Oskar Blues GUBNA Imperial IPA

GUBNA poured a clear, amber color with a paper thin, white head. The aroma is pungent, with a strong malt base and plenty of pine needle like hops. The body is strong; with some "scotch notes", tons of malt, some alcohol warmth, a touch of sweetness and plenty of hops lurking underneath. The finish is dry and bitter, a result of the massive amount of hops starting to show through.

Overall, this is a decent Imperial IPA. There is a ton of quality ingredients in here and each have their own nice impact, but it seems a little bit unbalanced. The huge malt front seems to dominate and although this gets a little better as it warms, there just seems to be way to much going on here for GUBNA to be considered a great beer.

Abita Turbodog

Turbodog poured a chocolate brown color with a thumb width, light tan head. The aroma is mild for a brown ale, and is dominated mostly by roasted malts. The body is smooth and velvety, with little carbonation. There is more roasted malt before some coffee notes on the backend that lead to a lightly bitter finish.

Overall, this is an above average brown ale. Abita's beers are usually easy drinking and fit nicely within style guidelines. At a fairly mild 5.6% ABV this would make for a nice session beer.

2009 Top 50 Craft Brewers By Volume

The Brewers Association just released their annual list of the top fifty craft brewers based on their 2009 sales volume. The Boston Beer Company is still number one. You can find last year's results here.

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies
(Based on 2009 beer sales volume)

Rank Brewing Company City State
1 Boston Beer Co. Boston MA
2 Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Chico CA
3 New Belgium Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
4 Spoetzl Brewery Shiner TX
5 Pyramid Breweries Inc. Seattle WA
6 Deschutes Brewery Bend OR
7 Matt Brewing Co. Utica NY
8 Magic Hat Brewing Co. Burlington VT
9 Boulevard Brewing Co. Kansas City MO
10 Harpoon Brewery Boston MA
11 Alaskan Brewing Co. Juneau AK
12 Bell’s Brewery, Inc. Galesburg MI
13 Kona Brewing Co. Kailua-Kona HI
14 Full Sail Brewing Co. Hood River OR
15 Stone Brewing Co. Escondido CA
16 Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Milton DE
17 The Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn NY
18 Abita Brewing Co. Abita Springs LA
19 Summit Brewing Co. Saint Paul MN
20 Anchor Brewing Co. San Francisco CA
21 Shipyard Brewery Portland ME
22 New Glarus Brewing Co. New Glarus WI
23 Great Lakes Brewing Co. Cleveland OH
24 Rogue Ales/Oregon Brewing Co. Newport OR
25 Long Trail Brewing Co. Bridgewater Corners VT
26 The Lagunitas Brewing Co. Petaluma CA
27 Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. San Jose
CA
28 SweetWater Brewing Co. Atlanta GA
29 Firestone Walker Brewing Co. Paso Robles CA
30 Victory Brewing Co. Downingtown PA
31 Flying Dog Brewing Co. Frederick MD
32 BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery Huntington Beach CA
33 Odell Brewing Co. Fort Collins CO
34 Rock Bottom Brewery Restaurants Louisville CO
35 BridgePort Brewing Co. Portland OR
36 Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe Eureka CA
37 Big Sky Brewing Co. Missoula MT
38 Stevens Point Brewing Co. Stevens Point WI
39 Mac and Jack’s Brewery Redmond WA
40 Karl Strauss Brewing Co. San Diego CA
41 The Saint Louis Brewery, Inc. St. Louis MO
42 Blue Point Brewing Co. Patchogue NY
43 Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants Chattanooga TN
44 Oskar Blues Brewery Longmont CO
45 North Coast Brewing Co. Fort Bragg CA
46 Breckenridge Brewery Denver CO
47 Utah Brewers Cooperative Salt Lake City UT
48 Saint Arnold Brewing Co. Houston TX
49 Boulder Beer Co. Boulder CO
50 Bear Republic Brewing Co. Cloverdale CA

Stone Vertical Epic 08.08.08

Vertical Epic poured a hazy, golden color with a thumb width, frothy, white head. The nose is amazing; light with a little malt and very pleasant fruity esters.

The body is delicate, yet layered and complex. There is a pale malt base with a touch of sweetness up front. The middle palate offers a nice touch of yeast and some fruit before moving to a few spicy notes. The yeast, spices, and fruit all die out on the finish leaving a lingering dryness on the palate.

There was some hanging lace left on the glass. Overall, this is a phenominal beer. Epic 08 is supposed to have used hops at "a fairly high rate", but they seem to have died down a good amount in the last two years. It is however balanced, easy drinking, and yet layered with flavors that offera new experience with each sip.

Oskar Blues Mama's Little Yella Pils

Mama's Pils poured a clear, golden yellow color with a finger width, white head. The aroma is clean, with lots of hops. The body is short and crisp, juicy with a pale malt base. The finish is crisp, with a perfect amount of hops that finishes clean and dries out the palate a bit.

Overall, this is a really nice pilsner; one of the best in the country. The crisp mouthfeel is nice and the flavors work really well together. Mama's is another great beer from Oskar Blues and one of my favorite go-to session beers.

Yuengling Black and Tan

21st Amendment Monk's Blood