Flipside Red IPA

Image courtesy of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

This one is appropriately named, being very red in color with a healthy dose of carbonation.  Flipside Red IPA (Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Chico, CA and Mills River, NC) presents a foamy beige head on initial pour and whiffs of a soapy, floral, fruity bouquet waft your way.  At first 6.2% ABV Flipside is dry and bitter on the tongue, but soon some fruit sweetness makes its presence known.  There are Simcoe, Centennial and Citra hops used here, so the interesting bouquet is no surprise.  What is a surprise is that Flipside is a bit thin-bodied and there’s really not a lot to it.  I’ve read some sparkling reviews about Flipside, but I just didn’t feel the earth move the way I like.

And I had such high hopes.

65/100 IPA

Batch 19

Image courtesy of coolmaterial.com

Pale orange, minimal “around the edges” head and well-carbonated, Batch 19, from Coors “Archive” Brewing Company, is a pre-Prohibition style lager.  It smells a bit like a wet dog with some mild, grassy sweetness.  It tastes OK with a touch of metal in the finish.  I guess I like the post-Prohibition Coors beers a bit more.

40/100 lager

Lake Shore Lager

Courtesy of Palehosed.com

Chi Town Lake Shore Lager, from Chicago Brewing Company, Elgin, IL.  First of all, Chi Town…come on people, who the hell refers to Chicago as Chi Town, unless you are goofing around?  Someone from elsewhere I’m hoping.  Speaking of elsewhere, Chi Town Lake Shore Lager, an American pale lager, is brewed in Stevens Point, WI.  So my first impression is not great.  Lake Shore Lager looks thin, being pale straw in color, but its effervescence is amazing.  Despite the vigor of the carbonation, it does not support a head.  Corn is the first thing that comes to mind in the bouquet, maybe it’s corn syrup because there is a sweet quality there as well.  The mouthfeel is decent, being smooth and a tad richer than the pale macro-lager color would lead one to believe.  How does Lake Shore Lager taste?  Well, more corn and some sugar are what I notice, then a mild peppery bitterness takes over for a short bit.  I like drinking local, and Wisconsin is local enough to me, but I find Lake Shore Lager too corny overall to make a return trip.  If I had the choice of a Miller High Life or a Chi Town Lake Shore Lager, I’d take the High Life without hesitation.

48/100 American pale lager