21st Amendment Brewery – Sneak Attack Saison – My lady and I went back to Altoona PA to go see Kent State play at Penn State back in September. We stayed at my parent’s place Friday & Saturday nights. After being rained on for the entire game and watching Kent State be miserable, I was ready for a beverage after a rainy forty five minute trip from State College to Altoona. Luckily my younger brother Brian had left this beer in the fridge. It must have been in there for a while since this beer is only available from January to March. Not only did I need a beer, I really loved this one. The spiciness provided by the cardamom is quite a surprise and very pleasing. The beer goes down smooth and has a nice crispness to it. I would suggest finding this beer in the upcoming months, so go to this part of their site to find out if you can Sneak Attack your taste buds.

Lagunitas Brewing Company – Little Sumptin’ Wild – Jeremy tried this beer back at Oktoberfest in Charlotte so when I saw it on the menu at a bar, I decided to give it a whirl even though it is an IPA. It may have been the beer that started my long, hop heavy road to at least figuring out IPAs. Lagunitas advertises that they also put in boatloads of wheat and pale malt which might cut the edge off of the hops for me. So just like other IPAs that I have enjoyed, this one is more balanced than most that I have tried. This beer from Petaluma CA made it all of the way to the taps of a small bar in Columbus so you should be able to find it in your area, so long as it’s July-ish. Or October which is when I had it.

Otter Creek Brewing – Stovepipe Porter – Their site is currently under construction so I’m sending you to their Facebook link. When I had this beer, the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the midst of starting the season 0-4. I wanted another drink and this one is what I ordered. As my older brother Ron pointed out, it wasn’t strong enough to sooth me. On the upside, it was a completely fantastic  porter. It had the perfect, slightly thick consistency that a porter should have. The color, as you can see even through the Instagram filter, is quite dark. This porter didn’t have the coffee overtones that many of them had so that set it apart. I have no idea if you can get this beer in your area, but if you like porters, it’s worth seeking out.

Thirsty Dog Brewing Company – 12 Dogs of Christmas – I at least want to include on Christmas beer per week from now going forward. This beer has a barrel aged variety but this one is the original. This beer is different from most Christmas ales because it has honey. That ingredient has quite a bit of sweetness. Which is exactly the problem with this beer. It’s too sweet. Most Christmas ales have a sweetness to them with clove, cinnamon & nutmeg. This beer has cinnamon & nutmeg along with ginger to add to the sweetness mix which makes it over the top in my book. Cloyingly sweet is the term I hear on the Food Network a decent bunch which is a perfect description of this Christmas ale.

I started this review with a beer that comes in a can. I used to think that beer tasted better coming out of a bottle. I’m starting to rethink that because a lot of good beer companies aside from 21st Amendment are canning their beers. The somewhat local Jackie O’s in Athens, OH is doing it. Good news for you who don’t live in Ohio or Columbus, more of the companies here in town are thinking of canning their beers. Maybe the problem wasn’t the vessel the beer was being carried in, maybe the beers just weren’t the quality of a #SippyTimeBeer. – Kevin