Trail Town Porter

Fairport Brewing Company

Fairport Brewing Company was started in December 2010 by two home-brewing friends (Tim and Tom) in a rental property on Dewey Avenue in the Village of Fairport, NY.  However they quickly outgrew this location after obtaining their federal license as a brewery and moved to their current location at 1000 Turk Hill in Fairport, NY.  They recently obtained their approval from the federal government at their new location in October 2012 and opened for business within a couple days.  Their beer is currently available on site for purchase in growlers and they offer tastings onsite.  Make sure to check out their website (http://fairportbrewing.com/) to see what they are currently offering.

General Information

ABV:     4.5%

IBUs:    24

Color:    Rich brown with a cream color head.

Trail Town Porter

This beer had good cream foam head measuring about 1.5-2 fingers.  Instantly after pouring the beer into a pint glass you were able to smell a roasted coffee.  It is a rich brown color with excellent roasted coffee aroma that gives you a good idea of the flavors you’re about to experience.  The initial taste is a roasted/smoky flavor that gradually mellows out but lingers in your mouth for sometime.  It has a robust body with a soft almost chewy mouthful.  It has a good bitterness that carries throughout the taste and also lingers.   This is an excellently crafted porter and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good porter.  If you are in the Fairport, NY area make sure to stop in and check them out

Dogfish Head Noble Rot

Dogfish Head Brewery

Dogfish Head Brewery is one of the most well-known craft breweries of today.  Their production brewery is located in Milton, Delaware, but they started in a small brewpub in the summer of 1995 in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  They quickly outgrow this place within a couple years requiring the construction of a bigger and better brew house called the Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, which remains in the Rehoboth Beach area today.  Sam Calagione founded Dogfish Head Brewery in 1995 with the intention of developing and releasing craft beers that are out of the norm, adopting the motto “Off-centered ales for off-centered people”.  Dogfish Head continues to grow rapidly today, and was featured in the Discovery Channel series Brew Masters, which premiered in November, 2010, but unfortunately was taken off the air following its first season.

Noble Rot is one of Dogfish Head’s occasional rarities, typically released in January.  The beer was first released in February 2011 at their brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE and sold on tap only.  This brew was recently released in January 2012 for the first time in 750ml bottles.  This brew is a “saison-esque” that obtains it’s fermentable sugars from wine grapes from the Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Washington.  The first type of grape used is the viognier grape after being infected with the botrytis fungus, which in turn magnifies the sweetness and complexity of the grape.  The second grape is a pinot gris, which gets clipped to boast the qualities of the remaining.  This is what the founder of Dogfish Head, Sam Calagione, had to say about it, "This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world thats ever been done commercially”. 

General Information

ABV:     9.0%

IBUs:    19

Color:    Medium yellow with a white foam head

Noble Rot Review

This beer had excellent white foam head around ¼ inch thick that lasted for about 30-45 seconds before slowly dissipating.  It is a medium to light yellow color with excellent carbonation and clarity.  The aroma has strong citrusy tones similar to a pineapple.  There is not any bitterness to the aroma.  The taste is a strong grapey sweetness at first, which mellows out into a spicy middle taste and finishes with a dry tartness that lingers for about twenty to thirty seconds.  There is not much bitterness noted in the taste either; the bitterness is similar to a hefeweizen style wheat beer.  This is an excellent combination between the wine and beer worlds, the dry tart finish leaves you wanting more.  This is another well-crafted beer by Dogfish Head, I highly recommend grabbing one of these while you can.

Redhook Pislner

Redhook Pilsner

This is our fourth Redhook Beer reviewed.  Check out our review on Redhook ESB for more information on the brewery.  Check out their website for where you can locate their brew in your area.  Redhook Ale Brewery

Check out what Redhook had to say about this brew.  “Czech out Redhook’s newest brew.  Redhook Pilsner is crisp, golden lager that is modeled after those historic beers originally made in Plzeň, Czechoslovakia.  Redhook Pilsner’s maltiness is offset by a medium dose of Saaz hops and finishes with a clean, bright, thirst-quenching quality. A great “session” lager for when you’ve got a long day ahead of drinking.”

General Information

Style:    Pilsner

ABV:    5.3%

IBUs:    25.0

Color:    Light yellow with a white foam head

Mike’s Review 

This beer was poured out of a 12 oz brown glass bottle into a pint glass.  The beer is a light yellow color with a white foam head.  It has a mild bitterness to the aroma with fruity and grassy undertones.  It has a very bland flavor with a mild sweet malty.  You get a hint of corn in the beginning of your taste with a mild hoppy bitter finish.  This beer is very similar to a beer I drank a lot of while studying abroad called Ožujsko, which is the leading beer brand in Croatia.  This is an OK beer.

Matt’s Review

What can I say a pilsner is a pilsner.  It is to compete with the big guys to convert the macrobrew drinkers to the microbrews.  As it states on their website, if you are planning a long day of drinking this beer is great.  It has a good taste to it for a pilsner though. The beer was served chilled in a pint glass.  The beer has a great golden color to it. Overall it is a decent pilsner beer to compete with the big guys.

Kona Longboard Island Lager

Kona Longboard Lager

For more information regarding the Kona Brewing Company check out our review on their Pipeline Porter and Wailua Wheat Ale.  To locate their beer in your area check out their website: Kona Brewing Company

Check out what Kona had to say about this beer.  “Longboard Island Lager is a smooth refreshing lager fermented and aged for five weeks at cold temperatures to yield its exceptionally smooth flavor. A delicate, slightly spicy hop aroma complements the malty body of this beer.”\

General Information

Style:     Lager

ABV%:    4.6%

IBUs:    18.0

Color:  Light lime green color with a white foam head

Awards:    Check out their website in order to see the 26 awards this beer has won since 2002.

 Mike’s Review

This was a 12 oz. brown glass bottle poured into a pint glass.  The beer has an odd light lime green color to it that reminds me of watered down Mountain Dew with a white foam head that dissipated quickly.  The aroma is very malty with mild fruity undertones.  The taste is similar to the aroma with a grainy malty taste with decent bitterness for a lager.  It develops into a pleasant light lemon flavor late in the taste that lingers for some time afterwards.  This is a pretty good beer to have while sitting around and watching some TV or relax with friends, very drinkable.

Matt’s Review

Kona Brewing has had some interesting brews thus far; I couldn't wait for their Longboard Lager. The color of a beer is a real light gold with a great layer of foam. The aroma is pretty grainy. It has a very sweet taste to it with a late bitter aftertaste. This is a decent lager; I am surprised there isn't a twist to this lager like most of Kona's beer.

Rohrbach's Blueberry Ale

Rohrbach’s Blueberry Ale

"As a beer lover who had recently returned to Rochester after an assignment in the village of Rohrbach, Germany, John Urlaub started the Rohrbach Brewing Company.  The goal was to serve the Rochester area quality handcrafted beers with incredible flavor.  Rohrbach’s first location was at the German House in Rochester’s South Wedge neighborhood. It opened in 1992 and thrived for ten years. Our Brewpub on Buffalo Road was opened in 1995 and is still going strong.  Rohrbach’s newest facility and tasting room opened on Railroad Street in Rochester’s historic public market district. Over the years, Rohrbach’s has become one of Rochester’s signature brewers with many award-winning varieties to choose from year-round.  For more information on Rohrbach's other brews check out their website."  Rohrbach's Brewing Company

Check out what Rohrbach's had to say about their Blueberry Ale.  "A fruit beer that uses blueberry flavoring, this beer is subtle in fruit flavor — not overwhelming like most on the market. Since the base style is a blonde ale, our Blueberry is crisp and clean with a noticeable hop presence. Extremely refreshing on hot summer days. 4.5% ABV." 

General Information

Style:    Blonde Ale

ABV:    4.5%

IBUs:    14

Color:    Light yellow color with a white foam head

Mike’s Review

This beer comes from the local brewery Rohrbach’s.  It came in a 64 oz growler poured into a pint glass.  Upon opening the growler you get a rush of sweet blueberry aroma.  The beer is a light yellow color as it is a blonde ale style beer.  As above, the aroma is a sweet blueberry tint with slight hoppy undertones.  The taste is surprising based on the aroma but great.  The blueberry flavor isn’t overwhelming; it’s very clean with the underlying slight bitterness from the hops.  This is an excellent combination of sweet and bitter that blends well together.  As someone who is not a fan of blueberries this is a very drinkable beer without overpowering blueberry flavor.  If you’re in the area do yourself a favor and stop in to pick up a growler of this beer.

Matt’s Review

Always nice to review a local brew. Rohrbach's Blueberry Ale has a strong aroma of blueberries with a golden color and a thin layer of white foam on the top. You can taste the blueberry all the way through the first sip through the aftertaste. If you enjoy blueberries this beers is a must. To be honest I am not a fan of having blueberries unless they are in a muffin and I can now say in a beer.

Widmer Brother's Drifter Pale Ale

Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale

Check out our review on the Widmer Brother’s Falconer’s IPA for information regarding the Widmer Brothers Brewing Company.  For further information on locating their beer in your area check out their website:  Widmer Brothers Brewing Co

Check out what the Widmer Brother’s Brewing Company had to say about their Drifter Pale Ale.  “Kurt and Rob Widmer have never been known to "follow the leader"; their take on a pale ale is no different. With its unique citrus character, smooth drinkability, and distinctive combo of hops and malts, Drifter Pale Ale is truly an original.”

General Information

Style:    Pale Ale

ABV:    5.7%

IBUs:    28.0

Color:    Amber color with a white foam head

Mike’s Review

This beer was poured from a 12 oz brown glass bottle into a pint glass with white foam head and is dark amber in color.  It has the aroma of citrusy tropical fruits with undertones of caramel malts and hops.  The taste is a similar to the aroma with a citrusy tropical fruit flavor at the beginning of the taste developing into a mild hoppy bitterness.  This is an excellent blend of flavors with a great hop profile.  This is one of the better Pale Ales I’ve had to date.  This is definitely a must try and I cannot wait to have another one.

Matt’s Review

Really enjoyed the last Widmer Brother IPA I had and could not wait for their pale ale. The beer has a golden red to it and the head is a solid layer of foam. The aroma is a very pine-like smell. The beer is not as hoppy as I would hope but has a crisp finish to it. If you have a favorite pale ale I would stick with that one but if you cross this one take a chance with it.

Kona Wailua Wheat Ale

Kona Wailua Wheat Ale

The Kona Brewing Company still runs its flagship brewhouse out of Kailua-Kona in Hawaii which produced more than 10,000 barrels of beer in 2008.  After their partnership with the Craft Brewers Alliance Inc in October of 2010 the company began producing it’s bottled beer and mainland draft in the breweries in Portland, Oregon and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Check out our review of the Pipeline Porter for more information regarding the brewery.  For information on locating Kona beer if your area check out their website: Kona Brewing Company

See what Kona has to say about their Wailua. “Swimming in a fresh water pool at the base of a cascading waterfall is what we all imagine we would find in paradise. On Maui, follow the old Hana Highway and you will find such a place – Wailua Falls. This plunging cascade of clear water is the inspiration for our Limited Release Wailua Wheat Ale. This golden, sun colored ale has a bright, citrus flavor that comes from the tropical passion fruit we brew into each batch. Sit back, relax and enjoy paradise anytime.”

General Information

Style:    Wheat Ale

ABV:    5.4%

IBUs:    15.0

Color: Light yellow with very little white foam

Awards:   2011 GOLD MEDAL: FRUIT BEER CATEGORY, US Open Beer Championships

2009 GOLD MEDAL: WHEAT BEER CATEGORY, Portland Spring Beer & Wine Festival, Oregon

2004 BEST OF THE NORTHWEST/PACIFIC: FRUIT BEER CATEGORY, United States Beer Tasting Championships

2002 BEST OF THE NORTHWEST/PACIFIC: FRUIT BEER CATEGORY, United States Beer Tasting Championships

Mike’s Review

This beer came in a 12 oz brown glass bottle poured into a pint glass and is a very light yellow color. There was almost no head to this head and what was there dissipated quickly.  The aroma is a very clean and crisp fruity aroma with a strong fruity twist.  This beer has a clean and very complex flavor.  The taste starts out with a very light hoppy bitterness and progresses into a fruity sweetness in the middle of the taste finally progressing to a bitter fruit flavor at the end of your taste that lingers.  This is a different tasting beer in a good way that if you’re looking for something new then this is a must try.  This is a pretty good beer that I wouldn’t mind having again at all.

Matt’s Review

From the pour the aroma is like a traditional wheat ale with just a little bit of fruit. There is no head at all and the color of the beer is a very light gold. The first sip was very interesting. You can taste the wheat ale portion of it, but then you instantly get a rush of the passion fruit. If you want to try something new this is a different twist on ale.