Hop Cast

Here in the midwest the weather has quickly turned on us. Summer already seems like a distant memory as everyone is walking about in sweatshirts and in some cases jackets. That’s why for the September beer of the month we have picked The Bitter End Pale Ale from Two Brothers Brewing. This also seemed fitting since we recently took a 70 mile bike ride to and from Two Brothers last month. The Bitter End is a 5.10 % ABV American Pale that drinks effortlessly.

It pours out with a slight amber color with great clarity. A nice small half finger of white foamy head sits on top leaving a little bit of lacing on the glass. The soft and floral aroma of caramel and piney hops drift from the glass. Well balanced all around. These same piney hops and carmel come through in the taste as well as orange and lemon zest flavors. Nothing crazy complex going on here, it’s just a nice session beer. As all the big stouts start hitting the shelves of your local liquor store, this makes for an easy night of drinking with friends around a bonfire. Leaning more on the malts then the hops, it carries some great flavors to help take the fall chill out of you.

Hopefully you have been enjoying the fine summer weather and enjoying some great food coming off of the barbecue. When the flames from the barbecue are blazing there is nothing like a refreshing beer to cool you down. This month we pick another canned beer for the summer, the Hell or High Watermelon Wheat from 21st Amendment. Now at first a Watermelon wheat may not sound very appealing but you just need to give this guy one sip to see why it’s a great backyard summer beer. Pouring out a light hazy golden yellow. With a tiny white head that vanishes suddenly. The smell is what you’d expect, rather sugary with heavy watermelon and wheat. Once you taste this it you’ll see why this beer is perfect for July. The wheat is light with a small watermelon back. It’s subtle but very much there. Nothing very complex but really you don’t want too much in this guy. At 4.9% it’s perfect for spending the day hanging out with friends or family without having something that’s going to knock you on your ass.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Grab those cans and head out to the beach, the woods or whatever happens to be your outdoor activity of choice. For easy portability the Hop Cast recommends drinking a can of beer. One of the canned staples that Brad and Ken count on is the Modus Hoperandi from Ska Brewing. Many great afternoons & evenings outside have been had enjoying this fine can and you should pick some up for outdoor activities

If happen to pour your can of Modus Hoperandi into a glass you’ll see an amber, orange beer with some great clarity with a small thin white head that leaves some sticky lacing behind. The citrus aromas from the hops hit you hard. Grass, grapefruit and earth with a a mild malt backbone. That fresh piney smell is just too hard to resist. All of those hops you were getting in the aroma come right at you in the taste. Strong chewy malts with the very fresh and dry hops that linger for a good long while. The sweetness helps balance it all out for a well rounded can of deliciousness. At 6.8 % ABV this beer makes it a tad high to put away a bunch of them without feeling the effects, but it’s just too good to drink just one. Don’t snooze on this beer just because its in a can.

The weather is warming up and hopefully you’re out there enjoying it. There is something great about a refreshing beer after a long bike ride or run. Sure you could reach for a double IPA hop bomb but instead we would suggest a clean, light and refreshing Pilsener. That’s why for the month of May, the Hop Cast has picked the Prima Pils from Victory Brewing as the beer of the month.

When this beauty is poured out you are rewarded with a wonderful pale straw color with a thin white head that fades rather quickly. A pleasant, fresh, and grassy hop aroma drifts from the glass. There is also a hint of lemon along with clean malts and yeast. The taste is as clean and fresh as the aroma. Strong clean hops with a crisp bite. Nothing overly complex here, a slight malt sweetness to cut the dryness a tad. Before you know it, this golden German Pilsener is gone and you will be looking at an empty glass wanting another one. With an ABV of 5.3% this is a beer you can spot Brad and Ken drinking throughout the spring and summer and after you’ve had one, you’ll see why.

Stone Brewing Company has finally arrived “legally” into the Chicago market. With that great news the Hop Cast figured that the beer of the month had to be a Stone Brewing Company beer. In the past we have done a few different Stone beers on the show including Cali-Belgique, Stone Brewing’s 12th Anniversary and Stone 13th Anniversary Ale. This month we picked out one of our favorites that we haven’t featured before, the Arrogant Bastard Ale.

The Arrogant Bastard pours a deep amber color with a two finger creamy beige head that sticks around for a while and leaves a nice thick lacing on the glass. A sweet floral aroma comes up from the glass along with toasted malts and toffee notes. A wonderful balanced nose. When you finally take a drink you get a big dose of hops but they are not overbearing. Backing it all up is some nice caramel malts. A strong bold aftertaste that leaves your mouth sticky and dry for a long, long time. Drinkable yes, sessionable maybe not. At 7.2% it’s a great beer to sit down and split a bomber with a friend. It’s an aggressive beer so it’s not for everyone.

Stone Brewing Company welcome to Chicago!

Hopefully you’re not drinking that green beer this St. Patrick’s Day because there are a lot better options to celebrate with. At the Hop Cast we love to celebrate with a great Irish Red Ale like Conway’s Irish Ale, a Smithwick’s or even Three Floyds Brian Boru. Brian Boru is an old favorite over here at the Hop Cast and our Camera Girl / Editor, Maeve can’t get enough of it.

Before opening this up to taste, you have to take a look at the bad ass label. Mr Brian Boru himself in his celtic gear, drinking beer out of a giant horn. The Brian Boru pours a dark copper with ruby highlights. A slight small head that leaves a good amount of lacing in the glass. The sweet delicious aroma of hops begins to pour out of the glass. This is a Three Floyds beer so you’d expect a heavy dose of hops. As it starts to warm up more malts begin to come out. The taste not surprisingly is heavily hopped but it’s very well balanced too. Caramel with a citrus sweetness up front and a touch of bitterness in the finish. The malt comes through in the aftertaste to bring it all together. If you’re looking for more of a toasted Irish Red this might not be what you’re looking for. But hop heads will have no trouble putting away maybe ten of these because Brian Boru is one drinkable beast.

Is that love in the air? With the month of February comes Valentines Day and there is no better way to show that special sweetheart that you care then with chocolate. But rather then just getting that box of heart shaped chocolates from the store why not get them a delicious chocolate beer? Southern Tier Choklat is one of the most chocolatey beers you’ll find. It comes in a 22 ounce bottle and when you pour it out it looks dark, dark drown. Almost looks like something you would pour over your ice and not into your glass. The sweet aroma of brownies begin to fill the air; it’s chocolate, cocoa powder, with a hint of hops and almost chalky yeast. The taste is just like the aroma, no surprises here. Chocolate! It’s a melted chocolate bar poured into a glass. Overall this beer is really smooth, there isn’t much roast going on here just sweet heavenly chocolate. The mouthfeel is thick but not Hershey’s syrupy thick, just the right amount to coat your mouth. It’s much more creamy and light feeling. With an ABV of 9.10 % you don’t taste a single bit of that, which can be dangerous.

So grab a bottle Choklat and share it with that special someone.

Just thinking about all the great beers that are going to be poured into craft beer lovers glasses this year makes it hard to pick our first beer to start off 2010. With the holiday season behind us and the future looking delicious we figured we’d start things off with something that represented all the great beers to come throughout the year. That is why for the January beer of the month the Hop Cast has picked Shipyards Prelude. This winter warmer is available from November – December so you better get to the store quick to see if they have any left. But don’t let the winter warmer description fool you since its sometimes listed as a “british style dark pale ale.” It comes in with an ABV of 6.8% which makes it good for a winter day or evening of drinking with friends. It pours out a darker amber / light brown color with a tan creamy head. The aroma is sweet with butterscotch, caramel and molasses, hitting you up front with some winter spices. The taste is much milder and malty then you expect. There is a nice hint of alcohol to complement the spices and the hops come through in the finish with some bitterness to balance it all out. This is a hearty beer in your mouth and could work excellent with some food. Its also very session-able, it goes down easy and isn’t overly spiced. Shipyard did a great job with this winter warmer. If this is the prelude to all the great beers to come this year, then bring it on!

The holiday music is playing and the shopping has begun so that could only mean one thing, December is here. Ken Hunnemeder and Brad Chmielewski went back and forth on this months beer selection. There are so many great holiday beers to choose from. They decided to go with something that takes the idea of what a holiday beer can be to the next level. Without further ado, the December beer of the month is the 2 Turtle Doves from The Bruery. The Bruery just recently showed up in the Chicago area and Ken and Brad have been enjoying just about everything they have gotten their hands on. And the 2 Turtle Doves is no exception.

Now watch out before you try taking on this holiday beer alone. This Belgian Strong Dark Ale comes in at 12.0% ABV, not something to be taken lightly. The 2 Turtle Doves pours out a dark chestnut, almost espresso with a very thin tan head, that quickly resides. Just a little lacing on the glass which seems about right for such a high alcohol beer. As this beer warms up the alcohol in the nose is more pronounced. There are some nice dried fruit smells, maybe dates or figs; along with toasted malts and chocolate and a hint of carmel. This is the type of beer that you just want to taste to see what else is going on. And when you finally do, the taste is fantastic! That sweet dried fruit comes through right away but there is also that rich chocolate flavor, not a sweet chocolate but a roasted nutty chocolate. Finally a light alcohol in the finish to warm you up inside. Although the alcohol comes out it isn’t a burn instead it’s very smooth and leaves a nutty and woody taste in your mouth. A well balanced beer throughout. Definitely unique and makes for a perfct holiday beer for yourself or as a gift. Open one of these after dinner with your family, it could be the perfect end to the night.

Happy Holidays from the Hop Cast!

It’s a new month and its time for Hop Cast to pick their November beer of the month. With the recent release of Surly Brewing’s Darkness and The Bruery Black Tuesday, it seemed fitting that November’s beer of the month should be a Russian Imperial Stout. Since both those beers are tricky to get if you didn’t go to the release parties, Hop Cast decided to choose a beer of the month people should be able to find pretty easily. So for the November beer of the month, the Hop Cast has chosen North Coast’s Old Rasputin. Brad and Ken recently reviewed the Old Rasputin XII on episode 54 with Shawn Horton. Don’t be fooled, just because this guy is in a smaller bottle doesn’t mean it isn’t packing a huge punch. Coming in with an ABV of 9.0% this isn’t a beer you should be drinking all night no matter how delicious it is. The Old Rasputin pours out black as night with a two finger tan head; within a few moments the head slowly starts to reside and leaves some nice lacing with it. The aroma of chocolate, roasted malts, vanilla and bourbon drift out of the glass. What you smell is what you taste with Old Rasputin. Dark roasted malts, chocolate, with alcohol that will smack you in the face and warm you up. Even though that alcohol is pretty strong, it’s very well balanced and finishes with a coffee bitterness.

You can find North Coast’s Old Rasputin pretty much year round but its perfect for a cold fall or winter day when you’re looking for a beer to warm you up.