My Tangerine Space Machine Tour

Let me begin by first listing a few random, personal disclaimers; I’m no beer connoisseur, I’m generally good at knowing what suits my taste, and more importantly, I clearly identify those beers I will not be trying again.

I wouldn’t specifically call out fruit-flavored or fruit-infused beers, but I haven’t met a citrus beer I’ll turn down, and February 2018’s Beer of the Month goes with that flow – fruity enough to notice, while hoppy enough to differentiate itself from the Blue Moons and Oberons of our great craft brewery booming country.

If you’re still reading this amateur craft beer review, you probably won’t stop until the end. I’m sorry in advance. Buckle up, you’re about to take a virtual trip on the Tangerine Space Machine.

Any other beer, by any other name, would’ve been purposely overlooked, but not this one. The big, bold, orange and blue box caught my eye, and in light of Valentines’ Day, stole my heart.

Tangerine Space Machine (TSM) is a refreshingly fruity blast of hoppy beer goodness. The kicker – the thing that ultimately compelled me to try it – the words on the box, the marketing works! The first thing I read aloud, “Citrus Juicy Hazy,” brought me back to TLC’s CrazySexyCool album, peaking my curiosity.

Then, I found it, in itty bitty capital letters, on one of the end flaps of the 6-pack box:

There once lived a bitter soul

With a fruitful life as his goal

Hopped in his space machine

Went to New England to find his queen Came back…In a haze of tangerine.

Had I known my love of the English language would bring me to feel so fondly toward any beer, much less a beer that my husband also enjoys, this is my destiny. Who knew a tangerine filled space helmet could inspire so much harmony?

After having enjoyed this juicy, holy nectar, I hope this craft beer isn’t a special, seasonal, temporary New Holland treat – I need it all year ’round.

HOLIDAY CHEER IN LIQUID FORM

It’s that time of year again. Yes, it’s Christmas season. Or holiday season. Or, well, let’s just call it December and agree that we should steer away from political talk and venture into revealing the beer of the month together.

Trying to stay with the winter theme, we’ve picked 4 Elf from Dark Horse Brewing as our 2017 December Beer of the Month.

This winter warm spiced ale “is holiday cheer in liquid form. Spicy aromas like cinnamon and clove give this dark brown winter warmer a proper holiday welcome. Balanced between malt, hops, and spice at 8.75% ABV this beer goes great with all holiday foods—from sweet snacks to the roast beast”, according to their website.

With 840 ratings on BeerAdvocate.com, 4 Elf is a VERY GOOD 3.85 out of 5. One of those ratings, from user  Eamonn-Cummings3, explains “Poured from a 12oz bottle into a Teku glass. Look is a dark brown with an off white head. Aroma is of coffee malt and dark dried fruits. Taste is a lot more of the spicing and more of that roast coffee.”

Over ar RateBeer.com, 4 Elf received an 88 overall score. 4 Elf has 287 hits on Untappd (282 are unique visits).

This brew, freshly available in October, November and December, comes in pony kegs, half barrels and the ever so readily available and easier to carry 4-packs.

Merry Christmas! Cheers to you getting lucky and finding some 4 Elf on your shelf.

BOCKEFELLER wins November!

 

Why wouldn’t October’s beer of the month be named Oktoberfest?

We couldn’t think of a good reason either.

Pigeon Hill Brewing in Muskegon produces this “lightly hopped beer (which) has a semi-dry finish that nicely complements its light-to-medium body. A light caramel and malty sweetness provides a pleasing smooth flavor.”

With an overall score of 3.57 out of 5 on BeerAdvocate.com’s scale, Oktoberfest is right in line with some of our past winners.

The beer come in at 20 IBUs and has an ABV of 6.0%.

“This is a pretty nice looking Marzen with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness and a little bit of an apple cider-like aroma that ends with a fairly smooth & crisp, slightly creamy taste on the lighter side.” reader StoutHead said back on October 18, 2017.

Superspak had earlier chimed in with “tastes like a step between Pale Festbier and Amber Marzen overall. Clean and flavorful Pils/Munich malts, just enough bitterness for balance, and solid noble hop flavor presence. A very enjoyable offering, and great style example.”

Check out our October beer of the month while it lasts at:

PIGEON HILL BREWING COMPANY

•   500 W. Western Ave., Muskegon, MI 49440
•   @pigeonhillbrew
•   www.pigeonhillbrew.com

The September 2017 Beer of the Month is Lift Bridge Brown Ale from Keweenaw Brewing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. An ode to the Portage Lake Lift Bridge, one of only 26 vertical lift bridges in the US, which spans the Keweenaw Canal between Houghton and Hancock. It is reportedly the widest and heaviest double-decked lift bridge in the world.

So, we’ll lift a full glass and cheers to this American Brown Ale with its “rich, dark brown color, complex malt flavor” and hints of chocolate and caramel with a mild hop finish.

From bulk_carrier on ratebeer.com, “the appearance was a dark amber close to brown color with a finger’s worth of sustaining white foamy head. Some lace. The aroma had some toast, caramel, toffee, earthy hops, light grassiness. Ends with a little bit of woodiness. The flavor mildly leaned towards the malts trying to pull in some light sweetness. But some light roast and some bitterness came in for a decent balance. Nice malty aftertaste. Some wood dryness and earthy hops in the finish. The feel was about medium bodied with a decent sessionability about it. Good carbonation. ABV felt right. Overall, pretty good brown ale to me. I’d have again if I could get it.

Looking to take a trip north to Michigan Tech to drop our your college student? Keweenaw Brewery’s taproom is located in Downtown Houghton on the north side of Shelden Ave. (US-41). They feature a daily selection of fresh beers brewed right on the premises. They even provide roasted peanuts for guests in their welcoming environment. The 3400 sq. ft. taproom includes two bars, a seating area around a fireplace and an outside deck.

But don’t confuse Lift Bridge Brown Ale by Keweenaw Brewing with Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater, MN. Stillwater is home to a lift bridge with spans the St. Croix River northeast of St. Paul, MN, a mere 300+ miles away from Copper Country.

The newest brew at Keweenaw is Point Trail Ale. The beer was crafted specially to benefit the Copper Harbor Trails Club, which maintains 40 miles of single track trails in the Keweenaw Peninsula. 25 percent of profits from Point Trail Ale will support constructing its namesake, the new Keweenaw Point Trail. The trail is “going to be, eventually, about 30 miles. We currently have phase 1 and phase 2 on the ground for a total of about 8 miles. We’ve got another 16 miles in the plans, and that’s what this product is going to help support is the next 16 miles of trail,” said Lori Hauswirth, executive director of Copper Harbor Trails Club.

Cloudy, hazy and a tiny foam cresting the top with a golden finish.

While that sounds like a late fall day on the south pier in Grand Haven on the shores of Lake Michigan, to us it’s the perfect portrayal of what the offseason hoops and hops should be.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce you to Odd Side Ale’s Dirty Dank Juice. It’s their take on a New England IPA, the second consecutive month the staff here at BeerCityHoops has chosen the Nor’easter-style brew (following Old Nation’s M-43 in July). As Odd Side’s website describes it, “low bitterness gives way to juicy hops and a smooth, creamy, hazy beer.”

We, in fact, were enveloped by the the orange, citrus and other fruity tones as the Dank poured freely from our first cans into the suggested tulip glasses at the Dirty Water Tavern, our “meeting room” of choice here at the office. Dirty Dank Juice has a 7% ABV and 55 IBUs.

The Dirty Dank Juice rates in at an 87 on BeerAdvocate.com and a 92 on RateBeer.com, with an overall 3.8 out of 5.0 in 12 ratings.

While many on the beer rating sites claim this may or may not be a “true” New England, we’ve come to believe that if you believe, you can call it what you want. The mellow finishing notes hide the overall feel of being bitter, playing soft and medium in the end.

Medium in body, kind of sticky in texture, and above average in carbonation.

The Odd Side Ales Dank collection includes renditions in Pink Guava, Mango, Passion, Amarillo, Pineapple (which hit stores in early August) and Mosaic.

At the brewery, located at 41 Washington Ave. in downtown Grand Haven, Odd Sides works with Electric Hero Sandwich Shop, which will deliver lunch or dinner right to you while you experience the odd side of Coast Guard City, USA.

Last year, North Peak Brewing out of Traverse City, MI took home the Hoops’ 2016 offseason title.

Our July choice for Beer of the Month, M-43 New England IPA, is from Old Nation Brewing’s “New Orthodox” IPA series.

Last week, we were at HopCat in Grand Rapids on our “best burger and beer combo” tour and had the opportunity to do some taste testing out of both a can and off the tap.  While we enjoy a great can of beer, especially in one of our koozies, the M-43 tends to settle a bit near the bottom and we recommend having them pour you a draft when possible.

M-43 is a juicy IPA made using a slightly different process than the normal IPAs we’re familiar with. The brewers use oats to secure the juiciness near the end of the beer. It is also dry-hopped during fermentation.

This beer is hazy and cloudy in features. M-43 gets its haze “not from yeast, but rather from an interplay of lipids from the malted oat and oils and acids which naturally occur in the hand selected Dry hops”, according to the Old Nation website.

M-43 uses a combo of Calypso, Amarillo, Citra and Simcoe hops for it’s 6.8% ABV and 65 IBUs.

BeerAdvocate.com rates it as a “world class” 96. With 242 ratings on their website, M-43 brings home a 4.45 average on a scale of 5.

Old Nation Brewing is located in Williamston, MI, about 90 miles east of Beer City, USA.

From the Old Nation website:

“The First release in Old Nation’s “New Orthodox” IPA series, M-43 is designed to accentuate the deep and complex character from the combination of Calypso, Simcoe, Citra and Amarillo hops. Citrus and Tropical notes of Pineapple, Mango and Grapefruit come through in the huge, yet surprisingly delicate aroma. The flavor backs these aromas with a soft, pillowy mouthfeel. Hop bitterness is not particularly intense, which leads to a very drinkable, New England IPA even non-IPA fans love. The Haze is not from yeast, but rather from an interplay of lipids from the malted oat and oils and acids which naturally occur in the hand selected Dry hops. This beer is a perfect interplay between top grade malt and hops, MI water and brewing technique which cannot be faked.

Hops aren’t cheap, but M-43 is worth every penny!”

We agree.