Highwater Hoppy Tripel from Blue Pants

 I have talked about Blue Pants Brewery before they are a north Alabama brewery. Their Highwater Hoppy Tripel is 9.0% ABV it is their take on a Belgian. It has a stronger hop flavor than I would normally expect in a tripel but I guess if I had read the bottle first I would have expected that. It's pretty good not my favorite from Blue Pants but I am enjoying it. My husband tried it too even though he is not a tripel fan and he was surprised how much it just tasted like a strong IPA.

Avondale Vanillaphant Porter

Avondale Brewing Company is a Birmingham, AL based company. This is their tasty tasty porter. Vanillaphant Porter (6.2% ABV, 25 IBU) is pretty smooth. It has a light body but it has all the roasted flavor and hoppy goodness you would expect in a good porter.

Is it weird I only like porter in the winter? If you are in Birmingham this is a brewer to check out any time of year.

http://avondalebrewing.com/

Back Forty Wildflower Honey

Back Forty is Gadsden, AL brewer we have mentioned before. One of their brews is called Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale. Well they are also selling the raw honey they use to make it. I was really excited when I found it at a local store today. I love local honey!

Good South Carolina Beer

Went to Whole Foods the other day and this is what the beer dude recommended One Claw Rye Pale Ale (5.5% ABV) from Westbrook Brewing in Mt. Pleasant, SC.  I don’t think I have tried that many beers from South Carolina and would be interested in suggestions on others to try. What is the best beer from South Carolina?

Georgia Brews

Went on a weekend trip to North Georgia a few weeks ago. We stayed at Unicoi State Park in Helen, GA. This is a pic from nearby Lake Winfield Scott. The colors had just started turning at higher elevation but not in Unicoi yet. We did a little hiking and did a little drinking.

We shopped at Betty’s Country Store which had a pretty good selection of beer. Wanted to stick with Georgia beers and found two good ones. I have had plenty of SweetWater beer before and have been to the brewery in Atlanta but never tried Hop Hash Double IPA. It was amazing. I really fell in love with it. The ABV is 7.8% with 100 IBUs.

Also tried Hop Dang Diggity from Jekyll Brewing. First of all I love the name of the beer that just makes me laugh. Jekyll Brewing is base in Alpharetta, GA. This IPA has an ABV of 6.7% with 74 IBUs.

Time Traveler Shandy

I have never really given shandy beers a try. Lemon beer just sounds weird. But when I saw this strawberry shandy I wanted to give it a try. It is a seasonal from The Traveler Beer Company with 4.4% ABV.  The company is based out of Vermont. I was amazed by how much you could taste strawberry. The strawberry hits you right away and the after taste is more lemony. Its a good summer beer and I am glad I tried it but its not something I want to drink all the time.

I saw online they just put out a pumpkin shandy, Jack-O-Traveler, I want to put that on my list to try on tap this fall. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin beer either though. I don't love all the spice that is normally in them. I guess what I am saying is I am sick of the summer heat and Sooooooo ready for fall that I would be willing to try a pumpkin beer. Wow now that's a glowing endorsement of pumpkin beer right?

Iceman by Angry Orchard

Some friends of ours came over last night and brought this hard cider with them. I like ciders but sometimes they are just too sweet. I loved this one! It reminded me a lot of lambic style beer. It is made in the style of Quebec ice ciders and has a nice dry finish. Iceman is part of Angry Orchard’s cider house collection. It has a surprising 10% ABV that can sneak up on you quick.