Hoof Hearted Brewing South of Eleven

As noted in the last column, the brewers were pouring a little heavy so I had some tickets left over. So did my neighbor Fred who wasn’t going to be in town the rest of the weekend. With Saturday blocked off for a bachelor party (I’ll get to those beers eventually) I went on Sunday. Luckily, The Lady & I got cheap lunch and our weekly shopping out of the way considering we were at the North Market. To get rid of my tickets quickly, I went with three two tickets beers. These beers are the high ABV variety. I was doing pretty good by the end of the shopping trip.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. – Spacewalker – This beer is normally only available at their pub room in Cleveland. It’s an American Belgo which is a new style to me and Google search. Since I had no idea what the style was supposed to taste like I had no idea what to expect. Even their website is lacking in a description “Bold yet balanced with spicy, fruity flavors”. With the IBU hitting 65, I’d say this is a Belgian IPA. I do agree with their statement that it is balanced because I didn’t feel like it was overly hoppy. You could taste a little bit of the Belgian yeast. The malt is more in the back ground which lets the fruity notes come up. Spacewalker was a good beer but I probably won’t be drinking it any time soon again. It kicked off the high ABV tour at 8.2%.

Hoof Hearted Brewing Co. – South of Eleven – This beers name refers to it’s status in ABV at 10.1% which is “South of Eleven.” It certainly doesn’t refer to the fact that it is 98.5 on the IBU spectrum. Normally, I would be tapping out in the bitter department with that number but they found a way to make it palatable. If those numbers aren’t enough to tell you that this beer is a double IPA, then I’m not sure you’re all that familiar with craft beer. I wish I got a chance to drink their beers more often, even the kinds that I don’t normally enjoy.

Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. – Saison Paw Paw – I’m taking a guess that this beer is also called Old Druid Bloodhound Saison French and Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale since it has the same numbers I pictured at the Beer Fest. I think Saison Paw Paw works a lot better. How this one wasn’t two tickets is beyond my comprehension. It had the same ABV as Spacewalker at 8.2%  so it certainly had the ABV to qualify. There were other similarities between both since Thirsty Dog used Belgian yeast, spices and fruit notes in this beer. The big difference is in the bitterness. Saison Paw Paw is sitting at 20 IBU so there’s less bitterness and more straight up Belgian goodness.

Jackie O’s Brewery – Oil of Aphrodite – It caught my eye after snagging the Saison Paw Paw, that Jackie O’s had a Sunday only offering. The Oil of Aphrodite was that choice and it is quite possibly the darkest stout I have ever seen. My buddy Steve brews a beer he calls a Yada Yada Yada Stout which is the only thing I can think of that is close to this one in darkness. Look at that picture to the left, it’s almost as black as the label on the glass. The beer itself was just as smooth as the glass as it went down my throat. Most stouts on their own wouldn’t be near the required ABV so this one is a Double aka Imperial Stout which lands at 10.2%. This beer is now my favorite from Jackie O’s. Fantastic beer to end this Brew Fest on. – Kevin