B Cups Plastic IPA Cups– A Product Review

A friend saw a posting on a local website where a company was looking for bloggers to review these new cups that they were making. The idea is a good one and it is local so I wrote and said I would try them and review. So here it is…

According to the literature provided with the cups, Joel Bigham President of Fermented Reality was on a road trip and wondered why the only cups available for beer were those horrible red solo cups. If you are drinking good beer, then you should be using the proper cup, correct? Therefore, Joel decided to invent a plastic IPA cup. Apparently, there were difficulties in getting the design actually made but they are here– and actually a really good idea.

The plastic is BPA free, which as a toxicologist by training, I really like. The cups are clear, which allows you to see the color, cloudiness, and head on the beer, unlike those horrible red cups. The plastic is very light — almost too light as one friend said she would forget there was beer in it and throw it over her shoulder on pick up. The shape is very nice with a narrower neck just below the main part of the glass that allows, even someone with small hands like me, to hold the glass comfortably.

I took the cups over the House of Brewz with me to try them out and get some opinions from the experts. We filled a couple with Sculpin IPA and Racer 5, since they are both excellent examples of quality, yet easily available, IPAs. Everyone agreed the greatest thing about these glasses was the ability to really get the nose of these beers. The plastic didn’t interfere with the nose and the shape was very consistent with why the IPA glass was designed.

According to the literature, if you are in the Tampa area you might be able to find these glasses at a few grocery stores, Cigar City and Tampa Bay Brewing. Unfortunately, I don’t live in Tampa but they are available through the internet at http://bcups.net. A set of 4 is just $10 so they are quite reasonable. The plastic seems high quality so as long as you hand wash, they should last for a while.

This weekend I think I am going to pick up a growler and take my new cups down to the beach for the afternoon. For me, this would be why I need these cups– beach, festivals, and trips were I want to be able to really taste, see, and smell quality local beers.

The cup holds good lace from Racer 5

Lace from Sculpin

Love the fact you can see the beer

Fat Point– The Real Blog Post

I already covered Fat Point for the paper but I wanted to visit a few weeks later and do a new blog post. I tend to be a bit more honest and laid back in style for the blog and I wanted to be able to give this brewery the same treatment I have given every other one in the area.

First, I really like the atmosphere at Fat Point. The bar area is well appointed, stylish, and comfortable. The outside area is beautiful with huge palm trees (which I am sure cost a pretty penny to add). The outside chairs are a bit uncomfortable for us short people, though. I felt a bit like I was sitting with my behind in a toilet and my feet sticking up over the rim. I am guessing some older, short person is going to get stuck and need some help getting out. It required good use of the triceps on my part to wiggle out.

I loved the fact that Fat Point ran a Groupon that allowed people who might not have come out to give it a try. I can’t remember how much I paid for it but it gave 2 tastings and a growler for a very reasonable price. Of course, I am a bargain hunter so I always buy Groupons for places I want to go. I hadn’t seen a brewery do anything like it before so I have to say it was a great idea.

Given that we had a Groupon, we had 2 tastings of 4 beers, which allowed us to taste 8 out of the 9. We went ahead and paid an extra $2 to taste the 9th. I was impressed with the variety of beers available as I had only had the flagships– Big Boca and Ryeght Angle, and a couple of other releases just after the brewery opened.

We started with the Morning Dew which was touted as a session pale ale and only 4% ABV. To me, this didn’t resemble much of a pale ale at all. The color was very light gold, more like a pilsner, and it was very malty. There was a bit of hops on the nose and it did finish with some bitterness. However, I didn’t find that it was well balanced as it was quite harsh at the end. To me, I would say this was a hopped up pilsner.

Kickback Kolsch was also low ABV, 4.7%. This was very light with a hint of citrus at the end. It is a very easy drinking beer but not my style– too close to Budweiser but with more of a malt flavor.

I had high hopes for Going Mintal, a Lemon Mint Belgian Wheat. It did have a slight hint of mint on the nose but didn’t really taste like lemon, mint, or wheat to me. I got much more banana flavors out of this beer with just a bit of mint upfront. The traditional Belgian herbal flavors were not there, but there was wheaty aftertaste. Not a bad beer, just not what I had expected.

Big Boca is billed as a Florida Common. This is again an easy drinking beer that doesn’t have much nose, except for a bit of malt. The beer has a malty, lager-like aftertaste and not much hop. The beer is a great one for a hot Florida day and still has much more depth than either the Morning Dew or Kolsch.

Ryeght Angle is one of my favorite local beers. I find that it is well balanced between the harshness of rye, a bit of sweet, and the bitter of the hops. I have found that rye IPAs don’t always go well, as the rye or hops are too harsh– I love the equalness in this beer.

Bru Man Chu is a killer at 11% ABV but it doesn’t taste like one. You get a sweet nose and it tastes very sweet up front but finishes with a mild throat burn. Being a Belgian tripel, it still maintains those typical herbal flavors even at such a high alcohol content. This is very balanced, as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t try Jdawg, a pecan porter, as I am allergic to pecans. Just trying to ascertain the nose on this beer was making my nasal passages burn. My husband is not the most descriptive but he said you could definitely taste the pecan and it was sweet, but not overpowering, with coffee and chocolate flavors.

Lonely Night was another well balanced beer. This Imperial Coffee Stout had nice sweet nose that was reminiscent of Irish coffee with a bit of Bailey’s. It tasted similar to an iced latte, very creamy with definite coffee flavors.

Chorange is a Chocolate Orange Stout. I have tried it twice now and I don’t see the orange at all. In fact, this time the flavor was more coconut to me than orange. I was told it was supposed to be subtle on the orange, but I would really like to taste it a bit more. Overall it is a good stout though.

Another great thing about Fat Point is, that unlike many local breweries, they offer food on site. Yes, it is a small menu of sandwiches and pizzas, but I think it is a good start. You can always add more later, and this has to alleviate all the troubles associated with scheduling food trucks and the like. The pizzas are not spectacular but they are more than what others offer. I suggest lunch of pizza and a beer at Fat Point Brewery any day!