Cabin Fever Brown Ale

Cabin Fever Brown Ale from New Holland Brewing Co.  Tried a sample of this at a local bar a few winters ago from the tap.  My unsophisticated palate at the time drew hints of asphalt from the flavor.  Let's hope I was just a young aficionado.

Smells like a smokey porter.  Looks like one, too.  Deep roasted barley; near charred.  Fully roasted aroma.  Sweet hop flowers describe the contour, making this one serve up an exceptional treat to the nose.

Oily-charred malts in the taste.  Like it smells, but darker.  Pretty reserved in the hops category when compared to the dark malts.  Dry as the label claims, with a tamer finish.  Very little astringency, but the alcohol is beginning to show face.  That being said, it only stands at 6% ABV.

A solid, as expected body to this brew.  Somewhere past medium, but not quite as thick as a stout.  Crosses over into the realms of a porter.  The malts-to-hops ratio, with the malts as the victor, renders this a highly drinkable option, and, for sure, I could see myself drinking a few of these while my wife imbibes hot cocoa in a cabin in the woods surrounded by the stark cold of winter.  Cheers!

Dundee Festive Ale

A: Brown/dark copper, creamy off-white head

S: Malty/sweet. Caramel, spices (cinnamon)

T: A slew of spices; tasting cinnamon & orange peel. Caramel in the back end. Hops dominate the spices.

MF: Light-medium bodied.

D: Pretty drinkable. Flavor is a little reserved and flat, despite the tasting credit I gave the brew above. A good brew nonetheless.

Peak Organic Brewing Co - Fall Summit Ale

The brew is a dark copper-brown.  Silky lacing and a slim, but constant, head.  Moderate carbonation level.

Smells of tropical jelly bean hops.  Very sweet and attractive.  Butterscotch and faint maple in the tail end.

Tastes close to how it smells.  Hop bitterness, hop flavor, and malt sweetness form an excellent balance.  Warming.  Finishes without a lingering aftertaste.  Oriented toward the hops, but not overbearing.  On the thinner side, but the hop content extends the body in a misleading, yet agreeable, way.  Sort of stretches it like a silky syrup.

Very hoppy, but brown enough to balance out the overreaching nature of hop oriented brews.  Notably drinkable, not to mention, organic!

Penn Brewery Oktoberfest

Before I get into this beer, I need to get something off my chest: Christmas beers show up in stores far too early.

The beer store I work for got several cases of Samuel Adams Winter Lager 2-3 weeks ago and people are still coming in looking for Sam Adams Octoberfest.  From what I can tell, a lot of people are still thirsty for Octoberfest, but Winter Warmers and the like are already in.

I even feel that the autumn brews didn't have enough time to shine.  The bottle shop I buy from only had Sierra Nevada's Tumber (Brown Ale) for a week or two and I never saw it again, except for a few cases in the store I work weekends at, but I only wanted to try a few bottles.  I guess I'll buy it the first time I see it when next year's batch rolls through.

Enough ranting...on to the brew!

Penn Brewery Oktoberfest, as part of the brewery's Gourmet Selection (variety-pack).  Slightly hazy appearance marked by an amber-copper brown color.  Head slims to a nice rim with leftovers on top.

Grassy hops in the nose up front, with a sweet honey and malt backbone.  Candy caramel w/ sweet brown bread.

First sip--since I took the bottle out of the fridge twenty minutes ago--is marked by a hoppy-graininess that is hard to describe.  Alcohol in the taste.  Toasted barley?  Toasted brown bread?  Definitely some caramel.  Hoppy up front with a medium body.  Sweeter in the finish with a bit of a syrupy feel on the tongue.

I like it, although I'm having trouble describing its characteristics.  A good Oktoberfest that doesn't ask you to think about it too much, while remaining interesting enough to imbibe.  I can see myself drinking this in the cold.

As for the other beers that one is encouraged to drink in the cold (read: Winter Warmers), give me a few weeks.  I'm not ready yet.

Stegmaier Oktoberfest

Stegmaier Oktoberfest pours a vibrant copper to amber color.  A white head sits atop and gradually recedes to a healthy rim.

A notable dose of butterscotch, caramel, and alcohol in the nose.  Hops pull through to sharpen the tones, as well as a mild graininess as the brew warms up.

In taste, it's hoppy up front, with a sweet/malty middle and finish.  Caramel and butterscotch/diacetyl.  Some alcohol definitely comes out in the finish.

Feels medium bodied, slightly syrupy, and active from the hops & alcohol.  Moderate carbonation in my opinion.

Not a bad Oktoberfest by any means.  It took me a few tries over the past month, but after a summer full of pilsners and lighter styles, I'm just now starting to dig the marzens this season...

Beck's Oktoberfest

Appearance: Dark amber/copper. Solid head retention. Deep enough to avoid the label of being transparent.

Smell: Sweet malts and caramel. Toasty.

Taste: Hoppy all around. Hops drive the taste, with a notable malt backbone to pull it all in. The malts add to the flavor in a more pronounced fashion than they add to the body. Still, medium bodied. Some caramel in the taste, but very reserved.

Drinkability: I'm very impressed by this beer. It's so accessible, I had to pick up a single at $1.75. Beck's Oktoberfest redeemed my faith in the style. Whether at a festival or hanging with friends, I could drink this all day or all night. Try it for yourself.

Founders Dirty Bastard

Appearance is cloudy, with an array of hues that make the beer look delicious and inviting.  A fluffy nougat head on top.  A dark brown to mahogany glow to the bottom of the glass.  The smell is unbelievable.  Sweet fruits to a chocolatey, malty backbone.  Taste's earthy.  Not quite what I was expecting.  A lot of hoppy bitterness.  Hot alcohol.  Malt and grains somewhere in the mix.  Definitely a sipper.  As it warms up it tastes more and more like bourbon or a brown liquor.  Have a good night...

Hook & Ladder Backdraft Brown Ale

Appearance:  Deep, dark brown; almost black.  Creamy off-white head recedes to a modest, but worthy remainder.

Smell:  Caramel; very malty.  Smells like I could chew it.  Hints toward milk chocolate.

Taste: Malty, but attenuated.  Enough hops to add bitterness & balance the brew.  Some alcohol also shows up to tango with the hops.

Mouthfeel:  Wet & not interfered with by the body the smell suggests.  Medium-heavy body.  Pardon my redundancy: attenuated.  Mild astringency from the alcohol or hops?  Got me.

Drinkability:  Wish I could walk into any bar & find this on tap.  I'd drink several pints & sleep like a baby.

Great Lakes Oktoberfest, 2010

Out of appreciation for Great Lakes' "For freshest taste, please enjoy by:" marking on the back end of the label, here you go: 9/24/10 - About 11 days before the freshness expiration.  I'm not drinking this late, though, seeing as how we are less than a month away from October.  On to the review...

A copper-amber appearance with a fluffy white head and good retention.

Smells of syrupy sweet malts & caramel, plus a little alcohol and apple cider in the nose.

Tastes of caramel & honey. Very malty. Sticky. Thinner than I expected. A decent amount of alcohol drys on the tongue. A good level of hops comes through as well.

I could drink a few, but still a little heavy on the alcohol taste.

Derailed Black Cherry Ale

Erie Brewing Co either impresses me or lets me down.  There are a few of their beers that I really like, and I few others I don't really care for, but I always give them a shot when I see a brew of theirs that I haven't had yet.  That being said, it's time to move on and review Erie Brewing Co's Derailed Black Cherry Ale.

The brew pours a hazy amber brown from what I can tell; let's just say I don't have the pleasure of natural light right now.  There also seems to be a faded grayish-red hue toward the corners of the glass (2-D perspective).  A silky, multi-layered rim collects itself after a few minutes.



The smell is delicious, albeit it is probably derived from some sort of cherry extract.  Canned cherries; that's all I can gather from the smell.

The taste is a little bit of husk up front, with a sweet cherry finish.  Muted malts and a pseudo oxidation taste at first, but the cherry sweetness soon washes that away.  Still, I'm left with a syrupy tongue more akin to a few maibocks I've run into in the past than a cream ale.

Not a bad brew, but not one I would drink a lot of.

Peroni Nastro Azzurro

Poured into my czech pilsner glass, Peroni is a yellow-golden brew with lively carbonation bubbles, and a slim head that recedes to a very modest rim.

The smell of a pilsner is very upfront, with sharp, grassy tones, coupled with toasted notes of barley & hops.

The taste is very mild.  Comparable to a friendlier Moosehead Lager.  Hardly any astringency to mention.  A clean body, a touch of hops, and a reserved degree of malts.  Actually a bit on the sweet side.

Carbonation is a little much in this brew.  Veering toward pop territory, but not terrible.

Certainly a solid beer.  Definitely sessionable, but that's all.  If you are in the mood for a night cap, I recommend you grab a different beer from the fridge, but I can't say that it would be a bad idea to keep this one around.  It just might go well with pizza.

Bitburger Premium Pils

On the back label reads what I assume to be the "bottled on" date: 29 04 10 (4/29/10)

Pours a yellow golden, almost murky, hue. Slim, fluffy white head recedes to a thin rim with left over head tracings in the middle.

Smells grassy, skunky, w/ sharp floral hops.

Tastes like its aroma, but with the addition of ripe white grapes. A bit of astringency at the the tail end, encouraging one to drink more to quench their never ending thirst.

A good bite up front w/ a wet finish. I could certainly imbibe more than a few. A good pilsner.

George Killian's Irish Red

As far as I can remember, this marks only the second time that I've had George Killian's Irish Red. My first experience happened to be around the time I hadn't yet discovered the beautiful complexity of beer, so I'm going to drink this one with optimism.

Well, the predominate hue is nice. Amber brown to mahogany. A beige head shows its weakness, and over the course of less than a minute, dwindles down to a sorry nothingness. Evidence of what once was a head lays pitifully on the top, like a shattered continent on a map of the globe. A thin rim tries to keep it together, and remind me that this is a beer in my glass.

The smell is toasted. Burnt brown sugar, malts, & sweet caramel. Doughy & full-bodied in the nose.

The taste is malty & toasted, with a dry, corn kernel-like finish. A mild hint of butter.  Dryness trumps the attenuation, hiding what I tend to complain about.

Medium-bodied, but missing a considerable depth of character. Still, one of the better beers offered by Coors.

Saranac Pale Pale Ale

Appearance: Pseudo cloudy, light amber gold.
Smell: Malty/bready undertones w/ hardly a scent of finishing hops in the nose. As it warms up, floral notes begin to play lightly.
Taste: Malty, with flat bittering hops. Toasty hints; muffled.
Mouthfeel: Mild bitterness, light-medium body; noticeably attenuated.
Drinkability: Easy to drink, but lacking in depth & character.

Asahi

Appears golden, with a hint of light brown.  Nice lacing & a white head that turns to a misty layer up top.

Smells sweet, malty, with mild grainy notes.  Tastes dry, clean, & malty.  Remarkably clean.  Hops pull through to balance the malty first impression.  Astringency from the hops.

Great light-medium body.  Smooth, slightly grainy finish.  Went well with mixed vegetables dressed with a kung pao & peanuts sauce.  Much better than most macro American Lagers.

Duquesne Pilsner

In a Czech pilsner glass sits a golden body with a slim white head that descends into a mere rim.  It smells of grains; sharp grape in the nose.  A scent of sweet white wine.

Dry to the tongue.  Husky, yet notably clean.  Astringency in the back end, but nothing to fuss about.  Nutty; mild corn kernel taste in the finish.

Light-medium in body; friendly on the tongue, but just enough bite to satisfy the buds.

Not a bad brew at all.  Considering the excessive hype leading up to & since its recent release, a better beer than I anticipated.  P.S. That is not me below.

Warsteiner Premium Verum

From the bottle it smells exactly like what I was hoping for: a grassy pilsner.  Poured into a Czech pilsner glass, Premium Verum shows a yellow gold body; transparent.  Very active lacing.  In the nose it is toasted & hoppy.

The taste is unique.  Wet upfront, active in the middle, with a slightly acidic, dry finish.  It washes away so cleanly, leaving behind only a trace of its best characteristics: fresh hops, quality malt tones.  A well-shaped body.  Not too thin, not at all heavy.  Crisp.  So well balanced.  Extremely drinkable, while remaining exceptionally satisfying.

Hacker-Pschorr Weisse Dark

I picked this bottle up for a very reasonable price, somewhere around $1.75.  From looking at the bottom of the bottle (after the pour), the brew appears to have been bottle conditioned.  The brew shines a cloudy amber-brown.  A pretty white head slims down to a silky rim environment.  It smells of yeast, wheat bread, and banana, but the aromas are toasted to a pleasant degree.

A lot of acidity comes out first with the initial sip.  Muted fruit, and a buttery finish.  Yeasty on the tongue.  Thin in the flavor category.  Noticeable attenuation.  Medium-bodied.  Somewhat bland & a little disappointing.  I've also discovered a "Produced On" indicator on the bottom-right corner of the label: 10/08.  Tell me that's a mistake...

Southampton Altbier

According to the label, a "Dusseldorf-Style Brown Ale," Southampton Altbier pours a heavily carbonated, partially transparent brown.  The nose gets a toasty malt treat.  An aggregate of figs, burnt raisin-bread, semi-sweet milk chocolate & brown sugar.

A toasty, coffee-like experience in the taste.  A dash of fruit fits the style.  Mild to the mouth, and a touch of acidity.  Light-medium body; noticeably attenuated.  Very drinkable.  I wouldn't mind having one of these brews with breakfast.  My only complaint is the complete lack of head retention.  Overall, I approve.

IC Light: What a Delight?

Out of a bottle, I've thought for a year or so now that this beer isn't half bad.  But being the beer aficionado that I am, I have to judge it properly, and pour from the bottle into my Czech pilsner glass to allow its true character to come out, instead of letting it hide behind a perception veil that so many beers have managed to wrangle & exploit through intense marketing of poor beer etiquette.  What I'm trying to say is: pour all beer in a glass.

The brew is yellow-gold.  Like yellow liquid water coloring.  The half-inch head that I was able to get out of the bottle quickly disappeared and left me with a sad rim.  A steady flow of carbonation bubbles is rising to the top, but not at an intense pace.

Corn husk in the nose.  Very dry grains.  A mildly sweet undertone.  Not one note of finishing hops.  Could it be single-hopped?  I am catching a scent of hop aroma, but it is so faint I can only imagine it is a remnant of the hops tossed in for the full boil (bittering hops).

Grainy, dry, hay-like flavor in the taste.  A good level of bittering hops.  Light & thin in the mouth.  Dry to the tongue.  Very lackluster in the malts section.  I know this a light beer, but a touch of character wouldn't hurt this brew at all.  Not a lot of flavor, so I'd say it has kept to style.

Pretty easy to drink, but I always counter that factor--which is evidently so important to the average beer drinker--with what is, in my opinion, more important: whether or not I actually want to drink it.

Dundee India Pale Ale

Pours a golden-honey look, pretty clear, still a tiny bit cloudy.

The nose greets a malty-sweet undertone, coupled with a faint presence of hops resin. A little disappointed in the nose category. Hardly any finishing hops are discerned. Smells a lot like a Maibock.

They went straight to the playbook for the taste. Cascade hops, pretty bitter, with a fair amount of astringency in the finish. The body is too thin for the level of bitterness. The brew even feels bitter and unfriendly.

Certainly not a gateway IPA. Luckily I know better, but be sure to keep this out of mind when trying to pull a friend into appreciating IPAs.

On a positive note, not a terrible brew, just not very good.

Yuengling Traditional Lager

I'm going to get this out the way and start off by saying that this beer changed my feelings on the taste of beer long before I tasted Blue Moon or Sam Adams Boston Lager.  I can still remember being wary of its ability to hinder my judgment more than other widely accessible offerings, despite it having an ABV of less than 4.5%.  It's truly a classic beer, and worth imbibing happily when spending a night at a bar as it is easy to find.  On to the review:

Yuengling Traditional Lager, which refers to itself as an Amber Lager, really holds true to the color.  It's head starts out fairly strong, transcending into a low-medium rim.  A deep nose pulls out a sweet, malty, syrupy smell, balanced with more dry, grainy notes, and a hint of wet grass & autumn leaves, consequently pulling away from a bock-like aroma.  Can't ignore the floral & spicy esters.

The taste offers a mild grainy shell, a brown sugar style, sweeter center, and a drier finish.  Teasing hints of salted butter & vanilla extract.  A mild feel, very little astringency in the finish, & a clean, yet grainy-dry, aftertaste.

A solid session beer for even the budget-conscious, and one that comes through with a lot more character than the rest.

Samuel Adams Black Lager

My recent pseudo-complaint about Sam Adams pricing in southwestern PA will not stop me from buying a single now and again.  I've been closing in on this brew for a while now: Black Lager (a Schwarzbier).

An almost pitch black body pours into my nonic pint glass.  In the light, there are traces of dark copper lying at the bottom.  In the nose there are plenty of roasted coffee & dark chocolate notes.  Caramel; brown sugar.  For fellow homebrewers, I'm also smelling a freshly opened can of malt extract.

The taste is dark roasted, but matched up with an agreeable hops presence.  The hops complement the roasted character, while adding in an extra punch, winning the challenge in the end.  Brown sugar & caramel pulling through too, in the manner of an American Brown Ale.

As it warms up, the presence of alcohol starts to show itself.  Embrace it.  This is a tasty brew.  Is it too much to ask for this one to be available on tap in the winter around here?

Moosehead Lager

Poured into my Czech pilsner glass, Mooshead Lager looks heavily carbonated with a golden-straw body.  Smells grassy-hoppy, much like a European Pale Lager.  Traditional malts for a classic American Pale.  A pale, roasted character hits the nose ever so slightly.

Tastes dry, grassy, & earthy, but clean nonetheless.  A very mild feel to the brew.  It offers a clean & inoffensive finish or aftertaste.  While it doesn't force me to scream in utter praise, there's not much to complain about.  Moosehead Lager is a very balanced traditional American Pale Lager.

Dundee Kolsch Style Ale

From the makers of Genesee beer, Dundee Kolsch from a variety pack (you may be familiar with Dundee Honey Brown).

A golden, light amber color.  Smells sweet & sour, ester spice & a bit of phenolic aroma.  A hint of liquor (whiskey/bourbon).  Honey and sourdough bread (malty).  Tastes a little sweet; syrupy.  A little grainy; leafy.  An easily noticeable presence of alcohol.  Almost astringent.  Feels crisp, with a semi-dry aftertaste.  A hefty amount of carbonation.

Overall, a decent beer, but I'm guessing it's not entirely sessionable due to the discerned high level of alcohol (probably around 5.5-6%).  At least worth trying out.

Sam Adams: Overpriced?

Let me state first that I'm a big fan of Boston Beer Co's Sam Adams brews. Its flagship, Boston Lager, was one of the first craft beers I ever experienced. I credit the brewery as one of the few breweries that truly got me into beer.

But it has come to my mind that Boston Beer Co is pretty big at this point, granted, not as big as the Big 3, but it is the largest American-owned brewery. In my region, southwestern PA, a case for any of the premium Sam Adams brews run around $30-32/case out the door.

Anyone that has taken a college economics course has heard the term, "economies of scale." With the lessons taught by our knowledgeable economics professors in mind, couldn't one argue that it is about time that Sam Adams removes itself from the price class of smaller micros like Sierra Nevada & Great Lakes and fit itself appropriately in the price class of an imported light beer like Amstel Light (around $25-27/case)?

Sierra Nevada Porter

Sierra Nevada Porter pours a damn near black beer.  I see shadows of dark mahogany running down the bottom half of my nonic pint glass.



I've never smelled a porter quite like this.  It smells of cascade hops, rendering citrusy tones.  But, something is different about the smell.  It's not exactly IPA'ish, despite the discerned presence of the cascade variety.  Here it goes...

My god what a mild taste.  So soft, like Smithick's, yet a burnt toast/to dark roasted coffee shows itself in the aftertaste.  The taste from the aforementioned hops finds its way to the quarters of ones taste buds as well.

I can't even say anything more.  I want to go and enjoy this one.  It just might be the greatest beer I've ever had.  Sierra Nevada's Porter definitely prides itself in balance.  There, that's it.  Cheers!

Schell's Maifest

This beer pours a pretty honey-golden hue, with a fizzy (but healthy) head and the lacing to match.  Smells of sweet caramel & a touch of butterscotch.  Tastes of caramel, honey, butterscotch, cane sugar, balanced with a quality hops profile.  Slightly syrupy.



Schell's Maifest feels medium-sized with an effortless bite and tingle.  It goes down nicely and leaves the mouth feeling almost as if it just experienced a butterscotch sunday, but still shy of that cloying characteristic.  A lot of malty-goodness in this brew; can't forget to point that out.  I'm certain I could sit at a bar and savor 4-5 pints of this one.  Cheers!

Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald (Porter Ale)

This beer is as black as a stout, and smells of rich, rich coffee, brewed with dark cocoa.  On top sits a delicious looking, fluffy beige head.  I haven't even tasted it yet (not my first, but it's been a while).



The taste is dark & burnt, like pile driving your face into a fire pit flooded by last night's rain.  The lacing is clinging.

The feel of this brew is silky and creamy, but in the manner that melted dark chocolate is silky and creamy.

This delicious specimen of brew master passion & effort has besieged my brain with thoughts of a heavy breakfast, filled to the brim with eggs, potatoes, bacon & sausage, and followed by a delicious chocolate pastry for an after-breakfast dessert.

Great Lakes is certainly one of my most adored breweries, period.

Pete's Wicked Ale

Appearance is pseudo mahogany brown. Very little head, but I may have gotten an out-dated bottle.



Smell is malty & reveals a bit of caramel/brown sugar aromas. A touch of alcohol comes through towards the end.

Taste offers a hint of caramel and brown sugar and an agreeable bite from the hops.  A buttery presence may be due to the English tradition.

Mouthfeel is pleasant. A medium body comes to mind.

A worthy beer, but not exactly top notch - however, I'd imagine this would be far better on tap (as most beers tend to be). Regardless, it's a very drinkable brew. I can see myself sitting at a bar drinking 5-6 pints of this stuff with no problem. It's kind of like the Yuengling of brown ale's.

Steigmaier Pale Ale & IPA

Stegmaier Pale Ale:

This Pale Ale pours a golden, lager-looking body, albeit coupled with an extremely fluffy-white head. It smells of tangerine zest, with a floral element, and a hint of a soapy/chalky character.

The taste is, of course, hoppy, with the hops tasting pretty dry, and sort of to the point. The orange zest in the smell does come out a little in the taste, striking with a hint of citrusy flavors from the hops. The taste is ultimately mildly dry with a moderate astringency, so balanced for the purpose of imbibing several sessions.

If you are a fan of Pale Ale's that offer a somewhat dry, less pretentious or showy version of the style, this one might be for you.

Stegmaier India Pale Ale:

Stegmaier IPA pours a beautiful amber body with an egg white head.

It smells of hops, cascade being one variety I found distinguishable, and unsurprisingly so.

The brew carries a big bite, several steps up from the junior Pale Ale, appropriately. The hoppy-kick is paired with a nice malt level, just enough to balance the beer out.

I can't say much more or offer any more analysis than that. It's a solid IPA.

Personally, I like the Steigmaier IPA over the the Pale Ale, but that's just me. Feel free and try them both.

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout

Picked up a 550 ml bottle of this stuff at Giant Eagle (just started selling beer). That's roughly 1.5 beers at the 12 oz portion, which cost me $3.99. A legendary brewery's offering from England found its way into a supermarket in Pennsylvania. Translation: I'm not complaining.


The beer is black, unsurprisingly. An outstanding beige head with beautiful, fluffy lacing hangs out in my nonic pint glass.

Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout smells of alcohol, tart fruit (indistinguishable, but I know it's present) with biscuity notes; even cookie dough.

The taste/mouthfeel is soft & delicate, but dark & toasty. One of the attributes that I find so incredible about stouts is their ability to carry a high number of IBU's (International Bittering Units) without the senses realizing it. I'm guessing there are 70-80 IBU's in this brew, but the dark quality of the style hides the quantity, rendering it at about half that estimate to ones sense of taste.

The beer is very buttery (diacetyl), but the more negative aspect of that byproduct doesn't seem to make it to the front. I have no qualms with its position in the beer. As far as I'm concerned, it knows where it stands, and doesn't get in the way like it tends to in certain English Pale Ales.

This one I certainly recommend. Sooner or later I'll get to the Nut Brown Ale...

MillerCoors Owns Leinenkugel

So I went to a distributor last evening for a 30-pack of Genesee Cream Ale (I'm going on a cheap binge to drive me toward splurging on something delicious), and there were Miller girls offering tastings. I immediately was offered a tasting outside of the cooler by the Miller girls and I asked what they had. "Miller Chill, MGD 64, and Sunset Wheat." I said that I had all of those except for MGD 64, but that I wasn't interested in MGD 64 because it is too light. I then went to pay for my 30 pack. The lady at the counter said to get another case because the one I brought up was ripped. I did, and as I walked out of the cooler for the second time it struck me. I asked one of the girls, "Does Miller own Leinenkugel now?" She responded "Yes, it's a Miller product."

!!!! How long has this been a fact? It makes me wonder now about whether or not back in 2006--when I first had Sunset Wheat and first had anything from Leinenkugel--the brewery was self standing. All in all, I wanted to vomit right there on the tasting table.

I don't want to give the wrong idea - I'm not just out to boycott anything put out by Miller - I'm not that insane. I just don't want to see more and more of good to great craft breweries get bought out by the BMC vacuum. I want to see real competition on the market. I don't want to see brands that one giant corporation owns competing amongst each other. I'm a competitionist, not a capitalist. That's all I'm saying...

Stoudt's Fat Dog Imperial Oatmeal Stout

This brew is black as night with a brownish-beige nougat head. Good lacing.

Offers a milk stout smell: strawberries, oatmeal, brown sugar & toasted raisin bread. I love it!

The taste is outstanding! Alcohol presence much like a heavy winter warmer. Toasted malts and, as a result, indistinguishable hops. A sweet-bitter finish. The alcohol makes it hard to distinguish much more, but there are sweet qualities very similar to an english style barleywine.

A good bite in the feel. A little bit of acidity; a tiny bit of aggression. Can't complain! This is a Class-A oatmeal stout - my first Imperial.

Guiness Draught

I poured the bottle into a nonic pint glass, appropriately.



Looks black with the typical nougat head.

Smells like a mild stout: coffee, roasted malts, far, far away.

Tastes like it's been intentionally watered down to make a MGD 64 drinker feel like they are branching out.

It literally feels like a glass of water.

This is a truly disappointing stout. I watched the "Historic Pubs of Dublin" PBS special today (again) and was inspired to have a good stout or a Guinness. A sad, sad, night.

Schlitz

Up until about a week ago, I never thought I'd be drinking this beer, let alone reviewing it.



It has a yellow-golden look with a short head, but enough lacing to keep me happy.

It smells of hops and a little bit of sweet corn. Don't let the latter element to the description of the smell fool you; it's actually pretty pleasant.

It has a nice hoppy bite to it, and an extremely clean finish. It tastes like its macro counterparts, only Schlitz is cleaner and better overall.

This is by far the best macro American Adjunct Lager available, and at around $12 bucks a case, one simply cannot go wrong.

The Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout

I almost had an accident.  No, not that kind of accident.  This beer drilled its way to the top of my glass before I could say "oh, shit!" and forced me to swallow up some of the nice soda-beige head that was willing to barrel out of the glass if I didn't do something about it.



The brew is black as night, save a few dark brown mahogany spots down below when I hold the glass in front of my lamp.  It smells sweet: blackberries, brown sugar, concord grapes, maybe even some brown raisins. As it warms up I smell some coffee mixed in with the rest of the aromas.

The taste is far more gritty.  Black malts, spent coffee.  Still, this being a milk stout, it's gritty on a sugar high. Almost makes my mouth pucker.

The mouthfeel is very appealing; a sweet kiss, and a citric quality follows through like I sucked a lime.

I found this brew to be a pretty tasty milk stout from The Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery.

Arcadia IPA

I've never before had an IPA that smelled quite like this...sour apple (much like a cider), brown sugar, and a faint note of toffee, far, far away.



The taste is fairly malty, suggesting that this is the kind of IPA that pushes for malt flavors, rather than an all out blast of hops.  No doubt, the hops are definitely there as there is a lot of bitterness to this brew.  Clean grains match up to the IBU's, culminating into a very balanced taste.

The color is honey-amber, coupled with a quality off-white head. A nice level of lacing acts as if it is stitched to the body of the beer. An excellent medium body, and an extremely clean finish makes this a highly enjoyable beer for me.

Southern Tier's IPA

I bought a single of this brew for $1.73, generally the average price I head to for one bottle of beer.



From the 12 oz bottle it smells of amarillo/cascade hops. Poured into a nonic pint glass, the brew looks light-amber, desperately trying to show an orange hue, or maybe my lighting is fooling me. The brew is pretty clear; crisp. A grimy, spotty white head (hues, not quality). Healthy 1/4 inch head or a little less. Stormy lacing.

Smells of citrus, amarillo/cascade hops, grapefruit. Tastes of fresh grapefruit, carrying a bitter-sweet malt-hops ratio, alcohol, & a flavorless corn cob. Feels soft, with a creamy/minced grain quality, and a medium body in well enough shape to throw it down with you several times over.  A clean finish overall, coupled with the hops resin that comes with the territory.  A brew worth buying.

Penn Brewery's Penn Weizen

Poured a 12 oz bottle into an imperial pint glass.

An old label. Nowadays look for a woman carrying bundles of wheat/grain.

A glowing amber look. Decent lacing, not a lot of head.

Awesome smell of banana muffins. Yeasty.

Delicious taste - a good amount of wheat, a lot of sweet bananas. Clove.

A very nice medium body. A solid mouthfeel.

Definitely one of Penn Brewery's best.

Church Brew Works - Pious Monk Dunkel

12 oz bottle poured into nonic pint glass.

Very pretty dark amber brown. Silky lacing.



Smells of malty caramel & brown sugar. Grainy alcohol & brown bread.

A medium body with alcohol & hops taking the lead, then caramel & brown sugar coming through to the palate.

A very calm mouthfeel; hardly one thing to complain about. Enough bite to make it a beer, enough tenderness to make it a wife.

Pretty much a solid, all around brew. There's nothing I dislike about it. Highly drinkable, and from me, highly recommended.

CRAFT BEER CONSUMER PROTECTION ACTION ALERT:
Live in or around the Pittsburgh area?  Check out the Church Brew Works Brewpub in Lawrenceville, PA, or look for their beer next time you visit your local distributor/six-pack shop.

Samuel Adams' Summer Ale

I'm pretty sure I had this on tap last summer at the Capstone Grill in Canonsburg, PA, and I wasn't really into it then. I figured I'd give it another shot, and be certain that I've actually tried the brew.

I poured a 12 oz bottle into my nonic pint glass.


The appearance is disappointing. Overly carbonated, weak head, spotty lacing, and a yellow-amber look.

The smell is a little better. Pretty refreshing, very zesty, grassy, with a touch of wet dog.

The taste is sub-par. Oily/soapy hop character (reminiscent of Victory's Prima Pils), cardboard, lemon zest. A good light-medium body, nonetheless.

The mouthfeel is quality. Active, but not angry and obnoxious.

Personally, buying a single of Samuel Adams' Summer Ale to try it out is fine (I paid about $1.67), but I' m not going near a case.

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

This beer tends to receive a lot of general compliments online, so I decided to finally give it a try.

It shows a pretty amber glow, with a solid white top.


Smells of sweet citrus fruits on ice (frozen pineapple & grapefruit), floral hops, a hint of bready character, possibly a pound cake in the far distance.

Taste is very astringent, with the hops pushing the max on bitterness. The taste is extraneous and surprisingly unrelated to the expectations derived from the welcoming smell. Warming notes from the alcohol, and a teasing amount of the citrus flavors from the smell that I expected to find more pronounced in the taste.

The mouthfeel offers a silky tingle, and the finish concludes with a lingering grainy aftertaste.

Not at all what I was expecting. I was hoping the citrus and/or floral character from hops traditionally tossed in an American IPA would show in this brew. The bittering character was, in my opinion, too dry and lacked a friendlier compliment. But, if you are into American IPA's that pack a bitter punch and leave the flower giving for anniversary celebrations, this one just might be what you are looking for.

If Bar Crawlers Drank Better Beer

The bar crawl has become the thing to do in today's American binge-beer culture. Chances are, if you haven't partaken in the all night activity yourself, you know someone who has.

Early on in my beer drinking lifestyle (not that long ago), my friends and I would do the "South Side Crawl" in the South Side of Pittsburgh, PA. We'd hit up half of a dozen bars in one night, walking, of course. It was a great way to freshen the view while imbibing bland light beer after bland light beer, and it certainly was an expression of our excitement from being able to be served alcohol like an adult finally.

Nowadays, a few friends still stick to the routine, but I've grown out of it for more than one reason. First being, I'm a married man. Not only do I have no interest in going to several bars in one night, intoxicating myself to the point that I shouldn't drive, but a married man has no business acting like a bachelor, and behaving like a fool with no attachments. Secondly, I don't drink light beer. Light beer is the key to bar crawls.

Light beer is the key to bar crawls for two reasons. One: light beer allows one to drink excessively all night, so walking to bar after bar to limited selection bar after limited selection bar isn't a problem. Secondly, and this really points to why bar crawls are so "fun": light beer is boring, and as a result, people that drink light beer tend to not enjoy staying in one place all night.

Light beer drinkers don't much like conservation either, unless it involves texting someone on their cell phone, discussing sports, or something else that is on a big-screen TV while at a bar (for the time being...). But after hanging around with someone in the same bar, even when a sports game is on (and that is pretty much always), after a little while the instinct for conversation rears its ugly head and the awkwardness of social obligation forces the light beer drinker to suggest, "Hey, how about we go to the next bar?"

This is where the craft beer drinker should step in and say, "Actually, I was kind of thinking I'd try that curious beer on tap that is flanked by Miller Lite & Budweiser. I heard it's a witbier. Want to give it a shot?" From that angle, as long as the crawler bit the bait, the possibilities for social interaction and--one can only hope--better beer drinking are pretty intriguing. Wouldn't you agree?

Wolaver's Organic Brown Ale

I poured a 12-oz bottle into a Czech Pilsner glass.

The brew is a nice brown mahogany with a lacy walnut-colored head.

The smell is deep, offering an immediate malty character, aggregated with lots of caramel & brown sugar, while the scent of alcohol sits way in the back.


Toasted malt, caramel, brown sugar, alcohol, all the qualities in the smell are found in the taste, but the alcohol comes through a bit stronger.

The feel & finish is slightly grainy, with noticeable bitterness from what I can only assume is the presence of hops, though the overall character is hard to discern.

Overall, I really enjoy this beer from Wolaver's in Middlebury, Vermont. It has a moderate body, a healthy malt presence, and enough bittering units to more than satisfy the intrigued beer drinker.

A Tripel: Weyerbacher's Merry Monks' Ale

I've seen Weyerbacher brews prior to picking this one up.  In fact, I've used their empty 4-packs to carry out a variety of singles on more than one occasion.  Late last week, I finally decided to give them a shot.


I went with their brew, Merry monks' Ale  (about $2.04 a single).  It sits at 9.3% ABV.

A nice yellow-golden look with a healthy head and fairly decent lacing that falls back in the pool after a few seconds.  I smell an enormous amount of yeast, some alcohol, and ripe banana.

The taste is yeasty; definitely alcohol chords coming through due to the high content, and easily some fresh bananas.

A nice medium body, with a bitter mouth feel that surprisingly isn't too over the top.  For 9.3% ABV, Weyerbacher has pulled it off by offering up a great tasting brew--which reminds me of Franziskaner's Weissbier (but much stronger)--that at least matches, if not out does, the high level of alcohol.

Bell's Oberon Ale

12 oz bottle poured into nonic pint glass.
 

Appearance: Almost solid gold with a number of tiny, grayish-black floaties near the bottom. Quality lacing & refreshingly appealing head.

Smell: Faint oranges on top of toasted wheat bread.

Taste: A nice balance of wheat grains, slightly oily hops, & citrus chords. Grainy-hop presence is a bit astringent. Finishes with a lingering quality that fades out just in time.

Mouthfeel: Bitter up front with a silky lathering on the roof & tongue.

Drinkability: Medium body with a lighter taste. I definitely could enjoy more than a few.

Penn Brewery's Kaiser Pils

A few notes on Penn Brewery's Kaiser Pils:

I bought a case in California, PA for $28.59 before tax.

Drank some homemade elderberry wine in celebration of my grandfather-in-law's 91st birthday before I tasted this brew, which unfortunately threw off my taste buds.

I didn't much care for it last night, so I opened up a bottle today to give it another chance and let it breathe in a nonic pint glass. The result was in the positive direction.

There's no freshness date on the bottle, so who knows if the age of the brew is effecting the quality. The head has disappeared, 3/4's of the way in.

The look is yellow-golden; typical pilsner. The taste offers very oily, bitter hops. The smell is a little grassy, pretty refreshing, with a hint of barley.

Medium body, decent mouthfeel, but personally a brew I'll drink less of. I prefer Penn Dark, Penn Gold, & Penn Pilsner over Kaiser Pils from the brewery in the north side of Pittsburgh, PA.

Brew Free or Die IPA

This is a brew from 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, California. They are one of the craft breweries that I know of (alongside Oskar Blues) that distributes their beer in cans.



The beer offers an amber color; shadow fingers on the other side of the glass, so, it's close to opaque, but not quite.

The bittering units are incredible. Their presence was one of the first things I noticed, so I decided to look on the can for the possibility that their quantity would be mentioned. The can lists 70 IBU's! From what I've heard, that's about 7 times the amount found in a light beer.

The lacing and head retention is quite impressive. I'm 3/4's of the way into this brew and I've still got a half inch of head hanging around. It's happy, and is showing no signing of giving in.

The smell is profound. I closed my eyes and racked my brain trying to pin point the ingredients. The smell reminds me of the hybrid juices my grandmother used to keep in the fridge. Pineapple & grapefruit is coming out to the delight of anyone around.

The taste is extremely bitter, with a malty character following the initial notes. This IPA definitely has a uniqueness about it. The brewer certainly made a point of bringing out hops & malts to create a more complex set of abrasive contents. Cheers!

Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale

12 oz bottle poured into nonic pint glass.


This beer first let me down once I poured what looked like a golden lager, instead of the amber-orange hue I was expecting. But, that aside, I thought that if it tasted good, I could get over my expectation and appreciate the brew still.

The smell isn't bad, but it's a little over the top, personally, and a slightly on the artificial side, regardless of whether artificial flavors were used or not.

The head retention and lacing is probably the most honorable mention in respect to this brew.

As a result of the taste, which I can only describe as two beverages that have been thrown together without offering a thought into the direction of balance, with one of the beverages being a skunky frat beer & the other being a cheap orange soft drink, this beer doesn't hold a lot of weight in the area of drinkability. Still, I respect the attempt from Buffalo Bill's.

FURTHERMORE:
If my suggestions were to matter, here are a few that I think could improve on this brew:
I got too much of an 'Orange Slice' taste and smell from this brew. I think a little more body, a little less carbonation, would not only improve on the taste and feel, but also might cut back on the overwhelming smell of oranges.

Guinness Extra Stout for St. Patrick's Day

I'm normally not one for tradition, but I picked up a 24 oz bottle of Guinness Extra Stout today in honor of St. Patrick's Day.



Guinness Extra Stout is not the Guinness usually seen at bars all over the U.S.  The stuff myself and everyone else is used to seeing is Guinness Draught, and from what I've read, the Extra Stout is a lighter brew.

I've also read that the Extra Stout is what used to be Guinness' porter up until the end of the 18th century.  According to Todd Alstrom of BeerAdvocate.com, "This is the real Guinness, in my opinion. Known and labeled as their "Original," and actually, originally, their Porter product during the 1700's (becoming their Stout in 1799). An exceptional Stout! The 60/40 nitro-injected stuff you get at the pub today is fairly new to this world (1961) -- it hardly stands up to this brew."

I haven't had a Guinness Draft in a few years, but I can definitely remember enough about its quality to recognize the body difference between the Draught & the Extra Stout.  This brew really does look and taste more like a porter.  There's an unmistakable bitterness that reminds me of Yuengling Porter, but I think Guinness' Extra Stout has a remarkably cleaner finish.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat and Hazed & Confused Dry Hopped Ale

A few more enjoyed at Lagerheads in Coal Center, PA.

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat:



I first bought this brew with a friend about 4 summers ago.  We bought a case for around 13 dollars!  Started drinking about 1-2 in the afternoon and convinced ourselves that we had better go back out and get another case.  At the time I was living with my parents, and my father was not happy with our foolish second trip.  As a result, a huge fight broke out between myself and my parents, and my buddy started mowing the grass to repair his standing with my folks.  Kind of funny to look back on, but definitely an important experience in regards to learning about responsibility.  Oh, and I emitted blueberry-infused gas from the behind for the next 12-14 hours.  On to the beer...

12 oz bottle poured into frozen 9-10 oz mug, little by little.  Cloudy wheat beer, contains plentiful traces of mashing.  Golden-Amber color.  Fizzy lacing!

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat tastes like early morning blueberry muffins on a little hoppy trip.  Can't really taste the wheat.  It definitely doesn't have the evident wheat content like that which is found in Bell's Winter White Ale.

The brew is very refreshing, any time of the year.  Today happens to be a sunny day towards the end of winter, and the brew really counters the temperature outside.

Sunset Wheat smells like an unpeeled orange or a vegetable crisper (in the fridge) stuffed with fresh fruits.  Snowflake foam!  Pleasantly stable feel to the brew with an unquestionably medium body.

Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale (Boulder, CO)



Solid-brown look, malty-brown taste on over drive.  A little hops come through to offer a bitter note.  Dark chocolate taste with raisins.  A bock-like view from the top of the pond.  A very nice carbonation-lacing relationship, pretty active.

Hazed & Infused Dry Hopped Ale has a very balanced taste for a roasted malt, somewhat hoppy take on this style of beer.  It stands as one of the few I could have several of.

Sly Fox Pikeland Pils

Unfortunately I have a sizable Anthropology exam to continue studying for tonight, so I'll keep this one brief (I couldn't help but have a beer, and I really wanted to review this one):



Tastes like a European Pale Lager, similiar in taste to Pilsner Urquell, but far less robust in body and IBU's than the classic from the Czech Republic.

Pikeland Pils smells of cloves, wheat, and yeast. One might also suggest that corn was brewed in the wort, but I'm giving Sly Fox the benefit of the doubt and guessing it's just yeast. Looks like Miller Lite, Bud Light, or Coors Lite, but with better ingredients as evidenced by the quality foam/head retention.

The brew definitely has a slightly sour taste, but the hops balance it all out. Pikeland Pils is very sessionable. My one and only complaint would be the yeasty-corn smell that kind of gets to me after a few good sips. Other than that, I'm fine. Final word: Pikeland Pils definitely stands as effort enough to interest me in trying another from the brewery from Royersford, Pennsylvania.

Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale

I've finally gone ahead and picked up a single of Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale, a curious brew I first noticed in six packs a year or two ago.



Sierra Nevada's brews almost always have an unmistakable hops smell. The only brew from this outstanding brewery that doesn't have the smell, to my knowledge, would be the recently released Glissade, a pretty distinct bock that is light in color and pilsner-style sharp in hop character.

This barleywine style ale is up there with Sierra Nevada's Estate, a tasty beverage a friend and I had the pleasure of enjoying several weeks ago while sharing a 24 oz bottle.

Not that I'm an expert, but I was thinking loudly, "Cascade!" when I got my first whiff and taste of Bigfoot. Turns out I was right, partly. Cascade hops are at work with Centennial and Chinook, all engaging in a variety of quality tactics. Just check the Sierra Nevada website to find out more.

The foam is always a half-inch thick, and the lacing is hefty.  In fact, the lacing actually drys up on the glass.  It gives you a good idea of how bitter the hops actually are in this brew.  The color is amber-red, and the smell is outstanding.

Gosh this stuff is delicious!

Druken Blueberries: Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout

I'm generally a fan of blueberry-infused beer, so when I saw Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout I was instantly convinced that I needed to buy one, or maybe it was the Buffalo Bill name, a brewery I first read about in a Michael Jackson book from the 1980's.



It's a dark looking brew, nothing less of what you'd expect from a brew that carries the stout title. I'll be honest and say my pour was a little off, so I've had to shake the beer up a bit to develop a healthier head, but for what I lack, the brew itself makes up for my mistakes with decent head retention.

The malts in the brew are really thin, giving into the bitterness of hops and alcohol. The blueberry taste is there and coming on pretty strong. I was hoping for a thicker take, just shy of a milkshake, but I can't let my expectations trump the identity of the brew.

The smell emits alcohol and fresh concord grapes. One could say blueberries, but it might only be because they expect it to smell that way after they look at the label.

My one complaint, and yes, this is rare for me to have a complaint, unless I'm drinking something fizzy and yellow-golden: too much alcohol coming through on the taste. Once again I'm going back to the thin issue, but I don't think I'm way off in saying that whatever one must do to thicken this brew up (add more malted barley?), it would really improve on the idea of tossing blueberries in a stout. Make it a milk stout with the delectable fruit, lessen the hops level, and I'll really like this beer. Nonetheless, it's a good brew.

Another 3 at Lager Heads: Sierra Nevada PA, Bud Light Golden Wheat & Dogfish Head 60-Min IPA

On Monday afternoon I drove the short distance to Coal Center, PA again to stop in and have a few at Lagerheads. Here are the notes I jotted down:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

Appearance - Golden Amber-Orange. A little cloudy but in no way opaque. Very little head retention, slim lacing. Healthy carbonation, but not as bad as some that I've seen.

Taste - Hops & maybe a bit of grapefruit far in the back. Finishes very light body-wise, but the hoppy finish may dissuade a light beer drinker from ordering another.

Smell - Grapefruit, bitter orange & hops.

Body - Light-Medium on the palate, lighter on the finish.


Bud Light Golden Wheat:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

A lot of carbonation. 3/4 inch head disappeared as fast as a soda, probably less than 20 seconds.

Amber-Orange look. Really sweet smell. Smells of coriander, orange, Zebra gum (Fruit Stripe), maybe a little Juicy Fruit gum.

Taste is kind of dry-hoppy, some of the coriander & fruit.

Look is cloudy & opaque. My palm creates a shadow when around the glass, darkening the look of the brew.

Absolutely no head, no lacing after a few minutes. I'd dare to say no lacing even in the beginning. A few carbonation pellets pop up, nothing more. Stirring the beer up helps for a small fraction of time, but the brew returns to its disposition shortly after.

Bud Light Golden Wheat is basically an unenthusiastic Blue Moon Belgian White Ale.


Dogfish Head 60-Minute IPA:



12 oz bottle poured into pint glass.

Golden brown look. Sweet, floral hops. Decent head retention. Bitter hops.

A more lively style of IPA - makes use of more aromatic, brazen hops.

Very silky feel the body of the brew. Bitterness of the brew makes it hard to discern a body-type, but I'm leaning towards medium.

Island of head and 3/4 lacing rim remains til the end of the serving.

Some grapefruit in the smell and taste as well.

One could definitely assume a bit of roasted malt in this brew, something I've rarely pulled from IPA's. Malts all together are typically absent from IPA's according to my tastebuds.