Beers with animal names

West Coast here, many apologies for the long absence my good friends and fellow beer-lovers. I started a new job last Monday and I’ve been settling in at work and had depressingly little to drink. That all changed this weekend though, as I enjoyed both the Blind Pig by Russian River Brewing Co. and the Shark Attack by Port Brewing Co. while watching my Hawkeyes beat Penn State.



First up, the Blind Pig. I must admit, I picked up the Blind Pig because it shares its name with a bar in the town where I went to law school. The Blind Pig is an IPA with 72 IBUs and 6.1% ABV. Russian River Brewing Company is one of those breweries on the West Coast whose star has been rising for a while, and with beer like this you can see why. It poured out a dusky, straw color with mild carbonation. The Blind Pig has a floral and hoppy nose. It’s fairly bitter, with lots of pine, hops, and alcohol in the mouth and a strong vegetal finish. The Blind Pig isn’t the best IPA I’ve ever had, but it was very solid, and based on it I’ll be drinking more of the Russian River Brewing Co.’s stuff in the near future.

Next up was the Shark Attack by Port Brewing Company. The Shark Attack was described on the bottle as a “double red ale,” whatever that means. It clocks in at 9% ABV and poured with a beautiful hazelnut color and nice foam. The nose is apples and ramen flavor-packet, make of that what you will. It has a very syrupy mouth feel, and tastes like cider with notes of apples, yeast, and cinnamon but ends with a bracing alcohol finish. The strong malt flavor overtakes the “hoppiness” you might expect from a red ale. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoying beer, and paired quite well with the pizza and football. The Shark Attack is definitely worth checking out for the unique taste and feel.