9.15 - Another Weez

Anytime the limited release Maine Beer Co beer's see their way to MA, you MUST get them.  Seriously. One of the few breweries from which I've had multiple beers, and haven't found many, if any, I did not enjoy. This is a really cool release they did..  most breweries are doing some beers now where they keep the same base beer, but change up the hops.  This 2 beer release keeps the hop profile and swaps out the malts between the two beers..  The results are very interesting!

Maine Beer Co - Weez

a 7.2% ABV Black IPA?  Cascadian Dark?  Hoppy Porter?  Who knows..  but they took the hops from Another One (you see that next) and infused them into a dark, roasty, malty brew.  If you couldn't tell from the label, a portion of the proceeds go to a stray cat shelter/foundation.  WOOO kitties!!   It pours a light chocolate brown, a touch watery of a pour, with a fluffy mocha head.  Roasty, nutty malts, hints of charcoal, smoke, chocolate and a faint citrus hop in the background.  It drinks exactly how I'd expect a faintly hoppy porter to drink.  Light body but velvety smooth.. there's chocolatey roast, some nuttiness, char and toffee, but a fair amount of citrus and grassy hops with a menthol/lemon cough drop-type flavor - which is actually not a bad thing.  Slightly medicinal, but more orange rind, lemon peel and grapefruit juice..  gives way to a dry, cocoa powder finish, semi-sweet and more roast.  A very enjoyable 'Black IPA'.. let's see what the traditional take is..

- - 8 Hops!

Maine Beer Co - Another One

a 7.0% ABV IPA..  take the hops from Weez, change up the malt bill to reflect a traditional IPA and you get yet another IPA from MBC.  A bright golden yellow pour, fluffy average white head.  More of those citrus hops come through on the nose, just more so due to sweeter malts.  There's the sweet caramel and wheat notes, but you get peaches, nectarines, orange rind, as well as some tropical mango and pineapple.  Great nose for sure.  But when it comes to the actual flavor, the medicinal astringency that was a bit present in Weez comes through much more prominently due to the lighter malts.  It throws everything off..  the malts are OK, at best..  rounded and a bit sweet.  But any and all hoppiness is completely skewed.. it comes off metallic, faded..  and this is not 'old' by any means, well within MBC's suggested drinking timeframe.  It had potential, but in my eyes (and taste buds) it really is just 'Another One'

- - 6 Hops!