First of all their brewing company name is tied into each one of their brews. When I was last in Indiana I had to pick up this local brew. The first one I am trying is their Gold Ale. A simple enough looking beer with a not as gold as I would have thought look, but an almost orange to light brown beer. The half inch head faded into almost nothing very quickly. The aroma was not anything too special with only simple malts present. The taste had a good blend of malts and hops that would hold up against those big golden beer named companies. The difference here is a bit more hops and the carbonation seemed a bit higher. Neither of which really concerns me much! This would be a good beer to grab a six or twelve pack of and bring to a party of people who may never had tried this brand.

Specs: 12oz bottle
5.1% ABV
P-51 Mustang Warbird

I’m not really sure this qualifies as beer so much, but I have had my share of this brand of beverage. The transparent peach colored liquid gives off a super sweet aroma of apples. The non existent head made it easy to get to that first drink. The taste was tart apple with just a bit of sweet raspberries. My wife tasted and took the remainder of the glass. I let her do that from time to time. I’m sure she would give it a 5, but a bit too sweet for me.

Specs: 12oz bottle
4% ABV

I thought I would give this a try. I haven’t liked a smoked beer yet, and I really like most of what O’Fallon is putting out. I really wanted to see how this would do. The color is dark like it should be for a porter. The head was almost nonexistent. The aroma was smokey and alcohol. The taste not bad, but not good. It was a bit smokey at first then the bitterness took over, then the coffee tastes, then the smoke again. All through it the beer seemed too cold or something as the flavor was blinded by water. This isn’t something I would pick up again, but it’s not at the bottom of my list either. Decent job O’Fallon.

Specs: 12oz bottle
?% ABV

I picked this up more for my wife than myself. I had to hide it until it was time to review. As soon as it came out, she said ‘I didn’t know we had that’. We being the stressed word there. So I poured just one glass. Tired it and handed it off to my wife where it spent it’s time being drank straight and then mixed with the 1888, she said that was awesome. From the bit I had I knew the red colored beer with the raspberry aroma would be good. It just took too long to pour. I had to pour it at least four times to fill one pint glass. The taste was sweet and a bit bitter. For me I would drink this too quick and get really liquored up, which with a ABV of only 2.8 I would need a case to drink before the buzz would hit.

Specs: 750ml corked bottle
2.8% ABV

This is a new beer from Leinenkugel. They say that it goes back to the family’s original bock recipe (click for full info from Leinenkugel). I liked that it poured up a dark brown and had a nice sweet malty aroma to it. Better yet, the slight white head faded quickly so I could have a drink sooner! The taste itself was like a pale ale met a red ale, and this was it’s baby. A good mix of malts and hops made this one something I could just drink and drink. This is a season release, so go get some now before it is too late!
5.1% ABV
IBU: 18

A plain looking bottle built to share. I did. Chris and I both tried this the other day. The beer poured up a nice orange color with a good fluffy white head. The aromas of banana and spices were quite intense. I knew at that point if it tasted anything like it smelled, I was out. It did have a tang to it, most likely from the ginger, but it did have a banana and spice taste to it. I had to dump my last half of the glass and Chris continued to drink his, and finish the bit left in the bottle. He manned up to the bottle.

Specs: 25.6oz bottle
7% ABV

Again Rogue plays with the names to sell over seas! Guess what this one is… It has a big fluffy head of yellowish head. Also a good red color to it. The aroma is sweet and a bit bitter. The taste builds up in hops flavor, then down, then it hits you again in the after taste. A rollercoaster of hops tastes. Any guesses on this one? Click here for the mystery answer! I wasn’t totally surprised by this. I recently found a bar locally here in Toledo with this on tap (Dale’s in Maumee, Ohio).

Specs: 12oz bottle
6.6% ABV

This is a bit confusing like how Chris Gains is really Garth Brooks, or how Hannah Montana is really Miley Cyrus, Red Fox is really American Amber! What trickery! I guess I would feel more tricked if I reviewed the American Amber already, shoot Chris did! Now Chris and I do differ on beers from time to time. This Asian inspired bottle is not patroictic as the other one was. It did pour up a nice red/orange, more red than orange. The carbonation was great in the bottle as it exploded all over the counter when I opened it. The aromas of malts and hops interested me more. The taste was cool, had bitters that stayed with me all the way through. I didn’t get much but the hops, but I am OK with that. This is a good bitter ale! Surprisingly looking at my sheet then Chris’ post, we both rated it the same!

Specs: 12oz bottle
5.1% ABV

There was what appeared to be a few asian inspired Rogue beers that I picked up and with Chinese New Year coming up I wanted to try a couple. I love buckwheat noodles in that cold dipping sauce I get when I go to Otani’s in Cleveland, or Hudson for that matter, so I thought this might be good. The color was almost an orangish with a decent head on it that quickly faded. The aroma reminded me of a hoppy pale ale. That’s where things turned as the taste was not hoppy, and more like buckwheat noodles had sat in water, then drained and bottled. I let my wife try it and she really liked it, she was scared because it smelled like a pale ale. She ended up finishing this. Perhaps it would be better if I paired it with some Chinese or Japanese food.

Specs: 12oz bottle
4.8% ABV

I first saw this on Iron Chef’s beer challenge, and they even brought in the head brew master from Brooklyn Brewery as a judge! I knew I had to try it, I searched for a single at the Andersons and finally found it. This is a limited release for this year. The color of the beer was black and had a smaller head form that was dark tan. The aroma was sweet and alcoholic. I could not pick up any of the chocolates yet. The taste was sweet as well, but not over powering and then the alcohol taste hit and after finishing the first drink it turned sour in my mouth, then finally I had a bit of chocolate taste in my mouth. This is an odd one personally and I am glad I didn’t get the six pack as I wouldn’t drink the others.

Specs: 12oz bottle
10% ABV