Octoberfest: Brooklyn

      Ah, October,  beautiful time of year, at least around these parts.  One of the finer things of fall is delicious Octoberfest, one of the best beers of the year.  I already mentioned the very good Prosit, Imperial Octoberfest, but now it's time to hit the rest.  First up, is Brooklyn Oktoberfest, with a K, from the Brooklyn Brewery in ahhh Brooklyn.  Boy the label is boring, kind of retro, still sucks. It pours a nice dark amber and has a really nice rich sweet caramel and light mocha nose.  The first sip is good with a nice hop that energizes the mouth.  The caramel and mocha are nice.  This has nice balance, but the flavors aren't as good as the intoxicating nose.  This is a good Octoberfest with the classic flavor profile.  I could of course drink a ton of these, but I'm hoping for better.

Rare Vos Amber Ale

      Rare Vos is from the Ommegang Brewery which specializes in Belgian Style beers.  Ommegang is also out of Cooperstown NY home of the baseball hall of fame.  Rare pours out a cloudy amber and has a very complex nose of citrus, spice, yeast, melon and herb.  Unfortunately complex, and expensive, does not mean good  It tastes like a Belgian white with a bit of mead in it.  But there is an overwhelming coriander flavor that's just too much.  I can see how this is interesting because you can detect some of the flavors you get on the nose.  But, this does not work for me at all, and I won't be having another.

Tusker Lager

      Another beer in my International beers series,  Tusker is a Kenyan Lager in a Stylish retro bottle.  It's like you found a beer in a time capsule.  Tusker pours out a clear gold and has a strong sweet caramel nose.  The first sip strikes me as pretty fizzy.  There's basic caramels here and some uninspiring hop.  The body seems kind of weak as well.  It does go down very easy and I can see how nice this would be cold on a hot day.  But,  I'm not that impressed.  The more I get into it I start to find a bit more flavor and enjoyment.  Still, this is a nice little lager if you like them weak, but I don't, so keep it.  Go get some Full Sail Session Lager instead.

Heavy Seas Mutiny Fleet: Letter of Marque

      Letter of Marque is part of Heavy Seas strong Mutiny Fleet line of beers.  By strong they mean high alcohol and high flavor.  I loved their Imperial Octoberfest, which was fest on steroids. But, this is a rye porter so let's taste it shall we.  This is a nice dark brown and has a strong hop nose, with mocha, caramel and spice.  Up front their is a massive flood of bitter hop.  Maybe there are some other flavors a bit of cara...wait.  Nope, this hop is totally ruining this beer.  It's so strong it's burning my mouth.  I can't believe anyone would ruin all this alcohol this way. They should be ashamed.  Heavy Seas has really let me down.  Now I'm going to have to choke down this garbage to extract the precious alcohol.  Do not buy this beer.