I was really excited about these 6. On a vacation up in Door County, I found a small little store that somehow stocked the biggest collection of bottles I’ve ever seen. It’s a ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ kinda lesson. The store was small, stranded out by itself on the highway. Speeding by one might understandably thought of the store as just another abandoned farmhouse. But inside was the holy grail of beer selection. As overwhelmed as I was I managed to pick out just 6. Here they are.
1. Door County Brewing’s Sideshow – Belgian IPA
Since I was in Door County, I might as well give Sideshow the honors of going first. (I also stopped by their brewery and did a nice flight of Door County’s other offerings, but for brevity I’ll stick to Sideshow).
As for Sideshow, it does about what you’d expect of a Belgian IPA. It has that kick of fruits and bubble gum flavor at first. then a clove-like spice too it. It finishes on the bitter end, with pleasant citrus tones. It seems balanced, but leans just a bit more on the scale of sweetness and spices over the hops. It’s more in line with a classic Belgian.
2. Forgotten Fire’s Cherry Radler – Radler style
I’ve had Radler’s that were good. This is not one of them. While most Radler’s aim for a session style ABV and have some semblance of real beer, this tastes like a cherry Pepsi mixed with more cherry syrup and cough medicine for good measure. A downright disappointment.
3. Fulton Beer’s The Ringer – American Pale Ale
The bottle reads that the beauty is in the Ringer’s simplicity. And man did they hit the nail on the head. It starts of with a great aroma. It smells herbal, sweetly spiced, and a bit wooded. But as for taste, it’s not as exciting. The carbonation is low and its an easy drinker. For those who prefer the caramel toasted grains of a traditional APA or Amber ales, this fits the bill. The hops come in at the end with a small resiny bite. It’s one of those beers where each sip is better than the one before it.
4. Minhas Thumper American IPA – IPA
‘Fiercely hopped and hopped again’ is an outright lie. The beer isn’t bad, but just not what you’d expect. It’s more in line with The Ringer. It has some fruit notes, but then goes into a sweet almost oddly syrupy, malted caramel finish. I don’t get much, if any, bitterness from the hops. Besides the false advertising, it’s an ok beer. It’s more of a traditional ale than an IPA though, so don’t believe the bottle.
5. Upper Hand Brewing UPA – APA
Every once in a while a beer will come along and at first sip it will change your life forever. Upper Hand’s Upper Peninsula Ale did just that. It’s the beer I’ve always longed for. It’s as refreshing as a cool spring creek.
The ale is light, crisp and fruity. It has a bit of sweet toasted malt flavor that’s carried into a beautiful mosaic hop forward flavor. A fucking pleaser and an APA worth reaching for every time. It’s as if Upper Hand has captured the perfect Indian summer night’s of my youth and bottled it. It’s the kind of beer that makes you yearn for campfire among friends with nothing but the starry filled firmament overhead and realize all that’s good, wild, and holy.
6. Shiner Prickly Pear – Fruit beer
Well that’s a tough act to follow. After trying something from the UP we turn south down to Shiner, Texas and their Prickly Pear.
It’s sort of like a gose, but not salty or too sour. Just sweet and a lot of it. The aroma kind of smells synthetic, like that fake candy watermelon flavor. With its bubbly, citrusy sweet flavor, It tastes like it has more in common with a cider than a fruit beer. Just wish there was more of a sour bite. It has all the makings of a good summertime beer though. It’s light, refreshing, and easy to drink. My only qualm is that it’s a bit too sweet.
I think we know who won this round.