Beer-a-Day #110
The fifth beer from Smoky Mountain Brewery given by my good friend Ellen. The label proclaims it be an American Brown Ale.
The color of iced tea, with an off-white head. Big malty aroma with a bit of roastiness. Medium body with significant malty profile with some roastiness in the finish. Browns aren’t generally my favorite but I like this one.
Beer-a-Day #109
This is the fourth Smoky Mountain Brewery beer brought to me by my good friend Ellen. The label proclaims it a “Premium American Lager” and 110 calories.
It is extraordinarily clear and pale. My six-year-old says it looks like apple juice. My nine-year-old says it looks like yellow water. (They are wise beyond their years.) Very little aroma, if any. It’s light and…wet. (Maybe my palate is too used to big high-gravity beers.)
Beer-a-Day #108
This is the third Smoky Mountain Brewery beer brought to me by my good friend Ellen. The label proclaims it a “Classic Bohemian Pilsner”.
Straw-colored; a finger’s worth of white head. A little sulfur in the aroma, but malty. A bit of bite in the taste, but refreshing.
The Brewers Association recently released the Top 50 Craft Brewing companies and Top 50 Overall Brewing companies by Sales Volume for 2008.
Here’s the Top 20 Overall Brewing companies for 2008. (2007 ranking in parentheses)
Except for mergers, there was virtually no movement in the Top 10, and very little in numbers 11 through 20.
Interestingly, because of slots opened up by mergers, no breweries dropped off of the list.
(See Brookston Beer Bulletin for annotations on all 50)
Beer-a-Day #107
This is the second Smoky Mountain Brewery beer brought to me by my good friend Ellen.
Clear amber with two-fingers’ worth of ivory head. Grapefruity aroma from the hops. Malty flavor with a bit of nuttiness.
Beer-a-Day #106
My good friend Ellen recently travelled down to Alabama to visit her family. Along the way, she made a stop in Tennessee at one of the location for Smoky Mountain Brewery. Even though they’re a brewpub (three actually), they do bottle some of their beers, but they’re not widely distributed.
See, that’s why Ellen’s my good friend. She brought me some.
First up is Velas Helles, which the label proclaims as a “light German style lager”.
Pretty, clear yellow with a white head. Aroma is surprisingly fruity. Raspberries? Light on the tongue; clean finish. That’s rather good. I almost wish it was ninety degrees outside.
Beer-a-Day #105
Tax day, woo-hoo! Actually, I e-filed in the middle of February and have already received and spent my refund. I feel for the folks who left things to the last minute.
This is the first of several beers that my good friend Ellen got for me.
This is Dogfish Head’s spring seasonal offering. In spite of the fact that they’re fairly local to me and I brewed a clone of this beer, I haven’t had this one in a long time.
It’s the color of iced tea, with an ivory head. Malty aroma with only a bit of apricot. Bitter and sour at the same time. Interesting.
Beer-a-Day #104
This is new. So new, that it’s not even mentioned on the Old Dominion Brewing website. The label describes it as a Blonde Ale and as a “malt beverage brewed with honey, chamomile and orange peels”.
Pale, hazy yellow with a white head. Plenty of carbonation; it reminds me of ginger ale. Citrus and honey in the aroma. Light and fizzy; it reminds me again of ginger ale, but not quite as sweet. With 7.8% ABV it has a good kick.
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Beer-a-Day #103
Mahogany with a thin, medium-brown head. I would describe the aroma as “warm”, with plenty of chocolaty undertones. Dry, roasty finish.
Mountaineer Brewing Company product line
