St Bernardus pater 6

I got my self a St Bernardus gift pack(the 6,8,(dubbels), tripel, and 12(quad) along with a chalice) after reading good reviews of each on BA, and noticing in the liquer store that the gift pack with 4 beers and a glass was less then the cost of buying the 6,8,12 individualy. Im not the biggest Belgian beer fan, but Im warming up to them, so this was an opertunity I didnt want to miss out on.


First Impressions: Dark Amber, and thick. Smells like slightly sweet.

Taste: Malty with a bit of a zing.. but not in a hoppy bitter way, not too sweet(which is a common problem I have with belgian beers), and a ghost of a bitter aftertaste.... Its there but its almost unperceptive.

overall: Great This is one tasty beer. Its balanced well, This is probably the best dubbel Ive had.... though my next beer to try is the St Bernardus 8... also a dubbel

Weihen Stephaner Korbinian

I had a taste of this at the Bad Movie night a few weeks ago, and was intrigued enough to get a bottle of my own to try. Weinstephaner is one of the best Bavarian breweries(even if I dont care for their flagship hefe weisse) as well as being the oldest brewery in the world at 968 years old.... In 32 years Id love to visit their brewery for the 1000's anniversary.

First Impressions: Dark but translucent, smells of malty licorice.

Taste: Darkly malty. A little bite of hops come through at first though. The licorice flavor comes through near the end, but its not overpowering.

Overall: Great. The first 2 doppelbocks Ive had were from victory and Sam Adams, and both I disliked for having too intense a flavor of licorice. This though is nicely balanced. The licorice still is there, but its adds to the flavor instead of overpowering it. Quite good indeed.

Longtrail Hibernator

Hibernator what a name for a cold winter night.

first impressions: pours with a nice head, dark amber colored.... bottle says it is unfiltered, but only looks slightly cloudy, slight sweet smell, but not much.

Taste: In a word.... Malty, has a slight bitter bite, but its really the dark malt flavors which define this brew. aftertaste is a hint of bitterness.

Overall: good Another solid beer from Long Trail. This reminds me a bit of an octoberfest, though according to beeradvocate its a Scottish ale

Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA

Just drove back from NJ with my friend Abi(where I was home for christmas. Was a long drive... time for a beer :)

First impressions: Big head, lots of carbonation. Nice floral hoppy smell

Taste: hoppy bite at first, but not too strong, after that gets slightly watery, not much in the way of malt balance, slight bitter aftertaste.

overall: good This is a good standard IPA, probably better then harpoon, but no wheres near as good as Stone IPA

River Horse Belgian Freeze

Nerf wars are a common occurrence around my house at Holidays as you can see.

First Impressions: Very dark, smells strong, alcoholic

Taste: strong dark malt start which turns a bit bitter at the end

overall: poor Its an interesting flavor in a weird way, but not one I would consider "good". I doubt Id have this again.

Anchor 2008 Christmas Ale

Christmas eve, I had this at my parents house, my dad and brother both liked it.

First impressions: Dark, like a porter, has an interesting aroma of spice.

Taste: interesting, sour start, a little bitter but its only slight, then a bit of spice near the end

overall: good This is an interesting beer, for a porter or stout, this doesn't really taste like one with its weird sour flavor in the beginning. Its not bad, just not something I really enjoy. I do recommend trying it though

Victory Golden Monkey

First Impressions: dark yellowish color, smells slightly sweet, but the most particular thing about this beer is the noise its bubbles make, it sounds like rice crispies. And the head lasts for quite a long time.

Taste: Belgian in a word: Strong, sweetish, but balanced, slightly bad bitter aftertaste

overall: OK Im not a big belgian tripel fan, so I don't love this beer

Flying Dog DOGtoberfest

Its a bit outa season for Octbober fests now, but Ive had this around in my fridge for about a month, I picked it up in the DC area while visiting my brother and some college friends. Flying dog has impressed me with most of their beers, so while so far I have been unable to find a good US made octoberfest, I have high hopes for this

first impressions: smells nice and malty, dark amber colored

taste: not much bite, starts out darkly malty, and turns a bit sweet at the end, no real aftertaste

overall: great This is definitely my 2nd favorite Octoberfest(right after Hacker Pshorr) The flavors go quite well together. Id say it is slightly less strong of a taste then the hacker pshorr, but it does beat out paulaner and hof brau, which says something

Julius Echter Hefeweisse

I picked this up on a whim when getting some other stuff. Id had it a few years ago before I was really into weisse's, and remember it being quite good.

first impressions: nice opaque weisse color, smells like many great bavarian weisse's, hint of banana and spice.

taste: slightest of bite at first, followed by a wheaty maltynesss. no aftertaste.

overall: good Id call this great, but It does seems slightly weaker then a franziskaner or hacker pshorr, or maybe Im not as much into weisse's as I used to be, regardless this is still and a good beer.

Sam Adams Imperial Hallertau Pilsner

This is one of Sam Adams Extreme beers, and definitly the most easy to find. Its probably their hoppiest beer, though unlike most American IPA's, this uses all Bavarian Hallertau hops(hence the name) which are used more often in milder beers(sam lager for example)

first impressions: dark amber colored, doesnt have much smell, definitely not the floral bouquet you would expect from a beer labeled "an intense hop experience"

taste: very very interesting. Its hoppy alright, but really not bitter at all at least until the aftertaste. its overwhelmingly hoppy, but not in the classic IPA style at all, and lacking most o the bitterness you associate with a hoppy beer.

overall: great. I am quite impressed, This is probably my favorite Sam Adams beer. Most of the others I find decent, but nothing Id write home about. This on the other hand is. Its definitely unique in flavor and style. It has a slight bad bitter aftertaste, but that is heavily overshadowed by the rest of the beer.

Sam Adams Triple Bock

So this post isn't so much a review as a story.

A few days ago I was reading beer advocate, and there was an interesting article about Sam Adams Triple bock, and how people either hated it or loved it(usualy hated it with very interesting and vivid stories about their trying it, which piqued my interest.

A little more research told me that it is the beer which started the Extreme Beer industry back in the 90s. There were only 3 batches of it brewed, in 94', 95', and 97' and it led to many other micro breweries experimenting and trying new techniques. Ohh yeah and its 17.5% ABV.

so little to my surprise when down last night at the davis sq liqueur store getting a gift for my brother, I found 2 bottles, hidden away in the back of their specialty section. I picked up one.

Later that evening though I was thinking... I shoulda picked up the other bottle too, as if nothing else this beer has a lot of history attached to it, so I could drink one and hang on to the other.

The next day I head back to the store about an hour after it opens, only to find that another patron over in the specialty section, with the last bottle in his hand. I was crushed as I probably missed it by a minute or two.

After leaving the store, I decided to try the ball sq store, as they have a decent selection, and their owner had mentioned a while ago that they even have sam adams utopias(the successor to the triple bock) So I get to the store, look arround a bit, was about to go ask the guy, when I spy a bottle of triple bock in the meade section, away from the beers..

so now I have 2 bottles of this minimum 11 year old beer.

Brooklyn Lager

After reading about Brooklyn Brewery in a recent Newyorker article, I decided to try out their flagship beer. The label calls this a pre prohibition style lager. So I assume this is supposed to be how bud and other beers tasted before prohibition.

first impressions: amber colored, nice floral smell

taste: hoppy for a lager, but not that bitter(except for a bit as an aftertaste) The hops are definitely balanced out nicely by the malt.


overall: great. This is not at all what you would expect from a lager, and it's delicious and bursting with flavor. Definitely one of my favorite american lagers.

Weyerbacher Slam Dunkel double dunkelweizen

I had this at the American beer fest this past June and I remember enjoying it a lot, so after last weekend trying the weyerbacher double IPA, I decided to find their double dunkelweisse and give it a shot

first impressions: dark and opaque, strong smell which I cant quite place other then to say its dark.

taste: bit of a bite at first but that turns into something else, dark and licorice flavored, but mostly just "dark" and kinda skunky late - aftertaste.

overall: poor the dark nasty taste kinda kills it for me, its just not good. This is a very interesting beer I think I the bottle I got might have gone bad, as I distinctly remember this being better.

Weihenstephaner Vitus weizenbock

first impressions: nice orangy color, smells like a standard German hefeweizen

taste: smooth, strong hefe-weisse flavor. little bit of spice flavor, but sweet.. not much hops, clean finish

overall: Great this is an amazing beer, definitely my favorite weizenbock. Its strong and tastes like it, but its also incredibly smooth

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

So this beer came from my brother's place down in Maryland. Hes not a beer drinker, but he brought this back to jersey with him after it was left at his place by a friend.

First Impressions: Amber colored, small head, smell of spices sorta like a punpkin pie.

Taste: slight bite at start then turns malty with some spice, and then finishes slightly bitter.

overall: good. I havent been a fan of spiced beer before but I think my tastes have changed after this and the harpoon winter warmer which I liked. This overall was decent, and the bitter finish was nicely paired with the spice.

Dales Pale Ale

My brother and his friend zach picked up this beer a few days ago

first impressions: hoppy smell

taste: strong hoppy start and slight bitter aftertaste

overall: good. This is a decent pale ale. especially outa a can. Its not quite as good as sierra nevada pale ale, but its decent.

Weyerbacher Quad

another Thanksgiving beer. This was picked out my brother's friend Zach who is here for the weekend since his family lives in washington state

first impressions: nice dark amber colored, a distinctive nose of banana

ABV: 11.8%

taste: sweet but complex. slightly oppy start but then then turns malty and sweet with a hint of spice

overall: good. Im not a big fan of strong belgian beers or Id probably call this great. Its definitly a good representation of the style.

yeungling prenium lager

My grandfather brought this over for thanksgiving.

first impressions: light colored, slight beery smell

taste: smooth and crisp start has a bite near the middle, and ends well, no bad aftertaste.

overall: good. Im pleasantly surprised. Regular yeungling lager I find is fairly bland and uninteresting. This is better though, its crisp in the style of a Bavarian helles lager

Steel Head Extra Pale Ale

This is the beer that my brother greg picked out over thanksgiving weekend

first impressions: smells a bit hoppy

taste: hoppy bite at first but mellows out and ends clean

overall: good This is a good standard pale Ale, Id rate this similar to sierra nevada.

Weyerbacher Simcoe double IPA

I went out with my dad, brother and brother's friend to pick up some beer for thanksgiving. We each picked out a 4 pack/6pack. After enjoying the Harpoon double IPA, I thought I would try another

first impressions: nice floral hoppy smell

taste: strong hoppy bite at the start, which continues through and develops a bit of an alchohal flavor. Ends with an unpleasant long lasting aftertaste.

overall: ok This beer tastes fine, but the aftertaste sinks it

Sam Adams Ale

More left over party beer.... yay!


first impressions: slightly darker then sam lager, smells a little malty

taste: strong bite at first, then turns malty and slightly spicy, with a bit of lingering bitterness in the end


overall: good This reminds me a lot of sam lager in flavor, just more full bodied maybe
... I'll have to try them together to be sure.

Legacy Midnight Wit

I picked this up 3+ weeks ago for the the final obama/mccain debate. I felt slightly sick at the time, but I wanted a beer while watching the debate. And well later on that week I started to feel worse.... till I found out I had a mono-like virus, so I havent drank it since then.

first impressions: nice orange opaque. Smells of slight citrus

taste: tiny bite at first, but overall smooth. middle has hints of orange, and spice, slightly bitter aftertaste, but not in a bad way.

overall: good/great This is a solid beer, probably my second favorite belgian wit. Its definitly not better then alagash white, but I think its better then just about any other wit beer I have had.

Saranac Octoberfest

Another leftover party beer... yay!

first impressions: nice amber color, slightly sweet octoberfest smell

taste: bit at first, somewhat malty middle
and crisp aftertaste.

overall: good
Id rate this on-par to Sam adams Octoberfest, which I consider the
the best domestic octoberfest.... and which I had 4-5 pints of last night at karaoke with my coworkers after finishing the first draft of our project. Saranac tastes good, is crisp.. all together a solid beer

Aventius wheat doppelbock

I picked up this about 4 weeks ago, but have been recovering from Mono for the past 3 weeks so I havent got a chance to drink it. Im feeling better now, and with Barack Obama's win last night.... and the completion of the last 18 months of my work completed today.. it seemed like a good time to break it out. I also had a Weihenstephaner vitus(weisenbock) which is one of hte best beers in the world.. but I split it with a friend last night during an election party... I'll have to get another one to blog about.


first impressions: dark and opaque, smells a little sweet.

taste: slight licorice, but not over powering, hints of wheat, very smooth, and sweet aftertaste, but its not bad.

overall: Great Im impressed, I am not usually a fan of doppelbocks, and I found the Aventius eis bock good, but too strong. This on the other hand Id say is just right. The traditional licorice flavor of a doppelbock is not to strong here. Its quite smooth and goes down easy. Its definitly thicker, but not syrapy. The mix of licorice and wheat flavors go quite well together

Harpoon winter warmer

This is another left over party beer. Ive never considered myself a fan of spiced winter beers, but Ive never tried the winter warmer, so with a free party beer, I figured why not

First Impressions: nice solid amber colored, I smell a hint of cinnamon.

taste: malty start, with a spicy but not overpowering.


overall: good.
I am surprised... this is a spice beer that I enjoy. Its very drinkable

bud lite lime

my first beer after 3 weeks of mono.... and I make it a bud lite lime..... yeah thats right My roomates had a cast party last night so there is currently a lot of party beer left over. Anyway Ive been mildly interested ever since this came out.. but never felt like getting a full six pack, so when given the option of trying one... I decided, why not.

initial impressions: very pale, smells small hint of lime

taste: not bad. malty start, followed by a hint of lime. with no aftertaste.

overall: ok I really had no idea what to expect, and really it sorta tastes like a mix between bud and limeade. Its interesting, but I wouldnt call it good, and definitly wouldn't get it myself

Sherwood forest Brewery Archer's Ale

Sherwood forest Brewers from merry ole "New" England. On the name alone it was worth a try :)

taste: nice bite at start then turns malty with a hint of smoke at the end.

overall: good. This is a fairly standard pale ale. Nothing special stands out, and there is nothing wrong with it at the same time. Id rate this similar to a sierra nevada.

Duchess de bourgogne and Sam Adams brown

I received this belgian beer from my friends jon and sally for my birthday(3 months ago) I decided to break it out for a bit of gaming before my friend matt's wedding.

Its interesting.. very sour. Id say this reminds me of an un-flavored lambic

Sam adams brown. I find this beer uninteresting... thats really all I can say about it.

Weihenstephaner Original

I picked this, and 2 other half litre Bavarian beers a few days ago. I figured Id give the weihenstephaner helles lager a try since it was the highest rated helles on beer advocate(of course... BA also rates their weisse the best as well, which I disagree with)

first impressions: nice translucent pale color, smells slightly sweet, but not in a hoppy way.


taste: delicious. a bit of a bite at the start, turning smooth and malty, with no aftertaste.


overall : great. I have to agree with BA. This is possibly the best helles lager Ive had. Its definitly the best Ive had outside of a Munich beer hall. It tastes smooth and is delicious. I just with I had a bratwurst or pretzel to go with it

Duvel Golden Ale

initial impressions: smells sweet, nice golden color

taste: smooth start, slightly sweet malty middle, ending a little bitter

overall: Great. This is an amazing beer, definitly one of my favorite belgian beers. Its smooth, yet strong. Sweet, but not too sweet.

Alagash White

Alagash white was one of the first beers I really liked. I dont have it very often these days, however I fondly remember splitting a bottle of it, and a Upper crust pizza... those were the days.

first impressions: nice cloudy orange color, smells like orange with a hint of spice

taste: in a word smooth. This beer starts off smooth, develops a little spice in the middle, and ends with no noticable aftertaste

overall: great This in my mind is the very definition of a Belgian wit beer, which is ironic since its made in Maine, USA. Hogarden by comparison is just bland and tasteless, its very smooth, but lacks flavor.

Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA

This is Harpoon's 2nd in its Leviathan series. Which is their "strong" beer label I guess. I tried their first selection a Wheat wine at the American Beer Fest last summer, and it was terrible... so I'm hoping this is better.


initial impressions: smells quite hoppy

taste: powerful crisp hoppy start. Malty flavorful middle with still a fair amount of hops. Bitter crisp aftertaste, but not in a bad way.

overall: Great Wow this is an amazing beer. It reminds me of Stone's Arrogant Bastard double IPA with its powerful hoppy start. This however has a much fuller body then the Arrogant bastard. I have to say Im not a big fan of the standard Harpoon IPA, I find it watery, but this double IPA is perfect Its also a whopping 10% abv.

Haverhill Haver Cream Ale

first impressions: smells slightly floral

taste: nice crispy hoppy start, with a creamy middle, slightly bitter ending


overall: good: I like it. This tastes sorta like an IPA but not quite as hoppy, and not quite as clean a finish, Overall its good

Hof Bräu Octoberfest

My search for a great Octoberfest continues, this time with the first traditional Bavarian Octoberfest Ive had this fall.

first impressions: very light for an octoberfest

taste: honestly this doesnt taste like an octoberfest. It tastes pretty standard for a beer, sorta smooth, but entirly uninteresting

overall: ok Atleast this Octoberfest doesn't taste bad(like a couple domestic ones I have tried) but its just dissapointing how uninteresting Hof Bräu's Octoberfest is. Ive found in general that Hof Bräu is great in Munich.. but their imported beer tends to lose its magic.

victory storm king imperial stout

Its been a while since Ive had a Victory beer, and in fact its probably been 4 years or so since Ive had a storm king... way back when I was new to beer. I remember I was visiting some friends for a wedding back at Dickinson in Carlyle, PA I had one of these in a bar and was wowed.

initial impressions: solid, black color with tan head.

taste: hoppy start followed by strong dark coffee flavor.

overall: good Im not a big stout fan which is probably the only reason I don't consider this great. As imperial stouts go this is quite good though, very complex and interesting flavor.

Paulaner Octoberfest Marzen

taste: pretty good. Somewhat smoky start which tastes good, but has a wierd ending which isnt great.

overall: ok. I am a bit disapointed. Ive been trying many different Octoberfests recently, looking for something similar to the hacker-pschorr I had a few months ago. Besides that, this is my first Bavarian octoberfest and its definitly not as good. Its better then the american made ones Ive had, but Im just not a fan of the aftertaste

Harpoon Octoberfest

Its fall so time for ockberfest, Ive tried a few other American oktoberfests so far this season and have been disappointed so far.

first impressions: nice dark amber color, smells a little floral

taste: strong and interesting first bite, which midway through turns skunky and ends with a bitter aftertaste

overall: ok I like a traditional octoberfest(hacker-pshorr as an example) however Ive had trouble finding an American made octoberfest which even comes close, and unfortunately this doesnt do it.

Long Trail Ale

I picked up a 6 pack of this to take up to the cabin last weekend. I had a few of them up there and they were great.

initial impressions: amber colored, smells like a standard beer

taste: strong initial bite with an interesting and good flavor, which continues through out, followed by a crisp end and no aftertaste.

overall: great this is overall a great beer, good full bodied flavor and its just delicious

sierra nevada unfiltered wheat

This was one the first hefe-weissens I remember having a few years ago, and I remember then it being quite good. Ive tried a lot since then so after finding it in the store again I decided to give it a try.

first impressions: nice orange hefe weisse color, not much smell

taste: strong citressy orange flavor, bit of a bite

overall: ok I remember this being a lot better then it seems now. Its been sitting in my fridge for a few weeks now, so maybe it has gone bad

Berkshire Brewing Lost Sailor India Pale Ale

This is the 3rd(and last 22oz) berkshire brew that I bought last sunday after hiking

first impressions: smells quite hoppy

taste: kinda wierd. Starts off with a blast of hoppy bitterness, but also a strong malt flavor which is different then most IPAs Ive had, which mellows out into a slightly funky bitter aftertaste.

overall: ok This beer starts off good, but unfortunately doesn't have the crisp aftertaste of many IPAs I enjoy, so I cant give it a good grade

Berkshire Brewing steel rale extra pale ale

This is Berkshires Extra Pale ale, which I must admit I don't quite know the difference between this and an IPA

initial impressions: nice dark yellow color, smells floral, slightly hoppy

taste: solid bite at the start, which mellows out into a somewhat tangy flavor, which then ends crisply with only a mild(and pleasant) aftertaste. Its definitely got some hops to it, but I wouldn't call it an IPA

overall: Good
This is a solid beer, not spectacular, but still quite good. The flavor is enjoyable, though it doesn't stand out.

Berkshire Brewing Hefeweisen

So today I was coming back from a hike in the Middlesex Fells reservation, and wanted some beer, but the beer I already had was not very good(more on then another post) so I stopped by the local store 5 minutes before closing looking for something interesting, when I saw Berkshire Brewing in 22 oz bombers, so I picked some up and this is the first of 3 I'll be reviewing

first impressions: smells of banana

taste: strong banana taste, smooth, small bite at the start, very tasty

overall: Great. This is a great example of an American hefe-weisse, Its definitely different then the classic Bavarian weisse, but that doesn't make it bad at all.

A bunch of quick reviews

quick reviews of some beer Ive had recently

Sam Summer - decent beer, I used to love it, now I dunno doesn't seem to taste as good anymore
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - had this last night after a sam summer, and was impressed. Its been a while since Ive had one of these, and I liked it more then I remembered. Crisp and hoppy!
Rogue Mocha Porter - I'm usually not a big fan of Porters but this was very smooth and delicious
Harpoon Rye 100 barrel series - Good, I could definitely taste the Rye which added a nice interesting flavor to the beer

Paulaner Hefe-Weizen

Paulaner is one of the big 6 Munich Breweries(though now actualy they are partnered with another.. Hacker-Pshorr) Anyway Ive been a fan of Paulaner for a while, the hostel I stayed at in Munich last year had it on tap. I remember their Hefe-Weisse to be similar to Hacker-Pshorr, Hof Brau, and Franziskaner... which means its very good.

first impressions: hints of banana.. smells perfectly like a weisse. Nice orange cloudy color

taste: slight bite at first then smooth wheat taste, ending nice and crisp with no after taste

overall: great This is a great beer, no doubt about it. I do remember it having more of a bite then previous times Ive had it, which is my only problem with it. That may have been on tap though. Its smooth, refreshing, tastes great and goes down easy. This is definitely one of the top weisse's around. Some day I'll have a comparison where I test my favorites all at once.. I may need a few more people to help me finish the beers though ;)

Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

I picked up a 6 pack of this for my Birthday party tomorrow, and decided to sneak one of them early to blog about

first impressions: smells floral and cascade-hoppy. Has a nice amber color and large head

taste: nice cascade-hops bit at the start, which then mellows out in the middle ending with a slight bitter after taste.

overall: great This is an excellent beer, Its similar to the standard Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but with a bit more kick, sorta in between that and an IPA. It has a fully body taste, none of it seems watery which a lot of IPAs Ive tried recently have had

Trader Joes Vienna Lager

I got a 6 pack of this a few weeks ago and drank the first 5 with out blogging and found them to be a passable TJs beer.

Alas camera battery was dead so no picture. The beer is amber colored with a nice inch high head of tan foam. Smells pretty standard.

Taste: somewhat bitter, but not in a crisp IPA way, ending with an unpleasant aftertaste.

overall: Poor

I remember this beer being decent when I had it a few weeks ago, but this bottle definitely is not, maybe 2-4 weeks of refrigeration skunkified up this beer.. I dunno Its not horrible or bland just kinda bitter(in a bad way), and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Aventinus Weizen Eisbock

I picked up this beer, and some German Bratwurst to hold onto for a special occasion. Today we just finished 3 months worth of work and delivered our code to the QA department, so I figured that was worthy enough.

On the back of the bottle there is an interesting story about how the standard Aventius was the strongest wheat doppelbock, but some time in the 1930s a shipment of it partially froze in transport resulting in an extra strong batch, 60 years later the brewmaster hearing this story decided to recreate that "accident" which resulted in the weizen eisbock

ABV:12%

first impressions: nice dark color, slight banana smell

taste: very complex, tastes very dark and liquorice flavored

overall: good

This is an impressive beer, very dark, very complex taste, there is no doubt about it. While this is definitely the best doppelbock Ive had(as compared to TJs and Sam Adams) I remain not a fan of doppelbocks in general, as I am not a fan of black liquorice. It does however go well with Brats and mustard.. though I have yet to find a Bavarian beer which doesn't.

Long Trail Belgian White

This is Long Trail's Belgian wit beer. I tried this at the last Beer Fest, and remember being uninspired, however I like Long Trail, and I like belgian wit beers.. so I thought Id give it another go since I did try a lot of beer that night...

first impressions: strong smell of aprocot, nice orange cloudy color

taste: light and crisp, some hints of spice and fruit, but definitely not overbearing. Has an interesting mid-taste bite to it, but in the end seems kind of uninteresting.

overall: Decent

I had high hopes for this beer, since I am a fan of most long trail brews, and I a fan of belgian wit beers. This unfortunately didn't live up to my expectation.. thats not to say its a bad beer by any stretch, but its kinda blah, and definitely not as good as Alagash white.

Endurance Glacier Gold

Endurance is a local Boston brewery. Ive had their Pale Ale before which was good, so I decided to give their 2nd beer a try. On the bottle it describes the beer as being made from Glacier and Gold hops brewed in the spirit of the Epic 1914 endurance Nautical expedition to Antarctica.

Initial impressions: not quite golden, Id label this in between golden and amber colored, its also slightly cloudy, looks sorta like a light heffe-weisse

Taste: Interesting a small bite at first, followed by a somewhat tangy sour favor ending crisply.

Overall: good. I'm impressed, the the sour middle is really interesting, and quite good by the 2nd or third sip. This is a tasty beer.

Wachusett Country Ale

Initial Impressions: Smells slightly hoppy, nice full amber color, not much head

taste: An initial hoppy bite, which lingers longer then you would expect, which mellows out into a nice malty flavor, ending with no real aftertaste

overall: Good. This is a solid beer, quite refreshing and drinkable

A tale of two pilsners

I enjoyed the Pilsner Urquell that I had a few weeks ago... so I figured Id try a few more pilsners. I had some friends over and we tasted 2 different Pilsners that I got from Trader Joes recently. One is a german style from Joesephs Brau(TJs german label) and another is from BrouCzezh which is imported from the Cezech republic.


Joseph's Brau Hopfest German style Pilsner

smell: somewhat malty

color blond

taste: sharp bite at first followed by bitter flavor, ending with a mild but pleasant aftertaste

overall: Ok Like most TJs beers this falls solidly into the OK section, not great, not bad. Definitly a bit bitter then most Pilsners, but then again its called Hopfest

BrouCzech Pilsner

color amber-blond
smell: slightly sweet

taste: there is a bite at first but it is fairly weak. The middle taste is good, tastes a lot darker then your average pilsner, aftertaste is slightly hoppy.

overall: Good BrouCzech is a better beer then the TJs brand, its flavor is unique and interesting

American Craft Beer Fest 2008

So last Saturday, I went to the American Craft Beer Fest with my friends Jon, Sally, Ben and Nick.

It was put on my BeerAdvocate, which was held down in the south boston convention center, on the waterfront. I had been to a couple previous beer fest's each of which was in the Cyclorama, and they were all fairly crowded. This year however, They moved it to a larger location... and well all I can say is, it wasn't large enough.The room may have been twice as large as the previous location, but it seemed even more crowded, and many of the more popular breweries had lines, which I didn't remember from past events.

Regardless, it was a blast. We tried many different beers, and I diligently took notes of what beers I liked and disliked. Let me tell you its not the simplest fast holding a pen with one hand, to make note on the program which you are holding along with your 2 oz beer glass. After 3 hours of diligent note taking, I managed to drop said program on the way back. I borrowed a program from my friend Ben though and jotted down what I remembered

ohh yeah and on the way in there was a promotion for the new Futurama movie, where they where they were handing out fake tattoos. I got one on my arm, while my friend ben took their offer of taking the tattoo on his forehead in exchange for a t-shirt... The next morning after showering I noticed the tattoo wasnt going anywhere, so I wondered what happened to Ben... as it turns out he managed to scrub it off his forehead

Beers: graded on the scale of

+ like
= ok
- dislike


Allagash
+ Allagash Black(belgian stout)
- Allagash Tripel
+ Allagash White

Sam Adams
- Sam Adams Barley wine
+ Sam Adams Sahti(with Juniper)

Ommegang
- Ommegang Ommegeddon(funkhouse saison)
= Ommegang Witte
+ Rare Vos Amber(Belgian Amger)

Cape Ann Brewing
+ Fishermans's Ale (Kolsch)
- Double IPA

Dogfish Head
+ 90 minute IPA
- Festina Peche(neo-berliner weisse w/ peaches)

Flying Dog Brewery
= Woody Creek White

Harpoon Brewery
+ Old Rusty's Red Rye Ale 100 barrle series
-Levaithan Triticus(wheat wine)

Left Hand Brewring
+ Sawtooth (American ESB)

LongTrail
+ Belgian White

Rock Art Brewery
+ Cinco deMayo Lager(Jalapeno)
+ Munich Gold


Stone Brewing
+Stone Chipotle


Terrapin Beer
+ RoggenRauchBier(smoked rye beer)

Victory
= Sunrise Weissebier


Weyerbacher Brewing
+ Slam Dunkel(double dunkenveizen)

Franziskaner Hefe-weisse

I first had this beer over a year ago in germany, and loved it from my first sip. In germany however this is just called Weisse. Thankfully what you get here in the US tastes just as great as in germany, which you cant say for all beer. I am slightly saddened to learn that this Bavarian exemplar of Hefe-Weisse which I love is in fact owned by the largest Beer company in the world InBev. ohh well, I guess thats just my love of microbrews speaking



smell hints of banana

taste: great slight initial bite followed by delicious malty wheat flavor, no discernible aftertaste. When swirling around the beer in your mouth it gets even maltier(is that even a word) and delicious

final thoughts: This is a great beer. I probably didn't need to get another one to blog
about it, since I have had this plenty of times already, but it didn't hurt :) Its also one of the cheaper .5l bavarian hefeweissens you can get from the store near me

Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest

Hacker-Pshorr is one of the big breweries in Munich, and one of the last still owned by germans. I wanted to try this beer back in 2007 at the beer advocate German Beer Fest, but it was all out by the time I got to their booth. So I decided to get a 6 pack for my father for fathers day(as well as a Flying Dog mix and Anchor Steam Summer)

first impressions: nice dark amber color. Smells dark and somewhat smokey

taste: dark and smokey, this beer tastes great, and goes down well, no aftertaste

overall: great. This is a great oktoberfest. I can just imagine drinking this from a liter glass under a big tent in Munich. As it was I shared this beer with my dad with some pretzils mustard and Bratwurst which is about as close to oktoberfesty as you can get in NJ. I like Sam Adams Oktoberfest, but this is way better.

Anchor Summer Beer

This is a beer I first had last summer out at Tanglewood in the Berkshires. I remember it as being an amazing summer beer, and it didn't disappoint. Reading the label on the bottle, it says this is the first American wheat beer in modern times. It was first brewed in 1984. which to me sounds quite recent, as a lot of the beer I like from Belgium and Germany has been made from the same recipe for the hundreds of years

Another note about this beer. After having it last summer, I tried to get Molly Anchor Summer pint glasses for her birthday last year, but instead they sent her Anchor Steam(their flagship beer) glasses. Oh well!

first impressions: nice large white head, smells malty

taste: There is a slight bite in the beginning, but after that its all smooth and malty. There is some wheat, but its definitely different then a weisse. No aftertaste at all

overall: great This is a delicious beer, tastes good and goes down easy. It is perfect for hot summer days... like today


other beer had recently:

Yesterday was my friend Sally's last day of work at ITA(which is near where I work) so a bunch of us who work in the area went out to the CBC after work for drinks. I had their Hefeweisen and Tall Tale Pale Ale. I remember having the weisse last year and being disappointed, but this time it was quite good, not quite as good as a German import, but pretty good none the less. The Pale Ale seemed like a standard American Pale Ale, I don't remember anything standing out about it.

Long Trail IPA

Long Trail is one of my favorite Breweries, and their new IPA doesn't disappoint. It is also the first non-wheat unfiltered beer Ive seen.

looks: opaque orange, like a hefeweisen

smell: hoppy, bitter and slightly sweet

taste: a nice crisp blast of hops hits you at first. Its not as biting and overpowering as some IPAs Ive had. You can taste a number of different flavors there. It mellows out nicely through the middle and after taste.

overall: excellent! This is definitely one my favorite beers, and it might be my favorite IPA(I look forward to doing a taste-off with stone IPA) It has a unique flavor, which I find quite good, and its unfiltered which as a weisse lover, is definitely a plus in my book. Overall a great beer