This week I have five pretty damn fine brews that I'm looking at. But first a quick note -

Bacon is a wonderful thing. The best thing pigs have ever gifted us with. Vodka one the best things that Russia has given the world. The two together? I have my doubts.

On to the Beer. Like last week - from best to worst...

Three are Pennsylvania brewers, one brews in Massachusetts but is headquartered in Maryland, and the other is out of Louisiana.

There were to that scored out at a nine on my scale. Both were hop-heavy brews...on to it...

Victory Hop-Devil Ale
Victory Brewing Co.
Downingtown, PA
Grade: 9.0

Victory's Hop-Devil starts with a strong hop-heavy aroma, complimented with a nice hoppy flavor with a bitter finish, typical of the better hop brews. The beer pours slightly cloudy, as though unfiltered, but has an attractive golden-amber color.

With even carbonation, the beer drinks smoothly. I highly recommend this to any fans of hops.

Imperial Amber Nugget-Nectar
Troeg's Brewing Co.
Harrisburg, PA
Grade: 9.0

The Troeg Brothers entrant into the hops arms race has a stronger, bitter, hoppy aroma than the Hop-Devil, and starts with slightest, almost innocuous sweetness, but finishes with the strong bitterness of the hops in the back of the mouth.

The beer pours clear, but with a similar golden-amber as the Hop-Devil. It pours nicely, with good, even carbonation and holds a nice head.

Winter Warmer
Lancaster Brewing Co.
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Grade: 8.0

Most winter warmers tend to be spicy beers with the flavors of pumpkin and ginger. This is a heartier beer with a malty, caramel infused aroma that nicely compliments its flavor. The beer tastes of malt and with caramel overtones.

The warmer has a beautiful, deep ruby color. When poured the beer looks somewhat like a soda, however it settles nicely.

Turbodog Abita Ale
Abita Brewing Co.
Abita Springs, LA
Grade: 8.0

This beer doesn't exactly attack the olfactory when poured. The scent has an indeterminate metallic undertone with the light odor of an American brewed stout. Oddly, it has neither a metallic nor a very stout like flavor, drinking more like a nut brown with a hint of chocolate. The one nod to the stout-like aroma is the fact that the flavor finishes with a distinct coffee note like certain stouts.

When poured, the beer is well carbonated with a nice head and a deep ruby-brown color.

Golden Ale
Hook & Ladder Brewing Co
HQ - Silver Spring, MD
Brewed - Ipswich, MA
Grade 7.625

This beer has an unusual, though pleasant aroma with a vague malt afterthought in the smell. It has good flavor for a lighter beer, and finishes on a pleasant, smoky note.

While the beer pours with a nice, even carbonation, I would say that the color is a little pale for a golden ale - leaning more towards the color of a good pilsner or pale ale.

The perfect time to have a Hook & Ladder would be with a hot dog on a hot, sunny day at the ballpark.

In this week's installment of BR, I sampled five beers, four from mid-Atlantic states - one of which has Maryland ties. Along with those four mid-Atlantic beers is a West Coast brew that came to me on the recommendation of a home-brewer I know.

Let's work our way through them, from best to worst, the worst this week being an innocuous beer that, while not bad, is nothing special...

Stone IPA
Stone Brewing Co.
Escondido, CA
Grade: 9.0

The Stone IPA, brought to you by the same people that brew Arrogant Bastard Ale, starts off with a pleasing, hoppy, floral aroma, and finishes with a floral, citrussy flavor with a hint of bitterness in the aftertaste.

When poured, this IPA has a nice and rich, smoky golden color, with good, even carbonation.

This was truly one of the better IPA's I have had. I highly recommend this beer for the pale ale fan.

Hop Hog India Pale Ale
Lancaster Brewing Co.
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Grade: 7.8125

This is an extremely drinkable IPA (not quite on par with the Stone IPA, but worth the money for a six) that's lightly aromatic with hints of copper and hops. The beer is flavored with caramel overtones with a touch of hoppy bitterness in the aftertaste.

When poured, the Hop Hog has a beautiful, rich amber color, which might be considered by some to be a touch on the dark side for a pale ale. While the beer carries a nice head while in the glass, the body of the beer comes off as over-carbonated.

Stoudt's Scarlett Lady ESB
Stoudt's Brewing Co., Ltd.
Adamstown, PA
Grade: 7.625

Brought to you by the nation's first female brew-master, Stoudt's produces a respectable bitter with an underwhelming caramel aroma touched with bitterness at the back of the nose. As with any quality bitter, the Scarlett Lady ESB is indeed bitter, with the contrasting sweetness of caramel in the beer's aftertaste.

The Scarlett Lady has a beautiful, deep coppery color and is evenly carbonated.

Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale
Troeg's Brewing Co.
Harrisburg, PA
Grade: 7.5

This very drinkable but brown ale brewed in the capital of Pennsylvania with an ABV in the 4.5% range is the brew for the person who wants more than one beer, but doesn't want to get stinking drunk too quickly.

It has a very nice, very caramel infused aroma which compliments its smoky, caramel flavor and coffee finish.

Like any good brown, the Rugged Trail is a rich amber-brown.

The beer's biggest flaw is that when poured, the amount of carbonation makes it look like soda.

Fordham Copperhead Ale
Fordham Brewing Co.
Dover, DE
Grade: 6.125

Fordham Brewing is the parent company of the Ram's Head bars/road houses in Maryland. Until recently, the Ram's Head in Annapolis brewed on premises. Now all of the restaurant's brewing is handled at the Dover brewery.

Overall, this is a fairly innocuous beer, flavored largely by what I suspect are copper kettles, thus receiving the Copperhead name. There was an almost nonexistent aroma touched with the vague odor of copper, and the beer itself had no character. It drinks, from a flavor standpoint, like anyone of a number of other indistinguishable ales out there.

The best things that can be said about this beer is that it has a nice coppery color and is well carbonated.