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.