Pull Chain Pale Ale by Milwaukee Ale House

I have had this beer several times over the years and is one of my go to beers when at the Milwaukee Ale House. It pours a nice cloudy, orange, yellowish color with a slight off white head. In the past this beer has left excellent lacing from the dense and fantastic head, but on this visit the head fell back into the beer rather fast. Suspect number one in this crime would have to be soap residue left behind on the glass. A lot of detergent was present on the inside causing bubbles to cling. Cascade hops dominate the aroma of this beer lending extreme citrus, grapefruit, orange, and slight floral or earthy notes to the aroma. These aromas also are found within the beer itself contributing to a dry somewhat bitter beer. The malt backbone could be a little bit more complex in my opinion, which would help balance the bitterness just a little better and add more depth to the beer. Carbonation was slightly higher then I would have preferred, but I don't think it affected the overall taste of the beer too much, IBU's are said to be 41 with a ABV of 5%. I would give the Pull Chain Pale Ale 8 out of 10 suds. Great work guys keep up the good  work.

Silver Creek Porter

This is one of the best porters I have ever had. It pours a great jet black, with a off white head about three fingers high. The head did fall back into the beer rather quick, but still lingered around the glass till the last sip. On first appearance, this looks like your basic porter, but on further inspection is much more. According, to Silver Creek's web page this is a Baltic style porter that has hints of chocolate, caramel, plums and raisins. I would completely agree with this description, it has a very subdued malt aroma with hints of crystal and chocolate malts. The plum and raisin notes are definitely there and add a lot of backbone to this beer, providing the great depth of this porter. The hop bitterness complements the malt profile extremely well. Hop aroma is not present, however the bitterness really helps cut down the overall sweetness of this beer. This balance between malt profile and hop bitterness lends to a fantastic drinkable beer. Overall I would give this beer 9 out of 10 suds. Excellent beer from an excellent brewery.

Silver Creek Brewery IPA

My first review is Silver Creek Brewery's IPA. Being my local brewery I have drank my fair share of their IPA. As much as I enjoy this beer I would never put the title of IPA on it. It pours a great copper to gold color with slight chill haze. As far as taste goes, well, it's not an IPA. Hop aroma is slim to non-existent. In my judgement a good IPA has a great hop aroma and flavor and this beer certainly does not exhibit these characteristics. Although I wouldn't classify this beer as an IPA, I Would say that it is certainly a good, clean drinking beer. This beer is more of a session beer then an IPA, low hop and grain profile, but still has a rather high ABV, around 5.3%. If you are looking for a low hop, dry beer, then I would suggest this, but if you are looking for a true IPA I would find something else. Overall ratting is 6.5 out of 10 suds, I would have given it more but it is just lacking on some great hops.

Welcome

Hello everyone, 

     Welcome to my beer review blog where I am going to bring the world of craft beer to you. I have been a craft beer enthusiast for several years now and over those hazy years I have gained a real appreciation for how beer is made and the stories shared over craft beer. Along with loving to drink high quality beer, I have been brewing my own beer for two years now. Brewing my own beer has opened the door to a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to sharing all that I know with you. I will try my best to bring you all a new beer each week from a wide range of categories. I will be rating each beer on a 0 to 10 suds scale. 10 suds being the best beer and 0 being the worst beer not suitable for your worst enemy. My first entry will come this Friday from the Silver Creek Brewery in Cedarburg, Wisconsin where I will be tasting their Porter and IPA. 

Cheers.