Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA (bottle)

This was awarded the #1 IPA of the Year at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.  Let's see how it tastes compared to a previous winner: Pliny the Elder.

Smells of Hops.
A nice, crystal-clear bronze color.
A lacey head.

That's some hops.

I don't know if I think this is the best IPA I've ever had.  I understand this beer's supposed to have a lot of hops and, at 7.5 percent alcohol, it acheives its goal.  However, the hop flavor isn't as pronounced as I would like.  It has too clean of a start, not enough pine/lemon flavor.  Then, there's a big hop bitterness at the end.

When it warms up, it gets more malty.  This helps cut the bitterness at the end.

By any means, it's not a bad beer.  But, I wouldn't say it's the best IPA.  Compared to something like Pliny, which I think has a great balance of hop flavor and bitterness, Union Jack doesn't come off as the most balanced.

Overall, a pint and 1/2.

New Belgium 2 Below Ale (Bottle)

• Pours a brilliantly nice, golden color
• Great lacy head that never seems to disappear
• Has a subtle honey and spicy hop smell

I don't know what style of beer this is, but I really like it.  It's not hoppy enough for a pale, but just has a great, subtle spicyness.  Delicious.  A subtle toasty malt flavor.  No off-flavors and just perfectly clean.  Just a real good balanced beer.


I find myself continuing to take drink after drink.

Definitely worth a pitcher at a bar.

Leavenworth Alt (bottle)

Some initial thoughts:

• Pours a really nice amber color.
• A little carbonation, but not a huge head.
• A little cloudy.
• Smell of honey and sweet malt

This is a weird beer that changes based on the temperature it's at.  Either drink it real-fast, right out of the fridge.  Or, wait about 15 mins for it to warm up.

When you drink it right out of the fridge, it's just a real easy-drinking, clean beer.  It almost tastes like an Oktoberfest lager.

However, when it warms up a bit, you start to notice some kind-of-funky, cooked vegetable-type flavors.  A little unpleasant.  Sadly, this is when you're going to drink most of the beer - about 5-10 mins from the time it left the fridge.

Yet, when it hits about 15 mins in, a lot more breadiness and maltiness shows through.  It becomes a drinkable beer.  Not great, by any means of the imagination, but...drinkable.

Overall, it's a 1 pint beer.  You won't be pissed that you bought it, but you won't be getting it again.