Our Tastes-- Blue Moon Honey Moon Summer Ale

Oddly enough of all of the Blue Moon beers I've had, I've never had Honey Moon. Brewed in small batches May thru August with a very specific honey from Madhava clover in Lyons, CO. This honey specialty ale has won gold at GABF in 06' and 07' and is made with pale and wheat malts. Color is golden with a profound foamy head. Swirled as a true wheat I've even tried it with a little lime wedge on the side. This is the kind of beer you could sling and orange, lemon or lime wedge in and see what subtle after tones the fruit brings out. Ok, for the true history buffs in many parts of Europe and Arabia the honeymoon is the honey month. A father-in-law will provide enough mead for the 1st month to ensure as mush bliss as possible and ensure the lineage. This one is only 5.6%abv.

Our Tastes-- Saranac Caramel Porter

NOT in the sampler, but the Caramel Porter, (introed to AL at the Magic City Brewfest) is a huge limited release using Dark Caramel Malt along with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings. The aroma is pure caramel stickiness which hides the BIG hops used. At first taste it is a little overwhelming but there is a draw that keeps me buying, maybe it's the newness? 5.4%abv makes you think that "just cooked sugar" couldn't be better. One more Nacker to go but the Melon will have to bring that one with her, because most of them she drinks@!

Our Tastes-- Saranac Black Forest

The last of the sampler pack but not the last of the Saranac taster is Black Forest. Listed as a Bavarian black beer this has got to be the porter offering, at least at first smell, that of a sweet porter. A nearly black brew with a roasted taste with hop to balance (Mt. Hood and Hallertauer), washing a 5.3%abv. All of these beers are AL certified except for the fact that until recently this one was draft only. Salud!

Our Tastes-- Saranac Black & Tan

St. Patty's in July! The Black and Tan from Saranac is a blending of their Irish Stout and German Amber. Grains are Chocolate, caramel, black roasted barley hopped with Willamette (pronouned Wil-LAM-ett, thanks J. Deffe of CABS homebrew club)! I knew I would be able to plug my local club soon enough. A flat usual stouty head with black/brown translucent color. This one is a summer shocker (2 in the pig and 1 in the fish) summer surprise. 5.1%abv, go get it!

Our Tastes-- Saranac India Pale Ale

So far this brew smacks of the best. IPA. The greater the beer the better the color, a wonderful reddish hue with a slapping aroma of all Cascade hop. Brewed with Two-row to a nice 5.8%abv, this is one of the new beers introduced to AL this year at the Magic City Brewfest. Damn this is a keeper. I should know. Several 6ers have kept me going through yardwork in Mt.Olive, AL so far this summer.

Our Tastes-- Saranac Pale Ale

Oddly enough the Pale Ale offered by Saranac is an EPA! I expected a slightly more hoppy (or under-hopped IPA). This one pours a nice retaining head with a mild brown head and has a definite malty aroma. Makes me miss mine. Made with Crystal malts and Cascade and East Kent Goldings this beer is slighlty heavier and maltier than the preceding kin. Another 5.5%abv bevvy.

Our Tastes-- Saranac Adirondack Lager

Keeping up with the Saranac taster, next in line is Adirondack Lager. The Enabler and I are splitting brews to get the full taster in and this has a great "lager" color and caramel sweetness in the aroma. The head dissipates but is reinfused with some swirl. Made with Two-row (for the sweetness), Cascade, Mt Hood and Hallertauer this is another nice beer from the guys in Utica, NY. Mouthfeel is medium and the abv is 5.5%. So far this one is turning out to be bland, but I set the beers up in the garage fridge to go from lightest to heavy.

Our Tastes-- Samuel Adams 2007 Longshot Grape Pale Ale

Drum roll please. The last of the Longshot tasters for now until they release last year's Double IPA and the other 2 winners from this year in the next 6er sampler is Lili Hess's of Hawaii Grape Pale Ale. Made with white grape juice and maple syrup. This beer has the same great reddish brown hue of a pale ale but the aroma smells of slight sweetness. Described as ".. drinking a pale ale after biting into a fresh green seedless grape." The head quickly dissipates and I can't locate an abv on it but this is definitely #2 in the pack. As I type this it saddens me that they have announced this year's winners and I am not among them; however, an imperial stout did place in the judging so maybe I just need to work on the recipe. Sam Adams is currently starting their 4th Annual Beer Lover's Choice Awards like the Nut Brown Ale and Honey Porter before, but this year it's between Blackberry Witbier and Coffee Stout made with beans from Rwanda. Looking at this year's Longshot stats brewers were down by about 400 while samples were down by almost 600! Hop shortage? Sore losers? I'll be trying again, that's part of the fun.

Our Tastes-- Saranac Traditional Lager

After all of these years I have yet to try this series of beers in depth. I've had the Pumpkin Ale only, I think when I could get my hands on it in The Rocket City. But starting this taster series is the Traditional Lager. The Enabler brought a sampler back from D.C. last year and since the Magic City Brewfest this year a distributor here has started caring a few more in their line, so why not try a dozen or so of their 20 something beers they make! The color on this reminds me of the same color as Miller Lite (I know it sounds bad but it's the truth and no I haven't had one of those in a long time!) The aroma is a sweetness associated with lagers. Made with Two-row, wheat, Cluster Tettnanger and Adirondack water. The taste is well worth beer after beer. 4.8%abv, go have some.

Our Tastes-- Samuel Adams 2007 Longshot Weizenbock

Continuing on my quest to try them all (having only 1 left after this one), I am giving Rodney Kibzey's Weizenbock a try. It pours a cloudy mahogany with ample head. The aroma is oddly in contrast to the actual taste. The smell is almost of a spicy pilsner but the mouthful is full bodied banana and cloves. It apparently took him a few batches to get this one right but when you look at the Chicago area rankings he came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd!! for his Weizenbock, American IPA and Ordinary Bitter, so he had it hemmed up for sure. I'm not sure that I would buy a sixer of this stuff but hell when you win all 3 top places they kind of had to pick something. One curiosity is whether it is top or bottom fermented? Bocks are bottom fermenting whereas true wheats must be top-fermented by German law. Either way, at 7.2%abv it'll do donkey