I love a good craft beer. You’ve probably already figured that out

But I also like the hunt.

“The hunt?” You might ask. Yes, the hunt. Like most people, I have a favorite, or certain favorites, but with over 1500 men and women out there brewing any number of different styles of beer professionally, I think it’s safe to say that I have tried only a small percentage of the beer being made out there. A lot is good, some of it is great. Some of it, I suspect, was made by drinking some Schlitz and then pissing in a bottle. And no I don’t like when I find the latter, but when you find a great beer, it’s like finding a treasure.

Whenever I would visit a new city, I almost have always tried a beer local to that burg. Sometimes it has worked out, sometimes it hasn’t. But the practice has opened me up to any number of beers. The following three fall into the “good,” or “pretty damn good”  qualification, but none are great beers.

Hop-A-Lot-Amus
River Horse Brewing Company
Lambertville, NJ
Style: Unfiltered Double IPA
Grade: 8.2

It seems like everyone and his Aunt Mildred is producing Imperial this, Extra that, and Double those these days. It’s all about the X-Beers now – how extreme can we make it? How hoppy can we go before it’s undrinkable? Is it possible to creat a 17 percent ABV nut brown? Can a brewpub base jump?

At times it seems as if the breweries are pushing into the ridiculous. Some DIPAs/EIPAs/IIPAs are downright undrinkable. I’m a hop head and I’ve found some that are just too damn hoppy. This is not one of those.

River Horse’s version of the Imperial/Double/Extra is a solid, enjoyable beer. The color is spot on, and the beer pours well, retaining a nice head. There’s a strong, hoppy aroma on the initial opening of the bottle, but not overwhelmingly so. The flavors are a strong reflection of the aroma. It finishes just a little more astringently than I would like, but it’s a good beer that I would happily have again.

Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic
Boston Brewing Company
Boston, MA
Style: Lambic
Grade: 8.0

I don’t like this beer as much as I once did. It was, at one time, one of my favorites from Sam Adams, and remains a  solid, reliable beer, but it’s not a great beer. It’s good. It’s drinkable. But it has no wow factor.

The first time I had a Cranberry Lambic, it wasn’t made by Sam Adams – it was from a brew pub in Baltimore back in 1993. That was a great beer. Rather than sweet, they went with tart, and it complimented the other flavors in the beer quite nicely.

This beer pours well and has a nice flavor, but is maybe a little too sweet. Some tart to balance that out would have been nice, as the sweet feels like it overwhelms the other beer flavors a little too much. To the eye it’s a very attractive cloudy reddish-amber and the nose hints at the sweetness to come.

This beer can only be found in the Sam Adams Winter Collection.

Coney Island Freaktoberfest
Schmalz Brewing Company
Saratoga Springs, NY
Style: American Red?
Grade: 8.4

These guys do some rock solid beers. Nothing I’ve had by them would ever be over a 9.00, if it reached that, but none would be below 7.5 either (and no, I have not yet sampled their entire line, but I have had several of the Schmalz beers). This beer is not your traditional Festbier. It leans, characteristically, towards being a red rather than a Dunkel and does have some small issues, but there is definitely a “fun” factor to this beer and most of the company’s products.

The label is arguably better than the beer – the label looks like a sign from a boardwalk or carnival freakshow and the beer pours red. I mean really red.  The beer is a little cloying on its own and works better paired with food.

I’s a very malty beer with medium hops – very round tones. Very drinkable, albeit on the sweet side. It’s a solid offering from the brew-mongers who gave us “The Chosen Beer.” Personally, I would recommend it with kielbasa or pizza. Something hearty that will balance out the sweet a little bit.