Great Northern Frog Hop Fesh Hopped Pale Ale

It’s a bottle that has been staring out from the cooler at me for quite awhile. I never quite picked it up, always choosing another beer. The other day, I finally grabbed the Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale for the Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitefish, MT

Great Northern Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale Particulars

5.0% ABV
Pilsner and Vienna malts
Green, fresh Cascade, Mt Hood, Noble and Chinook hops. Exact hop bill varies from year to year

Great Northern Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale Notes

Appearance: Somewhat hazy golden to amber in color on the pour. The head was purest white and one-finger high.

Aroma: Citrus and resin with a vegetative green underlying aroma.

Mouthfeel: I was really looking for a little more carbonation.

Taste: Full of those classic Cascade flavors with tons of grapefruit and pine resin. The same greenness is present in the taste as the nose. It is far too pronounced for the my tastes.

Overall: The Frog Hop Fresh Hopped Pale Ale is a good beer, but it wasn’t rememberable. Maybe, the green taste hit me a little hard. I give it another try, though. If at first you don’t succeed…

Smoked Chili Pale Ale Particulars

5.5% ABV
Smoked, pale, and crystal 40 malts and flaked oats
Cascade hops
Smoked jalapeños added to wort.

Smoked Chili Pale Ale Notes

Appearance: Poured a deep amber with very fluffy white head (thanks to the oats). The head retention is ridiculous.

Aroma: Lots of grapefruit and pine resin.

Mouthfeel: I wish the carbonation level was a tad higher

Taste: Some classic Cascade flavors here: grapefruit and resin. There is a slight pepper bite. The smoke is hardly noticeable.

Overall: I always love my homebrew, so for me to make an honest evaluation is impossible. But hell, I like my homebrew.

25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog

With a friend in town, we dropped by Worden’s Market to pick up a couple of bottles for the evening. Although, Worden’s tends to be a bit overpriced, they have a wonderful selection. The first bottle that grabbed my eye was the Abita Brewing Company’s 25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog.

25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog Particulars

7.0% ABV
Pale, caramel, and chocolate malts
Willamette hops
Whole vanilla beans are added during the aging process

25th Anniversary Vanilla Doubledog Notes

Appearance: The darkest of brown before you get to black. The head was light tan and possessed an oatmeal texture.

Aroma: I expected a much bigger nose, but there were just the faintest whiffs of vanilla and some roasted notes.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, in terms of carbonation and fluidity across the palette.

Taste: A rush of chocolate and toffee flavors dominate the initial taste. Some the floral qualities of Willamette hops were present. The vanilla increased in its stage presence has the tasting glass warmed.

Overall: This is my first brew from Abita, and I can tell you that I throughly enjoyed it. Thank you, sir. May I have another? This brew is very drinkable, and I had wished that I had another bottle, all to my lonesome.

Flathead Lake Imperial IPA

I usually reserve my IPA drinking for the warmer climes of summer, but I just couldn’t pass up the Imperial IPA for the Flathead Lake Brewing Company.

Flathead Brewing Imperial India Pale Ale Particulars

8.5% ABV
Generous use of Cascades hops

Flathead Brewing Imperial India Pale Ale Notes

Appearance: Straw edging towards orange in color. Nice pillowy, white head.

Aroma: HUGE whiffs of citrus and pine…could that be Cascades hops? I think so. There are hints of caramel from the malts.

Mouthfeel: Very full with a nice, cleansing carbonation bite.

Taste: Initially, the sweetness is the big player, but it soon gives way to the hops. The hoppy goodness lasts from the mid-palette all the way through to the stomach. I felt like I was giving off hop vapors.

Overall: I continue to be impressed by the Flathead Lake Brewing Company. Now, I just need to get to their tasting in downtown Missoula, and have a pint or three.

Lagunitas Our Own Bavarian-Styled Doppleweizen

After the last review, I really needed a home run, and man did I get one. The Lagunitas Our Own Bavarian-Style DoppelWeizen is a truly great, unique, and delicious beer.

Our Own Bavarian-Style DoppelWeizen Particulars

9.0% ABV

Our Own Bavarian-Style DoppelWeizen Notes

Appearance: Poured a hazy orange that screamed weizen. Thick, white head that sustained for quite some time.

Aroma: Classic odors of banana, clove, and, interestingly, some sourdough funk.

Mouthfeel: Very creamy and rich…dare I say it? Decadent.

Taste: I was smacked with a sourdough banana spiked with coriander and cloves.

Overall: Ok, ok…I have never had one discouraging word to say about Lagunitas, and I still don’t. This is just one more excellent offering from the boys in Petaluma.

Samuel Adams Imperial White

Never had an Imperial White. Never heard of an Imperial White. So what do I do, pick up the Samuel Adams Imperial White from Liquid Plant in Missoula.

Samuel Adams Imperial White Particulars

10.3% ABV

Samuel Adams Imperial White Notes

Appearance: Poured a dark, hazy straw color with a rapidly vanishing head

Aroma: Over-ripe fruit with tinges of alcohol

Mouthfeel: Very off-putting…with a solvent quality

Taste: More like a barley wine than any witbier that I’ve ever had.

Overall: I now understand why I have never heard of an Imperial White before, the qualities of Imperial do not mesh well with the qualities of a witbier.

Samuel Adams Imperial Stout

I think I am finally turning a friend to the dark of craft beer. Soon, his fridge will longer be the home of camouflaged Busch and animal-clad Schmidt’s. The Samuel Adams Imperial Stout was to be a the perfect gateway beer.

Samuel Adams Imperial Stout Particulars

9.2% ABV
Hallertau, Palisade, and Amarillo hops

Samuel Adams Imperial Stout Notes

Appearance: Deep black with tinges of red highlights. Thin tan head that subtlety lingered.

Aroma: Dark chocolate and coffee with hints of licorice.

Mouthfeel: Very creamy with a carbonation tingle.

Taste: Not surprisingly, the flavors are the same as the aroma. Tons of chocolate and coffee.

Overall: While a very tasty Russian Imperial Stout, the Samuel Adams Imperial Stout does stack against Big Sky Brewing‘s Ivan the Terrible or Deschutes 2011 Abyss.

Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool

This brew is, for better or worse, the craft beer most associated with Montana beers. Although I heard that Big Sky Brewing Company lost their original yeast culture, and it is not what I first remember tasting, back in the day. That being said, I still like the occasional Moose Drool, especially when it is the only real craft beer choice on tap, a situation that seems to come up often in Montucky.

Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Brown Ale Particulars

5.3% ABV
Pale, caramel, chocolate, and black patent malts
Kent Goldings, Liberty, and Willamette hops

Big Sky Brewing Moose Drool Brown Ale Notes

Appearance: Dark cocoa in color with an off-white one-finger head.

Aroma: Toasted malts and molasses-type sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Full is an understatement…luxuriously coats the palette.

Taste: Lots of chocolate for a “brown” ale with hints caramel and floral hops.

Overall: Moose Drool is always been a fall back position beer for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like Moose Drool, but I am not awed by it, either.

Powder Hound Winter Ale

I needed a pick up on Friday afternoon. The truck had just blown a head gasket and the funds were low. The perfect pick me up, a delicious Powder Hound Winter Ale from Missoula’s own Big Sky Brewing Company at Hooters. I know, I know…it’s not classiest move, but what the hell.

Big Sky Brewing Powder Hound Winter Ale Particulars

7.2% ABV
Hallertau, Palisade, and Amarillo hops

Big Sky Brewing Powder Hound Winter Ale Notes

Appearance: Crisp copper with a one-finger white head. Didn’t take notice of the lacing, but who the hell cares about lacing?

Aroma: Dark chocolate, coffee, toasted, and a whiff of floral

Mouthfeel: Fluid across the palette and with a sprite of carbonation to cleanse.

Taste: Those coffee and chocolate tones rush to the foreground with the sweet and floral hops lingering afterwards.

Overall: I have always the Powder Hound, although it is far from my all-time favorite winter ale. This may be due the fact that it is so readily available for me.

Lone Peak Brewery Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout

Any beer with a label that displays a VW vanagon with a peace symbol as to be excellent, right? The Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout from the Lone Peak Brewery in Big Sky is a wonderful stout. It maintains true to style while being pleasantly clean on the palette, that is to say to the coffee and chocolate does not overwhelm the tongue.

Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout Particulars

5.5% ABV
The malt bill includes 6 English-style malts and flaked oats.
Chinook and Northern Brewer hops

Hippy Highway Oatmeal Stout Notes

Appearance: Dark chocolate with a thin, milk chocolate head

Aroma: Dark chocolate, coffee, toasted, and a whiff of floral

Mouthfeel: Fluid across the palette and with a sprite of carbonation to cleanse.

Taste: Those coffee and chocolate tones rush to the foreground with the sweet and floral hops lingering afterwards.

Overall: I totally dugged this beer especially with the pairing described below. The sip warm sip is so reminiscent of mocha, it is quite tasty. It has moved into being my favorite Montana produced stout.

The Pairing

Hippy Highway paired with pepper smothered onions and bratwurst

For this brew, I paired it with a hot and spicy smothered onions served over some bratwursts from Lolo Peak Meats. A PBR was used for the “broth” in this incredibly simple dish. This is one my sinful standbys. This pairings worked very well as the spice cut through the heavier flavors of the stout.