Mould's Beer Blog

I don't have a review lined up for today, so I think I'm going to start a Wednesday Blogshare, where I'll be posting links to articles from some of the blogs/review sites I follow.  Enjoy! BrewChief :  These guys are great at writing up reviews of beers.  They know how to describe a beer in such a way that you can almost see it, smell it, and taste it.  Click here for their review of Harpoon Brewery's 100 Barrel Series #42 Ginger Wheat! Beer-Stained Letter :  A website and blog devoted to New Jersey's beer industry.  The link leads you to Beer-Stained Letter's article about the new brewery and brewpub laws the NJ governor recently signed into law.  Click here for the article! Ghost Drinker :  I have only recently been following Ghost Drinker's blog, but I like what I've been reading so far.  Here's an article Ghost Drinker wrote about the different styles of IPAs as seen through his eyes.  Just follow this link to Ghost Drinker's article!

This is my fourth and final review of the 2012 release of Sierra Nevada's Beer Camp series.  I'll be trying the Floral IPA, and it is 5.9% ABV. On the back of the 12 oz. bottle:  " This unique take on the traditional IPA style pairs the bold and intense of whole-cone hop "flowers" with aromatic natural rose hips and petals for complex aromas and unexpected flavors." Pours into my Dogfish Head pint glass an unfiltered, golden orange color.  Lots of floaters are present in this one.  The aroma is mainly pine and grapefruit from the hops used, and I don't get much else.  The taste is full of the pine and grapefruit, and also has a little bit of tartness, which I assume is from the rose hips and petals?  The hop bitterness lingers in my mouth after taking a drink.  To me, it's a fairly typical IPA with just a hint of "something else."  It's definitely worth a taste if you see it around! Have you had this beer?  What did yo

It's Sunday night, and I'm excited!  I normally wouldn't be so excited for a Sunday night, because Sunday means tomorrow is Monday, and Monday is work.  But this Sunday night is different, because in one week, my wife Kerry and I are going to Maine for a vacation!  We can't wait to go up there, relax, see some sights, and bring home some good beer!  I think we'll also be visiting Atlantic Brewing Company near Bar Harbor.   My third beer review in the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp 2012 release is the Imperial Pilsner.  Imperial Pilsner is a style I don't have have much experience with.  A few years ago I tried Dogfish Head's My Antonia, and I remember enjoying it, so I have high hopes for this beer! This was the description on the back of the bottle: "Packing a big hop-forward punch and bright crisp finish, this golden pilsner features a hearty dose of "sticky," resinous Crystal and Pacifica dry hops, which balance the light-bodied yet complex

The second beer I'm tasting from the 2012 Sierra Nevada Beer Camp is #45, an Oatmeal Stout.  It comes in at 9% ABV.  This will be a great beer to sip on and have some dessert with to celebrate the season premiere of The Office! Poured into my Dogfish Head snifter.  This beer is black, no question about that.  Only a small light brown head.  Minimal lacing.  It looks fantastic.  Smells of roasted malts, dark roast coffee, and chocolate.  The taste is very smooth, but leaves a bit of bitterness and a small alcohol burn on my tongue.  The taste is mainly of roasted coffee and dark chocolate.  It goes great with the dark chocolate chip/pecan cookies my wife made!  Halfway through the Beer Camp beers, and this one is my favorite so far! Have you had this beer yet?  What did you think?  Did you taste anything I didn't?  Feel free to use the comments! Click  here for my review of the Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Imperial Red Ale!

This is my first post in a series of reviews where I'll be trying the Sierra Nevada's 2012 Beer Camp beers.  This year there is an Imperial Red Ale, Imperial Pilsner, Floral IPA, and an Oatmeal Stout.  They are all available in a twelve pack at most good liquor stores. The Imperial Red Ale clocks in at 8.1%.  It poured into my Dogfish Head snifter with about a finger and half width of head, which fell to half a finger width and stuck around for quite awhile. Lots of lacing left on the glass.  It was a dark, dark red beer which really looked great when looking at it in front of a light.  When I initially swirl the glass, the aroma is full of fruit and a bit of pine.  When the beer settled and I really got my nose in there, I picked up some caramel and toffee.  The taste follows the aroma quite nicely, and the hop bitterness sticks in my mouth after drinking.  Definitely a good beer, give it a try! If you've had this, what did you think of it?  Feel free to use the com

I decided to branch out a little bit and try some brews from a brewing company I don't have much experience with.  As part of a mix a six pack from the Wegmans in Bridgewater, NJ, I picked up three brews from Abita Brewing Company.  I chose their Jockamo IPA, Amber and Pecan Harvest Ale.  It's awesome that Wegmans set up this mix a six pack program.  I love being able to try six different beers with one trip to the store! Logo from www.abita.com Abita Brewing Company is located in Abita Springs, Louisiana, about forty miles north of New Orleans.  They've been making beer since 1986, and according the Brewers Association (http://www.brewersassociation.org/), Abita is the 25th largest brewing company in the United States, based on 2011 beer sales. Best by stamp of December 2012 The Jockamo IPA pours amber in color.  It needed a little time to warm up for me to get any aroma.  When it did, it smelled a mix of citrus and caramel malt.  Citrus and pine from hops, a

The first day of fall isn't until September 22, but the weather here in NJ is telling a different story.  Jogging has been great in the relatively cooler temps we've been having, and with high temps only in the 70s for the next 10 days, and relatively low humidity, those pumpkin and Oktoberfest beers that have been on the liquor store shelves for the last month (or in some cases longer), are finally starting to look good!  I picked up a 6-pack of Cricket Hill's Fall Festivus from Little Brothers Beverage Outlet in Flemington, NJ.  Cricket Hill is a brewery in Fairfield, NJ, not too far from where I live.  I really need to make the short trip up to Fairfield to check them out! According to Cricket Hill's website, their Fall Festivus is 4.8% and 42 IBUs.  It pours a copper/orange color, with about a two finger width head that sticks around for awhile.  Hops in the aroma and taste, mostly piney.  There's a slight biscuity flavor.  That's about it.  I expected

It was almost the middle of August, and I found myself just feeling really lazy and disappointed with myself that I had let the summer go by without upping my fitness game into gear.  I decided it was time to do something about it.  Being a sucker for GPS tracking and fitness statistics, I decided to give Runkeeper (www.runkeeper.com) a try.  I have an old smartphone, an HTC Eris, which can really slow down trying to run a lot of newer apps.  The Runkeeper app works great on the Eris.  Very simple to use, didn't slow down my phone, and it's helped keep me active, the most important thing! In August, I jogged/walked/cycled a total of 22.4 miles.  Since I only began on August 13, that's really more for half a month.  Most of my runs were for little more than a mile, but I was happy with my results.  I just tell myself that it's going to be slow going, and not to lose motivation!  If you're interested in following my Runkeeper, just go to this link --> http://ru

It had been awhile since my wife Kerry and I had gone to visit a new brewery (at least new to us), so we decided to ring in September with a trip to Captain Lawrence Brewing Company's new brewery in Elmsford, NY.  Captain Lawrence had originally been located in Pleasantville, NY since 2006, but with the growing need to expand, moved into the Elmsford facility and began brewing beer in late 2011/early 2012. This was the first time we went to a brewery's tasting room and had to show our ID and get a wristband from a bouncer!  We were thinking it may be because of the close proximity to NYC, or maybe it just shows how popular with the locals this brewery is getting.  To get into the taproom, we paid $2 each, and got a Captain Lawrence tasting glass to use in the tasting room, and we got to bring it home!  The bouncer suggested we bring it back the next time we come to the brewery.  I'm guessing we would still have to pay the $2 though, which I will gladly do. Tons