BEER REVIEW TIME!  Today we will be discussing Sweetwater Brewing Company’s Festive Ale.  I wrote this review on 15 Dec 2012… apologies for the late posting.

I picked up this sixer of beer the first day I got into town to visit my family for Christmas in Birmingham, AL this year. I’m always excited to get as much local or local-esque beer as I can wherever I travel, and particulary when I travel to Birmingham because… well, let’s be honest. Alabama isn’t exactly known for its progressive politics, and if I can’t get my hands on good politics in this state, I’d like to at least get my hands on some good beer.

The six pack tells me that the Festive Ale is brewed only one day a year, and that it combines a “touch of spice with a s#/@!load sleigh load of malts and hops” to keep you warm and toasted all night long.  SOLD!  Love ltd edition beer, love spices.

Unfortunately, I was rather let down with all build up…

• Appearance:  Nice, dark brown.  Glimmer of medium caramel in bottom of glass when held to the light. Small head dissipates quickly after pouring.  (*cough*) 4/5.
• Smell:  Not gonna lie, this has a strange smell.  Heavy on the molasses, caramel, and malts.  There is something off about the smell and I can’t figure out what it is. I don’t pick up the scent of any spices, and the label doesn’t list which spices were used in the brew to begin with so I don’t actually know what I”m even searching for. 3/5.
• Taste:Taste is off, too. Honestly, this tastes like a homebrew that got some unwanted wild yeast in it and then kind of soured. I don’t taste any spice.  Picking up the heavy malts/molasses in the taste as I did in the smell. Lighter, less robuts taste than I might expect from a winter ale.  Oddly, hints of smokiness. 2/5
• Mouthfeel:Eh.  Mouthfeel is weak. Needs more carbonation. 3/5
• Drinkability:I’m finishing this pint of beer because I don’t pour beer down the drain.  I wouldn’t buy this again. 2/5

Overall this was uninspiring.  DAMMIT, ATLANTA.  I expected more from you.  I have yet to try your 420 beer, though.  Maybe you can make this up to me…

-Mary Mac

BEER REVIEW TIME!!  Today we will be discussing Straight to Ale’s Monkeynaut IPA.  I reviewed this beer when I took a trip home to Birmingham, AL, for this most recent holiday season.  I wrote this review on 14 Dec 12.

Beer Name:  Monkeynaut
Style: IPA
Brewery: Straight to Ale Brewing, Huntsville, AL
ABV: 7.5%

A little background.  Straight to Ale was established in 2009.  They regularly brew and serve Monkeynaut IPA, Brother Joseph Dubbel, and Lily Flagg Milk Stout.  I have been foloowing Straight to Ale brewing for over a year now on facebook, biding my time and waiting patiently for an opportunity to visit their brewpub in Huntsville, AL, since their website states that they are a draft-only brewery, available at local bars and restaurants.”  Imagine my surprise tonight at Publix when I found this lovely six pack of Monkeynaut IPA… in cans, no less!  I picked up the pack from the refrigerated section ASAP and barely even batted an eye at the fact that it was one of my least favorite styles (I would have much preferred it to be full of Lilly Flagg Milk Stout, but beggars can’t be choosers and after having this beer, I’d choose it any day anyway!).

• Appearance:  Beautiful, medium caramel color.  Crisp and clear.  Darker than a “typical” IPA.  Head retention impressive. Lacing impressive!  Thick suds stick to sides of pint glass. 4/5
• Smell:Definitely get that bitter hops smell, but it is very nicely balanced with a welcome sweetness.  Fruity sweetness, in fact. Nice and citrusy smelling. 4/5
• Taste:That’s a damn good IPA. Nicely balanced. Grapefruit and citrus tones coming through and something else even a little sweeter… can’t put my finger on what. But the balance between the citrusy hops and malty sweetness is welcome.  I typically shy away from IPAs because the balance is so off.  The beer has a strange aftertaste.. like, almost chalky.  Kind of strange but not something I’m overly concerned about, especially considering that I am (what!) legitimately enjoying this IPA. 5/5
• Mouthfeel:Full bodied and easy on the tongue.  Great carbonation. 5/5
• Drinkability:I am halfway through this beer and have a nice buzz.  It is a 7.5% for Chrissake! This is possibly the only IPA I’ve ever had that I a). not only want to finish entirely, but b). also would like to drink another one. Despite being a 7.5%, this alcohol is not featured prominently and you think you’re drinking a “light” beer when in fact you are just getting drunk.  Is that a good or a bad thing?  YOU DECIDE.  I give it a 5/5 in terms of drinkability. 5/5

I sipped this beer in my parent’s kitchen. Dad drank one with me and mom had a sip of ours.  Their contributions follow:

MOM’S CONTRIBUTION: 
*sniffs*
*wrinkles nose*
*sips*
*puckers lips*

Ew.  I don’t like this.

*examines can*

Straight to Ale? What does that mean?

*met with silence and sideways glances from me and Dad*


DAD’S CONTRIBUTION:
Dad said that this is “what an IPA should be” and then proceeded to down half of the can in about two gulps.

-Mary Mac

BEER REVIEW TIME!  Today we will discuss Chatoe Rogue’s First Growth Pumpkin Patch Ale.

I received a very thoughtful winter solstice gift a few days ago, which included three bottles of some really hard-to-find or limited edition beers.  One of them was Chatoe Rogue’s First Growth Pumpkin Patch Ale. I eyed it longingly for a few days before I finally decided to pop it open on Sunday night and share it with my roomies.  What a treat it was!

Appearance: Nice caramel color with beautiful orange undertones. The beer is a pleasure to look at. Crisp and clear and the color of a perfectly baked pumpkin pie. The brew does not have very much head retention.  I give the appearance a 4/5 but only because I prefer nice fluffy heads on my ales.  The color is exquisite.

Smell:  Mmm.  This beer smells like a freshly roasted pumpkin.  Nice nutmeg and clove complements.  5/5… this is what a pumpkin beer should smell like.

Taste: Holy. Shit.  This beer rivals Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin, which has long held the place of Number One Crush in my heart when it comes to pumpkin beers. I have always loved Smashed Pumpkin because Shipyard uses actual pumpkins in their beer, not extract.  Rogue has now presented me with the most excellent of rivals to Shipyard’s ale. If you take a look at the label I posted in the picture, you will see that their beer tastes like an actual pumpkin because… well, they used pumpkins that were picked 77 miles away on their GYO farm, driven immediately to their brewery, roasted, and tossed into their brew kettle. Remarkably, pleasingly, and dare I say surprisingly, this beer tastes the same way it smells!  So many pumpkin beers are a let down because they smell like pumpkin and only taste like pumpkin pie spice. I’ve found it difficult to discover pumpkin beers that deliver the same taste as they exhibit in the smell.

The roasted pumpkin flavour is balanced nicely with that nutmeg and clove taste that I smelled coming through before I tasted it. And I even get a nice and buttery taste on my tongue to complement the pumpkin and spices.  What I’m saying is that this tastes like a pie.  What a treat.

The hops are balanced precisely as they should be. Just, just, just enough to knock off the too-sweet edge that may have otherwise occurred.  Beer Advocate told me that they only used one type of hops flower: Rogue Micro Hopyard Rebel Hops.  So, kudos on that, too, Rogue!  Lovely hops taste and very well balanced.

5/5 on the taste.  Because this is easily the most well-balanced, freshest, and thoughtful pumpkin beer I’ve ever had.

Mouthfeel:  Great mouthfeel.  I would be happy with a little more carbonation, as I mentioned in the Appearance section.  On the other hand, some people like that silkier, smoother mouthfeel!  I give it a 4/5.

Overall Drinkability:  The abv is like 5.6% I think. I don’t taste any etoh. I got nothing more than a really pleasant buzz off the serving I had.  Low abv, no harsh etoh taste or fumes, and tastes like a pumpkin pie reincarnated into delicious beery form means a 5/5 on this brew’s drinkability.

Well done, well done, Rogue. 

bottled the not-so-pumpkin ale last night.

Brewing Company: Cigar City Brewing; Tampa, Florida
Name: Cubano Espresso
Style: American Brown Ale
ABV: 5.5%
Serving type: draught 
Price: $5

Aroma: Straight up smells like chocolate espresso.

Appearance: Nice head, slight retention. Dark, clear brown. Some light comes through the bottom.

Taste: Nice, sweet taste, good balance. Nice feeling on the lips, but not as foamy as I’d like. Not as thick or milky as I’d like either. Medium carbonation - goes down a little bubbly, but in a nice way.

Finish: Tingles in the throat. Beer-ish coffee aftertaste, slightly bitter. Filling. Feeling a buzz.

The smell alone is worth getting a glass.

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended.

Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan nut brown ale, Mississippi

Brewer: BrewDog Brewery, Scotland
Beer Name: Dogma
Style: Ale
ABV: 7.8%

A picture of this beer and its bottle are coming soon.  As of now, they are on a memory card floating around somewhere in Sweden.

I bought this beer months ago from the Whole Foods Market in South Tampa, but I bought the 660 mL bottle, so it’s huge, which is why it took me so long to drink (I needed to find a drinking buddy).  I bought it because it’s brewed in Scotland (“If it’s not Scottish, it’s crrrrap!”), and because the bottle said it was brewed with Scottish heather honey (amazing), kola nut, poppy seed, and guarana (I don’t even know what that is).

Anyway, I finally got around to popping it open last week. The review I wrote was short, and scribbled on a piece of scrap paper, because I started drinking it just before I sat down to eat a delicious dinner!  Which, of course, was taking priority over writing a proper review of this beer.

“Nice head, 1/2 inch or more. Cloudy, I don’t see it settling; I can’t see through the glass by any means.  Thank you, bottle-conditioning!

The smell reminds me of Christmas; the smell could pass for a winter seasonal brew, with its deep notes of bread pudding and sweet raisins.

Spectacular mouthfeel! So smooth.  Yes, I do taste the honey, but this has way more hops in the aftertaste that I expected — maybe even slightly too bitter for my palette. I know it says ale but for some reason I was expecting a wheat. But really, this is a super yummy beer.  Not too sweet, not too bitter. I’d drink this with a nice chicken dish or at a summer barbeque.”

It was a good beer with an interesting taste, but I don’t think I’ll buy it again.  Not because it was bad by any means; I just don’t think it was up my alley.  But I’m looking forward to trying whatever other brews by BrewDog I can find here in the States.

xo, Mary

Last year, my forestry professor invited me and a bunch of the forestry students out to the Brewz Crewz in Lakeland, Florida.  Despite its unfortunate name (and despite that fact that it took place in Lakeland of all places; Christ!), I forked out the $35 with the promise that I’d get unlimited beer samples from a wide range of beer vendors, many of them Florida brewers.  I was not disappointed!  Besides all that, I got a bunch of free food, too.  Oh, and I even got a free cigar, but that was simply due to my wily charms when it comes to older rich men.

Anyway, when the Brewz Crewz rolled around this year, I was of course set on going.  The event was two weekends ago (February 19th), and I bought tickets for myself and two of my girl friends from Gainesville.  Due to a pregnant horse giving birth, they were unable to make the drive down from the ‘ville and I found myself with three tickets to the festival about four hours before it started.  However!  I was fortunately able to finagle my friends Clay and Sarah into coming with me (but really — with the promise of free beer and free food… it wasn’t that difficult).

Now.  I brought a notebook with me to make note of which beers I enjoyed and which ones sucked.  What I should have done was sit down at my computer the next morning and immediately translated my progressively incoherent babble into blog format.  However, I obviously didn’t do that, and now my then-clear notes look like a bunch of drunken scribbles.  Oh wait — that’s exactly what they are.

Let’s begin:

Beer 1:  Amber Beer from Palm Brewing (I don’t know where this was brewed; they have like a bazillion breweries). 
Not-yet-drunken notes:  ”Meh, I’d drink this at a summer bbq but it wasn’t something amazing.  Not exactly complex.  Nice and light.”  
Translation: This tasted like bud light.

Beer 2:  Red Ale from Orlando Brewing Company (Orlando, FL)
Not-yet-drunken notes:  None.  I was too busy talking to the owner.
Translation:  THIS BEER IS AWESOME.  Okay, well — the beer itself wasn’t exactly mindblowing, but it was really good.  The cool thing about this brewery is that it’s totally organic.  It is, in fact, Florida’s only certified organic brewery.  Kudos.

Beer 3: Milk Stout from Left Hand Brewing Company (Longmont, CO)
Not-yet-drunken notes:  None.  I’ve had this beer several times and apparently didn’t see a need to write about it.
Translation:  YUM. Come on, it’s called a Milk Stout.  It has to be good.

Beer 4: Longfellow Winter Ale from Shipyard Brewing Company (Portland, ME)
Getting-a-buzz notes:  ”CJ - black IPA.”
Translation:  Clay, who attended the festival with me, mentioned that he thought this tasted like a black IPA.  I think that’s what that my note means anyway.  I just remember talking about black IPAs when we tried this beer.  I don’t even know what a black IPA is.

Beer 5: Prelude Special Ale from Shipyard Brewing Company (Portland, ME)
Getting-a-buzz notes:  ”A little metallic in its aftertaste.  Dark and floral.”
Translation:  *rolls eyes*  That is so vague.  I have no idea what this tasted like.

Beer 6: Jai Alai IPA from Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)
Getting-a-buzz notes: “Now for an IPA it’s good, but don’t we all know that I don’t like IPAs!  It’s not too overwhelming.  But I mean everything from CCB is so good anyway.”
Translation:  None needed.  The beer’s good, ya’ll.

Beer 7:  Porter from Red Brick Brewing (Atlanta, GA)
I-shouldn’t-be-driving notes:  “Possibly the lightest porter I’ve ever had.  Good!  Not my fave but hey I like southeastern breweries.”
Translation:  Uuhhh, possibly the lightest porter I’ve ever had.  Red Brick is a good brewery but they aren’t superb.  However, as my drunken notes stated, I dig southeastern breweries.  And I usually have a Red Brick when I visit home in Birmingham.

Beer 8: Brown Ale (?) from Terrapin Beer Company (Athens, GA)
Okay-I’m-drunk notes:  ”Yes well it tastes like a brown IPA.  Actually it’s better toward the end.”
Translation:  It tastes better toward the end?  The end of what?  The end of the sip?  The end of the beer itself?  None of that makes any sense.  I don’t even know if it’s a brown ale or an IPA.  I can’t find either on Terrapin’s website.

Beer 9: Turbodog Dark Brown Ale from Abita Beer (Abita Springs, LA)
Drunken notes:  ”Sweet chocolate toffee flavor.  Oh my god this is phenomenal.  It tastes like dessert!”
Translation:  All of that is true.  It’s amazing.

Beer 10: Strawberry Harvest Lager from Abita Beer (Abita Springs, LA)
Drunken notes:  ”Okay this tastes like a strawberry cookie.  I want this everyday.”
Translation:  This beer tastes like a light lager with strawberry flavoring. I don’t actually want it everyday.

Beer 11:  French Saison from Southern Brewing (Tampa, FL)
Drunken notes:  ”I am sad this isn’t in stores it’s my fave so far!  Sour and beautiful.”
Translation:  Okay, Southern Brewing is not actually a brewery.  It a beer and wine brewing supply store in Tampa, and it’s actually about 10 minutes from my house.  Anyway, they made about four brews and brought them to the festival.  The French Saison, though I took atrociously vague notes on it, was excellent.  It was a wheat beer and it was perfectly sour.  I loved it.

Beer 12:  Cookies and Cream from Southern Brewing (Tampa, FL)
Drunken notes:  ”This was run through actual cookies and cream.  Okay.  I take it back.  The Fr Saison is not my fave THIS ONE IS!  This tastes basically like fermented cookies and cream.”
Translation:  Even though it sounds like I drunkenly made it up — it’s true:  They had this one on tap and they were actually running the beer through crushed up oreos or something.  It was ridiculous.  I loved it.  And it probably was actually my favorite beer that night.

Beer 13:  Berry Cider from Ace (Sebastopol, CA)
Drunken notes:  ”Basically it’s like Woodchuck Cider but with berries.  I approve.”
Translation:  Thaaat about sums it up, actually.  Cider’s cool; whatevs.

Beer 14:  Special Golden Ale from Holy Mackerel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Greenville, SC)
Drunken notes:  None.  I have no recollection of drinking this beer.
Translation:  According to the review on Holy Mackerel’s website, this seems like a beer I’d really like.  ;-)

Beer 15:  Mack N Black from Holy Mackerel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Greenville, SC)
Drunken notes:  ”I only want”
Translation:  Apparently, I really enjoyed this beer.


Boom!  Fifteen beers in one evening. I think I did pretty well.  (Now it may be good to note that these were all four ounce samples.  Otherwise my lightweight self would have been admitted to Tampa General for alcohol poisoning).

xo, Mary

Brewer: Samuel Smith’s Brewery, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, England

Brewer: Brasserie Dubuisson, Pipaix, Belgium
Beer Name: Scaldis Noël, or Bush De Noël
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
ABV: 12.0% (!!)

I met an old friend for dinner and drinks on 12 December at Mr. Dunderbak’s. I got there a bit early, and saw that they had a list of seasonal beers on draft. Scaldis Noël was one, so I promptly ordered it, mostly because the name is basically awesome (I admit it! I buy beers based on cool labels or quirky names!). I didn’t ask was the ABV was, which I should have thought to do, especially as I only ordered a soft German pretzel to hold me over while waiting for my friend. Needless to say, by the time he arrived, I was halfway through my beer and very nicely buzzed.

I scribbled my notes on the back of a Publix receipt. After much digging through scraps of paper in my room, I’ve found it:

“The color is a beautiful deep brown, reminiscent of dried cloves. However, there’s not much of a head. I don’t know if this is because a bit of time has passed inbetween it being poured and served, or if it just doesn’t have much of a head to begin with. Either way, I am sort of disappointed in that aspect, but at least it was served in an awesome heavy glass chalice, which is my favorite sort of glass to sip a beer out of. =)

It smells of yummy holiday fruits — raisins, cherries, apples. And festive spices! Certainly cloves and nutmeg.

It has a deep, rich, bready flavor. I could chew on this beer. It sort of reminds me of the alt bier by Pinkus that I had the other day — it’s got a nice apple undertone, and lives up to its holiday namesake by entertaining my tongue with lots of flavorful seasonal spices like the cloves and nutmeg that I initially smelled.

The Noël has a wonderful warming sensation; it’s a perfect brew for the holidays!

This hit me fast; I wonder what the ABV is? I’m a little hesitant to stand up and find out! Haha.”

Yeah, no wonder it hit me fast! 12.0% on an empty stomach is a bit much.

This was such an interesting ale; I did a bit of research on it for your reading pleasure!:

It’s made at a little Belgian brewery called Brasserie Dubuisson in the French-speaking part of Belgium called Wallonia. This website told me that Scaldis is made in the hamlet of Pipaix, in the Hainaut province of Wallonia. Apparently, the beer is known as Bush De Noël in Belgium and about 40 other European countries, where that name has been trademarked. But the name Bush was unable to be trademarked in various other countries (including America, it would seem; I’d speculate because of the Anheuser Busch company), so it goes by Scaldis Noël instead.

The brew has 281 reviews on Beer Advocate, where it’s been given an overall grade of B+, which I find entirely silly. This is an A beer in my book, I loved it! Drinkable, despite its 12% ABV; seasonally tasty but not syrupy; and delightfully warming. =)

xo, Mary