Beer Review- New Glarus

One of my favorite breweries is New Glarus Brewing Company from Wisconsin. I am unable to buy New Glarus in Minnesota, so I make a point of trying as many as possible whenever I'm in Wisconsin. While spending the week in Northern Wisconsin, I picked up three offerings I've never had before: Hearty Hop IPA, Road Slush Stout, and part of the Unplugged Series; Imperial Weizen. As usual, they didn't dissapoint. In my opinion, this is one of the consistently good breweries around. Onto the reviews:

Hop Hearty IPA- This IPA pours a cloudy amber with a thin white head and a nice sweet citrusy aroma. There's a great caramel sweetness and a lingering hop bitterness. It's not overly bitter by any means, and the hops and caramel balance nicely. A great sweetness and citrus flavor throughout. A perfectly balanced IPA, not overly hoppy, just nice and drinkable but plenty going on. I couldn't get enough of this beer.

Road Slush Oatmeal Stout- I'd never seen this seasonal before and I was happy to find a six pack left at a store. This beer pours a dark chocolate brown with a finger of off-white head. Right away great aromas of malt, roastiness, and bitter chocolate. Robust and roasty, this beer has a nice hop presence, but the oatmeal gives it a great smooth, creamy body. There are great flavors of roasted barley, some burnt chalkiness and bitter chocolate. Much more robust than I had expected, but excellent. Would be perfect on a cold winter day, a terrific stout.

Imperial Weizen- Part of the line-up of New Glarus beers include the Unplugged series, where the owner/head brewer gets to "cut loose and brew whatever he chooses." The first of the Unplugged series I had was an outstanding smoked porter, I reviewed it here. I was excited to see another of the series. This was quite interesting. It pours a cloudy golden yellow with a thick, three finger foamy white head. A heavy fruit aroma hits you right away with sweet banana, clove, apricot and peaches present. There is a bit of spicy hop aroma in the nose as well. The beer is a complex mixture of sweetness, spiciness, and citrus from the cascade hops. A big beer, weighing in at 9.6% abv, its almost like a barley wine. Its a very unique beer with a sticky sweetness, but there is also some alcohol burn present. I wouldn't drink a lot of these, but an interesting beer that is very enjoyable.

Another solid set of beers from New Glarus. I plan on reviewing my El Muerto in the coming week and maybe a few other commercials I've been drinking.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer