Category Archives: Brews

Williamsburg Alewerks’ Coffeehouse Stout

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Williamsburg Alewerks’ Coffeehouse Stout pours up with head that fades quickly to a simple trim of bubbles around the edges.

The aroma gives you a reason to understand why this beer is call Coffeehouse. The coffee tones are mellow like an expresso from a deep French roasted bean. There is a little bit of chocolate malt in the aroma, too. You can almost miss it, but it is there.

The taste is crisp, but it is not from the carbonation. The body and temperature are contributing to the crispness in the mouth. The flavors flow all over the mouth due to the body of this beer. There is medium body, but it doesn’t get in the way. The coffee mocha flavors are what this beer is all about if you had briefly describe it.

This is a very enjoyable beer. With the low ABV of 5.4%, this beer could almost be a session beer, but you would have to be a fan of Stouts and American Brown Ales. So, this is a session beer for me.

Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale

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Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale pours with a small amount of head that fades to a thin trim of foam around the glass.

The aroma is a very dry mellow mocha with little to no flora from the hops as expected.

The tastes starts with a dry lightly carbonated chocolate malt flavor that reminds me of bitter chocolate, which I enjoy. The finish only gets drier with a mellowing of the chocolate tones. The malty flavors stick in the mouth due to the dryness.

This is a very good American Brown Ale.

Terrapin’s Hop Karma Brown IPA

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Terrapin’s Hop Karma Brown IPA has a mixture of aromas that include the cocoa aroma of a brown ale blended with hoppy flora of an IPA. Wow!

The beer poured with nice head that faded to a mild amount of lacing around the glass with minimal bubbles left.

The beer is crisp in the mouth with a nice strong mocha malt flavor that reminds me of Fuller’s London Porter. The hops kick in during the finish to provide a very good bit.

This beer has been a nice surprise and it will be one of my regular beers.

Firkin of Bell’s Holspam

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Bell’s Holspam, in the firkin, was exciting tonight at The Nook. Tina Anderson, from Bell’s Brewery, was in the house, too. Thanks for the shirt Tina.

The taste was very different from the bottled version. I would primarily say that the difference was in carbonation, which was much lower in the firkin. The lower carbonation highlighted the sweeter characteristics of the beer.

The hop profile in the firkin was very nice. I didn’t detect any differences between the firkin and bottled varieties, but I wouldn’t expect to have a difference.

I am looking forward to the keg tapping. I expect the keg to have a higher carbonation and be more similar to the bottles.

Bell’s Hopslam Ale 2011

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Bell’s Hopslam Ale is back for 2011.

The beer pours up with a very nice deep golden color. The head fades quickly to traces around the edge of the glass.

The aroma slaps you in the face with citrus and pine characteristics.

The flavor is full of citrus bitters with a very mellow hint in the background of malts.

You can without a doubt see why fans of this beer make plans every year for the release of it.

I am looking forward to tasting the draft and cask conditioned versions in the coming days.

Fuller’s ESB

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Fuller’s ESB is a very nice special bitters beer.

The beer pours up with minimal head and the color is a golden burnt orange.

The aroma is malty with a little fruitiness and the ever present hops.

The flavor starts right away with the bitters on the tongue. The bitters are blended with the malty tastes throughout the flavor all the way to the finish.

Fuller’s ESB is a very good session beer on the bitter side of things.