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