#207 Kennybunkport - Pumpkin Ale

It is spring time, not really the ideal season for a pumpkin ale. This beer was on sale at Trade Joe's probably because the season has passed, but I am always looking for cheap unique beers.

This beer has a bubblegum and pumpkin pie spice aroma. The color is straw and very clear. The head is little to none, but there are tons of bubbles flowing up from the bottom of the glass.

The taste starts with a sweet caramel taste, similar to cola or an over sweet fruit beer. There is a strong spice profile with lots of clove and allspice flavors similar to those found in a pumpkin pie. Some fruit flavor is taste that is closer to grape than pumpkin. Hops are not really present in the beer except maybe in a slight bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin. The finish is spicy and fruity.

This Pumpkin Ale is not overwhelmed with a fake pumpkin taste that is found in some pumpkin beers. I do not like this beer, but I appreciate that it does not suffer from the short comings of other pumpkin beers.

#206 Avery - The Reverend

This beer is called a Quadruple, which is not a BJCP recognized style but falls into the Belgium Specialty or Belgium Strong category. In 2003 Avery The Reverend won a gold metal in the Belgium/Abby Strong category.

This beer has a strong Belgium aroma with clove and fruit flavors mixed with some yeast flavors. The color is a deep clear burgundy. The head is thin, not pour very thick and quickly dissolving to almost none.

The flavor is malty and nutty, with biscuit and grain notes. The Belgium spice and cloves are the most dominate flavors, to the point of being sharp and biting. There is also a noticeable alcohol taste to the 10% beer. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth. The finish spicy, and bitter with the spice flavor lingering long after the beer is gone.

This is a good beer, with lots of strong Belgium flavors. This is by no means a daily drinking beer, but it is still a fine beer.

#205 Homebrew - Camping Pale Ale

Write up of my own homebrew coming soon

#204 Budweiser - Clamato

This write-up comming soon

#203 Castle Brewery - Samichlaus Helles

Samichlaus is Santa Clause in Swiss German. This is a traditional seasonal beer, at 14% it is a good winter warmer.

The aroma of this beer has a hint of fruit and malt. The color is an orangish amber, and very clear. The head on this beer is non-existent, just like the other Samishlaus.

The taste of this beer mildly fruity with some malt sweetness. The strongest attribute to the taste of this beer is a strong alcohol taste and warmth. There is no clear hop flavor, the fruit taste is likely from the yeast not the hops. The mouthfeel is thin with no carbonation. The finish is sweet, with the prevalent alcohol taste.

I've always liked a beer that requires sipping and at this proof sipping is a good idea. I wish the alcohol was smoother or backed up with some malt of hop flavors.

#202 Three Floyds - Pride & Joy Mild Ale

Three Floyds Brewery is located in Munster Indiana near Chicago. They are famous for making Dark Lord, a limited release beer only sold at their store and quickly selling out. Dark Lord was rated as number two beer in Beer Advocate's top 100 beers . If anyone is interested in sending me some Dark Lord I would happily accept it and blog the beer.

There are a lot of hops in the aroma of this beer. The hops have a fruity citrus American hop smell. This beer has a golden amber color with a touch of haze. The head is thick with large bubbles sticking to the side of the glass, but not lasting very long.

This beer has a lot of hops in the taste, with floral, citrus, fruity notes. With such a dominate hop flavor there is surprisingly little bitterness. Besides the hop flavors the malt comes through with some biscuit and caramel flavors, giving the beer a well balanced taste. The mouthfeel is medium full and smooth. The finish is clean with some lingering floral hop flavors.

This is a great beer. Easy to drink with lots of good flavors. I could enjoy a beer like this everyday.

#201 Mac Queen's (Castle Brewery) - Nessie Original Red Ale

Another Austrian beer from Castle Brewery. I have trouble finding much info about the brewery or beer because it's from Austria.

The aroma of this beer is reminiscent of a lager with a metallic chalky smell. The color is more straw or amber and not red. The head is mild starting full and slowly fizzing to a small amount keeping the beer covered.

The taste is sweet, with honey like flavors. The malt also has a grainy taste added with the honey flavor. There is little hop flavor, just a hint of bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium full adding thickness to the honey taste. The finish is sweet.

There is nothing wrong with this beer, just nothing special either. It's sweeter than most beers, but the honey taste makes the sweetness seem appropriate. The honey taste is achieved using a honey malt and not real honey, all the sugar in honey ferments away leaving very little flavor.

#200 Castle Brewery - Samichlaus

This is the worlds strongest lager at 14%, and an over all strong beer. The label calls this a malt liquor because of the high alcohol content. The Beer Hunter Michael Jackson (not the pop star) goes into much more depth about the high alcohol content of this beer on beerhunter.com.

This beer has an old beer oxidized raisin smell, with a hint of fruit and grain. The color is light brown with red highlights and very clear. There is no head on this beer.

This beer starts sweet with oxidized raisins and syrup flavors. There is a little grainy taste, but it is slight. There is no hop flavor which is not surprising for a long aged beer. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth adding to the syrup tastes. The finish is raisin and sweet, with some alcohol burning from the 14% alcohol.

This is a shocking lager, it tastes like an old ale not a lager. I am not getting any lager tastes from this lager. The burning is a little annoying, but not surprising from a 14% beer. This beer is worth a try for anyone looking for a unique beer and can find this.

#199 BBC - Home wrecker Double IPA

BBC or Bluegrass Brewing Company is a microbrewery in Louisville Ky. I recently picked up a good selection of their beer. The label on this beer shows a tornado wrecking the house, Louisville was hit hard by a huge tornado outbreak in April 3rd 1974.

This beer a lot of floral grass hop aroma with a little caramel malt smell. The color is a hazy amber. The head is very thick with large bubbles and good retention, the beer is hard to pour into the glass the head is so thick.

There are a lot of hops in this beer, with a grass, floral taste, and a little fruit taste. The beer has a strong malt sweetness and grain taste balancing well against the hop taste. The mouthfeel is full and sticky much like the head. The finish is bitter but it is appropriate against the hop flavor and malt sweetness.

This is a really good beer. Some Double IPA are too hoppy with not enough malt, but this one is well balanced and tasty.

#198 BBC - Altbier

This beer has a metallic hops aroma. This beer has a crystal clear amber orange color. The head is thick with big bubbles and good retention.

This beer has a traditional German lager taste. The malt gives the beer a sweet caramel taste and some biscuit taste. The hops are giving the beer a strong bitter chalky taste with no other hop flavors. This beer has a nice medium body. The finish is bitter and metallic, but short lived.

I am never a fan of German style beers and this is no exception. I think it is a good example of the style but that doesn't make it a beer I want to drink.

#197 Founders - Red Rye

This is the first founders beer I have written about. I've heard a lot of good things about this brewery and have been looking forward to trying some.

This beer has a slight roasty aroma with a hint of hops and dirt. The color is a dark reddish brown with some sediment floating. The head is thick with large bubbles and some retention.

This beer has sharp bitter flavor. The taste is dry with some malty biscuit flavors. The hops have lots of bitterness with only a little floral flavor. The mouthfeel medium and smooth as normal for a rye beer. The finish is heavily bitter leaving the back of the mouth watering.

I am not a big fan of this beer. I think this beer is too bitter with not much else flavors. I normally like rye beers but this one I don't like.

#196 Bell's - Best Brown Ale

This beer has a hoppy earthy aroma. There is also some malty caramel smell. The color is a mild brown with some red highlights and a little haze. The head is thick with a light brown color but not very good retention.

This beer has a strong malt taste with a grainy biscuity notes. The malt has some caramel flavors, but it is not sweet. There is some floral hop flavors and hop bitterness. The mouth feel thin. The finish is dry with a some bitterness.

If you like a malty beer then this is a good beer for you. I would prefer a little more sweetness and hops, but overall this is a fine beer.

#195 ODell - Imperial Stout

The prefix Imperial is thrown on beers frequently. Russian Imperial Stout is the only BJCP recognized imperial style, but there are Imperial IPAs and Imperial Porters available. The Russian Imperial Stout was named because the beer had more alcohol so it could make the trip to Russia to be giving to the Imperial family.

This imperial stout has a lot of oxidized raisin aroma mixed with some earthy and roasted smells. The color is black and opaque. The head is thick and brown with long lasting retention.

The taste is very malty and roasty. The malt flavors are dark roast malt and coffee with some tannins just tons of dark malt taste. There is a hint of hop floral flavors and hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is smooth and medium bodied. The finish is dry and roasty with a tannin bitterness.

There is just too much dark malt in this beer. I was excited for an imperial stout, but I think it is too much. This reminds me of the Guinness extra stout, better than the Guinness but both with too much malt. And too dry a finish.

#194 Rogue - Morimoto Soba Ale

Rogue makes this beer as part of their signature series with (Iron) Chef Masaharu Morimoto. This beer is made using soba commonly known as buckwheat. Soba is a member of the rhubarb family a fruit not a grain. Soba is a common ingredient in traditional Japanese cuisine.

The aroma is slightly hoppy with hint of light malt. The beer has a honey color, with sediment suspended in the beer. The head is thick and white with good retention.

The taste of this beer starts tangy and a little sweet. There is a clear hop bitterness to the beer, and a clear malt sweetness. Then there is a fruit flavor that can not be clearly defined. The mouthfeel is thin, maybe too thin. The finish is lightly bitter with a fruit taste.

I like this beer, but it is hard to describe the taste. I am not familiar with soba fruit but I think I like it. I highly recommend this beer to anyone liking a sweeter beer.

#192 Guinness - Extra Stout

Instead of a green beer I have another Irish beer. This is another offering from St. James Gate Brewery under the Guinness name.

The aroma of this beer is malty with a bit of earthy dirt smell. The color is black and opaque with no light getting through. The head is very thick with big bubbles, and good retention.

This beer does not taste anything like Guinness. There is a lot of dry bitterness to the beer. The bitterness lightens in the back of the mouth to give a fruity flavor, only to be returned with a bitter finish. The is also a roasted burnt malt taste, this beer taste like chewing dry on dark malt barley. The mouthfeel is medium to think nothing like a normal Guinness. The finish is dry and bitter, with a little floral aroma.

Sometimes on a brewery tour dry barley is offered to be sampled and chewed on, this beer taste like a dark barley. It is drinkable but I would not want to drink it again.

#192 O'Doul's - Premium

O'Doul's is a non-alcoholic beer from Anheuser Busch. For the most part non-alcoholic beer is normal beer heated to 180 degrees fahrenheit to evaporate the alcohol out of the beer. The heating has a tendency to lose a lot of hop flavors.

This beer has a metallic aroma with a hint of hops. The color is straw and very clear with only a few bubbles coming from the bottom. The head starts thick, but quickly fizzes away to only just covering the top of the glass.

This beer is bitter and taste like a lager. There is a bit of malt sweetness almost honey. The only sign of hops it a bitter taste, strong enough to make my mouth water. There is also a metallic slightly skunky taste, common is beer from a green glass. The mouthfeel is water thin with plenty of carbonation. The finish is bitter, but it passes quick enough.

This tastes like a cheap lager. The lack of alcohol taste is noticeable, but it is not what is hurting this beer overall. I think this could be passed off as a cheap beer without any trouble.

#191 Guinness - Draught

To celebrate St. Patrick's day parade I am drink a Guinness. This is about as exotic as beer comes for many people. Guinness cans have a widget inside them which is a small ball filled with Guinness under higher pressure than the rest of the can, when the can is opened this high pressure Guinness is releases and foams up the rest of the beer.

This beer has a smooth creamy roasted coffee aroma. The color is coal black only allow red highlights to be seen when held to light. When poured the glass is filled with light brown bubbles dancing to the top of the glass as seen in this you tube video (Thanks Scudworth for the video). The head sits at the top of the glass a half inch high with prefect retention not dissolving with time or while drinking.

The taste is bitter with some dark malt flavors. The malt gives the beer a roasty biscuit and coffee flavor. There is a slight hop floral taste with a huge amount of bitterness. The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy, giving this the signature Guinness mouthfeel. The finish is dry and bitter, but not a sharp bitterness felt in the back of the mouth.

This is a fine beer, with lots of good characteristics. The smooth mouthfeel is great along with the head of foam that lasts the whole beer.

#190 Arcadia Ales - Cereal Killer Barleywine

The name Cereal Killer is a joke based on the fact that the grain used to make this beer are traditionally called Cereal grains. This being a Barleywine a lot more grains were used than the normal beer.

There is almost no aroma to this beer, a little earthy smell and some ethyl alcohol smell but all very light. The color is a dark brown with some red highlights. The head is light brown and thick with good lasting retention.

The taste is very malt heavy with biscuit and grain flavors accented by vanilla and wood notes. Unsurprisingly there is some alcohol warmth from this 9% beer. There is a touch of hop flavors to add some contrast to the malt, adding a floral taste. The mouthfeel is full and smooth, with plenty of carbonation. The finish is biscuity and lightly bitter.

This is a great beer good all around flavor, with a full mouthfeel that is easy to drink. I have not had a Barleywine in a while and I am happy for this change.

#189 Michelob - Pale Ale

This is my last beer from the Mchelob winter pack, it is a little beyond 110s since the born on date. I've kept the beer cold, I don't think it's turned to a toad in the extra few days.

There is a light hop smell to this beer, but a lot less aroma than expected from a dry hopped beer. The color is straw with a light red hue, not dark enough to be a red, and not really yellow either. The head is thick with some retention, given some time it fizzes away but it last for a while. There are lots of small bubbles coming up from the bottom of that glass.

The taste is sweet with a bit of hop flavors. The hops have a floral taste with a moderate bitterness. The malt is sweet, but not very pronounced. The mouthfeel is thin. The finish is lightly bitter with some sweetness remaining.

This is a fine beer, it has some taste and is easy to drink. I would like more hop taste to go with the bitterness, but I find myself want this a lot. I don't think this beer is currently planned for a normal distribution which is ashame.

#188 Schlafly - ESB

I got this beer from the Schlafly Bottleworks. An ESB or Extra Special Bitter is a traditional English style beer that sometimes compared to IPAs.

This beer has hops and malt aroma, but not a very strong aroma, might be too cold. The color is a reddish amber with a light haze. There is pretty much no head on this beer, could be because of the bartender pour. The beer did have plenty of bubbles floating up from the bottom.

This beer has a sharp hop bitter taste making the mouth water. The hops have a floral taste, likely from English hops. There is some honey flavored sweetness to the beer giving some balance to the hops. The mouthfeel is slightly full. Unsurprisingly the finish is bitter.

I am not a huge ESB fan and this beer is not changing my feelings. There is nothing wrong with this beer I just want more hop flavor from all the bitterness.

#187 Aspall - English Draft Cider (Dry)

Its been a long time since I've reviewed a cider. This cider is label as a draft cider, but it cannot be draft since it came in a bottle not of draft. I've seen other ciders label as draft ciders and I think it might mean that it is a sparking (carbonated) cider instead of being still (non-carbonated).

The cider smells like tart apples with a light yeast aroma. The color is a very pale yellow, almost clear. There is not head to the cider because it is not beer, but there are lots of bubbles coming up from the bottom of the glass.

The taste starts with a light sweetness and red apple flavor. The cider quickly drys out leaving a a tart taste that causes the back of the mouth to water. There is an almost wine tartness to this cider. The mouthfeel is light and effervescent with bubbles filling the mouth. The finish is dry with a apple taste lingering lightly.

This is a very tasty cider. I am so used to Woodchuck's simple apple flavor I really enjoy the added complexity of this cider.

#186 Ommegang - Three Philosophers

Ommegang is a well known Belgian style brewery even though they are in Cooperstown NY. I've heard a lot about this beer and have been looking forward to it. This is made in the the traditional Belgium style with Kriek cherry lambic blended in.

This beer has the aroma of raisins and alcohol with only a hint of earthiness. The color is a dark brown and hazy with a red tint showing up when held to the light. The head is very active with lots of large bubbles filling the glass, but with little retention to fizz away after a short time.

The taste rich and full. There is a bit of Belgian clove spice, and some raisin, dark fruit oxidization flavor. The taste continues with some malty caramel sweetness and with a slight toast flavor. The flavor also has a touch of harsh sour flavors. The mouthfeel is medium to full, with some yeast sediment. The finish is fruity with some sourness.

This is a fine Belgian beer. I would like a little less harshness, but I am not surprised since the beer is blended with Kriek. I always enjoy a beer with so many flavors.

#185 Bridgeport - IPA

Bridgeport brewery is Oregon's oldest craft brewery opening in 1984. They offer a pretty standard selection of beers. This IPA seems to be there flagship beer.

The beer has a strong citrus and pineapple aroma, the smell was present while pouring the beer. The color is a cloudy yellow or gold. The head is very thick with good retention.

The taste is hoppy with citrus flavors. The bitterness is so strong it causes some puckering and mouthwatering. There is very little malt flavor, just a hint of sweetness. The mouthfeel is thin, almost watery. The finish is bitter with the same mouthwatering.

This is quite a bitter beer. This beer could really benefit from some more malt to balance the hops and add some mouthfeel. Still a fine beer and I am happy to drink.

#184 Fuller - 1845

Fuller 1845 was made to celebrate the companies 50th anniversary. The beer was so popular it continued as regular distribution beer.

This beer has a rich smell, with caramel malt flavors and light hop aroma. The color is an orangish amber, with a light hazy. The head is very thick and sticking to the side of the glass, a sign of a hoppy beer.

The taste is full of malt and hops. Starting with a sweet malty caramel taste, and continuing to a hoppy grassy flavor. The mouthfeel smooth and on the heavy side with plenty of carbonation. The finish is a little bitter, causing some puckering.

This is overall a very taste beer. Great balance of flavors, nice smooth mouthfeel. Just a good beer.

#183 Breckenridge - Avalanche Amber Ale

Another beer from Breckenridge Brewery. I think the brewery is trying to grow more in this part of the country, in the last 6 months the number of beers they have on the shelves has really grown.

Honey is the main aroma to the beer with some malt smell. The color is amber to orange and very clear. The head is almost non-existent it's so thin.

The taste overall taste is bitter. There is a hint of malt in the taste and some honey, not not very strong flavors. The bitter flavor is not accompanied by any strong hop flavors. The mouthfeel is thin. The finish is pretty clean, not near as bitter as the taste.

I am unimpressed with this beer. I have like other beer from Breckenridge, and I have liked other amber ales, but this one is not much of either. This is a drinkable beer, just nothing exciting.

#182 Breckenridge - Vanilla Porter

Another with added flavors. Being the fourth beer in a row and I starting to think the beer purity law are too strict and beer should be made with more variety.

The smell of this beer is earthy with a light flower perfume aroma (maybe an association from vanilla scented perfume). The color is a dark brown that show red highlights when held to light. The head is a light brown and thin.

This beer has a rich flavor, it starts with a malt sweetness. The vanilla flavor tastes more like a vanilla soda than a vanilla flavored desert. There is a definite earthy, plant like taste to the beer. There is a little roasty flavor that is normally found in a porter, but the vanilla is most prevalent. The mouthfeel is thin, with some carbonation. The finish leaves a light vanilla taste lingering.

This is a really taste beer. It might be a little close to a vanilla soda than a normally porter, but that is not taking away from the beer.

#181 Williams Bros. Brewing - Grozet Gooseberry & Wheat Ale

Another unique beer from Williams Bros. Brewery. These Williams Bros. beers are from a "Historical Ales" selection, all brewed with ingredients not normally used today.

This beer has a clear wheat beer aroma with a hint of some fruit. The color is a light straw and very clear. The head is thin, poured thin and barely covers the top of the beer after it was set of a bit.

This beer has a fruity taste that can be assumed to be gooseberry flavor. It is a pleasant berry taste that is not over powering. The beer also has some light hop flavor, giving a little bitterness to beer. The mouthfeel is thin, and carbonated. The finish is a little bitter and full of the gooseberry taste.

This is another tasty beer. I am enjoying these William's Bros. Brewery beers with there unique fruit and herb additions. Normally beers with fruit added are too heavy on the fruit taste and not enough beer, these beers are well balanced.

#180 Williams Bros. Brewing - Edulum Elderberry Black Ale

This beer is from the same company as the Pine and Spruce beer yesterday. I didn't realize how unique these beers where when I picked them out, I was just looking for any beer I hadn't drank yet. This is a good example of the variety available in beer.

This beer has a slight dark malt roasty smell along with a earth dirt aroma. The color is pretty much pitch black, even when help to the light this beer can't be seen through. The foam pours very thick and leaves the beer covered in foam after to fizzes away.

The taste is malty with a hint of something else. The malt flavor is light with sweet and roasty flavors. This beer also has a tart fruit taste that must be the elderberry. The supposed elderberry and the malt are well balanced. The mouthfeel is medium with some sediment floating around, not visible because of the dark color but noticed in the mouthfeel. The finish has the nice tart elderberry taste.

This is a tasty beer. I like the Elderberry taste, it is a good addition to the malt flavors. I could happily drink more of these.

#179 William Bros. Brewing - Alba Scots pine ale

This is a Gruit beer, one using herbs to add bitterness instead of hops. This beer uses spruce and pine sprigs, both commonly found trees in Scotland. There is talk that this style of beer might become more popular with the current hop shortage, but I am skeptical.

The aroma is grassy and reminiscent of hops (spruce and pine sprigs are used instead of hops) with some sweet malt smells. The color is amber with some orange highlights. The foam starts thick and keeps the beer covered. Perhaps pine has good head characteristics like hops.

The taste is on the sweet side with some spicy flavors. The spice is different, it isn't like hops and it isn't like Belgian clove spice. There is an evergreen taste, but it is slight enough to avoid over powering the beer. The mouthfeel is medium with a smooth feel. The finish has a pine taste taste that gets old after a few sips.

As a hop substitute I think spruce and pine do a fine job. I rather have hops in my beer, but this is still an enjoyable beer. From drinking just this one beer I am getting tired of the pine taste I think drinking a few might get over whelming. If I didn't know about the pine substitution I would just think the beer used a small amount of an odd hop variety.