Breckenridge SummerBright Ale

American Pale Wheat Summer Ale from the Breckenridge Brewery

Again, I chose this beer because of the packaging. Breckenridge Brewery always has these fantastic retro poster style beer labels.

I picked this one out after a handful of other beers this past Memorial Day weekend. It was a pretty great day of "day" drinking and eating spent with Cathy that ended with meeting our friends downtown at the Taste of Cincinnati.

We were at the Oakley Pub when I poured out this pale hazy lemon with some light white head. Everything about this beer is light, which is kind of what you want in a summer beer. Light spice, light color, light body, light smell. Really not much to point out other than that. There are plenty of better options when it comes to summer beers. I don't care much for wheat styled beers so I need to really be hit with a lot of flavor.

Great Label, Average Beer.

Happy Drinking!

Who: out with Cathy and friends
Where: The Oakley Pub
Price: $$$
Score: 2 / 5

The Session #21: Favorite Beer

This is my first session post for beer blogging Friday. The 21st installment of The Session is hosted by A World of Brews. The topic chosen by Matt is "What is your favorite Beer and Why?"

This is a tough question, because I rarely ever buy the same beer over and over. When my wife and I are traveling one of my rules is to always try a beer from the region we are in, so I'm forced to try something new all of the time. That is the beauty of the craft beer world, their are so many choices and it's so hard to choose your favorite. Same goes for when we are in a bar, I never order the same beer at every bar. Most of the beers that I enjoy are not available in bars anyways.

But, since I don't like to break the rules, I'll go with Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA. It was the latest beer to get a 5 / 5 rating from me. Here is what I said in my review back in October

"This beer is not for those who don't like hops. It was a great combination of the malt with the double hops though. Although the bitterness and hops are in your face from the beginning, it wasn't overwhelming. The sweetness of the caramel was their at the beginning, but it isn't enough to take away from the bitter finish. The brewmaster really outdid him/herself with this beer. Even with the high ABV (9.20%) I could sit and have a handful of these.

Highly Recommended!"

I have to give a shoutout to Dave over at Musings Over a Pint and Chipper Dave at Fermentedly Challenged for alerting me to The Session. Be sure to check out A World of Brews for a summary of all of this month's Session posts.

Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA

Breckenridge 471 Small Batch Double IPA.

Joe brought this down a few weekends ago along with the Lagunitas. That was a great beer tasting weekend, as both have been given 5/5 ratings from me.

Pours a nice orange color with a creamy head. You can really smell the hops, a hint of grapefruit citrus as well as a nice caramel really balances this out.

This beer is not for those who don't like hops. It was a great combination of the malt with the double hops though. Although the bitterness and hops are in your face from the beginning, it wasn't overwhelming. The sweetness of the caramel was their at the beginning, but it isn't enough to take away from the bitter finish. The brewmaster really outdid him/herself with this beer. Even with the high ABV (9.20%) I could sit and have a handful of these.

Highly Recommended!

Who: Joe
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 5 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Breckenridge Autumn Ale

To me, this was your typical Fall seasonal brew. Dark brown color with a sweet toasty caramel smell.

Breckenridge Autumn Ale tasted about like what it smells like. Toasty, nutty, caramel taste with a slight bitterness at the end. Has a nice smooth malt and hops combo, not too sweet not too bitter. A very drinkable beer but nothing to distinguish itself from the others in this category. Breckenridge puts it into the Oktoberfest category, but it is way to sweet if you ask me. Because of how sweet it was, this is very surpising, but some reason I really liked this beer and would try it again.

Who: the Zlatics and Gramkes
Where: Allyn's Cafe
Price: $$
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!