Copperhook is a copper ale from Redhook Brewing of Woodinville, Washington, not too many miles from my childhood home.  The body is a bit heavier than a typical copper ale, with a bit of fruit and sweetness in the middle, and bit of bitter hops in the finish.   Not a lot of anything though.  It’s a fairly mild beer.  It’s nothing special, but it’s a nice drink.

Matt Brewing Company’s Saranac Black Forest is what they refer to as a “Bavarian Black Beer.”   Whatever that is, it’s apparently nice.   There’s cocoa on the nose, a medium body, chocolately well roasted malts and a dry finish.  This is like the light(er) version of a chocolate stout.   It’s a very good beer, and the best I’ve had from the Saranac line so far.

The blurb on the bottle of Victory Brewing Company’s Headwaters Pale Ale calls this beer “crisp.”   That’s not the first word that came to my mind though.   Despite the fact that it’s got all the piney, hoppy bitterness that one would expect from a fine pale ale, it’s delivered in a package that I would describe as “creamy.”   It’s got a fairly heavy body that practically slides off the tongue with a dry, pine finish.   I love this beer.

This is another first for me.  I’ve never had a Kölsch before, so I don’t know how it compares to others in the style, but I certainly found  the East-West Kölsch, which is Samuel Adams’ take on the style with a twist, quite agreeable.   It’s light yellow and light bodied, but it’s no lager.   It’s fairly bitter…There’s a lot of hop bite and it’s brewed with Jasmine which comes through in both the nose and the middle.   The finish is nice and dry.  Alas that the warm weather has left us for the year, because this is a nice summer beer.

Saranac Pale Ale by the Matt Brewing Company is an English Pale Ale that’s pretty marginal, to my taste.   There’s really isn’t a nose to speak of at all, the hops are muted, and there is just a hint of sweetness in the finish.  It’s just a fairly boring ale, in one man’s humble opinion.   It’s not a bad beer, and better than a lager any day, but it’s just not much of a pale ale to me.

Founder’s Dry Hopped Pale Ale is a prototypical pale ale.   Hoppy, medium bodied, with a dry finish.  This is a fine specimen and one I’d happily drink regularly, but there isn’t anything that would seem to make it a stand out.

“A Very Hoppy Ale” is the description given this beer by its maker, Victory Brewing.  And a big, (8.5% ABV) hoppy beer it is indeed.  It’s an Imperial IPA but the scale is tipped way over to the hoppy side.  There’s very little sweetness in this ale.  It’s got a floral nose and some pine in the finish, and a medium to heavy body.   Victory makes some really good beers, and this one is no exception.

Hop Sun is Southern Tier’s summer seasonal wheat ale, and it’s a good one.  (One more beer closer to finishing all these summer seasonals I’ve stored up!)  I’ve found that wheat ales tend to be a good introductory beer for folks who aren’t traditionally beer drinkers, and I never hesitate to recommend Southern Tier’s offerings in this style.   Hop Sun doesn’t disappoint.  It’s a nice light, wheat ale that won’t startle a new beer drinker, it’s fairly dry in the middle and has just enough hop bitterness to make it a pleasant drink for hopheads like me as well.

Of all the year-round standard IPAs, Stone’s is probably my favorite.  With citrus on the nose, and a bitter, piney finish, this beer is heavy with the hops that I love.