Beer Review: Berkshire Brewing Co - Drayman's Porter

Brew Style: Porter
Brewer: http://www.berkshirebrewingcompany.com
ABV: 6.2%
BrewNewb Opinion: Good Beer

Perhaps I'm a little bit biased, being from MA, and loving the Berkshire mountains and all, but then again - maybe the beer they make is just plain awesome! 

Bought a pint of this, poured, as always, into my Sam Adams perfect pint glass. Poured very dark, nearly black, which piqued my interests. The foam was thick, didn't stick around very long. 

Smelled of sweet vanilla. It was a mild understated scent, I was surprised at how thin the scent was. 

Coffee is the front end of this beer, it's the taste that hits the hardest in the beginning, finishs with the chocolate. The hops are light, a perfect balance to the sweetness. Carbonation is very slight, does not interfere with the complex flavors.

Very nice beer, great selection if you like a nice porter.

Magic Hat Black IPA

Brew Style: Black IPA
Brewer:  http://www.magichat.net/ipa_on_tour/blind_faith
ABV: 6%
BrewNewb Opinion: Good Beer


I love stouts and IPAs, so I figure, how can a hybrid be bad??


I poured this into my Samuel Adams, perfect pint glass, and it poured well, an inch and a half of head. 


Smells like a good stout. I'm aware of the lack of IPA smell though.

Next to no carbonation. 

Sort of a sticky sweetness to the taste, not a whole lot of hops. Tastes more like a black lager to me, than a black IPA. 

Still though, not a bad beer... I'll give this one a decent. 


I'm not blown away by this beer, given that it was called a black IPA. I love IPA... It was not even close to my definition of an IPA, black or otherwise. BUT. I do like it.

Port Brewing Hop-15 Ale

Image stolen right
off their website.

Brew Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Brewer:  http://www.portbrewing.com/our-beers/hop-15/
ABV: 10%
BrewNewb Opinion: Good Beer!


I poured this badly. I went a little too fast, into my over-sized Samuel Adams glass... The head came up fast, and I had to suck some ... uh, I'm not saying head there... Foam down real fast, or I was going to wear it. 


That said, the foam was quite promising. 


I let it relax a bit, and finished topping off the glass. 


Could QUITE fit it all, so I drank the end of what was left in the bottle. Lots of malt, and I could taste the alcohol though it's shrouded by bitterness and maybe a little metallic taste. I like it. 


The glass, very hazy orange. Translucent, but only a little. Enough to see floaties in the mix there. Probably dead yeast and what have you... "Lees" as it's called. 


Low carbonation, Syrupy. The after taste is mostly alcohol, some malt, not as much bitterness as I like in an IPA, and a little more floral than I care for. 


All in all, a good beer. 

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Pale Ale by Tröegs

Brew:  Pale Ale
Brewer:  http://www.troegs.com/ 
ABV: 5.4%
Opinion: Great Beer!  

When I started drinking beer, I started much like most other folks, drinking the cheap, yellow fizzy corn-tasting stuff that the college kids drink out of funnel-ended tubes. Responsibly of course, and only after the age of 21.

I remember going to a bar that didn't actually have any of those things, and I was kind of shocked. Out of my element I ordered a Harpoon IPA, and remember thinking it was disgusting. Now I find them ALMOST bitter enough!

One of the first brews outside of yellow and fizzy that I started to enjoy a lot was a pale ale. (Bass, to be specific).

This here Tröegs pale ale was sort of an last minute grab, because I was having trouble filling the P slot. Thinking about it now while sitting at home, I can think of several other beers I could have gone for, but frankly I'm glad I grabbed this one. I always tend to overlook the pale ales, going for the more bitter IPA or the completely different stouts.

So without further blahblahblah, I get down to it, optimistically!

Ok.. .that was interesting. Not sure exactly what it means, but I cracked the bottle and began sniffing at the opening, only to realize that third sniff, my nose was sitting in foam. The head crept right up out of the bottle. I know it hadn't been shaken, it was sitting here on the table for the last ten minutes... perhaps the temperature change?

Anyway... Poured, low carbonation, as a pale ale tends to be. Dense orangy color, slightly opaque. Juicy slightly sweet smell. It tastes almost exactly how it smells, too. It's a nice, crisp, sweet slightly citrusy beer. Hints of hops in the finish, just enough to remind you that it's a beer.

This beer reminds of me of Tröegs Nugget Nectar which I reviewed two posts ago, only a little more on the light side.

This is a good beer. Once again Tröegs doesn't disappoint!

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Long Trail's Double Bag

Brew:  Strong Ale
Brewer:   http://www.longtrail.com/
ABV: 7.2%
Opinion: Good Beer.
 
Straight outta Vermont, this beer came highly recommended by a friend of mine. I was intrigued by the fact that it says "Strong Ale" on the label, and have no real idea what it has to do with cows...

I popped open this beer, and got a bready, metallic and yeasty scent. Not bad, I thought as I poured.

Light in color, a amber red. No head whatsoever.

It's got a nice malty flavor, a little bit of the alcohol taste, as it's 7.2%, but honestly not too much. I don't mind that flavor anyway to be frank.

Not a bad brew, I like it. I'd probably not crave it or anything, but if it were available, I'd much rather it to a fizzy yellow beer, or like, wine coolers.

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Kona Brewing's Pipeline

Brew:  Porter
Brewer:   http://konabrewingco.com/beers/pipeline-porter/
ABV: 5.4%
Opinion: Good Beer!  

I've really been enjoying these reviews for the stouts. This one isn't a stout, but it's a porter, and that's pretty close...

Anyway, I've been enjoying the hell out of the coffee / chocolate stouts. This beer boasts that it's a porter with 100% Hawaiian Kona coffee.

I popped the cap on this, and was sorta surprised I didn't really smell it right outta the bottle. I practically stuffed the thing up a nostril and inhaled. Still not much. Slight coffee and malty overtones, but that was about it. I wasn't quite disappointed, as I was curious.

I poured it, it had minimal head. Either this is a flat, tasteless beer, or it's a very understated gem. Here's hoping...

PHEW. Understated gem!

It's not overly thick, not bitter, smooth, doesn't coat the tongue, doesn't linger much. This is a good smooth drinking beer.

As I scoured the bottle for the alcohol percentage, I realized the label at the top says "Mele Kalikimaka", which of course is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day, you know. That's the island greeting they will sing to you from the land where palm trees sway, so I'm told. So being April, this bottle is several months old. Five or six anyway. Not sure what that means as far as porters go. I dunno if it would have been tastier a few months ago, or... Who knows.

Anyway, like I said, good beer. If you like porters, and you like coffee, do it!

Also, I really like that glass in the picture. I'd love to have a set of, oh, 40 of em. So feel free to send some along. 

#atozchallenge - (Chateau) Jiahu by Dogfish Head Review

Brew:  IPA
Brewer:   http://www.dogfish.com/ 
ABV: 10%
Opinion: Good Beer! 

I apologize, this is a re-post from last years A to Z reviews...

Interesting beer... It's an ale with huge fruity over tones. I picked this, mostly just because it starts with J, but also because it's a Dogfish Head brew, which I have a great respect for.

Drinking this is an investment. You have to be committed, cause it's a standard beer bottle cap, but the bottle is 1 pint, 9.6 oz. It's open, you're going to kill it.

It's about the size of a standard wine bottle, and I'm about 1 and a half glasses into it right now. Initial impressions: When I opened it, I could smell that it was heavy on the fruity end of things. It was definitely like a beer / wine. It poured not unlike a regular pale ale, except that there was much less head. (resisting the urge to make a joke). For all intents and purposes, it looks like a pale ale, if only just a little more opaque.

At first taste, I can tell it's an ale... though, it's a little sweet / sour, but it has a wine after taste... In fact, if you sit a moment after swallowing, your belly feels like you just had wine... you know, that sort of burny feeling. It burps like a white wine in my opinion.

So my problem with this brew is that I know it's a beer, but it drinks like a wine... You want to sort of sip this, but I drink beer fast. I haven't eaten anything today either. Now's where I look up the Alcohol content, and hot damn, this stuff is 10%. Each glass is like 2 beers. I'm just getting to the bottom of my second glass, which means, I've had the equivalent of 4 bud lights in the last 10 minutes. My spelling is very likely to take a dive in the next few paragraphs.

...actually IF there are a "few paragraphs" more, you'll know this stuff is doing it's job, because I talk when I'm under the influence. In fact, you may even notice a Boston accent come out, which I don't have when sober. (that's a joke... I don't have one, but it comes out when I'm drinking).

ANYWAY. This is basically and Ale that was brewed with honey, hawthorn (whatever that is) fruits and fermented with grape concentrate.

I just poured the end of the bottle, which makes 2 and a half beer glasses per bottle, by the way.

I just realized that on the side of this bottle, it says 9000 year old... Which I imagine means that it's a replica of something they drank 9000 years ago, or at least we think they did. I wonder if DfH has a 9000 year line of brews, or if this is the brew that one of my commenters was talking about a day or two ago.. I'd look up the comment, but I just had about a 6 pack in a very short amount of time.

I like this stuff... it tastes pretty good, although I admit it wasn't what I was expecting, so I had the "sourface" during the end of my first glass... and it packs a hell of a punch. not bad for twelve bucks.

Good beer!

for more official stuff about this brew, go here.

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Hopdevil Ale by Victory

Brew:  IPA
Brewer:  http://victorybeer.com/beers/hopdevil/
ABV: 6.7%
Opinion: Good Beer! 

Normally I do some kinda narrative as I open the bottle, yada yada... Truth here is I was so eager to taste this, being called "hopdevil" and all, and I'm such a fan of the bitter hops... one might call me a hop-head. Hmm... that might have been a better name for this site, huh? Anyway...

I had high hopes here. Hopdevil... Gotta be good, right?!

Begrudgingly, I will admit, yes, it's a good beer. However, I think it would have been better named something else. I expected something else I guess. I really love bitter piney hops. This left me disappointed.

I know it isn't fair. On it's own merit this is a good beer. A mild IPA, for sure... In fact, "India" and "Pale" are very feint on the label, but "Ale" is just as prominent as "HopDevil"... It's like, they made an IPA, that came out like just a good ale...

This is a good beer, I would drink this again, I think I was just expecting something else. Not to say something BETTER... Just something else. It's like rating milk when you expected orange juice.

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Erdinger Dark Hefe-Weizen

Brew:  Weissbier Dunkel 
Brewer:  http://www.erdinger.de - Careful, the site has music.
ABV: 5.6%
Opinion: Good Beer! 

I was careless with this pour and I paid for it. The bottle is a 1 pint, 9ozer, and I was pouring it into one of those sexy Sam Adams glasses. I poured JUST a little too fast, and by the time I got the thing half full of beer, the rest was filled with foam.

I took a break to let it subside, put the kids in the tub, selected their pajamas for the night, had myself the crust of the 2 year old's pizza and came back to it. I then slowly poured the rest into the glass, and the damned thing foamed up again. I had to suck down some suds before it spilled over.

So I don't know if this bottle got shaken up at some point and was holding a grudge, or something like that, or if it's supposed to be that foamy or what. My suspicion is confirmed by the picture I found for this post.

Smells a little bready with some maltyness. Carbonation isn't bad, what you might expect from say, a stout... but like I said, I think most of the carbonation bailed out when I poured.

As the name suggests, it's dark, light only barely shining through the thick brown body.

Interestingly the App I use on my droid called beerspec, doesn't recognize the barcode.

This beer is 5.5%, and very smooth. I have to give this bad boy a 4 out of 5. Very good beer. 

Best part about this beer, it was a pint (and .9oz!) for $2.95. :)

A to Z Blog Challenge Beer Review - Arrogant Bastard Ale (Oaked) by Stone Brewing

Brew: Arrogant Bastard Ale
Brewer: Stone Brewing Co
ABV: 7.2%
Opinion: Good Beer!


I've been putting this one off for a while, even though it's my A post... (As you may have guessed, I didn't start at the beginning with these... I skipped around a lot. In fact, I'm about half done.) I've had Arrogant Bastard before, and it was really good. Now, this one is "oaked", but I put that at the end of the title because otherwise it wouldn't work as an A post..

But oaked, means aged in oak barrels, like bourbon, which I also like... I have big expectations for this brew. I wanted to wait for a night when I was alone, the TV was off, the wife was at work, and American Idol wasn't on. ...what, shut up.


Anyway, tonight is that night.

I am nothing if not honest about myself, so anything that proclaims itself as an Arrogant Bastard is already something that I respect. I don't particularly LIKE arrogant bastards, and I've know many. But none of them were aware of what they were. I think perhaps had they known, I might have found them a little more bearable.

And here, I grab the church-key, and pop the cap.

I smell hops, and something similar to whiskey, which I would have to assume is the oak aging. Of course, then again, maybe I'm just looking for it... Carrying on.

The hops hit first, bitter, with just a twinge of the alcohol, as it is higher than usual. The maltieness comes out in the finish, and in the after taste, balancing it nicely. It's somewhat thick on the tongue, strong grapefruit flavor.

Not a chugger, this beer is best enjoyed leisurely. If you're looking to smash beers into your face, get something cheaper and lighter. This beer is one to be appreciated, not pounded.

Very nice beer, full of character. Stone Brewing does it again.