The Kaiser 7-28-2010

Ze Beer? The Kaiser

Ze Style? Oktoberfest/Marzen

Ze Maker? Avery Brewing Company

Ze Content! 10.03%

So, this is my first “request” beer to review, on behalf of my Boss at work, I suppose I owe him for giving his Summer Shandy a C+. *snicker* Didn’t mind at all, seeing as it was also an Avery beer, and Avery usually does very well in the beers they brew. Hopefully, one of these days I can get out to Colorado again, to visit their brewery amongst other possible breweries in CO. This was a 2009 bottle won’t be too long til the 2010’s come in. Nice little label of who id assume is Kaiser Wilhelm wearing his “Pickelhaube,” daring you to speak poorly about this beer, so he has a reason to impale your face. Just saying, my innocent interpretation.

This beer pours a nice tan/copper color with very little head or head retention, as it fades to a thin layer of creamy bubbles. Tiny microbubbles are constantly released though carbonation isn’t too high, but clearly present. Very nice on the lacing, after my first taste, it just sticks to the glass and doesn’t even want to slide down, very sticky! On first smell, I was punched in the face with a caramel scent, very sweet, very malty; I can tell I will like this beer already. A bit of that molasses sugary scent also very present in this malted backbone of a beer, smells like a Belgian yeast presence in there as well, with a bit of dark candied spice scent. A great taste, again, lots of caramel, some nutty toffee as well. A surprising weight to this beer in a slightly syruped texture but not too glossy; as it remains light through carbonation and very smooth. That molasses definitely stands out a bit more a candied sugar taste. Would definitely suggest drinking this with some kind of food, the sweetness from the molasses and malts catch up fairly quickly, and though a great taste, does start to leave a sugary spot in your stomach after 22oz. A great beer overall, minus the slight drinkability of this beer, 1 pint at a time is just enough, too much and your stomach will be in for some hurting later.

Would I PAY for this beer? Yes, this is the epitome of a great Oktoberfest beer. Now just because it’s a great Oktoberfest beer, doesn’t mean go and drink 10 bottles of these at Oktoberfest, my god poor stomach. For its style, it’s amazing and great.

Overall Rating: A-/A

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy

Celebrator Dopplebock 7-26-2010

Ze Beer? Celebrator

Ze Style? Doppelbock

Ze Maker? Ayinger Brewery

Ze Content! 6.7%

This beer I have only had once, when I first opened my horizons to beer long ago, all I could remember was how dark and heavy it was… Throughout my career as “Ze Beer Guy” this beer has always been a classic loved brew from beer drinkers who know their beer. I always told myself I needed to revisit this beer, but never got around to doing so. I distinctly remember not wanting to, due to the fact that it was so dark and heavy which at the time, I was turned off by that style. I wish present day me could go back in time to tell past me, to nut up, and not be so chicken shit when it comes to dark beers. Though natural progression of my love for beer has steered me to the way of “The Dark Side”, loving porters and stouts the way I do now; I feel past me should not have been so ignorant and embraced “The Dark Side” so much earlier. Besides we have cookies!

On first pour, you get a little bit of head, as the head quickly fades to nothing. Perhaps I got an old bottle, because the head literally remained 15 seconds before it went away; dark in color, slight mahogany, not opaque but close to it. Right off the bat, you get a sweet scent in here, a bit sugary, but not overwhelming by any means, perhaps a molasses sweet. You get that roasted malty caramel scent in there as well, with a bit of coffee, and soft chocolate tones. A faint sweetness to be found, can’t quite put my finger on it, but a type of dark rich berry, perhaps it’s raisin I smell. When I drink this beer, all I can imagine is the glory that has been bestowed upon my taste buds. Great body, not too heavy though and definitely not light. Consistent, with that sweetness carrying through, leaving a dark chocolate bitter taste in your mouth; just enough to let you believe your drinking melted dark chocolate, but not bitter enough to make you cringe by any means. A slight boozey touch in the beer, most likely from that sugary molasses you get, almost Belgian yeasty in character. Very easy to drink, for a beer as dark as it is, I’ll admit, this beer was gone literally 5 or 6 drinks into it. It was that smooth, and that good in taste. Complex enough to boggle your mind, smooth enough to not even realize how much you’ve just drank.

Would I PAY for this beer? Yes, I’d even pay to have my closest friends drink this beer. At 3-4 dollars a 12oz bottle, this beer is quite the treat. I wish I bought two. :(

Overall Rating: SOLID A

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy

O'hara's Irish Stout 7-23-2010

Ze Beer? O’hara’s Irish Stout

Ze Style? Irish Dry Stout

Ze Maker? Carlow Brewing Company

Ze Content! 4.3%

Like most beers I come across, I got this in a Mystery box of beer from work. We started carrying this beer, around St. Patrick’s Day, 2010. Been eager to try out a new stout, I do enjoy a heavy flavor packed stout, though this one is dry, I’m hoping to replace the “Guinness” go-to stout when available. No interesting story behind this beer, just got it one day nabbed one in a mystery box, and here I am drinking it to review. Hmm, how boring… oh well… on to the taste!

A dark color from this Dry stout that when held to the light you get a bit of translucence; with a creamy tan head, but doesn’t last too long, but is evident. You definitely catch the malts in this stout, some chocolate, with a bit of that burnt coffee scent. The nose is rather coffee heavy though the charred aspect of it tails off the end, a very soft toffee like sweetness in the front of the nose. Smooth on the texture a bit thin, but that’s to be expected of a dry stout, leaves a subtle bitter chocolate taste on the back of the palate, the kind of bitter you get from eating a dark chocolate cacao bar. Easy to drink with light carbonation, nice separated flavors, but still lacking in my opinion. Much better than a Guinness by far, I just don’t know if I’m too biased to the textures and flavors of a thicker, more robust stout to enjoy this beer too much. Still a good beer, but when I think dark beers I think tons of flavor. This beer, for a stout, is just a bit too thin for my preference.

Would I PAY for this beer? Guinness is everywhere, if this stout was on tap alongside Guinness, I would definitely choose this beer. However in the 4-pack form you find it in, at about 10 dollars a 4-pack, id pass on the 4-pack. However if you are getting into stouts, and darker beers, this is a mild stout to get accustomed to before moving on to the big stouts.

Overall Rating: B-/B

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy

Redemption Red Ale 7-22-2010

Ze Beer? Redemption Red Ale

Ze Style? Red Ale

Ze Maker? Reaper Ale

Ze Content! 6.6%

I first saw this beer around Halloween time, go figure, the label reads Reaper Ale and sports a sort of cloaked “Death” figure holding a giant scythe. I figured this was going to be a beer with no taste just another gimmick beer for the holidays, like the “Freaktoberfest” beer from Coney Island (Schmaltz brewing, which was like red coloring water). Anyways we had this for my beer tasting at work, and was instantly amazed, and turned this into one of the most popular reds we carried. At the then price of 3.49 for a bomber, it was a great brew. Again, I am not saying this beer is the best red I’ve ever had, but it’s a damned good one. And definitely easy to drink! Onto the facts…

Pouring a very solid mahogany color, the head fluffs up but dissipates very quickly leaving a solid quarter inch of head retention with noticeable but minimal to moderate lacing. A definite malty smell from this beer as all reds should have, a bit of nuttyness and a slight green hop presence. A slight bit of caramel from the roasted malts within, but a finish with subtle hops, and a slight nut brown taste, in fact id even go as far as to say that nuttiness is more of a toffee taste. Very mild for a red, not too intense but very drinkable and true to its style although lacking a little bit of body still has a good crisp taste. The floral hop taste is just enough to balance the malts up front giving it a great taste throughout. Not very many quality reds out there are decent for session drinking, They are usually more intense and bold in flavor, so if you’re looking for a nice simple true red, that’s easy to drink or share with your friends, this is definitely the one.

Would I PAY for this beer? Yes, a full bomber for less than 5 dollars for a great tasting in between beer. I wouldn’t be happy drinking this all night long, but I would definitely indulge in it for as long as I could get away with it.

Overall Rating: B/B+

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy

Saison du Buff (New) 7-17-2010

Ze Beer? Saison du Buff

Ze Style? Saison

Ze Maker? Collaboration: Stone, Victory, Dogfish Head

Ze Content! 6.8%

I first picked up this bottle from work on a Shipping mishap. Was excited to see this in, as well with any new beer we receive, and before it was placed on the shelf I bought one to take home. The funny story about this was, as I was purchasing the beer our inventory receiver received a phone call right in front of me as I was checking out. As I was talking to the cashier about how I was excited to be one of the first to try these beers, our receiver places his fingers over his lips and says “Oh well we’ve already sold one bottle”. It seems we received the shipment 1 week before street release, and the rest of the bottles had to be hidden from the public. I realize by the time I post this blog and the date it was released (months ago) will be off, but was just something nifty about how I obtained the beer. Now I think this is Stone’s 4th or 5th collaboration, and when I got it was very excited to try it out. I’ve only had one other saison, the Saison Rue from The Breury, so let’s see what we got.

A great golden pale straw color from this beer, a slight creamy texture swirling through the glass, with a very fluffy, bubbly, sticky head that takes its time to go down. Tons of herbal aromas; smells like a garden with lots of Thyme and Rosemary, paired with rosemary and sage, mixed with loads of spices, just as the bottle suggests. When drinking this beer it completely reminds me of going into the macaroni Grill and eating their herb baked bread whilst using that olive oil dipping sauce. This is definitely a different beer and is beyond anything I’ve ever had before. It’s like drinking a homemade pizza crust! Very crisp light and enjoyable, not sure if I can withstand many of these, it’s just so different, but that’s what makes this beer so great. The piney hops are noticeable but with all the other herbal flavors, its blended in very well. Some citrus peel to this beer as well… Definitely a beer worth trying.

Would I PAY for this beer? Heck yes, if you’re looking for something different to try, this beer is great for that, they sell in single 12 oz bottles and for good reason, one beer is good enough to last your day. Refreshing and crisp, something new for the palate to enjoy, who doesn’t like a nice homemade pizza!?

Overall Rating: A-

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy

Summer Shandy (New) 7-15-2010

Ze Beer? Summer Shandy

Ze Style? Wheat/Shandy/Radler

Ze Maker? Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company

Ze Content! 4.2%

The spring semester of school is over, and I can happily get back on track with doing beer reviews for my blog. Ze Beer Guy is back! Going to start the summer off with the new summer beer from Leinenkugel’s. More popular for its Sunset Wheat, that the women love to drink due to its “Fruity Pebbles” back end; the summer shandy hopes to be an interesting and fun beer. Having only tasted one other shandy before the Stigel Shandy, an Austrian beer, this style is a quiet favorite amongst Europeans. It seems the fad at European clubs, is to enjoy your beer with some Sprite/7-up in it. The Shandy style is practically that, a lager type beer mixed with a type of lemon soda/juice. My boss was gracious enough to give me a bottle of this beer to taste for, “educational purposes”. Well there is only one way to find out. Thanks Bob! Here we go.

Pouring a golden pale, yet cloudy color this beer had a fluffy head for a whopping 7 seconds. Though the lacing is quite nice, the head leaves little desire. From the nose, it smells like an unfiltered wheat beer with loads of lemon zest. A little bit of tanginess in the nose as well. Tastes like an unfiltered wheat beer with a lemon tang taste. A prickly carbonated texture gives you the feel of that lemon soda, but with a very light body, the only body you get here is a slight weight from the unfiltered wheat taste (Think Pyramid Hefe, but with Lemon zest steroids). There isn’t much malt/hops to this beer if any to be honest. But then again, it’s true to the style indicated. This beer would probably be a bit better if it was less of an unfiltered wheat texture, and more of a lighter crisp pils/lager with the lemon steroids. Not a beer id have too many of but it isn’t too bad, if it’s a hot day outside, and you want something different.

Would I PAY for this beer? I’d buy an occasional pint if I wanted something different, I mean it is enjoyable, but I think a six pack would be a bit overboard for me. Thanks for taking one for the team Bob!

Overall Rating: C+

Cheers,
-Ze Beer Guy