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!