Brunch at Kraftwork

Two weekends ago, Jo and I decided to stop at Kraftwork for brunch before heading over to Greensgrow to pick up our CSA allotment. On top of being on the way, I'd heard the food was quite good and their beer list is always top notch. Turns out their food really is that good as both Jo and I had excellent meals. Their biscuits especially were delicious and if you go definitely order them. To drink, I decided to start with Bell's This One Goes to Eleven. I think it's supposed to be an imperial red ale by style but I don't know 100%. I do know the name is from This is Spinal Tap, a pretty funny movie if you've never seen it.

Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster at Kite & Key

Stopped in at the Kite & Key on Monday like usual. This time, though, I had some trouble deciding on what to drink. It was either Maine Brewing Co. Peeper or the Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster. After trying a sample of each, I decided to go with the Great Lakes though it was also partially because I didn't feel like drinking a whole pint. I also got to see the end of the women's Olympic soccer match between the US and Canada. Man, what a finish.

Pretty sweet nose with a hint of citrusy hops. Thick body, even for a double IPA. Probably a result of the larger than average sweetness. Tasted like orange juice mixed with some sugary malt sweetness and finished with some really light bitterness. Definitely sweet for a double IPA though so if you're looking for a hop bomb, look elsewhere. Otherwise, it was pretty tasty.

Great Lakes Commodore Perry

The last of the bunch of IPAs I bought a little while ago was the Great Lakes Commodore Perry.

Smelled a bit like orange juice which must have been a combination of the hops and malt. Very interesting. Mild bitterness followed by a little sweetness and finished with a hint of the orange juice from the nose. Clean flavors in this and very mild. If you can't handle the huge bitterness of some IPAs, this would be a good choice as a way to get used to it in order to start enjoying more aggressive ones.

Great Lakes Doppelrock

I needed to wait for my wife on Sunday so I stepped into London Grill and got a glass of Great Lakes Doppelrock, surprisingly enough, a doppelbock.

Had a nice sweet caramel nose.  Not quite as sweet smelling as some doppelbocks, but close.  Initially, some bread notes, some caramel and some toffee.  Mostly caramel and toffee were apparent as I drank more of it.  Pretty tasty and glad I got to try it as I love doppelbocks.  Love them.  So much.

A Couple of Beers on a Friday

Last Friday I had a couple of interesting beers but haven't been able to talk about them quite yet.  Between the Three Floyds stuff, catching up on some other posts and Stina's birthday I've just had other things to talk about than these two.  Now's the time though.  I know, you're very excited.  I'm glad.

The first one I opened was a Great Lakes Christmas Ale.  My brother Dan gave me this for Hanukkah and I was excited because I had heard it was quite good.  I hadn't seen it anywhere around me so it was nice to get a few bottles.