Beer 54 - Mendocino Brewing Co - Eye of the Hawk

Mendocino Brewing Company - Eye of the Hawk

Style: American Strong Ale

ABV: 8%

Purchased From: Consumer's Beverages

This was a beer I tried several months ago, but accidentally skipped over it during my blogging. Therefore it is not fresh in my mind and I only have my notes to go by.

Mendocino Brewing Company is located in California, but also owns Olde Saratoga Springs Brewery in Northern NY. Based on this, we were also able to try some of their other brews at the TAP NY Festival.

I wasn't quite sure what an American Strong Ale was, so I googled it to find out more. Basically, this style can be used to describe any beer that is over 7.0%. Based on this, the taste can vary quite a bit.

The beer was an amber color with a yellowish head. It smelled a bit flowery and like apples. At first, the taste was on the bitter side, then it turned slightly sweet with a strong kick of sugary alcohol at the end. It left a bit of a caramel flavor in my mouth.

My notes do not indicate if I liked this or not, but I don't remember it being that bad. I prefer the alcohol to be a bit more hidden in the flavors, but other than that, I would give this one another try.

Beer 53 - Southern Tier 422

Southern Tier 422
Pale Wheat Ale
ABV: 5.8%

422 was named after Earth Day and is brewed with consideration to Mother Nature and according to Southern Tier's website, every part of the beer/packaging is completely recyclable.

This beer was part of the Southern Tier Pack of Pales 12 pack, and seemed to be the mildest of the bunch. It smelled floral and sweet with a hint of hops. It tasted pretty light, mostly like wheat with a flowery aftertaste. It wasn't bad, but I was hoping that it would have more hop flavor. The rest of the pack included much hoppier beers so this one didn't seem to fit in as well. It was decent, but a bit on the bland side.

Beer 52 - Dogfish Head Festina Peche

Dogfish Head Festina Peche
Style: Weissbier
ABV: 4.5%

In my neverending quest to try all of Dogfish Head's offerings, I picked up their Festina Peche, which is their summer seasonal. Weissebier is a style that I am not familiar with. According to the internet, it is a Bavarian specialty beer in which a significant proportion of malted barley is replaced with malted wheat.

The beer was very light, with a lot of head. It smelled pretty sour with hints of indistinguishable fruit. The taste was very sour/tart with just a hint of peach. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more peach flavoring. I like sour beers, but I was hoping for a bit of peach sweetness to balance it out. It was refreshing and good for the summer beer.

Rating: 7/10 <--I will start including these