Foothills Brewing Hoppyum

My buddy Joel was nice enough to bring me a bomber of Hoppyum from a recent trip to North Carolina, so I figured, why not stick with the hoppy beers for the time being...I promise, I'll change up styles as I get the fridge cleared out of all these IPAs...

Again, another nicely balanced and refreshing IPA. There is nothing that stands out in a big way about this beer, as it is basically an easy drinking sessionable brew. Big, earthy hop flavor, with basically no hint of booze (which is to be expected at about 6%) that pours clear and has very light carbonation. Overall, there are better drinkers out there that can be easily sourced in Georgia and there just isn't anything that is truly memorable about this beer. That said, I would really like to visit Foothills and drink some of their other offerings (Seeing Double, Sexual Chocolate, etc.), seeing as I have heard nothing but good things about all their brews. At any rate, Joel also left me with a bomber of Foothills' People's Porter, which you can expect to see on the blog in the near future...certainly looking forward to that one as well.

ohtheguilt Ba score 3.5 out of 5.0

Beer Tourism - Alabama

As stated in a prior post (yeh, 6 posts in two or three days...I know, a drink a bit..) I recently made some nice beer purchases in Alabama (of all places). At any rate, I picked up some decent brews that are not distributed in Georgia, so despite the fact that I was working in rural Alabama, I still fared well. Including the Anderson Valley hop Ottin', mentioned in an earlier post, I was able to grab a selection of Boulevard and Tallgrass 4-packs at Corks and Tops in Tuscaloosa.

Although I have only had three of the six varieties at this point, I have been really impressed. That is, I knew the Boulevard selections would be well-crafted, but I have been presently surprised by the Tallgrass brews. I am actually drinking an Oasis right now (I had the others earlier in the week - pre-blog). I know that each of these brews is certainly worth reviewing separately, but here is the synopsis of my current samplings:

Tallgrass Oasis - Billed as an Imperial IPA, this is a hoppy beer, but with a distinct malt punch. The lower ABV (around 7%) and the malts don't really make the beer worthy of the imperial moniker, but still, this is a solid IPA and certainly one that could be sessionable. ohtheguilt Ba score = 3.5 out of 5.0

Tallgrass IPA - At around 6% this brew is similar in potency to Oasis, but is a completely different beer. Equally as sessionable, but better hop flavor and more of the bitterness that I expect in an IPA. An easy choice on a nice day of outdoor activity. ohtheguilt Ba score = 4.0 out of 5.0

Boulevard Double Wide IPA - Boulevard has made a bold statement with its Smokestack Series, and Double Wide is no exception. This is easily the most floral, aromatic Imperial IPA that I have had...even the wifey enjoyed the flowery goodness. The bitterness is masked by the floral nature, so maybe other non-hopheads will dig it too. ohtheguilt Ba score = 4.0 out of 5.0

Bell's Hopslam Ale

I was lucky enough to pick up a 6-pack of Bell's Hopslam (bottled 1/10/12) this past week, thanks to the guys at SWOB (no link for this one, but just know that they rock). Lots of people say that this beer is over-hyped, and overrated, but it really and truly is an extremely balanced and easy to drink Imperial IPA. I'm not sure how Bell's does it (I guess that it has a lot to do with the fact that it is brewed with honey), but it is damn close to perfection in a 10% IPA. Also, don't let that 10% ABV fool you...the beer isn't boozy and overpowering at all...it certainly has an IPA's share of bitterness, but doesn't get out of control (again, this is likely a result of the use of honey). The minimal carbonation helps with the smoothness and drinkability, but it is still an IPA, so if you aren't a fan of hops, slowly back away.

At nearly $20 for a 6-pack, its not retardedly expensive, but is well worth the price...assuming you can get your grubby mitts on some. My understanding is that Atlanta will receive an additional shipment (Bell's is apparently trying to get fresh beer to everybody, so the distribution process is a bit different than normal for this) in the next few weeks. If you haven't tried this and you dig hops, then its worth the trouble of leaving work early and standing in line to get some...good luck.

ohtheguilt Ba score = 4.5 out of 5.0

Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting

So I don't really have one specific beer to review from last night...instead, I have fifteen. Not really. Joel (you'll hear his name frequently) and I went to the 8th annual Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting event, so below is just a brief summary of the event and the brews that I sampled.

It's not really my thing to go to "festivals" but since this one was billed as having very limited ticket availability and also touted some higher end beers, I was convinced.

Overall, the event was very well organized and was (for the most part) not attended by obnoxious over-indulgent douches. Add this to the incredible array of brews on hand (38 casks from breweries all over the country and the UK), and it made for a great time. Of the 38 casks, I was able to sample 15...while it doesn't sound like much, you have to figure that these were all generous pours of high ABV beers, and that I didn't want to get destroyed.

So we started off the afternoon on the 5 Seasons patio, where I sampled the following (some of which I have had bottled):

Allagash Interlude - a farmhouse with massive brett flavors
Cigar City El Lector - a mild dark ale similar to other sessionable CCB brews
Heavy Seas Siren Noire Imp. Choc. Stout - Huge chocolate flavors, certainly not sessionable
Highland Cold Mountain - a winter warmer with tons of vanilla
Jailhouse Hop Riot Imp. IPA - a great balance of hops and smoothness - incredibly drinkable
O'Dempsey's Your Black Heart Russian Imp. Stout - never fails to please
Harviestoun Schiehallion - disappointing Euro lager
Weyerbacher Fireside Ale - another disappointment from the guys in PA

After bumping into Eddie from Ale Yeah and the Jart, we moved on (in a larger group) to the Taco Mac side of the tasting to sample the remaining casks...needless to say, I b-lined it over to the Terrapin/BFM cask and dropped several tickets on a big pour...it was completely worth it. Here's the tasting list from the other side:

Moylan's Chelsea Porter (w/ TLHO Chocolate) - incredible...if you like coffee, buy this now!
Red Hare Chocolate Porter - bummer that the Creme De Menthe overpowered the brew
Ridgeway IPA - solid 5.5% IPA from the UK
Sierra Nevada Torpedo - an old standby - great drinking IPA
Sweetwater Long Strange Trip, So Far - billed as a warmer, but incredibly hoppy and delicious
Terrapin Bourbon Wood Barleywine - this is the collab. with BFM...love this stuff.
Wadworth 6X - another disappointing euro beer..

Not a bad haul for three hours...and we met some cool new beer geeks from the west-side. Based on all this, the event was certainly worth the price of admission...good times.

Anderson Valley Hop Ottin'...and font issues...

soooo...two posts, one night, and I have already been told that my fonts are boring and uninspired (thanks, hon). That said, while pouring a fresh beer, I was just inspired by Anerdson Valley's Hop Ottin' font:

...then I realized that using a font that could have been used on a 1995 Monster Magnet album cover wouldn't really add credibility to my (biased) beer reviews. Side note: all the pics that are showing up in this blog are ones that I have taken. Please be respectful of this. At any rate, Times New Roman is simple (read: easy, classic) and appears to signify the what my reviews stand for...simplicity, ease, classicism. Okay, not classicism, but whatever, I'm not going to change the font on day 1...the important thing is that I discuss Hop Ottin'...

Anderson Valley brews are not distributed in Georgia, so I picked up this sixer at Corks and Tops in Tuscaloosa, AL on my way to rural Alabama for a work gig earlier this week. Figured I would go ahead and kill it this evening, and the Ottin' didn't disappoint. I can easily consider this a session beer...if regularly available to me (especially in 12s) it could replace the SNPA or 420 that we buy to have around the house. Its balanced enough for non-beer-geek guests, but still packs a nice flavor punch...perfect for the craft beer newbie. Its hard for me to see this as an "IPA", due to how sweet it is and that lack of bitterness, but it destroys a lot of the "pale ales" that are out there right now. Overall, a flavorful, easy drinker...perfect for a session by the pool, or after an afternoon of mountain biking.

ohtheguilt Ba score = 4.0 out of 5.0

Side note 2: Mike at Corks and Tops is a great guy...we chatted about availability and beer, in general, for 30 minutes the other day. If you are in Tuscaloosa, or passing through, stop by, say hello, and pick up some good beer...

Mikkeller 19

So I grabbed this one at one of the local craft stores this afternoon. If you are familiar with the Mikkeller Single Hop Series, then you should have known this was coming. All 19 different varieties of hops from the series were used in this brew (find the percentages on the bottle or in the description at beeradvocate.com). As expected, it was the standard hoppy, bitter deliciousness expected from Mikkeller's IPAs...however, after a three solid days of drinking Bell's Hopslam, this was (surprisingly) like a kick in the teeth with bitter. Now, that's not to say that that it was bad...far from it, for that matter...it was just different than the Hopslam (which is ridiculously balanced for a super-hopped high ABVbeer - see my fothcoming post)..but familiar (in a Mikkeller way) at the same time. Expect several different distinct (and strong) hop notes (pine, citrus, etc) and a "spicy" complexity.  For about 6 bucks, its certainly worth a try if you are a hop-head, or if you were into the Single Hop Series...otherwise save your $ for the next round of Hopslam.

ohtheguilt Ba score = 4.0 out of 5.0 

A beer blog?...really?...

So, I accepted some advice and decided that I should start blogging about the beers that I drink. Ta-da! Now we have Spilled Beer...a blog about beers that I drink. My assumption is that there are other beer blogs that describe things like color, aroma, mouthfeel, etc, but I don't read blogs, and I don't form opinions of beer based on techniques used by master sommeliers, so don't expect much other than an honest, simple opinion. Literally, this blog is going to be about the beers that I drink each day. Try not to get too excited, but please try to enjoy the pretty pictures of the cool labels and also to enjoy my nightly (biased) opinions of beer. At least the blog isn't about politics or a road trip...

Anyway...

Although this seems like it is going to be a full time job (get it?), and although I am fairly certain that I will not have readers/followers/whatever, its going to be nice to have an archive of all the bottles that hit the bottom of the recycle bin (yeh, we are "green" in this household).

There isn't much that you need to know about me other than the fact that I happen to like good beer...oh and I like forcing my opinions (of said good beer) on others...also, I over use ellipses...I refuse to apologize about this...

On to the beer...