Sunday Sips: A Quadruple helping of beers

Its been awhile, so what better way to get back into it then to bring an extra large helping of beers to tell you all about.  This is courtesy of a fine watering hole that we have here in Cedar Rapids called Parlor City.

A couple of weeks ago we were out with some friends to see To Kill A Mockingbird performed at our local theater. (really well done by the way, but no longer running.) We were trying to figure out where to go afterwards and we decided on this place, mostly because I knew they had one of my favorites on tap. It was time for me to get some Pseudo Sue from Toppling Goliath. But do you ever have one of those moments when you walk into a place with like 100 beers on tap and then you can’t make a decision. This was one of those moments. And then like an epiphany I saw that they had make your own beer flites. This was amazeballs, I could have my favorite and try three more. (I also got to make a flite for a buddy of mine while there too. Great times.) So going from right to left, darkest to lightest, we had Evil Twin’s Yin, Evil Twin’s Yang, Stone’s Go To IPA and finally the Pseudo Sue.

The Yin is an American Imperial/Double Stout, rather heavy at 10% ABV. This was a really nice full bodied stout, it definitely packed a punch with that 10% alcohol, I could feel it right away. It had a really nice mouth feel, a bit of a creaminess. It was also better rounded then some stouts, they put some hops in here to round it out a bit and take away from some of the sweetness. I’d give the Yin a 4.5 out of 5 Stars. I really enjoyed it. Then came the Yang which was a 10% ABV Double IPA. Man, this one was an in your face brew that just hit you upside the head with bitter hops. Not in a bad way mind you, but I was sipping this guy. There was no way I was downing this as a session beer. On its own I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. It wasn’t quite as good as the stout, but it was still a darn fine beer. The best part of these two came about when you did the obvious and made Evil Twin’s version of a black and tan. Holy cow, this came out as black IPA, and it was delicious. The two flavors just balanced each other perfectly. It was like a party going on. One that would leave my opinion of the Stone IPA slightly skewed I’m sure.

The Stone IPA was much more of a light weight in terms of alcohol. It was 4.5%, with 65 IBUs. This was meant to be a sessionable IPA. It looked really great to the eyes even if it was really clear. They filtered it for sure. The thing I remember the most is some pine mixed in with grapefruit in the nose. The mouthfeel was good, but as far as taste is concerned, this just wasn’t working for me. It was ALL bitterness, no rounding of flavors as far as I was concerned. I figure its alright, I like plenty of the rest of their beers, but this one just won’t go into my rotation. It gets 2 out 5 stars for me. I say stick to their other more fully bodied IPAs.

As for the Pseudo Sue, I’ve raved about that in the past. You can find that review back here.

Anyone else out there just get blown away when you can mix and match smaller versions of beers at a bar and create your own beer tasting menu?

Sunday Sips: Golden Nugget by Toppling Goliath Brewery

This week I’m bringing you another winner by Toppling Goliath Brewery out of little Decorah, Iowa. The Golden Nugget is an American style IPA that is full of hoppiness, and yet is rounded enough to not make me cringe. It’s got an ABV of 6.3% and an IBU of 56. I had this in a little brew pub here in Cedar Rapids, so it’s a lot harder to tell some of the things I usually take note of, like what is the head like off the pour and the nose isn’t as well defined after its sat for a few minutes. But I’m still going to try to do it justice, because I’m a beer snob. 🙂

The lacing of this beer was nice and well defined as you’d expect out of a little bit higher alcohol level. The pour looked a lot more like a wheat beer, this was an opaque look that was a really nice golden amber. The head that was left when it arrived was a nice bright white in color. The nose was typical of an IPA, fairly forward with citrus hints with perhaps a bit of grassiness to it. The taste was fresh bright and crisp on my palate. I didn’t care for it as much as their Pseudo Sue, but I had no problem finishing this off with a plate of French fries that our table was sharing. It was pretty excellent for a warmish summer afternoon. I would give it a 4 out of 5. I’ll try to stop reviewing TG beers for all of you that don’t have ready access to the wonderfulness that it is. I mean, how can we be interactive and have commentary about our beers if nobody else can get it. I say road trips are in order for everyone to have a vegan beer meet up. 😉 On that note have a great week everyone.

Sunday Sips: Pseudo Sue by Toppling Goliath

Well its another great Sunday which means that hopefully its time for another great beer right?  I know not everything I ever try is going to be a winner.  In fact I’ve struck out my fair share of times, but this week I’m happy to tell you that I won.  I won because I had a great beer to share with you all.  We all kind of lose though because I found out that currently the beer can only be found on tap and its only in the areas around Iowa.  So why do I share it with you, well because great beer simply must be shared.  You never know when you may be in my neck of the woods.

This week’s beer comes from Toppling Goliath Brewery.  This is a little micro brewery from Decorah Iowa.  I found the beer on tap at The Trumpet Blossom Cafe in Iowa City.  Which I’ve told you before and I’ll say it again is a FANTASTIC restaurant.  We sampled vegan sloppy joes, lentil soup, veggie burger and wonderful french fries.  Great night to try a new beer.

I saw the pull for TG and asked my server what it was, he started telling me it was a local pale ale and I stopped him there and said hook me up with that.  This is what I was brought.

I know I’m a snob, so I’m over the whole glass thing, but still I would have liked a better glass.  But the beer came out this wonderful golden color that I’m not really used to out of a pale ale.  The head was nice and bright and stuck around as I started to drink it.  The nose was grapefruit and some other citrusy scents, with just a bit of woodsyness to it.  As for the taste it had a great mouth feel, it rolled around and danced on the tongue, night and smooth, and it tasted of the grapefruit with a nice bite of bitter hops at the end.  I supremely enjoyed this one.  I would have drank more if I wasn’t going anywhere after.  It was ony 5.8% ABV so its got some punch, but not so much that you couldn’t make this a good sessionable beer.  Aren’t we all so glad that its becoming spring and these beers are there for us to drink.  I’d give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I’m not sure what I would have changed so much, but I’m trying to reserve my 5 stars for things that really blow me away.

Jackie and I are going to plan a trip up to their tap room some day this summer.  I can’t wait.  If you’re in Iowa, please give one of their brews a go.

Happy Sunday everyone.