Last night was my friend Joel's Bachelor party, where as one could imagine some beer was drank.

after a round of candlepin bowling, we hit up The Joshua Tree for dinner

I started off with a Leinenkugel Sunset wheat, which looked like a good Hefe weissen, however it smelled very sweet, and unfortunately tasted so as well, very disappointing

I followed that up with a Hoegaarden wit beer. Which was better, but kinda bland as far as Belgian wit beers go, I definitely prefer Alagash white(I just found out that one of my favorite breweries, LongTrail has just put out a Belgian wit... definitely looking forward to try that

after dinner we went to Good Times, which turned out to be quite sketchy. There was a big arcade, laser tag, bumper cars, pool, batting cage, and about half the place was a sports bar, with huge wall-sized screens showing everything from the Sox playing in Oakland(where molly was at the game) to lacrosse.

while we were in the acade section, we were just about the only non-minority group around(and 10+ years older then the average kid) in the sports bar section where we played some pool we were 10+ years younger then everyone else.

it was still fun though, we played some air hockey, and laser tag(where the 5 of us owned these 4 younger kids)

back to beer, luckily we live in Boston, and you can get Sam Seasonal at most bars, which is often the best beer around in the summer. So thats what Jon, Joel and I had.

It wasn't quite as great as I remembered, but was still good, I'll probably give a full review of it sometime when I remember to take some notes

After that we walked to Sullivan Sq, took the bus back to my place, and I drove everyone back to Jon's In retrospect we should a driven to Good Times cause the bus was a bit of a pain, but we wanted to play it safe

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

first impressions smells like a lager, looks very carbonated, bubbles look very cool in my beer glass

taste, crisp, but kinda bland, starts off with a small bite. After taste is a bit bitter.

overall: not a fan. I like most summer beers, and most beers from Sierra Nevada, but this one just wasnt very good. Its drinkable but definitely not my first choice.

lots of weisse

Its been a while since I have posted, thats just me being lazy. I have tried a number of good beers in the time, so I'll give a short review of em here

Jupiter is a brew pub with a beer garden in Berkely CA, A blues group started performing shortly after we got there... great atmosphere

Jupiter HefeWeissen: blah
bright orange color, bland American weisse taste

Jupiter Helles: good!
nice Munich helles style, very crisp and drinkable, much better then their weisse

Gordon Biersh Hefeweissen: good!
This was surprisingly good for an American Hefeweissen. The beginning taste was not quite traditional.. but it ended strong like a real Bavarian weisse, I was impressed. It also went well with the garlic fries I had for lunch.

Sam Adams Honey Porter: good
I'm usually not a big fan of porters or dark beer in general, and Ive found most Sam Adams beers to be average, this is different though. It poors out like a nice dark porter. Has a nice honey nose to it, tastes quite good... will say more about this after Shelby's Indiana Jones party on sunday(where more awaits me in her fridge)

lastly a rant: I was out at pub trivia with Shelby last night(Tomy Doyles in Harvard SQ) and they had one of my favorites on tap, Paulaner weisse, Im usualy a 1 beer sorta guy out at pub trivia, but since they had this exemplar of Bavarian weisse on tap, I went for 2. The first was served perfectly: half liter weisse beer glass, about an inch of head. the 2nd however was served flat, 12 oz in a pint glass, I was not happy... maybe Im just a wheat beer snob I figured that maybe they were out of glasses, and the 2nd would be cheaper then the first... but no they cost the same... never going back there again.

Jumping Cow Amber Ale

At TJs yesterday this beer was out for sample, and I liked it so I got a 6pack. Ive never heard of Jumping Cow, or their owner Steinhaus Brewing

avc: 5.5%

Smell: faint beer smell, very faint

first impressions: a nice reddish amber color, poors with a decent head that dissipates quickly

taste: very interesting, It starts off with a crisp hoppy bite, but then mellows in the middle taste for a more malty flavor, and ends with very little aftertaste

overall impression: Good

This is good standard beer, so far my 2nd favorite beer from TJs for $6 a 6pack. Overall good flavor, I could see this matching well with some spicy food.

Stone Mill Organic Pale Ale

Stone Mill Pale Ale is brewed by Green Valley Brewing, which at first looked like a nice Micro Brewery from NH. It turns out though they are the Organic Brewery of Anheuser-Busch. Which as it turns out, doesn't necessarily mean its a bad beer

Smell: classic beer smell, nothing interesting

Initial impressions: translucent light amber color, poors with little head

Taste: this beer hits you at first with a crisp hoppy bite, more then I would expect for an american pale ale. the middle taste and aftertaste are decent but are decidedly overshadowed by the hoppy start

Overall impressions: good

This beer has a bit more of a bite then most Pale Ales, one might even consider this in the bottom range of IPAs. That doesn't mean its a bad beer though. Over all it is surprisingly refreshing and enjoyable. The only negative thing about this beer is that Green Valley Brewing Company is owned by Anheuser-Busch.

Josephs Brau(TJ) Dunkelweizen

Dunkelweizen means dark wheat in German, so naturally this is a dark wheat beer. This is the 2nd beer Ive tried which is part of the Trader Joes "Josephs Brau" label

ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 18

Smell: this beer smells slightly malty with a hint of banana, a good hefeweisen smell

Initial impressions: color is cloudy dark amber, poors with a smaller head then most hefeweisen.

Taste: The first thing you taste is the wheat, and then more wheat. It definitly has flavors similar to your classic Bavarian Hefeweisen(I haven't had many dunkels so hard to make comparisons there), though it is definitely not as light, and has an enjoyable darker finish instead of the classic hefe finish. The aftertaste is subtle, and not bad

Overall impressions: good

For once a Trader Joes beer with out a horrible aftertaste, and its all around enjoyable, without a doubt its my favorite TJs beer. I paired this with sourdough pretzels and mustard(classic Bavarian fare) and it went quite well together. For the price, this beer is hard to beat!

Josephs Brau(TJ) Winterfest Double Dark Bock(doppelbock)

This beer is the last of a 6 pack I bought 2 months ago and saved 1 till I started this blog. Its made by Trader Joes under their Josephs Brau Label. Which is their German beer label(as the only other beer Ive seen under that label is their dunkelweizen which I'll probably be reviewing next)

ABV: 7.5%

Smell: this beer has a slight smell of licorice but thats it


Initial impressions: very dark, held up to the light this beer has a nice red hue. It poors with a small yellowish head.

Taste: decent. I'm not a fan of black licorice, which is the main flavor of the beer. But I have to say, Its good for what it is. Its not overpowering, and doesn't leave a bad aftertaste as I initially feared. Its not bad as a beer to go with a spicy dinner.

Overall impression: good beer, but not my style

I want to like this beer. However Ive never been a fan of licorice, which is a major strike against it(and all dark double bocks) I do like it more then the Sam Adams double bock which was a lot sweeter, and lot more licorice flavored though.