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Columbus Ohio Breweries – Wolf’s Ridge and Seventh Son

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Wolf’s Ridge Brewing Company


My first stop on my visit was Wolf’s Ridge brewing Company where sadly I was not able to try any Hoppy beers because they had run out recently. The brewery felt more like a restaurant and bar than a brewery but I got the vibe of a proper place that respects good cocktails and knows quality beer.

I tried two Saison beers while I was there. The regular version had prominent herbal dry hop character with fairly viscous mouth feel and was under-carbonated. It seemed to focus more on the herbal hop character than on the yeast or the malts. This was not really my style of Saison. The barrel aged version on the other hand was bright with notes of lemon lime effervescence with citrus peel bitterness on the finish. The beer delightfully danced on the border between citrusy and juicy.

The barleywine I tried had a nice soft mouthfeel with a fairly thin body and stayed more on the sweet side without being overly bitter. The beer had flavors of caramel and plum with mild rye spice sweetness to finish it off. This definitely one of the better barley wines I have had recently. The coffee milk stout was tasty with strong coffee roast on the nose and flavors blending nicely with burnt toffee, roasted coffee and a smoky finish that lingers on the tongue. While the beer was well done, I found the smoky finish a bit too much for me.

I finished with the Imperial Stout which was quite nice and blended nicely with flavors of bitter chocolate, marshmallow, and subtle cherry notes. The beer hid its alcohol quite well and had a nice soft and creamy body. This was quite the excellent Imperial Stout and along with the version at seventh son, was up there as my favorite for this trip. Overall I had some solid beers at Wolfs Ridge although I wish I could have tried some of their IPAs. I ended up bringing some of the Imperial Stout home from my trip and made sure to only give my husband two of the 4 bottles because it has a thick chocolate character to it that I rarely find in my local stouts.

Top Three:
Barrel Aged Saison
Barleywine
Imperial Stout

Seventh Son Brewing


In contrast with Wolf’s Ridge, Seventh Son is much more open and the only food available is with a food truck. They had fairly large amount of seating outside in the sun and a fairly open bar area as well. They had quite the variety of beers on tap so I went with the ones that sounded most interesting to me to get a good sampling.

I started with Gleen IPA, which was resinous and had a nice dry finish. The beer had mild notes of citrus hops and white wine. The beer was somewhat subdued in hop aromas but it was nicely balanced and easy drinking. Similarly, the double IPA, though slightly higher in alcohol was just as dry. It had notes of marijuana on the nose and the beer did not have significant noticeable bitterness on the finish or prominent hop aromas. Still I could tell it was excellently made.

The Brett pale ale had a cloudy orange color with some mild funk from the Brett. The beer was also super dry and not particularly bitter, showing a nice balance between everything. The Imperial Stout was thick with notes of bitter chocolate, mild raisins, and a mild lingering sweetness. This beer also hid the alcohol quite well and was my other top favorite Imperial Stout of the trip. I was overall impressed with the ability of the Brewers to make such bone dry IPAs.

Top 2:
Imperial Stout
Brett Pale

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Boise Breweries – Lost Grove and Payette

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Lost Grove Brewing

I started with the Golden ale which was crisp and easy drinking with mild fruit. While not particularly flavorful, this was a delicious beer that would be easy to drink pint of. The lemonade stout, milk stout made with lemon zest, was so mild in the lemon department that I would not have known the added any if it was not listed on the menu. It was fairly standard for milk stout and had a nice amount of roast while not being overly sweet.

Their first site IPA was strongly herbal with lingering lemon zest character on the finish. While the beer was somewhat soft in body, it was not particularly hoppy or dry and fairly disappointing to me. The second chance IPA, was also fairly lemon forward and while nicely balanced with the pine and bitterness at the finish, it did not have the level of aroma to make the beer particularly appealing.

The Saison with sour sop had some light notes of vanilla, mild funk, and a nice dry finish. The beer was overall nicely balanced and had a light fruity character, making it one of the better beers of this brewery. The kettle sour, was creamy and had hints of white cake, though it was not particularly tart. The beer had hints of citrus and guava overall too mild in flavor for me.

Overall, I was not particularly impressed by the beers at Lost Grove though the Saison was one beer that stood out as better than the rest. The beers were all fairly middle-of-the-road, nothing to recommend visiting over other breweries in the area.

Top choice:
Saison with Sour Sop

Payette Brewing


I tried four tasters during my visit to Payette brewing and decided to leave it at that. They had a nice wide open tasting room with fairly expansive outdoor area. The top list was also quite expensive, though I went for what sounded most interesting to me to get a quick taste.

The Pilsner was quite light in body and lacking in flavor. Though drinkable, it was not particularly flavorful. The pale ale was easy drinking with fruity hops. Though not bitter, the beer was lacking in hop aroma and did not have the flavor I would’ve expected for a beer highlighting mosaic hops.

The Porter was fruit forward and fairly thin with a lingering finish that I did not care for. The Porter was fairly below average. The hazy IPA, was very lightly hazy with notes of tropical fruit and lemon. It was fairly light bodied and light in bitterness with hints of melon and bubblegum on the finish. It was fairly average for a first attempt at a hazy. I can’t even tell from my photo which one was the hazy because none of them is hazy.

Nothing at Payette that I tried was particularly good or exciting. Even if this had been my first stop of the day, I would likely have stopped after these four tasters.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Boise Breweries – Barbarian and Boise Brewing Company

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Barbarian Brewing

I tried six tasters that barbarian brewing based upon recommendations from my friend suggesting that this is the best spot in the city. None of the beers particularly stood out as favorites and the sours were not particularly exciting compared to my top 5 sour producers in the country. For sours from a small brewery they are fairly average and I preferred the sours at Woodland Empire personally.

I started with wheezing the juice, a hazy IPA. It was creamy with strong hop acidity, suggesting that it was quite fresh, with notes of pineapple but otherwise fairly muted hop aroma. The acidity was a bit overpowering the rest of the beer. The Imperial Stout was lightly smoky with notes of cherry though overall not a ton of flavor.

Blackbirds sour was acidic and berry forward with a nice tart finish while not overly sweet with an acidity that lingered at the finish from the berries. This was the better of the sours, although I have had better examples of a similar beer. The Red Sonja, was nicely balanced red sour with light oak and a strong tart finish that balanced nicely with notes of white cake.

Tooth stains, blueberry sour with coffee, was an interesting blend of blueberries and coffee though the coffee overpowered. The beer was quite tart and acidic on the finish although I did not particularly care for the mixture flavors. Pisco sour, an interesting take on the Peruvian mixed drink, had mild oak character and on Nitro at least had a similar mouth feel to the original drink. Overall, it felt a little bit too subdued in flavor for the style and the drink it is meant to imitate.

While I had a couple of sours that I enjoyed here, they were not at the level that I would suggest someone make a trip specifically to visit them. Fans of sours would likely enjoy the blackbird and/or Red Sonja, though they are both fairly average in the sour category. Still a sour fan will likely find one or two sours they enjoy here as long as they aren’t expecting world-class sours.

Top two:
Blackbirds berry sour
Red Sonja

Boise Brewing Company

I tried six tasters at one of the older breweries in Boise on my second day in town. While I was not expecting much, I was quite impressed by the flavor and balance of the various IPAs and Hoppy beers that I tried. I started with the red session, which I expected to be more of a balanced smooth red ale but instead was a take off the session IPA style with a little more malt character. The beer was super dry with an herbal hop bite, mild bitterness, and light caramel malt base that worked in line with the session IPA style.

The Porter was fairly thin with notes of cherry and coffee and mild caramel. It was fairly average and not particularly remarkable. The Irish red was decent, with cherry character from the malts and a dry finish. I would’ve preferred a little bit more roasting malt base or body to the beer. The American pale ale was quite dry with a medium bitterness on the finish and a nice mixture of herbal hop right with tropical fruit on the finish. It was nice because the bitterness did not linger on the tongue and the hops were not particularly overpowering.

The two IPAs, called obstruction and hip check, were both quite excellent with extremely dry finish and fairly mild bitterness. Of the two I preferred obstruction with its hint of tropical fruit character, though neither one of the two was particularly hop aroma forward. Hip check was a bit more malt forward, balancing toasty malts with resin and pine. Though both beers claimed to be 100 IBUs, I did not experienced them to be that bitter. Though none of the beers were particularly hypermodern, or exploding with hop aromas, they were excellently crafted and none of them lingered on the tongue more than they should.

Top two:
pale ale
obstruction IPA

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Moonraker Brewing Company Update 2018

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When I first visited Moonraker some two years ago they were fairly new and I was quite harsh as I judged them by the same standards that I judge most breweries. However, in order to fully recognize their progress, I made another trip to Sacramento so that I could try their beers again see how much better they have gotten over the last few years. While not every beer was amazing, there were two beers that were much more in line with my expectations for a proper hazy IPA.

Cloud castles was a deliciously citrus forward beer with a light bitterness and mild hop acidity on the finish. The beer was quite delicious although not as hazy as other beers I had on the same flight. Yojo, one of their most popular beers was quite excellent this time and very close to the flavor and mouth feel of fresh treehouse green, which I have been enjoying recently. The beer was quite tropical with guava, mild citrus, and a pillowy body. I was quite disappointed that they did not have cancer that I could try this side-by-side with treehouse green.

Yojo 33 1/2 was much thinner and had notes of bubblegum and grape. While easy drinking it lacked the punch of hop aroma of the previous two beers but it was still good. Hazy Duz It a double IPA was a bit darker in color and flavors of more resinous or pine character with more prominent malt flavor as well. I felt this beer was a bit muted in the hop aroma character but still good. The cloudy judgment double IPA was much more my style, thick and creamy with light citrus notes and flavors of sweet white cake, mango, and pineapple. This was another standout for me. I finished with the double vespers milk stout with coconut and vanilla and while it tasted pretty good at the beginning, it quickly tasted like sunscreen for me and I did not care for it.

In summary, Moonraker has achieved a quality of their hazy IPAs that makes their hyped status worth it especially for Yojo. From the lineup, it does appear as if they still have not gotten to the point where all of their beers are as creamy but they are able to achieve it sometimes. This particular batch of Yojo was spot on.

Top 2:
Yojo
Cloudy Judgment

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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Central Massachusetts Breweries – Building 8 and Brick and Feather

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Building 8

Building 8 has fairly limited hours and now after visiting I understand why. In fact, I do not recommend you make a stop by the brewery unless you cannot find fresh cans near where you are staying. They had three beers you could taste, one of the three being poured from a can. All three hoppy beers were low on hop aroma and more in the style of hop bitterness aiming for a crisp dry finish.

The session IPA was crisp with low bitterness and mild hop character. The beer was easy drinking enough but I would’ve preferred a little more hop aroma. The IPA was classic and balanced for a beer focus on bitterness over aroma. It was similarly easy drinking and delicious. The double IPA was poured from low fill cans, so it was a bit oxidized. Still, the beer had a nice balance to it and the bitterness was not overpowering such that I was still able to go back to my session IPA and tasted fully after some sips of the double.

Whether or not you enjoy the beers from building 8 will depend on whether you enjoy this classic style. With so many good options showcasing hop aromas, I don’t typically seek these out although they were quite well done and I especially could see myself drinking a bit of the session. You can find Building 8 cans all around the surrounding areas and if you can find them fresh you can get the same experience buying cans to drink at home.

Brick and feather

brick and feather only had four beers on tap when I stopped by but they were all well-made and indicated to me that the brewery is on the right track. They have a good-sized tasting room though not a lot of seating. Unlike most breweries, the largest poor you can get is 10 ounces even from some of the lighter beers. Their pricing favors growler fills.

I started with the biere de garde. It was mildly fruity with a lightly tart clean finish and notes reminiscent of a Belgian pale. I had a pint of the beer the night before and while I was expecting it to have a bit more malt character, it was nicely done. The pale ale was bursting with bright citrus and pineapple with a soft body, low bitterness, and mild hop acidity on the finish. I brought a growler of this beer back and enjoyed a few pints later the same day.

The Porter was nicely balanced with notes of birch toffee, molasses, and had a lightly bitter finish. The double IPA was an explosion of tropical fruit with a viscous mouth feel and some sweetness that could have been from the addition of lupulin powder. While I referred the flavor of the pale ale, the double IPA was still better than most in the surrounding area with the exception of treehouse. Brick and Feather is a great little brewery worth stopping by if you are up in the area. You can find their beers on tap around the area if you can’t make it to the brewery itself due to their limited hours. Though they also release the occasional small batch cans that you can only find at the brewery.

Paul McGuire

Paul McGuire is a craft beer enthusiast. He likes to travel with his husband and enjoy the great outdoors. In his day job, Paul is a divorce attorney serving clients in San Diego California.

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