Review: Weyerbacher Heresy

Weyerbacher Heresy
8.0% ABV

Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, PA

12 oz btl
Served in St. Bernardus chalice
No date on bottle
Reviewed on 4/28/13

This Russian imperial stout pours a thick dark brown color with a fairly dark beige head that dissipates somewhat quickly.  Good lacing.

Smell consists of malt, chocolae, some alcohol, slight soy sauce, some bourbon, touches of caramel and coffee.

Taste consists of dark chocolate, malt, some hops, some alcohol, coffee, caramel, slight breadiness, touch of whisky.

Mouthfeel is quite creamy and smooth on the palate.  Has a nice substantial thickness to it. Exceptional.

Overall, this is a solid tasting stout that has an exceptional mouthfeel due to its smoothness. The flavors here are quite good--perhaps not as bold as, recently, Heavy Seas Siren Noire and some other imperial stouts--but it's close enough.  The chocolate, malt, and coffee tastes are nice here, though the bottle description "aged in whiskey barrels" only reveals a hint of a whiskey taste.  Still, it's smooth, tasty, and relatively easy to drink.


My score: 93

Review: Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale

Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale
8.0% ABV

Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO

12 oz can
Served in Duvel tulip glass
Date on bottle: Canned on 11/27/12
Reviewed on 4/4/13 

This Scotch ale pours a dark, opaque amber color with a thick beige head that has decent retention.  Nice lacing.

Smell consists of hops, malt, caramel, alcohol, brown sugar, muted candy, spices.

Taste consists of hops, malt, chocolate (on the thin side), alcohol, caramel, brown sugar, raisin, cherry, mild citrus.

Mouthfeel is smooth yet earthy, with good bitterness at the back of the mouth.  Some dryness.  A bit thick on the tongue.

Overall, a solid tasting Scotch ale that has some good caramel and dark fruit tastes and some alcohol warmth.  Chocolate and brown sugar comes across as well, and there's decent bitterness and dryness mixed in.  Not overly familiar with the style, but this is a good beer.  Another solid offering from Oskar Blues.


My score: 91

Review: New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA

New Belgium Rampant Imperial IPA
8.5% ABV

New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, CO

12 oz btl
Served in Duvel tulip glass
Date on bottle:Best by 8/11/13
Reviewed on 4/25/13 

This IPA pours a light golden amber with a thick frothy head that has good retention.  Decent lacing and carbonation.

Smell consists of hops, grapefruit, some lemon, some orange, mild malt, some pine, floral and herbal notes, mild spice.

Taste consists of hops, citrus, grapefruit, some flat bitterness, mild lemon, touches of pine, floral and herbal notes, hint of spice.

Mouthfeel is fairly smooth with some decent bitterness.  At times, it's a bit flat and a touch thin for an IPA.

Overall, a decent tasting IPA that looks and smells great but falls apart some in the taste as it's a bit thin and flat.  Still, it's got a decent flavor profile with decent hops and citrus tastes coming through that are accented by pine and spice.  There are better tasting IPAs for sure, but this one mostly holds its own.


My score: 89

Review: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA
6.0% ABV
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
12 oz btl
Served in Duvel tulip glass
Bottled on 2/18/13
Reviewed on 4/13/13

This IPA pours a light golden amber color with a good bubbly white head.  Some decent carbonation evident.  Decent lacing.

Smell consists of hops, grapefruit, citrus, some malt, some pine, slight sugar.

Taste has hops, malt, grapefruit, citrus, pine, sugar, some wheat.  The malt complements the hops quite well.

Mouthfeel is fairly smooth on the palate with some good moderate dryness.  The malt and hops make this fairly well balanced.

Overall, a classic IPA from Dogfish Head that has a strong malt backbone (in classic DFH style) balanced with decent hoppiness.  This is not the dry, bitter hoppiness of West Coast IPAs (which I love), but it's a solid offering from the East Coast with quite a lot to like.  Fresh and citrusy, as sessionable in taste as an IPA can be.

My score: 91  

Review: Port City Porter

Port City Porter
7.2% ABV

Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, VA
12 oz btl

Served in Dogfish Head Signature Glass
No date on bottle

Reviewed on 4/17/13

This porter pours a thick dark brown color with a good beige head that has decent retention.  Decent lacing.

Smell consists of malt, chocolate, coffee, some hops, slight soy sauce, hint of caramel, hint of floral.

Taste consists of chocolate, coffee, malt, hops, caramel, touch of licorice, sugar, soy sauce, some bitterness.

Mouthfeel is smooth and velvety on the tongue with a good dry/bitter kick at the end.

Overall, nice tasting porter that's fairly smooth and creamy at the front and becomes somewhat dry and bitter on the back end.  Nice flavor profile comes through that has decent richness, even if overall it's not overly distinctive from other similar porters and stouts.  First offering from Port City that I've tried, and it gets a solid thumbs up.

My score: 90

Review: Moab Desert Select Ale

Moab Desert Select Ale
8.59% ABV

Moab Brewery, Moab, UT

32.8 oz ceramic swing top bottle
Served in Duvel tulip glass
No date on bottle
Reviewed on 3/28/13

This black imperial IPA pours a fairly dark color with a thick and frothy light beige head that has quite good retention.

Smell consists of hops, malt, some citrus, spice, floral, herbal, pepper, some chocolate, rye, some bread.

Taste consists of hops, malt, coffee, chocolate, rye, bread, pepper, floral and herbal notes, slight soy sauce.

Mouthfeel as some good dryness and bitterness right at the front.  Fairly smooth and even on the palate.

Overall, this is a nice tasting black imperial IPA that has a nice flavorful profile that has shades of Heavy Seas Black Cannon and even Firestone Walker Wookey Jack. Fairly hoppy, malty with chocolate and coffee flavors, and distinctive rye and floral/herbal notes.  A nice find at Shab Row Bistro in Frederick, Maryland.  A huge bottle and somewhat pricey, but from a brewery that I haven't seen available elsewhere (so I couldn't pass it up).  The reviews online are so-so (what review there are--it's pretty much unreviewed), but I found it to be quite nice.

My score: 90

Review: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
9.0% ABV
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
12 oz btl
Served in Duvel tulip glass
Bottled on 2/20/13
Reviewed on 3/13/13

This IPA pours a solid amber color with a mild golden tint.  Nice bubbly white head that has good retention.  Good lacing.

Smell consists of hops, malt, citrus, some oak/wood notes, notes of sugar and grapefruit, hints of dark fruit and spice.

Taste has dry, somewhat bitter hops, malt, citrus, grapefruit, sugar, some prune/raisin type notes.  A nice, crisp, fresh taste.

Mouthfeel is smooth and dry, with a serious mix of hops and malt hitting the palate.  Nice balance of flavors.

Overall, great tasting IPA that is fresh enough to have some serious hoppiness and also have a strong malt backbone. Quite dry, somewhat bitter, with citrus notes like grapefruit, and good hints of prunes and raisins.  This is my second review of this beer (first posted here), and this time it's quite fresh and much more hoppy than I recall (going by the bottle date, it's only 3 weeks old).  Still one of my all-time favorites--number two on "My Current Top Ten."

My score: 98

American Craft Beer Week: May 13-19

American Craft Beer Week starts tomorrow.  So, have a craft beer or two this week!  Here at A Specific Gravity, we'll be posting a new review each day to celebrate the occasion.