Fixed Gear American Red Ale

3/25/15

Fixed Gear 

American Red Ale

Intro- I felt like having a beer... I picked one of my randoms that I had bought bout a week ago.

Country- USA Milwaukee WI

Brewery- Lakefront Brewery

ABV- 6.8%

Source- from a bottle to a glass.

Look- Reddish brown ale.

Feel- It's pretty carbonated. When I popped it open there was a rush of foam spilling out.

Taste- Strong!!! It definitely reminds me of an IPA but it is not one. It's very strong tasting.

Smell- It has a distinct bitterness to it. 

Opinion- Asi said it is strong indeed. It is not for the faint of heart. I don't mind bitter beer, but this one is really bitter. I like it but I don't love it, it's good but not great. If you like strong taste in a beer, you'll like this one. I wouldn't turn it away or snub my nose at it. That said, it's probably a 5.5 out of 10 in my book. 

Wrought Iron IPA (3/22/15)

Wrought Iron IPA

INTRO- Well it has been a couple weeks since the last beer. Unfortunately I was ill and in no condition to drink, however im better now and decided to try something new.

BREWERY- Abita Brewing Co. LLC

COUNTRY- USA (Abita Springs LA)

ABV- 6.9%

LOOK- a kind of Orngish yellow. 

SMELL- smells like an IPA with a hint of sweetness to it. 

FEEL- it is quite carbonated and heady.

TASTE- hoppy, but smooth.

OPINION- I like it. I expected it to taste like well wrought iron. Honestly it is nothing like that. It's quite tasty. Hoppy for sure but very tasty. It's not too strong, but it does have a kick of sorts. I'd rate this a solid 7 out of 10. Very good beer for a whim... Cheers!

Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

March 7, 2014

Leinenkugel's Snowdrift Vanilla Porter

Intro- So, I felt like having a beer. That's it, nothing more. 

Brewery- Leinenkugel Brewery  

Country- USA

ABV- 6.9%

Source- From a bottle to a glass,m (but finished from the bottle lol)

Look- The beer lets some light through but not much, kind of a dark brown in color. 

Smell- Even at first whiff, I definitely smell malt. I definitely smell a sweet cocoa scent .

Feel- A little more than moderately carbonated. After about 4 oz. I was already burping.

Taste-Definitely tastes sweet and you can taste the vanilla and cocoa for sure. Not a bad tasting beer. 

Opinion-  It's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination. Despite the carbonation, it's pretty decent. I preferred to drink it from the bottle, not sure why I just did. I like darker beers, and this is a darker beer. I definitely like the hint of vanilla and cocoa. The bottle says there is a coffee flavor too but I did not taste it in this bottle. I will update when I have more. I am going to continue rating on a scale of 1-10 as I think it gives me a little more wiggle room for beers that the 1-5 scale did. How do I rate this one? I would give it a solid 7/10. It is a beer I would definitely recommend to others, but I have definitely had better and MUCH MUCH worse. Enjoy the Leinenkugel's...

2/26/15 Beers Around the World Part 3- (Beer # 5-10 of the night)

Beer #5 

Ayinger Albairisch Dunkel

Brewery- Brauerei Aying

Country- Germany

ABV- 5.0%

Source- In a glass.

Look- a clean light brown.

Feel- It is actually quite carbonated, but not at all in a bad way.

Smell-It's a very, weird smell, for lack of a better word. I smell fruit, nuts oats maybe.. Nothing jumps out at me like Hey this is the scent!!!

Taste- It was a good beer. It had a roasted nut taste to it and no taste of fruit at all, which makes the smell stranger.

Opinion- I am torn on this one, it is good but not great. It is definitely something I'd buy and drink again. I do not have anything negative to say about this one. I'd definitely recommend this one to others as a tasty clean crisp beer. I wanted to give it a 6.5 or 7 and my friend said the same thing so we decided that on this one I'd give it a 6 and he a 7 so that it received the score of 6.5. So this one gets a 6 or 7/10 lol

Beer #6

Malka Keha

Brewery-  Malka Brewery

Country- Israel

ABV- 6.0%

Source- In a glass.

Look- Dark but not completely black.

Feel- More than a moderate carbonation

Smell- It is a crisp smell, something about it I can not put my finger on.  (or nose on lol)

Taste- I distinctly taste syrup. This beer was sweet.

Opinion- I like it for what it was. A crisp beer. It was tasty, sweet but not too sweet. The carbonation was a little more than the others and I've been burping since the first sip. The afterburp however is not good at all. It is foul and the second taste is umm well I did not like it at all. This one was definitely not as good as the Ayinger BUT not deserving of a 5 so I gave this a 6/10.

PS- this is also my first beer I have ever had from Israel.

 Beer #7 

Rodenbach Classic Red

Brewery- Brouwerij Rodenbach N.V.

Country- Belgium

ABV- 5.2%

Source In a glass

Look- See below. it is a cloudy brown. As we were drinking this it was often referred to as a "shit" brown. It was also called toilet water, and diarrhea... we hoped the taste did not reflect the look.

Feel- It is carbonated and it is disgusting...

Smell- There are so many smells, the one that stands out is lemon pledge (YES the cleaning supply) OH SO BAD!!!!

Taste- Oh so bad, I can not describe with enough adjectives as to how bad this beer is. It has got so many tastes to it, it is sweet, it is malty, it is fruity it is BAD just plain BAD!!!!

Opinion- HOWEVER, despite this not being at all good as a sipping beer, as a sipping drink, ice cold, it is not terrible. But by calling this a beer, it is not good, it is quite disgusting. I gave this a 3/10 because it is not (BY FAR) the worst beer I have ever had. Time for some water and pretzels to clear the palate after this one..

Side Note- I usually really like Belgium Beers. That's why this is so bad, I cant believe it is from Belgium ...

 Beer #8 

Moa Imperial Stout

Brewery- Moa Brewing Co.

Country- New Zealand

ABV- 10.2%

Source From a glass

Look- Very dark in color. Not quite black but darker than brown.

Feel- Not too much carbonation.

Smell- It has got a punch ya in the face, strong wake you up in the morning scent. (How's that for a description)

Taste- It has a very strong coffee like taste. I like coffee so I liked this taste.

Opinion- I liked the strong taste. It was really a smack ya in the face, hello how ya doin' taste. I would NOT recommend this to anyone who does not like strong beers. However if you like dark strong tasting beers, I think you'd like this. This was another one that went on the 6 or 7 scale so another friend that felt the same voted 7 and I voted 6 in order to give it the 6.5 score. so this should be rated as a 6 or 7/10.

PS- Again first beer I've tried from New Zealand. 

Beer #9

Thornbridge Kipling

Brewery- Thornbridge Brewery

Country- England

ABV- 5.2%

Source From a glass.

Look- it is a light yellow.

Feel- Slightly heady with some carbonation .

Smell-It has a distinct IPA smell to it. Very Hoppy.

Taste- It tastes strong and hoppy.

Opinion- I like IPA's but this has a weird fruity taste to it as well. That is what makes this fall a notch on my end. It is very drinkable and the taste is pretty decent. I scored this a 7/10.

Side Note- This in fact was not an IPA it was an EPA

Beer #10

Titan IPA

Brewery- Great Divide Brewing Co.

Country- USA

ABV- 7.1%

Source- From a glass

Look- a cloudy brown, but you can tell it is from the pour.

Feel- Moderately carbonated.

Smell- Again this is a distinct smell of IPA

Taste- This is a solid hoppy IPA. It is so good.

Opinion- This one is so smooth and so drinkable. As I said I really like IPA's. This one is fantastic. I highly recommend this beer. It was a great beer to end the night with. 9/10

 The overall lineup in the order we drank them ... 

  

The Final Tally, including rank, scores, where we drank the beer in the night etc.. 

Overall this was a really fun night of beer drinking. I definitely look forward to these as they almost always introduce me to different beers I would normally not try on my own. I am already looking forward to the next one. But I think the next big tasting review will come from the Battleship New Jersey and the Craft Beer Festival in June. 

2/26/15 Beers Around the World Part 2 (Beers 1-4 of the Night)

Beers # 1-4

Beer 1 

Tsingtao

Brewery- Tsingtao Brewing Co Ltd

Country- China

ABV- 4.8%

Source- In a glass.

Look- light yellow, almost clear. Looks like a light beer to me.

Feel- not much carbonation to this at all. Kind of reminds me of a seltzer water with more flavor.

Taste- to my surprise it was a little spicy. I'm not sure what the spice was but it had a little "kick" to it so to speak. 

Smell- The first whiff was kinda stinky, but it definitely grew on me and after a few sniffs it was not stinky at all, it was a fresh type scent.

Opinion- there was not much taste to speak of one way or the other. There is a hint of spice and no aftertaste at all. For the first beer of the night I gave this a 5/10.

Beer #2

Smithwicks

Brewery- Smithwicks Brewery

Country- Ireland

ABV- 4.5

Source- From a glass

Look- Dark, reddish brown.

Feel- very low carbonation, easily drinkable.

Smell- There was not much of a smell at all. Beer scented, which is good.

Taste- I was not a fan. I tasted a hint of ...dirt.. that was the best description.

Opinion- I really did not like this one at all. It tasted like complete dirt, had a bad aftertaste and was not a pleasant drink. It was rather difficult to finish and I was not overly impressed. I scored this one 3/10

Side Note- After the reveal I was shocked. I actually do like Smithwicks beer. I am hoping that this was just a bad batch and that they have not changed the recipe like they did the bottle. I have not had Smithwicks in over a year so it is possible I suppose.

PS- I am also not a fan of the new bottles...

Beer #3

Samuel Smith Pure Brewed Organic Ale

Brewery- Samuel Smith Old Brewery

Country- England

ABV- 5.0

Source- From a glass. 

Look- Yellow, light orangish. 

Taste- There was absolutely no distinguishable taste at all. It was neither here nor there. 

Feel- Light to moderate carbonation. 

Smell- It was foul. I can not even describe the smell because it was just that bad. 

Opinion- Because there was no distinguishable taste, I cant really say whether it was good or bad. I am going to give it a 4/10.

Side Note- This was the first Organic Beer.

Beer #4

Old Engine Oil Black Ale

Brewery- Harviestoun Brewery Co. Ltd

Country- Scotland

ABV- 6.0

Source- In a glass

Look- Very dark brown to black. Looks like Old Engine Oil. lol absolutely no light shines through.

Feel- It is moderately carbonated.

Taste- This tastes really good. There is a definite oakish chocolate taste to it.

Smell- Syrupy and Chocolatey. It smells YUMMY!!!!

Opinion- I really like this one. It has a very distinct taste, and a very familiar one too. Turns out I did have this one before. It was the winner of our last Beers Around the World night. It is a solid tasty beer. The after burp, first of the night, is very pleasant. There is no foul aftertaste and it was very smooth to drink. I am very happy with this beer. I can honestly say that this is the first one I would highly recommend to others. I gave this one an 8/10

Side Note- This was last Beers Around the World winner.  I'm going to look if I can find how we all voted last time vs. this time. That would be interesting.

Beers Around The World Feb 2015 (10 beers/9 countries) Part 1

2/26/15

Beers Around The World 

Part 1

     Every few months my poker buddies and I get together and do a beer tasting. We usually try to get beers from different countries and different types of beer. We also try to sample beers we would not normally drink or have not tried in the past. It is definitely a fun night and throw in the poker and the shenanigans that go with it and it is one heck of a night. 

     This past Thursday we had our first beer ranking of the year. 10 Beers, 9 Countries 1 Repeat beer and 2 countries we have never tried beer from. There were ales, and lagers, porters and IPA's (EPA as well). It was a really good time and the results were a little weird. 

     What we do is the host buys the beer and puts them in the order that he thinks best suits our group. He is the only one that knows what type of beer it is and what actual beer it is. We do not get to see the bottle, know what type of beer or where it is from until after everyone has finished their sample and scored the beer on a scale of 1-10.  At the end of the night we are able to switch one of our votes up to 2 points up or down.  Usually we don't move the full 2, but we do make a few changes at the end of the night. Below is the chart of the beers we had, order we had them and  the votes. You'll see this chart again later in part 2 or part 3 with a better explanation of each beer as well.

     I was a little early so I began the night with a Pumpkin Homebrewed beer. A few years ago I attempted making my own Pumpkin Homebrewed beer but it did not turn out very well at all. This one however was top notch. I am not a huge fan of pumpkin beers but there are a few that are really good. This one was right up there with them as far as taste went. Kudos to Matt the Homebrewer and host of the nights festivities for a great starter beer (for the record I ended the night with the brew as well, it was that good. 

To be continued.....