Category: Beer

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

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Maker: Alltech Brewing, Lexington, Kentucky

Style: Barrel-aged ale

ABV: 8.19%

Appearance: Light amber with a decent foamy head.

Nose: Sweet, roasted grain, dry and tangy, sundried tomatoe, tiny bit of wood.

On the Palate:  Medium bodied and fizzy. Rich, more of that sweet tomato taste, roasted grain, vanilla.

Finish: The bourbon influence comes in here strongest. Sweet bourbon flavors jump out at the top: sweet corn, vanilla, a bit of spicey, fruity rye perhaps.

Parting words:  More bourbon than barrel, this ale tastes like a pre-mixed version of a boilermaker. The bourbon and ale flavors don’t fully integrate and they seem to be fighting each other on the tongue. This is where busyness overwhelms balance. Still, the result is pleasant enough if you like bourbon and ale. Worth a purchase.

Loch Down Scotch Ale

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Maker: Arcadia, Battle Creek, Michigan, USA

Style: Scotch Ale

ABV: 8%

Appearance: Dark coffee brown, with a good head with an ivory foam.

Nose: Caramel-chocolate chip brownies

On the palate: Full-bodied. A nice hit of bitter chocolate or maybe full city roast coffee. This is tempered by just the right amount of sweetness, to bring a smile to the drinker’s face, instead of a grimace. Very nicely done.

Parting Words: This is the last of our little run of Michigan-made Scotch ales and it’s nice to be ending on a high note. This is a fine, hearty, porter-esque Scotch ale that works well with food or as a meal in itself. When Arcadia plays to its strengths, British ales, it’s the finest brewery in Michigan. Highly recommended.

Oberon

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Maker: Bell’s, Comstock/Kalamazoo, Michigan

Style: Wheat Ale

ABV: 5.8%

Appearance: Cloudy gold with moderate head.

Nose: Sweet, floral.

On the palate: Medium bodied. Rounded and light, a little sweet and a little fruity but dry for a wheat ale overall. A nice hit of bitter hops on the back end.

Finish: the hops persist in the finish for a long time but eventually fade.

Parting Words: Oberon is Michigan’s best known and most celebrated beer. What makes it successful as a summer ale is that it does not have some of the off-putting (to some) aspects of wheat beers. It avoids being a “banana bomb”, like many wheat beers, with deft use of hops. The sweet fruitiness wheat brings to beer is present but kept in check. Oberon is old news to many Michigan microbrew enthusiasts but it remains one of America’s finest ales. Recommended. Summer wouldn’t taste like summer without it!

Ole Ore Dock Scottish Ale

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Maker: Keweenaw, South Range, Michigan

Style: Scotch Ale

ABV: ???

Appearance: Medium hazy brown. Nice, but not obnoxious head.

Nose: Fruity and sweet but pretty mild.

On the palate: vVry tangy like tomato ketchup. Nearing the finish a bitter note runs out of the bushes, slaps you in the face and then
runs away laughing.

Finish: The finish is mercifully short and unremarkable.

Parting Words: First let me say that I have loved everything else I have ever had from Keweenaw. That said, this is an awful beer. It’s like drinking cheap, over-sweet, half-spoiled tomato ketchup, but worse. Buy loads of beer from Keweenaw, but don’t buy this until it gets fixed. Terrible.

Scotty Karate

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Maker: Dark Horse, Marshall, Michigan

Style: Scotch Ale

ABV: 9.75%

Appearance: Dark reddish brown with a moderate
head.

Nose: Sweet and a little tangy, with a hint of City Roast coffee but not quite Full City.

On the palate: Medium bodied, Surprisingly sweet and fruity. This is a more complex beer than Dirty Bastard, but lacks a bit in subtlety. The tang and bitterness both seem to be turned up to 11 instead of harmonizing.

Finish: The bitterness takes the lead in the finish. The sweetness perseveres in the form of a slight stickyness on the lips.

Parting words: Like I mentioned above Scotty Karate lacks in subtlety, but makes up for it in complexity and just overall interest. This is a very well-done beer, works well with or without food and is highly recommended.

Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale

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Maker: Founder’s, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Style: Scotch Ale

ABV: 8.5%

Appearance: Dark brown like over-steeped Ceylon tea.

Nose: I know it sounds bizarre, but my first thought was home-made French fries. A little bitter, a little burnt, but sweet and starchy.

On the palate: Full-bodied and rich. Well balanced with sweet toffee and caramel backed up by some of that bitter, burnt starch taste.

Finish: The bitterness teeters on the edge of unpleasantness but never quite falls into the abyss.

Parting words: This is a very dry Scotch Ale, but it still is able to maintain good balance between the bitter roasted flavors and the caramel and candy flavors. A good solid ale.

Brik Red Ale

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Maker: Milking It Productions, Royal Oak, Michigan

Style: Irish Red Ale

ABV: ???

Appearance: Big frothy head. The color lives up to its name, deep brick red, slightly cloudy.

Nose: toasty malt, with robust sweetness.

On the palate: Malty and bitter, exquisitely balanced by a rich sweetness.

Finish: delicate sweetness with a pleasant lingering bitterness.

Parting Words: I was skeptical of trying this beer when I saw it in the grocery store. Like many, when I see the words “Irish Red” on a bottle my mind jumps to Killian’s, the allegedly Irish Red beer produced by that great old Irish brewery Coor’s and which was often sold at import prices by the proprietors of Neighborhood restaurants. I now publically apologize to Milking It Productions or my lack of faith. This is a beefy, complex but balanced ale. It is big enough to have with a meal and subtle enough to drink on its own. Or is it the other way around? At any rate, Brik is highly recommended. The fact that it comes in pint cans is a nice bonus.

Review: Atwater Dunkel

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Maker: Atwater Block Brewery, Detroit, Michigan

Style: Dark Lager

ABV: 5.2%

Appearance: Big persistant foamy head. Dark coffee brown.

Nose: Malt, fresh roasted coffee.

On the palate: more coffee, quite dry and bitter.
Finish: coffee coffee coffee, French roast to be specific.

Parting words: My take on this beer seemed to change every time I drank it. I can’t quite pin it down. This last time, I didn’t care too much for it, frankly. It is too far on the roasty toasty side of things. Almost burnt. If I had written this review a few months ago, this may have been more positive. Right, now, I cannot recommend Atwater Dunkel. It is unbalanced.

Review: Sky High Rye

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Maker: Arcadia Ales, Battle Creek, MI

Style: Rye Beer

ABV: 6%

Appearance: Persisant creamy head. Slightly Cloudy Blonde color.

Nose: Malty, spicey, citrus, hops.

On the Palate: medium-bodied, nice bitterness balanced with a bit of citrus sweetness, lime, lemongrass, cardamom, black pepper.

Finish: Light and sweet with a little bit of bitterness.

Parting Words: Sky High Rye is a much more balanced beer than Red’s Rye PA. The bitter, sour and sweet are superbly balanced. Add a little fish sauce and this could pass for Pad Thai. It’s not nearly as aggressive and punchy as Red’s but this is a subtle and refreshing, “thinking person’s” beer. Highly recommended.

Review: Red’s Rye PA

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Maker: Founder’s, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Style: Rye Beer (in an IPA style)

ABV: 6.6%

Appearance: Big foamy head that sticks to the top of the glass. Body is pretty, slightly cloudy auburn.

Nose: Sweet, and fruity with a bit of spice

On the palate: The promise of the nose is brought to fruition: like eating a slice of slightly overripe mango with black pepper. The sweetness gets sweeter and the spice gets spicier. This beer has a big impact, but is never obnoxious or overbearing, to me anyway. As it sits in the glass, the spice component gets bigger and bigger and it starts to become more of a conventional IPA, albeit a very tasty one.

Finish: Long, and pleasantly bitter, with spice notes lingering as long as the hoppy bitterness does.

Parting words: This is a very well-executed beer, and for once that is not intended to be a back-handed complement. The big hops fit with the big spice and fruit rye brings to the party. I’m not a hop-head, but even I enjoyed it. Red’s Rye PA is recommended if you need some spice in your life.