Category: Beer

Archangel Summer Wheat

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Maker: North Peak Brewing, Traverse City, Michigan.

Style: Wheat Ale with cherry juice and other natural flavors

ABV: 5%

Appearance: Copper with a pinkish hue.

Nose: Tangy but slightly bitter.

On the palate: Light-bodied. Little wheat character or even ale character. A bit of bitterness followed by a lot of sweet cherry flavor.

Finish: Cherry juice, cherry coke, Twizzlers, cough syrup

Parting Words: Another disappointing beer from North Peak. What little character this wheat ale might have had is completely overwhelmed by the cherry juice. Makes me wonder if covering over a poorly brewed product was the intention to begin with. I don’t think the concept of wheat ale sweetened with cherry juice is inherently a bad one, but there is more subtlety and complexity in a Cherry Coke from Steak & Shake than in this. Maybe it’s time for North Peak to spend some of the time and effort they invest in snappy labels into making better beer. Not recommended.

Oarsman Ale

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Maker: Bell’s, Comstock, Michigan, USA

Style: Sour mash wheat ale.

ABV: 4%

Appearance: Gold, slightly hazy.

Nose: Sour, Meyer lemon, yeast.

On the palate: Light bodied. Sour, more Meyer lemon, grains of paradise, coriander seed, lemongrass.

Finish: Quick with a little sweet and sour hit at the beginning.

Parting words: The level of sourness in this beer was a bit of a shocker at first, but by the time I got to the end of the six-pack, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s more complex than it seems at first sip, but isn’t so cerebral it doesn’t work alongside a sandwich. Oarsman ale is recommended.

Dirty Blonde

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Maker: Atwater Block, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Style: Spiced Blonde Ale

ABV: 4.5%

Appearance: Not surprisingly, dirty blonde.

On the palate: full-bodied, a little bitterness but a lot of sweet, fruity, a very subtle hint of spice.

Parting Words: A serviceable, summertime ale, but not much to write home about. Not a bad buy but not a very interesting one. Mildy recommended, especially if on tap. It always seems to taste better from the tap at Grand Trunk Pub.

Shipwreck Porter

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Maker: Arcadia Ales

Style: Barrel-Aged Porter

ABV: 12%

Appearance: Dark chocolate brown with beige head.

Nose: Chocolate, mole, slightly boozy.

On the palate: Sweet caramel chocolates, brownies, creamy, with a bit of spice and bitterness.

Finish: boozy and sweet.

Parting words: Shipwreck is not particularly complex, but it is very good. It’s like a dark chocolate caramel brownie in a bottle. The bourbon barrel aging is what brings the caramel to the table, and it complements the stout very well without giving it weird flavors. The same cannot be said for many barrel-aged beers. It’s a little over-priced, but still very much worth a recommendation.

Big Dick’s Olde Ale

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Maker: Arcadia Ales, Battle Creek, Michigan

Style: Old Ale

Vintage: 2009

ABV: 9%

I reviewed this ale early on in the life of this blog, but I was curious about how it has changed since I first tasted.

Appearance: Monstrous head, overflowed my glass. Hazy, medium brown, like iced tea.

Nose: Sweet and fruity, not much in the way of toasty flavors, but a hint of bitterness lies behind the fruit.

On the palate: Medium bodied. A bit of toasty malt comes through here. It’s fruity and dry at the same time, like a middle-aged Cabernet. Even after close to an hour in my mug, it is still effervescent. Maybe more like a brut champagne now. I guess my point is that this is very winey ale.

Finish: Fruity and sweet. Slow effervescent tingle and a hit of bitterness. A tiny bit of green tea and gum drops.

Parting Words: This beer is like the kind of significant other you want as an adult: sweet, elegant and sophisticated. There is little suggestion of the ruthless, violent, absentee king Big Dick’s Olde Ale is named after. This is a great, flawlessly crafted beer. Highly Recommended.

Dragon’s Milk

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Maker: New Holland, Holland, Michigan, USA

Style: Barrel-aged stout

Vintage: 2011

ABV: 10%

Appearance: Dark chocolate with a mildly frothy tan head.

Nose: Sweet, cereal milk, milk chocolate.

On the palate: Full-bodied, bitter at first, then sweeter. Café mocha, vanilla and amaretto, with a bit of bite from the alcohol and carbonation.

Finish: Sweet and pleasantly sticky fading very slowly to a smoky bitterness. The sticky sweetness continues to linger on the lips for a long time.

Parting words: This is a delicious beer. Unlike some other barrel-aged beers, Dragon’s Milk strikes a balance between barrel character and beer character. This is a quality stout first. Instead of being covered up, those stout characteristics are complemented by the wood tannins and the sweet vanilla and liquer flavors coming from the barrel. Dragon’s Milk is a flawlessly executed barrel-aged stout. Highly recommended.

La Parcela, no. 1 Pumpkin Ale

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Maker: Jolly Pumpkin, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Style: Oak-aged Pumpkin-spiced ale

ABV: 5.9%

Appearance: Burnt orange with a frothy head.

Nose: Bright, citrus, pumpkin.

On the palate: Medium-bodied. Fresh Pumpkin puree, some bitterness, light sweetness. Not over-spiced or over-oaked. Actually neither make much of an appearance at all.

Finish: Light, pumpkin-y and slightly sour. Fades quickly.

Parting Words: This is a pleasantly pumpkin-y ale. The cacao and other spices are so far submerged, they might as well be absent. Still, this isn’t a a bad thing. This is one pumpkin ale that actually tastes like a pumpkin actually tastes. Recommended.

Angler’s Ale

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Maker: Arcadia Ales, Battle Creek, Michigan, USA

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5%

Appearance: Hazy orange, big frothy head that dissipates fairlyquickly.

Nose: Oranges, raspberry, hops, fresh cut hay.

On the palate: Full-bodied, malt, breakfast cereal, moderately bitter, spicy and hoppy.

Finish: sweet then big and bitter and exuberant.

Parting Words: The Pete Sampras of American Pales. Along with Milkin It Productions’ sophisticated Axl Pale Ale, this is my favorite American Pale. Highly recommended.

Noble Chaos Oktoberfest

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Maker: Short’s, Bellaire, Michigan, USA

Style: Amber Ale (Marzen)

ABV: 5.75%

Appearance: Auburn with a clingy, foamy head.

Nose: Sweet, malty, slightly fruity

On the palate: medium-bodied, with a lot of sweetness and spicy hops on initial entry. Lots of malt, hoops, sweetness, whole wheat toast and a whiff of smoke. Not particularly complex but well-balanced and goes well with my lunch of saltines and summer sausage.

Finish: Long, hoppy and bitter, but not unpleasantly so.

Parting Words: This is a very well-executed edition of the classic malty Bavarian Oktoberfest-type beer. It’s more aggressive than most beers of the same style, but that’s not a bad thing. Recommended.

Boffo Brown Ale

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Maker: Dark Horse Brewing Co., Marshall, Michigan

Style: Brown Ale

ABV: ???

Appearance: Big pillowy head that takes a while to calm down. The body is chocolate brown.

Nose: Sweet and a little fruity and yeasty.

On the palate: Full-bodied. Nice balance of sweetness and bitterness. Like chocolate chip cookies chased with a shot of espresso. Closer to a porter than to a typical brown ale.

Finish: Roasty bitterness mitigated by some background sweetness.

Parting Words: Dark Horse is a brewery known for its ugly labels, and this one is one of the ugliest I’ve ever seen. It looks like it was drawn by a 6 year-old child with serious psychological problems. What’s inside more than makes up for it, though. This is a well-executed brown ale that goes well with beefy spicy food or on its own. Recommended.