Mould's Beer Blog

I've had some really great and interesting beers over the last week.  In this new post series, I'm going to highlight my favorite beers from the last week or so.  Hope you enjoy reading!  Suggestions and comments are always welcome! Mission St 2013 Anniversary Ale (Trader Joe's) Steinhaus Brewing Co. (brewed at Firestone Walker in Cali) 8.5% ABV I wasn't really sure what to expect from this beer, but it took me by surprise.  They say it is is blend of three different brews, and when it all comes together the final product is an imperial brown ale.  There was lots of malt, a little roast, and a full, creamy body.  I was surprised how fast I made it through the whole bottle.  There wasn't the slightest hint of the 8.5% ABV.  If more brown ales tasted like this, I would probably drink them more often. Mission St. 2013 Anniversary Ale from Trader Joe's Hitachino Nest XH Kiuchi Brewery 7% ABV Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nest XH is one

This is the first article in a new series of posts, where I will periodically choose a section from the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) style guidelines , write about the style, and then drink and publish my tasting notes from some of the commercial examples given by the BJCP.  Now, I'm not sure if I will ever actually take the exam to become a beer judge, but I think this will be a fun exercise to learn more about beer! Fair warning, I will not be doing the sections of the BJCP style guidelines in any sort of order.  Whichever kinds of beer I am craving is what I will be writing about! Strong Scotch Ales (also known as Wee Heavy) comprise sub-category 9E in the BJCP style guidelines.  They range between 6.5% and 10.0% ABV, and have a light copper to dark brown appearance.  Obviously, strong scotch ales are all about showcasing the malt.  While studying this style, I found it quite interesting that the brewers ferment out the wort at cooler temperatures than other

Hey all, thanks for coming by!  Every now and then while Kerry and I are shopping at our local Wegmans supermarket, we take a stroll through their mix a six-pack area to see if they have anything unique.  They have one of the largest mix a six-pack areas I've seen.  A lot of the selection is seasonal and flagship beers, but every now and then we find some special releases mixed in.  Last month, they had some 21st Amendment Lower de Boom!  I quickly put two in our six-pack, one to drink now and another to save in the cellar. All 8.4 fl. oz. of Lower de Boom After checking out 21st Amendment's website , I learned that Lower de Boom is part of the Insurrection Series.  The other two beers listed as part of the Insurrection series are Marooned on Hog Island and Hop Crisis.  I have high hopes for this beer, let's see what it's made of! Lower de Boom 21st Amendment Brewery American Barleywine 11.5% ABV,  92 IBUs Canned on 02/05/13 Enjoyed on 06/12/13

Session beers are a popular topic in the United States these days.  The exact definition of session beer changes depending on who you are talking to, but everyone can agree that there is a need for lower alcohol beers that have just as much flavor as higher alcohol beers.   The Just Beer Project is looking to provide just that for beer consumers.  Their mission is to "deliver beer drinkers un-complicated world-class craft brews that are delightful in their simplicity."  That's all well and good, but what interests me most about The Just Beer Project is that it is one of the projects of Alchemy and Science. Alchemy and Science is a venture created by Magic Hat Brewing Company co-founder Alan Newman and first Magic Hat employee Stacey Steinmetz.  Unsure of what exactly they wanted to do with Alchemy and Science, a few meetings with Jim Koch (Boston Beer Co.) started a partnership they knew they wanted to be involved in.  Now an "independently operating sub

I couldn't believe I had missed out when a collaboration between Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery and Hans-Peter Drexler of Schneider Weisse was released.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of it until  +L Allen Huerta  mentioned that he was looking for the beer, Hopfen Weisse, because it was in the book " 1001 Beers You Must Drink Before You Die ."   Schneider Weisse Hopfen Weisse Reading up on the collaboration revealed that there were two versions of Hopfen Weisse brewed.  One was brewed by Hans-Peter Drexler in Brooklyn Brewery, while the other by Garrett Oliver in Schneider Weisse's German brewery.  Each version was brewed to showcase each respective brewery's locally grown hop varieties.  In this case, Garrett Oliver's version was dry hopped with Hallertauer Saphir from Germany, while Hans-Peter Drexler's was dry hopped with Amarillo and Palisade hops from America I couldn't find a bottle from Brooklyn Brewery, but I did manage to f

A few weeks ago, Kerry and I finally made the trip down Rte 95 to Croydon, PA and paid a visit to Neshaminy Creek Brewing.  Neshaminy Creek opened around 1 year ago, and is actually having a 1st anniversary bash on June 9th.  We arrived too late to take tours of the brewery, but they had 6 beers on tap in their awesome taproom to try.  On tap was: Trauger Pilsner County Line IPA   Tribute Tripel Croydon Cream Ale Mudbank Milk Stout Dunks Ferry Dunkelweizen They were all very solid beers, at least from the taster cups we sampled from.  They were selling 2 of their beers, County Line IPA and Tribute Tripel, in 22 oz. bottles, so Kerry and I picked up 1 of each.  Here are my tasting notes on the IPA!   County Line IPA Neshaminy Creek Brewing American IPA 6.6% ABV Neshaminy Creek Brewing County Line IPA County Line IPA poured a vivid orange-amber color with a finger width white head.  The aroma and flavor were very hop forward, full of onion, pine and c