Drinking, Again: 8 beers in quick review

An occasional series of reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

Eight —brief— beer reviews.

• Essential Pale Ale from Port City Brewing Company of Alexandria, Virginia. Pale ale, deep golden (darker than the first draft run). Hint of orange peel and talcum powder in nose. Tastes of grapefruit, orange, and hint of melon. Mix of shortbread and tannic bitterness in finish. Good stuff ... especially after waiting 95 years for beer to return to Alexandria! Tasted, poured from a bottle. More...
  
  
• Maibock from Legend Brewing Company of Richmond, Virginia. Light copper color; good head retention. Sweet food spice and graham-cracker aroma and flavor. Juicy body (!). Long finish. Seasonal. 6.4% abv. Tasted, poured from a bottle.More...
  
  
• AARSH 'Imperial Irish Red' Ale from Heavy Seas Brewing, of Baltimore, Maryland. Sweet dark caramel malt character dried in finish by hint of roastiness. Good head retention and conditioning. Scant haze. Seasonal. 8% abv. Tasted, pulled from a firkin. More...
  
  
• Scotch Ale, from Mad Fox Brewing Company, of Falls Church, Virginia. Deep brown/red and malty: flavors of toffee, caramel, some roast and plummy fruit. 8% abv sneaks up on you. Tasted, pulled from a firkin. More...
  
  
• Corp Mort Barleywine (The name can be translated as "Dead Body."), from Quebec brewery A L'Abri De La Tempête. slightly turbid reddish/brown. Sweet malt middle, hint of peat-like smokiness, dry finish. 9% abv. Tasted, on draft. More...
  
  
• Les Deux Brasseurs, a collaboration between breweries Allagash —U.S. based— and DeProef —Belgian based— collaborated to produce this beer (meaning 'the two brewers'), each using their own house strains of brettanomyces yeast, known for its 'wild' barnyardy character. Hazy, deep golden. Sharp, quick finish. Tasted, on draft. More...
  
  
  
• Bitter American from 21st Amendment Brewery of San Francisco, California. Light amber, brilliant clarity, good head retention. Citrusy nose. At 4.4% abv, a fine example of a bitter: using a relatively small amount of hops to achieve an apparent level of bitterness equivalent to that of a much higher alcohol beer (such as a double IPA). Tasted, poured from a can. More...
  
  
• Black Cannon from Heavy Seas Brewing of Baltimore, Maryland. The brewery designates it as a 'Black IPA'. The Great American Beer Festival calls the style "American-style India Black Ale." I call it a delicious, dark, hoppy strong ale. Pours nearly black, with beige head. Characters of baker's chocolate, toasted bread, melon fruit, citrus: 7.25% abv. late winter seasonal. Tasted, poured from a bottle. More...

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• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas and Allagash.
  
• Drinking Again is a series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
  
• The graphic for Drinking Again was created by Mike Licht at NotionsCapital.