Summit - Saga India Pale Ale

BEER REPORT CARD - Summit - Saga India Pale Ale - 6.4% ABV

As I'm still on an IPA kick right now, I saw this at the liquor store tonight and being a fan of Summit and never hearing of it before, I was very excited to try it.

"Our Condolences To The Smelling Impaired", this is what comes up on the Summit website about this beer and they aren't kidding. As soon as I opened the bottle I am overwhelmed by the smell the hops......and it's awesome. When I poured it into my glass, I was kind of surprised at how light the body looks for it being a strong IPA and fairly heavy in alcohol content. I do really like how Summit provides a scale for their beers if you were to research it ahead of time (which I did not):

On my first sip, I immediately catch that strong, bitter hop taste and while it may have caught me off guard, I really liked it. It's almost like drinking whiskey straight, it gets easier after every sip.

Not an actual picture of my wife - my contract
states that I have to say that

Knowing that my wife is a) curious of new beers I bring home, and b) doesn't like IPA's because of how bitter it is, I couldn't help but offer her some saying that she should try it. She took the tiniest sip and immediately gave the scrunched up, bitter beer face look. I wanted to act shocked and concerned, but all that came out was laughter as she immediately put the glass back down on the counter.....guess we'll try next time.

There is a slight fruity flavor, but is definitely overpowered by the hops. I was eating some spicy foods as well and found out that the hoppier the beer is, the less it helps with spicy foods, so if there was a grade for that, it would be an F.

I do like beers with a good hop taste, while this did have that (and I did enjoy the beer) it was almost a little too much after a couple, especially with food, so that is the only part that is keeping this from a higher grade.

Overall Grade: B

Anchor Brewing - Liberty Ale

BEER REPORT CARD - Anchor brewing - Liberty Ale - 6.0% ABV

Matt's Review


I'm starting to really like the steamed beers from Anchor, I've been reading about them in different publications and figured it was something that wasn't available in South Dakota. I was very happy the other day when trying to decide which beer to get at the liquor store and saw some different beers from Anchor and immediately wanted to try them all.


Blame it on the marketing side of me, but it seems like when people grab a bottle of a beer they have never had before, one of the first questions they have is, can I twist this off or do I need a bottle opener? Sometimes this results in a first attempt at trying to twist it open, which either works or lead you to keep trying harder until your cut up your fingers. Well there is no secret with this beer when you look at the top of this beer...."Use Opener".





You can tell there is something different with the natural carbonation, not too thick but doesn't affect the taste of the beer at all. The aroma and body smell/look just like an amber ale and has an orange hint to it. I really like overall taste and get the hop flavor towards the end but it finishes really smooth. This is a great summer beer where it's light enough to have more than one, and still has a lot of favor.

Overall Grade: B+

Tallgrass Brewing - 8-Bit Pale Ale and Sand Creek Brewing - Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

BEER REPORT CARD - Tallgrass brewing - 8-bit pale ale - 5.2% ABV; Sand creek brewing - oscar's oatmeal chocolate stout - 4.5% abv

Doing a double report card this week since I missed out last week.

Matt's Review


Last week I had the 8-Bit Pale Ale from Tallgrass Brewing at 5.2% ABV. I had heard about this beer from a couple other friends, but was immediately curious when I saw the can looking like an old Atari with a Pac Man like appearance. The first thing I noticed about this beer was the really strong hop taste (which I loved), there wasn't much for a hop aroma however. Even though I've been into beers lately with a really strong hop taste, this one hit the spot but don't think I could drink too many in one sitting because of how strong the hops are.
Overall Grade: B-

The next beer that I just opened tonight, is the Oscar's Oatmeal Chocolate Stout from Sand Creek Brewing at only 4.5% ABV. It definitely has that chocolaty smell to it, and didn't seem to have too much head/carbonation when pouring it into the glass, which seems to be normal among stouts. I typically do not like dark stout beers, but I'm not sure if it's the low ABV, but this one really finishes smooth with a sweet taste that I really enjoyed. I figured this would be a good one to try while down in the man cave because the basement gets really cold and a dark stout would taste better. However, I don't think this would be terrible outside on a warm day, not saying I'd drink this while grilling, but doesn't really have that dark beer feel to it that would scare off summer drinking.
Overall Grade: B