Beer of the Week Blast from the Past: Hops Restaurant beers

Hops Restaurants were a chain with their own house beers a couple of decades back. I personally visited the one in Winter Park, Florida, and another in the Washington D.C. area (but can't recall if it was actually in D.C. or Arlington or some suburb). This chain is no longer with us, but some Internet research has provided hints that some few of the restaurants might still survive, possibly under different names, so maybe some of these beers are still out there somewhere. Either way, back in the day these restaurants had some pretty decent brews. Looking back over some old notes, I found I had a few things to say about the Hops Restaurants beers. 

Hops Clearwater Light
Beer score: 5.8

Remarkably carbonation-free for a light beer. Very smooth. Almost too smooth. You could definitely do worse, especially when it comes to light beers.

Hops Hammerhead Red
Beer score: 6.3

A little too much carbonation, but has the slightly burnt flavor of a decent amber ale. Worth giving a try.

Hops Lightning Bold Gold
Beer score: 6.0

A quite smooth medium lager that almost tastes like a light beer. Has a hint of honey sweetness on the way down.

Hops Lumberjack Oatmeal Stout
Beer score: 7.1

Quite dark with a burnt maple strength, but overly smooth for what's supposed to be a heavy beer. You can see a little light through this stout. Not quite sturdy enough to be a true stout, in my opinion, but not weak enough to be a lesser beer, even a porter. The burnt sweetness stays on the tongue a long time after you drink this, and that's not a bad thing here.

Hops Powder Horn Pilsner
Beer score: 8.3

Extremely light and smooth. A favorite bar/brewery beer of mine. Slightly sweet, enough to enjoy greatly. Award winning.