Continuing in the American line of beers, today I'm sampling what appears to be a wheat beer from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It comes in a 12 ounce bottle, and has 4.9% alcohol/vol. The only thing that makes me nervous about this beer is that it advertises "beer with natural flavors". I actually had to laugh out loud at that line. I sure hope this beer has natural flavours (as opposed to artificial?).
The bottle was a twist-off. I was wise enough to attempt that before grabbing the bottle opener. I was hit in the face with the smell of oranges. Perhaps this is the "natural flavor" mentioned on the label. No head formed at all when poured, and the bubbles were hard to see through the yellow haze. There was still an orangey aroma to the beer.
The first sip was revolting. I did not have the words to describe how vile this "beer" was. In no way did it taste anything like beer. This was the first beer I had to flush down the sink. I also brushed my teeth.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Spoetzl Shiner Bock
Today's beer is brewed in Texas. The label claims it is hand crafted. As usual per the American beers I have sampled so far, there is no alcohol content on the label. It comes in a brown 12 ounce bottle.
The first thing I noticed after popping the cap off, is that it's a twist off. Oops. Guess I didn't have to grab my bottle opener. I can't believe it's taken me so long to come across my first twist off. The aroma from the bottle was sweet with only a hint of hops. When poured, there was almost no head. And lots of huge bubbles. The beer was of a light brown colour. The aroma was unchanged from that of being in the bottle.
The first sip, I could hardly tell I was drinking beer. It honestly tasted like fizzy water. There was no significant aftertaste. I'm not sure whether no taste is better than bad taste. At least with bad taste, it's obvious the brewer tried. With no taste, it's just carbonated dirty water.
It's beer like this that gives American beer a bad reputation.
The first thing I noticed after popping the cap off, is that it's a twist off. Oops. Guess I didn't have to grab my bottle opener. I can't believe it's taken me so long to come across my first twist off. The aroma from the bottle was sweet with only a hint of hops. When poured, there was almost no head. And lots of huge bubbles. The beer was of a light brown colour. The aroma was unchanged from that of being in the bottle.
The first sip, I could hardly tell I was drinking beer. It honestly tasted like fizzy water. There was no significant aftertaste. I'm not sure whether no taste is better than bad taste. At least with bad taste, it's obvious the brewer tried. With no taste, it's just carbonated dirty water.
It's beer like this that gives American beer a bad reputation.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Rogue Dead Guy Ale
Yet another American ale. Today's brew comes in a 12 ounce brown bottle. There is absolutely no useful information on the label. So it's a bit of a mystery today. The skeleton sitting on the keg on the label might be a warning.
I could smell lots of malty goodness when I opened the bottle. When poured, almost no head formed. However, there were lots of large bubbles. The beer itself was deep copper in colour. And the aroma was malty, with only a slight hint of hops.
The first sip had very little flavour. There was a bitter aftertaste, though. I would call this beer exceptionally light on flavour, which is unfortunate since it had a lot going for it up until I tasted it. Overall, it's not bad tasting. I just wish there was more of it.
I could smell lots of malty goodness when I opened the bottle. When poured, almost no head formed. However, there were lots of large bubbles. The beer itself was deep copper in colour. And the aroma was malty, with only a slight hint of hops.
The first sip had very little flavour. There was a bitter aftertaste, though. I would call this beer exceptionally light on flavour, which is unfortunate since it had a lot going for it up until I tasted it. Overall, it's not bad tasting. I just wish there was more of it.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Troubadour Blond
Today is an "off" day. Not my normal Monday/Wednesday/Friday day for sampling beer. So why am I drinking? Because today I learned that a friend of mine has cancer. I'm not going to go into any details, because the friend in question told me to keep it quiet, and I don't think I'm going to give anything away by mentioning as much as I just did. Hopefully, a fine Belgian blond ale will lift my spirits.
Today's beer, as mentioned above, is a Belgian blond ale. It comes in an 11.2 fluid ounce bottle, and weighs in at 6.5% alcohol/vol. There isn't much other information on the bottle, other than the large "ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY..." For some reason, I think I'm safe.
Upon opening, I noticed a wonderful hoppy aroma. I have a feeling I'm going to like this beer already. When poured, it formed a gigantic head, and lots of large bubbles formed in the beer. The beer itself is a cloudy yellow. As for aroma, the same hoppy smell I detected when I opened the bottle was there, only it was stronger. The head lasted a long time, and dissipated unevenly. After pouring, I noticed a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. I guess this beer isn't filtered and keeps fermenting in the bottle, which would explain the cloudiness.
The first sip was a good one. It tastes like a sweet pilsner. Very hoppy, but not bitter. Generally sweeter, more than anything else, but not overwhelmingly so. There is a hint of spiciness to it. I would say this beer is very balanced. I could not detect any aftertaste. This is a very good strong beer.
Today's beer, as mentioned above, is a Belgian blond ale. It comes in an 11.2 fluid ounce bottle, and weighs in at 6.5% alcohol/vol. There isn't much other information on the bottle, other than the large "ACCORDING TO THE SURGEON GENERAL, WOMEN SHOULD NOT DRINK ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES DURING PREGNANCY..." For some reason, I think I'm safe.
Upon opening, I noticed a wonderful hoppy aroma. I have a feeling I'm going to like this beer already. When poured, it formed a gigantic head, and lots of large bubbles formed in the beer. The beer itself is a cloudy yellow. As for aroma, the same hoppy smell I detected when I opened the bottle was there, only it was stronger. The head lasted a long time, and dissipated unevenly. After pouring, I noticed a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle. I guess this beer isn't filtered and keeps fermenting in the bottle, which would explain the cloudiness.
The first sip was a good one. It tastes like a sweet pilsner. Very hoppy, but not bitter. Generally sweeter, more than anything else, but not overwhelmingly so. There is a hint of spiciness to it. I would say this beer is very balanced. I could not detect any aftertaste. This is a very good strong beer.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Abita Ale Turbodog
As promised, today's beer is American. It comes in an oddly-shaped 355mL bottle, somewhere between a long neck and a stubby. It has a label on the back that gives a lot of information: pale, crystal and chocolate malts, willamette hops, and a "unique German alt yeast". It bills itself as a brown ale. Completely unknown alcohol content. There is also a section of the label reserved for a best-before date, but it is empty.
When the bottle was opened, I noticed the malty smell. No hops were detected. When poured, it formed a small creamy head that never fully disappeared but did get thinner. The beer was dark brown in colour, and needed to be held up to the light to see through it. It still had the malty aroma, but also had a very light hoppy smell to it.
The first sip was interesting. Up to this point, I had only had hoppy lagers (with a few notable exceptions). So this beer completely took me by surprise. It had a rich earthy taste. Slightly sweet and caramel-like. A hint of bitterness to it. I found this beer went down fairly easily, with only a slightly bitter aftertaste.
When the bottle was opened, I noticed the malty smell. No hops were detected. When poured, it formed a small creamy head that never fully disappeared but did get thinner. The beer was dark brown in colour, and needed to be held up to the light to see through it. It still had the malty aroma, but also had a very light hoppy smell to it.
The first sip was interesting. Up to this point, I had only had hoppy lagers (with a few notable exceptions). So this beer completely took me by surprise. It had a rich earthy taste. Slightly sweet and caramel-like. A hint of bitterness to it. I found this beer went down fairly easily, with only a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
American Beer
Just got back from Fargo. I now have a fridge full of American beer, so I'll be sampling some US microbreweries for the next few weeks. At least, I think they're microbreweries. I didn't check too hard.
I also bought some other brands that look interesting and are hard to come by.
I also bought some other brands that look interesting and are hard to come by.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Slavutich Premium
Before I start into today's beer sampling, I have two important announcements.
1. I will not be sampling a beer on Friday.
2. I have started brewing my own beer.
Since I will be in Fargo this weekend, I will not have a chance to sample a beer. However, this weekend trip gives me an opportunity to buy beers that are not available here in Manitoba. In all likelihood, the next few weeks will be spent sampling premium American beers.
As for brewing my own beers, I just figured on a whim that I probably have enough experience in sampling beers at this point to have an idea of what a good beer tastes like. Or at the very least, what kind of beer I like. So I bought a domestic wheat beer kit. I have not started the fermentation process since time does not allow it yet. But I will start it up sometime next week and report on its progress on this blog. When I'm done, if anybody wants some free beer just drop me a line.
Without further ado, let's move onto today's beer sampling.
This Ukranian beer comes in a blue 500mL can with 5.3% alcohol/vol. There is not much English on the label. I had to hunt around to find the English translation of the beer's name in the fine print. I'm basically going into this beer completely blind. There is what appears to be a best-before date on the bottom of the can of May 25. I'm cutting this one close, so I probably shouldn't expect much.
Upon opening of the can, I was greeted with a strong floral aroma. Once poured, the aroma disappeared. The dark yellow beer formed a large head that disappeared rather quickly. There were lots of large bubbles.
The first sip was bland. It had a slight apple taste. But there wasn't much hoppy bitterness to it at all. There was also a slight metallic aftertaste, but that could be completely discounted by the proximity to the best-before date. Apart from the apple tones, there was not much memorable about this beer.
1. I will not be sampling a beer on Friday.
2. I have started brewing my own beer.
Since I will be in Fargo this weekend, I will not have a chance to sample a beer. However, this weekend trip gives me an opportunity to buy beers that are not available here in Manitoba. In all likelihood, the next few weeks will be spent sampling premium American beers.
As for brewing my own beers, I just figured on a whim that I probably have enough experience in sampling beers at this point to have an idea of what a good beer tastes like. Or at the very least, what kind of beer I like. So I bought a domestic wheat beer kit. I have not started the fermentation process since time does not allow it yet. But I will start it up sometime next week and report on its progress on this blog. When I'm done, if anybody wants some free beer just drop me a line.
Without further ado, let's move onto today's beer sampling.
This Ukranian beer comes in a blue 500mL can with 5.3% alcohol/vol. There is not much English on the label. I had to hunt around to find the English translation of the beer's name in the fine print. I'm basically going into this beer completely blind. There is what appears to be a best-before date on the bottom of the can of May 25. I'm cutting this one close, so I probably shouldn't expect much.
Upon opening of the can, I was greeted with a strong floral aroma. Once poured, the aroma disappeared. The dark yellow beer formed a large head that disappeared rather quickly. There were lots of large bubbles.
The first sip was bland. It had a slight apple taste. But there wasn't much hoppy bitterness to it at all. There was also a slight metallic aftertaste, but that could be completely discounted by the proximity to the best-before date. Apart from the apple tones, there was not much memorable about this beer.
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