2X Ultra IPA

In Miami, there is a restaurant called Titanic, which is also a bar and brewery. They have a couple of seasonal brews alongside their regular offerings, as well as what they call "guest beers" or something like that, basically beers that they didn't brew on the premises but that are supposed to be pretty awesome. Their meatloaf is also a winning item, made in the typical fashion but with the addition of chorizo to give it a kick. But I digress.

One of their seasonal beers, brewed in house, is the 2X Ultra IPA. I gather that it is only for a limited time, so if you are in the area, hurry up and get some. Eric says it is the fruitiest IPA ever, with a sweetness and a mango flavor that gave him pause. It is also very hoppy, with malts you can taste but that are nonetheless overpowered as expected by the hops. As the resident IPA lover, he enjoyed it very much and would drink it again. Be warned: it has a high alcohol content, which I think was in the vicinity of double digits but I cannot recall and it is not posted anywhere that I can find.

Just the facts, ma'am: 2X Ultra IPA, Titanic Brewery, Florida, American Double / Imperial IPA, high alcohol content.

Widmer Hefeweizen

Last night I had the pleasure of hanging out at the Yard House after work with a couple of friends. We pretty much only go during happy hour because it's a damn expensive restaurant otherwise, but it's hard to argue with the prospect of over a hundred beers on tap. Yes, on tap, not just waiting around in bottles or cans. My good bud Alex loves beer but feels that her taste buds are insufficiently refined and wants to work on understanding what the different flavors are and how they operate in her mouth. To this end, she grabbed one of their samplers, which comes with around two ounces each of six different beers. Don't worry, they each get a separate review.

The first beer of the night for her was the Widmer Hefeweizen, an American wheat beer in the German unfiltered weissbier (white beer) style, which mixes about half and half wheat and barley to make a light colored, cloudy ale. It's a good beer to start with because it's relatively light compared to, say, an IPA or a stout, which were also awaiting her attention.

This brew was sweet and full-bodied for a hefeweizen, somewhere between a pub ale and a Belgian according to Eric, but it was also easy to drink. Smooth as a baby's bottom, as the saying goes, although perhaps it is more like smooth as Salma Hayek's leg when she pours tequila on it for Quentin Tarantino to drink. Somehow the idea of a baby's bottom probably shouldn't be anywhere near beer. But I digress. As it's a hefeweizen, it's not too hoppy or malty, and it's basically the kind of thing you could drink for a while without getting full or queasy.

Still, whether you would want to drink it for a while is debatable. It's a solid beer but not spectacular, comparable to a Sam Adams Coastal Wheat but not as good as Bell's Oberon. If you've got it, drink it; if not, and you're looking to be impressed rather than sated, consider reaching for something else instead.

Just the facts, ma'am: Widmer Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Oregon, hefeweizen, 4.9% alcohol by volume, 30 IBU.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

While not an IPA, which as previously noted is the preferred style in this household, the Sam Adams Boston Lager is probably the second most purchased beer (next to "something new that looks tasty"). Brewed by the Boston Beer Company, which technically produces most of its beer in Cincinnati, it's the original offering that the company's founder concocted in his kitchen using his great-great-mumble-great grandfather's recipe.

I've had the pleasure of visiting their brewery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, which is where I discovered my body's unfortunate aversion to hops. The Jamaica Plain brewery is their testing facility, where thousands of eager beer drinkers line up for a free tour that includes a tasting of three different beers. Few things are more shameful than drinking IBC Root Beer with a bunch of minors while everyone else around you is tasting beers, including one that likely won't make it to market called the California Common (a steam beer, like Anchor Steam or Flying Dog Old Scratch).

But I digress. The Boston Lager is a Vienna style lager, developed in Austria and eventually exported to random places like Mexico, where it became Dos Equis. Among lagers, which is a pretty big category, the Boston Lager is relatively hoppy, and also a bit sweet, even complex, almost more like an ale. Our friend Liz feels patriotic when she drinks it, more American somehow. We must note that the brewers have no familial connection to Samuel Adams, brewer and patriot, but picked him as a mascot to lead Americans in a revolution away from crappy beers. At least, that is the story we tell ourselves.

Just the facts, ma'am: Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Boston Beer Company, Massachusetts, Vienna lager, 4.75% alcohol by volume.

There are elves in Vienna, right? They probably like beer.

Fade to Black

Because my husband is recording music in the other room, I have the urge to write this review as a song. Don't worry, I'll valiantly fight the feeling. With him is a friend of mine who politely asked whether he could have one of the many beers in my fridge. Something malty, he said. I had just the thing.

Fade to Black is a winter seasonal that Left Hand Brewing Company calls a Foreign Stout, but I'm told it's almost more like a porter. As advertised, it's a really dark beer; we're talking bottom of a well on a moonless night. The most prominent notes are a sweetness like molasses and a sort of espresso undertone according to my friend, but other sources report licorice and cardamom flavors.

If you're not a big fan of porters or the sweeter side of stouts, this may not be the beer for you; try Left Hand's Milk Stout instead. If you want something malty, like my friend did, this beer is enthusiastically recommended. By which I mean that it was immediately stolen by someone else because it was so good, so my friend will have to wait until I can buy more.

Just the facts, ma'am: Fade to Black, Left Hand Brewing Company, Colorado, foreign stout, 8.5% alcohol by volume.

Consume in a well-lit area or you might lose your beer and never find it again.