Samuel Adams Summer Ale by The Boston Beer Company in Boston, MA
I bought a sampler pack of Samuel Adams. I decided that the first beer I pulled out would be the beer I review. As luck would have it,I pulled out the Summer Ale. It’s advertised as a “wheat ale brewed with lemon zest and grains of paradise”.
I know what a lot of you are thinking, “Jon, I thought you started this blog to help the little guy. Sam Adams is one of the big boys. You can find it anywhere and everyone knows about it. What happened? Did you go corporate?”
Well, my critics, I know Samuel Adams is a little different from the other beers I’ve reviewed, but I can’t discriminate. Can Sam Adams be considered a microbrew? To me, it’s the equivalent of Tom Hanks making an independent movie just because he wants to get in touch with his artistic side. Then his $14 million movie gets into Sundance, while my independent film about giant ants that attack the world gets shut out even though I paid for it with my own money. It cost $45 bucks to make. I borrowed a camera and used real ants sitting on a globe. If you want more details about the movie, email me. I can tell you the end of the movie involved God coming down and using a giant vacuum to get rid of the ants. I’m still pissed that movie never got sold. It was so much better than Saving Private Ryan.
OK, I’ll stop now. Samuel Adams is of course brewed by The Boston Beer Company (guess what city it’s based out of). The beer poured a light copper appearance. It had a good amount of head that faded away except for a small amount that remains for the rest of the brew. It had a nice soft lemon smell mixed with grains, just like the bottle advertised. The taste is refreshing and crisp with a hint of spice. Not as refreshing and crisp as some of the other Summer Ale’s I’ve reviewed. To be honest, it’s a decent beer, but kind of tastes bland. Not the best beer I’ve ever had, but drinkable, as are most summer ales. Still a lot better than a Stroh’s.
PS- I can’t put a picture up of this beer because big bad corporate Sam Adams would probably have their lawyers sue me.
Fat Tire Amber Ale from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO
In honor of the Tour de France, this weeks beer is the Fat Tire Amber Ale which is brewed and bottled by the good people at the New Belgium Brewing company in Fort Collins, CO.
Speaking of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong said that he might ride in the Tour next year, it looks like he’s turning into another freakin’ Brett Farve. But who can blame Lance for continuing to ride. I say ride until you lose.
The name Fat Tire comes from a mountain bike trip from brewery to brewery through Europe. Talk about a hoppy vacation! (Zing! I’ll be here all night. Don’t forget to tip the wait staff.) Bike trips seem to be very popular these days. My buddy Andy is training for a bike ride from Cleveland, OH to Cincinnati, OH. He’s doing this to raise money for a charity. A noble cause that I can’t remember right now. I must say that when I tell people that he’s starting in Cleveland, a lot of people make negative comments about Cleveland. They always say, “Cleveland Rocks? I don’t think so, Cleveland Sucks! Cleveland Sucks!” But then you ask them where they are from and they never say anything cool like Paris or Dublin. It’s usually something along the lines of “Oh, I’m from a small city in Montana. You know, the one where they found the Uni-bomber.” Sometimes I feel like it’s just Me, Drew Carey, and Holly Barry verse the rest of the world.
Enough rambling, let’s get back to the beer. Fat Tire is one of the rare beers that everyone seems to love. I have never heard anybody say anything bad about Fat Tire. It’s consistently a delicious brew. It’s color is a bright amber and it pours a medium amount of foam that lingers around as you drink it. It has a balanced smell of fruit and malt. The taste is pretty hoppy and has a malty finish. A well-balanced beer that is perfect year-round. Definitely pick up this beer, you won’t be sorry.
Before I get out of here, just want to mention a few other beers that I’ve been enjoying. Unfortunately, I’ve been enjoying them at the bar and don’t have a change to really right down my thoughts as I enjoy them, but I have been having a lot of Brooklyn Brewing Company’s Summer Ale, Bells, and another beer made by some Monks that has a funky name. It’s something like Wickapick, Wickallippie, or something. I’m just going to call it Wikipedia. So if you go to the bar, ask if they got a bottle of Wikipedia. It takes like bananas and it is very good.
India Pale Ale from Goose Island Brewery in Chicago, IL
Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It’s been 3 weeks since my last beer blog. I am very sorry to my loyal readers (Christian West and probably some other random dude).
You two log-on every week and look forward to reading a very mildly entertaining beer review. I’ve let you down. However, I have some good news, it’s now 1:30 am on Tuesday and I have a nice cold beer poured next to me and I’m feeling pretty judgmental, so let the beer reviewing begin.
Today I reviewed a brewery we’ve already seen before, Goose Island. I went with the India Pale Ale. It poured a nice light orange color. It had a good amount of head that lingered and the smell was light with a hint of citrus.
The sip was crisp and light. It had an even balance of spicy hops and citrus taste. Neither were overpowering. It was slightly bitter and is nice refreshing beer for summer. Though not amazing, it is a nice example of the IPA style.
Finally, I apologize for the short review today. I went home last week and found my old beer funnel, so now it is time for me to go into the kitchen and bong a couple Miller Lites. Before I go just a couple notes: I went to Piece Brewery in Chicago over the weekend, nice pizza and even better beer. I’m definitely going to have to do a full review of that place. Also, in the upcoming week I am going to make my own homebrew. I will definitely blog about how that turns out. I’m just glad that I’m an easy critic.
A final note: don’t drink and drive. You might hit somebody, kill them, and then be sentenced to play for the Cleveland Browns.
Festina Peche from Doghfish Head Brewery in Rehoboth Beach, DE
Dogfish Head is hands down one of my favorite breweries. If you are near a Borders or Barnes & Noble, I would recommend you stop in and purchase founder Sam Calagione’s book Brewing Up a Business. It’s one of the best business books I’ve ever read. It covers subjects such as starting a business, growing a business, and how the culture of a company really affects its product. It also talks about how Sam received a college diploma, even though he never actually graduated high school (you’ll have to read the book to find out how and why that happend).
I’ve had a few of their beers before and have enjoyed every single one of them. The beer I tried today was Festina Peche. It is a “neo-Berliner style Weisse fermented with peach juice.” Which, if your like me, all you get from that sentence is that the beer has peach juice in it.
I poured the beer and it was very carbonated. When you add in its golden honey color, it almost looked like a glass of champagne. Festina Peche had little head that disappeared almost right away. The smell, believe it or not, smelled like a peach beer. The beer had a taste that was very very very very sweet and tart. It was almost like drinking lime juice. Festina was a refreshing and easy to drink beer. After a few sips, I noticed that I drank half the beer.
Festina Peche by Dogfish Head is a good summer beer. Definately a change of pace on the norm. This beer is perfect for someone who wants to try a beer that doesn’t take anything like a beer.
Grassroots Ale from Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, OH
Today’s beer is brought to us by the good folks at the Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland, OH. Most people think that the thing people in Cleveland fear the most is that LeBron James will leave town in 2010. However, the truth is they can survive that (see Cleveland Browns 1995). What people in Cleveland fear the most is that one day the Great Lakes Brewing Co. will pack up and leave town. Luckily that will probably never happen as Great Lakes has made itself home in the historic Ohio City district on Cleveland’s near west side.
This brewery is probably best know for some of their other beers, such as the Dortmunder Gold, Burning River, Eliot Ness, and the seasonal Christmas Ale, but today I tried one of their lesser known seasonal ales called Grassroots Ale. It is a Belgian style saison ale brewed with herbs and chamomile. Never had a saison ale before so I’m pretty excited.
The beer pours a golden color that is pretty cloudy with a medium amount of head that disappears rather quick, leaving only a little at the top throughout the consumption. The chamomile and spices are very prevalent in the smell. Basically it almost smells like it’s a fresh cup of tea.
After a sip, this beer is very refreshing and goes down smooth. You barely notice that it has 6.2% ALC/VOL. As advertised in the smell, it has the spices and chamomile in the taste, but it also is also pretty crisp. A very nice and drinkable beer on a hot summer day. Not the best beer that Great Lakes has made, but definitely worthy the name. I compare it to when your favorite band comes out with a new cd that changes their sound. It’s good, but it’s not their best. I’ll take a listen, but it’s nowhere as near as good as their early work. While I don’t love the beer, it’s good to see that the people at Great Lakes are taking risks and trying new things.
Flywheel Bright Lager from Metropolitan Brewery in Chicago, IL
I must say that when I tell people that I write a beer blog they say, “Wow, that’s a great idea.” Unfortunately, this does not translate into them actually visiting the site and reading it religiously. Oh well, as my motto has always been, “I drink for me.”
Enough of this self-imposed pity party because I’m starting to sound like a Dashboard Confessional song (ugh, that reference is so 2005). The beer I’m reviewing today comes from Chicago, IL. Notice that I said Chicago and not Chi-town. Nothing, and I mean nothing makes me madder than when I hear someone say Chi-town. Well almost nothing, there was that time I got pretty upset at my girlfriend after she ate all the Funyuns. Ok, back to the beer. The beer today is from a new brewery in Chicago called Metropolitan Brewing and today I had the pleasure of drinking their Flywheel Bright Lager.
I poured this beer and it had a golden/yellow color with a medium amount of head that disappeared pretty quick for the most part and left a little bit of head as I enjoyed the beer. The smell was light and filled with spicy hops. The sip was crisp, light, and contained a slightly bitter aftertaste.
The Flywheel is a good beer for a nice summer day. With a young brewery like Metropolitan, there is a good chance that they can tweek the recipe and turn this already good beer into one of the countries best Lagers.
On a side note, I think my next goal in life is to write a book about my adventures with drinking (kind of like Jack London’s John Barleycorn). I think I’m going to call my book Barley and Me.
Unearthly IPA from Southern Tier Brewing Company in Lakewood, NY
Today we review an IPA from the Southern Tier Brewing Company called Unearthly. This beer is out of one of the most beautiful places in the world western New York.
First and foremost, I must say that my expectation for this beer is far beyond anything I could even describe. I am from Ohio, but went to college in a small town in western New York. The vast majority of kids I’ve met out there started drinking by the age of 12. At a young age they find the side of a hill, build a bonfire, and start drinking Busch Light as they listen to country music until 4 years later when they need to take a drivers test, switch the Keystone, and start listening to classic rock.
After pouring this beer, it had a nice dark amber color and supplied a medium head that stuck around. It had a great hoppy smell that makes you know its there and the taste is full of great flavor. It has a citrus feel, mixed with a bitter aftertaste.
I must say with all personal bias aside, this beer is fantastic. It gets an A. When you think about it, this beer has too. This is a beer brewed in a small town called Lakewood, NY and I am able to get it easily all through Chicago. They must be doing something right and it has to be more than just great marketing or sales people. They have to have a great product. No one makes it out of western New York without having talent, unless you’re a St. Bonaventure basketball player, and that’s usually just to play pro ball in a country in Europe that no one has ever heard of.
The next time your at a bar and you see this on the menu, do yourself a favor and order this beer. Your liver will thank you.
All Others Pale from Mikkeller in Denmark
This week’s beer is by a relatively new brewery called Mikkeller (formed in 2007). The name of the beer is “All Others Pale”. The name comes from the phrase “All Others Pale By Comparison”. A ballsy statement. Just because you own a brewery doesn’t mean you have to be cocky. Let’s see how this beer mixed with fresh hops and subtle malty background does on the old Six Pack of the Week scale.
It is sold in one pint bottles and pours a nice rich amber color. Be careful when you first pour it because there is a lot of head that will stick around long after it was poured.This beer looks, acts, and smells like a homebrew. I like that. I must say that the sip lives up to the name. It’s a damn good beer. It’s smooth and full of flavor. It’s got a slight citrus taste mixed with spicy hops. I really enjoyed this beer, much better than this episode of Just Shoot Me that I’m currently watching (remember when daytime tv used to be good, filled with great shows like Perfect Strangers or Just the 10 of Us…I really need to start working during the day again).
Mikkeller’s brew is a perfect drink on a nice summer day. The only downside is that it is $8.99 per a pint. It is a nice beer to have as a starter, but I don’t think I can afford to drink it all night. At least not during this economy.
Redhook ESB Original Ale from Redhook Ale Brewery in Portsmouth, NH
Wow, two reviews in one week, but this blog is called “Six Pack of the Week”? That’s right, but you forgot one thing, I’m unpredictable! Today’s beer is Redhook ESB Original Ale, the flagship ale of the brewery that was first served in 1987. According to http://www.redhook.com, it is “styled after the ‘Extra Special Bitters’ found in English pubs, its rich, unique balance of flavors and unforgettable copper color make for a truly rich and distinctive experience.” Those are some bold adjectives, but its my job to see if it lives up to the hype.
I guess I should mention that this beer has something pretty impressive going for it, it won the gold medal at the 2006 North American Beer Awards. For those of you who live under a rock and don’t know what the North American Beer Awards, its just like the Grammy’s, only the participants are not all coked up, they’re just drunk.
One last thing before I get started with the beer, I just wanted to make a note that I try to make these reviews a little humorous, but I just want to say how proud I am of not making the easy jokes about the name Extra Special Bitter. I mean, I could easily make cheap jokes such as, “this beer is so special, to drink it you have to ride the short bus” or “this beer is so bitter, it can easily be compared to my ex-girlfriend,” but I won’t make those comments because I am highbrow. Now to the beer. After I poured the it into a glass, I couldn’t help but notice the good amount of head that accompanied this beer. Very nice Redhawk, very nice. It’s color, as billed, is a great copper appearance (so far you’re telling the truth http://www.redhawk.com). The smell however is forgettable. It is soft (whatever that means), with a hint of being hoppy.
As for the sip, at first it dances on your tongue like its a back-up dancer for Hannah Montana, and then it goes down smooth, and leaves a refreshing taste in your mouth. After having one beer, I feel like I could drink a full six pack outside on a nice summer day. Even thought this is a good beer, it left me wanting more. It is good and very drinkable, but it won’t blow you away the same way other microbrews can.
Bourbon County Brand Stout 2008 from Goose Island Brewery in Chicago, IL
I noticed after I bought this beer that the born on date was 10/8/08. Today is 5/27/09, but the bottle said its flavor will continue to develop for 5 years, plus it was almost $20 for a four pack so I couldn’t let the beer go to waste!
After I poured it into a glass, I noticed that the Bourbon County Brand Stout 2008 poured with very little head and little carbonation. I also noticed the beer could easily be named The Million Man March because it’s color was pitch black.
This beer hits you so hard that it could easily be used as breakfast. For anyone who built up a tolerance to the caffeine in coffee, start drinking this and you’ll wake-up after one sip. The smell was so complex, it had 6 or 7 different components: mostly coffee, chocolate, bourbon, cherry, and 2 or 3 other flavors that I ccould not identify.
For a beer with a smell as complex as any around, the taste was pretty straight. The 13% alcohol by volume was prevalent. When you prepare to take the first sip it hits your mouth and you relax thinking its about to go down like a sip of Guinness, but then you swallow it and BAM! It hits you like your father after a weeklong bender. It tasted like a shot of whiskey dipped in chocolate and disguised as beer.
This beer is not recommend for a college kid who likes to show off at a party. This beer is for an experience beer drinker who doesn’t mind taking small sips and savoring the flavor on a Sunday afternoon as he regrets the decisions he has made during his life. In other words, this beer is perfect for Drew Peterson.
Six Pack of the Week 