tasting notes

i began and ended last wednesday's beernesday at st. augustine's with hopworks' abominable winter ale
i love this beer!
just can't get enough of it
too bad i'm cleansing now and won't be done until its gone...
boo!

i had two samplers
one a winterish ode
the other an ipa off


rogue ales mogul madness:  6.3%  hoppy, caramel aroma, burgundy in colour with an off white head.  intense flavours of citrus, and complex notes of nuts, berries and mocha.
howe sound woolly bugger barleywine:  11%  a rich dark amber barleywine brewed in extremely limited quantities
dead frog mandarin orange amber ale:  5%  combines the aroma and flavour of a fresh mandarin orange with a light amber ale
salt spring fireside ale:  7%  with a rich ruby colour, and a complex fruity nose.  low hop bitterness allows notes of fresh fruit to come through backed by a flavourful malt

i had the mogul madness the week before, but it was my final pint and i took no notes of it, so i had to try it again this time, just so i could remember having it!
i liked it
bitter hops with a malt back
i really enjoyed the hop/mocha dichotomy
glad i tried it again!  would have hated to miss this one

i must have had the fireside ale before too, but didn't remember
unfortunately, cuz i don't like it
nope, had one sip and passed it along to amy
who enjoyed it, prompting bridget and amanda to suggest she order the driftwood farmhand ale, which i also dislike, but amy loved
so there must be something belgiany in the fireside dammit

the dead frog tasted like a terry's chocolate orange to me
which is mostly a good thing, i do love the whack and unwrap chocolate orange
however, there's no way i'd want more than a sampler of it - the orange flavour gets too fake the further i get into the glass
still, quite enjoyable
that makes me a fan of both dead frog seasonals this winter
amanda says it tastes like christmas
katy says its like ripping open an orange and being misted with the orange love

the woolly bugger barleywine is 11%, so i only got a shot glass worth of the elixir
and everyone wanted to try it, so i got very little actually in my mouth
oh, but what i did have was divine!
not as sherry-like as some other barleywines
this one was smooth and malty
delicious!


lagunitas india pale ale:  5.7%  multi-award winning west coast ipa
deschutes inversion ipa:  6.8%   a trio of american hops deliver an over-the-top nose with hints of citrus.  surprisingly soft, caramel complexity for an 80 ibu ipa
rogue ales yellow snow ipa:  6.2%  pale golden in color with a hoppy, fruity aroma.  big hop flavour up front complemented by medium body and hoppyness mid-pallet (sic)
russell brewing blood alley esb:  5.5%  well balanced with exceptional drinkability.  generously hopped.

the inversion is one of my running favourites
so i was interested to see how it stacked up against the other three
the caramel came out in comparison to the others
and it is so delightfully hoppy!
still one of my faves!  phew!

the lagunitas ended up being my least favourite of the four
definitely high on the citrus hops scale
but not complex enough to stay in the ring with the other three

the yellow snow is another of my favourites
uber hoppy, but the fruit didn't come through at first
my palate had to get re-adjusted before it was apparent
still, i love this beer!

the esb was quite hoppy, and very well-balanced
big hop nose, not much on the citrus front though
still, very drinkable and delicious - win!

boy, is this week's beernesday ever gonna be no fun for me
club soda, not so yay...

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