Bitch creak Extra Special Brown Ale - Grand Teton Brewing

APPEARANCE: (5) Pours a very thick dark, dark brown beer into the testing glass. Foam is thick but settles fast. When glass is twirled the foam builds up and takes an beige or creamy color.

AROMA: (4) Very nice thick aroma. Hazelnut and toffee notes.

TASTE: (5) Thick mouthfeel with smokey flavors.

EXTRA: (3) I am not sure I have stumbled over a beer called "Extra special brown" before.

Grand Teton Brewing

Beer style: Brown ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.0%

Hops: Galena, Chinook & Centennial, Dry hopped with Centennial

Food Pairings: Pistachio nuts

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 118/130

Duke of Wellington - Granite City Brewing

APPEARANCE: (3) Very dark for being an IPA like the website says but the label states Pale Ale. Foam flattens out fast but can be built up again with twirling the glass. Color pretty dark with some red hints.

AROMA: (4) Malty fresh rich aroma.

TASTE: (3) Somewhat flat taste with a sweet maltiness that is balanced pretty good with the hops. Very easy drinking beer.

EXTRA: (3) Not much extra except that it is very interesting to try a beer from this Wisconsin (Monroe) brewery

Granite City Brewing website

Beer style: Pale Ale
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: x.0%

Food Pairings: xcx

APPEARANCE: 3 x 5 = 15
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 3 x 10 = 30
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 88/130

Denver Pale Ale - Great Divide Brewing

APPEARANCE: (4) Bronze colored semi clear with a rather weak foam head. Foam grows back after some twirls of the testing glass.

AROMA: (4) Sweet malty and nutty aroma.

TASTE: (4) Fairly light but very malt dominant. The hops are just playing a background role.

EXTRA: (3) This is considered Great Divides 'flagship' beer with many awards from different beer festivals. If you prefer a malty beer before a hoppy one, this is your perfect beer.

Beer style: Pale ale
Serving temperature: 8-10x C
Alcohol: 5.4%

Food Pairings: Burgers, stew, any meat dishes. Very versatile with food pairings. Or as Great Divide says on their website: "Robust pasta sauces, such as Arrabbiata, Puttanesca, spicy Italian sausage and roasted red pepper sauce, or sausage and sun dried tomato cream sauce. John Lehndorff of the Rocky Mountain News suggests serving DPA with spicy ribs. DPA’s hearty hop profile is the perfect complement to the rich flavor of DPA Braised Lamb Shanks"

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 103/130

Namaste - Dogfish head

APPEARANCE: (4) Thick foam builds up when the beer is poured into the testing glass. As with most bears of wheat or wit style, it settles fairly fast. A quick twirl builds up the milk white foamy head again.

AROMA: (4) Spicy coriander flavor. Fresh fruity aroma.

TASTE: (4) A very refreshing and tasty with beer from Dogfish head. I prefer Wit today before regular wheat beer because of the extra freshness and the interesting spices often used in them. It is mainly a refreshing beer style though and the variety between different brands are not huge.

EXTRA: (4) Nice presentation in form of this champagne bottle. Cannot figure out what the skeleton on the label symbolizes though.

Beer style: Beligan Wit
Serving temperature: 6-8 C
Alcohol: 5.0%

Food Pairings: Perfect thirst quencher beer. Works well with most dishes.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 4 x 1 = 104

Total: 104/130

Red Rocket Ale - Bear Republic

APPEARANCE: (3) Beautiful foam fills the testing glass but dies down pretty fast. If this beer is supposed to be a "red ale", it is VERY different from all the red ales that I have had before. This beer looks more like Coca Cola.

AROMA: (3) A twirl of the glass releases a rather complex aroma; Sweet rum, overripe bananas, spoiled fruits.

TASTE: (3) Taste of molasses or burned sugar. Scottish red ale is one of extremely few beer styles that I have a problem with. This beer is not that significant as mostly red beers. It is fairly malty but kind of thin in the flavor. Since I am not a fan of red ales I cannot give this beer credit even if it would be good from a red ale fans perspective.

EXTRA: (3) Label is kind of less serious aiming to attract people who are not really beer connoisseurs.

Bear Republics website

http://www.bearrepublic.com/home.php

Beer style: "Bastardized Scottish style red ale" (according to the brewery)
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 6.8%

Food Pairings: I have no idea since I don't like this beer style.

APPEARANCE: 3 x 5 = 15
AROMA: 3 x 10 = 30
TASTE: 3 x 10 = 30
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 78/130

Rumble - Oak aged India Pale Ale - Great Divide Brewing Co

APPEARANCE: (5) Beautiful clear reddish color with a creamy inviting head.

AROMA: (5) Oakey intriguing scents from the oak caskets that this beer has been matured on. Almost smell like a good single malt.

TASTE: (4) Taste is less flavorful than expected but still very nice. Very balanced, the malt is heavy which almost is going to stand out as a identification for this brewery since the previous tested beer was the same. The hops is balancing the malt. I tried it also together with Brie cheese as Great Divide recommended and it is a pretty good choice for this beer.

EXTRA: (3) After for the first time trying Great Divide brewing I think that they are very close in their beer styles to Diamond Bear Brewing of Little Rock, AR. Even their IPA:s are dominating on the malt which makes them different. Not necessary the best beer choice for the 'hop head' but very good beers still.

Beer style: American IPA
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 7.1%

Food Pairings: According to Great Divide Brewing: Marinated skirt steak, sweet potatoes, brie or Tallegio cheese, apple crisp with creme fraice ice cream.

APPEARANCE: 5 x 5 = 25
AROMA: 5 x 10 = 50
TASTE: 4 x 10 = 40
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 118/130

Titan IPA - Great Divide Brewing Co

APPEARANCE: (4) Pours a beautiful copper colored fairly clear beer with a competitive foam crown.

AROMA: (4) Buttery aroma with faint hints of hop. From the aroma I can almost picture an IPA which is heavier on the malty side compared to most IPA:s.

TASTE: (5) Very interesting taste. The malt is higher than in most IPA:s but the bitterness is definitely there to balance it. The taste is somewhat surprising because it is almost a little bit butter flavored liked in Czech pilseners.

I like it. It is a fairly easy drinking beer but still with a lot of flavor. It is very well balanced between hop and malt. A different IPA. Closer to the British style than the American IPA.

EXTRA: (3) I wish that their website was a little bit more informative about the different beers.

Great Divide Brewings website

Beer style: IPA
Serving temperature: 8-10 C
Alcohol: 7.1%

Food Pairings: According to Great Divide: "Grilled halibut, Thai curry, strong/soft cow milk cheeses.

APPEARANCE: 4 x 5 = 20
AROMA: 4 x 10 = 40
TASTE: 5 x 10 = 50
EXTRA: 3 x 1 = 3

Total: 113/130