The ACC Tourney, of Beer: The Finals, Duke vs North Carolina

      How chalk can you get the #1 and #2 seeds.  They were both real good though.  NC ( Duck Rabbit Amber ) and Duke ( Highland Gaelic Ale ) now go head to head in the all North Carolina finals.  Duke comes out strong with rich flavors and a big jammy body.  Carolina comes out a bit off, but they seem to get better late.  But Duke is really hitting on all cylinders and their making their threes.  The Heels are too long, strong and quick to stay down forever.  And they are starting to make a run late in the game.  Duke's still up a few late, but this is coming down to the last sip.  Boy Duke is delicious, but Carolina is divine.  Another last second comeback for Carolina to win The ACC Tourney, of Beer.

Analysis and Recap:  Duck Rabbit Amber has this magical ability to get better as you drink it.  It's really good, although the Gaelic Ale is a worthy challenger.  How I would rank the eight beers in the Tourney.

1. Duck Rabbit Amber
2. Highland Gaelic Ale
3. RJ Rockers Bell Ringer
4. Landshark Lager
5. Saint George Golden Ale
6. Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber
7. Starr Hill Amber
8. Sam Adam's Boston Lager

      To wrap up the Tourney I will compose a Haiku to celebrate Duck Rabbit's victory.

                   Duck Rabbit Amber
                   Swirling Flavors of Delight
                   Champion of Beer

      Next it's Selection Sunday for the Spring Beer Tourney.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer: # 2 Duke vs # 3 FSU

      I thought BC ( Boston Lager )would actually crush FSU ( Landshark ) but I was real wrong.  I also have trouble believing they can compete with a power like Duke ( Highland Gaelic Ale ), but we'll see.  Duke is very yummy with lovely flavors, excellent balance, depth and body.  FSU has some game too  though, it's so crisp, clean and refreshing. A classic lager.  Compared to FSU, Duke maybe seems a tad muddy?  Anyway Duke's still out front here, but FSU makes a small run.  It's close late so what is the last sip like.  FSU good, Duke better.  This sis a win for the Blue Devils.

Analysis:  I actually felt the Landshark for a while there, but the Gaelic Ale was just too good in the end.

ACC Beer Tourney: # 2 Duke vs # 7 Maryland

      Duke's representative is Ashville NC's Highland Gaelic Ale.  Maryland has Frederick MD's,  Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber.  Duke is a cloudy Amber with a very fruity sweet caramel nose.  Maryland is a classic amber with a citrus caramel nose.  Duke comes out strong with big flavors of caramel, grape, herb and dried fruit with tingly hop throughout.  The Terps have some big flavors too with caramel, mocha and herb.  Pretty hoppy for an amber.  Duke has got some strong body, they should be able to clean the glass on both ends. But, Maryland has got the stuff to keep in this with their shooters.  It looks like Duke's size and strength is getting to be too much for The Terps.  When it comes down to it Maryland is a little off, not as balanced as The Blue Devils.  Duke holds on against a pesky opponent, but reigns victorious.

Analysis:  The Gaelic Ale is pretty good it 's like a slightly lighter Scotch Ale, but full of flavor.  Old Scratch is a good amber, but there are better out there.

The ACC Tourney, of Beer

      Well, March is the month that brings us the amazing Spring Beer Tourney, and another lesser known basketball tournament.  But, I just realized there's still more than a week till Selection Sunday.  So what shall I do?  Well this is ACC Country so it's the ACC Tourney, of beer.  I'm taking what I think are the top 8 teams in the ACC.  Here's who I will eliminate and why.  Wake Forest is the worst team in ACC history, they would get bounced in the first round of the Women's Tourney.  NC State blows and there's to many NC teams.  Georgia Tech sucks and and their rascists.  Last man out, The U, Fuck The U.  That leaves us with the top eight and here's how I see them finishing.

1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. Florida State
4. Virginia Tech
5. Clemson
6. Boston College
7. Maryland
8. Virginia

      Your thinking, why doesn't he wait till the seeding is final?  Because there are only so many beers you can objectively try in one day.  Sure, I can drink ten, but I can only comment on the first few.  So, here's the beers that will represent these fine institutions.

1. Duck Rabbit Amber,  NC's finest.
2. Highland Gaelic Ale, produced somewhere near Duke.
3. Landshark Lager, the only Florida Beer I could find.
4. St. George Golden Ale, a little East of Blacksburg, but VA.
5. RJ Rockers Bell Ringer, Somewhere in SC.
6. Sam Adam's, a Boston fahkin non qweeyah beeyah.
7. Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber, a little North West of campus.
8. Starr Hill Amber, right in Charlottesville.

      So it's 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc. you get the drill. Now this is of course judged strictly on the beer so Duke won't get 20 phantom calls every game to win.  So prepare for a week of the ACC Tourney, of Beer.

Highland Cold Mountain Winter Ale

      Highland is a North Carolina Brewery that makes some good stuff with an occasional slip-up such as their awful Oatmeal Porter.  It pours a brownish amber with a fresh herbal hop and caramel nose.  The scary amount of hop on the nose isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  There is a strong current of herbal hop throughout, but there's also nice caramel and vanilla.  The flavors are more than enough to balance out the hop.  This is quite good.  It doesn't seem Wintry at all, but this would be a good beer anytime.  This is a solid entry on the nice list, I just wish it had more alcohol.  But I always wish that.

Highland Black Mocha Stout

The last of our North Carolina beers, for now, is Highland's Black Mocha Stout. This stuff pours out pretty close to black. There is a strong fresh coffee and mocha nose. The flavor is strong on the mocha up front with hop bitter floating around the edges. Hop seems a bit light. The finish is strong on the straight coffee, not mocha, and it lingers. This is pretty malty, but I'd give it a medium body. I really like this beer, it's amazing they got all this coffee flavor just out of dark roasted malts. Of course a taste for coffee is a bit mandatory here. I find more to enjoy in this beer as I continue to rapidly pour it down my throat. This brewery has come up strong after the lousy oatmeal porter, they are 2 for 3. The last sip is fantastic, I shall replace my morning coffee with this beer, and so should you.

Highland

A Trio of IPA's

I decided to postpone my rant so I could drink a trio of IPA's. I thought it might help me clear my head and crystallize my thoughts. It did exactly that, which will become clear when I get a ranting. The three beers in question here are two from North Carolina and one from New Belgium in Colorado. From the beautiful state of North Carolina we have, Highland, Kashmir IPA, and Mother Earth, Sisters of the Moon IPA. From New Belgium, we have their Ranger IPA. I'm gonna handle these one at a time and compare at the end.
First of is Mother Earth's entry, I really liked their other beer I tried, Dark Cloud. This creation is a cloudy dark gold to light amber. It has real mellow hop tones to the nose as well as citrus and caramel. It is very bitter up front, but has some nice lemon and honey flavors. The finish has a real bitter hop complexion, that really lingers. This is petty hoppy, but that's what you get in an IPA. I thought it was good enough to keep throwing it down. Nice, refreshing, a solid IPA, but a bit too much bitterness, especially on the finish.
Next up is Highland's Kashmir, which pours out a cloudy dark gold. As much as I liked Mother Earth's Dark, I hated Highland's Oatmeal Porter. This has a nice mild hop, apple, citrus nose. Wow, this has nice caramel apple flavors with a crisp hop bite on the finish.This has yummy well-rounded malts and a nice body. This is an outstanding beer, and the leader in the clubhouse by 15 strokes. I can't believe this brewery can so drastically over-hop a porter and then go mild with the hops on an IPA. It's the opposite brewery. Oh by the way their label is again a pack of slanderous lies. It says this beer has " aggressive hop Character ". This is the least aggressive IPA I've had, but it's perfectly balanced and delicious.
Finally, we have Ranger IPA from New Belgium. This is a quite clear medium gold. The nose has a really strong, brisk hop. So strong it has that herbal evergreen scent, like a Christmas tree. But how does it taste? Well, just like it smells, except even stronger. It's like biting a Christmas, tree and chewing spearmint gum at the same time. You even get that strong tingling of the tongue you get with mint. Their are no beer like flavors here. I have to say it's a very unique beverage, and I kind of liked it at first. But, this tastes nothing like an IPA, or in fact any beer. They have made an interesting spearmint malt beverage. I never expected hops could be taken to this extreme, that it changed into a completely different flavor profile.
O.K, I didn't expect that, but let's sum things up. Highland's IPA was by far the best. This beer is beautifully balanced, and a joy to drink. The mother Earth IPA was also decent, but not nearly as good as the Highland. Finally, removed from the competition, is New Belgium's Ranger. I was trying to compare IPA's and they seemed to have mislabeled their spearmint malt beverage as an IPA. Congrat's to Highland, I'm going out now to buy more.

Mother Earth
Highland
New Belgium

Highland Oatmeal Porter

Next up, another North Carolina beer, this one from the Highland Brewing Company in Asheville. Highland Oatmeal Porter pours out a light to medium brown. This beer has a really malty nose with a smoky mocha note and hop tones permeating the background. Now for the important part, the drinking. Shockingly heavy hop bitterness throughout, becoming even stronger on the finish. I'm straining to search out other flavors here. Yeah there's some mocha and caramel, but they are swallowed by hops. Usually this is the type of beer that would have a rich creamy fullness, I don't get that. It Seems weak on the body. Maybe I'm going through the change and my taste is off, but I find this wildly unbalanced. All the yummy goodness that is here is locked away in a prison of hops. And this is a style where it's supposed to be all about the malts. Have these people gone mad? Why yes they have. Note: I don't read labels till after I do tasting notes. Here is the whole text from the label. This is the most infamous pack of lies ever conceived by man. " A unique Highland creation, this robust( is not) beer is black in color,( medium brown, you can see right through it, the picture above isn't a good judge) very malty ( I can barely tell malt was used) with hints of chocolate-roasted flavor ( o.k. there are hints) and a well balanced hop character. This last phrase is the most stunning lie of all, there is zero balance. I really wanted to like this beer, porters are one of my favorite styles, but they got this one wrong. I hope Highland has better, we'll see as I have several of their other beers in the fridge.
P.S. I tried it with some glazed ham and it was not as bad.

http://highlandbrewing.com/