Day 98: Optimator

Name: Optimator

Brewer: Spaten

Style: Doppelbock

Alcohol Content: 7.2%


Review: I won't even pretend to keep up with this website. I'm busier than than a black lab in a buttsniffing competition. So the optimator is a dobbelbock. I'm not of a Bock guy. A little sweet for my taste. Optimator is brown and not very carbonated. Has a bit of a british hop aroma, but Bocks are all about Malt. Smooth, medium mouth feel. Initially a very sweet barley flavor that dies quickly into a smooth toastier sweet malt. It's a simple but good flavor, just not really my style. The finish gets a bit too sweet for me. I'm sure it's a decent bock, but I don't care to have one again.

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommend? Sure. I don't care for it, but bock lovers might appreciate it.

Day 97: FYIPA

Name: FYIPA

Brewer: Mountain Sun Brewery - Boulder, CO

Style: IPA

Alcohol Content: ?%


Review: I think I know why I forgot to review Mountain Sun for so long. I got pretty fucking hammered that night. I think I may have also tried the Ten Fidy and one of the Lost Abbey brews this same evening. They also say that the higher elevation can make the effects of alcohol feel even greater. I'm trying to decipher what I wrote, but it's a mishmash of information. I also accidentally checked Beer Advocate before writing this review. All in all, my reviews were pretty dead on with the general public. The one major difference was that I enjoyed the Annapurna Amber much more than most people. As for the FYIPA, again I agreed with the general public. In short, it's fantastic. The aroma just screams with super super fresh hops. When you drink the FYIPA at the brewery, I don't think it gets any fresher. I can't remember much about the experience of this beer, or the finish. All I know, is that I deinitely enjoyed it.

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend? YES

Day 93-96: Mountain Sun Sampler

Name: Mountain Sun Sampler

Brewer: Mountain Sun Brewery - Boulder, CO

Style: Various

Alcohol Content: Various


Review:Let's try something new. Because I have a number of average beers to review, I'll consolidate it into one entry. I'm trying to publish some work right now and finding that I have a lot to say... a little too much. This will be a good exercise in precision and word choice.

Blackberry Wheat: Pink/Red wheat beer with a typical wheat beer aroma and some fruitiness. It has some tartness to it, but lacks some raspberry punch that I was expecting. Quite drinkable for a flavored wheat, but just not what I was hoping for.

3/5

Claymore Scotch Ale: Dark Brown beer with low carbonation. Some dark toffee notes appear in the aroma. It goes down smooth with a bitter toasty flavor. It's not particularly great at anything though. Just ok.

2.5/5

Isadore Java Porter: Another dark beer, but with a thick creamy head because of the nitrous tap. I need to experiment with nitrous. It adds HP to your engine and thickens the head on your beer. It probably also does your homework, calls your girlfriend, takes out the garbage, gets you high, and makes slap bracelets cool again. The Isadore has a strong coffee aroma. Something I wouldn't have really appreciated about 3 or 4 years ago, but now I rather enjoy it. I would describe the flavor as "alcoholic coffee", with a malty coffee finish. Pretty tasty

3.5/5

Quinns Golden Ale: No review. Nothing special. Light, crisp, forgetful.

2.5/5


Rating: See reviews

Recommend? Skip the Coors brewery tour and head right for Mountain Sun instead.

Day 92: Kind Ale

Name: Kind Ale

Brewer: Mountain Sun Brewery - Boulder, CO

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content: ?%


Review: Yeah, I know what you're thinking. I'm not really sure if this is a picture of the Annapurna or the Kind Ale, so I simply used it for both reviews. The Kind Ale is the beer from Mountain Sun that really was the cat's pajamas. It had a dark amber color with medium carbonation and appeared to have a piney hop aroma. Kind of herbal. The feel was again a bit thin and watery, but it had a remarkably clean hoppy flavor. While the hops were the focus of the beer, they helped dial it back a bit with a good use of fruity malt flavor. Again, I was very impressed. I'm sure Mountain Sun's beers can vary from batch to batch, and given the excitement of being in Boulder and the freshness of the beers, my reviews may be a bit skewed. So, if you're seriously interested in corroborating my review or offering a different opinion, then please head to Boulder and try them for yourself. Props to Hemme for informing me about Mountain Sun. It was a 3 block walk away from where I was crashing for the weekend. If I left without experiencing this place I would have never forgiven myself.

Rating: 4/5

Recommend? YES

Day 91: Annpurna Amber

Name: Annapurna Amber

Brewer: Mountain Sun Brewery - Boulder, CO

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content: 6%


Review: Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I went to Boulder, sampled a number of Mountain Sun brews and TOTALLY forgot to review them immediately. How could a commit such a reprehensible error??? I'm not sure how to count this. I tried 6 or 7 of their beers, but only really reviewed a few of them, because some were simply 'ok'. I guess if I end up short at the end of the year, I can buy an easy 4 or 5 days of beers. So, my favorite of the Mountain Sun brews was the Annapurna Amber Ale. I'm not even sure that it's their most renowned, or the highest rated per Beer Advocate (I'll check after I write this review). So obviously it's an amber colored ale with a sweet fruity malty aroma. The mouth feel was a bit thinner than I expected it to be but had a very smooth mouth feel. The flavor was simple, but very pleasant. It had a sweet full "ale" flavor with some fruitiness and a strogn hop presence to balance it out. In my opinion, an excellent ale. Definitely try this one if you can.

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend? YES