Charlotte NC April 2024

Protagonist Brewing 4/15/24

Gwen, Hazy honey pale ale, 5.5%, honey taste dud not present itself, tropical and citrus notes, good beer but different

Mercury, Hazy IPA, 7.0%, Tropical notes, side of citrus and very mellow, very drinkable.

The Boss, Hazy IPA 7.5%, a little bitter, tropical, juicy, fruity..

Catherine, 6%, sour, strawberry based, tart but not lemonade tart. Brett yeast maybe.

Galileo, BA barley wine 13%, cherry, nutty, whiskey taste on the back side.

Copernicus, 13%, BA stout, bourbon, chocolate, oak, whiskey back, good taste.

Copernicus with vanilla, 13%, same as above but vanilla forward. Sweeter due to big vanilla taste. 

Charlotte trip 4/15/2024

Sugar Creek Brewing, Charlotte

Big Chill IPA, 7.2%, a crisp crushable Hazy IPA, with a clean finish.  Ann indifferent, Ron likes

Unlimited Juice IPA, 6.5%, very fragrant nose, tropical fruit, basic hazy, tropical nose, good fruut finish. 

Hi-Creek Fruit Punch, 6.0%, light tropical, fruited sour, nice raspberry all sour on tongue. 

Path to Enlightenment, 7% WC IPA, low IBU, smooth IPA, nose, very good. 

City Barrell Brewing KC MO. IPAs

Dad Jokes IPA with Galaxy hops released on 6/6/19, very good beer, not bitter, unique drinkable. 

Rad AF, double dry hopped hazy IPA, 6.4%, good beer, drinkable, good beer drink this one. 

Scooter Weather, the passion fruit mellows it out a bunch, smooth drinking, 7.2% abv, good beer. 
Trouble, west coast IPA, melon, citrus and dank, more bitter, not citrusy as the Scooter or Rad. 

Austin micro breweries 9/30/2018 to 10/4/2018

Visited 33 microbreweries in Austin, TX region. Standouts were Jester King, Lazarus, Sean Patrick in San Marcos.  Had a new style IPA, a Brut IPA, very dry, no sugar, developed in CA in April 2018.  A lot of good IPAs in Austin that ate well worth the visit. 

Black Horse Brewing, Knoxville, TN

Blackhorse IPA, American IPA, 70 ibu, 7.2%, citrus nose, mild not high citrus like we have had before.
Coalminers Stout, oatmeal Stout, 35 ibu, 5.5%, smells like a Stout, nice Stout taste.  Good everyday Stout. 
Barnstormer Red, 24 ibu, 5.2%, Amber color, good Ted taste, smooth.  Very mild. 
Bijou Pale Ale, 33 ibu, 5.5%, weird after taste, some spice I cannot identify. 

Coalition Brewing

Roselandia, Rose petals sour, 5 ibu, 5.5%, kettle soured golden ale, added rose cordial, which is syrup made from rose petals, medium sour, added rose water after to get a floral nose. 

Two Flowers, 55 ibu, 6%, bitter start, slight bitter finish, has CBD infused into the beer, weed and hops together.  OMG, Ann is smiling, the CBD improves brain and liver function.  Only brewery adding CBD to beer. 

Take Me For Pomegranite, POM sour, 5 ibu, 6.0%, POM nose, slight tart taste, tart in the middle of my tongue, okay but Rose better. 

Stones Throw, Apricot sour, 5 ibu, 5%, tastes like apricot, slight sour, Fan let kes this one. 

Space Fruit, citrus IPA, 50 ibu, 7.0%, good citrus nose and taste, good beer. 

Base Camp Brewing

Lil Grom Hazy Pale, 24 ibu, 5%, fresher than fresh, a West coast Belgium hazy, wit beer.  Wheat with small hops.  Soso

Ultra Gnar Gnar IPA, 60 Ibu, 6.7%, barley and oats six Oregon hops, metallic taste, not the best IPA that we have had.

Smooth Hoperator, hop infused, Ann has an anchovie beginning, different. 

Pow Pow Cherry Porter, 30 ibu, 5.6%, cherry finish, dragon cherry puree, BA oak,  nice clean nose, regular Porter beginning. 

S'more Stout, they charr dini marchmellows on the rim of the glass, 66 ibu, 7.2%, slight smoke nose, sweet finish, both girls like it.  ⭐⭐ From Ann and Fran.

Cherry Nomadic, double IPA, 70 ibu, 9.0%, Strong IPA nose, hearty IPA, with Brett yeast, leans it to the Belgium side, finishes Belgium, starts slight sour. 

Wayfinder Brewing

Marzenbier, Springtime March Lager, 19 ibu, 5.5%, touch of light toffee, spicy delicate hop, they the body is warming and pronounced but finishes dry and moreish.  German lager, good finish, could buy if only one. 

Flower in the Kettle, hazy IPA, 62 ibu, 6.7%, good NE hazy IPA, good beer.  

Doomtown, West Coast IPA, 75 ibu, 7.5%, a West coast IPA. Okay beer. 

Full of Fire, Smoked Porter, 33 ibu, 5.3%, dry with beechwood smoke and roast upfront, and smooth maltiness in the background.  Smokey nose, smoke taste, could be better with smoked meats.  Porter backside. 

Erath Winery, Oregon

Chardonnay, White Pinot, and then more Pinot Noirs. 
 

Cascade Brewing, Portland, OR

Cascade IPA, 50 ibu, 6.1%, hops are Columbus, Cent, Mosaic, Citra, Idaho 7 & English malts,v

Spring IPAnox, 50 ibu, 6.4©, Jarrylo and Dr. Rudi hops,

Puppy Kisses, 69 ibu, 7.2%, Citra, Sim, El Dorado hops, tastes like the other two. 

Diesel 2017, 52 ibu, 10%, imperial stout, aged in Heaven Hill bourbon and Pinot Noir barrels, good nose, good bourbon taste, a good likeness to KBS.  Good beer. 

One way or Another barrel aged triples, Marion Berries and Never lemon, 7.9%, Ann likes it.  Could drink a glass. 

Midnight Bramble, 6.6%, wheat & blonde ales, red & black raspberries with ginger & thyme.  Rasp nose, sour in the middle of my tongue.  Berry taste. 

Shreiking Violet, 10.7%, blonde and quad ales, aged in wine and bourbon Barrels with fresh blueberries, blueberry sour taste as a finish. 

Sang Noir 2016, 10.1%, imperial red ales aged in Bourbon and wine barrels with Bing Cherries. Cherry finish, sour in the middle of my tongue. 

Baerlic Brewing

New Noise IPA, 6%, refreshing, good finish, good beer.  70 ibu, Stone fruit,

What the Fluff, NW Hazy, 6.5%, 60 Ibu, rind finish.  Not one I would order. 

Shop Class single hop IPA, Azacca hops, 65 ibu, 5.7%, sits differently on the tongue,  grass, metal, soso. 

New Noise best of three. 

Gigantic Brewing, Portland OR

Gigantic IPA, 6.9%, citrus nose, good hops 85 ibu

Pipewrench, gin barrel aged IPA, gin nose, 8.0%, Ginny. 85 ibu

Ginormous Imperial IPA, 8.8%, floral hops nose, not citrus, 100 plus ibu, 7 mighty hops.  Not bitter.  Good beer, small after taste,

MTMF Haze coconut IPA, 7.5%, hazey IPA,
Multi Tasking Mother F#@ker, no coconut nose, no coconut taste, no bitter after taste.  25 ibu

Glow Cloud Hazy IPA, 7.0%, a smooth IPA, slight citrus, 65 ibu, good beer. 

High Fidelity IPA, 6.2%, just a beer, no hops taste.  

Best of the batch was the Glow Cloud. 

Modern Times Brewing

Booming Rollers, IPA, brewed in PDX, 80 ibu, 6.8%, juicy, Citra forward IPA, w/Motueka & Centennial hops.  Citrus nose, citrus finish, good beer.  

Disruptive Blade, Hazy IPA, 55 ibu, 7.25%, Whitbread yeast, Citra, Simcoe, & Centennial hops, citrus and Stone fruit, good citrus nose, brewed in LA, good finish.  Drinkable fruit. 

Outside World, Hazy double IPA, 55 ibu, 8.5%, Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, Idaho 7, hops.  Different nose, slight peach upfront, finishes like nectarine.  Good beer. 

Monsters' Park, imperial stout aged in Jamaican rum barrels, 60 Ibu, 14.2%, spices nose, cardamon, rum comes out, sweet finish, different may not bey first or second choice. 

Wizard Blend, blend of imperial stouts, six different imperial stouts blended together,  
Rum barrels, bourbon barrels, Brandy Barrels, Four in Bourbon barrels, one in Brandy and one in rum.  30 ibu, only 10.3%.   holy comoly.  Great nose, good alcohol blend, not too sweet not too alcohol, good beer. 

Hair of the Dog Brewing, Portland, OR

Blue Dot, Double IPA, 7.0%, hoppy without being overly bitter, per brewer.  fruit finish, clean nose, very smooth double IPA.  80 ibu..organic pillsner rye malts.  NW hops

Fred, Golden Strong Ale, produced with rye and Belgium Candi sugar, 10.%, not necessarily a beer I would not order 65 ibu, 10 different hop varieties.
 
Adam, Dark ale, notes of chocolate, leather & smoke, 10%, smoke nose, 50 ibu, Ron has a leather nose and smoke taste.  NW Hops, recreation of an old German dark ale. 

Fred aged in a concrete egg, the Stone, way minerally, dirt or grass finish per Ann and Fran, neither likes it. 

Fred aged in Bourbon barrel, way better than Fred from Stone, 12%, bourbon nose, the bourbon compliments the sweet and tones down the sugar in Fred.  Good beer, probably best of the lot for me. 

Migration Brewing Portland, OR

Luscious Lupulin IPA, 77 ibu, 6.5%, big citrus and piney resin, good nose, beer with hops in it, soso beer. 

Exit 13 IPA, 65 ibu, 6.6%, interesting hoppy taste, soso beer.  

Straight Outta Portland IPA, 69 ibu, 7.3%, West coast IPA, tropical juicy aromatics, citrus finish, long finish, good beer, would order. 

Outlaw Josey Wales, NW Red Ale, 46 ibu, 6%, lack luster ale. 

Old Silenus Strong Ale, 75 ibu, 7.8%, hop forward, they say hints of cherry cocoa, don't taste cherry or cocoa. Would not be at the top of my list.  Or middle.

Paddy o'ale irish Stout, 45 ibu, 4.3%, A Guinness IPA, or weak Guinness.  Would not order again. 

Three Mugs Brewing, Hillsboro, OR

Obsession for Session IPA, 60 Ibu, 5.1%, nice nose, taste of apricot. Little hint on back sides of tongue.  Good beer. 

Hoppy in Paradise, passion fruit IIPA, 92 ibu,  9.0%, passion fruit nose, passion fruit taste, if you like the flavor okay.  If you don't like passion fruit don't drink it. 

Damsels Desire White Chocolate Ale, 12 ibu, 6.5%, white blonde, white chocolate nose, very sweet taste, you have to want the sweet to like this.  Different beer.  Like almond bark. 

Unforgivable Sin BA Imperial Porter, 40 ibu, 10.5%,  sweet finish, dark color, diff on back sides of tongue, drinkable Porter, good beer. 

No sour Mugs In The IPA Room, sour IPA, 6.7%, 65 ibu, IPA nose, not really not that sour, okay but what I would call a sour beer. 

Cascadian Coffee Ale, 7.6%, coffee nose, coffee finish, slight acidic taste from the coffee.

Pelican Brewing, Tillamook, OR

Kiwanda Cream Ale, 25 ibu, 5.4%, nice clean finish ale, good every day drinker, would order. 

Sea'N Red, Irish style red ale, no nose, a clean red ale.  25 ibu, 5.4%. 

Five Fin, West coast pilsner, 45 ibu, 5.3%, good pilsner, clean finish. 

Tsunami Stout, 45 ibu, 7%, good Stout nose, clean taste, good Stout finish.  Good drinker.

Umbrella, New World IPA, 60 Ibu, 7.4%, cotrus nose, very tasty, clean finish, good beer. 

Beak Bender, hoppinated IPA, 65ibu, 6.7%, small Hop after taste, still a good drinking IPA.  Would buy.

Beak Breaker, Double IPA, 90ibu, 9%, good nose, good hop finish, good beer.  Would buy. 

Berried at Sea, American Stout, 45 ibu, 7%,  has black berry & black currants, Stout with a semi sweet taste.  Good and not too sweet.

 

Culmination Brewing

Phaedrus IPA, 6.7%, fruity, not overpowering, was good initial start, finish disappears. 

Even More Quaffable, IPA, 6.5%, short sweet finish, again not that distinctive, better than first one

Back Seat Freestyle IIIPA, 9.5%, collaboration with Ruse & NW IPA, fruity nose, a little bitter, better than the first two. 

Good Clean Fun IPA, 6.4%, yeast nose, but not distinctive.   Like a session beer.   Soso

Ruse Brewing Briar Run, 6.2%, sour beer with blackberry and raspberry, barrel aged tart ale.   Ann likes it, Berry nose, not that sour, like lemonade, better than the others.  But looking it is from another brewery.  Ruse Brewing.  

Labrewatory, experimental one off beers

Sours, IPA
Carmine Oracle, 6.5%, Cranberry Wild Ale, funky, tart, and oh yes red.  Tart, little more than lemonade.  

Lindo Blurissian, Sour Wheat Blend, 6.5%, this one off needs to go away, quickly.  Now.  Do not drink

Articles of Impeachment, Peach Sour, 6.5%, brewed with 200 pounds of fruit, tested in oak barrels for 8 months.  Sweet tart x 2 on the tongue. 

Stop Making Sense, Peach Blend, 5.3%, golden sour, Brett forward blonde and a lightly fruity kettle sour, refreshing.  Okay Ann days the finish is not as good as Articles. 

Electric Einstein IPA, Blonde IPA, 7.0%, melon nose is soso, bitter finish, with fruit on the back side. 

London Fog, Early Gray Barley wine 9.7%, infused their English Barley wine with Earl Grey tea.  Different drink.  Not what I would order again
 

Ex Novo Brewing, Portland OR

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea, Hazy IPA, w/ pineapple, 44 ibu, 6.8%, fruity, refreshing on the tongue. 

Dynamic Duo, IIPA, 77 ibu, 8.3%, ywo unique hops, that don't help this beer.  Would not order. 
Quaker Shaker, oatmeal Stout, 28 ibu, 6.5%, dark fruits, caramel, coffee from Case Study Roasters.  Good Stout nose, good Stout taste, not overly chocolate or coffee.  Good beer

Marryin' Berry Gose, sour, 8 ibu, 4.6%, 60 pounds of whole rasp., 90 pounds of whole Marion Berries, jammy, tart, goid, refreshing, cleans your palate.