Drink Real Beer

Another One - Maine Beer Co. 7.0% ABV

2013-10-27T01:37:00.000-04:00

One of my good buddies secured a bottle of 'Another One' for me today for review. I poured it into an old timey Pilsner glass, which turned out to be appropriate, given the pale, straw color and fluffy head, no doubt partly due to the cara-pils malt.

Citra hops announced themselves on the nose and first sips. Crisp and delicious, almost tart like a dry cider, its drinkability and paleness belies the higher alcohol content. For shits and giggles I decided to pair it with a fine cigar (Tatuaje Jason, if you're interested) and it holds up well.

I'm a big fan of Citra hops, I'm not exactly sure when they became popular because I've been out of the American beer game for awhile. It seems like all the crafties are getting into them hard these days, though.

I will be sure to seek out some more offerings from MBC in future.

With regard to my affection for Banquet Beer 5.0% ABV

2013-10-17T09:49:00.000-04:00

With regard to my affection for Banquet Beer, I make no apologies. For in the spirit of true economy, one must broaden their sense of what "good" really means; what is this definition we have summarily levied upon beverages of leisure. Why have we broadly painted less expensive selections as "bad". Are they truly? What about them, if cared for properly, makes them such? Do they not deliver on the intended result of all beers? To manipulate blood alcohol content; this is the purpose. In a manner not overly offensive to the palate or wallet. Considering this, one easily sees that those beers demanding exorbitant prices could, in fact, be paradoxically "bad".

A time in one's life sees one reflective and appreciative of forgotten times; nostalgia is the appropriate label perhaps. Casting aside the modern craft beer affinity for hop overdose, peculiar spicing, and of course the inherent premium pricing, one diverts their attention to the side of the local beer cooler, typically the leftmost side, where budget libations take up residence among financially similar blue-collar selections. It is here where the real decision is made. A decision based upon value in the truest sense.

My selection criteria begins looping iteratively as I discount each option. So called "light" beers are simply not in play on principle. Surprisingly, Budweiser proper is too rich for my taste, priced above its neighbors and out of my refrigerator. Plus, one time I drank about five in the span of a half an hour and furiously vomited. I'll never shake the memory.

I'm left wanton for original Michelob; specifically, the teardrop bottle I recall seeing at my grandparents house in the late 70s. But I appear to be decades too late to that party. Adjacent to where I envision it might appear in the cooler, I can't help but notice High Life. The color - that markedly yellow color, evocative of urine - I cannot come to terms with. Having had High Life on a number of occasions, I know it to be better than it appears, but it is not to be, for settled in next to the Miller offering is a solitary row of stubby brown bottles, clad in pale yellow and red. The allure of Rocky Mountain water. Perhaps it really did arrive here on a train, cooled perfectly for every mile in transit between here and thousands of miles away in Colorado. At a reasonable dollar-per-serving cost, I am in. Fairly neutral in taste, yielding a distinct flavor of grain, I punish them in sequence and never ever less than one in a sitting as the bottle's unusual form factor invites such a pace.

Do I feel not as great the in morning? Typically so. Would I, and do I, feel better that same morning having opted for something "premium"; Banquet Beer's rightmost cooler neighbors? Almost certainly. But purity of ingredients and the sanctity of the recipe, sometimes, are secondary considerations. For, when I approach Public Service to pay my light bill, there is no explicit discount for the value conscious. That discount is implicit. So, you see, Banquet Beer is like industry. In that, they were both lost in the woods. And nobody, especially the little boy - "society" - knew where to find 'em. Except that the puppy was a dog. But the industry, my friends, that was a revolution.

Throwback Brewery Campfire Smoked Porter 6.4% ABV

2011-10-17T14:53:00.000-04:00

This is the graphic that Throwback uses to brand Campfire Porter. Personally, I don't understand this imagery. It looks like a sate bear dancing in the waft of burning excrement, or possibly its leg is satisfyingly on fire. We can't see the other leg so there is speculation abound.

Wanton for White Birch, our beer/food serving person at Firefly asserted "distribution problems" and this left me on the doorstep of a classic near-terminal spiral of second choice beer indecision. Andy stepped in before it could even start and prompted this suggestion, and it was stellar.

It tastes weird, but like medicine that actually doesn't taste gross and makes you want to eat more medicine, it's a very pleasant weird. I haven't drank with any regularity for the better part of this year now, so my ability to describe beer is severely impaired by the fact that I now have the tolerance of a Utah middle schooler. But this beer must be acquired if you are local to southern New Hampshirechusetts. Locally sourced ingredients and made by CHICKS. This one wins big. Dark, rife with peculiar, interesting flavor, and in no way overwhelming to palate or a gut full of beef stroganoff, I implore you to try it.

Red Hook ESB

2011-08-07T21:06:00.000-04:00

ESB stands for Extra Special Bitter. There's nothing extra special about Red Hook's ESB. Red Hook brewery is the overly opinionated hot chick who is 1/8th as smart as she thinks she is. You really want to like her, but she keeps saying embarassingly stupid shit and you're tired of defending her to your friends. In defiance of your biological imperative, you decide it isn't worth it and move on.

In the 12 years that I've been legally drinking Red Hook's offerings, they have had about four amazing beers that enjoyed critical success and were subsequently torpedoed by the powers that be. This is like the aforementioned hot chick shaving her head for reasons that elude sense and rational thought. The end result is disappointment, a broken heart and a bitter taste in the mouth, not entirely unlike my experience with Red Hook ESB tonight.

In the glass, ESB looks and smells fantastic. In the mouth, coppery and bitter. I don't know what the hop bill is, but the flavor hops are right on while they went way over the top with bittering. The style known as "bitter" is really a bit of a misnomer and I'm not exactly sure how it came about. Bitters, according to style, tend more toward the sweet side than the bitter. This beer has everything it needs to be enjoyable, Red Hook just needs to back off on the hops.

Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale 5.6% ABV

2010-11-16T19:56:00.000-05:00

My first sip of Coors Winter; my immediate impression is that this is not the worst beer in the world. The expected sweetness not overwhelming, I let it sit and tended to my Shake 'N Bake and assorted reheats.

A casual second sip some number of minutes later, and the finish was of particular note. This finishes like a cheap beer, I thought to myself. A peculiar, but familiar taste of alcohol. The monks of the Rockies must have been a little impatient cooking this one up. But who wouldn't in similar frustratingly pious circumstance. Pious being complimentary of course; props of some sort must be due the chaste. It's only right.

Third encounter and beyond, and as expected, the uncivilized finish has disappeared and things are mellowing out considerably as I almost certainly have consumed this too fast. I consider this mission accomplished, not so much in the 2003 on an aircraft carrier sense, but in the not overthinking a beer sense. It is precisely a winter ale, sharing the common characteristics, not that it's particularly my favorite species of beer but it delivers on it's name in a manner of economy that can be universally appreciated.

Hmm. That finish really comes and goes. It's there, or it isn't. Very strange. Anyway, I'm hungry. And some indiscernible fraction in the bag.

Cape Ann Brewing Company Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout 7.0% ABV

2010-10-05T14:37:00.001-04:00

Discovered on offer at the Great Brewers Grand Prix of Gloucester, the annual North Shore cyclocross tradition, Cape Ann's foray into autumn medicine is a delight. Subtly flavored, peculiarly headless, and lacking the punch and sweetness its ABV may insinuate, pumpkin stout has a place in the fridge from hereon in. Find it wherever beer is sold in Massachusetts, before they tax it into oblivion to subsidize some highway project gone awry.

Bells Two Hearted Ale

2010-08-10T17:00:00.003-04:00

What's not to like about a beer with a trout on the label?

Continuing my tour of Northern Michigan beers, I bought Bell's Two Hearted Ale. This is a fairly rich, IPA style ale. A nice floral hoppy aroma without being a hop bomb which is so common in IPA's lately. I really liked this as a result. i am all for full hop flavor, but am not a fan of feeling like I have just eaten some shrubbery. Two Hearted Ale is really well balanced and crisp which made it go down quite easily on a hot evening.

So so far, Bell's brewery is two for two.

Oberon Ale

2010-08-07T19:56:00.002-04:00

Picture a warm summer day in the far north of Michigan. Surrounded by family, young and old...

Need an anesthetic? Obviously. Well Bell's Brewery's Oberon is the beer for you. A malty lightly hopped ale with enough punch to keep you from noticing the chaos.

[Censored] Imperial Blonde

2010-06-22T20:34:00.000-04:00

My apologies to Manchester Brewing Company. I promised them that we'd do a review of their beers a long time ago, but we're just getting around to it now, nearly a year later.

When I cracked this bomb open I was greeted by a rush of lagery aroma. First sip was crisp and reinforced the lager character, which confused me, because I was sure that this was an ale. Visiting MBC's site, I discovered the reason, Saaz hops. These are typically used in lagers such as Pilsner Urquell and I think Budweiser. This is something I've always wanted to try in homebrewing, an ale with lagerry characteristics. The idea is to marry the heft of an ale with the crisp thirst quenching lightness of a Czech or domestic lager. If this was their goal, MBC has succeeded. The sweetness and bitterness is also well balanced and makes it easy to chug. This is the perfect choice following a few rounds of golf or a summer afternoon of yard work. Be sure to decant into an appropriate glass first unless you don't mind the sediment; indication of an unfiltered and therefore more flavorful beer. Personally, I've paired this beer up with a good stogie and a seat on the deck watching the lightning bugs get down. Good job guys, I'm glad the first review was a positive one. If Imperial Blonde is any indication of what to expect with their other offerings, MBC has a bright future in the New England beer scene.

Honey Moon Summer Ale 5.6% ABV

2010-05-04T10:36:00.011-04:00

I'm with AK on Blue Moon. Blue Moon proper is a staple. Solid performer, consistent, good balance, generally cheap - it's a go-to beverage you don't need to think too hard about.

But the Blue Moon summer bastard offspring, hereby known as Honey Moon. SIGH. I'm in OMR's camp on this. Just stop. Stop overdoing shit.

Subtlety is long lost on whoever concocted this syrupy sweet libation. As it is on many things these days. Honey Moon cuffs you about the palate with an overreaching and unnecessary sweetness, wholly betraying its heritage. It's not intolerable dumpster runoff like, well, Peak Maple Oat, but it's definitely in the same area code.

Don't reach for this one. Stay the course. If you're driving down Blue Moon Boulevard, do not take this right hand turn into Flavortown. At this point I will stop writing because I have now cracked the lid on any number of Guy Fieri references.

Gritty's Scottish Ale - 6.3% ABV

2010-04-27T12:24:00.004-04:00

Ah Gritty's. I haven't had a Gritty's that I didn't like. Their beers have a distinctively British bent to them and as a hopeless Anglophile, that appeals to me. They don't get too fancy or burn you out with cloying sweetness or overpowering hops. I hate the cliche, but it's good honest beer.

Scottish ales tend to be sweeter, heavier and darker than their southern counterparts. I think this is a reaction to the rough terrain and harsher climes at that latitude. After a day of kilting it up in the highlands, tossing cabers in the moors and smoking peat, you'd want a strong sweet beer and the nearest fireplace too. Granted, this is just what I imagine life in Scotland is like, I've only spent a couple of days in Edinburgh, so I'm hardly an expert. Gritty's Scottish Ale is an "interpretation" of the style, which means that one or more of the characteristics on which beer is judged falls outside the boundaries set by the style. Who cares? The label is pretty inspiring though, I have to say. Who knew that Scottish women were so butch...and had beards. I will say though that this is a good comfort beer. On the lower end of the spectrum in alcohol content typical of this style, you can easily work this into your session rotation without getting thoroughly cranked, unless that's your goal. Delicious and refreshing, I give this beer 8 lifted kilts.
-qrash

Peak Organic Maple Oat Ale 5.2%

2010-04-26T14:33:00.006-04:00

Enough with you, Peak. I've had enough of your shit. You screwed me once with your insolent Pomegranate Ale. And for whatever reason, I went back to the well, throwing in a different bucket and expecting a different result.

I am hopelessly stupid to have given you another chance. Maple Oat has one or two good sips in it; the first ones. After that, this beer summons the forces of awfulness to bring forth, slowly, what will become an intolerable sweetness in half a pint's time. By the end of the glass, I am literally making bitter beer face-like contortions that a passerby would mistake for pepper spray-induced asphyxiation, evocative of the erratic, involuntary mimetic muscular response observed when a newborn is slipped a thimble of Genesee to chase the evening nutrition. Screw you Peak.

Victory Brewing Company Golden Monkey 9.5% ABV

2010-03-16T12:02:00.002-04:00

This beer is an intolerable tornado of flavor.

Also it gives you bad dreams.

End of review.

-cp

Redhook Saturnalia Double Red (2008) 8.0% ABV

2010-03-02T15:31:00.006-05:00

It had been quite a spell since my last trip to Redhook. Oh the days of abbreviating a work day, planting one's ass in a booth and quaffing half a half dozen IPAs. Just enough to make things vibrate on the walk to the bathroom and forget the day's tedium. The tedium of the days of a storied time. A time when a man could drive a golf ball with a putter inside an office without regard for his coworker's safety. A time when a man could destroy window blinds with a thrown banana and blame it on the confluence of an open window and a pigeon. What a time that was.

How I longed for a taste of that wonderful IPA once more on Sunday, which brought us belly up to the great gilded copper beer holdy thing, and squarely into the radar of two patrons simmering with lust for Saturnalia. Having personally never heard of it, these folks insisted I try some, having assessed my hop expectation requirement/percentage enjoyment (HERPE) to be higher than average. Well, toddler size portion in-hand, I savored and sampled this allegedly sought after libation. At a minimum it couldn't suck that bad because little plastic hops adorned the tap handle.

At first, good! Hoppitty hop hop here we go. And not the rugged finish I expected; very abrupt finish compared to other heavily hopped creations I've had. But this icky awful sweetness. BLECK. This lingering sweetness ruined it for me. As soon as the Saturnalia junkies left the establishment, I put out a code red on a Long Hammer and barely had the self control to snap this picture before literally eating it with a carnal lust known only to serial killers and Cheeto junkies.

Stop putting shit in my goddamn beer.

2009-12-01T15:35:00.004-05:00

Stop it. Stop putting pumpkin, cherries, berries, seeds, vegetables, lemons, cinnamon, nutmeg, umbrellas, etc in beer. Many have come before you and most if not all have failed. The trails of creative fermentation are well trod and thousands of years old. You are not going to be the one who finally finds the one ingredient when added to beer makes it better without making it much worse so stop kidding yourself. The last successful modification was the addition of hop flowers so let's leave it at that. The Germans know this, that's why they made the Reinheitsgebot.

I see the need to innovate as largely an American compulsion, novelty as commodity. We haven't yet learned that some things are perfect the way they are and that crafting within well established guidelines to achieve categorical excellence is an art form and should be celebrated. We're not comfortable with operating within standards so we create our own, thereby bypassing the mechanisms of proper evaluation. The end result: beer coolers filled with expensive niche beers that I feel obligated to try despite my better judgment. Some brewers can lay claim to 20+ oddball varieties of libation, but of those, how many are drinkable? Of those drinkable ones, how many are actually excellent? My advice to the brewer: drop the weirdo ingredients and focus on the art and craft of creating highly desirable, repeatable beverages, even if that means having a small selection of beers.

Dogfish Head Black & Blue*
This beer sucks unless you savor a mouthful of unripened berry puree. Though I can barely taste it, I get the impression that the base ale used as delivery vector for mouth puckering novelty is actually quite good, but of course they ruined it by dumping crap into it. I won't list the ABV or IBU's because it doesn't matter, you won't drink enough of it to worry or care. Just pass on this one, folks.

*I took a picture of the bottle, but I just don't care enough to upload it.

Peak Pomegranate Wheat Ale 6.0% ABV

2009-11-27T12:54:00.006-05:00

Sometimes in life, we make bad decisions that we can't take back. Like eating at Taco Bell, smuggling drugs through a Turkish airport, or spending the night in a strange girl's bed at an off-campus party on Young Drive. Or drinking Peak Pomegranate Wheat Ale.

Recently I invested a minimal amount of time in researching the subject of beer tasting. So for the past few weeks, I have been equipped with a marginally better sense of what makes beer good and bad.

This is a horrible beer.

What I really wanted was Erdinger. But guess what, the Erdinger keg was dry. Changing it out for Peak Pomegranate, she said. Alright, fine - I'll give that a try.

Holy sh*t. One sniff should have been all the warning I needed not to even take a sip. I actually smelled a beer for the first time a week or so ago. Long Trail Ale. Smelled good. Had this really neat sweet smell to it that I can't quite place.

Oh guess what I can place though. The smell from Peak Pomegranate. It smells like a g*ddamn dumpster. I mean straight up dumpster runoff. You would never smell something like this and decide that it was okay to drink. You would drop it like a poison grenade with the pin missing and f*cking RUN. However, it's a beer - beer of any kind is meant to be consumed, and this is this only piece of logic that allowed my brain to OK the tasting portion of this experience. Idiot.

In the mouth. BLECK. My senses are immediately overwhelmed now. A whole spectrum of bad tastes are dancing around in my mouth. It's a veritable orgy of faintly fruity awfulness. I can't even tell what is going on anymore. Stunned at how disappointing this beer is, I'm drinking it out of anger now. Bitter feelings propel every awful sip down my throat; every sip wishing it was the Tuckerman I didn't re-order. I am a moron, and the self doubt is now propagating slowly through my organs, infecting my soul. This beer is so terrible I would rather put an ice pick through my face just to distract myself from the thought of ever having tried it. If this beer was the only thing left to drink on planet earth I would rather die of dehydration a thousand times. I would rather chew leaking batteries, I would rather piss staples, I would rather slam my tongue in a car door, and I would rather invent an elaborate process to distill and drink my own liquefied farts than have one more sip of Peak Pomegranate Wheat Ale. If someone gave me this beer and told me to bring it to a party, I would execute that person and throw the beer in a bottomless pit, which is the only place I know that it will not harm anyone. It doesn't deserve to exist. Don't buy it. Oh but it's organic. Hey guess what. Piss is organic too. I don't drink that either. Peak Pomegranate is obviously some kind of screwed-up mistake, much like the current recipe for Winter Warmer. Don't buy that, don't buy Peak Pom, and use this holiday season to get back to old fashioned family helpers like Captain and eggnog, Gritty's Christmas Ale, and Captain and eggnog.

Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin (Pugsley's Signature Series) 9.0% ABV

2009-10-19T13:38:00.005-04:00

It was time. Enough of this cat and mouse charade.

Pulled from the very back right of my refrigerator. A spot reserved for only the finest and most storied beverages. Your cap surrounded in a shroud of golden foil, off it goes; removed with needless care. The murky libation splits evenly in two pints. One for me, one for my best girl. She would sip, but I would sample and savor. Pumpkinhead is here, I can sense it, but we have company. There's a sweetness that betrays a great and wonderful ABV. And absent Pumpkinhead's watery finish there is a peculiar parting bitterness. It begs another taste. And another. And a third. And I've finished. And I'm already asking if we can go to the store and get more. Inspired and insistent, I can feel the surge of emotion; I'm pleading as a child would plead for a gumball or a quarter for the horsey ride. Can we please. Please. I know where to get it. But in no shape to drive, there will be no horsey ride. Horsey ride denied. Not tonight.

They next day I rushed to the only place I knew to find it, and after months of patient stalking, there they were. Dozens of them. Dozens. A miracle. The miracle I have waited so long for. Feigning class for a moment, I discarded all tact and brought an armload to the counter. At long last, Smashed Pumpkin is mine. The magically potent orange trophies are mine. Truly everything Pumpkinhead could be, if it only tried.

Giddyup.

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

2009-10-11T19:26:00.003-04:00

It seems everywhere you go these days, pumpkin flavored items are all the rage. Every brewery around is milking the sweet teet of our orange autumn friend. Its only a matter of time before we see Turkey, Gravy or Cranberry Sauce flavored beers. Then it will all digress into a messy giblet flavored beer; the edible offal of a fowl, typically including the heart, gizzard, liver, anus in a cheery toasted hops and malty concoction. Yes I'm calling that one now.
Capping off a month long all things pumpkin binge, I've finally found the holy grail of "pumpkin" beers. That beer could only come in the form of Dogfish Head's aptly named "Punkin" ale. If you're a follower of hillbilly triathalons and backwoods smithies then you'll recognize the spelling of this beer is a homage to the greatest event on earth, Punkin Chunkin. That event in itself a walking billboard for ridiculousness, similarly so is this beers goodness.
You can pick up Punkin in a 9 dollar 4 pack just about anywhere that sells good beers. I scored mine up at Bunnies, and shared it with my dad. At 7% after two I had a nice light buzz associated with a higher ABV beer. The taste of this beer is unassuming, a distinct brown with solid flavor. Dogfish didn't even bother trying to make the beer taste pumpkiny, they just brewed with pumkin meat and the end flavor is what you get. Get some now, or be a looser and wait for some Sam Adams Giblet Stout.

Samuel Adams Coastal Wheat (huh?)

2009-10-06T13:21:00.004-04:00

Hey you like Sam, you don't like Sam. Personally, I'm a big Boston Lager fan - if it's on tap & super fresh, there's nothing like it I think. But generally I'm not overly enthusiastic about everything they make. Across the lineup it's just ok for me. Cherry Wheat though - f*cking terrible.

Anyway.

Coastal Wheat just hit the streets. It's excellent. It's lighter bodied than typical Sam fare, and the lemon is really more of a hint than an outright flavor. It's not the overwhelming, almost dry grain of paradise taste, as found in Summer Ale. I actually think this could and should replace the traditional summer offering. I guess I wonder why we're seeing it for the first time...in October.

Oh, but the name. Oh I know precisely where it came from. It came from one of the many surveys Sam sends out. I got that survey. As most of their surveys do, it pissed me off to no end. I really tried to finish it, but the damn thing went on forever, offering the same exact choices, using slightly modified iterations of the same exact question again and again and again until my f*cking eyeballs bled and I begged the internet and any listening deity for mercy. 'Coastal Wheat' was one of the choices; as I remember, one of the worst. My guess is that no one actually completed the survey, Sam put the choices in a lotto drum, and this is what came out.

So ignore the name, label, everything on the outside, and enjoy this little bit of summer in October.

Peaches and Herb said it best

2009-09-16T11:32:00.014-04:00

Much time (two weeks) has passed since the season's first taste of Pumpkinhead crossed my palette. That lifeless liquid anticlimax, for some reason my favorite fall beer of all time. But such contempt? It didn't make sense, and I searched for the reason.

Weeks of experimentation with Wolaver's and a renewal of interest in Autumn Brew ensued. I savored both, appreciating their distinctive, spicy slaps to the mouth. I enjoyed them, devil may care, as my compatriot from Portland sat idly by, wondering when I would return. When would I? I couldn't say.

Then a chance encounter at Firefly saw my old friend paired with Stoli Vanil. A time honored combination. To me it represents what Pumpkinhead could be, if it only tried. Of course, this is the tale of the tape for Shipyard's Smashed Pumpkin, which I believe is only a fairytale beverage. But staying on point - without Russia's finest, what is Pumpkinhead anyway. You can't put Brian Daubach on steroids and call him a great hitter.

More days of Wolaver's, and a return to form with Halloween Ale. But a collective buildup of flavor that was reaching a pinnacle now. Little did I know.

An icy cold Pumpkinhead draft last night at the Backroom spoke to me. Suddenly, after weeks of flavor anhilliation, the senses were liberated. For the first time, the subtlety of Pumpkinhead shined through like a vehicle mounted spotlight pierces the translucent curtains in a random woman's bedroom window on a cold November night. The stunning simplicity struck me in way it never has. Or maybe it was the effect imparted by pounding two in a row. Nonetheless, in that moment, we reunited. And it felt so good.

Hello old Friend!

2009-09-03T09:38:00.004-04:00

Beer date: September 2. After a morally satisfying 10-mile mountain bike ride in the quiet night wilderness of Bear Brook State Park, I take my usual seat at the roadhouse, where I order up the season's first Pumpkinhead. Steeped in anticipation, my mind floods with pleasant memories of my favorite fall staple. It arrives; it's subdued coppery hue looking just as wonderful as I remember. In my haste, not a taste, but a first gulp - and it all comes back to me now as I sit here. Watery and completely unfulfilling, this is Pumpkinhead.

Three Philosophers

2009-09-01T20:53:00.006-04:00

Ommegang Brewery
9.8% Alc./vol.
Unknown IBU

I've never been a big fan of belgian or "Belgian style" beers which this brew happens to be. There have been a few I've enjoyed, but for the most part I'm a meat and potatoes kind of beer drinker. I get more excited by the masterful execution or a novel twist of the more pedestrian styles of ale than I do sampling exotic brews.

I'm about 5 sips in so I'll start with my first impressions and see how it progresses from there. I began by pouring my first glass into the wrong type of glass; a Duvel tulip. Three Philosophers should probably be served in a Chimay chalice, but I can't find mine at the moment. I'll toast St. Anthony and see if he knows where it is.

The initial pour released a surprisingly complex arrangement of fruit, champagne, floral notes and a hint of yeast. Very pleasant, but it dissipated quickly. Thick, rich and foamy head tinted slightly beige. The flavor is subtle, malty with a hint of cherry. It finishes sharp and dry reminiscent of biting into a green apple. I'm reminded again of champagne and wouldn't be surprised if they used champagne yeast in the final fermentation. Clean aftertaste though slightly boozy, which I like; kind of a warm fuzzy feeling.

Three Philosophers is a Belgian style ale blended with Kriek, which explains the cherries. I can tell while sipping that if it weren't for the Kriek, this would be a very rich and sweet ale. The Kriek balances that out nicely and counters the sweetness with sour cherries.

All in all this is an enjoyable beer, but not an everyday one for me. The clean taste makes it a versatile beer and would be welcome at cocktail hour, during and after dinner or even with a sorbet and fruit course, if your pants are fancy.

Wolaver's Will Stevens' Pumpkin Ale ?ABV

2009-08-31T20:23:00.005-04:00

I know Andy told me Wolaver's is never good. I understand Andy. He had a bad experience with swimmer piss. So he is cautious.

I like shiny things so I bought this. I had two (2) (1+1 other) and put on some Richard Burgess. And Spase Peepole. All the hits. Jennifor Hal-o-way.

I think I'm halfway bombed. I'm such a lightweight.

I have to go

Just when I thought I was off IPA

2009-08-10T21:26:00.003-04:00

XXXX India Pale Ale 9.25% 70 IBU
Shipyard Pugsley's Signature Series

I've been drinking Smuttynose IPA almost exclusively for the last six months but the resulting hop induced perma burn (heartburn) has made drinking IPA's less appealing.

Anyone who is a fan of the American IPA would admit that we have abused the little flower, concocting mouth puckering and palatte destroying hop bombs of beers. Such is not the case with XXXX IPA. The hops are there, but mostly in aroma. They are used to balance out the syrupy sweetness inevitable in a beer this big (9.25%), but not to the point of obliterating the sweetness or overwhelming the malty flavor. The richness of this beer doesn't make it a chugger, but it would fare well alongside some 'que, mexican or anything with some heat.

This isn't the best I've had of its type, but it's good and worth a shot. Like other Pugsley Signature beers, I believe it's only available in the 1 1/3 pint bottles which I call "samplers."

Summer Round Up

2009-08-10T15:52:00.008-04:00

Ah, fleeting summer. Before you know it Pumpkinhead will be........holy sh*t are you serious? It's the first week of August and it's already in every neighborhood cooler. That should excite me, but the concept of Pumpkinhead 2 has me extremely distracted.

A few brief reviews:

UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen 5.1%ABV: Is good. It could be better but it's good enough.

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy 4.2%ABV: Ack. Shandy. When I think of shandy I'm reminded of my 'ol Irish friend John who used to run a pub downtown. "ETS FOEKEN BEEREN SPROIT" he'd say. Don't go out of your way to figure out what that means or to try this beverage.

Tuckerman 6288 Stout 5.9%ABV: Named for Mt. Washington, it is basically impossible for this beer to suck. Like Wash it is epic and awesome and takes me way too long to finish.

Kona Wailua Wheat 5.4%ABV: Boring. This is one of the most uninteresting things I've tried since I tried wiping front to back. Yes, people say it's different but it's impossible to really tell and in the end you accomplish basically the same thing. If you understood any of that, don't buy this yawn in a bottle.