Cow Catcher Red Ale

Finally the red in a bottle I used to drink at my first hometown brewpub. I confused this with a red from Mt. Pleasant Brewing Company which is not the same, I guess, I know now. Malty, with ample bitterness on the finish. Actually works well as a package. And maybe now I know why I like my reds bitter like this and am disappointed with so many others.

12oz bottle, 5.8% ABV
Mountain Town Brewing Company
Mt. Pleasant, MI
purchased at Holiday Market

Freeride APA (American Pale Ale)

Thin and refreshing and easy drinking. Quite bitter and crisp. A slight hop flavor makes this one I could drink in quantity on a regular basis. ID

12oz bottle, 5.3% ABV
Alaskan Brewing Company
Juneau, AK
purchased at Holiday Market

Unfiltered Wheat Beer

I'm not a great fan of wheat beers, low alcohol, unless they have some great off flavors from the wheat yeast. This has a mild flavor, with a slight banana/fruit taste. Not bad, and definitely unfiltered, as it looks like dandruff in my glass. I can drink it. ID

12oz bottle, no deets
Boulevard Brewing Company
Kansas City, MO
purchased at Kenwood

Saison du Buff

This beer sounds like a great accompanying beverage to my cooking tonight. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, really?! I'm usually not a fan is saisons, so this has been sitting in the fridge awhile. But it is . . . amazing! I have been contemplating making a beer with sage, so this is pretty good proof of concept. Wow, this is how to do a saison! Just wish I had a sixer, but this was a single bottle purchase, rare I guess. Now looking at the label, I see why I like it: it's a DFH, Stone, Victory collaboration! MB

12 oz, 6.8% ABV
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Milton, DE
purchased at Kenwood

Jukebox-Hero Black IPA

Nice light and hoppy. Dark in color only. A bit of perfumy hop flavor, not unlike my own black IPA. Maybe I need to remove the crystal from mine to make it lighter like this. This is good. MB

22oz bottle, 7.5% ABV
Revolution Brewing
Chicago, IL
purchased at Kenwood

Stone Coffee Milk Stout

So Stone is one of my favorite brewers, usually for crazy hop driven recipes. So I was interested in trying something different when I saw this, especially since I recently made my own coffee stout. Unbiased verdict: mine is better! I get bitterness, but not really coffee flavor. And it is kind of thin for a stout, in my opinion. My "Black Tie Squirrel" beats this handily with more coffee flavor, more body, and better all around flavor with the inclusion of vanilla & chocolate in the recipe. And I'm delivering double the booze! A rare miss for Stone. ID

12oz bottle, 4.2% ABV
Stone Brewing Company
Escondido, San Diego County, CA
purchased at Kenwood

Hop The Pond Double IPA

This one has a nice piney and citrus hop flavor. I think this comes close in recipe to a couple of beers I made, using Galaxy and Citra hops (plus British "Admiral" hops that I've never heard of) and my guess would be some Maris Otter as the grain from England, and 8% alcohol. Good show on this, as most ales claiming "hop flavor" fail to deliver, but this one is packed with flavor! MB MB!

22oz bottle, 80 IBU, 8% ABV
New Belgium Brewing
Fort Collins, CO
purchased at Kenwood