Day 59: Odell's IPA

Name: Odell's IPA

Brewer: Odell's Brewing Co - Fort Collins, CO

Style: India Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 7%


Review: And so begins the Colorado portion of my beer adventure. I had a nerdy conference to attend in Denver, and was super pumped to try some new beers. I mean 3-cans-of-red-bull-I-got-a-new-blowout-haircut-and-am-on-a-new-cycle-of-steroids-Statin-Island-Guido pumped. That's a lot of pumped. Sadly, my trip did not start out as planned. First, the cab driver who dropped me off at my $60/night Ramada had two bags of sand in his trunk adorned with drawings of ejaculating penises. And at the front desk of the 'hotel' were a couple of cops accosting some drugged-out dude. The cops recommended that I move to another hotel. I obliged. 

After a rough start, I settled in to my new hotel room and hit the town. Stop #1 was dinner at a restaurant on 16th whos name escapes me. What I do recall is the Odell's IPA that I drank. Oh man did that hit the spot. It's a golden-to-orange IPA with just enough head and some attractive lacing. What I love about a good IPA is the powerful aroma. The Odell had strong sweet malt and hop aroma with obvious caramel and citrus notes. The mouth feel was quite smooth for an IPA, and a little less bite than I expected. I was not let down by the flavor. It had a very well developed malt with great hop balance. It does seem a bit low on the hop side of things, but this doesn't cause any problems to me. The flavor is complex and developed and makes this a beer that I could drink all night long.

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend? YES

Day 58: La Chouffe

Name: La Chouffe

Brewer:  Brasserie d'Achouffe - Belgium

Style: Belgian Golden Ale

Alcohol Content: 8%


Review: This ends the Philly portion of our beer reviews. The last one I tried was the La Chouffe. As expected, this beer has a golden color with a spicy lemony aroma. It's brewed with coriander and other spices, and it shows. The mouthfeel is somewhat yeasty and medium-bodied with a light lemony banana flavor. That same fruity flavor lasts through the finish, but fades fast. I'm not a Golden Ale fan, but the La Chouffe was quite pleasant, with a bit of an alcoholic kick to boot! Pun intended.

Rating: 4/5

Recommend? YES

Day 56: Dunkel Lager

Name: Dunkel Lager

Brewer: Sly Fox Brewery - Phoenixville, PA

Style: Lager

Alcohol Content: 5.3%


Review: I bought hockey tickets for the woman for Valentine's day only to lose them hours after they arrived to my door. Being a bit stubborn and very frustrated, I purchased two more tickets. We met up with a good friend in Philly to grab a few beers before the game. This proved to be a good decision. The first beer from our visit was the Dunkel Lager. A simple brown lager with some fruit and caramel notes in the aroma. A medium mouthfeel along with some good rich flavors and chocolatey malts. It's still not large in body. The finish is malty but also dry enough. A respectable lager.

P.S. When we got back home from Philly I found the original tickets under some papers on my desk. FAIL!

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommend? YES. Put your Yuengling down and pick up a dunkel.

Day 57: Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale

Name: Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale

Brewer: Yards Brewing Company - Philadelphia, PA

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content: 8%


Review: Expectations were running high. I had just polished off the respectable Dunkel Lager. I'm not a lager fan, but I found it to be a solid choice. On top of that, I had gravitated to the Tavern Ale because the bottle contained the visage of one of my idols: Thomas Jefferson. I had attended TJ's University, visited his home, and understood his impact on history. Sadly, TJ can't be around to emancipate himself from the Tavern Ale. If he were here today he might pen Yards Brewering Company a written smackdown, chock full of "Thouest"s and pre-victorian "Eff You"isms. The Tavern ale, is merely a pedestrian ale marketed towards the modern-day renassaince man. The tavern ale is a dark orange ale with a mild aroma and slightly fruity malt notes. A thin to medium mouthfeel is present along with a good - albeit weak - flavor. Not what I would expect from a strong golden ale. It could use some brighter flavors and a little more strength and character to be a great ale. All in all, good, but in light of TJ's reputation it's just not up to par.

Rating: 2.5/5

Recommend? NO

Day 55: Troegs Pale Ale

Name: Troegs Pale Ale

Brewer: Troegs Brewery

Style: Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 5.4%


Review: Pale Orange beer with low carbonation and a mildly sweet and slightly hoppy aroma. The mouthfeel is somewhat thin, although the taste matches the aroma, which is good. It's a mildly hoppy beer with simple sweetness. Mild and tasty, but nothing memorable. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Recommend? MAYBE.  Only if  none of the more highly ranked beers aren't available. 

Day 54: Spring Moon

Name: Spring Moon

Brewer: Blue Moon - Golden, CO

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content:


Review: So, I'm going to go out of order by reviewing this beer right now. Let this be a little foreshadowing for some upcoming reviews. I sampled the spring moon at the Coors Brewery in Golden Colorado during my GCMAS conference trip. I think I was a couple weeks behind in my beer drinking before leaving for Colorado, and now that the trip is coming to a close, I think I'm a week ahead. You can do the math. Anyway, Spring moon is nothing special beyond the typical blue moon offerings. It's a very mild belgian-style wheat ale that will most likely please the masses, but impress very few. The aroma was very weak, and the flavor, while citrusy and slightly yeasty, just feels too watered down. I will say though, that after sampling some of Coors' beers on site, they do a very good job at ensuring quality. Their beers, whether tasted at a brewery or out of a bottle, taste identical. This kind of makes for a letdown though. I like visiting a brewery just so i can try something completely unique, or just a normal beer right out of the kettle. I think microbrews struggle with quality and consistency, so sometimes you try a beer out of the bottle and think "why the hell do they even bother to sell this stuff", and then you visit the brewery, try it fresh, and completely shift your paradigm. For this reason, I try to cut microbreweries some slack when the beer doesn't taste as amazing as I would expect. However, since Coors has really nailed the consistency of their brewing, I'm even less impressed with their offerings. Spring Moon will make a decent beer to drink if you come across it, but otherwise it's simply an average fish in a big pond.

Rating: 2.5/5

Recommend? MAYBE. If you're only a casual beer drinker, you'll probably really enjoy it. For the belgian whit faithful, don't waste your money.

Day 53: Juniper Pale Ale

Name: Juniper Pale Ale

Brewer: Rogue Brewery - Portland, OR

Style: Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: ?


Review: I believe that this ale comes as another recommendation. The juniper pale ale presents with a deep yellow or light orange color and low to medium carbonation with a thin foamy head. The aroma contains a floral bouquet with a hint of juniper berries. Upon taste, the thin mouth feel is evident. The flavor though is fairly simple. It tastes like a thin pale ale with the addition of juniper berry flavor. Juniper berries kind of taste like hibiscus flowers, or more simply, strawberry fruit roll ups. The finish is slightly hoppy with a dry finish. It's very slightly bitter.

Rating: 3/5

Recommend? MAYBE. It's good if you want a fruiter pale ale. 

Day 52: Leinenkugel Classic Amber Ale

Name: Leinenkugel Classic Amber Ale

Brewer: Leinenkugel - Chippewa Falls, WI

Style: Amber Ale

Alcohol Content:


Review: I'll make this quick. Light brown color, medium to high amount of carbonation. The flavor is weak and lager-ish. It has that typical American Lager aroma. The flavor is weak and think but too malty and tastes kind of cheap. Very Average.

Rating: 1.5/5

Recommend? NO

Day 51: Great Lakes Oktoberfest

Name: Great Lakes Oktoberfest

Brewer: Great Lakes Brewery - Cleveland, OH

Style: Oktoberfest

Alcohol Content: 5.2%


Review: A light copper color with medium carbonation and a mildly hoppy but otherwise odorless aroma. I'll warn you in advance that this beer was probably a bit past it's preferred drinking date. The mouthfeel of this beer is slightly thin with a sweet malty flavor and hope balance. There are strong woodsy notes in the flavor as well. The finish is fairly dry with some residual sweetness. Overall a decent but forgettable beer. 

Rating: 3/5

Recommend? NO

Day 50: Columbus Pale Ale

Name: Columbus Pale Ale

Brewer: Columbus Brewing Company - Columbus, OH

Style: Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: ?


Review: As the last review might suggest, I am indeed in Ohio. The Columbus Pale ale was mildly disappointing. Copper color with medium carbonation,  and a slightly hoppy herbal aroma. The mouth feel is thin-to-medium, and the flavor is a bit out of balance - too hoppy for a pale ale, but the quality of the hops is also not that great. The flavor could also be described as a bit 'watery'. The finish is dry and bitter as to be expected. All in all it needs work.

Rating: 2/5

Recommend? NO

Day 49: Burning River Ale

Name: Burning River Ale

Brewer: Great Lakes Brewery - Cleveland, Ohio

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content: 6%


Review: There's really nothing that great in Ohio, except for Cedar Point and Ohio State football. I'm also starting to like Great Lakes Brewery. The burning river ale is named after the cuyahoga river in Ohio, which at one point, was so polluted that it actually caught on fire... multiple times. Supposedly, the river oozes more than flows. I hope Great Lakes doesn't brew their beer with this water. If they do, then kudos. It's a light copper color (most likely from actual copper in the water), with a sweet herbal aroma and some caramel notes. The mouth feel is both clean and bitter, if that can accurately describe a mouth feel. There's a good penetrating malt flavor with hops that only kick in until around the finish. The finish is very hoppy and dry. Good all-around ale. 

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 48: Dirty Hoe

Name: Dirty Hoe

Brewer: Hoegaarden and Lindeman's

Style: Blend

Alcohol Content: ?


Review: Ok, so today's review is in regards to a somewhat-anomalous beer - the Dirty Hoe. I think there are two varieties of this blend: (1) One part Hoegaarden and one part Guiness or (2) two parts Hoegaarden and one part Linedeman's Framboise. I sampled the latter at Kildare's Irish Pub. Why Kildare's doesn't serve the guiness style Dirty Hoe is confusing. Of course this is also an "Irish Pub" that plays techno music during dinner and serves less-than-impressive gastro pub fare. It's only mid February and I'm already stretching the limits to find new beers to drink when I'm out at the bar. I figure I can get clever and start mixing alcohols and claim them as unique brews. I promise I won't do it too often. The Dirty Hoe could be a worthy review, but it's all too-often blended with an improper balance between the two ingredients. My most recent tasting of the Dirty Hoe revealed too much Framboise and too little Hoegaarden. It was very very sweet and kind of killed what's special about Framboise and what's special about Hoegaarden. I'm sure it's a big sell among the college kids. It's tasty, but only in small quantities. It's comparable to drinking a glass of red velvet cake with raspberry icing. That's not a bad thing perse, just not my m.o.

Rating: 1/5

Recommend? NO

Day 47: Chicory Stout

Name: Chicory Stout

Brewer: Dogfish Head Brewery - Milton, DE

Style: Stout

Alcohol Content: 5.2%


Review: Another Dogfish offering. This is a thin, dark beer. There's a strong chocolate and coffee aroma, with a flavor that resembles fresh coffee beans. A few years ago I would have thought this was disgusting, but now I find it satisfying. The finish is a bit hoppy with  still some chocolate notes. 

Rating: 3.75/5

Recommend? YES

Day 46: World Wide Stout

Name: World Wide Stout

Brewer: Dogfish Head Brewery - Milton, DE

Style: Imperial Stout

Alcohol Content: 18%


Review: Are you new to drinking beer and want to catch up to your peers? Want to get hammered fast and pack on a sexy beer gut? The World Wide Stout is an efficient vector. The Last Call app on my iphone says that in about 30-45 minutes I will be legally drunk (BAC>.08). One beer. ONE beer and I'll be drunk. I'm not a scrawny guy either. I'm about 195 lbs and pretty solid.  Brilliant! Forget secretly pounding NyQuil in the woods; teenagers today should be trying to get a hold of a World Wide Stout. This beer has 'Imperial' written all over it. The color is as black as tar, only slightly thinner... probably along the lines of 5W10. At 372 calories per bottle, it's also not diet friendly. I guess the best way to describe this beer is, delicious and extreme. Extreme maltiness balanced by extreme hoppiness, and an extreme amount of barley to distinguish it's flavor from every other imperial stout (although I've never had any other Imperial Stouts to compare to). The mouth feel is thick and smooth with a good bitter bite along with a sweet dark robust character. I've had the 120 minute IPA and the Raison D'Extra which are both pushing 20% ABV, but the World Wide Stout is the most palatable prior to aging. This beer goes down smooth, yet it takes about a year of bottle aging to make the 120 min and the Raison D'Extra not taste like gasoline. 

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 44: Stone Ruination IPA

Name: Ruination IPA

Brewer: Stone Brewery - San Diego, CA

Style: India Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 7.7%


Review: Happy Hallmark Holiday, bitches. The girlfriend's parents took us out to Home Grown for dinner. I'm a fan of their food and beers, but not their patrons. I always feel out of place if I don't have a bull ring in my nose, dress in all black, cut myself, or anything like that. Again, I'll praise their beers. Not a huge selection, but a good revolving selection for downtown Newark, DE. At 100+ IBUs, the ruination IPA is a badass beer. Cloudy orange color, thin carbonated head, about one finger or so. There's a citrusy aroma. The mouth feel is a bit thin, but it's still smooth, with a good malt/hop balance. The alcohol is well-masked and with a good malt balance this is a very drinkable beer. I quite liked it.

Rating: 4/5

Recommend? YES

Day 45: Blue Star Wheat Beer

Name: Blue Star Wheat Beer

Brewer: North Coast Brewing Co - Fort Bragg, CA

Style: Wheat Ale

Alcohol Content: 4.5%


Review: Another beer I sampled at Home Grown. Again I got that feeling like I was not welcome. I think all the goths, hipsters, and intellectuals only have one safe-haven - Home Grown. Me being there was an invasion. Anyway, not much to say about this beer here. Most people will probably enjoy it, and it's a decent example of a wheat beer. Cloudy orange color, little to no aroma, citrus orange and yeasty flavor. It's a good mild wheat beer for those who like it weak.

Rating: 2.5/5

Recommend? MAYBE, if you really like wheat beers and Hefeweizens.

Day 43: Derniere Volonte

Name: Derniere Volonte

Brewer: Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel

Style: Abbey-style blonde ale

Alcohol Content: 6.5%


Review: anyone speak French? Gui, would you like to translate this website for me? Babelfish gives me some nonsense. I'll tell you what I think. First off, it's highly carbonated... probably due to some bottle fermentation along it's long voyage from Europe. Once the carbonation settles, you can catch a glimpse of the fruity, citrusy, banana-ee aroma. Imagine a sweet Hefeweizen minus the wheat. The mouth feel and flavor carries that same analogy - hefeweizen flavor, medium body, just minus the cloudiness and graininess that the wheat brings to a hefeweizen. It has a good pale ale mouth feel, with the low hoppiness of a blonde ale. The finish is also clean enough to not cloy my tongue and make me want more. In my honest opinion, the Derniere is the sexy love child born to a Belgian Ale and a light hefeweizen. Perfect for summertime. Considering all the snow we've had recently, summer won't come soon enough. When it does, I'm going for a sweaty bike ride and tossing back a couple of these babies. 

Oh, and yeah, trust me, I'll be updating this site soon with the dozen or so beers I have in my backlog that I have already consumed. It's been a busy few weeks.

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 42: Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Name: Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewer: Stone Brewery - San Diego, CA

Style: Ale

Alcohol Content: 7.2% 


Review: This beer comes recommended from my friend Raz who is living Three's company style in San Diego with his girlfriend and my ex-girlfriend. Crazy how things work out right? Not only is that a potentially cool living situation, he also lives near Stone Brewery. Double win. He actually recommended the Oaked Double Arrogant Bastard Ale. Again, something one can only find in San Diego at the brewery. The single bastard will have to do. The aroma is full and rich with sweet hoppy caramel notes, oak, and maybe even a small hint of diacetyl (aka butterscotch). The color is a deep maroon/brown. This ale has a good medium mouth feel with characteristics of really a brown ale. It's richer and sweeter than I would expect for just an ale. It must be the oak wood chips that add this extra body. Stone won't release the IBU rating for this beer, though I would probably guess it's in the upper 90s. Being well-developed, there is a strong sweet malt to pair with the mild-to-strong hops, leaving a not-so-dry finish. That finish also brings with it the beer's flavor, settling on the back of the tongue. This makes me want to drink more of it. I imagine the double bastard must be amazing, but for now the single will do. Oh, and that beer picture comes c/o my new iPhone. Snazzy bit of engineering the iPhone is. 

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 41: Hop Rod Rye

Name: Hop Rod Rye

Brewer: Bear Republic Brewery

Style: India Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 8%


Review: I'm officially back at it. I vow to catch back up with my drinking. As an avid hop fan (the non-herbal variety), I was pleased with the Hop Rod Rye. It's of the caliber of the Red Rocket Ale that I previously reviewed, with milder hops. They're still potent, but of a different variety. The addition of rye adds another level of complexity that I'm not quite sure I can express correctly. This beer looks like cranberry juice with a foamy head and creamy lacing. I enjoy the thorough bite from start to finish, but with less potency. The mouth feel is medium-to-thick, with a sweet caramel and hoppy finish. It would pair well with spicy dishes, but after finishing my pasta I'm finding that this beer can stand up by itself as stand-alone beverage. 

Rating: 4/5

Recommend? YES

Day 40: Trappist Ale Dubbel

Name: Trappist Ale Dubbel

Brewer: Westmalle Brewery

Style: Belgian-style dubbel

Alcohol Content: 7%


Review: Hey folks, remember me? Sorry I haven't posted in a while. As you can tell, I drink these beers and post the reviews on my own whim, but claim to drink one each day and immediately post my thoughts (through careful manipulation of date/time stamp). It's been a long two weeks. The flu, a couple nights of karaoke and shots, a bashed side-view mirror, crunching data, well, you get the idea. Anyway, my palate's a bit rusty, but let's give this dubbel a go, shall we?

Careful pouring this beer. The bottle fermentation can cause a lot of effervescence. That's ok, it just allowed me to start drinking this beer quicker. This is a fine example of a dubbel. A sweet, fruity, caramel aroma, with tiny hints of chocolate characterize this beer. The mouth feel is smooth, with a medium body flavor. There is very little bitterness, and some apparent leftover alcohol flavor upon finish. Luckily I only have one beer on hand, otherwise I could see myself cracking open a 2nd or 5th one of these. Since my ass is just about healed, and we had a streak of warm weather here recently (recently, meaning mid Feb) I've been feeling the itch to drink somewhat heavily. Since I have a lot of work to get done over the next few weeks I should probably keep those feelings under control. We'll see how that goes.

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 39: St. Peter's English Ale

Name: St. Peter's English Ale

Brewer: St. Peter's Brewery

Style: English Pale Ale

Alcohol Content:


Review: . It pains me to review this beer. I looked up the Brewer's Association's guidelines for this style of beer just to cross-reference my own expectations. It'll make this review much easier. Here's what the BA says.

"Classic English pale ales are golden to copper colored and display earthy, herbal English-variety hop character. Note that 'earthy, herbal English-variety hop character' is the perceived end, but may be a result of the skillful use of hops of other national origins. Medium to high hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma should be evident. This medium-bodied pale ale has low to medium malt flavor and aroma. Low caramel character is allowable. Fruiter-ester flavors and aromas are moderate to strong. Chill haze may be in evidence only at very cold temperatures. The absence of diacetyl is desirable, though, diacetyl (butterscotch character) is acceptable and characteristic when at very low levels. "

This beer is pretty close. It smells like Heineken with more developed flavor. It's a good example of this style. I just don't like it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommend? NO, unless you like Heineken. In that case, go buy one right now.

Day 38: Old Brown Dog Ale

Name: Old Brown Dog Ale

Brewer: Smuttynose Brewing Co - Portsmouth, NH

Style: English Brown Ale

Alcohol Content: 5.9%


Review: A brown (or deep amber) ale. Any head on this beer dissipates fast into a calm, flat ale. If I didn't know that it was a take on an English style brown ale I would have thought it was purely American; It doesn't seem to have that 'English' flavor to it. There's a tad bit more hops than most English brown ales I've tried, and more noticeable alcohol content as well. I view the American style quite favorably. The malty aroma is a part caramel, and part buttery and nutty. The mouth feel is smooth, with most of the bite coming from the alcohol rather than the hops. I wouldn't quite say that this beer is sweet, but that toasty, nutty, caramel aroma appears in the beer's flavor and lasts all the way through the finish. It's very drinkable, both cold and warm, although I do prefer it colder. The English Ales seem to taste better warm. 

On a side note, I stumbled upon this beer in college and had fond feelings towards it. For no real reason I haven't had this beer in years, so I was excited to give it another taste. Coincidentally, Paul recently recommended it to me. He said enjoyed it. I offered a taste to my roommate who also happens to be a lager drinker. He enjoyed it as well. This pleases me. I think the Old Brown Dog Ale is a fine beer, and I'm happy to know that it's being enjoyed by people with varying tastes.

Rating: 4.25/5

Recommend? YES

Day 37: Sunset Wheat

Name: Sunset Wheat

Brewer: Leinenkugel - Chippewa Falls, WI

Style: American Lager

Alcohol Content: 4.9%


Review: It's about time, right? This beer has been recommended to me by Paul and some of my labmates. Leinenkugel has been a polarizing force recently, and I want to put this Leinie-induced tension to rest. I'm going to apologize in advance to those people I offend, and request that those people who I make happy to temper their feelings. So far, I've tried the Bock, and the Berry Weiss. I've really had no problem with either beer, but if I claim to like one, I seem to offend the beer connosieurs. If I don't like one, I disappoint the Leinie faithful. Typically, I find that if a beer is unimpressibly brewed it recieves a low rating and no recommendation. The rating system (out of a potential 5) judges a beer on how well it seems match my expectation of what that style of beer should taste like. My final recommendation is simply based on whether I liked the beer or not. Sorry, but most English beers, no matter how brilliantly brewed, are not going to get a recommendation from me. Because ultimately, my rating and recommendation system is aimed at reminding me which beers I do or do not want to drink again. That being said, I find the Leinenkugels to be very drinkable despite not necessarily impressing me in any way. Does this surprise me? No... they're owned by Miller. The Sunset Wheat has a citrusy, almost blueberry aroma, and a typical Hefeweizen flavor with more blueberry flavor. This Hefeweizen is certainly on the lighter side, and while I wasn't particularly impressed with the style of the beer, I did find myself ordering another 22 oz at the bar. "Why?" you ask. I can only offer you an analogy. Consider Macaroni and cheese. While I do enjoy a fancy homemade 3-cheese macaroni dish, I am also quite please with macaroni and cheese from the blue box. In fact, sometimes I prefer the cheaper macaroni and cheese. This is how I feel about Leineinkugel. I might find myself buying more and more of their lagers because I want a simple beer to quench my thirst. Leinenkugel will never win any major brewing awards, but they will remain a solid go-to beer that is sure to please a majority of the population that only knows three beers: Bud, Miller, and Coors. So, for those Leinenkugel fans, I urge you to try some of the other highly-ranked beers on my site. You might come to appreciate some different styles of beers and find something that you never thought you'd like, or you might just drift back to drinking Leinies. Who knows? So, to put this drama to rest, I'll end by saying that I enjoy Leinenkugel for what it is - a unique alternative to the typical american lager. Beyond that, Leinenkugel will never truly win my heart.

Rating: 1.5/5

Recommend? YES.

Day 36: East India Pale Ale

Name: Brooklyn IPA

Brewer: Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, NY

Style: India Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: 6.8%


Review: When in Rome... or this case, NYC. Being only a subway ride away, I figured I had to try a Brooklyn brew. I tried the Brooklyn IPA. What do I say? Typical hoppy IPA aroma, mildly sweet with a mild array and magnitude of hops. A fairly foamy head, some lacing, light color, and solid IPA flavor. No surprises. Nothing amazing, but also not disappointing, much like my night out on the Upper East Side, I'll quickly forget about this beer.

Rating: 3/5

Recommend? NO. Too many other IPAs out there.

Day 35: Circus Boy

Name: Circus Boy

Brewer: Magic Hat Brewery - Burlington, VT

Style: Hefeweizen

Alcohol Content: 4.4%


Review: Again, another reason I don't care for Magic Hat. I'm not a huge fan on Hefeweizens anyway, so it's going to take some skill to woo me. I will get wooed soon by a Leinenkugel (teaser alert). The Circus boy is medium bodied with a cloudy appearance and yeasty lemony flavor. It's slightly tart and thankfully doesn't have the thick feel that other Hefeweizens seem to have. I have trouble finishing some of them because of imblanaced flavors and textures. I was able to finish this one, but still couldn't quite discern if it was beer enough for a man or fruity enough for a girl - it hangs in between.

Rating: 3/5

Recommend? MAYBE. Only to be used as a Blue Moon or Sunset Wheat replacement.

Day 34: Peak Organic Pale Ale

Name: Peak Organic Pale Ale

Brewer: Peak Organic Brewing Co - Portland, ME

Style: Pale Ale

Alcohol Content: ?%


Review: Organic beer, eh? Good aroma, and simple clean taste with appropriate level of hop finish. There are even some hints of chocolaty flavors in there as well, which are really unnecessary for a pale ale. There's nothing monumental about this beer. The one thing that stood out to me was the thick foamy mouth feel. The beer isn't highly carbonated, but if it swishes around at all in your mouth if sort of puffs up and destroys most of the texture. Overall, there's no reason to drink this beer unless you enjoy the novelty of it. If you're the crunchy granola head type that disdains showering then this could be your beer. I don't shave my legs or my armpits, but then again I'm a dude. So yeah, anyway, eh.

Rating: 2.5/5

Recommend? NO. unless you're a lesbian or a survivalist.

Day 33: Wee Heavy

Name: Wee Heavy

Brewer: Belhaven Brewery - Dunbar, UK

Style: Scotch Ale

Alcohol Content: 6.5%


Review: This, folks, is why I am following through on this new years resolution. Consider my review of the Belhaven Scottish Ale. I was clearly unimpressed. Normally, I would write off Belhaven as a mediocre brewery and vow to avoid all of their beers. That is poor reasoning. I happened to come across the Wee Heavy at small hole-in-the-wall bar near 96th and Amsterdam on the upper west side. After one month it's already getting harder and harder to find new beers to drink out at the bar. I find that I am relegating myself to any new beer I can get my hands on. Thankfully, the Wee Heavy did not let me down. The bartender knew what he was doing and served it to me cool, but not cold. As it continued to warm I noticed that this was a flat, dark, full-boldied ale. The lack of a discernable aroma masked a sweet flavor with apparent toasted caramel malts and a fairly neutral finish. The mouth feel was flat, in discord with the full-bodied flavor (that's not to be unexpected from this style of ale). While it may seem that I'm describing a cacophony of flavor and texture, that is untrue - they were quite symphonic. The Wee Heavy is a fine example of what I think a scottish/scotch ale should taste like.

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommend? YES

Day 32: Hop Back Amber Ale

Name: Hop Back Amber Ale

Brewer: Troegs Brewing Company - Harrisburg, PA

Style: Amber Ale

Alcohol Content: 6%


Review: Another Amber beer. This time a legitimate Amber Ale. While I thought I was drunk when I sampled the Amber Lager, I was definitely drunk while tasting this one. Here's the review from my phone - verbatim.

"Troegs Hop Back. Good balance. I'm drunk. Good late night. Nothing Special. Light aroma. 3/5"

 

Troegs has a more elaborate description, but they basically come to the same conclusion... so, I'll just stick with my adulterated review.

Rating: 3/5

Recommend? MAYBE. Only if there are no other good amber ales around.