Beers for Years

“A fine beer may be judged with only one sip, but it's better to be thoroughly sure.” I'm no expert. I just enjoy good beer. This was a one-year project to document all the different beers I drank from April of 2010 to April of 2011. I will continue to update this periodically, though! Cheers!

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I've been fairly busy for the last month or so, going on lots of adventures. Summer's winding down and that means one thing: Fall beers will be here soon, including some of my favorites - pumpkin ales! I'll be getting back on board with my little reviews asap, but until then here's a peek at some of what I've been drinking lately.

Clockwise from top left:

Victory Scarlet Fire Rauchbier & Donnybrook Stout (on tap and nitro, respectively, at Victory Brewing Co. in Downington, PA)

Full Sail Elevation

Lagunitas Lucky 13.alt

Great Divide Grand Cru

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Bell's Porter   Alc/Vol: 5.6% 

Dark, bitter chocolate and roasted malts. A tiny bit sweet with a decently bitter bite. This is a pretty well-balanced porter. Bell's tends to get it right every time.

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Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout Alc/Vol: 4.95% 

This is sweeter and a little lighter than I was expecting. Dark chocolate flavor is strongest to me, with a tiny bit of a bitter bite and a hint of smokiness on the finish. Not a bad oatmeal stout; it's smooth and creamy. Would be a good dessert beer.

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  Breckenridge Vanilla Porter Alc/Vol: 4.7% 

This was the first beer I tried from Breckenridge, and it's been years since I last had one. I recently picked a bottle up for a mix-and-match six-pack. Smooth with, obviously, vanilla flavor. Roasty malts are hiding behind the sweetness, but it's a bit thin for a porter. I'd like it to be a little more balanced, but overall if you like vanilla you'll most likely enjoy this.

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Great Lakes Brewing Co. Eliot Ness Alc/Vol: 6.2% 

This is a great, malty amber lager with a sweet finish. It's a bit different from what I'd say are my "usuals," but I keep going back to it. Kind of creamy and smooth with a little caramel and a hint of spice. Good stuff.

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21st Amendment Hop Crisis     Alc/Vol: 9.7%  

This is really smooth. Citrusy and grassy with a little bit of a bite as it goes down - not as much as I expected, but that's not bad here.The alcohol is pretty well masked. Doesn't taste like an imperial/double IPA. Certainly worth trying though.

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Last night I had the pleasure of drinking and dining at Dogfish Head's Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back.

I'm not going to post full reviews for what I drank there, but I wanted to share a bit about it nonetheless. It took me ten minutes just to decide what to drink. First I had the Palo Santo Marron, a dark strong ale ringing in at 12% abv. It was heavy, dark, bittersweet with vanilla and caramel notes plus a bite. Delicious and would be perfect for dessert.

When my giant (and tasty - and definitely indulgent) "Indulgence Burger" arrived, I ordered a Zeno, a brewery special not included on the regular beer list pictured above - a crisp, lightly spicy and refreshing saison. Really nice after a day spent on the beach. Both beers and burger were delicious. I highly recommend visiting this place if you're a fan of Dogfish Head or just beer in general.

Plus, you know, it's only a few blocks away from the Atlantic Ocean. So there's that, too.

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Victory Summer Love Ale     Alc/Vol: 5.2%  

Light, crisp and definitely a summer beer. There's a grapefruity bitterness, nice grassy hops. A tiny bit sweet but with a nice bite as it goes down. This is easy to drink and would be great for cookouts or just plain hanging out on a hot day.

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Rogue Mocha Porter     Alc/Vol: 5.3%  

Super dark cocoa flavor is big in this, which I really like. The coffee is harder to detect than the chocolate, but I don't mind that so much in this. It's smooth. I had Rogue's Double Mocha Porter recently as well and that was just as, if not more, delicious.

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Full Sail Imperial Porter     Alc/Vol: 7.5%  

Pretty delicious. Dark, roasty malts with a nice dark chocolate/espresso smoothness, with some vanilla in there as well. I don't know that it fully lived up to my expectations of an imperial porter, but I'd certainly drink it again.

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Williamsburg AleWerks Wheat     Alc/Vol: 4.7%  

A pretty sweet wheat ale. Hints of orange lend to the sweetness. Pretty enjoyable and easy to drink; a decent summer beer. 

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21st Amendment Back in Black      Alc/Vol: 6.8%  

I'm a huge fan of black IPAs as they generally combine two of my favorite beer styles. This is no exception; in fact it's quickly become one of my favorites. Nice hop bite balanced by dark, chocolatey malts. Sweet meets bitter and they blend perfectly. Smooth and refreshing. I love it.

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St. George Brewing Co. IPA     Alc/Vol: 5.5%  

Another one picked up for me in Williamsburg, this was surprisingly good. Really grassy hop bite with caramel malts following. Easy to drink; I wish I had a few more of these.

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Williamsburg AleWerks Drake Tail IPA     Alc/Vol: 7.5%  

Super smooth, and very grassy/flowery with a nice yet somehow smooth bite. Light & refreshing, this is a great summer IPA my parents picked up for me on a recent trip to Williamsburg, VA. 

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Rivertowne Old Wiley’s IPA      Alc/Vol: 7%  

Smells very citrusy. Fairly high carbonation, crisp and bitter with a citrus aftertaste. The bite left my tongue tingling. Nice offering from a Pittsburgh microbrewery.

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So I hit my one-year mark with this blog and then I started slacking.

Here's to turning that around.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

I'd like to take a moment to say that as of today, it's officially been one year of Beer for a Year! To celebrate, I'm enjoying a Lagunitas Wilco Tango Foxtrot. 

I started this project on April 28, 2010 intending to document each different beer I drank for a year. While I did leave some of my regulars* out along with a handful of delicious drafts**, I'm really excited that I actually followed through with this. To those of you who stuck with me, thanks so much. Maybe I helped you find a new favorite!

I've decided I'm going to keep doing this. I enjoy it, and I know at least a few of you out there enjoy it too. So from this day forward, you can call me Beers for Years!

*The regulars: Great Lakes Brewing Co. Conway's Irish Ale (I'll be reviewing this one in the future as it's one of my absolute favorites), Victory Brewing Co. Hop Devil (favorite IPA), Yuengling Original Black & Tan (my easy go-to beer year-round), Yuengling Traditional Lager, Guinness and the infamous Pabst Blue Ribbon (we all do it sometimes.)

**The drafts: East End Brewing Co. Snow Melt Winter Ale (my absolute favorite beer of the year), East End Brewing Co. Black Strap Stout, Church Brew Works Blast Furnace Stout, Church Brew Works Imperial Irish Red Ale, Fordham Brewing Co. Copperhead Ale, Gordon Biersch Schwarzbier and Old Dominion Oak Barrel Stout.