Poperings hommel ale

Notes from 5/17/11

330 ml/11.2 fl oz bottle poured into goblet-like wine glass.

Appears cloudy blonde-gold with a creamy white head. Some visible carbonation, but a fairly opaque body.

Spicy esters of belgian yeast, ripe bananas and pineapple juice shoot forward in the nose. A woodsy aroma coupled with a warm alcoholic presence sits faintly in the backend. A nutty caramel aroma delivers as it warms up.

A bold graininess hits the palate first, followed by yeasty notes and a creamy, yet prickly hop finish. Citrusy hop oils linger a bit before prefacing a nut-dry finish.

Fruity ale characteristics in the feel of this brew. Delicate at first glance with a fiercer second opinion. Hops aid in creating a creamy body. Medium bodied on the lighter side.

Beer Styles, Not Flavors

Am I a beer snob for adamantly asserting that beer variations, particularly when dealing with beer brands, should not be referred to as "flavors?"

No, I think not. I'm just a fella who likes real beer and thinks the variance label that is "flavor" belongs to the malternative, juice beer stuff that's way overpriced.

Beer on the other hand is probably the most diverse beverage on the face of the earth. With literally dozens of styles to choose from, beginning with whether or not it's an ale or a lager you're going to be imbibing (...maybe another column I'll vent on the public misconception related to ales and lagers), beer is far more complex and therefore should be more highly regarded when advertised/promoted than say...soda pop.

With a few exceptions, most microbrew beers are not a simple concoction of a bland canned pilsner and a [you fill it in] flavoring extract. No, all one needs to do is leave that up to the big domestics who are currently deluding the public with faux microbreweries and brands. That being the case, why promote real micro products like they're sitting on a shelf next to a case of Capri Sun?

By using an adult word like "style" instead of the kid friendly noun that is "flavor," you--advertising distributors--are speaking to the right market (people 21 and over), avoiding frustrating the women (and some men) that thought [you fill it in] was going to taste like juice beer and, most importantly, helping to enlighten the many people still out there that think of beer in the most simple, barely nuanced way: light, heavy, dark.

And on that note, I could really go for a munich dunkel lager right now.

 By my estimation this gentleman is likely drinking an Irish dry stout (an Irish ale like Guinness Draught)

Penn Brewing's Weizenbock

Notes from 5/1/2011 -

22 oz bottle with no freshness date.

Appears opaque brown with a creamy, nougat colored rim. Yeasty in the nose. Spicy & aromatic. Dry wheat tones help balance out the overall aroma. Lively spices with alcohol clearing a path.

Feels creamy up front with enough hops in the finish. Malty sweet; over-riped bananas. Yeasty flavors dry on the tongue. A little bit of the alcohol shows. Medium mouth-feel on the delicate side. Enjoyed this one.

Buffalo Bill's Alimony Ale (IPA)

12 oz bottle poured into an Imperial Nonic slash Weizen glass of sorts with a Leinenkugel logo.

Tarnished gold, amber-orange body. Swampy head w/ a thin egg white rim. Cloudy in appearance. Fruity & floral in the nose w/ pineapple coming to mind. Heat from the alcohol. A bit of a bready aroma; buttery. Sweet caramel in the back end.

A malty-bitter jab to the tastebuds. Alcohol is obvious, but not overbearing. An IPA on the maltier side.

Medium to heavy bodied brew w/ a slick feel. A night capper.

Duquesne Pilsener Beer

Golden appearance--almost transparent--with a decent rim. Steady carbonation bubbles rise to the top.

A dry sweetness in the nose; hay-like; grains & floral hops. Fairly mild.

Taste is attenuated with a syrupy body. Hops are a little reserved, but do provide for a lot of the flavor.

Medium-bodied with discernible attenuation.

Notes: A good-for-the-price kind of beer, plus some. A poor man's pilsner. Duquesne Pilsener Beer comes off like Pittsburgh Brewing Company's Augustiner (Vienna Lager) without the brown sugar, sweet amber flavor. Incidentally, I think the two brews are brewed by the same brewery or at the same location.

Bitburger Premium Beer

1 PINT 0.9 FL OZ can poured into a nonic pint glass. Yellow-gold in appearance with a frothy egg-white head that slims down to a simple rim. Cloudy in the glass.

Smells of grapes, yeast & furnished wood.

Hops carry the brew, hiding what would otherwise be obvious attenuation. Fruity element comes through from inside the hoppy shell. Yeasty in the finish.

An average medium body with a fairly agreeable mouthfeel makes this brew pretty drinkable. It could certainly serve as a gateway selection toward hoppier beers. Buy a can and pour it in a glass.

Notes: $1.79 for a good beer in a can slightly larger than a pint makes Derek highly satisfied.

North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin (Russian Imperial Stout)

Black as night with a tan head. Inky black blots drip on the head as I pour every last drop out of the bottle. Head thins out fairly quickly. Regardless, head retention is there.

Smells amazing: candy-sweet hops (I think it's hiding something from me...), roasted malts, charcoal (can someone say "Prime Rib?"). Sweet fruits remind me of how much I love Ales over Lagers (this is not a fruit beer!). Meaty and savory; full flavored.

Head first in the fire pit with the first sip from the glass. Abundantly burnt, but in a good way. Slick hops help balance the dryness of this brew. Lingering qualities. Certainly a sipper, but I can't help but throw it down. Pitch blackness infiltrates the tan head as it rides up the rim of the glass. Alcohol shows itself like a toned down liquor (9% ABV). Bitter hops blend with the burnt flavors to offer up a serious Stout.

A great brew to enjoy. Cheers!

Yuengling Black & Tan

Out of the can: pitch black with dark brown edges. Nougat colored head slims down, but keeps its composure.

Smells malty; brown sugar; homemade icing on an overdone cake; notably hoppy.

Taste: toasted sweetness on a thin bed of charcoal. Well attenuated while sustaining a respectable body. Hops catch up as it warms and I start quaffing. Like Yuengling Bock, this brew's body turns watery as it warms and is shaken to pull out aromas. I'm starting to think this may be an inevitable characteristic of blended and packaged Black & Tans.

Notes: Yuengling makes good use of its less stellar, Premium brew, as the tan, matched up with their, better than decent, Porter (actually a lager) beer. I really enjoy this on-tap (in some respects it reminds me of Sierra Nevada Stout), and I have no complaints about it being poured into a glass from a Tall Boy can (pint).

Miller High Life Light

Out of the can pours a tarnished yellow-golden hue.  Soft white head sits atop for a minute or two, ultimately settling down to an oddly messy, thin, splattered head. Notably carbonated.

Smells as expected. Faint example of sweet malts; Pilsner-esque; near-muted, but rounded grassiness. Very mild.

Tastes of slight oxidation with a tangy metallic character. Thin, but rounded out with sweet malts (again, faint), and balanced with just a touch of hops. Predominately wet; hardly dry at all until the finish. Apparent adjuncts like rice and/or corn utilized in the wort/brewing process. Corn husk starts to build up in the aftertaste, but nothing too bad.

Not as thin as some light beers, and that I like. Suggestions of a syrupy body, but enough hops to counteract the entrance to that avenue.

A worthy change-up brew for the light-beer-inclined; the folks that refuse to step away from the American Adjunct Lager style.

Gennesee Light (Genny Light)

Yellow in appearance like carbonated water mixed with yellow food coloring for the purpose of staining eggs around Easter. Head doesn't stick around for long, but a slim rim does. Well carbonated.

Icy-grass aroma with mild pilsner-like qualities. Some hops surfing in the distance. Dry in the nose for the most part.

Pleasant taste. Clean and inoffensive. Enough bite to make it a beer, but still balanced with the modest tasting, pale malt character.

Hard to ask for more balance out of this little guy. It doesn't rush to conclusions as it delivers a subtle progression of bitterness, moisture, and finally, an agreeable, slow-dry cleansing. I'm interested in finding this on-tap just to see what it's made of in my favorite format.

Notes: While I find Genny Light to be a quality light beer, I'm still not a fan of the style. A once-in-the-while for me, at best. If anything, it's much better than the Big 3 (Bud Light, Miller Lite & Coors Light).

21st Amendment's Bitter American (Pale Ale)

4 sentences for a 4.4% ABV pale ale from 21st Amendment Brewery...

Slightly hazy amber-orange appearance, with a slim, but sustained, head.
Cinnamon-butter and pineapple found happily in the nose.
Carried by dry hops in the taste, with a near-balancing amount of toasty malts.
Feels and finishes dry; exceptionally approachable and impressive.

...One of the best session beers I've had yet.

Notes: Came in a can; poured into a fat weizen glass.

Great Divide's Hibernation Ale (bottled 2007 - imbibed 1-16-2011)

Notes from 1-16-2011 (Bottled 2007)

From the bottle it smells of milk chocolate with dark notes. Poured into czech pilsner glass, the brew is dark brown and kind of scary. Very little head. Hardly any at all; slim rim. Tons of sediment in suspension.

Tastes like I'll survive to see tomorrow. Chocolate-y with warming alcohol in the back. They didn't shy from the use of hops; definitely counteracts the sweetness from the discerned use of chocolate malts. Again, so much sediment in suspension; quite the thing to see. This brew is likely a hoppy, cold cocoa.

Hefty body to this one. The alcohol really starts to come out when the temperature begins to rise past the 40 degrees mark.

Mouthfeel transcends into a more syrupy condition. Alcohol, hops and chocolate malts start to bring out a smoky, burnt malts taste. As tasty as last year, at least I remember it that way.

Yuengling Bock

Mahogany-brown in appearance with a light-gray head on top that slims down to a thin yet respectable rim with a misty surface. Smells of wet malts and strange hoppy aromas. Floral with citrus notes (lemon and lime). Alcohol shows itself in the nose as well. Swirled the beer for more head and caught a whiff of a well-herbed beef stroganoff with mushrooms. Call me crazy.

Taste is muddled at first sip. Dry, bitter, and a bit muted. Fairly hoppy. Attenuation, just a smidgen; I'm not complaining. Alcohol flavor pulls itself up from below the stage. Faint caramel notes.

Mouthfeel...drink cold for best results. I'm drinking another to take another look, and a cold Yuengling Bock feels a lot better than one that's warming up after 20-30 mins. Pretty close to their Black & Tan in that respect.

Not bad; a little messy. Similar to Penn Brewery's St. Nikolaus Bock, but not as good.

SIDE NOTE: I've heard whispers that Yuengling Bock is merely another Black & Tan style of beer; this time a mixture of Yuengling Traditional Lager with Yuengling Porter or the Black & Tan. In my opinion, Yuengling would do better to create an authentic Bock. Still, if your Yuengling fan (and I'm one), not a bad seasonal change-up from the year-rounds.