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.