Sam Adams Cream Stout

It pours a clear black with an incredibly large, brown head that consists of very fine bubbles and lasts for several minutes leaving great lacing on the glass. The malt smells thick of coffee grounds and little else.

The starting flavor is very bitter with a creamy mouthfeel (hence the cream in the name, I suppose) and has a very distinct finish of slow dripped brewed coffee.

This is a fairly short review since this is a fairly uncomplex beer. Basically coffee, cream, and hops. Heh.

Maybe I'll write a better review at some point in the future when it isn't so late....

Shiner Hefeweizen

This is a bottle conditioned, wheat beer (all hefeweizens are) so it is required that you either shake the last half inch of beer to stir up the yeast off the bottom of the bottle, or swirl about half of the beer well enough to do the same. I find the former method to be the most effective for this and for producing sufficient head.

Anyway, it pours a golden yellow color with decent sized white head (the shaking makes the perfect amount) that is very cloudy with yeast. There is enough of it that you should wait a few minutes after you pour for all of it to mix evenly and after this there will still be some hovering at the top so you should swirl it to coax the rest to mix. ANYWAY. It smells strong of floral accents which primes you to expect a pretty strong hop flavor. It is initially bitter with a very light clover honey flavor, but as you swish it in the mouth, the honey and wheat flavors start to build and culminate in the finish to mask the bitterness of the strong hops and leave a sweet aftertaste.

Does not mix very well with jambalaya and tabasco.... But is effective in quenching the heat from the tabasco.

Sam Adams Honey Porter

This is part of the Sam Adams Brew Master's Collection seasonal brews.

It pours a very dark, but very clear red-amber color with a small, light brown head with little lacing, if any. Aroma is very heavy with malt, but slightly floral scented. Maybe even a slight hint of chocolate?
The malt flavor hits the senses immediately, but the sweetness and flavor of honey hits them in short succession. On the rear of the tongue (before you swallow) you detect some of the floral accents from the hops. The finish is not bitter, but is instead mildly sweet.

Certainly not at all an everyday beer because of its gravity and flavor, but if you're looking to enjoy a beer for the sake of enjoying a beer I highly recommend picking up a case of this.

Next time: Shiner Hefeweizen!

Okay, so my hiatus was shorter than expected

Between last night and the night before last, I purchased $196 worth of alcohol between beer and liquor, $70 of which was on beer. The rest of that was on some Long Island Iced Tea stuff and top shelf liquor.

Needless to say, I will continue my reviews beginning tomorrow evening. Thank you all for understanding the importance of midterms to my continued reviewing skills. As well as my education and future job opportunities.

Brief hiatus

Well, I was overdue for a new review this week, but I regret to inform my readers that I am going on a brief hiatus due to a couple of midterms I have to study for this week.

But fret not, the good news is that the money I would have spent on my selection will be saved and when I next make a visit to the liquor store, it will be a very large purchase and it follows that there will be very many more reviews.

Hope you all understand, school still comes first.

FINALLY getting around to the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I promised I would review this beer "soon" like 3 weeks ago, so now I'm making good on that promise.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a very good ale. It pours a decent head with incredible retention which sticks to the glass quite well as the amount of carbonation is superlative. It is a orange-gold color and is unfiltered so you can see some yeast floating around in the liquid (though this particular beer does not have much yeast in the bottle). The aroma is very earthy rather than malty, which stands it apart from other beers that I have tasted. The flavor is also very earthy and this is due to the high hop content of Pale Ales and if you pay close attention they also provide a subtle citrus flavor. The high hop content also makes it quite bitter which would deter the novice drinker, but is very welcome to an experienced taster. The aftertaste stays on the tongue for a much longer time than the average beer and reminds me of the smell of dirt which brings me to the mouthfeel. It feels very bold in the mouth and whetting, but at the same time triggers the brain to "feel" an earthy sensation in the mouth.

Final verdict: not for the novice. You will not enjoy it for all of its unique qualities.

Killian's Irish Red

Killian's Irish Red is a red lager whose color is......... yes, you guessed correctly, red.

It pours a great head without much of a retention to speak of. It doesn't have a pungent aroma, but is well carbonated. Flavor is bitter with hops and only slightly malty. The flavor on the back end of the tongue is incredibly sweet which is surprising considering the density of sweet taste buds, or lack thereof, in the area. Aftertaste is mildly bitter and mildly sweet. Mouthfeel is...... meh. That's about all I can say about it.

Overall, Killian's is not a particularly special beer. It's decent, but not spectacular. It's a good everyday beer, or a good "get drunk" beer.

Michelob Amber Bock

Well, today is Saturday and any good college student knows what that means. Saturday IS football. And any good male college student knows that means BEER.

In fact, today is Celebration of Man at my Fraternity. Since none of you can relate to that, I will elaborate. There are 5 TVs in the living room with a different football game on each. There is a dick ton of beer here, and plenty of bratwurst, salsa, chips, beef, and more beer.

So at the moment I am drinking an Amber Bock from Michelob. It pours a very deep brown amber color (the label on the neck of the bottle also states this) and a GREAT head with decent retention. Aroma is extremely sweet and malty; even the hops are aromatic and add a slight floral scent. It is well carbonated, maybe a little too much, but it is not overpowering. Flavor is malty and sweet, with a very slick mouthfeel; almost lubricating. It is slightly bitter as it slides down the rear of the tongue, but aftertaste is almost lacking of any bitterness whatever.

The donut I ate just before this beer didn't go particularly well with it, but it wasn't bad.

Beer blog SPECIAL!

That's right! I'm doing a special tonight and reviewing not only two beers, but a renowned TRAPPIST ALE!

For those of you who haven't heard of trappist beers, it means that the beer is brewed by or under control of monks in a monastery. This particular bottle is of Chimay Grande Reserve (colloquially known as Chimay Blue label). It is truly a special brew. Also expensive; about $10 for 25 ounces. It comes in sort of a wine bottle and is corked in the same fashion as champagne. It is 9% alcohol by volume (ABV), a very uncommon ABV for a beer. There are three different types of beer brewed in the Chimay brewery, but you can read about those from here or even from the brewery's own website.

It pours a golden brown and being unfiltered, it is very opaque and creates a very small head. The lack of head in this beer is acceptable only due to the quality of the beer and its cost; you don't want to waste the precious elixer to a lot of head. The aroma is predominantly malty but I can faintly detect the scent of alcohol. The flavor is VERY sweet and malty which is best appreciated as you swish the liquid in the mouth. As you let the brew slide down across the palate and past the tongue into the esophagus, the alcohol and yeast is most keenly detected. Surprisingly, there is almost no aftertaste which primes you for another enjoyable sip. The mouthfeel is very big and extremely smooth.

I would compare the release of endorphins this beer prompts the brain to release equivalent to sex. It is truly an incredible beverage. In fact, it has been voted number one beer in the world.

Havest Moon, a seasonal from Blue Moon

Harvest Moon is a pumpkin and nutmeg spiced ale from the brewers of Blue Moon beer. I was wary of trying this one at first due to the pumpkin spice, but it was unnecessary.

The color is an amber-orange, with a relatively decent head retention. It is not at all overcarbonated; the carbonation is well balanced, in fact. The aroma consists entirely of nutmeg, which is a welcome change for a seasonal; I admit this is because I love nutmeg. It tastes vaguely of pumpkin and has a dry mouthfeel. The sweetness overpowers the bitterness of the hops, which is to be expected from a seasonal. Aftertaste is predominantly pumpkin flavored.

The malt in this beer is absolutely undetectable which would make this beer a very good beverage for the inexperienced beer drinker or for those that are not yet used to beer's bitterness.

By the way, it complements Keebler's Pecan Shortbread Sandies surprisingly well.

Shiner Bock

Though this is not the first time I have had Shiner Bock, I thought that it deserves a review.

My pint glasses are dirty tonight so I used a large table glass instead. It pours an exceptionally clear copper to amber color and produces a small head with decent retention and a uniquely sweet aroma. Its flavor is relatively uncomplex (I purposely avoid using the word "simple" here) consisting largely of malt which is evident from the uncommon sweetness and a subtle earthy (from hops) secondary flavor (not aftertaste). It is not over carbonated so it does not have a very dry or "spicy" feel on the palate, though it is detectable on the tongue. The aftertaste is faintly fruity due to the initial sweetness.

The lack of complexity compared with some other beers I have reviewed can be better appreciated by the novice taster or drinker than the more complex brews. It also seems to complement a hamburger quite well.

Sierra Nevada Stout

Tonight I poured a bottle of Sierra Nevada Stout into another pint glass. In fact, I recommend that you just assume I am using a pint glass from this point forward unless stated otherwise.

It is not a naturally heady beer, but a good aficionado knows that before pouring the last half inch or slightly less of beer from the bottle that he or she must shake it up to create a head and then finish the pour.

The yeast is exceptionally aromatic in this beer, slightly overpowering the rich malty scent. Color is extremely dark, such that it is nearly impossible to view a light source through.
The flavor will be surprising for those of you who are not familiar with stouts. It honestly does taste like coffee with a little bit of a nutty flavor. It is bitter with hops, but the coffee flavor prepares you for the bitterness and also masks the flavor of hops. Mouthfeel is almost non-existent as it dissipates after just a few seconds and the acidity does not leave any film on the teeth and gums.

Surprisingly, as dark as this beer is it sits relatively lightly in the stomach. I do not recommend this beer with any sort of food as the coffee flavor would not mix well with most of them (perhaps coffeecake? Hahaha.) I thoroughly recommend this brand for an enjoyable brew after a long day.

Soon: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Leinenkugel's Red Lager

Well tonight the President of my Fraternity decided to purchase me (free of charge) a 6 pack of Leinenkugel's Red Lager to celebrate the first night of this season of college football. I write this under the influence of 3 of these beers.

Well first, let me explain what a lager is for those of you who do not know. Lager is German for "to store" and it is a beer that is bottom fermented at cool temperatures and then put in cool storage for secondary fermentation for several weeks; hence the name "lager".

Okay, so the color is a brownish red (hence the name of the beer, obviously). It is an exceptionally clear beer. The carbonation is moderate; I can count the number of bubbles that form on the glass on one hand and they rise only very slowly. Depending on how you pour it, the head can be anywhere from non-existent to over an inch tall.

I'm going to leave it at this for the time being because these three have blurred my sense of taste and smell. I will continue this next time I have a beer, which will probably be tomorrow night.

CONTINUATION:
Okay, so a day of recovery has prepared me to complete this review.

As you stick your nose in the glass (pint, again. I do not have the finances for the innumerable types of glasses for different beers), you can detect the predominance of malted barley. Here I must note a much greater number of bubbles forming and rising inside the glass than the last time. Flavor is not excessively bold which is pleasant at this time of the night and right after the shower I took before the initial pour. I can certainly taste the barley, but there are additional malted grains used in order to make the deep red hue. Acidity is apparent as a thin film on the teeth and gums. Hops are not overpowering as in the Sam Adams Boston Lager, but as you let the fluid glide down the esophagus they tickle the bitter taste receptors and leave a satisfying aftertaste.

It is essentially a medium bodied beer, in between a pilsner and a dark lager that I say would go well with a cheeseburger or nachos.

Well it's my first post

I think I will post on here each time I try a new beer for two reasons. One, to hone my skills in assessing qualities such as flavor, aftertaste, maltiness, hoppiness, carbonation, characteristics of the head formed, aroma, etc. The other, less important, reason I have created this blog has two reasons in itself: a) to help you, the reader, learn more about beer and its finer qualities, and b) to possibly help put an end to the shitty American beer industry in favor of a much more diverse industry.

I feel that rather than simply enjoying the fine beers I drink, I should instead try to determine *why* I enjoy them.

Tonight I had a bottle of Tilburg's Dutch Brown Ale poured into a standard pint glass. The color was, you guessed it, dark brown and slightly tinted with red if viewed in front of a light source. The head was not spectacular, perhaps a quarter inch in depth but it did consist of the smaller bubbles associated with a quality beer, with only a few very small bubbles of carbon dioxide forming on and rising from the inside of the glass. When cold, the full flavor is subdued, suffice it to say very malty without a lot of the bitter hops flavor. A slight acidity can be detected in the mouth and after swallowed it leaves a slight, but pleasant, coating inside the mouth that lasts for several minutes. When warm the malty flavor is still apparent, but contains a hint of cinnamon flavor in the aftertaste with the same hops characteristics. I think this beer would pair well with a red meat due to its heavier weight and maltier flavor.

I would recommend this beer for anyone who has already come to appreciate the pale lagers and ales, but is looking for something new to whet the palate. Overall it is not the boldest beer I have tried, but definitely of fine quality.



UPDATE:
I had some scalloped potatoes with beef today and decided to try the Tilburg's with it and it did, indeed, pair well. So next time you fire up the grill for a steak and a baked potato, give the Dutch Brown Ale a try!