recently received a sample pack of beer from Great Divide Brewing Co. in the office and the Claymore Scotch Ale looked interesting to me. It pours a dark brown with a thin, cream colored head. The aroma is butterscotch. Flavor is classic scotch ale – malty and slightly sweet with very limited hops. Very tasty! The 7.7 percent ABV gives a nice warming effect and is making me feel good all over: this stuff is better than BENGAY!

Rogue Juniper Pale Ale

Steve Winegar — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:41:13 +0000

Ola Nilbrink (our events manager) and I recently went to meet the wonderful team we have working for us on the upcoming World Beer Festival-Richmond. After a very long but productive day we had worked up a good thirst. When I got home I was in the mood for something really different. I found it in Rogue’s Juniper Pale Ale. It pours a hazy golden color with a very white head that dissipates quickly. Strongly pine in aroma. The balance is bitterness over sweet, but the flavor is driven by the whole juniper berries used in the brewing rather than coming from the hops. I’d describe the flavor as “herbal.” Juniper Pale Ale is a tasty and unique beer.

Dominion Millennium

Steve Winegar — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:55:34 +0000

What’s with all the talk about global warming? I went for a run after work a few weeks ago and the temperature had already dipped deep into the 30s – way cold for North Carolina! Old Dominion’s Millennium proved to be the beer I needed to do a little global warming afterward. It poured with a somewhat amber/orange color. It exhibits a definite wine-like character, lightly carbonated and high in alcohol (11.4 %). The beer was aged in oak barrels, driving perhaps a bit of a buttery nature into the flavor. I tasted a lot of caramel, toffee, and malt. Not much in the way of hops. Overall a nice warming adventure.

Nogne-O #100

Steve Winegar — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:35:51 +0000

Our events manager and I stop by Green’s Beverages on our trips to Columbia, SC, to check in on our World Beer Festival sponsor and friend there, Dave Smith.Every one of those visits costs me money–I can’t get out of there without picking up some great beers. Nøgne-Ø‘s Batch #100 is one that I acquired on a recent visit. It’s not inexpensive but it is worth every cent. Big, dark and rich, malty and warming: It’s a perfect beer for a cool fall evening.

Samuel Smith Taddy Porter

Steve Winegar — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:12:19 +0000

My son David turned seventeen recently. He got to choose the restaurant for dinner that evening and, given his love of good beef that meant Angus Barn in Raleigh.

I chose a perfectly cooked (medium rare) filet mignon and, though Angus Barn has a world-renowned wine list, paired it with a Samuel Smith Taddy Porter. Wow! What a wonderful combination. The beer poured very dark with a full brown head. Somewhat malty with a slightly toasted flavor. A nice fit with the smoky flavor of the meat. Perhaps a bit thinner in the mouth than you’d expect. Good food, good beer, celebrating with family and friends… isn’t that what life’s all about?