Ahhhh, that end-of-fall beginning-of-winter brisk air in Cleves. ‘Tis the season for toasting indeed! A good ale can make any season merry and works wonders on that so called hustle-and bustle-if-you-will. In addition to our full line of fall, holiday and winter seasonal brews, here’s a mighty palate-pleasing sample of what we’re currently carrying, drinking and saying about beer at Constantino’s.

If you haven’t tried for yourself yet, read on to decide what you’ll be picking up on your way home. We didn’t even have to twist anyone’s arm to offer up their reviews… go fig! Mmmmm, beer…

1. 21st Amendment Brew Free of Die IPA
Deep golden with citrus, piney hop aromas. A nice strong malt supporting a heavily prevalent bitterness. This IPA is dry hopped with four types of hops creating that wonderfully huge hop on the palate. Hip-hop-hooray.

2. Arcadia Ales-B-Craft Black
Nice citrusy hoppy aroma with rich and roasted malty flavors of chocolate and coffee. Finishes with a bitter hop offering  added complexity and flavor to an already interesting palate.

3. Bells Amber Ale
A lovely copper amber with a small white head, with fair retention and lace. The nose is subtle with a slight suggestion of cinnamon. Medium mouthfeel and carbonation.  Grassy, grainy, quite hoppy. Slight malt upfront. An interesting amber indeed.

4. Bells Porter
Big upfront aroma with notes of coffee, roasted barley and smoked oak. Extremely well-balanced with bitter hops and grain.

5. New Holland “The Poet” Oatmeal Stout
Rich, smooth malt and roasted chocolate. Soft luxurious flavors and aroma that would pair nicely with earthy flavors like mushrooms, biscuits or beef. Also a perfect accomplice to any chocolate dessert.

6. Southern Tier IPA
Crisp, deliciously drinkable, triple-hopped with a deep copper color. A nicely balanced, not-overly aggressive IPA.

7. Southern Tier 2XStout
For a stout the mouthfeel’s sort of thinnish but velvety smooth. Mild, clean aftertaste with a faint semi-bitter and semi-sweet balance. 7.5% ABV. Heavier body than your average stout, but nothing obese. Prevalent milky smooth vanilla flavors that linger then disappear nicely. Great for winter and that warm fuzzy feeling.

8. Fatheads Headhunter IPA
Boy are we happy to feature this one. Huge pine and citrus, woody and herbal. Some orange peel and a touch of green onion – incredibly interesting. Nice transition from aroma to flavor. Full of citrus hops – slightly sweet but rather transparent pale malt base. Notes of pine resin, pineapple and perfume. Simcoe, Centennial and CTZ hops. Perfectly bitter until relieved with a perfectly timed just-sweet-enough finish.

9. Breckenridge Avalanche Amber Ale
A light sweet caramel malt note with some toast that slowly gives way to mild hops. Very nice balance. Bold caramel malts, slightly sweet and toasty. Hops arrive with a mild bitterness that pushes through to the finish.

10. Sam Smith Organic Chocolate Stout
Mmmm, oooooh, chocolatey – both aroma and taste. A beautifully balanced stout. Deep, aromatic, and satisfying. Full body, roasted barley flavor with fruity notes from the Samuel Smith yeast strain. Best served at 50 °F and great with mixed nuts, sharper cheeses.

11. Sprecher Russian Imperial Stout
Dark, semi-brackish with a lovely edge. Bitter chocolate and roast coffee aroma and character with a bitterness that’s irresistible  A little jammy and sweet up front with bittersweet cocoa, dark cocoa, roasted coffee. A fine line between oily and over-carbonated, if that’s even possible.

12. Avery Brewing Company White Rascal
An authentic Belgian style wheat/“white” ale, this Rascal is unfiltered (yeast on the bottom). Coriander and Curaçao orange gives a clean zest. Great with zesty foods with a little heat to balance the semi-sweet, citrus flavors.

13. Troegs Hop Back Amber Ale
Floral hops make a wonderfully fresh aroma, proceeding a nice spicy taste balanced with rich caramel notes.

14. Troegs Double Bock
A dark, strong lager. It pours with a bronzish-brown pigment, fluffy white head, bready malt aroma and subtle spicy flavors. A little history: Double Bock dates back a century or so ago- during periods of fasting without solid foods Monastic brewers to fulfill their basic nutritional needs. Known as “liquid bread,” it has a strong malt aroma and rich chewy body. Also endearingly named the Troegenator. With a name like that, you sort of have to just go for it.

15. Lagunitas IPA
A powerful, hop-forward IPA. Big, pungent, slightly resinous hops lead a crisp style at first, with ample bitterness, getting heavy on the palate after a few sips.

16. Lagunitas “Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale”
Ooooooh, yeaaaaah…. smooth and silky with round wheaty flavor that carries non traditional implications. It’s hopped like an IPA, but at 7.3% and 64 IBU it’s bigger and hoppier than Lagunitas IPA.

17. Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest
Caramelized barley, rich amber, with the finest Hallertau hops. Billed as the original Octoberfest, it was commissioned by Ludwig I, the Crown Prince of Bavaria to commemorate the occasion of his wedding in Munich in 1810. The beer was so choice, the party lasted for days and Oktoberfest beer was born. Hacker-Pschorr is one of the six brewers that serves its beer in Munich during Oktoberfest.

*whilst supplies last of course.

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