Left Hand Milk Stout

Brewed By: Left Hand Brewing Company

Style: Milk/Sweet Stout

ABV: 6%

IBU: 25

Left Hand brewery opened their doors in 1994 in Colorado and has been going pretty strong ever since. They have 15 awards from the Great American Beer Festival and 8 awards from the World Beer Cup, they clearly know what they are doing!

Originally named Indian Peaks Brewing Company, they changed their name because they found out that another brewery was using that name for a certain style of beer. They got the name Left Hand from an Indian chief that used to be in the area, Chief Niwot. “Niwot” is an Arapahoe word meaning “left hand.”

This milk stout has won several awards both domestically and internationally.

Lets see if I agree.

(on a side note, the brewers website has a different ABV then Beer Advocate. No clue which is correct)

Look – It was a very dark pour, almost black. There was a half finger width of whitish head that didn’t stick around for very long

Smell – It did have a decent aroma of chocolate and coffee. There was also strong mildly roasted malt making an appearance. I also smelled what might be a little caramel.

Taste – It was very disappointing to say the least. With all the awards that its won, I was hoping for something more. There was a cold coffee aftertaste but there was very little flavor otherwise. It had an extremely light body with no hop taste at all. A very watery brew

Conclusion – I was kind of disappointed because before I really drank much beer, I used to love this stout. I guess as my taste has matured, I have learned to differentiate between good beer and not so good beer. It really makes me wonder what you have to do to get an award at a beer festival. Perhaps you just have to show up and you get something? So its similar to the 4^th grade track and field competition where everyone gets a ribbon, even if you come in 54^th place out of 57 students. I guess I will find that out when I attend my first beer festival!

I give this beer a C-, its aroma being the saving grace.

I do like the Left Hand website and I am looking forward to trying the rest of the lineup. I am always looking for suggestions and comments on the blog or just on the beers themselves, so feel free to be an active part of this blog!

And as always……click follow!

Happy Drinking!

Edmund Fitzgerald

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company

Style: American Porter

ABV: 5.8%

IBU: 37

I absolutely love the GLBC website because for each of their beers, you can download a PDF of information about it and the history of the name. It is definitely the best brewery website I have seen so far, so definitely go check it out!

From 1870-1980, Cleveland was the home of 30 different breweries, but all shut their doors by the early 1980’s! So in 1988, the Conway brothers opened GLBC. It has obviously been a huge success to this day and they continue to strive in their mission to be the “premier craft brewery in the Great Lakes region.” I will say that is a tough mission to keep going with so many great breweries in this region.

The Edmund Fitzgerald is named after the ship that sank in Lake Superior in 1975, the ship had many Ohio residents on it. So lets check it out to see if it’s a fitting tribute!

Look – Dark Brown pour with a slightly red tint around the edges. There was about a half finger width of white head that dissipated pretty quickly.

Smell – Has a very nice smell to it. There is coffee and chocolate and a little bit of hops in there as well. The smell is very balanced!

Taste – The first thing I realized was how smoky it actually tasted. It made for a very unique flavor all around. There was a decent hop presence among the dark malt, slight coffee, and even slighter chocolate taste. Surprisingly there wasn’t much of an aftertaste to this beer. It also had a very dry finish. The body was decently light as well, which made this beer very easily drinkable! (so maybe slightly dangerous too)

Conclusion – Before I started drinking beer, I liked porters. Once I got an appreciation for beer, however, I started to find that porters were lacking in so many things. None were as satisfying as a stout and didn’t have the character of other lighter styles. Thankfully I found this porter, which has resurrected my beliefs that a porter can be good! A very unique brew that is essential to try!

I am giving this beer a solid A-

For anyone in the GLBC distribution area, I am jealous for sure. Thanks to the few who have become followers!

Happy Drinking!

Hofbräuhaus Newport

It’s about time for my first brewery/bar/eatery review and it is one that every beer lover (or German lover) should visit!

The Hofbräuhaus in Newport, KY!

You might be thinking the same thing I am, why is such a popular, traditional German place located in Kentucky? How did the owners of the Hofbräuhaus München decide upon Newport, KY as the very first replication of their brewery in the United States? To that question, I have no answer, mostly because I don’t speak German (but even more so because I am sure the owners would have no interest in granting me an interview.) This location opened in 2003 with two more locations opening in Las Vegas and Pittsburgh in 2004 and 2009, respectively. I am sure each location is worth a stop!

From the outside, all you see is a fairly industrial, modern looking building that blends in to the building surrounding it. Of course the big blue signs that mark the building let you know you’re in the right place. The hallway you walk down to get to the dining area has photos and history and information on their beer club. Then you arrive in the dining area.

I’ve never been to Germany, but I would imagine the people of Hofbräuhaus have made sure that the seating and general atmosphere of the place is very similar to the one in Munich. Large tables with bench seating fill up the floor with a few booths along the wall while flags with various family crests hang from the ceiling. The bar is nice and large with some huge brewing tanks setting the brewery atmosphere. Perhaps the most important part of any German beer place is apparent as well: the beer maidens, decked out in their Dirndl.

I enjoyed being in the place because it actually does make you feel like you could be in Germany, minus the German accents. The food list is mostly authentic German cuisine and the beer list is of course their beer. I won’t go too much into the food but you can see it for yourself below:

I will say that I was quite disappointed at one point during the meal. As you can tell from a previous review of the beer itself, I had a liter of the Dunkel. The ONLY reason I wanted a liter of beer at

lunch was because the menu said I could keep the stein afterwards, and who doesn’t want a liter stein? Upon finishing the meal, the beer maiden hands me the check and I look at it and realize she didn’t charge me for the stein yet. So upon her return I question her and they tell me they are running low on steins and can’t sell any. I was heartbroken to say the least, but I suppose its not entirely their fault.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful experience to be there, eat their wonderful food, and drink their decent beer. I am very interested in going back and trying the different beers they have each month.

I am going to give this a brewery/bar/eatery a B+ overall, despite not selling me a stein.

Check out their website HERE

Happy Drinking!