View Full Version : Beer Reviews
chuk hell
09-24-2006, 12:11 PM
Post your beer reviews in this thread. Please post ONLY beer reviews in this thread and we'll have a seperate thread for responses to reviews. That way we can have as many reviews in one place as possible.
chuk hell
09-24-2006, 12:28 PM
This Belgium-style Ale has come highly recomended.
http://www.specialtybeer.com/beer,index,st._bernardus_abt_12.html
This is an Abbey style, specificly a "Dubbel" ( double) style ale. The dubbels are my least favorite of all the Belgian styles with the possible exception on white beers. Do I hate them? No, but there's just something about the specific tastes of dubbels that I find slightly unappealing. I wish I could describe it.
That said, I have to say that this is the best example of this style that has ever passed my lips. The 10% ABV brings a nice warming effect with the rich taste of this ale.
Enjoyable, but I doubt I revisit it anytime soon. I'm just not that big a fan of dubbels.
Price was about $8.50 for a 26oz bomber.
ABV 10%
Chuk's rating: 8/10 ( would have been higher if I was more into dubbels)
chuk hell
09-24-2006, 12:46 PM
This is more like it!
I found this site with some detailed information:
http://users.pandora.be/gerritvdb/rochefort/English/RochefortIndex.htm
This ale is a dark brown color. It is highly carbonated, almost "foamy" like some bottle conditioned ales. There is a wonderful sweet, malty aroma.
The taste is very complex but not overpowering. It seems to glide over your tastebuds on a magic carpet. There's a lot of flavors there but they are not overpowering ... hints of chocolate and raisins. The whopping 11.3% ABV is well hidden behind the complex, yet delicate flavors. There is a wonderful alcohol warming effect. I drank it a little too cold. It would probably be a lot more flavorful if allowed to warm to near room temperature.
An excellent example of the Belgian "Quapdrupple" style and an authentic Trapist ale...made by real monks! Excellent beer!
Price was $5.69 for a 11.2 oz. bottle
ABV 11.3%
chuk's rating: 9.5/10
Pricey but worth the money when you want something "extra-special"
belgian style strong ale
should be widely avaliable to most everyone, hence the reason i am going to review it. actually got this in a trade from someone in california (i can buy it locally) but he sent it to me anyway, so cheers!
this one reminds me of a less hopped version of duvel. it is golden in color and has very mild subtle fruity hints to match the belgian yeast strains that it is brewed with. should pair pretty well with hot foods, as it does have a little hint of spiciness to it.
to prepare to drink refrdigerate over night (so that it is very cold), take it out of the fridge, pop the top, and let it sit on the counter for 20-30 minutes. pour into a wide mouth goblet or a red wine glass. sip slowly, it is 10.5% abv and it will creep up on you if you arent careful.
not really the best beer i have ever had, hell not even remotely close, but it should pair well with the spicy foods, and since it is widely avaliable i reviewed it.
cost (in CA from this friend of mine) was 12.99 per 4 pack. locally it is 11.99 a 4 pack or around 4 dollars per single 11.2 oz bottle (markup!).
my rating: 7/10
Shooty*
10-01-2006, 03:09 AM
A friend of mine owns a bar in Birmingham, and has recently brought to my attention a beer called cusquena, which I thought was from Kenya, but appears to be from Peru. I've just checked out their website, and they are represented by Chilli marketing, which is an omen if ever there was one.
http://www.cusquena.co.uk/
Anyway, it's nice. In many ways, not dissimilar to a lot of other bottled beers, like Budvar, etc, but a few of us are all agreed that it has a certain something.
Heh.... reminds me of a friend of mine who found an obscure Australian beer once... he had a fair few cans and wrote a letter to the company saying "I love your beer, it's great" and posted it to Oz. And promptly forgot about it. Until a few weeks later he got a letter saying "we're glad you like our beer, here's a voucher for a 6 pack on us"!.
Cool eh? He tried the same thing with Marlboro and Pablo Escobar, but neither deigned to send him any free stuff ;)
yep, drinking arrogant bastard right now. last night, i went outside to take a leak - we are getting an additon on the house, and the new toilet isnt installed, yet they ripped our old toilet out - could have gone upstairs, but chose not to.. at anyrate, walk outside to piss, and forget that the last step off our new addition is about 15 inches, since it is not fully finished. turned my ankle, sprained the shit out of it, fell on my back, said the F word about 127 times, got some ice, advil, went to sleep. what does this have to do with this beer, you may ask yourself? that was last night. today it is still hurting, but hurting less thanks to the ale that is the arrogant bastard.
reddish color, tan head that goes to the bottom, states on the bottle: fizzy beer is for wussies, or something. yeah, if you are not willing to try beers that are beyond the typical macros in this country, you should avoid this one. for those with an open mind and a need for something more in their beer, this is a good starting point. pretty offensive hop flavor in it, but the malts balance the beer so much that you could almost gulp it. its fairly low ABV (7.2%) comes across a little stronger than you might think. ive caught a decent buzz thus far and i still have about half the bottle left.
comes in 22 oz bottles, this was 4.99. stone isnt distributed in all states, but i know its in TN, OH, NY, CA, CO, and some others. Got this one in TN.
pretty good stuff, should go pretty well with some spicy foods..
stone ruination ipa is like taking the hops that make up arrogant bastard and multiplying them by 2. it is a little clearer, more yellowish orange color, but it has a powerful aroma of hops and some malts. mostly hops though. taste is powerful grapefruits, grass, straw, and wheat. very bitter, it actually is 100+ IBUs (international bitter units). budweiser is about 10 IBUs, so you do the math. not very powerful either, according to the bottle its only 7.7% ABV but as with other stone brews, I am not so certain. drinking the bomber (22oz) of it, certainly left me feeling right. i like this better than arrogant bastard, but its not as good as stones regular IPA which i havent drank in a while, but when i do i will certainly post some thoughts on it.
if you have already tried something like arrogant bastard, avery IPA, avery maharaja, or dogfish head 90 minute, and want to move onto something a little stronger, more powerful, and probably better, you should shoot for this one. at 4.99 a bomber, its a deal. one of my stand by beers, i usually get multiple bottles of it in TN to last me for a while. good stuff.
ok, so i figured i would drink something that isnt as full of hops and huge bitter flavors as the stone beers. last night while at the grocery store i thought about drinking some draft (draught) cans of murphys irish stout. this is a beer that is very similar to guinness, but i actually prefer this one more so. be careful when opening those nitro cans as they have the tendancy to overflow unless you start pouring immediately. make sure to have the glass sitting right beside the beer. pop the top, and pour. make sure you have a 20oz glass too because the beer is 16 oz plus you need some extra room for the awesome head that forms up on it. once you pour it out, let it sit for at least 2 or 3 minutes and watch it settle, very cool if you have never seen this done before.
body of the beer is black, and it leaves a thick creamy head all the way to the bottom of the glass. smell is full of roasted malts, coffee malts, chocolate malts, and there isnt too much of a hop presence in this beer. it is smooth and rich to drink, almost like drinking a cup of coffee with some cream in it. when you start drinking it, do not think that the beer is flat, thats just the nitro pour. the draft cans do not make huge CO2 amounts, so the beer will appear to be flat - this is the intended effect.
this is a great irish stout, that is not bitter, and this beer is actually one of the 2 or 3 that changed me into not drinking bud and miller as much as i used to.
id love to see some reviews from you guys, to see what you guys are drinking. i wouldnt want to see reviews of budweiser, coors, and that shit, lets hear about the micros you guys are drinking. soon ill put up a review of north coast old stock ale.
oh yeah, cost and avalaiblity - this beer is widely distributed, and it was 6.99 for 4 cans in my local grocery store.
Skydiver
10-08-2006, 08:24 PM
Post your beer reviews in this thread. Please post ONLY beer reviews in this thread and we'll have a seperate thread for responses to reviews. That way we can have as many reviews in one place as possible.
crap, can't link to my beeradvocate.com reviews
:oops:
crap, can't link to my beeradvocate.com reviews
:oops:
do you know how to use the copy and paste functions built into windows?
Skydiver
10-09-2006, 11:36 AM
do you know how to use the copy and paste functions built into windows?
Yeah, but I don't want to flood the board with a few hundred beer reviews :)
Yeah, but I don't want to flood the board with a few hundred beer reviews :)
well i dont want to copy my beer ratings over either, thats why i just write up a few things specifically for this site...
st bernardus 12 is in the style of an abt/quadrupel beer, meaning it is ferminted 4 times. the abt style is used to describe this beer as well as other dark quadrupel ferminted belgian beers. quadrupels are generally a little lighter, but this beer, rochefort 10, westvleteren 12, etc, are all considered the abt style. this beer is not a dubbel as previously mentioned..
this beer was brewed to celebrate st bernardus' 60th anniversary, and thus the special edition tin that comes with the bottle. alcohol is boosted just a tad to 11%, and the hop varieties were changed with the brewing of this beer.
smell is fruity, figs, caramel, grapes, some hops, sugar, and sweet malty flavors. taste is similar with a surprisingly sour kick to it. do not drink this beer cold or you will get nothing from it. i refridgerated mine and then let it sit on the counter for almost 45 minutes before drinking it. this beer will blind you if you arent careful, as the 11% is not noticed at all, but when you get down to it, it is very similar to drinking a bottle of wine, less a few percent.
only comes in 750ml bottles, costs more than regular 12, its about 10.99 to 13.99 (ive heard different prices all over the country). if this was avaliable on tap, there would not be many beers that were better.
this one reminds me of the coveted westvleteren abt 12 beer, they even use the same water! this one is more like that beer than is regular 12. very nice stuff indeed. id recommend you to get a bottle if you see if before it is no longer avaliable in the states.
frank zappa fans rejoice, lagunitas from california has made a beer that you can now relate to. the label is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of the album freak out. im not a zappa fan, but i have heard alot of his music, and everyone has different tastes. some things were cool, some were not, but i respect him as a musician.. oh yeah, this is supposed to be about beer.
the beer is a yellowish color with a head that lasts until the end of the beer. it is fruity and hoppy in smell with a little bit of bitterness and fruity flavors to the taste. finish is pretty dry, and this 7.3% IPA is certainly a thirst quencher. i drank this with some gumbo that i put some insanity sauce into, and the beer went pretty good with the spicy flavors contained within the sauce. overall its a good beer, and from what i understand its only around 3 - 4 dollars for a bomber. you guys in CA should be able to find it pretty easily. my bottle came from a friend in PA. i do know that you cannot find it or any lagunitas beer in NC.
very nice beer, smooth, certainly something i would recommend.
so i have had all of the beers allagash has made except this one, because i was saving my one bottle for something (dont know what?).. but to my surprise when i went into my local store the other day, there was about 15 cases of this sitting there. i immediately bought one. instead of opening my older bottle, i wanted to open my younger one to see what it tastes like when fresh.
this is a belgian style quad ale, it has four kinds of hops, four kinds of malts, four kinds of sugars, and it is referminted four times. hence the name, four. it is brown with a tan head upon pouring from the bottle. the carbonation is not as lively as you might expect, and upon extracting the cork i thought i may have gotten a bad bottle - nah, it was great. dont expect the same fizz level of most beers, this one has some light carbonation which really fits well with the beer.
it is sweet and smooth, very easy to drink. its 10% alcohol, and you would never notice that until you are finished with the 750ml bottle, and you can tell you have had some stuff to drink :) one of the better beers i have had from allagash, and this is quite possibly my favorite brewery in the USA. the beer also has the same yeast taste that is in every allagash since they use the same strain bottle to bottle.
10.99 per 750ml here.
sorry west coast guys, this beer is only on the east side of the usa.
there isnt much to say about this one. it is a kolsch style (german style) ale, that is brewed by pyramid in oregon. it is widely distributed, but perhaps not so much anymore because it is a summer release, and everyone knows that summer is no longer upon us. i got this one in a trade from someone that lives in CA, but i saw it locally in the summer months, i just chose not to buy it.
this is more like a beer, nothing special about it, it just tastes like what you would think of as regular beer. it has more flavor than bud, coors, and miller, and it would easily work just as well as a lawnchair / lawnmower beer.
here in nc this was 6.99 per 6 pack.
most people that drink good beer or at least meander in the craft beer aisles at the stores know what brooklyn beer is. certainly most have seen brooklyn pennant ale, etc. garrett olivers masterpiece beer would be the stout that he is so well known for. i drank one tonight, though i have drank many a six pack of this beer in my life, this is one of the best starter imperial stout beers out there. its bold, its rich, its smooth, its like drinking liquid chocolate, and it will hold its own provided you have the patience to let it age for several years.
the beer is black, of course, and it has a nice tan head. make sure you use a snifter of some kind to really appreciate the nose that this beer has on it. its taste is smooth and rich and very chocolate like. there isnt much bitter hops noted but there is some bittersweet chocolate notes that blend very nicely with the rest of the beer.
this beer consistantly gets acknowledgement for being an awesome stout at a very nice price that will age very good. previous bottles state 8.5% abv, but this has probably been incorrect for some years as garrett's abv calculating machine was incorrect. the correct abv is about 10.6%. the best price is the cost and avaliablity. the beer is 7.99 a six pack here in NC, and it should be widely distributed all over the country.
if you dont have any in your fridge now, take the effort to find one, and please, do me a favor and sit a few bottles down for a year or 2 and see how it develops over time.
enjoy it at around 60 degrees (put it in the fridge over night, take it out for 20-30 minutes, pour, enjoy).
this is another imperial stout, and its not nearly as widely distributed as the brooklyn is - but this one is very nice too. nice indeed, but a much different form of imperial stout. this one is a little heavier on the hops and roasted malts more so than the emphasis on chocolate like the BBCS was. this is more of session type imperial stout (if there is such a thing) because it does not have the high level of sweetness that most imp stouts do.
brewed in ohio and i believe on a limited basis, this is consistantly a high ranking imperial stout, and with good reason. it is actually fairly high filtered, so it might not age like the brooklyn will - but that is fine, because it does not need any age. its bold, heavy, rich, and dark. not really a beginner imperial stout by any means, but if you are into the dark side of beers and you want to give it a stab, by all means...
i am not sure if this is sold outside of ohio, it may be on limited release in virginia and PA and possibly michigan and indiana, but i cannot comment on that for certain. its pretty cheap - 10 dollars per six pack, and the abv is about 9%.
one of my all time favorite stouts, but as it has a limited distribution it is not something i can purchase every year..
this is the imperial stout that single handedly threw me into the dark beer world and made me realize that there is alot more to beer than just bud, coors, sam adams, etc. this is a huge imperial stout, incredibly thick, and very rich and contains a nice malted backbone to help balance it out. it is fairly hoppy for an imperial stout, though not an offensive hop.
very dark in color, ages pretty good, cheap, high abv, widely avaliable, you cant beat it! smells like chocolate, hops, and rich roasted malts. there isnt really a whole lot to say about this beer, its just something you should drink to experience.
six packs are about 10 dollars, abv is 9.1%.
i usually buy a case or 2 of this every year so i can have it year round.
probably one of my favorite imperial stouts that is easy to get. should be all up and down the east coast right now in stores.
where should i start? this is an awesome beer, almost worthy of saying perfection. full of chocolate, roasted malts, some notes of cherries, a little bit of an alcohol presence. sadly, you guys on the west coast are out of luck, because it isnt distributed but in a few states. this beer will age for many years. i have some bottles left from 2003, some 2004s, 2005s, you get the idea. the best this beer gets is with a few years of age on it. it is great when fresh, but it is even better when aged. careful on the pour when you get near the end of the bottle, if its aged it will pour chunks of yeast and sediment into your glass.
this is the definition of a full body imperial stout. alcohol is fairly high, so if you can get this, be warned. its 11.5% abv. its so thick that you may not want to drink multiple bottles in a sitting. (i do, but hey, to each his own). it costs about 16.99 a six pack. if you cannot buy it locally and you dont mind paying a shipping charge, you can order it from khans fine wines. (google search for that, and it will come up).
bellsbeer.com click on find beer, and thats where it is distributed. this is also a seasonal beer, so you cannot buy it in the warmer months.
ok, so last review was of a beer that is found primarily in the midwest and east coast. this one is probably not distributed much outside of the oregon / washington / northern california region. pour is black and has a thick ass head on it. it smells like a chocolate bar with hints of the roasted malts all through it. it tastes very good, its pretty easy to drink. its sort of like a mini imperial stout really. the style is a foreign stout (it is sweeter than most, with some huge coffee flavors). not sure how much the bottle costs, someone sent it to me for free. i would guess in the 5-7 dollar range for the 22oz bottle. abv is 7% (low for an imperial, high for a normal stout).
i had never heard of this beer until last night when i was drinking it. its really good stuff, but dont look for it in your local grocery store, you will need to go to a specialty stop in the pacific north west. very good indeed!
people in NC rejoice. this is a monster beer from the well known (in nc at least) duck rabbit micro brew on the coast of NC near the outer banks. since the law was changed (allowing beer over 6%), these guys have produced killer beers thus far - their imperial stout, scotch ale, and now finally their baltic porter.
this beer has gotten extremely high praise on ratebeer.com, and having sent more than 4 cases of it to people all over the country, i can testify that it was well liked. you may have some problems finding this outside of the specialty beer stores, but there may be a chance you can get it at a whole foods store.
live outside of nc? forget it . duck rabbit isnt distributed outside of the state (actually it may hit the eastern part of TN), but i have a friend in nashville, and he cannot get duck rabbit anything. so i know the distribtution is not that far.
the beer is black as coal and looks very similar to an imperial stout when it is poured. the smell is heavy on chocolate, coffee, and roasted malts. not much of a hop smell at all to this one really. taste is sweet and refreshing, and very rich and almost silky like. this is a baltic porter style which is very similar to a regular porter with the exception that baltic porters are generally higher in ABV and more full bodied than a regular porter.
cost is about 10.99 a six pack, 9% abv, and a very good beer that certainly shows that some brewers in NC have finally started to figure out whats going on. i have a case of this in my closet, and it should last for a while, but i try to buy some whenever i see it, because once its gone you will not get anymore of it for another year.
another offering from stone that is simply amazing and probably the best example of an india pale ale i can think of thus far. this should be a little easier to find on the shevles than the past 3 beers i have talked about. it is bold and balanced, very hoppy and malty. the smell is mostly hops, (grapefruit smells, grassy, etc). the taste is very similar, there must be a large dose of simcoe hops in this, not really sure. good stuff.
widely avalaible. 6.9% abv. 4 dollars a bomber, 10 dollars a six pack. worth it if you see it.
imaguitargod
12-02-2006, 09:01 PM
Damnation: Golden Ale(Russian River Brewing Company). I love the front label but have a major problem with the beer. I went to Cap N' Cork and picked this one up. It says it's "Refermanted in this bottle", which is an interesting concept. When held up to the light, I can deffinitly see the sediment floating. But when opened (in true chanpaign sytle) and tried....it contains too much sediment. It just tastes too dirty. Rounding out at 7.75% ABV, I'll definitly finish off the 9.4 FL. OZ of beer (the golden rule being "Thou shalt not waste thy beer"), but I suggest against some one else buying it. (woot! My first drunken...er....beer review!)
i shall refrain from commenting on johns russian river review until AFTER i talk about this one for a minute. :hell:
for starters, i am writing this one up almost specifically for chuck (and really anyone else in texas) because i believe this is distributed in a small area inside of texas, and i am pretty sure it is not made in mass quantities either. the bottle is labeless and the only thing that suggests that it is what it is is a little tag hanging from the neck. this is the 2005 version of it, and they make a 2006 but i am not sure if it is as good.
this is a golden belgian strong ale, very similar in mouthfeel and texture to duvel. very close to RUSSIAN RIVER DAMNATION as well.. 8% abv. pours with a big head that goes away quickly. this beer actually has some kaffir limes in the wort, so it gives it a little bit of a sour twang, but nothing like lambic beers. very smooth and lively when drinking. i have no idea what this costs, it was sent to me in a trade that i did via some guy in texas that lives near the pub.
as with all bottles where you can see garbage in the bottom of the bottle it is best to let it sit for a day or two before opening, but if you must wait, make sure you pour slow leaving the sediment in the bottom. some people dig the sediment, i do not, i think it takes away from the beer. the "empty" bottle beside me has maybe an ounce of beer left in it that i will not be drinking. good stuff, check if you can find it chuck, if you can it will be well worth your time.
as for the damnation comments - what kind of glass did you use to drink it john? did you pour it fast thus dumping the trash into your glass? was it very cold or cellar temp? russian river is one of the premire "belgian style" beer makers in the USA.. damnation was good at least to me, but the belgian styles can take some getting used to. try it again in another year and see what you think. this time though, make plans to buy one and let it sit for a few days :)
cheers!
chuk hell
12-03-2006, 07:03 PM
I'm drinking this right now. :cool:
North Coast makes some cool beers. A couple I especially dig are OLD STOCK and Old Rasputian Imperial Stout. I burned out on Belgian beers a couple years ago so for some reason I never tried the PranQster... until now.
This is an excellent example of an American version of a Belgian "Golden" style ale. I's got the "floral" aroma and taste notes of a Belgian ale but does not overdo it. An exceptionally smooth drinking beer.
7.6 abv
I like it!
http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/prank.htm
chuk hell
12-03-2006, 07:13 PM
Victory Brewing throws down the gauntlet in the race to produce the hoppiest beers in the world with HOP WALLOP.
I used to think that DogFish Head had produced the best super-hoppy beer with their excellent 60 Minute IPA but Hop Wallop has changed my thinking. You can almost feel the sticky hop resin when enjoying this hoppy-bitter and delicious treat. At 8.5% abv it also packs another kind of wallop!
Fans of Siera Nevada Pale Ale, Stone Arrogant bastard and of course DFH 60 Minute IPA should give this a try.
http://www.victorybeer.com/hop_wallop.html
this is a monster hop bomb of a beer, and like most beers that i write about, this one is only in certain states. brewed in upstate NY, i dont know if you can actually buy these much south of ohio. my bottle was actually sent to my by someone in canada.
pours out a brown color without much of a head at all. it has about 7 different hops in it and you can really tell based on the aroma. grapefruits, grass, just a nice fresh hop smell. the taste is huge and bitter - much better than the smell actually. sticky and very well hidden alcohol.
22 oz bottle - 11% abv. really good example of a double IPA. if you do not like bitter hop bomb beers, then steer clear of this one because it will only make you make faces of discontent. believe these run about 6-8 dollars a peice. really good stuff, should be distributed down into NC so i could buy it..
so you have tried arrogant bastard... what would be better than adding something to it - say.. wood chips - and then repackaging it into 12oz bottles. yeah, well more is not always better. the beer is good, and drinkable, but it is no where near the complexity and richness of regular arrogant bastard. its interesting no less and it does have a touch of oak and vanilla notes, but for the most part it tastes like an arrogant bastard that is off in flavor. this one comes in 12oz bottles now, it used to be 3L bottles only. probably 1.50-2.00 per 12 oz, 6 packs should be between 8 and 10. if your state sells stone, you should be able to get this - but i wouldnt recommend buying more than a bottle or two. not bad but not great.
the whole time i sit here drinking on this glass, i am wondering: why mess with arrogant bastard? its good enough stuff already.
bells kalamazoo stout: probably one of the best session stouts out there. you can absolutely pound this beer because it taste so good. has some nice roasted coffee flavors, a little bit of chocolate flavors, and a little touch of licorice. i am not a fan of that stuff, but its so subtle in this beer that it actually enhances the flavor. this is hands down one of my favorite beers out there, and since bells has made the move to NC, my fridge will no longer be without it. its a good deal too, 8.99-10.99 a six pack. 6.5% abv - so you can drink several of them and not worried about being comatose. very nice stuff. if youre in the area where bells is dristibuted, look them up.
when these beers are released each year, they are usually great deals due to the low price and pretty high quality beer. the beer also varies year to year, so each year is a new experience. this years version is a 7% abv sweet oatmeal stout. it is dark and creamy and slightly sweet from the oats. plenty of roasted character to go along with this beer as well. one of the good highlights is this should be pretty easy for most everyone to find. price ranges from 5.99 - 7.99. very nice, sweet and creamy stuff. perhaps even refreshing at times. one of the winter releases that i always try to find.
yeah, you could say that i am a pretty big diehard fan of bells beers, and you would be correct. bells is one of my favorite brewers in the country, second only to allagash. oberon is their "summer" ale that is somehow released all year long. it is a wheat beer, very easy to drink, very refreshing, and very crisp. people that do not typically like to experiment with beer - see: bud addicts, coors fans, etc - will like this stuff. even my mom liked it, and she doesnt drink hardly any beer. it looks kind of orange in the glass, with plenty of citrus fruits and a little touch of hops in the nose. the taste is sweet and smooth and bubbly. you will drink the whole pint before you know it. not sure what the abv on this is (too lazy to look) but its under 6%. probably around 5.5 or 5. the lower abv and great taste make this a session beer to be reckoned with. priced about 9.99 a six pack.
hopslam is just as you may figure, not a weak ass pussy beer designed for the people that IV coors light. it is bold, full of hops, and it is really exteremely bitter. it is, however, a wonderful concoction of flavors. the initial pour looks like a glass of orange juice. there is somewhat of a head on it, but its mostly just an orange cloudy beer. the smell is full of hops, grapefruits, pine, and some sugar sweetness. taste is a kick in the teeth, and you could probably strip paint with this beer. very smooth and easy to drink, but the level of hops in this make it a beer for people that like real beer, not the watered down stuff. if you arent afraid to try some new stuff, and dont mind a full flavored bold hoppy beer, seek it out. its great stuff.
9.5% abv. 15.99 / six pack. double IPA. avaliable in michigan / probably ohio. this one wasnt distributed too far. if you got friends up there, seek out the hopslam, the newest bells creation thus far.
imaguitargod
01-28-2007, 08:00 PM
Dave and I went to Cap N' Cork yesturday and fought over the last three bottles of Anderson Valley Brewing Companies' Brother David's Triple Ale (10% abv...this stuff is better than Spaten Optimator...). Needless to say, Dave won (and I'm still a little pissed about that). So I picked up V Twelve from Victory Brewing Company. Coming in a stunning 1 Pint bottle and ranking in at at 12% abv, this guy really does the trick!
It's a Belgian style beer and is very bubbly (a little too much carbination for my taste). No bitterness accumpanied by a nice hoppy and sweet taste. Not too sweet though. If it were not for the $8.99 price tag, I would be buying this much more often. That is, if they are out of Brother David's Triple Ale ;) .
chuk hell
02-12-2007, 06:31 PM
http://www.victorybeer.com/storm_king.html
COMPOSITION
Malts: Imported 2 row
Hops: American whole flowers
Alcohol by Volume: 9.1%
Oh man is this a dreamy stout! Slightly sweet with a depth of flavor that goes on and on. Just wonderful stuff if you like stouts.
I paid a little over 10 bucks a six pack and it's worth every penny.
chuk hell
02-12-2007, 08:07 PM
10% abv
http://www.dogfish.com/brewings/Limited_Edition_Beers/Burton_Baton/22/index.htm
The Dogfish Head folks have taken a mix of their 90 Minute IPA and an English strong ale and aged it in Oak Barrels. This has a sweet, almost bourbon like flavor with notes of vanilla. It's an interesting twist on their already excellent 90 minute. Rich and delicious...almost too good for mortals. At 15 bucks for a 4 pack this mortal won't be drinking too much of it but it's a nice treat...something that would be great for toasting special occasions.
xgrafcorex
02-13-2007, 05:57 PM
picked up a 6 pack of the 60 min this afternoon and i'm drinking one right now. pours a somewhat light amber color..small initial head that shrinks down but a tiny bit remains. the smell is great if you love the smell of a good ipa. the taste is a tad different though. a good hoppy bitterness to it..but theres a little more than the smell..i guess a slight maltyness to the taste. that malt flavor mellows out in the aftertaste.
personally i wish it tasted more like it smelled..but its still a pretty good, easy to drink ipa. the only draw back for me is the price. this stuff isn't cheap, so it will be some time till i get around to buying more. isn't that the worst part of micro brews? :lol:
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8581.jpg
xgrafcorex
02-16-2007, 05:06 PM
roasted hazelnut...the first two words that will come to your mind when you smell and taste this porter. in a blind smell test you might even be able to trick people into thinking its some coffee with hazelnut syrup in it. tastes a little malty too. not really much head at all and the beer is pretty dark. not black, but not amber. more to the black side of the scale between the two.
i think its pretty good. not my favorite porter, but definitely not one of my least favorites. the hazelnut is very front and center, so if you don't like hazelnut, i would avoid this beer like the plague. not to say its overpowering..but its the key flavor in this beer. not very heavy compared to some porters. easy to drink, not too expensive (not bud cheap though), and a pretty good porter. after having this, i'll be sure to try some of their other beers.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8621s.jpg
xgrafcorex
02-23-2007, 11:04 PM
a delicious tasting belgian ale. smells a little sweet, and you can smell some yeast. (theres a bit at the bottom, so don't pour all of it out unless you really like yeast.) no matter how slow i've poured this beer into the nice duvel glass i got a month or two ago, there is just a ton of head to this beer. it diminishes for the most part..but a small amount remains till the end. 8.5% ABV which you can sort of taste..but i think overall the beer does a good job at not tasting too alcoholic. to me it smells a little more alcoholic than it tastes. i am not really a fan of a strong alcohol taste. tastes slightly sweet and yeasty like the smell though...not very heavy. i'm pretty sure this stuff is fairly easy to find around the country but i honestly don't know much about the beer selections around the country so don't quote me on it. definitely worth a try if you like belgian ales and haven't tried it already. not the cheapest either, which seems to be a trend with belgians..but its a nice treat every now and then. and now for a slightly out of focus picture.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8261s.jpg
xgrafcorex
02-25-2007, 12:54 AM
have been waiting to try this one after someone up in canada kept telling me how good it was. its a belgian strong dark ale...clocking in at 9% ABV. pretty dark stuff, though the head is fairly light, almost creamy looking. very smooth...alcohol doesn't taste nearly as strong as it could, which to me is a good thing. it gets balanced out with all the other flavors going on. slightly yeasty...somewhat sweet. it tastes more subdued or balanced than it smells. still smells good, but i think i can notice the alcohol more that way. so far i've liked all the unibroue offerings i'm able to purchase here (maudite, blanche de chamble, la fin du monde, and now trois pistoles) i recommend them to anyone who likes belgian style ales.
great for sipping..as you won't want to finish it too fast. :D
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8760.jpg
DevilDuck
02-26-2007, 09:16 PM
Now that looks like a beer!:cool:
xgrafcorex
03-03-2007, 12:43 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_9260.jpg
at first it was a bit too strong in the flavor/taste area for me..but after having a little i warmed up to it and it was pretty good. i was looking forward to trying this stuff once the guy pointed it out. its basically the hoppiest belgian i've ever had. you can still tell its a belgian ale, but with plenty of hop bitterness. i am buying another one of these bottles, but i'm going to age it. i can't imagine how good this shit would taste after sitting around for a few years. its not incredible as is, but i think with time it would become a very very good beer...especially for being such a strange style. not too many ipas produced in belgium.
xgrafcorex
03-03-2007, 12:44 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_9261.jpg
wasn't sure what to expect with this one, but i was pleasantly surprised. pours a nice dark porter color with about an inch of head that doesn't stay for too long. the smell immediately makes me think of honey. its not overpowering, actually subtle in a way, but definitely present. taste is malty but sweet..not as much of the honey coming through until the aftertaste sets in. even then the honey isn't as present as it is in the smell.
not too heavy for a porter, i would drink this again without hesitation. i would buy it again..especially because its not very expensive..though i wouldn't say its one of the best porters i've had. easy to drink and i'm happy to drink it, but its not spectacular in any sense. give it a try if you like porters or are a fan of other shipyard offerings.
xgrafcorex
03-03-2007, 12:48 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8763.jpg
maybe i'm crazy..maybe its all in my mind..or maybe there is something more to drinking from the right kind of glass than i thought..but i swear i found it more pleasurable to drink it from a tulip glass (ba recommends this) instead of the pint glass i had the first one in. maybe i was taking smaller sips? i really can't say, but its a pretty solid ipa. not my favorite though..there was something to the flavor that didn't quite sit well with me..i guess its just because its a double ipa and i'm more used to standard ipas...expensive...but you can still buy a 4 pack for a couple bucks less than ONE 12 oz. 120 min IPA! i was actually reaching for the 120 then saw it was about $12 a bottle!
xgrafcorex
03-03-2007, 12:50 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8774s.jpg
picked this up randomly after noticing what style it was. glad i did too. a nice chocolate malty flavor to a medium bodied stout. i was thinking it would be heavier..but wasn't the case. its from the uk, so i guess all of you across the pond should be able to find this stuff..not sure how widespread it is over on this continent but i don't think its too obscure. definitely give it a go if you like chocolate stouts.
xgrafcorex
03-09-2007, 08:44 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_8315s.jpg
another belgian style ale from the french canadians at unibroue. GREAT stuff! i think of all the unibroue beers i've had (only 4 of however many they offer) this is my favorite one. i like them all a lot too. pours a nice golden color with a pretty decent head. the smell is complex and welcoming. sorta sweet and yeasty overall. this is another beer you can't drink from the bottle as there is a layer of sediment at the bottom of the bottle that you want to disturb as little as possible. the taste is light, sweeter than yeasty, but you can taste the yeast. pretty balanced overall i'd say. goes down very smooth. mild alcohol or carbonation to the taste as well.
so far i have yet to really learn much about pairing beer and foods, but right now i am eating some extra spicy beef lo mein from my favorite chinese place and it goes very well together. none of the flavors clash at all.
xgrafcorex
03-09-2007, 09:57 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_9853.jpg
didn't go too crazy tonight as i am trying to wake up pretty early tomorrow. but i did also pick up some of this lost coast brewing co 8 ball stout. it doesn't say 8 ball stout..but just a picture of the ball and then it says stout so there you have it. its an oatmeal stout to be more specific. from the side of the bottle: "this rich, robust stout is made with pale malted barley, oatmeal, roasted and chocolate malts, pacific northwest hops, crystal clear mountain water and ale yeast." the smell is malty. the taste is malty too...kinda roasty....maybe even a hint of yeast. a moderately light stout. somewhat bitter too. can't really taste the hops..but maybe i am just not used to tasting them in a stout. i like the imperials more than the oatmeal though. all in all...pretty good, but not something i am planning on picking up again. maybe if i get more into oatmeal stouts..but i would buy the samuel smiths os first.
xgrafcorex
03-15-2007, 10:19 PM
brewed specifically for their 15th anniversary, this beer is a limited production beer. a belgian style pale ale from french canada.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_9925.jpg
a great beer. a hazy golden color. good head at first...dissipates a little. smell is predominantly yeasty..a bit of sweetness/fruit. the taste is similar. a little more on the yeast side than sweet. very smooth, and doesn't taste very alcoholic either, especially considering it is 10% abv. doesn't taste nearly as strong as other beer i have had with slightly less alcohol. i must admit i am reviewing this in the state of not having much for dinner (the last of my left over pulled pork, with a healthy dose of ez earls blazin hot stuff) and have had several beers before hand. but i believe i have a good idea of this beers flavor..and i think my palate was fairly "clear" while trying this beer. actually i think the ez earl goes well with this beer because the flavor doesn't really change between bites of the bbq. i'm not great at pairing alcohol with food...but so far this is a great combination! :)
bentalphanerd
03-16-2007, 03:11 AM
Tooheys have been brewing this black/brown ale since 1869 and in Australian beer history that's almost the year Dot. Many believe this to be a dark ale in the style of British brewing, while Tooheys disagrees describing OLD as more like the German "Alt" beers. Like so many dark ales brewed in Australia, Tooheys OLD doesn’t make the mistake of overpowering the palate with roasted malty flavour.
The black malt gives OLD its dark colour as well as its nickname, "Black". It's not as "thick" as a stout. It is made with top fermentation ale yeast. Slightly roasted flavour. :drooling: Perfect with pepper steak. :beer:
xgrafcorex
03-29-2007, 08:30 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_0929.jpg
another "different" offering from dfh. pretty decent though. honestly dfh doesn't make my favorite ipas (a bit malty) but i've enjoyed the ones i've had. this has a nice balance though between the hops and malts..though still a little on the malty end for me. medium bodied...small head..a little sticks around..not much lacing at all. you can taste the sweetness from the apricots but its more present in the smell, however the malts are the dominant aroma. now that i taste it again, i'd say the apricot flavor is strongest right after you swallow a gulp, then it moves into a more malty flavor with little bit of hops in there.
i wouldn't even have thought of putting apricots in an ipa. better than i'd have guessed. the only reason i gave it a shot was because i really like ipas. they are challenging my favorite beer style for the throne! stouts beware! :P
Pours nice and dark with some glints of mahogany, Nice roasted, chocolately malt smell, and silky mouth feel. The taste is a smooth roasted chocolate with just a bite of hops in the finish for balance. Very drinkable, and one of my favorite porters.
This beer is a nice mid-point between hearty dark beers and their lighter cousins. It has the nice malt flavor of a porter in a light bodied beer. Nice roasty flavor with only a faint echo of hops. A little too much of a sweet, cola-type aftertaste to be a really great beer, but it's a nice change of pace.
imaguitargod
04-29-2007, 09:11 PM
(keep in mind, I'm drunk and haven't shaved in three days)
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6949/brothersbeerfx3.jpg
Bother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale- by Anderson Valley Brewing Company- 10% ABV.
Ok, if you are looking for perfection, you will find it in Brothers. Coming in a 1 pint bottle at around $6.00, complete with a wax/plastic top (reminicent of Defcon's hot sauce), this is the best beer that you will ever have. I would rate it as 5% bitter, 90% smooth, and another 5% ""get you waaaaaayyy drunk". It's not too hoppy which is a nice feature for a high abv beer.
The real treat for this is the taste. The subtle flavors really make the beer. Noting that this is a pasturized beer, this is the closest thing to a "fresh brewed, unpasturised, taste" that you'll ever have.
xgrafcorex
05-04-2007, 09:23 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1410.jpg
tastes just like it smells...delicious! damn this stuff was good. expensive but good. comes in a nice big corked bottle and is a limited release. i bought two more bottles of this, despite the fact that its $13.99 a bottle. i drank one, and am going to let the other one age for a while. hell i compare this more to wine (not in that it tastes like wine, just is solid as far as its own taste and quality) so really 14 bucks isn't so bad. one thing that surprised me was that its bottle conditioned. not something i'm used to for an ipa...except that belgian one i guess.. has some fruity flavors in there as well as the typical hops and malts of a double ipa. very smooth though and pretty easy to drink for a double ipa. if you like ipas and see this, buy it.
xgrafcorex
05-08-2007, 07:53 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1602.jpg
not much head, but i did pour it kinda slow. dissipates fairly quickly...no lacing. smells first of faint alcohol then more malty, even a little bit of chocolate. smells nice..the alcohol isn't too strong in the smell at all, not even noticeable until you stick your nose into the glass. color is dark brown/amber..not black like the picture..my flash always makes beers look darker. taste is good, medium to light body, similar taste as smell...hint of alcohol (this stuff isn't very strong i don't think as far as ABV goes), feels kinda carbonated in my mouth, lightly roasted malts dominate the flavor..not really tasting the chocolate i smelled..just a tiny bit in the aftertaste. good stuff...i tried their indica pale ale before which was a good ipa, so i am now working through their other beers. (sorry for the out of focus picture)
xgrafcorex
05-09-2007, 08:52 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1608.jpg
7% ABV with a nice creamy light tan head, smells of delicious yeast and malt. also has some hints of sweetness, fruit maybe. the taste is a little different...theres a bitterness to it that isn't in the smell. to be perfectly honest, my first thought was "doh! i wish it tasted more like it smells." not to say its bad..just a tad let down after finding out how good it smells. i guess i can kinda smell the bitterness more now..could all be in my head. can't decide if i can taste the alcohol, or if its spices or even carbonation. could be carbonation, there are plenty of little bubbles still going up to the top as with many beers of this and similar styles. the sweetness seems more bitter in the taste. have warmed up to the taste a little since i started drinking it..still have to say my hopes were set a little higher after having the allagash white. head is still sticking around..some lacing too. fairly complex taste overall..i'm sure i'm missing something in there.
from the bottle: "allagash dubbel reserve is a dark amber belgian-style ale. brewed in the centuries-old tradition of the monasteries of belgium. we craft it with seven malts, a special sugar, and our own belgian yeast. following a lengthy period of conditioning and a fresh dose of yeast, we fill each hand numbered bottle, and allow the ale to naturally carbonate in our cellars. when stored at cellar temperatures, this unique ale will continue to mature in the bottle and improve with age."
note...its not quite that dark..its just the flash.
so i feel i must tell a story before actually talking about this beer. i actually recieved 2 bottles of this from 2 different people. the first one i got as a surprise beer from a friend of mine whom i trade beer back and forth with. i eagerly unwrapped it when i got home from work and had it sitting on the bar as i was cleaning up the bubble wrap etc. all of a sudden, i heard a really loud noise, and glass and beer went everywhere. after saying about 25 words that start with F and GD, i looked at what USED to be my bottle of pannepot. the pizza on the bar was ruined, as it was covered in glass and beer - the floor was covered in glass and beer, and the ceiling had beer on it as well. needless to say, it was a mess, but the beer smelled so awesome as it poured and drained off my bar onto the floor. it was a sad day for me. so then a week later, my friend (different friend) messages me and says hey, i got you a bottle of pannepot. i said great, ill call the bomb squad when i get your box. he said the ones he had didnt explode, so i felt somewhat better. this will be the point where i should probably talk about the beer and perhaps explain why it blew up.
for those of you that do not know, pannepot is a highly sought after belgian strong ale that is very similar to the likes of westvleteren 8, rochefort 8, and st bernardus 8. it could also be compared to the more common chimay blue. it is dark brown with a tan head on it. not really a shock on the appearance. the smell is sweet and spicy, with tons of notes of fruity flavors as well as cinnamon, plums, some cherries, coffee and chocolate notes here as well. it is sweet and smooth to drink, the abv (10%) is not noticed at all - very lively mouthfeel with plenty of carbonation. this is a consistantly very high rated beer on ratebeer.com and (i think) beeradvocate.com. i do not frequent BA.com, so i cant say for sure on that one. on ratebeer it is in the top 20.
this beer was just recently imported into the USA, and the bottles my friend in maryland had were all gushers when he opened them. there are a number of things that could cause a beer to "gush" - infection is one, and over carbonation (obvious one here) is another. i do not believe the beer was infected, but i do believe the bottles he got were overcarbonated. the struise brewery is a very small brewery, and every bottle may be different based on the amount of yeast deposited into the bottle, etc etc - but not to help matters any, my friend actually used a capper and crimped the cap down on the bottle to form a better seal. doing this most likely forced the beer to have no outlet for co2 (all capped beers emit co2 in minute doses) and thus, the beer built up more pressure than the bottle could handle.
the beer that i did manage to drink my friend in nashville obtained from someone in florida - so that kind of helps with the distribution. it is in florida, and maryland for sure. i think you can get it in PA, and possibly into MA. not sure about distribution as you go farther west. the price tag on my bottle was 5.99 (a real deal), and if you see this bottle, make sure you snag one up - it is a really great beer. does it topple rochefort 8? for me - no. it is too sweet and possibly too spicy - but it is quite a beer, and by no means does this thing suck. i just dont think i could make it a daily drinker as i could with rochefort 8. it is distributed by shelton brothers, so if you get beers from them, look for this one on the shelves.
anyone that is a beer geek knows of one special day in the usa - and that is the last saturday in april. this time, it was april 29. it is known as dark lord day. it is located in munster (bout 30 miles south of chicago) indiana. they have been doing it for i think 4 years now. this is the only day of the year that you are able to buy three floyds dark lord imperial stout, and it is only sold at their brewery - their is a bottle limit (6), and they are 15 dollars a peice. did i go? hell no - its a really long drive for me, plus i have some at the house already - but the other night i opened one of my bottles of dark lord while i was smoking a cigar. the bottle i opened was a 2006.
this is the ultimate beer for me. this is hands down the best thing i have ever drank in my life. period. without a doubt. there are many that come close, but nothing can top this beer for me (that has been released). there are some obscure belgian lambics that could possibly take this crown away, but that would involve alot more trouble and money than i am willing to deal with just for a beer. so as for now - this is the best thing i have drank. this is the thickest beer i have ever seen. it looks like used motor oil that hasnt been changed in 30,000 miles, and when you drink it the sides of your glass turn brown because the beer just sticks to the glass. the smell is so complex it is almost too hard to describe. there is: coffee, sugars, chocolate, molasses, plums, a slight note of apples, fruits, raisins, and so much more i could go on and on. the taste is quite the experience, and it literally took me about an hour to drink half of the bomber. it is so rich and filling, there is no telling what the calorie count on this stuff is :) taste is mostly like drinking a thick chocolate bar full of alcohol. it is simply an amazing beer. at 13% abv it packs a huge punch. if you are lucky enough to obtain this beer, do yourself a favor and share it with someone. it is almost a sin to drink something this good by yourself.
xgrafcorex
05-10-2007, 08:41 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1610.jpg
wasn't expecting the twist off cap. i poured it a little slow i guess..but there was a small head that mostly went away after a minute or so. smells like coffee, roasted malt, maybe even a hint of chocolate. could be a little oatmeal in there too hah...it does have that oatmeal stout smell..sounds fairly obvious though. taste is largely a smoky/roasted malt flavor, a bit of coffee too. tastes pretty much just like it smells, which is fine with me cause it smells great! medium to heavy body. its a shame they don't sell this stuff down here. lacing is pretty minimal, tiny layer of head seems to be in for the long haul. has a little bitterness too it as well..maybe a some of the hops kicking in there to balance out the rest of it, but not too much of a hop flavor really.
xgrafcorex
05-12-2007, 02:37 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1615.jpg
another beer i received from a friend up in canada as part of a trade. if any of you watch the show trailer park boys, propeller is a local nova scotia brewing company that makes beers that the boys frequently drink during the movie and some of the shows.
chose the snifter to make sure i didn't drink it too fast..also get a better smell. pours out pretty dark..almost looks like liquefied tar. one finger head that dissipates to a ring of foam. no lacing on my glass. also some small bubbles rising up to the surface. the smell is nice...very coffee like with some unsweetened chocolate and a very very faint hint of alcohol. tastes very roasted, that is the first thing that comes to mind, then it seems to have a bitter sweet aftertaste that lingers. not quite as heavily bodied as i'd have thought.
many of you may have heard of this beer, the supposed #1 ranking beer on any beer site, or magazine out there. the holy grail of the trappist ales. the..... well, alcohol bomb that is westy, is certainly a very good beer. but does it live up to its supposed hype?
i obtained a six pack of westy 12 via ebay about a year ago (priced at 100 (including shipping) it was not cheap, ~18 dollars a bottle (11.3oz)) and i drank one then, shipped 2 to some good friends of mine, and saved the other 3. last night i opened one with my friend to celebrate his graduation from college. it has been almost a year since i last got to try this beer. the beer is very dark brown, and it produces a large tan head, as well as a ton of sediment and yeast come flowing out of the bottle. the aroma on this beer is simply non existent. there is no other way to say this. the beer smells like, well, nothing. my friend agreed - so it wasnt just me. if you surround the top of the trappist glass and inhale you can somewhat pick up some dark fruits and sugars, but mostly you just get a burning smell of alcohol. the taste is sweet and full of fruits. there is plenty of carbonation, as is true with most belgian beers. there is also a very predominate alcohol note within this beer. this happens when the beer is too cold, so we let it warm some, and it was still there - just lessened somewhat. we then came to our conclusion of this beer. while, to me, this one is in the top 20 of about 1400 that i have drank, the overwhelming alcohol note really makes it something that (even if i could) i would not drink every day.
it is a very good beer - but if you want the same comparison, drink st bernardus 12. they are brewed very close to each other, and they use the same water when making their beers. this cannot touch rochefort 10 in my opinion, and the price and availability make it a no brainier to go with the rochefort or st bernardus any day over this one. this beer is no longer sold stateside, and if you want any you have to hit up someone on ebay, or go to belgium. it is almost more of a novelty factor of drinking this beer due to the poor distribution. there is no label on an actual bottle of westvleteren. the thing that denotes what beer it is is the cap. 10.2% abv. not my holy grail of beers.
xgrafcorex
05-14-2007, 11:49 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1622.jpg
wasn't expecting to be blown away by this one by any means. red hook makes some decent beers, and in my quest to try just about every beer i can get my hands on, i felt i had to try it since i had never seen it before.
poured to a minimal head that disappeared rapidly, now there is just a tiny ring of foam around the edges of the glass. no lacing to be seen. even if you stir it up a bit, the bubbles just sink down the glass and rejoin the rest of the crew. smells fairly balanced as far as malts and hops go, i guess a tad more towards the hoppy bitter side. no other distinct smells of note. smells like an average ale. pretty light body, as to be expected from a summer ale. though not as light as most macro lagers. taste is alright, nothing special.. probably will be my last time having this beer..at least on my dime. taste has a mild hop bitterness with a tiny bit of malt flavor poking through.
overall, an easy drinking beer thats about as good as i expected. not bad if you are in a pinch for some beer to drink this summer, but i would try to find something else.
xgrafcorex
05-14-2007, 09:39 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1624.jpg
mmmmm very good stuff! i didn't notice on the bottle it said that it's "..brewed with brewers licorice" i'm not a big licorice fan, luckily it is more of a background flavor in this beer. this is my first beer from bell's brewing co. and i had heard good things about them. i was at my parents and happened to find some over on that coast so i quickly added this to the variety 6 pack i was building. glad i did too...the only disappointing thing is that i still can't get any here, so i'll have to go over there again to get more or try their other beers.
the smell is very nice. roasted malts, coffee, unsweetened chocolate, and a hint of licorice at the tail end.
the taste is much of the same, roasted malts and coffee being the dominant flavors. i don't really notice the licorice as much at all. which means to me, it's just the right amount. enough to add to the flavor, but not enough for me to refer to this as "the licorice stout." :} fairly heavily bodied, though surprisingly easy to drink. theres a somewhat bitter aftertaste too it. not a bad thing really, just makes me want to drink more. i'll have to slow down though...this is the only one i bought. :(
i don't know what the distribution of this beer is like, but they sell it down here in florida, so i imagine its fairly widespread. if you like stouts, try this one for sure.
Philipperv
05-14-2007, 10:37 PM
This is a malt lager which i've developed a taste for over the years. I must admit that it's an acquired taste. ;)
http://redhorsebeer.com/images/beer-bottles-330ml.gif
xgrafcorex
05-21-2007, 10:38 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1373.jpg
(note, i wrote this before i had the dubbel reserve i already posted about...just figured i'd dig up some previous reviews i posted elsewhere) this is some good beer! have heard good things about allagash, just never tried any of their beer. this one has pouring instructions on the side..its another beer that gets poured most of the way, then swirled to unsettle the yeast and pour it into the beer. obviously this is a cloudy beer. it has a nice head. i took the picture a little later and the head had dissipated some. smells good...not too yeasty smelling..smells like wheat, yeast, and maybe some fruit or something sweet. the taste is similar. easy drinking..nice smooth and balanced flavor. has a light sweet flavor to it..can also taste the wheat and a little yeast. nothing really is very dominant, just seems to work together for a solid witbier taste. i'm already looking forward to trying the other allagash thats available here.
xgrafcorex
05-21-2007, 10:47 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1196.jpg
close up of the label since i thought it was kinda cool and you can't really see the details in the first picture.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1200.jpg
the beer itself is very complex in flavor and smell. it was a corked bottle which didn't overflow with foam at first, but it started slowing spilling out after a few seconds. nice head on the beer but it doesn't stay as thick and gets pretty small actually. its a very dark red but doesn't look hazy. it smells fruity and yeasty overall..but there are other spices mixed in there as well that i can't really place. maybe a hint of alcohol.. (9%) the taste is even more complex. its similar..starts out more with the fruity part which mellows out and you can pick up on more of the yeast flavor. once again theres other flavors too here and there that i'm not sure what to liken them to. the flavor is a bit strong, but its very good. not something i would want to drink all night for sure. it was 7.99 for a 750ml bottle, not as expensive as some of the other large corked bottles, but i would say its up there with them in taste.
xgrafcorex
05-22-2007, 11:44 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1643.jpg
small head that disappeared. hazy golden color..the haze is because it's an unfiltered beer. the smell is somewhat faint..a light sweetness to a light wheat and yeast smell. have to really take a big sniff to get much of anything. taste is good...the sweetness really comes through in the taste. has a citrus flavor to it. the side of the bottle says this is because of "coriander and a secret blend of humboldt herbs" any lacing that appears sinks back to the surface level of the beer. the taste also, of course, has the typical wheat flavor. it's pretty well balanced though...i can barely taste the yeast, but the sweet citrus flavor and the wheat are fairly even..with no one flavor taking center stage. pretty light body. i could definitely drink a bunch of these while cooking on the grill in the afternoon.
xgrafcorex
05-22-2007, 09:07 PM
butte creek brewing co. organic porter
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1644.jpg
well up until i had some beer from butte creek..i hadn't had an organic beer i liked. first i tried their ipa which was pretty good. i'd rather drink plenty of other ipas..but it was the first organic beer i would buy again. so i tried the porter which i'm having now.
not black..but a very dark amber..no lacing, thing head that turns into a tiny ring around the edge of the glass. a somewhat bitter malty smell dominates the nose. pretty smooth drinking with this one. carbonation is at a good level..not very noticeable. taste is good...malty with a tiny bit of hop bitterness to balance the flavor out. as with their ipa, it isn't near my favorite for the style..but certainly isn't near the bottom either. i'd say it's more towards the 75 mark out of 100. i think my least favorite porters were from eastern europe.
this is probably my favorite organic beer i've had so far. overall...very drinkable..not too heavily bodied, decent flavor..good enough to make people that aren't familiar with porters enjoy it..but not crazy enough to scare away people that haven't really developed a taste for them.
xgrafcorex
05-22-2007, 10:35 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1646.jpg
hadn't really heard anything about this beer...just have been working through all the beers at this store i've been going to lately.
decent head at first..didn't last terribly long. a little lacing that doesn't stick around either. smell is lightly bittersweet a mix of malts and hops but not very potent. (perhaps my smelling is going..or else the last few beers i have had just weren't that strong smelling or don't contain anything really distinct smelling) taste is more of the same. nothing really stands out. mild sweetness at first that finishes with a subtle bitterness. pretty smooth and easy to drink though all around. not something that made me say "damn, i'll have to pick up more of this." probably won't as a matter of fact..unless the only other beers they haven't sold out of are ones i don't like.
north coast makes some pretty good beers though, and this is definitely worth a go..especially if you really like pale ales. i think i liked the acme IPA more.
xgrafcorex
05-24-2007, 05:47 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1650.jpg
another delicious beer from ommegang. i hadn't tried any of there beers until recently, but i'm sure glad i did. one thing that is really nice is that it's some of the cheapest (price-wise) belgian style ale that i know of. certainly doesn't taste cheap though. nice pillowy head that simmers down to a fairly small head that remains throughout the rest of the beer. a nice deep amber color..too dark for me to tell how hazy it looks.
smells sweet..fruity but in a dark sort of way, yeasty, tad bit of malt in the background. i can barely notice a tinge of alcohol smell too it..though it is 8.5% ABV. hardly noticeable at all unless you are smelling for it i guess.
taste pretty much follows through where the smell leaves off. sweet and fruity with a tiny bit of bitterness. the 8.5% is lost in the flavor which is fine by me. finishes with a light but lingering sweet bitterness and some yeast.
very good stuff. i'm going to have to have a taste off with this vs. their hennepin....and for the hell of it..i might as well get their other beer too. :lol:
xgrafcorex
05-26-2007, 12:30 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1731s.jpg
i've been waiting to try this one for a while..but it's so expensive, i just put it off. ross recommended it, and it's my bday though, so i splurged. this stuff is 12 bucks a bottle at the only store i know of that carries it. there are cheaper beer stores around here though.
i poured it slowly sort of on accident..but it had a small head that turned into a small ring of head with a little lacing.
smells strong! this is a double stout and is 18% ABV! it smells of alcohol, and with backing roasted malt. the more i smell it, the less i smell the alcohol and notice the malt more along with maybe a hint of dark chocolate..but that is sort of at the end..and really dominated by the alcohol and malt.
the taste is similar, but the alcohol is very well hidden. especially considering how strong this stuff is. i can feel the alcohol at the end of each sip, but it isn't very present in the actual flavor. the flavor is malty, a bit more chocolaty than the smell, and also somewhat creamy. heavy bodied, yet surprisingly easy to drink considering it is the strongest beer i've ever had. also is somewhat sweet in the beginning.
in the end..this stuff is really good, but definitely not something i'd drink all the time, or even more than one of at a time. it's also too expensive for me to buy often...which is why this is the first time i've had it.
xgrafcorex
05-30-2007, 07:03 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1755.jpg
gotta say right off the bat...this is my least favorite of the ommegang beers i've had so far. i don't not like the beer..but after really really liking their other beers, i was expecting more of the same kick ass beer.
pours fine, nice head that shrinks but remains throughout. light lacing. smell is dominated by wheat. not too much else to the smell really. maybe a little sweetness (i guess could be a somewhat citrus smell) towards the end. for being made with orange peel and coriander, you really can't tell by smelling this stuff. maybe a hint of it..then again, i've never smelled coriander on its own before.
taste is also dominated by wheat. thats fine...but i prefer to have a mixture of flavors in my wheat beers. a strong wheat flavor is also fine with me..just like to have a little more to it. pretty light as far as the body goes...which makes for a pretty easy to drink beer. taste finishes with a light somewhat lingering sweetness that seems to wind up tasting like wheat again.
if you really like witbier, or want to try all the ommegang, or even just want to try every beer you can get your hands on..definitely try it. for me..i think this could be the last witte i drink. again, it's not a bad beer really, just not my preference for this style.
of course, i can't wait to get my hands on some more of their other beers! i still loves me some ommegang. :P
http://rlaughter.net/images/dread.jpg
well , there is my picture. sorry for all the random shit in the background, but you all know me well enough to know that i am pretty lazy at times. you can see what the beer looks like, so i feel no need to explain that one. the smell is pure hops. very heavy on what i would think to be simcoe hops. very grapefruity, full of an orange citrus smell, and grassy pine notes. tastes sweet and hoppy, no alcohol detected despite the 9.5%. fairly bitter, more bitter than your average double ipa. as with most double ipas- the reviews are short and sweet. there isnt much variation, but when you compare the taste this is the pinnacle of double ipas. this is rated in the top 10 on ratebeer, and probably on beeradvocate as well (though i cannot say for certain). this is the best double IPA i have ever drank - even at 10 dollars a bomber i think nothing of getting my friends to buy it for me and ship it down. it is a killer beer that would literally break me financially if i lived in indiana. great stuff, something that everyone should try at least once. this stuff takes 90 minute apart piece by piece. awesome beer.
xgrafcorex
06-02-2007, 11:38 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1781.jpg
a little lighter in color than the photo. also had a small head that disappeared while i was waiting for my camera. accidentally had it on a setting for some low light pictures i was taking earlier and forgot to switch it back.
smells lightly fruity with a hint of alcohol/spice at the end.
tastes a little sweet, but also kind of bitter towards the end. personally, i am not really a fan of this stuff. then again, i'm not really into barleywine style ales. medium body. a little bit of lacing. similar elements from the smell also...a fruityness in the mix...seems like a lot is going on in the flavor that i'm having trouble dissecting. for how strong the flavor is, it doesn't stick around too long...but it does kind of linger. a light taste that is very much like the smell sticks around a little longer. but the overall flavor hits you then fades out.
in the end, this is the last time i plan on drinking the stuff..unless i later decide i like barleywine ales...then i'd give it another go.
xgrafcorex
06-04-2007, 07:03 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1794.jpg
4 malts, 4 hops, and 4 fermentations = 10% belgian style quadruple ale :D
a nice ruby/amber colored ale. smells of yeast, a little bit of alcohol, sort of sweet and spicy. tastes great! not incredibly heavy like i'd have guessed. very smooth, i wouldn't guess this stuff was 10% ABV at all. the taste is sweet. not as much yeast coming through in the taste as with the smell. slightly malty, finishes with a little bitterness that lingers..i guess from the hops. minor lacing. i guess the alcohol might be noticeable in the end..the bitterness lingers on with a tiny bit of warmth. i like drinking the alcohol in beer, but i don't really care for it having much if any influence on the flavor. here it is very mild so it doesn't bother me at all. i've had less alcoholic beers that put me off because i could taste every bit of the alcohol in it. the sweetness makes me think of fruit but not citrus fruits or anything..more like grapes, raisins, etc. "dark fruits" i guess people say hah.
if you see this stuff, buy it! it's not cheap though...but its a limited production beer. they'll make more, but i think only so often, and possibly using a slightly different blend of ingredients. there is also a barrel aged four. i haven't seen it, but i would snap some up without question if i saw some. i'd say this could be my favorite from allagash i've tried..though so far i've only had their dubbel reserve and the white.
xgrafcorex
06-07-2007, 09:29 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1817.jpg
looks like i haven't had any yet, but i couldn't fit it all in that snifter..so i had to drink some to fit the rest. :P
smells dark...decent amount of sweetness..but also dark...like raisins...but malty raisins. ha. bit of roasted malt to the smell. for 9.5% ABV, i can't say i can smell the alcohol. possibly a hint of caramel to the smell also.
tastes awesome. a bit of the oak flavor comes through.. lightly sweet maltyness dominates. pretty heavy stuff. i can't pick out the raisin or caramel as much in the taste as i could with the smell. seems the alcohol comes through a little more at the end, but still pretty well hidden. whole glass is covered in lacing so far. even some hints of dark chocolate.
i'd have to try the regular yeti is again (not just to compare, but because it is great!) hah but i think the regular yeti seems a bit easier to drink more of. this is great stuff. a bit more expensive than the regular yeti though. i'd probably stick with the regular because it is really good and less expensive. this is more of a sipping beer..which i'm going to go do now. i have a la gloria cubana maduro that i'm going to smoke while finishing this stuff.
I first had this stout on tap, and I still think it's better on tap than from the bottle, but I'll take it anyway I can get it.
It pours black, with a thick tan-ish brown head that holds well. Wonderful chocolate malt aroma with a touch of an earthy under-note. The taste is chocolate with enough of a bitter note to keep it from being too sweet. Finishes with a hint of roasted malt or coffee. The mouth feel is slightly creamy but not heavy at all, it goes down smoothly.
The only discordant note is a very slight chemical taste that is in the bottled version but not on tap.
Another fine beer from Rogue.
imaguitargod
06-16-2007, 09:20 PM
Oh no! Passow's been drinking…..agian.
Let me preface this review….I always think beer reviews should be done more than half way into the night of drinking….That way no one can blame your for your grammatical and spelling errors.
That being said, I've been pounding back some Mackeson XXX Tripple Stout (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackeson's_XXX). This is a VERY traditional English Triple Stout that is very much food….beer is food ya' know, right? The thickness of this beer is so outstanding that I could probably stick a spoon in it and the thing will stand straight for hours, unlike the person drinking it…
As far as taste, I would have to describe that area as a dark, chocolate sensation with a nice little finishing carbonation to seal the deal. For a Stout, Mackeson's has very little bitterness to it which makes it perfect for the IPA bitterness hating crowd out there (read: That's me!).
Now comes the unique part of this beer. Being that it is a traditional English beer, you need to drink it warm. There are extremely few beers that I would even begin to think about contemplating the rational behind trying to figure out the complexities involved in attempting to start to drink a beer warm. But this beer makes me do it every time, making it perfect for a long camping trip when you want to drink and not have to worry about stocking up on ice to keep your brew frosty.
And for those in the know, try to spot how many pyramids are on the label ;)
imaguitargod
06-16-2007, 10:39 PM
Just craked open Delirium Tremens by The Huyghe Brewery (Germany)......eh, it's alright I guess. A little bitter, kinda tastes like a heavier version of budweiser. GREAT bottle, label design, and name though.
A nice thing about this beer is that it is 8.5% ABV and for that amount, it isn't as heavy tasting as I expected. Not too bad of a beer, but for the price, I would rather purchase something else.
xgrafcorex
06-17-2007, 07:51 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1912.jpg
they just started carrying this stuff at the store here recently...though they didn't put the price up right away so i held off. some of their beers are pretty expensive, so i wasn't sure. anyway, they finally got around to putting up the price and it wasn't so bad..$3.49 i think.
smells malty and sweet. kinda having trouble smelling anything right now though.. and i can smell the food i just heated up.
taste is malty but also with some dark fruit/sweetness, a slight hint of vanilla could also be part of the sweetness. can't say for sure that i can taste the maple they mention...but if i can, it's in the middle when the sweetness seems to peak. finishes with a lingering smokiness. for 11% ABV, i would say this is pretty smooth..a slight bit of alcohol warmth at the end.
i'm kind of hit and miss with these dfh beers. i like their ipas and the world wide stout was good..but i wasn't into the raison d' etre, midas touch, i'm not too crazy about this one either. i don't mind the dark/sweet taste up front..but i'm not liking the way it finishes up. the finish makes me think of rogue smoke ale, which i wasn't too pumped about either. only this is a little less up front than with the smoke ale. i guess the smoky flavor is the oak.
not bad, but not my style. i've had beers that were aged in oak barrels and have enjoyed them..but (not sure if this was aged, or if oak was just used somewhere along the lines) it doesn't seem to go over well with me here. i'd try one on tap, but as of right now, i am not planning on picking up any more of this stuff. worth a try though.
xgrafcorex
06-17-2007, 08:00 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_1873.jpg
i wrote this review the other day when our internet was down. also, i had been holding off on this beer since it was $12 a bottle at the old store i used to go to. found it at total wine and more recently for about 4 bucks less..so i threw up my hands and gave in.
can't say i've ever smelled a beer like this before. smells hoppy and a little alcoholic. also some sweet pine smell to it...
the taste is also quite different from anything else i've had before. strong flavor...i'm assuming mostly hops hah. feels pretty carbonated..that or the alcohol has a bite to it. not sure how strong this stuff is because my internet is down, but i'm fairly sure it is pretty strong stuff. (21% according to BA) it also could just be that this stuff is quite bitter from the massive amount of hops used. to be perfectly honest, i'd rather have a 90min..but i would really like to find out what this stuff tastes like after it has aged. on the side of the bottle it says "what you have here is the holy grail for hopheads. this beer is continually hopped over a 120-minute boil and then dry-hopped every day for a month. enjoy now or age for a DECADE or so." beers lose a lot of the hop flavor with aging..but i think there is more than enough here to not worry about losing it all. it's a good and tasty beer..just nothing like a session beer. even if it wasn't so expensive, i still wouldn't sit down and drink this stuff all night.
Sickmont
06-18-2007, 03:53 PM
Just craked open Delirium Tremens by The Huyghe Brewery (Germany)......eh, it's alright I guess. A little bitter, kinda tastes like a heavier version of budweiser. GREAT bottle, label design, and name though.
A nice thing about this beer is that it is 8.5% ABV and for that amount, it isn't as heavy tasting as I expected. Not too bad of a beer, but for the price, I would rather purchase something else.
I like Delirium Tremens. Way too much, actually. It does have kind of a screwy taste the first time you try it, but if you have a few more you'll wind up really jonesing for it sooner than you think.
xgrafcorex
06-28-2007, 06:58 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_2443.jpg
smells like citrus and hops with a hint of pine. tastes much the same..but this is where the belgian influence comes through. the yeast kicks into the flavor alongside the hop and citrus flavors. medium-heavy body. 8.5% ABV pretty tasty stuff. compared to the only other belgian ipa( http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/321/27804 ) i've ever had..this is damn good. wasn't a huge fan of the other one, it was ok though.
the alcohol is subtle for 8.5% can't say i notice it at all. the only downside to this beer is that it is expensive! a limited release i believe. though allagash donates one dollar from every bottle sold to some group that is teaching farmers in maine (where malone moved to from ireland) about organic farming. i guess particularly organic farming of crops used to make beer..but don't quote me on that.
I'm not a huge Fly Dog Brewery fan, but I can't bear to pass up a new to me stout or porter, so I grabbed a six pack of this when I saw in the Piggly Wiggly, of all places.
When I first pulled it out of the 'fridge and opened it, it had no aroma, so I let it sit for about ten minutes and warm up a bit. Took another sniff, and yeah, there was that roasted malt smell I like so much.
It poured very black with a small tan head. Taste was a wonderful blend of roasted malts with mild chocolate and coffee overtones. It was delicious! The mouthfeel was creamy, just what you'd expect from a good porter.
I'll be stopping by the Pig for more of this beauty.
Dyce51
07-07-2007, 11:58 PM
Made by Anheuser-Busch. It is aa All Malt Limited Edition Seasonal Brew.
Says on the box "Brewed with the finest pale and caramel roasted barley malts, this golden-colored all-malt, blonde ale is then dry hopped with choicest imported Alsace and Hallertau hops as well as Cascade hops from the Pacific Northwest, which lend to its pleasant, slightly spicy hop aroma and malty taste."
Definatly a unique flavor. Very malty and full bodied flavor. You would expect a dark beer from the flavor but it is very light golden almost yellow color. It is a beer I will buy again.
bentalphanerd
07-19-2007, 07:51 AM
VB are putting out a mid-strength beer, for those who have never tried VB there's a case at every BBQ here, so you should be able to find one almost anywhere. I'm not a mid strength drinker...but I thought you should see the ad.
http://www.duncans.tv/2007/vb-answer-to-global-warming
enjoy
chuk hell
07-19-2007, 07:03 PM
Samichlaus
14% ABV
http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/4264/samichclausqp3.jpg
I picked this up in New Orleans; it's not available in Texas as far as I know. For a little history about this beer read here:
http://www.realbeer.com/edu/tastes/samichlaus2000.php
What we have here is sort of a barley wine on steroids. It pours a deep cooper color with nary a head which soon settles to almost nothing. Very light carbonation.
This beer has a very sweet taste that reminded me of Avery's Samael ale. (http://www.averybrewing.com/BigBeers/seasonal/Samael) It has a nice alcohol finish which I liked but some people would probably not dig. This is definitely a 'sipper" and would be great after a nice dinner ... possibly with a nice cigar.
The one I tried was a 2006. I bought 4 bottles so the other 3 will be put down for a while. This beer proclaims on the bottle "The world's Most Extraordinary Beverage". I don't know about that but this is a very interesting beer that I'm sure will not be to everyone's taste.
I paid about 4 bucks a bottle at Whole Foods in New Orleans.
xgrafcorex
08-05-2007, 10:26 PM
8% ABV nice and dark. unfortunately all my glassware is in a box and my computer is at my grandmas house, so no pictures. hah i'm actually drinking it out of a plastic solo brand cup. smells great! very much like roasted malts and even coffee. i didn't realize there was actually some yeast sediment in the bottle when i poured it all out like a normal beer..but i don't pick up any yeast in the nose or taste.
the flavor is somewhat bitter like dark chocolate only it tastes more like roasted malts and coffee than chocolate. maybe a hint of toffee.. a tiny bit of spice from the alcohol, but it is very subtle and doesn't last long at all. finishes kinda dry..almost like drinking a coffee beverage. a little bit of lacing on my plastic cup.
overall, i like this stuff. it isn't one of the best imperial stouts by any stretch..but it is a good one at least. i'd buy more of this easily, and i want to try their other beers based on this one alone. also, i'd say this is one of the easier to drink imperial stouts. doesn't seem as heavily bodied. definitely worth a try if you like stouts.
imaguitargod
08-11-2007, 06:14 PM
Bison Organic Chocolate Stout
I'm currently drinking this out of a Mason jar that I found in the cabinate. Coming in at 6.1% ABV, this has a slight kick to it. This is actually the first "Organic" (not that that means anything anymore , what with the addition of ingredients that qualify as "organic", just recently...those bastards...) so I'm kinda glad I picked this one up. It's brewed with REAL cocoa and boy can you tell.
The cocoa represents most of the bitterness in this beer. At first sip it goes from bitter to smooth in 1.34728 seconds. VERY chocolaty in flavor with the usual Stout overtones to it. I highly recomend this. Mainly becuase I so rarely find Stouts that I like (I'm not the fan of bitter that most people are).
On a side note, even the foam head (very small) is a rich chocolate brown color.
imaguitargod
08-11-2007, 07:30 PM
Wychwood Brewery: Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale
http://www.ratebeer.com/beerimages/full_size/28406.jpg
So, the day to night drinking continues.... This time, this one is 6.0% abv and is an ale...a Christmas Ale. Ha, I don't celebrate Christmas anyways, so let's see how this one pays off....
: sips out of the quart jar :
Hmmm, this lightly crimson ale doesn't have enough bold tastes to register on my dulled sense of taste (due to my my anosmia) (well, if it had peppers, then I could tell you the subtleties, but alas, it does not). This just tastes like carbinated, unfiletered water to me...sigh.
I'll give the designer of the label props though. It's REALLY cool looking and is the reason why I bought the bier. I'm sticking this bottle in my "cool beer" collection.
Dave just tried this one and gave it high praise becuase it is a "clean beer". It has a taste right when you drink it, but it does not linger or leave an aftertaste. Once he said this, I find myself agreeing wholeheartedly.
Looking on the label I find this is brewed in Witney, Oxfordshire, England...god, the world is so small and connected. I'm drinking somrthing that was brewed 8, 000+ (*questimate) miles away from where I live.Just freakin' amazing man.
xgrafcorex
08-20-2007, 11:47 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3142.jpg
smells very much like hops. also has some pine and citrus smell to it.
the flavor follows through with much of the same...hops being the most upfront addition to the taste. still has some of the pine and citrus though. some bitterness..not as much as other ipas i've had. medium bodied.
all in all, this is a damn good beer...i'd say it is easily one of my favorite ipas. being that ipas are one of my favorite style (especially hoppy ones), this is up there in my overall beer favorites.
my only regret is that i didn't buy more!
oh, and my glassware is still packed up, so i'm using some random glass my grandma has. :rolleyes:
Canuk Pepperhead
08-21-2007, 07:12 PM
Ive seen another beer from unibrew forgotten about....its 8% and the yeast is in the bottle so it keeps getting stronger...its called maudite.It has a really sweet taste for a beer gors good with Pasta, red meat, stews and spicy dishes im known to buy it every so often..
heres the link for it
http://www.unibroue.com/products/maudite.cfm
Chris Kewley
08-22-2007, 02:50 PM
Ive seen another beer from unibrew forgotten about....its 8% and the yeast is in the bottle so it keeps getting stronger...its called maudite.It has a really sweet taste for a beer gors good with Pasta, red meat, stews and spicy dishes im known to buy it every so often..
heres the link for it
http://www.unibroue.com/products/maudite.cfm
Oh man that stuff is made with pure hate. :lol:
xgrafcorex
08-22-2007, 04:42 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3148.jpg
smells somewhat sweet and malty..a bit like caramel. there is also a decent amount of hops in the smell as well but not nearly overwhelming in the least. smells good and balanced.
taste is similar..lightly sweet/sugary up front but fades into a somewhat dry hoppy bitterness that is held in check by the malt. at just under 6% ABV i can't say i can detect the booze in the flavor at all.
great beer, with a medium/light body that i could drink lots of. their other beers (that i know of) are also good, and certainly worth a go. london porter and london pride are the only two i've seen for sale here in the florida, but they have other beers that might be available elsewhere.
xgrafcorex
08-28-2007, 07:29 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3158.jpg
smells awesome, if you like hops that is. very hoppy smelling, it is labeled (on the bottle) as hop3 ale ..in other words hops cubed. so hoppy it has that great citrusy smell to it. head dissipated a bit, but a little is still there..did leave some lacing though.
this stuff is bitter. no doubt due to the large hop presence. body is medium to medium/light. the citrus flavor is more towards the beginning then it fades into hop bitterness and a nice pine flavor. for being 7.25% ABV, this stuff goes down without noticing the alcohol.
so far i've enjoyed all the beers from clipper city. unfortunately i think i've tapped out the selection available to me here..but i can still enjoy what i can get here. give them a go if you haven't tried them and see them at your local store.
xgrafcorex
09-05-2007, 07:36 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3164.jpg
this is only the second pumpkin beer i've had (first being shipyard pumpkinhead), but i wasn't too fond of the former. wasn't bad, just weird tasting pumpkin in my beer i guess. i figured i'd give it a shot though.
smell is mainly of spices..at first i was thinking it was a smell of alcohol, but i think it is more of a spicy smell with some pumpkin in there. the pumpkin doesn't really jump out in the aroma..more of a subtle smell than i expected. i think i can also detect a slight malty smell.
taste is again, lacking in pumpkin compared to what i expected. i can taste a kind of pumpkin pie flavor in the aftertaste. much better than the shipyard i'd say.
medium bodied, spicy upfront then sort of bitter until it tastes mildly like pumpkin. a decent ale, but i still am not crazy about pumpkin in my beers. i could see having some more of this at thanksgiving or some fall seasonal party or something...but other than that, i'll stick with other seasonals without pumpkin, or just regular beers i can get anytime.
xgrafcorex
09-17-2007, 04:31 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3184.jpg
had more of a head (not much) but it sat for a minute before i took the picture.
darker than i had imagined..guess what it smells like? wheat! smells nice..smells slightly malty, don't detect the presence of hops. slightly bready, but not very much so i guess.
taste is good..pretty smooth..notice a bit of carbonation. similar overall to the nose..wheat flavor, backed with some malty taste. overall i prefer the aventinus and even other random wheat beers. it is good, but not "special" ha. would have no problems with being forced to drink lots of it, but don't plan on spending anymore on this stuff. good, just not great. would prefer to try something new, or fall back on others that i like more.
xgrafcorex
09-18-2007, 09:11 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3185.jpg
not much head and i gave it a fairly head provoking pour. no big deal.. smells malty..faint suggestions of fruit or some sort of sweet something or other..and weak presence of spices. especially since this is a seasonal beer for the fall..was expecting a bit more there.
malt is the dominant flavor. light-medium body. dry finish.. makes me want to take another sip..but i'll have to get something else to drink once i get to the bottom of the glass. hop flavor is detectable..but just barely. decent beer..kinda disappointed..especially due to the lack of seasonal flavoring. i'd MUCH rather have the dogfish head punkin ale. would drink it again, but i think that is the last time i buy any of this stuff.
xgrafcorex
09-28-2007, 03:18 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3208.jpg
"uber pils" aka pilsner. this is incredible for a lager. perhaps the best lager i've EVER had. smells fairly hoppy but in a fruity way. can't pinpoint the fruit..but it smells great...very similar to ales i've had. fairly piney smelling actually..just in a sweet way.
taste is very much the same. medium body, sorta hoppy..not very bitter though..a little. piney, sweet, delicious. this is bottle conditioned. (first time i've had a bottle conditioned lager.) all of the beers i've had from this brewer are bottle conditioned. this stuff easily shames many an ale. very good stuff. would buy again, and would drink it for free in a heartbeat. well unless there was other superior drinks available. i would still get around to it though. still seems a tiny bit lacking in flavor as all lagers do, but just BARELY. i think i would say this is the best lager i've ever had. also, at 7% one of the strongest lagers i've ever had.
xgrafcorex
10-05-2007, 12:21 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3209.jpg
poured it kind of slow on this last one..the others had a much nicer looking head. first thing you smell are the hops. made me smile though, i love hoppy beers. slightly piney smelling too. picking up a faint background of yeast.
tastes good. pretty bitter, not overly bitter. medium-light body. taste is overall hoppy, with a bit of malt in the background to balance it out. finishes with the sort of yeast/bread flavor that i could smell. very easy to drink..would get more down the road. only thing is i've only seen it on sale at a grocery store a few hours from here.
i think next time i'm up at my friends house, i might try the other beer from this company instead..just to see what it is like. i honestly can't remember which one it was though. :rolleyes:
i'd consider this more of a session beer than a beer to kick back and sip. certainly take your time on the first one..but it doesn't stand out as one of the best pale ales.
xgrafcorex
10-09-2007, 08:31 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3451.jpg
excellent head retention...most of that head in the pic is still there. 8.1% ABV.
smell is interesting..malty first and foremost, smells very citrusy with a decent aroma of hops as well. can barely detect the alcohol if i give it a bit of a swirl and take a good strong sniff.
tastes not quite as good as it smells. seems to have the hops and citrus flavor up front which shifts towards a malty sweetness and finishes kinda dry. medium to medium light body..it is a pilsner..but then again it's a double/imperial pilsner. a certain degree of hop bitterness remains throughout the whole tasting. i guess that is where the dry finish is coming from.
good beer, especially considering it's a pilsner, but like other beers i've had from terrapin..it isn't amazing by any means. i'll still continue to try their other beers, as all of their beers are good, drinkable, and unique in one way or another. maybe my opinion of it will change as it warms up or i just drink more of it.
xgrafcorex
10-18-2007, 10:48 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3601.jpg
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/119/434
this beer is supposed to be influenced by the german style altbier. which is a brew made with ale yeast but fermented in lagering conditions. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/86 ba doesn't mention the word lager..but i read it in my beer book...which also recommended this beer. so far i must say it is pretty good. my first otter creek beer..have another in the fridge, their octoberfest beer. has a mildly sweet malty flavor with a less noticeable hoppy flavor that starts up somewhere in the middle to give it a little balance. the sweet malt flavor gives off impressions of caramel.
the bottle says it uses 6 malts and 3 types of hops. no preservatives, and is not pasteurized.
has a medium body with a slightly dry finish..probably the hops i guess. smooth and easy to drink..would be a fine session beer. not earth-shattering in greatness, but a great everyday beer. would definitely drink it again, though i'm not in any rush to buy more. one day i will probably. for now, i'll probably work through their other beers that are available to me here. not sure how many others there are down here..
xgrafcorex
10-18-2007, 10:52 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_3599.jpg
franziskaner hefe-weisse dunkel. good stuff, a little less delicious as i was expecting..still a nice beer. seems people on BA like the regular hefe-weisse better. i'll be sure to try it. the dominant flavor was the yeast..gave it a good swirl towards the end then poured it in. also tasted some spices..the yeast and the wheat were foremost, but seemed to combine and give it a noticeable banana flavor.
would definitely have it again and will probably pick up the regular hefe-weisse tomorrow if i make it up to the store.
note..it's not quite that dark..was just the lighting situation and my flash combined.
xgrafcorex
10-20-2007, 09:05 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4003.jpg
great beer! smells like pine and hops. that's about all i can smell..or at least all i can think of when i smell it.
taste echoes the smell. piney bitter hops dominate..detectable malt backbone keep it from being an all out hop assault. smooth as hell, with a dry finish. almost has a creamy taste too it as well as creamy feel.
would be an awesome session beer if it wasn't a special release. it's very likely i'll be picking up more of this stuff..especially since i'm not sure how long it will be available for.
xgrafcorex
10-22-2007, 05:24 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4009.jpg
could smell the blueberry a little bit when i poured it. definitely can smell it when i put my nose up to the glass! it smells sweet, like blueberries, with a touch of something else..hard to tell because of the presence of the blueberry smell..i think it might be a hoppy aroma.
it tastes mostly of blueberry, though it isn't as strong as the aroma. can taste more than just blueberry..though you aren't going to forget this is a blueberry ale. it is pretty sweet..underlying malt flavors give it a sort of bready finish. has a somewhat dry finish as well. pretty light in body, a little (not much) too much carbonation for me i guess...seems to make the beer less smooth overall. which could account for the dry finish. i can taste some hops in there also towards the end.
decent stuff, would drink it again..likely that i won't pick up any more though. just wanted to try it because i've had their "real ale" and it was good..not great, good enough to warrant trying their other offerings. the beer was mentioned in my book too, so i have been grabbing a couple from the book and a few that just catch my eye for whatever reason.
xgrafcorex
10-23-2007, 06:22 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4028.jpg
you'd be surprised to hear what it smells like. one guess..starts with an H. :P lightly piney..not as strong as other piney smelling beers. can actually smell a small amount of what seems to be a malty smell...not very easily though. i'm actually a little surprised with the smell to be honest..i was expecting to be knocked on my ass by pine, citrus, and hops. it's all there, it just isn't in your face like i thought it would be.
the taste is a little more in line with what i was expecting. bittery goodness. again has a fairly distinct pine note to it. so far, it looks like my whole glass is going to be coated in lace. there is a little bit of sweetness in the beginning which gets masked by the bitterness of the hops which lingers in your mouth after each sip. it leaves your mouth somewhat dry..which of course calls for another sip.
all in all, i'm glad i grabbed this stuff. what's even better is that, once this glass is empty...i still have about half the bottle left to drink! i'd be interested in trying this alongside some of their IPA (which i've only seen on sale a few times sadly). would be even more interesting to do a blind test.
xgrafcorex
10-29-2007, 03:33 AM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4035.jpg
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/35329
smells malty.. a bit like coffee also. not quite like straight coffee..a little more like a dark chocolate coffee. very faint though..not a strong chocolate aroma. a decent bit of smoky aroma to it as well.
tastes like a smokey malted beverage... 8.5% ABV doesn't really shine through. the beer does have a strong flavor to it..just not one of strong alcohol. plenty smoky like the smell.
another awesome bee from the castle brewery eggenberg from austria. this is a "doppelbock dunkel" aka dark double bock. it's not pitch black..but is a dark amber color.
xgrafcorex
10-29-2007, 11:28 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4036.jpg
smells mainly malty..but specifically the malts give it a very bready aroma with a hint of caramel/sweetness. can't say i smell any hops..i'm sure they are there, it's just that the bready malt smell is quite dominant.
tastes nice..the dominant bready smell is much less dominant in taste form. it comes in towards the end and doesn't linger for very long after each sip...a very clean finish.
light body, light sweetness..not as much as in the aroma. overall it tastes like it is balanced out fairly well. one of the better octoberfest beers i've had so far this year. definitely worth a shot if you are into drinking the seasonal beers.
we don't have much for seasons down here in florida..still is nice to try beers that aren't around all the time. ;)
xgrafcorex
11-03-2007, 10:07 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4047.jpg
it was decent..not something i'd recommend to someone that wants to try a good witbier. not bad either..if you like the style, i'd give it a go.
flavor just seemed sort of subdued or very subtle. i like my beers to have a bit more of a bold flavor to them so that i know i'm drinking a beer. was still not bad..had a nice orange/citrus and coriander flavor.
don't plan on picking up anymore of this stuff.
xgrafcorex
11-03-2007, 10:09 PM
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4044.jpg
it had a thick head that dissipated semi-slowly to just a tiny bit, but does not disappear. hazy and honey like in color. decent lacing.
distinct floral hoppy aroma. citrus fruit w/ a tinge of pine. a little detectable malty sweetness under the hoppy smell.
quite different in taste. still hoppy, bitter, yet the sweetness comes out more. almost tart. dry finish, a likely result of the hops. piney still..bit of bite from the hops actually.
medium to heavily bodied. good, slightly unbalanced, hop flavor that is quite intense. not the easiest drinking beer..though for an imperial pilsner, i suppose you shouldn't be expecting a session beer.
next time i'm looking for a hoppy beer, it won't be this one. worth a try though..just a little too unbalanced overall for me.
xgrafcorex
11-03-2007, 10:11 PM
picked this up at a store last week...it's locally brewed in tarpon springs which is only a few minutes away. they also sell a belgian style strong pale ale which i hope to try soon.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/xgrafcorex/beer/IMG_4048.jpg
this is just a copy/paste from my review on beer advocate.
a: clear, a shade darker than golden. tiny head that disappears instantly.
s: spices, fruit/citrus, and a hint of yeast