ALES
Smoked Porter (
AT Brewers, Boulder CO)
Light smoky aroma
on a beaut of a Porter.
35.
JRM
Gnarley Barley
Barleywine ( AT Brewers, Boulder, CO
)
Excellent barley
wine. Drink a couple
and yippee. 35.
JRM
Twisted Pine
Amber Ale - (Twisted Pine Brewery,
CO)
Slightly bitter,
but very good Amber Ale. JRM
Devils Backbone Stout - (Naquama,
CO)
Good malty
stout. JRM
Guinness Stout 7.2% (brewed by
license in Trinidad) -
The stout that others are
measured against. Malty with that burnt background. Easy to drink if
your a stout drinker.
MB
Guiness
Stout (on tap - Galway, Ireland)
Dark color, but a
much lighter taste with light to moderate hopping. Taste okay, but
didn't meet my expectations
Royal Stout (Trinidad)
Wow - This stuff
is fast approaching a barleywine. Very very malty, thick, burnt
overtones, bittered to style, very apparent alcohol level (seemed
much stronger than the Guinness). Don't drink this stuff in your
deer stand.
MB
Oatmeal Stout (Prologue
Brewery)
It has a very distinct taste
(burnt toast) and yet another distinct taste (???). Feedback needed
on this one, this is one of them that is really good or really
sucks...-GW
This is an awesome
beer. Apparently it is
appropriate for its style as well. I had an Oatmeal Stout from
a local brewery here in Boulder, and Prologue’s was very close to
it.
JRM
Lefthand Black
Jack Porter ( Lefthand Brewery, Boulder?
)
Excellent. Nice roasted flavor.
JRM
Great Divide
Porter
Excellent. Good roasted. JRM
Mason Coal Porter (Johnston
County Brewery, Clayton, NC)
Ummm Ummm what the
hell happened here..-GW
I'm not sure what
beer this was, but I assume it was the Coaltrain Porter. All the
flavors are right except for the bitterness level. Good taste going
in and down. The back bite says leave me alone for six months and
try me again.
MB
I like the
stuff. $22 batch. I have to like it. JRM
Brown Ale(Owen
Olearys, Natick MA)
Pretty dam good
clear dark brown, nice malty flavor but doesn't hold head very
well.
PZ
Bishop’s Bass
Ale - (Bishop Brewing Co. Cary NC)
Good ale just a
touch on the bitter side.
I liked it with the extra bitterness.
JRM
Chocolate Stout
(H.C. Berger Brewing,
Ft. Collins, Colorado)
Pretty good
chocolate stout, though not very chocolatey. Sweet stout.
JRM
Black Hook, (Red
Hook Brewing, New Hampshire )
Preliminary
tasting reveals a decent porter with enough chocolate malt for me.
Good head (we can never
get enough),
alcohol level, and color. I thought this porter was on the bitter
side of where it should be to make it much better.
MB
Fat Tire Ale,
(Belgium Brewing Co, Denver )
Decent Ale, well
balanced, moderate head, apparent malt level, hopped at the
low/moderate level. MB
Stout (Walnut
Brewing, Boulder,
Colorado)
Good sweet
stout. Had a few of
these. Very good.
JRM
90 Shilling Ale
(Odell Brewing Co Fort Collins,
Colorado)
Pretty average
Scottish Amber Ale. I
drank’em but would buy something else next time.
JRM
Oasis Pale Ale
(Oasis Brewing Co Boulder,
Colorado)
Nice nose, but
average Pale Ale.
Good.
JRM
Rev. Purley Pale
Ale ( Hoster Brewing Co. , Columbus,
OH)
A touch on the
bitter side, but good.
Pushing a weak IPA.
JRM
Ipswich Ale
(Ipswich Brewing Company Ltd, Ipswich Mass.)
This is a very
interesting ale with very short shelf live, probably due to the fact
that it is unfiltered and unpasteurized. The ale is somewhat cloudy
when poured but is a very tasty ale. The list of ingredients states
Hops, Yeast and more Hops, this is really a nice ale. PZ
Bee Sting Honey
Ale
The Bee Sting
Honey Ale was a little sweet but the taste was nice for a light
summer brew that was not too filling.
GAS
Sucks.
JRM
Bert Grant’s Amber
Ale (Yakima Brewing & Malting Co., Yakima
Washington)
Nice amber color,
good balance, with a
lot of nose.
Good ale, even better for hop heads.
JRM
Bert Grant’s IPA
(Yakima Brewing & Malting Co., Yakima
Washington)
Good IPA. I hated it. Very
bitter.
JRM
Bert Grant’s
Perfect Porter (Yakima Brewing & Malting Co., Yakima
Washington)
Darn near perfect.
This is an excellent
Porter, with a slight apparent coffee taste. The bottle says German
purity, but they got some coffee in there somehow. Highly recommend this
one for Porter and Stout drinkers.
JRM
Murphys Irish
Amber (Murphys Brewing, Cork,
Ireland )
A very nice Irish
ale. Nice hop balance,
nice color, great taste.
JRM
Smoked Porter, Old
Raleigh Brewing Co.
Good nut brown
taste, apparent malt.
The smoked taste
was very subtle (I was looking for more), creamy head,
color: dark brown,
no lambics.
Fish Ale (Mason Brewing,
Smithfield, NC)
Full body, full
malt taste complimented with a touch of molasses, clean finish,
hopped well, nice head.
Excellent Beer,
hard to improve, show winner. I expect to see this beer on Big Bear
shelves in the near future.
MB
I may be biased,
but this stuff is good.
A little more robust than a Bass.
JRM
Oldenberg Nut
Brown Ale (Ft. Mitchell, KY)
Very clean clear
with nice hop taste (Fuggle ?).
Could use more
body for the style.
JRM
Burning River Pale
Ale (Cleveland Brewing
Co.)
Not pale. More like an IPA, but
dark. Bitter but
OK.
JRM
Avalanche
(Breckenridge Brewery)
Amber ale. Very nice combination of
malt and hops.
Beautiful head retention, carbonation. A winner.
JRM
Cool Mule Porter
(Crooked River Brewery)
Nice porter. Decent nose. Good beer. Give it a 30.
JRM
Devil Mountain 5
Malt Ale
A malty Nut
Brown. Very nice. Could drink a bunch of
these.
JRM
Pretty Good Stuff.
MB
Devil Mountain
Black Honey Ale
This is a bitchin'
beer. Very close to a
stout if it is not. No
honey I can taste, but it is smooth. As good as a Guinness in my
book.
JRM
Saranac Black and
Tan
Pretty decent beer
between a Nut Brown and Light Porter. Lightly hopped.
JRM
Blue Moon Nut
Brown Ale
Beauty. Highly carbonated, tasty,
and light. Slam these, they are yummy.
JRM
Lighthouse Gold
(Crooked River Brewery)
Nice Amber. Could be hopped a little
more, but nice overall.
JRM
MacTarnahans Amber
Ale (Portland Brewing Co.)
Beautiful copper
color and nice head.
Excellent malt/hop balance. A winner!
JRM
Devil Mountain
Railroad Gold Ale
Nice pale ale with
a complex, slightly bitter taste. Not much nose, but
tasty. I like
it.
JRM
Pete's Summer
Ale
"With a hint of
Lemon" If you have a
strong imagination and a Ouiji Board you will taste the lemon
"hint." Otherwise it's
Pete's Wicked Ale (another subject). The malt is present, the hops
are layin' low.
MB
Pete's Maple
Porter
Now here's a beer
that will wake up your taste buds.Very present maple syrup poured
over a well done porter.
Pete's "flavored" beers usually have a flavor that slightly
over consumes the beer.
MB
This stuff
sucks.
EG
Way too much
syrup. This stuff is
horrible. I wouldn't
even put it on my pancakes.
JRM
Columbus Brewing
Co. Pale Ale
Bitter beer face,
but OK otherwise.
JRM
Columbus Brewing
Co. Nut Brown Ale
Bitter beer face
with a touch of nut, but OK otherwise.
JRM
Haystack Black
(Portland Brewing Co.)
An excellent dry
stout. Very tasty,
roasted malt taste.
Very clean, could even be a lager. No head
is the only
downfall. Good
stout.
JRM
Black Hook
Porter ( Red Hook
Brewing, Seattle )
Not enough roasted
malt flavor for me. It
is good otherwise. Nice hop balance.
JRM
Red Hook ESB - Red
Hook Brewing Co Seattle Wash.
tried this
delectable beer after a Killian's Red warm-up. Not too bad. Can't tell you
anything about the hops, malt, or grains but it tasted pretty damn
good.
DC
Liked it. Hopped a little extra, but
not overpowering.
JRM
Red Tail Ale -
Medicino Brewing Co.
Somewhere in
California. Looked and tasted like the RH ESB.
DC
The picture on the
label tells it all, it shows
a red tail hawk flying with a vine of hops in its claws, and
I swear they threw every hop on that vine in each bottle of beer,
this beer was way to hoppy
for me if you
don't believe it taste it and look at your face in the mirror. BITTER BEER FACE-
GW
Honey Bee Ale -
Youngsville NC Honey Wheat brew.
Reminded me of a
warm Miller Genuine Draft.
'Add a shot of Jack Daniels and it would've been a good
drink.'
DC
Sierra Nevada
Stout
Yes it is. Almost too stout for
me. Drier than a
Guinness. I have 3
left. After I drink
them, I'll decide whether to buy more. If you are a stout drinker,
you definitely need to try this.
JRM
Devil Anse Classic
Porter (Cardinal Brewing, Charleston, WV & Winston-Salem, NC)
Nothing classic
about it. Lacking
taste, especially the roasted malt. Also over carbonated. Hallertauer and Nugget
hops.
JRM
Scarlet Ale -
(Southend Brewing Co. Charlotte,
NC)
Distinctive hop
(Kent?) slightly on the bitter side. Just the way I like it. Good beer.
JRM
LAGERS
Carib
A common lager
widely distributed in Caribbean. Urine colored, moderate hop and
malt level. Very drinkable.
MB
Mason German
Pilsner ( Johnston County Brewery, Clayton, NC)
Very excellent
Pilsner look at the Pilsner Urquell results and you have a
match.-GW
Reminiscent
of Distinctly Dutch,
slight greenish tinge, hoppy nose, with a big hop mouthful. My
sample was slightly under carbonated with minimal head. Overall, quite
drinkable.
MB
Labatt 50
(Labatt Brewery, Canada)
Sorry folks you
need to know a Canadian to get this one, this bad boy is not sold in
the states. This beer is excellent very smooth yet very
effective, slightly darker amber colored beer with very good taste
something that is very hard to find in most American brewed
beers.-GW
Sappporo (
Japan)
Japanese Bud
Light.
JRM
Munich - (Johnston
County Brewery Clayton,
NC)
Very nice dark
lager, but I made it, so I’m partial. Excellent balance in hops
and malt, with a little roasted flavor.
JRM
Rolling Rock,
Latrobe Brewing Company, Pa "33" -
What can I say
about this stuff, I was weaned on it. Crisp, clear lager with skunky
overtones. It has
more body than
most rice seltzers on the shelf and enough kick to make you do crazy
stuff.
MB
Tommyknocker Red
Eye (Tommyknocker Brewing, Idaho Springs,
Co)
Good beer, goes
down smooth. Good head
retention.
BD
Hoppy, but not
bitter. Very nosy. Listed as European
hops. Pretty good,
smooth. They call
it a Marzen. JRM
St. Pauli Girl
Dark (St. Pauli Brauerei, Bremen
Germany)
Pretty good Munich
Dunkel type beer.
Roasted flavor comes through. Much better than Johnston
County Brewery Munich Dunkel.
JRM
Bitburger
(Bitburger Privatbrauerei,
Bitburg Germany)
Nothing special
but OK. Supposed to be
a Premium Pils, but I don’t taste any
nobility.
Warsteiner -
(Warsteiner Brauerei Haus, Warstein
Germany)
Bottle claims
it is the biggest
selling beer in Germany.
Its a good beer, close to a real good beer. It is not short on hops, but
still easy to drink. I
like it, and it has a pretty bottle.
JRM
Pilsner Urquell -
Czech Republic
The Pilsner
against which all others are judged, and rightfully so. This is the perfect
Pilsner. Hoppy
Czech Saaz,
balanced with just the right malt. You will pay for it. $8 a six pack.
JRM
New Amsterdam
Blonde Lager ( New Amsterdam Brewing, Old Chelsea Station NY. )
Very much like a
Pilsener though it is not stated on the bottle.
Lots of Saaz and
Tettnanger hops. Nice
beer. If I weren't such
a big fan of noble
hops, I might say it was overhopped.
JRM
Rusty's Road
Knight Amber ( Chilihead Brewery, Stevens Point, Wisconsin )
Very balanced
lager. Nothing special
about the beer, but it is good. Went great with Fajitas. Good summer brew.
JRM
Scrimshaw Lager,
Medeceno Ca.
Blonde lager,
medium body, lightly hopped.
I thought this beer was better at the Durham Invitational
this spring. Comparing
it to Dixie, it on the weaker side.
MB
Dixe Lager, New
Orleans, La.
This is the second
time I tried this beer. Dirty blonde lager, very noble, lots of
body. Similar to Boston Lager,
but better. One of my favorites.
MB
Samuel Adams,
Special Pilsner (Samual Adams Brewing Co, Boston, Ma.)
This is not the
Golden Pilsner. Clear,
on the darker color side of a Pilsner,
good body, head
retention, bittering on the high side for a Pilsner,
hops- Saaz and ?.
Needs more noble hopping for a Pilsner. Certainly a
decent beer, add
more noble hops, cut back on the Northern Brewer.
MB
Right on
Bishop. I agree.
JRM
Samual Adams,
Boston Lager
Good definition of
a full bodied lager, hopped
at a noble level,
clean after taste.
MB
Big Bear Beer
(Hoster Brewing Company, Columbus, OH)
See Hoster Gold
Top. Same
beer.
JRM
Grolsch Premium
Lager (Grolsche Bierbrouwerij Groenlo - Holland)
Rolling Rock and
Heineken are less expensive, but you don't get the cute bottle. Holland has cornered the
market on skunky beers with Heiny and this one.
JRM
Oldenberg Amber
Lager
Another clean
beer. Appropriately
hopped. I like it.
JRM
Hoster Gold Top
Lager (Columbus, OH)
Medium body, deep
golden color.
Pale and Munich
malt with Saaz hops.
Malty and slightly yeasty for
a lager. Give me more Saaz in this
one.
JRM
DAB Original
Dortmund (Dortmund, Germany)
Nice Dortmund with
characteristic "skunky" smell. Very
clean.
This is a
Dortmund, but mine is better.
JRM
Elliot Ness
(Cleveland Brewing Co.)
A Vienna Styled
lager favoring Nut Brown
but cleaner. Listed as dark amber, but
closer to brown.
Nice hopping, and
slightly sweet
finish.
JRM
Dortmunder
(Cleveland Brewing Co.)
Not a
Dortmund. More like an
Elliot Ness.
Sucks.
JRM
Saranac Adirondack
Amber (Saranac Brewing)
Budweiser. Slightly more apparent
Cascade/Hallertauer.
JRM
Saranac Golden
Pilsener (Saranac Brewing)
Budweiser with
Tettnanger.
JRM
Smokehouse Lager
(SML) Bishop Brewing Co(BBC), Cary,
NC
Rich amber colored
lager, exceptionally clean, nice malt taste, beautiful smoke nose
and after taste, the Bavarian lager yeast does a nice job leaving
just the right amount of malt.
Show Winner
MB
Abita Amber (Abita
Springs, La.)
Amber Lager.
Malty, lightly hopped, good, but not a hurry up and get me another.
I personally like a little
more hops.
MB
Abita Voodoo -
Dark
?Lager, Not enough
taste for me (Needs more malt, including a little chocolate) Not
enough malt, not enough hops. It will keep ya wet.
MB
Dixie (Golden
Pilsner)
I liked it, give
me more. Big nose, with the flavor to follow it up. Need to drink
more to make a call.
MB
Budweiser
(Williamsburg, Va.)
Rice seltzer w/ a
twist of barley. Hop flavor is very obvious (not present). Taste
slightly worse than used
toilet water. My
dog won't drink it, but it's worked out well for trapping the slugs
under my crawl space.
MB
Bud
Lite
No
taste
Bush
Slightly more
taste
Miller
Lite
What are those
people thinking about? I take this beer as a direct insult to my
taste buds. If they're making seltzer water, why don't they label it
appropriately?
MB
Three Finger Jack
Summer Lager (Saxer Brewing Co., Portland, Or)
Hop tea. No noticeable malted
barley.
JRM
Saxter Lemon Lager
(Portland, OR)
Lemony, not
beery.
JRM
Hosters Eagle Dark
( Hoster Brewing,
Columbus OH)
A dark bock with
roasted flavor. Just a
tad bitter for the style.
Should be slightly more on the malty side.
I'd love it if it
were an ale.
JRM
Thomas Manley
Amber Lager (August Brewing, St. Paul Minn)
I drank a six pack
of these and still can't decide whether I like them. Pretty copper color, hopped
nicely but lacking body.
Try it, you might like it.
JRM
Carolina Blonde -
(Southend Brewery Co. - Charlotte,
NC)
Nice blond
lager. Some after
taste, but I couldn't figure out whether it was strawberry, or
fruitiness from yeast.
Could this be an ale?
JRM
Tacata (Mexican)
Light lager with a
body to match. Dry aftertaste, hopped at the lower end of the scale.
Clear, moderate head, no noticeable off tastes. It's okay, I
wouldn't go out of my way to buy it. MB
OTHER
Saranac Holiday
12 Pack -
A sampler of
various styles. I was personally disappointed (I haven't finished
the 12 pack and I've had it almost a month).The best one to date has
been the Black and Tan.
MB
Bishops Southside
Steam #3 ( Bishop Brewing Company, Cary NC
)
The hits keep
coming from BBC. Nice
Steamer, slightly bitter.
JRM
Before I tried
this one I was in San Francisco for 4 days drinking Anchor Steam, so
I wanted to come back and compare; this is a dead ringer for Anchor
Steam. The Southside Steam recipe has to be voted recipe of the year
for 1997.-GW
Prologue
Steamer (Prologue Brewery)
Prologue brewery
finally got a good one very malty aftertaste, good head retention (
and you know what they say about good head
retention)-GW
Excellent
steamer. No more
critters. Little
bitter, but appropriate.
JRM
Michelob
Hefeweizen (Anheiser Busch, St
Louis, MO)
Now I know why
Mason does not like wheat beer.-GW
Holiday Ale 2-
Bishop Brewing Co(BBC), Cary, NC
Excellent Holiday
brew with a festive aroma.
I can’t figure out what the taste is (Cinnamon or Orange),
but it is good. Not
overpowering.
JRM
Very smooth was a
bit less aromatic and spicy as the Bishop Holiday 1 which I felt was
an improvement. I remember I started singing Christmas carols after
the first swallow of Bishop Holiday
1.-GW
Cherry Wheat-
Samual Adams, Boston -
Some may classify
this as beer cool-aid, but after drinking a 12 pack, I'd thought it
was a decent change
of pace. The wheat
taste is certainly subdued by the cherry (natural and artificial
according to the label) flavoring. Minimal head, wheat
color/cloudy characteristics, and slightly on the sweet
side.
Oregon Honeybeer
(Portland Brewing Co.)
Who put the wheat
beer in the honey bottle.
Hefeweizen nicht honey.
JRM
Saranac Wild Berry
Wheat
I was prepared to
hate this beer, but was pleasantly surprised. There is no doubt it is a
wheat, but
the artificial
berry flavor offsets the sourness. No apparent wheat haze. No real fruit. I can drink it without
complaining. JRM
Wheat BerryBrew
(Portland Brewing Co.)
Juicy Juice with a
kick. If you are not in
the mood for a beer, or need a breakfast jolt, this is your
beer. Flavored
with Marionberry ( No kidding ) and other natural flavors. They claim Mt. Hood finishes
the beer, but all I taste is Marionberry. I wondered what happened to
him.
JRM
Ice Steam (Mason Brewing, Smithfield,
NC)
A steam beer
that's been ice lagered.
Another great beer from Mason Brewing. A nice variation to
steam brewing. Taste Good, good body, hopped well.
MB
Bit too bitter for
me, but good. Give me
the old Southern Steam from Johnston County, Bishop Brewing or
Prologue Brewing.
JRM
Petes Multi-Grain
( Petes Brewing Company )
An OK beer,
nothing fancy here.
MB.
