Bourbon Bastard

I ended my last review with mention of Founders Backwoods Bastard. Since I enjoyed Dirty Bastard so much, I decided that I would go ahead and open my bottle of Backwoods Bastard sooner than later. Here I am the one who lays out the Lager challenge and yet I'm stuck on Scotch Ales.

Brew Details: This is a bottle of Founders Backwoods Bastard, which is a Scotch Ale that has been aged in Oak Bourbon Barrels. This bottle was released in November of 2009, so its about 8 months old.

Serving Conditions: I poured the entire contents of the bottle into a standard pint glass. This one was served at 50 degrees.

Appearance: Identical to the Dirty Bastard, the brew is a deep, dark ruby red. It poured with a small head that relaxed back to a tan ring around the inside of my glass. While there are similarities between the two Bastards, the appearance is the only thing they share completely.

Scent: I pick the aroma of sweet caramel malt and there is a subtle but lingering scent of whiskey. It is reminiscent of a glass of Jameson's! The scent of booze hangs around the glass like an afterthought. Its there, but not too distracting.

Taste: Wow. The super smooth whiskey flavor tamed by mildly sweet caramel malt makes this one that could get me in trouble. The malt and whiskey flavors blend extremely well creating a unique and flavorful Scotch Ale. Where Dirty Bastard had a slight bitter finish, Backwoods Bastard has none.

Mouthfeel: The body of this brew is just a little syrupy and has a medium amount of carbonation.

Drinkability: This is even less a session beer than Dirty Bastard. While I could drink more, I think that I would have to limit myself to one bottle. It would be very easy to let the high alcohol content erase your memory of this fantastic tasting brew. Maybe the upside-down label on my bottle is there to serve as a warning.

Notes: I found that warming the brew caused a few effects: 1) it brought out a sweeter aroma 2) the whiskey taste really came to the front and 3) the 10.2% alcohol content became much more apparent as it warmed my stomach.

Lately, it seems like every brewer is trying their hand at aging beer in whiskey barrels. Founder's has made an art out of matching brews with the right style and flavor of whiskey. Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Backwoods Bastard are easily my two favorite barrel aged brews to date.

This Scotch Ale emulates some of my favorite aspects of a smoky whiskey without the harshness that I associate with distilled alcohol. Its sort of like a creamy glass of scotch. J, this one is right up your alley. I will make sure that a bottle makes it's way to NYC this Fall!

I give Backwoods Bastard a 9 out of 10.

A Lovely Bastard

After a couple of lager reviews, its time to head back to the wonderful world of ales!

Brew Details: Tonight I popped a bottle of Founders Dirty Bastard, which is their Scotch Ale.

Serving Conditions: This bottle was straight from my beer fridge which kept it at a moderate 50 degrees. I drank this from a standard pint glass.

Appearance: The color is a deep, dark ruby red that almost appears brown. The head was a little dark and slightly larger than medium.

Scent: This smells of sweet, sweet malt with what seems to be a little molasses way in the background. Hops? What hops? And for that matter, where is the scent of booze? For a drink that runs at 8.5% alcohol, I can't believe how little alcohol I can smell.

Taste: The taste is sweet and very smooth. I taste a little caramel at the beginning, with sweet malt throughout. Finally at the end there is some roasted malt with a tiny bit of bitterness. I can't tell if that's the hops finally showing up or just the roasted malt telling the hops that they aren't welcome here.

Mouthfeel: This Scotch Ale is a little syrupy and has a medium amount of carbonation.

Drinkability: This certainly isn't a session beer, but I could easily go through two... or maybe even three of these in a sitting. The alcohol content is definitely the limiting factor.

Notes: As this brew warmed, the flavor and finish seemed about the same, but the "booziness" really came to the front. This is one of my favorite Scotch Ales. While it is on the heavier and thicker side, its not nearly as heavy and syrupy as Belhaven's Wee Heavy making it a very nice example of a Scotch Ale and one that I highly recommend.

I give it a 8.5 out of 10 as it is very worthy of keeping on hand.

I think its time to break out my bottle of Backwoods Bastard and see what this tastes like after its been aged in oak barrels.

And the winner of Round Two is...

Brew Details: This is a bottle of Sword Swallower from Shmaltz Brewing Company's Coney Island Craft Lager series. This is my first experience with a beer from this brewer.

Serving Conditions: I chilled the bottle to a cool 44 degrees and poured it into a standard pint glass.

Appearance: The color is a fairly clear amber. That surprised me as I'm used to lagers being some variation of yellow. The brew poured with a medium head that subsided to about a quarter of an inch, where it lingered for quite some time.

Scent: I can smell some light malt and the presence of hops is obvious. The hop aroma is actually pretty complex with strong notes of citrus and just a little floral.

Taste: The initial taste is very smooth and somewhat complex. As with the aroma, I taste a little bit of malt and a lot of hops. The hop taste is citrus and bitter, with no floral hops noted. The finish nears my threshold for bitterness, but the bitterness doesn't last long.

Mouthfeel: This brew has a medium amount of carbonation and is light bodied, being a little thicker than water.

Drinkability: When this brew was at its coldest, I found myself drinking it quickly, but as it warmed I was less and less drawn to it.

Notes: With warmth came a stronger malt scent and taste, but the bitter finish remained constant. This is a very interesting brew and definitely worth trying. I have a feeling that this beer would be a big winner for IPA lovers. Mike, I regret not opening this one with you. For my own taste, I would have liked a little less hops with maybe a tad more malt.

While it pains me to give this interesting brew such a low rating, I have to be honest and give it a 4 out of 10. I would definitely be willing to give it another try, but I probably wouldn't be willing to spring for the bottle.

It looks like Budweiser is hanging on to its crown... for now anyway. Shmaltz Brewing Company has my attention, so I'll be seeking out a less hoppy lager from their Coney Island series. After that? Maybe it'll be time to try my first PBR...

A Little Intro...

Drinking beer is a newer thing for me. Granted, I've tasted beer many times over the years, but I never really craved it, nor imagined myself drinking it regularly. However, recently, my fellow blogger and big brother, Mike, introduced me to the larger world of beer that's out there. I grew up having drinks such as PBR, which I actually enjoyed sipping on from time to time, but now I realize how many choices there are out there. At this point, my main love is Belgian beer; those Belgians know what they're doing! One of my favorite Belgian beverages is the Lambic. Ahhh, they are so sweet, bubbly, fruity, tart, and just plain delicious. I would happily drink one now if it were in front of me. Anyway... some of my other favorite brews include: Westmalle Dubbel, Trappiste Rochefort 8, Franziskaner Hefe-Weiss, and last but not least Midas Touch. In all fairness to the IPAs out there, I haven't quite developed a taste for them, so any review is purely my opinion of the taste and doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the brew itself. But, who knows, that could change :)

For me, hands down, the best thing about this hobby (of drinking and reviewing beer) is trying a new brew with friends and family. It's the social aspect that I like most. I love watching everyone's reaction to something new. Although, I'm usually the one cringing and making a crazy face as I try something really stout or hoppy. Even so, I look forward to trying more and more new things and reading the opinions of my fellow bloggers. I have lots to learn about beer, but I'm on my way. So, let's drink up and write up!

Round One

Okay, I’m going to kick us off with the first Budweiser review. To anyone who wonders why a group of people who prefer craft and import brews would review Budweiser, please check out Mission #1: The King Of Beer Missions.

Brew Details: Budweiser brewed by Anheuser-Busch.

Serving Conditions: To give Budweiser its best chance of shining in this Beer Mission, I decided to get it on tap at BW3’s. This would ensure that it would be as fresh as possible. It was served in a pint glass and I'm guessing, but the temperature seems to be around 45 degrees.

Appearance: The color is a very clear yellow. It arrived with a slight head that was "gone in 60 seconds".

Scent: The scent was like a time machine. When I opened my eyes after breathing in its aroma, I felt strange not to be surrounded by goofy teenagers and gaudy 1980’s rock. I was almost surprised to find myself sitting in a restaurant with my wife.

The strongest scent I could make out was that of sour grain. I couldn't detect any odor of hops or malt.

Taste: The initial taste is just a little bit sour. It tasted like a dry and slightly sour Sprite. The finish had almost no bitterness and no sign of hops, but I did taste a bit of wheat. If I’m being honest, I have to admit that I was a bit shocked that there was nothing strong about the taste at all.

Could this really be the beer of my youth that sent me in search of light beer?

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is watery and light with medium carbonation.

Drinkability: One of the things that Budweiser is known for is its drinkability and I have to say that it really is an easy drinking beer.

Notes: I have to admit that my biggest surprise was that I didn't hate it. But, I also didn’t love it. While I enjoyed the nostalgia of drinking a brew that I probably hadn’t had in 20 years, I was left unsatisfied. It was neither bitter nor sweet and like Laura said, it was forgettable. Something inside of me can’t help but call Budweiser the Beer of Laodicea ☺

With our current rating system I can give Budweiser an honest 4.5 out of 10 with this one qualification: I might pay to drink it again, but I wouldn’t pay much. But to be fair, it doesn’t cost much.

La Trappe Isid'or

I don't have time this evening to write an entire article on this wonderful beer, but I have to share my short experience.  I finally tried La Trappe by our friends in Belgium and wow, I am blown away again.  I guess I just love trappist ales because I fell love with the Westmalle Trappist Ale (Dubbel) immediately too.  The smell is amazing, the taste is amazing and the experience is one to behold, thank you my wonderful monks.

-charles

Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout

Now I recognize the hypocrisy in reviewing an oatmeal stout when I just spoke of the negatives of drinking stouts during the summer in my very last post. Ah well, these things happen.

This will be the longest-time-coming review that I do. Brian has talked about this beer for probably about 10 years and I have only now procured a bottle. Thanks Mike!!

Brew Details: What we have here is a bottle of Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing Company of Boonville, California

Serving Conditions: I just pulled this one out of the fridge, so its about 45 degrees. I’m drinking this out of a standard pint glass.

Appearance: The color is deep and dark with no light penetrating it. It poured with a very slight head that subsided pretty quickly.

Scent: The aroma is incredibly sweet, it honestly makes me think of smelling a glass of chocolate milk. That may be a stretch, but not much of one.

Taste: The initial taste is sweet, but not overly so. It definitely has a sweeter smell than taste. This beer has the smooth taste that you’d expect out of an oatmeal stout, but with its balanced blend of malt, chocolate and hops, you end up with a very unique tasting oatmeal stout. I think that what really sets this beer apart is how the brewer cleverly used the hops to balance the sweetness without leaving any hop aftertaste. In fact, the aftertaste is very slightly bitter with no sign of hops.

Mouthfeel: The mouthfeel is watery and light with a surprising amount of carbonation.

Drinkability: I could drink multiple glasses of this brew without difficulty. In fact, I think that Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout presents the opposite problem as this is definitely the easiest drinking oatmeal stout that I've ever had. Keeping much stock of this beer on hand could prove problematic as I'm sure I'd have a difficult time staying out of it.

Notes: I let a portion of this beer reach near room temperature as I sipped on my glass. As the brew warmed, the sweetness grew and the slight bitter finish waned. This is one to serve at about 50 degrees.

I like this beer a lot and I will seek it out. The next time I am in Chicago I will be returning with a small supply. I have only one complaint about this beer: Brian, you should have gotten me some of this years ago!

I can't call this a quintessential oatmeat stout as it really is something unique. At the same time this is one of the most enjoyable, well balanced beers I've ever had.

I give this a 9.5 out of 10.

Banana Bread Beer

I really thought this was going to be a very bad idea...banana...bread...beer.  What other horrible mixes could they come up with?!  Well, I finally tried it and wow!  It was not what I thought it was going to be.  Definitely read Dave's post on the He Man Beer Lovers blog for more information about Banana Bread Beer; all in all another great review.  Here is my review using our very own Cosmo Beer blog review :

• Brew Details: Banana Bread Beer, Wells and Youngs Brewing Co. (since 1875), Product of England, 5.2%
• Bottle Inspiration:  "Long ago, ale was known as liquid brea.  We've used our long history of creating the finest malt blends and added Fairtrade bananas to awaken the senses with a seriously fruity, rich, yet surprising, versatile banana bread beer.  The inspired brew made with our own natural mineral water and Fairtrade bananas.  Tempting Banoffee aromas and flavours are balanced by the silky richness of a masterful malt blend and the peppery spice of the freshest ripest hops."
• Serving Conditions: Tried from the bottle in the picture above and from the bottle.  The bottle had a better taste for the beer than the 'skinny' glass, because the bottle is better designed to drink this beer.  Temperature was probably 45 to 50 degree (from the fridge).

• Appearance: Amber clear transparency, medium head with medium retention providing a satisfying luster.
• Scent: Sweet and a distinct banana effervescent.
• Taste - Initial:  Banana dominant, pleasantly balanced malt and subtle pilsner flavors.
• Taste - After: Slightly bitter with a banana aftertaste
• Mouthfeel: Light with medium balanced carbonation.
• Drinkability:  I could definitely drink more than 1, a very pleasant surprise.
• Additional comments/questions:  None
• THE FINAL SCORE:  7

Definitely give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised.

-charles

Mission #1: The King Of Beer Missions

VS Who Will Take The Challenge?

I've been thinking for a while about what our first beer mission should be. My first impulse was to start with a mission based around some variation of stout. But alas as we find ourselves baking in the late June weather, I have to acquiesce that this is not the ideal time to sit and consume those heavy drinking, sweet sipping brews.

So instead, I have come up with a more summer suitable mission: The King Of Beer Missions. Now before you cringe at the mere allusion to Budweiser, please read on.

For many of us Budweiser was one of the first, if not the first, beers we ever had so maybe this isn't a bad place to start. Let's face it, Budweiser is incredibly popular yet it takes a beating on almost any beer tasting website, garnering a mere D+ on Beeradvocate and an overall score of 0 on Ratebeer. Have we fans of craft and import brews been too hard on one of America's oldest beers? Could so many Budweiser fans be wrong?

The Mission

So here is my challenge: over the next month or two let's pit Budweiser against other American made lagers. We'll each review a glass of Budweiser and then we'll sample and rate at least two other American made lagers. Obviously it would be best to review as many brews as possible so if you have the time and money, have at it.

Now technically Budweiser is an adjunct lager, but as Budweiser calls their brew "The Great American Lager", I feel that they open the door for us to compare them to any other American made lager. Let's select our comparison brews from Beeradvocate's American Lager category. Sorry gang, this will rule out Sam Adam's Boston Lager as it is really a Euro Pale Lager.

The goal here isn't to find the best adjunct or the best American lager but rather to give Budweiser a chance to defend its claims as "The Great American Lager".

Mission Parameters

1) Let's make sure to only review from a glass, so no drinking from the bottle.

2) Let's keep this to Budweiser, so skip Bud Light, Dry, Ice and any other variation.

3) Try to give Budweiser a "fair shake". Review it like this is the first time you've had it.

4) When you do your last review for this mission:

a. You don't need to declare a winner, but give a brief description about how
you thought Budweiser stacked up against the other lagers you sampled.

b. Give your opinion of this mission. Did you enjoy it or did you just suffer
through?

Personally, I think this will be interesting as I haven't really drank lager beers on a regular basis in more than a decade.

So how about it, is Budweiser The Great American Lager? Or did this mission just confirm your reasons for moving on from the beer of our youth?

Bud Light Commercial

How about a quick advertisement for Bud Light. No, no don't leave, it has Conan O' Brien in it so its worth it!

It begins...

I used to hate beer. Growing up I would try the typical 'light' beer in the usual high school and college functions and was left disappointed. I just didn't understand why everyone liked it so much. Was it truly just 'an acquired taste' as so many told me? Yes and no. Seems like a dumb answer, but I'll explain.

To me light beer is an acquired taste as it took quite a long time for me to actually enjoy one, but soon I discovered dark beer. All of a sudden the world of beerdom didn't seem so unexplainable, it was beginning to have a new appeal. Dark beer was not an acquired taste to me, I liked it immediately. So after this discovery I decided it was time to learn more.

I have stepped out of the casual Guiness dark beer corner and am venturing off to try new flavors. My palate was small with only Guiness Extra Stout, Samuel Adams: Boston Lager, and Michelob's AmberBoch (the only Michelob beer on my list) being the beers I would look for at an establishment. It is time to discover the rest of beerdom; wheat beers, rice beers, Lambics, Lagers, Stouts, Ambers, and much, much more.

Here is a list of a few of my new favorite beers so far in this short venture. This list will soon be molded into a much more usable list, but this is all you will get for now:

1. Belhaven: Scottish Stout
2. Franziskaner hefe-weisse
3. Maredsous Dubbel
4. Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout

Continue to check back and see how the list grows (with an official ranking system) with the contributors of this website as the adventure begins. Feel free to leave comments about your favorite beers so far!

-charles

Getting started

I set up this blog to address a serious problem: I have developed a need to share beer tasting experiences with friends and family. Since my friends and family are scattered across the Country I decided that we needed a place where we could go and have a beer club of sorts, so here we go!

A little history:
When I was a kid, I drank to... well, I suppose there's no good way of saying it. Let's just say that I drank for the wrong reasons so I quit drinking all together for a couple years. When I got to my early 20's, I decided to start experimenting with different kinds of beer. The problem was that I couldn't predict whether or not I was going to like a beer, so I got frustrated and decided that Guinness would be my "go to" beer. I suppose that if one is going to have a single beer that they drink, Guinness isn't a bad choice. I had others, but many seemed like a glass of bitter Sprite, which just didn't satisfy. Oh, there were some Irish Reds and and a few Honey Browns along the way, but Guinness was by far my favorite.

Fast-forward about a decade and you'll find that my taste in beer has been utterly ruined. I "blame" (or thank, depending on my mood) my brother-in-law for this. He patiently opened my eyes to a world of craft beer, Belgian Ales and Russian Imperial Stouts that would forever change what I thought beer could be.

While a glass of Guinness Draught seldom disappoints, I have found a whole new world of beer that I never could have imagined. Some of this is because of the explosion of craft breweries all across the Country over the past 20 years. They experiment with and create amazing renditions of time-honored beer styles.

The beer that I drink is expensive, at least when you compare it to the myriad of domestic pilsners. But as one of my favorite people (and someone who I hope will blog here) would put it: "I'd rather drive a couple of Mercedes than a whole bunch of Yugos." I see it this way: most wouldn't think much of spending $10 on a bottle of wine. Many of the brews that I like are very comparable in cost to a bottle of decent wine. But what I like about beer is that for this $10, I can be drinking a world-class brew that has an incredibly complex taste and scent.

Now, as I sit here with a glass of Unibroue La Fun Du Monde, I have to accept that there's no going back. The American craft brewers got my attention and the Belgians made sure I could never go back.

Randall