Okay, so, here's the deal. I've taken a break from drinking beer for the past month or so and I think I'll continue being beerless for a while. There's no meaningful reason behind the break, other than it gets a little boring/lonely drinking beer at home, alone... but I've been too poor to go out and pay upwards of $4 a beer to drink socially. Also, I'm not going to whip out a notepaper and start writing beer reviews in the middle of a brewpub with company.
Additionally, amidst all the holiday shenanigans and honeymooning and whatnot, Mike and I have also been preparing for our final step in the immigration process - the interview! It's been a stressful month or so getting together the last of the necessary items for him to take to Montreal. If he doesn't show up with all the right documents, we're toast. And by that I mean we have to wait for another interview, pay another $700 round trip airline ticket... and go back to Montreal to try again. Talk about stressful. So there's the reason for the break.
I realize this means I'm missing the entire winter season for beer, which is a shame because some of these winter seasonals are quite comforting and delicious! For that, I am sorry. I might pick back up again in the new year post-interview, in which case I won't miss ALL the winter beer.
Anyway, to the one of you that reads this (but probably still doesn't, due to lack of updating), we WILL be back, we promise! It's just been a crazy holiday season and some things had to be cast aside for a while. This was one of them :(
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Witch Hunt Spiced Harvest Ale from Bridgeport Brewing Company
Sorry for the delay. Here's a new review! You might notice that I'm changing up the style of my post a bit, mainly because separating the experience into all each individual part is not only annoying to have to do but also feels far to "official", like I think I know what I'm talking about (I don't, for the record). From now on, I'm taking a page from my brother's book and only segregating the non-taste-related elements (aroma, appearance, etc.), henceforth referred to as "the pour", from the taste, henceforth referred to as "the taste". And of course I'll still give my overall comments/thoughts, should there be any.
So anyway, on with the beer!
Tonight I'm sipping on a Witch Hunt Spiced Harvest Ale from Bridgeport Brewing Company, located right here in Portland. Witch Hunt rings in at 5.8% ABV, and brags "something wicked this way comes." We shall see!
The Pour
The beer comes out of the bottle a gorgeous red-golden-copper-brown color and is free of cloudiness or floaties. You know that crayon color from Crayola "burnt sienna"? And you know how none of us really knew what the hell "burnt sienna" was supposed to be (admit it, you didn't know). Well, this beer is that color: burnt sienna... but as a beer, not a crayon. Trust me, it's pretty. There's really no head present and it even resists being whipped up. The miniscule layer of head I produced by force was about the color of the pith of a clementine - I know this is the color, because I've eaten an entire bag of clementines in three days... so I am an expert on this. It disappeared rather quickly, though, into a leopard like pattern of bubbles and beer on the surface. The aroma has some very pleasant caramelly sweet notes in it, as well as a strong acrid presence of hops. There's some unidentifiable spice aroma as well, maybe cinnamon?
The Taste
Holy shit. Hops! Mmm, hops. Not IPA hops here, but this is definitely a hoppy beer. How many more times can I say hop? Hop hop hop. There's a good level of fizz on the tongue to indicate the beer is well carbonated, but not overly so. Interestingly, there doesn't really seem to be a change in flavor from beginning to end... it's a very hop-forward taste with a subtle presence of caramel malt and spices (I'm still thinking cinnamon).
Overall
It's a nice, mostly balanced ale with plenty of hop presence to satisfy even an IPA fan during the harvest season. It's beautiful in a glass and pleasant to the tastebuds. That being said, I probably wouldn't pick it again for a "harvest" beer, simply because my preference for this season isn't for hops, but instead for mellower, spicier flavors. If you're a hops fan, though, looking for something seasonal to enjoy, this definitely gets my recommendation. It's not overtly fall-spiced, but there's enough of a presence that it isn't missed. I'll give it 7/10 arbitrary beer rating units.
So anyway, on with the beer!
Tonight I'm sipping on a Witch Hunt Spiced Harvest Ale from Bridgeport Brewing Company, located right here in Portland. Witch Hunt rings in at 5.8% ABV, and brags "something wicked this way comes." We shall see!
 |
| What is that orange thing? A moon? Pumpkin? Basketball? |
The Pour
The beer comes out of the bottle a gorgeous red-golden-copper-brown color and is free of cloudiness or floaties. You know that crayon color from Crayola "burnt sienna"? And you know how none of us really knew what the hell "burnt sienna" was supposed to be (admit it, you didn't know). Well, this beer is that color: burnt sienna... but as a beer, not a crayon. Trust me, it's pretty. There's really no head present and it even resists being whipped up. The miniscule layer of head I produced by force was about the color of the pith of a clementine - I know this is the color, because I've eaten an entire bag of clementines in three days... so I am an expert on this. It disappeared rather quickly, though, into a leopard like pattern of bubbles and beer on the surface. The aroma has some very pleasant caramelly sweet notes in it, as well as a strong acrid presence of hops. There's some unidentifiable spice aroma as well, maybe cinnamon?
The Taste
Holy shit. Hops! Mmm, hops. Not IPA hops here, but this is definitely a hoppy beer. How many more times can I say hop? Hop hop hop. There's a good level of fizz on the tongue to indicate the beer is well carbonated, but not overly so. Interestingly, there doesn't really seem to be a change in flavor from beginning to end... it's a very hop-forward taste with a subtle presence of caramel malt and spices (I'm still thinking cinnamon).
Overall
It's a nice, mostly balanced ale with plenty of hop presence to satisfy even an IPA fan during the harvest season. It's beautiful in a glass and pleasant to the tastebuds. That being said, I probably wouldn't pick it again for a "harvest" beer, simply because my preference for this season isn't for hops, but instead for mellower, spicier flavors. If you're a hops fan, though, looking for something seasonal to enjoy, this definitely gets my recommendation. It's not overtly fall-spiced, but there's enough of a presence that it isn't missed. I'll give it 7/10 arbitrary beer rating units.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Making the Switch
I'm going to power through about 5 more Autumn beers/ciders by Thanksgiving and then I'm making the switch to Holiday Ales. I'm pretty over pumpkin, but I'll try to be fair nonetheless. Keep your eyes peeled, the final Fall beer reviews are coming soon.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Schnitzer Bräu from Schnitzer Bräu... from Germany!
Brewer: Schnitzer Bräu
Location: Offenburg, Baden, Germany
Name of Brew: Schnitzer Bräu or German-Hirse Lemon
Manufacturer's Description: "Blend of beer, alcoholic beverage, mixed with Lemon Limonade (45%), brewed with millet malt, glutenfree."
ABV: 2.8%
Colour
The original pour colour was shocking: cloudy, but not in the natural, organic turbidity way. Rather, the colour was an oddly bright yellow.
Head
There was a small hiss of gas when the cap was removed. Even less head when poured. Of the small amount of head that built, only a small ring around the edge of the glass stayed for longer than a few moments.
Aroma
The first whiff was of a light beer. Second of a thin, almost watery lager, with some sweetness added. From then on it smelled of a cheap, bottom of the keg summer beer that must be served with a citrus fruit salad in it to make it tolerable. But because it's summer, that keg bottom and two anti-scurvy fruits cost you three times more than it should.
Taste
Lemonade. It was beer mixed with lemonade. Nothing more to it, really. Not an exceptional lemonade or a notable beer. Tasted like a light lager mixed with made-from-frozen lemonade. It is the kind of flavour that comes of rationing alcohol as teenagers, where it's not the ABV per drink, but the total number of drinks that earn you clout as a "good drinker".
Overall
Because I rarely get to try different gluten free beers, I have a habit of grabbing a new one off the shelf and purchasing it. This one cost me $16.59 CND for six bottles. Six bottles of 2.8% beer, which was probably 5%, but because a jug of lemonade was dumped into it, has been thoroughly watered down into a bar-priced mixed drink.
I did not read the label to see what the ABV was or that it was full of lemonade. Mostly because it is a German made beer and the vast majority of the label is in German, with the small exception of some 1pt font around the neck. There is some English on the main label, which does clearly say "Organic and Gluten Free". The organic I'm not too concerned about; the gluten free is nice. And from millet!
It was drinkable, but it almost needs to be drank with something else or if you have to drive later. It is weak in alcohol content and taste. There was little beer flavour in it. Out of my gluten-free beer options, I'll be sticking to Bard's (coming in at $15.59 CND); cider is still my choice if I want drinkable and gluten free.
El Guordo from Hopworks Urban Brewery
I just wanted to throw in a quick note: Last week at The Green Dragon I sampled what I *believe* was called El Guordo Pumpkin Ale (or something to that effect) from Hopworks Urban Brewery, brewed right here in Portland, OR. It was FANTASTIC. I think it rivals Elysian's Night Owl for the top spot of everything I've tasted so far, but falls just slightly short of winning due to it being a little bit heavier and bit more of a sipping beer than the Night Owl, which for me gives it slightly less points mainly because I am an impatient person and I don't like to wait and sip. It was really rather tasty though.
Here's a terrible quality photo to go with my ultra-abbreviated not-a-review review.
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| The decal on this glass neither represents the establishment within which I was drinking, nor the brewery from whence this beer was conceived. |
Ace Hard Pumpkin Cider from California Cider Company
This is a combo post between Mike and Amelia. Amelia did all the tasting... then forgot about this review for almost two weeks... then was too lazy to write the review herself, so she instead dictated the review notes to Mike, who out of the goodness of his heart, typed it all up for her and I'm sure did his best to follow her instructions: "Make me sound smart".
Brewer: California Cider Company
Location: Sebastopola, CA
Name of brew: Ace Hard Pumpkin Cider
Manufacturer's Description: (??)
ABV: 5.0%
Color
The color was a true golden with the common filtered transparency of a cider. Clear and bright.
Head
Should cider have head? I poured rather carelessly. I probably just lost half of the fizz. Oops. Head built when poured aggressively, but quickly dispersed. Only a small amount head remained.
Aroma
Smells like cider. Definitely smells like fermented pumpkins and apples. Nothing remarkable that can be recalled after the fact or was worth noting down. Simple, but enjoyable.
Taste
Sweet and tart. Delicious like an apple. An enjoyable crispness on the tongue. Like eating a Granny Smith and a Gala simultaneously. It's not like "mmm, pumpkin cider", but the pumpkin is there, hiding in the sweet notes, bringing a nice undertone that cuts through the tartness. Good balance between apple's crispness and tartness and the pumpkin's earthiness and synergy with sweetness.
As an aside, who the hell is Granny Smith? Smith is SO common. That could be anybody!
Overall
Very pleasant. I would definitely enjoy this in lieu of Martinelli's at Thanksgiving and will be buying again if I am ever in need of a gluten-free option for this holiday season.
Amelia's review of this review: Me cavewoman. Me make blocky sentence. Me drink beer. Beer ok. BORED! BOOOORRREDDD!!!!!
America's Original Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill's Brewery
Hello again nobody, sorry for the delay. There is no good reason it has taken me this long to get another review down on paper, and for that I'm only partially sorry.
Today's beer is America's Original Pumpkin Ale made by Buffalo Bill's Brewery. Lets dive right in.
Location: Hayward, CA
Manufacturer's Description: Ale brewed with real pumpkin and natural spice flavor.
ABV: 5.2%
Out of the bottle the beer poured very cloudy and the color was almost identical to homemade pumpkin pie, which was neat to see and got me excited for the tasting to come. There was a thick, white, three-finger head which was light gold in color. There were big fluffy bubbles, but they faded quickly which made me sad. I really like nice thick, big, bubbly heads on beers - it reminds me of the beer you always see cartoon characters drink where the head seems to be as dense as shampoo lather or whipped cream.
The nose on this brew was incredible - on my notes I have written "pumpkin fucking pie" which was appropriate. Imagine you're at your aunt's house on Thanksgiving and she opens the door to the oven to check on her pie. That exact scent (minus the heat obviously) is what was coming off of this beer. All your favorite players were present: clove, cinnamon, allspice and any other warm winter spice you can think of. Very nice. I detected almost no hop, yeast, or malt character in the nose... it smelled like pumpkin fucking pie.
The pallet is really pretty lame however. When you get some in your mouth there is absolutely zero pumpkin spice flavor, no yeast, and very little malt. It was like someone dumped pumpkin pie spice into a PBR, and as a goddamn joke gave it to me. The only thing remarkable about how the beer tasted was how unremarkable the beer tasted. There is some small amount of a cidery finish to the beer which I admit was very pleasant but not what I wanted at all. There was also a trace amount of the pumpkin spices in the end if you kind of did that smacking-your-mouth-thing-over-and-over to bring it out.
I'm a big fan of seasonal beers but I need them to live up to what they promise. If you are making a pumpkin or pumpkin spice beer, then I basically want to be drinking pumpkin pie juice with alcohol added for me. This was more as if it offered 1000 dollars up front, then came back a few weeks later, hat in hand, telling me all it could scare up was 376 dollars, and that it's sorry but it will have the rest next week. I kind of felt like breaking the knees of this beer just to teach it a lesson.
Today's beer is America's Original Pumpkin Ale made by Buffalo Bill's Brewery. Lets dive right in.
Location: Hayward, CA
Manufacturer's Description: Ale brewed with real pumpkin and natural spice flavor.
ABV: 5.2%
Out of the bottle the beer poured very cloudy and the color was almost identical to homemade pumpkin pie, which was neat to see and got me excited for the tasting to come. There was a thick, white, three-finger head which was light gold in color. There were big fluffy bubbles, but they faded quickly which made me sad. I really like nice thick, big, bubbly heads on beers - it reminds me of the beer you always see cartoon characters drink where the head seems to be as dense as shampoo lather or whipped cream.
The nose on this brew was incredible - on my notes I have written "pumpkin fucking pie" which was appropriate. Imagine you're at your aunt's house on Thanksgiving and she opens the door to the oven to check on her pie. That exact scent (minus the heat obviously) is what was coming off of this beer. All your favorite players were present: clove, cinnamon, allspice and any other warm winter spice you can think of. Very nice. I detected almost no hop, yeast, or malt character in the nose... it smelled like pumpkin fucking pie.
The pallet is really pretty lame however. When you get some in your mouth there is absolutely zero pumpkin spice flavor, no yeast, and very little malt. It was like someone dumped pumpkin pie spice into a PBR, and as a goddamn joke gave it to me. The only thing remarkable about how the beer tasted was how unremarkable the beer tasted. There is some small amount of a cidery finish to the beer which I admit was very pleasant but not what I wanted at all. There was also a trace amount of the pumpkin spices in the end if you kind of did that smacking-your-mouth-thing-over-and-over to bring it out.
I'm a big fan of seasonal beers but I need them to live up to what they promise. If you are making a pumpkin or pumpkin spice beer, then I basically want to be drinking pumpkin pie juice with alcohol added for me. This was more as if it offered 1000 dollars up front, then came back a few weeks later, hat in hand, telling me all it could scare up was 376 dollars, and that it's sorry but it will have the rest next week. I kind of felt like breaking the knees of this beer just to teach it a lesson.
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