Outer Banks Brewing Santa's Little Sledgehammer

Boy we got an interesting one today. Santa's Little Sledgehammer is a 10% ABV Christmas beer from Outer banks Brewing a few miles down the road from me in Kill Devil Hills. Now, a couple things. This stuff is 8 bucks for a bit more than a pint. I usually try to avoid beers that are this expensive, cause I wan't to focus on beer people actually drink. Power to the people! But if your'e here, you are probably on vacation, so you might splurge a little. Also' this is a real small brewery, so they don't have the economy of scale that others have. They have to charge more. Anyway, on to the beer.
Santa's is a pleasant medium brown with that tan head to it. The nose is striking, with a lot of clove, baking spice, and this underlying, almost saccharine, sugary sweetness. Wow, that's a very heavy, full-bodied beer. There's a lot going on here. Let's see, there's a lot of spice, mocha, licorice, smoky notes and more. It's overwhelming in a good way. There's also a lot of clove here which may significantly contribute to the the anise, sambuca like, finish. This is the kind of beer that seems to improve as you drink it, or maybe all that alcohol is going right to my brain. This is a first rate Christmas beer that would seem to be perfect for the season. Too bad I'm trying it in Spring, instead of when we had the 75 f-ing inches of snow. This stuff really has duration, the flavors linger for 5 minutes or more, that's how strong they are. And that could be a big problem for some people. If you dislike anise flavors this would not work for you, stay away. But, for me, this is a real good beer. Oh, love the name.

http://www.obbrewing.com/

New Belgium 2 Degrees Below

Here we have the first up of our non North Carolina beers, 2 Degrees Below. This is a winter ale from New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins Colorado. 2 Degrees pours out a nice classic amber color. It really hits you on the nose, with toffee, tootsie roll, and spice. One of the more intriguing smelling beers I have experienced. Let's have a taste, shall we. Oh my, It's a bitter blast of hop up front, way more than I expected. There's an awful lot on the finish too. Luckily, there are also some nice flavors in here. There's a nice sweetness and a slightly burnt toffee flavor. After a couple sips the jarring bitterness up front tends to fade, which makes it smoother and easier to drink. This is a nice beer, but a little disappointing. I got so much on the nose, but the hops tended to overwhelm the other flavors. I sense a rant in my future, but not yet, not yet. This is obviously quality stuff ,but they missed the mark a bit here. they need to change the hop ratios or bring some more malt up to meet them. I hope to see more from these guys next time. Oh yeah, we just found those shells on the beach today, never seen so many perfect shells.

http://www.newbelgium.com/

Mother Earth Dark Cloud

Straying from the Outer Banks, but staying in North Carolina, we have Dark Cloud Munich-Style Dunkel Lager. Dark Cloud is made by Mother Earth Brewing in Kinston, North Carolina. That name leads me to believe they may be hippies. I have to say this is a cool looking bottle, really a work of art. Dark Cloud is also an awesome name. Anyway, who the frick cares, is the beer any good? Well, it's a nice medium dark brown, and it smells lovely. It has toffee and chocolate notes, you know, like a skor bar. There's also underlying hop hints. This is one of those lighter bodied dark beers, but it brings the flavor. There are strong mocha flavors here as well as some hop bite. This is really well balanced. The malts are really shown to their full effect here. Dark Cloud is good to the last drop. I'd say there's good things brewing in North Carolina. See, there did you catch that, that's called lame, lazy, hack writing. Well anyway, I look forward to trying some other stuff from this hippie brewer. I wonder if these heads are friends with the pot addled hippies at Magic Hat.

http://www.motherearthbrewing.com/

Weeping Radish Corolla Gold

As a tonic for the fake Carolina beer I just suffered through, Carolina Blonde, we have a real North Carolina beer. Weeping Radish is the original Outer Banks micro-brewery, making German style beers and foods. Corolla Gold, named after the Northernmost town on the banks, is a classic German style lager. Corolla Gold pours out a slightly cloudy pale straw. It is really lively on the nose, with caramel sweetness and an apple bitterness, very nice. Let's put this to the lips, shall we. And yes, that at least begins to heal the wounds left by that Carolina Blonde. This a really smooth, flavorful lager with a mild hop note riding over top of the nice caramel apple and star fruit flavors. This is just a very solid, lovingly craft brewed beer. I have to say it's much dryer than I expected, and also has nice medium body. just a real nice classic lager. Feel free to get some and gleefully consume it.

A Brief Intermission: Carolina Blonde

The spring beer tournament is taking such a toll on me that I've been forced to recuse myself to the Outer Banks to recover. Luckily, while I'm here, there are a bevy of new beer options open to me. There are two breweries that were started right here on the banks, Weeping Radish, and Outer Banks Brewing. Weeping Radish has moved just over the bridge to the mainland, so they could have more room for their numerous undertakings http://www.weepingradish.com/. Outer Banks Brewing Station is a wind powered, i.e. f-ing cool http://www.obbrewing.com/, brewery in Kill Devil Hills. I'll be taking a look at their products as well as other North Carolina Breweries. One other brewery I will examine is the New Belgium Brewery, makers of the renowned Fat Tire Ale, out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Why you ask? Because oddly, this is the only place, currently, on the East Coast where this beer is available. Another good reason to head to the Outer Banks. But before we get in to all this North Carolina goodness, let's get this out of the way. Picture taken on the deck railing of the families beach house in Kitty Hawk.

The "beer" in question here is Carolina Blonde, made by the Carolina Beer ( note: beer, not brewing ) Company, of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania? Last time I checked, not in North Carolina. Well let's pour some out and see what we have. Color: well there is a little bit of pale gold that slightly distinguishes it from water. Nose: Nope. Alright, you can smell a little bit of hop has been waved over this liquid. Taste: absolutely not. Again, I exaggerate, but let me tell you what it does taste like. It taste like Bud or any other Macrobrew, which of course, it is. Look, this beer isn't that bad, it's smooth and easy to drink, just like water. It would be nice on a hot day served very cold, to disguise the flavor, or lack thereof. But, I would be very disappointed if I came here on vacation and had one of these thinking I was having some quaint local microbrew. And instead, what I got was stuff drained from some huge vat into a bunch of bottles, with different labels, and sent all over the country as "local" beers. Don't waste your precious beer dollar on this when you can buy , Insert any canned macrobrew, much cheaper. I hope things take a drastic turn for the better when I try some actual local beers. Peace, Out.

#1Sam Adam's Noble Pils vs #8 Otter Creek Spring Ale

The last two match-ups both involve the North-East region. The first is the #1 seed Sam Adam's Noble Pils, a lager Brewed with five different hops. You all know where it's from, but the competition is a bit more obscure. The #8 seed from Middlebury, Vermont is Otter Creek Spring Ale, A German kolsch style ale. The palate cleanser will be, tacos. The pils is a fairly clear gold, while the kolsch is a slightly cloudy pale gold. The Noble Pils has all kind of bold hop nose you can really distinguish a few different hops. The Spring Ale has quite the yeasty nose with a bit of citrus. Tasting the Noble Pils brings a cavalcade of hops, up front, in the middle, on the finish and everywhere else. Shell, Meat, cheese, lettuce, etc, chomp. The Spring Ale is smooth and crisp, light on the hop with a honey, floral flavor. Tacos nice and crunchy.

Let's go head to head with these two contenders.

I really thought the Noble pils was a bit too much. That much hop needs more to balance it out, but it does kind of grow on you. There are at least a bunch of different hop flavors, rather than one overwhelming hop wall, like other hop monsters. The Spring Ale is a really easy drinking beer with nice flavors. It's good, but one sip is just like any other. The Sam Adam's may escape with this one, but just barely. The Pils is just not balanced , but it has just enough intrigue to take it past this kolsch. I can't see how this pils is gonna get very far, it did not deserve this high a seed. This Spring Ale is worth a look if you like kolsch style beers. Noble Pils moves on to the second round to face the surprise #6 seed Garde Dog.

#3 Spring Buck vs #6 Copper Hook

Going to the Mid-East bracket we get the #3 seed Dominion Spring Buck versus #6 seed Red Hook Copper hook. Spring Buck is a blonde ale brewed with honey, chamomile, and orange peel Made by Dominion in Dover Delaware. Before Dominion got bought out they were a stones throw from me in Ashburn, Virginia. Copper Hook is a spring ale made by red hook in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The palate cleanser will be bacon. The Spring Buck, even with a slow pour, heads up very aggressively, but calms down to a cloudy pale straw. The copper hook is nearly identical in color but has a normal head. The Spring Buck has a lot of citrus and a tinge of yeast, while the Copper hook is very light on the nose with just at trace of hop and caramel. You know, it's impossible to overrate bacon. Wow, the Dominion throws a lot of flavors at you shifting from tea, to citrus, to hop all with this mellow herb at the bottom. Bacon is really good. The Red Hook has some mellow caramel and I swear, bubble gum, that disappears when the underwhelming hop comes through on the finish. This beer lacks excitement unlike this bacon. Time for the head to head match-up.

The Spring Buck is good stuff, really interesting, and strong. The Copper Hook does seem to be getting a bit better, there's decent body to this beer. The one thing that could turn people off to Spring Buck is it has some mead tones to it as it is brewed with honey. Surprisingly, the glass of Copper Hook is much lower right now but there are two good reasons for that. It's so weak you can drink it like water and you have to pour a bunch down your throat to get any flavor at all. The Spring Buck continually gives you more flavors to contemplate. Wait, must have more bacon. This might be the biggest blow-out so far in the tournament, Spring Buck dominates buzzer to buzzer. After this massive win Spring Buck moves on to face Aprihop in a very interesting second round match-up. Red Hook really needs to step it up next year. Damn you Delaware for stealing my brewery.

#1 Aprihop vs #8 Vinyl

In our first look at a #1 seed, it's Aprihop versus Vinyl, in the battle of the weird names. The #1 seed is Aprihop, an I.P.A. brewed with apricots from the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware. The #8 seed is Vinyl, a spring Lager from Magic Hat in Burlington Vermont. By the way, I don't read the small print on bottles till after I do tasting notes, so I don't get their ideas of what the flavors are into my head. That said, I read the bottle and there is bizarre rambling about "mysterious melange" and "chaotic Chemistry", but no explanation as to why you name a beer vinyl. They smoke a lot of pot in Burlington. The palate cleanser is 6 hour slow roasted shredded pork. Alright time to actually get to the beer.

They both pour out a dark amber, but the Vinyl is pretty cloudy, while the Aprihop is clearer. The Vinyl has a nice hop bitterness, and sweet caramelized pear on the nose. You can smell the apricot in this Aprihop, but it's not too strong. There's also loads of bitter hop and grapefruit that all balances out nicely. Let'stake a sip, but first some pork. Wow, this does not taste at all like vinyl, it's a very traditional amber lager. There's light malty caramel and really nice balanced hop bitterness. Chomps down some pork. The Aprihop has a significant apricot flavor up front which intensifies before you get this rush of bitter hop. There's also a slight burnt flavor that's kind of pleasant. The Aprihop is amazing with this pork.

Now to get serious with the head to head match-up. First, a bit of pork cooked it's own juices with just a dry spice rub. The Aprihop is really concentrated and delicious, it also serves up a nice 7% abv. Damn, I wasn't supposed to eat another piece of pork, but I couldn't help it. Start again. The Vinyl has great balance it's a near perfect amber lager. I was afraid of this. I gave the Magic Hat an eight seed, because of it's stupid, inexplicable name and the hit or miss nature of their beers. But this is a real hit, it should have gotten a higher seed. However, they did give their beer a weird name, and how is this a spring beer, it tastes more like an Octoberfest. More pork. The aprihop is a bit of a novelty beer, but it goes great with pork. The Vinyl is ahead late in this game. Oh my, the glasses are at the same level, it's going into overtime. Still no winner and the glasses are almost empty. There it it goes the last sip of Aprihop. The winner on a questionable call is Aprihop. There's some controversy here,I really think Vinyl got jobbed. Aprihop moves on to the second round, but of all the losers Vinyl is by far the best, go get some now.

#3 Gordon Biersch Maibock vs Flying Dog Garde Dog

Back to the North-East bracket we have the #3 seed versus the #6 seed. The three seed is Gordon Biersch Maibock, out of San Jose California. Maibock is surprisingly hard to find, but is one of the best styles ever. Flying Dog's Garde Dog is a French farmhouse ale brewed right up the road from me in Frederick, we usually say Fredneck, Maryland. The palate cleanser for this match-up will be plain crackers. The Maibock pours out a nice redish amber, while the Garde Dog is a very cloudy pale straw. The bock has sweet caramel and mild hop bitterness on the nose. The dog has some bitterness and a sort of not unpleasant funkiness. A sip of Garde Dog brings total balance of hop, malt, sweetness, and bitterness. Now to enjoy my delicious plain cracker. Wow, that's an amazing cracker, orgasmic. The Maibock is loaded with caramel malt, a nice light hop throughout, and a sweet finish. Oh god this cracker is so memorable and amazing.

Now let's go to the head to head match-up. Must have more cracker. The Maibock has a nice body and strong flavors, but the Garde Dog has a nice body and balanced flavors. I'm really shocked by how well the Garde Dog holds up against a strong style like this Maibock. Wait, hold on, I can't wait to enjoy another one of these incredible crackers. Wow, these crackers are better than doing rails of blow off a strippers ass. This contest is really close. I can't help but think the Maibock should be pulling away, it's very good, but I keep reaching for the Garde Dog. Seriously, Maibock is a great love of mine, but the Garde Dog finds my hand again. Oh my god, Garde Dog drains a three at the buzzer. GARDE DOG WINS, GARDE DOG WINS. A stunning upset as the # 6 seed advances. A stellar match-up, but not as great as that plain cracker.

#2 Sierra Nevada Glissade Vs #7 Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Ale

The next match-up is between #2 in the Mid-East Region, Sierra Nevada's Glissade and the #7 seed, Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale. Glissade is a golden bock made by the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company out of Chico CA, which I believe is near Suckramento. The Orange Blossom is an ale made with honey, orange peel, and orange flower extract, made by a big brewery, Pyramid, for Buffalo bill's Brewery in Hayward CA. The palette cleanser for this one is blue corn chips with chili cheese dip. Now for a rant. I know I'm supposed to have a simple water cracker so the food will not interfere with the flavors of the beer. Screw that. That's not what people have with beer, they have food. So die snobs, die.

Anyway, Glissade pours a clear pale gold, while the Orange Blossom is that cloudy straw color. Glissade has a little bitter apple on the nose, the other stuff has an overwhelming, lingering orange. Wow, that is strong. Crunching sounds. The Sierra Nevada has some nice hop bitterness up front with a creamy light caramelized apple\pear, and significant hop on the finish. The blue corn chip really holds up well to spicy dips. A large orange flavor comes up front with the Bill's, but so does some hop to balance all that fruit sweetness. That fruit lingers on the finish for a while.The golden bock is a far worthier #2 seed than the Anchor Bock, but it's a good, not great bock. The blossom has interesting flavors, but it's just a novelty beer not worthy of your regular rotation.

Need to hit those chips again, yeah those are good. Now time to go head to head. I thought the Orange Blossom was really good at first, but it get's old quick. Beers should get better as you drink them, the Glissade does. There's some real hop to the bock, but it has sublime balance. This seeding was very accurate, there's 5 minutes left and the Glissade is playing it's walk-ons. Sayonara, Orange Blossom, you just got routed. Glissade moves on to meet Sam Adam's Irish Red in the second round.

#2 Anchor Bock vs #7 Saranac Irish Red

Switching to the North-east Bracket we go to our last Irish Red to go in the first round. It's the #2 seed Anchor Bock, a spring bock out of San Francisco, against the #7 seed Saranac Irish Red Ale out of Utica, New York. It's left coast versus east coast. The palate cleanser will be a roast chicken fresh out of the oven. Saranac pours out a light amber red while the Anchor is a not quite opaque dark brown. The Irish Red has a little hop on the nose that yields to a brown sugar scent,unusual. The bock starts yeasty with a bit of chocolate and caramel on the nose. The Saranac has that slight caramelized fruit which yields quickly to a decent hop bitterness. Pick at some chicken, wow the skin is crispy with a spicy herb rub, delicious. Anchor has made a bock with good malts and mocha flavors, but a surprising blandness, and barely detectable hops that appear only on the finish. This could be an upset.
Uummm, chicken. Alright time to put them head to head sip for sip. The Anchor lacks balance and the relatively weak hop in the Saranac overwhelms the bock. The bock fires back with a strong body and richness. I don't know if this #2 seed is going very far if it can't dominate this level of competition. Of the three Irish Reds in this tourney the Saranac is the weakest. More chicken. I look at the glasses and notice that the Anchor is quite a bit lower, you just can't ignore the evidence. The bock pulls out a squeaker, but how will it do in the next round against a tougher foe? You never know how the match-ups will end up.

#4 Harpoon Celtic Ale vs #5 Sam Adam's Irish Red

In honor of Saint Patrick's day we start the Spring beer tourney with a showdown between two Irish Spring beers. That might be worst beer idea I can think of, an "Irish Spring" beer. The #4 seed in the Mid-East region, Harpoon Celtic Ale, versus the #5 seed Sam Adam's Irish Red. Harpoon Celtic Ale is an Irish red Ale from Boston, they have a brewery in Vermont as well. For each of these match-ups I will be using a different palate cleanser after trying each beer. This time the palate cleanser is a baked ham.
Both of these pour out a nice redish amber, with the Sam being noticeably darker. Harpoon has a nice mild hop and caramelized malts. Sam has more hop, but a scant nose in general. The Harpoon has very little hop up front, but it appears after some nice caramel tones and plays on the finish. Sam Adam's comes out much the same, but with slightly more malts, and more hop bitterness on the finish. Have some ham. The Sam's clearer got more body and a bit more flavor. On the other hand, the harpoon is very smooth and balanced. Let's have some more ham, this is a close one. Next I'm going from one to the other without any ham in between. I like both these beers, but the flavors in the Sam Adam's overwhelms the Harpoon head to head. It was close for a while, but Sam Adam's Irish Red pulls out the victory in a slight upset.

March to my Madness: Spring beer Tourney

To celebrate both Spring and Tournament time, I'm going to set up a bracket featuring 16 of this years spring beers. Instead of my usual habit of pouring one out, analyzing it, and drinking it, before moving on to the next. I will actually pour two at once and let them go head to head, to determine the victor. This may indeed, lead to madness as I quickly try to finish both before they get warm. That would't be right. Any way, on to the brackets, followed by some notes about seeding.

NORTH REGION

#1 Sam Adam's Noble Pils
#2 Anchor Boch
#3 Gorden Bierch Maibock
#4 Smuttynose Hanami Ale
#5 Blue Moon Rising Moon
#6 Flying Dog Garde Dog
#7 Saranac Irish Red Ale
#8 Otter Creek Spring Ale

MID-EAST REGION

#1 Dogfish Head Aprihop
#2 Sierra Nevada Glissade
#3 Dominion Spring Buck
#4 Harpoon Celtic Ale
#5 Sam Adam's Irish Red
#6 Red Hook Copper Hook Sprig Ale
#7 Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Ale
#8 Magic Hat Vinyl

One of the top seeds goes perhaps undeservedly to Sam Adam's, because it's Sam Adam's. They are the Duke of this bracket. Aprihop get's the other #1, cause the guys at Dogfish Head have been putting out really good, though a bit pricey, stuff. Magic Hat gets an eight seed for naming their spring beer vinyl. Seriously, WTF. The other high seeds are older breweries with a legacy of quality, the rest sort of fell into place. I hesitated to include the Irish Reds, but they have become a seasonal, St. Patrick's Day, hence spring, beer. You will notice I put two of them head to head in the first round. Let the tournament begin.

RJ Rockers Bell Ringer Ale

RJ Rockers Brewing Company, out of Spartanburg, South Carolina, brings us Bell Ringer Ale. Ah, South Carolina, home of the Gamecock's and starter of the Civil War. How did that work out for you. Bell Ringer pours a nice cloudy amber. There's quite a bit of caramel on the nose as well as a little orange and yeast. There are strong bitter hop and caramel flavors up front along with the roasted malt flavor. This stuff has very bitter hops on the, maybe a bit to much. I have to say this beer warms you up quick, probably thanks to it's potent 8.5% A.B.V. I tried it with some very spicy asian food and that seem to tone down the bitterness so I can see this pairing well with strongly spiced foods. This is well crafted stuff with excellent ingredients, but they could have toned down the hops a little. Of course, you could always tone other stuff up. Recommended for those who crave the hop.

Bell's Two Hearted Ale

Two Hearted Ale is an India Pale Ale style beer made by the Bell's Brewing Company of Comstock Michigan. I have a bunch a bunch of friends from Michigan, which is a lovely state. As long as you stay away from the gaping maw of hell which is Detroit. Bell's pours a cloudy pale gold.I would not have thought this was I.P.A. by looking at it. This has an overwhelming bitter hope nose with a little spiced apple. Wow, it tastes not at all like I expected, in a good way. The hops are there, but they balanced out by the toasty malt, and this fruity caramelized apple\pear flavor. I found the hops to be strong on the finish, but pleasantly so. This is a truly unique tasting ale, unlike any other I.P.A. I've had. I strongly recommend that you seek this out. I can't help but think how much better this is than the Jackman's Ale I just had. This probably has more hop to it, but it has balance that makes them shine not overwhelm.

Left Hand Jackman's American Pale Ale

The Left Hand Brewing Company out of Longmont, Colorado, brings us Jackman's American Pale Ale. Jackman's pours a lovely golden amber color with a nice creamy head. There's a little bit of fruit on the nose along with hop bitterness. There is a lot of bitter hop up front which sort of mellows out to reveal a little lightly toasted malt and yeast. My first impression of this beer is that it's over-hopped. That isn't necessarily about quantity, but about balance. And this beer is a little unbalanced. But, hop crazy beers seem to be in fashion, so if you like those you would like this. Otherwise this is a straight up well crafted ale. O.K. but not exciting, this is really what a standard mass market beer should be but isn't. The name is a little suspect to me .Jack man, Than a left hand reference, weird.

Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout

Not just content to go black, I,m going double dark, with Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout. This is an ale with real dark chocolate added. This pours a lovely dark brown at least as dark as the Xingu, I held it up to the light as well. As you would expect, the nose is a flood of chocolate that lingered well after I put the glass down. This is a stunningly creamy and delicious beer. There is a massive bittersweet chocolate flavor that lingers on the palate a long time. Eventually, you get the a little of the hop and a mellow smoky flavor on the finish. The whole lengthy experience of taking a sip is a shifting kaleidoscope chocolate flavors. The body on this stuff is surprisingly weak for a beer of this depth. I also find that after the minutes long finish you get a bit of weird bitterness in the mouth, but this is easily cured by continuing to drink.
I absolutely cannot conceive of a food item this would go with, it's flavors are so strong. But, I'll try popping milk chocolate almond bar in my mouth and see if like goes with like. Nope, the stout totally overwhelmed it. You could just treat it as a dessert in of itself. This beer is extremely impressive, but obviously you have to like chocolate a little. I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate but I'm a big fan of this beer.
This ends, for now, the showdown between white beers and black beers. The Allagash was the best of the whites but it couldn't hold a candle to either of these black beers. So in the end the blacks totally dominate. Kind of like an NBA game or a boxing match.

Back to Black: Xingu Black Beer

This bottle has absolutely no info on it save it's from Brazil. It pours a really dark brown. Not Halle Berry dark, Djimon Hounsou dark. I held it up to a light bulb and could see no light through it. Xingu has a fresh malty nose with some cocoa and baking spice. This beer is so smooth and chocolatey going down. It's got those great dark roasted malt flavors and a rich full body. You also get a pleasant smokiness and that hint of baking spice. The finish has subtle hop and yeast to it, but in a good way. I remember having one of these many years ago and liking it, but not this much. Go and buy some right now. Well don't just sit there reading go buy some, I'll wait. O.K. Now try it. Isn't that great. Lastly, must make comments about Brazil, but I can only think of really tan girls with amazing asses. Oh, and nazis. PS, googled tan girls with amazing asses, surprisingly, nothing.

Southampton "Publick House" Double White

Not content just to check out some white beer, I went for double white. Specifically, Southampton bottling's ( bottling instead of brewery sounds like a red flag to me. ) " Publick House" Double White, from La Crosse, Wisconsin. This is a wheat beer with coriander, orange and lemon peel in the Belgian white style. This pours a pale cloudy yellow, but a bit clearer than the Allagash, hopefully a good sign. A lot of citrus on the nose, with some spice and a hint of caramel. Up front you get some citrus, a tiny bit of spice and yeast. Almost no hop initially then it overwhelms and dominates the finish. I guess it might be o.k. to have one of these, but I don't think I"d want more than that. Also, I fail to imagine any food this beer would pair with. I'm struggling to find a place in my heart for this beer, and I turned to the darkside when I read the back of the label. " Take one taste and you'll agree, Phil ( The Brewer) got it "white"". Wow, that's clever. Actually, it's not, it's fucking stupid and I hate you and your double white horse piss. I want to fly to Wisconsin and kick Phil in the nads.

I'm sorry you all had to hear that. A couple more things . First, the Wisconsonites review of this beer. Hey dehr, we love dis here bier, Cause it's nice and white dehr just like all us, don't ya know. Second, I will return to investigate these white beers further another time , but I think it's time to cleanse the palate. So I'm going back to black. Here's to some Bigger flavors and some Longer finishes.

Allagash White

Allagash White is from the Allagash brewing company of Portland Maine. It's a Belgian style wheat beer brewed with mysterious "spices" . You know, they should maybe list some of these spices. What if your allergic to to or just really hate, say coriander. It would be nice to get some heads up. The white pours out a very cloudy pale yellow that in the right light looks white-ish. Lots of hop up front than cardamom spice, followed by a little more hop bite, than orange and yeast on a lengthy finish. This stuff has an impressively complex flavor profile, and I do like the medium body and extensive mouth. While I admire the complexity and range of flavors that doesn't make something inherently good. The more I drink it, the more I lose some of the other flavors and am getting a strong bitter yeast flavor that I don't like. Oh, and it's 8 bucks for a 4-pack.

Now it's time for a rant. This stuff illustrates a major problem I have with wine and beer snobs. You will often hear a pricey wine as having hints of cherry, vanilla, blackberry jam, mineral, tar, leather, aluminum, spice, naked mole rat, and blogger. Sure that's really complex, but that doesn't mean it's any fucking good. I've had several wines that fancy wine mag's said were great, that I thought sucked. And bonus, you get to pay more for the crap. Here ends the rant, for now.

Back to the subject at hand. I see how some people could really like this beer, but I suspect more people pretend to like it, because it's expensive and complex. Next, I'm going to try a different white beer and see if it can measure up to the black ( see Sam Adam's Black Lager). One more thing, since this beer's from Maine I need to in some way make fun of the state and the people who live in it. But all I can think of is lobsters, because that's all there is.

Sam Adam's Black Lager

On to the last of our beers form the Sam Adam's Brewmaster's Collection The ominous Black Lager. Although, since we are talking about corporate America I'm sure it's non-threatening, like say, Will Smith. This pours out a deep dark espresso brown and has a nice smoky mocha, caramel nose. This beer has giant malts, much bigger than an Asian beer, and goes down smooth. There is an up front cocoa that gets sort of overwhelmed by strong coffee flavors that dominate a lingering finish.If you don't like coffee I'd stay away from this one. It's got a nice mouth feel, but it's week on the body. Looking at this stuff you expect a way fuller, richer beer. However, this beer really speaks to me, in fact, it's very well spoken. This is the best of the bunch from the Brewmaster's Collection and a good beer, but this is still not a great beer. Overall, this collection is worth a try, but won't be on my goto list. Next time, we're gonna review a white beer, and see if it's true that you can never go back.

Sam Adam's Irish Red

Irish Red is the second of the three beers in the Sam Adam's Brewmaster's Collection. This red ale pours out a lovely Dark amber red color, and when you hold it up to the light it shows very orange. Two colors in one, cool. The first sniff brings very little, but start pouring it down your gullet and the situation improves. This is a malt heads beer. Yes, there is a little bit of hoppy bite to balance it out, but it has that malted flavor to it. I,m just fine with that, but some thing is lacking here, almost like it's not quite finished. I could put down a few of these, and I think they would be good with complex spiced food. Yes it's better than the coastal wheat, but I hope the last entry can kick it up a notch.Oh, I tried to get an Irishman to give me his perspective on this , but they all either too drunk or engaged in some sort of fisticuffs.

Sam Adam's Coastal Wheat

This is the 1st of three beers we're going to look at from the Sam Adam's Brewmaster's Collection. The collection consists of wheat, red and black beers and with start with the lightest. Coastal wheat advertises itself as a wheat ale brewed with lemon. Coastal pours out a slightly hazy gold, and the nose is a very clean strong lemon. First sip has a harsh taste, maybe a hop\ yeast problem, which smooths out quickly ( via the lemon ) leaving a pleasant lingering finish. This stuff is quite alright but I'm not sold on these contrived Spring wheat beers. It doesn't say spring to me, try again. If this is the best beer in this collection I'll be very sad. However, if it's the worse, a day of drinking may be salvaged. Since Sam Adam's is from Boston, here's how I would review this if I was from there. This beah is wicked mediocha, and Derek Jeatah's a fahkin queeah.

Stella Artois

An entry from our waffle eating cousins across the pond. This pours out a clear gold with a head as white as an Irish girls ass. The nose is almost non-existent, but there is a hint of lemon. Surprisingly full body for such a light looking beer. The flavors are pleasant with some citrus and chamomile. The aftertaste is quite pleasant if somewhat brief. This beer would go well with food as it clashes with nothing. Like the Belgians when the German army rolls through on their way to France. And that's my problem with this beer. It's inoffensiveness offends me. I suppose that this is the Bud of Belgium, which of course means it's way better than Bud, but much worse than other Belgian beers. A proper Belgian monk could piss out a better beer than this. Go ahead and drink this fairly decent beer if you want, but you will offend me and support German aggression.

Dundee Wheat Beer

Next up is Dundee Wheat beer. This stuff usually comes in the Dundee craft pack. A 12 pack with 6 different beers, and a steal at 10 bucks. It pours a cloudy straw color, and has a honey and yeast nose. It seems like this should go down smooth, but there is a certain level of harshness to it. Oh, and what is this, a funky aftertaste? Yes it is. Not a fan so far. Alright, some German wheat beers are really made to put a little citrus into them. Let's dump some lemon in it. Strange, I can't taste the lemon at all, but the beer tastes less bad. Sorta removes the unpleasant aftertaste. Not a ringing endorsement. I guess I'll choke the rest of this down to extract the precious alcohol. Serve this crap very cold with lemon, or better yet not at all. Oh yeah, I have more of these in my fridge I,ll trade them for a box of nothing.

Anchor Merry Christmas 2009

The full title is Merry Christmas Happy New Year 2009. This is a dark brown ale with secret ingredients. It's the 35th year they've made an x-mas beer and they are all supposed to be different. This stuff pours a lovely chocolate brown color and those rich roasted malt scents are heavy on the nose. The flavor is delightful, rich in coffee and brown sugar flavors as well as hint of baking spices. Damn, this stuff is good. I got it for 6 bucks a six pack at a Seven-11 ( clearly an error on their part) well worth it. I will be hunting this down next year and keep a few from this year in the back of my wine fridge to try next year.

Dominion Spring Buck

The new spring offering from Dominion is Spring Buck. This is a blonde ale with honey, chamomile and orange peels, and a hefty 7.8% alcohol. It pours out a dense slightly cloudy cider color with alot of head. You can catch the chamomile, honey and yeast on the nose. The first sip is smooth and delicious, giving you some of the mouth feel and subtle character of mead. It has quite a strange and lingering aftertaste that I can't decide whether or not I like. I'm surprised how little one can taste the alcohol, but you can feel that delightful warmth of booze right quick. Uuummm, beer. I can definitely recommend this beer. It's really good, quite unique, and potent, but I can see how this blend of flavors might not appeal to some people. I still have a little bit of an issue with the lingering aftertaste. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.