Patch Block || Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 | Screw Cap | C+ | | 07APR12

Going in, I knew that this wasn't going to be anything special. To tell the truth, I didn't even realize that it had a screw cap until I got home. Knowing that prior-to, I wouldn't have gotten it. Anyway, as I said, going in I wasn't setting the expectations high. Pouring looked quite similar to the others of this type: Deep red, and purple at the edges that fanned out to and eventual transparency. Upon the first sip, there was NOTHING UP FRONT.... NOTHING!!! At the back was a bite and some nice berries. I almost didn't even have anymore. Literally, it tasted like water up front. It was such a weird thing. Intrigued, I left the cap off to get some air in there and sure enough it helped bring out the up-front over time. Now I was able to say some more. I was getting hints of butterscotch at times, but it was ever-so-slight. It was quite different and I did like that. As for the rest of it, it was kind of hard to drink... Not the worst and CERTAINLY not the best. 

Would I buy again? NO. Not unless there wasn't anything else available.

Unibroue || Terrible

Terrible | Bottle | A | Wegman's | 05FEB12

Looks like "cola" and definitely the same mouth-feel save for carbonation (which was definitely present, just not as prominent). Upon first smell, there's a Gushers candy rush that eventually [as delta "t" would govern] becomes unripe/green banana, (getting wierder) confetti-popper party favor smoke, slight sour cherry/blueberry-brawling. There's a TOUCH of mojo-hand, or black pepper up front that's very hard to detect... I definitely got lucky in that I got it. The flavors immeditely exposed are sour berries and their respective juices. It all seems to rest upon some type of wet wooden foundation. Not jungle, but more like a wood shack in the moist rolling grren hills of somewhere-Belgium; genuine. With that being said, that familiar "Belgi-american" water is present, but this time it's more Belgian than American. The lees are directly connected to every drop (which is a good thing). This beer is chaotically aromatic yet contained in the bottle. To Unibroue: Good job taming/capturing this feral beer. 

Brouweri'j Brouwkot || Kalle

Clown Shoes || Tramp Stamp

You wanna talk Belgi-American, get this... BUY THIS BEER. Whatever's goin on in Ipswich is maybe what's going on in Area 51. It's been discovered... It's been here all along.

Fegley's Brew Works || Hop'solutely

Terrapin Beer Co. || Hopzilla '12

Hopzilla | Bottle | A+ | TRADE - THANK YOU, TED! | 20MAR12

Smells of orange peel , hops, toffee, some caramel, and slight...flowers? Candy sugar coats the mouth, hop bitterness; a bit of orange peel. Now here's the deal: some beers I've said had orange peel and then I think, "well, what about lemon peel?", being undecided. This however is definitely ORANGE peel; I'm sure of it. For an imperial IPA, this is what I believe to be the sweetest I've had yet it is nowhere near too sweet. It's a strange thing that just works. Carbonation is perfectly balanced with the beer. Everything that is active, alive, and cutting the rug sits at the back of the tongue while the sweetness coats, or primes, your entire mouth for the hop invasion. It's like calming a riot every time you sip this beer. There's almost a ginger-like feeling akin-to Thai spices or something Lao/Thailand-ingredient related. I know I've eaten something with this "property" before, I just can't put my finger on it. This is one of those mysterious qualities and a strange one at that being in a beer.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery || Theobroma

Theobroma '12 | Bottle | A+ | Goldstein's Deli - Kingston, PA | 18MAR12

I can't believe how LIGHT in color and body this is for the flavor of the beer. The only other beer that comes to mind that has succeeded in this phenomena is Furthermore Oscura. There is a cola-like head on this beer (only just a bit more foamy) -- it's there, and then it's not. This is definitely a unique smelling beer which I believe is due to the ancho chilies. The taste up front is sweet, there's definitely chocolate but with a big rush of honey. Not quite mead, but it's definitely honey. There's definitely some chilies here but I did not get ANY heat from them, only the pepper taste. I was trying to compare the heat with Terrapin/Schmaltz Reunion Ale '12 and my only findings were complete opposites. Of course, the warmer this gets, the more flavor, but the weird thing was that there weren't MORE flavors, just STRONGER flavors. That was really neat.