Hayes Bomberpalooza, Part 2

Continuing with the beers from the Hayes Bomberpalooza party....


Beer #4:  G'Knight Imperial Red (8.7% ABV) from Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colorado

This beer was a big switch from the previous IPA served (Hop Stoopid).  At this point, all beers were beginning to taste the same...like beer.  But then some water was distributed and snacks (cocktail weenies) were passed around and all was well with the world of taste buds in my mouth.

I really didn't get much feedback from the group on this one, but I did overhear one girl say "if I were at a bar and they didn't have a wheat beer, I may be able to drink this."  I should probably say that the same girl who said this was drinking Hoegaarden for most of the evening.  There's nothing wrong with Hoegaarden, I just feel like that helps put her funny quote into perspective for any possible readers who were not present.

Although I am not a big fan of reds, I thought this was a smooth and easy drinking red.  It was creamy but
not slimy.  I'd drink it again for sure.  Rating: 3 of 5.



Beer #5:  Ponderosa IPA (ABV not published) from Prescott Brewing Company in Prescott, Arizona

Ahhhh, finally a local brew.  This beer seemed to get overwhelmingly good reports from all tasters.  That may have something to do with the fact that it was the 5th beverage with at least 7% ABV being served, but maybe not.

The hop factor was quite tame compared to the previous beers and many people commented on how drinkable this beer is.  One taster was happy to discover an Arizona beer he could finally really get behind.

Not being an IPA fan, I'll give this a 3 of 5, but that is likely much lower than what others thought.  I prefer strong unfiltered belgian-styles or white (wit) beer.



Beer #6:  Alesmith IPA (7.25% ABV) from Alesmith Brewing Company in San Diego, California

I love that my dad tried all these crazy beers.

Ok, so I have to admit....by this point, everything is tasting like beer.  The cocktail weenies (P.S. -- they were turkey weenies) and pinwheels helped put some new flavors in my mouth, but there's been a lot of beer passed around in the last hour or so. 

I do remember tasting this beer and thinking that it was mostly unremarkable.  There was really nothing IPA or special about this beer.  It was cold and it certainly wasn't a BAD beer by any means, but it wasn't special.  Again, you could say that at this point we've had so many different flavors that my poor assaulted taste buds have crawled to the back of my throat to hibernate, but who knows if that's true or not.  I suspect it is not because I do remember hearing other people talk about how this beer was overrated (they were reading BeerAdvocate.com or Ratebeer.com off and on) and indistinguishable.

Anyway, once I got my hands (and camera lens) on the bottle, I realized that there actually was something special about this beer. It was unlike any beer I've ever seen before.  I flipped the bottle around to look for the stats of the beer.  HOLY CRAP.  They wrote a damn novel on the back of the bottle.  Most of what they wrote is about how awesome this beer is.  I read it aloud to those who were within earshot and I heard a few groans and audible eyerolls -- yes, audible eyerolling does exist.  Oh yeah, and the best part of the back of the bottle...

Hey Alesmith --- if you're going to put this on your beer, you should make sure it knocks my damn socks off.

Still more to come...