Archive for the 'Lager' Category

Berkshire Czech Pilsner Review

Published on August 12, 2010 in Beer, Lager and Review. 1 Comment

This post was written as a guest review for Lost in the Beer Aisle. I met the writer, Josh, through Twitter a while ago. We’ve been chatting about beer and he had asked me several times to write a guest review for him. Well, I finally got around to doing it (I tend not to write beer reviews as I prefer to just drink the beer). It was fun reviewing a beer again. I’ll have to do more of these. Anyway, you can catch Josh on Twitter as @Lost_in_beer. Now onto the review…

Today (Friday, July 30) is the first absolutely beautiful day we have had here in a while. It’s hot, but not unbearable. The air is dry. The sky is blue. The birds are chirping. It’s the perfect day to sit around outside (after work, of course) and drink a nice beer. Being that it’s summer, I wanted something lighter, but still full of flavor. I heard rave reviews about Berkshire’s new Czech Pilsner and had to try it for myself. I only bought this bottle last night, but it was calling my name. It also gives me an excuse to use one of my pilsner glasses, making the beer look extra special.

The beer pours a nice golden color. I think if I had to really give it a name, I’d say it’s maize. There’s a nice fluffy white head on top, about two fingers thick. You can see the beautiful bubbles rising to the top. Pilsners happen to be, at least in my (usually not so) humble opinion, one of the most beautiful beers when poured properly. It doesn’t matter what kind of glassware you use, they still look amazing. Though I will admit, the pilsner glass adds to that a bit.

The aroma has hints of the grassy, spicy hops and just a slight hint of the sweet malt. Upon first sip, you’re hit with those hops. As it lingers in your mouth, you get the nice sweeter malt flavors. It’s really hard to describe their flavor as they don’t hang around too long before the flavor turns back to the hops and leaves a nice dryness. It’s really hard to stop drinking this one. The carbonation in this beer, though relatively effervescent in the glass, is more mild in the mouth, though you can feel it tingle a bit on your tongue. It helps this beer go down easy, keeping it refreshing. While it may not be huge in-your-face flavor, it’s just the perfect amount of flavor with a nice dry finish. This is exactly the kind of beer needed
on such a beautiful day. A beautiful beer always pairs well with a beautiful day.

I’ve been getting more and more into lagers and kölsch lately. With the type of summer we’ve had, the lighter beers with a drier finish can be very refreshing and hit the spot just right. This beer is one of the better pilsners I’ve had. I see myself buying more of this beer in the future. It’s another excellent beer from a great brewery. I would even go as far as saying that this beer could easily turn your average Bud/Miller/Coors drinker onto craft beer, though they would have to be from New England as this is a small brewery.

High and Mighty Beer Co.

Published on February 26, 2009 in Ale, Beer, Lager and Review. 2 Comments

I went to a tasting of High and Mighty Beer Co.’s beers last week.  They were definitely worth mentioning.  The brewing company is owned by Will Shelton, of Shelton Bros. fame, and brews their beers at Paper City in Holyoke, MA.  He was explaining each beer as he poured them and explained his brewing philosophy and where he hopes to take his brewery.

He explained that he didn’t want to brew the same thing as everyone else.  In his age (which, based on looks alone, is no more than 50), he isn’t interested in drinking high alcohol beers and getting wasted off just a couple.  He wanted beers he could drink all night and not get plastered.  At the same time, he wanted something full of flavor, but different from what everyone else is brewing.  Instead of brewing IPAs, pale ales, big stouts, or crazy Belgian-inspired beers, he brewed some original recipes that don’t stick to any single style.

He started us off with what he said was his favorite of his beers, Beer of the Gods.  BeerAdvocate labels it an American blonde ale.  Will described it as a cross between a German altbier and a kolsch.  It’s an ale that he cold conditions.  It’s a very tasty beer with a nice hop flavor from the German hops.  It’s very refreshing and would be excellent on a warm spring or summer day.  This was also my favorite of the beers we tried that night.  I’m not sure I would have called it a blonde ale, but I can’t really think of where else I’d label it.  It has similar tastes to a pilsner, though it’s a bit more malty and not as crisp.  Not to mention, it’s an ale.  It’s too hoppy to be a kolsch.  American blonde ale is probably the only place it does fit, but it should not be reviewed as one.

The second beer, Purity of Essence, is what he calls an IPL, or India Pale Lager.  It’s basically a hoppy lager.  When I tried it, it reminded me of a toned down version of Sam Adams Imperial Pilsner.  It tastes like an IPA but has a crispness to it that you can only get from a lager.  BA classifies it as American Malt Liquor, but I would hardly put it there.  It’s more of an American pilsner, going with the Imperial Pilsner similarities.  As Will explained, he’s not brewing within any style guidelines, and it works.  The beer is really good and definitely worth seeking out.

The third beer was my least favorite.  It’s called St. Hubbins Abbey.  Will described it as a saison brewed with coriander and orange peel, which are usually found in witbiers.  The beer was good and the spices were evident.  It didn’t taste much like a saison to me, but the flavors worked.  Again, it was something original, but still tasty.  BA classifies this one as a dubbel, but once again, it is most definitely not a dubbel.  I would probably have classified it as a saison.

Finally, we had his chocolate stout called Two Headed Beast.  This beer was excellent.  The chocolate flavors were right on and it was well balanced.  It didn’t taste overly chocolatey and it didn’t taste like chocolate syrup.  It was a nice natural chocolate flavor.  This is probably the only one we had that was brewed to a specific style.

It was very refreshing to try so many beers that were brewed outside of style and weren’t high in alcohol.  I think the highest was about 6-6.5% ABV, which is nothing in today’s standards.  The beers are all solid.  They’re priced at about $5/22 oz. bomber.  And they’re all definitely worth the money and your time.  Will had mentioned that he hopes to have his own brewery at some point with a canning line.  That would be awesome.  Nothing better than more craft beer in cans.  If you have seen these on the shelf and wondered what they were, try them.  They’re good.

Brief Thoughts on Some Beers

Published on October 3, 2008 in Ale, Beer, Belgian, Cellaring/Aging, German, Lager and Review. Closed

Alright, this is going to be quite the post.  I haven’t been writing about every beer I’ve been drinking lately.  In part, it’s because I was sick last week, preventing me from drinking some of the more “special” beers I have here.  It’s also been because I’ve been lazy.  Work has been busier than it had been because of the beginning of the semester and hiring new staff and all that goes along with Septembers for me.  So I’m going to write a few lines about most of the beers I’ve had recently.  This is in no particular order.  I’m just writing.

I’ll start off with tonight because it’s fresh in my mind.  I’m currently drinking an Anchor Old Foghorn Barleywine Style Ale.  This one was bottled in January.  That means it’s about 10 months old.  This is the reason I clicked the “cellaring” category.  I opened this one because I needed a nice little nightcap.  At 9.4%, it fits that bill just right.  The beer is sweet and malty.  It’s got a seriously strong fruitiness to it, which is really nice.  It’s not like drinking a fruity beer, it’s just a fruity maltiness.  It’s perfect.  It’s got just enough hops in it to give it some balance.  Unfortunately, I have never had this beer fresh.  For whatever reason, I can’t get it in RI.  I picked this up at Julio’s over the summer.  Get it if you see it.  It’s awesome.

I also had Stone Coast (RIP) Jamaica Style Stout tonight.  Susan and I tried to split it, but she wasn’t crazy about it.  I thought it was fantastic.  This one has probably also been aged, though in the store, not my cellar.  Stone Coast Brewing closed on August 1.  I bought this, along with some others, while I could still find it.  It has a very roasty flavor to it.  It’s got a nice medium-full body.  It’s a very drinkable stout.  If you can still find it, get some.  It’s good.

How about some Double IPA’s next?  I’ll continue with Stone Coast.  If you can find some 840 IIPA, get it while it lasts.  This is a great double IPA (their regular IPA is 420 IPA, also excellent).  It’s quite different for a double IPA in that it’s got a strong caramel malt presence.  This doesn’t ruin the beer, however.  It actually enhances it a bit.  It’s not overly hoppy like a west coast IPA, but it’s definitely got a good bit to it.  It is actually not a double of the 420, which tastes almost like a west coast IPA.  They also made a 1260, which I was lucky to be given a bottle.  I’m kind of saving that one.

Rogue Imperial IPA is also a good one if you can get past the cost of the ceramic bottle.  At $15 for the bottle, it’s a bit pricey, and honestly, not worth the price.  However, it’s a great double IPA.  The beer is nice and hoppy, but has a great malt backbone to it.  You might be best trying to find this on tap somewhere (Doherty’s East Ave in the Bucket had it on tap for a while).

The last, but certainly not least, of the recent double IPAs is Smuttynose Big A.  Holy crap!  This is probably the single best double IPA I have had.  I enjoyed this far better than Ruination, Hercules, and even YuleSmith (though I haven’t had the summer YuleSmith, meaning I haven’t had a fresh YuleSmith).  This one has all the hops the west coast DIPAs wish they had, and it came from 2 states north of here.  This one is a must have, though it sells out fast when they do release it.

Being October, I have had a bunch of Oktoberfests, Harvest Ales, and Pumpkin Ales lately.  I’ll mention some of those.  Nikki’s just did 3 weeks of Oktoberfests and Pumpkin Ales.  Here’s the best of those, some of which I bought.  I’ll start with Pumpkin Ales because I tend not to like them.  The only one at the Nikki’s tasting I really liked was Wolaver’s Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale, which seems to be sold out now.  It wasn’t overly spiced and had a nice hops flavor to it.  It was just right.  The best Pumpkin Ale I have ever had was Schlafly from St. Louis.  Susan was nice enough to bring back a bunch of beer for me from her trip out there.  Schlafly Pumpkin Ale is the single best Pumpkin Ale I have ever had.  It was all around perfect.

Now, the Oktoberfests… The best is still Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen.  This beer is a perfect German Oktoberfest.  Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr also have great Oktoberfests that are actually German.  I don’t even know how to describe the flavor.  It’s crisp, clean, and flavorful.  Of the Americans, the best I’ve had are Brooklyn Oktoberfest, Clipper City Marz-Hon, and Wachusett Octoberfest.  They’re all similar in style, though the order I listed is the order of my preference.

Of the autumn/harvest ales, my favorite is Gritty’s Halloween Ale.  It’s an ESB and absolutely fantastic (go figure, their Best Bitter is also awesome).  It’s got that perfect flavor for the fall weather.  It just goes with the fall foliage for some reason.  Long Trail Harvest Ale is another good one.  This is a nice brown ale.  It’s easy drinking and has a good flavor to it.  It’s supposedly made from all Vermont ingredients, though I don’t know if they actually got the hops from up there.  Finally, there’s the Woodstock Inn Autumn Brew.  This one is brewed with cinnamon and nutmeg.  I don’t normally like beers with a lot of cinnamon in them (like Harpoon’s Winter Warmer).  However, this one is actually quite tasty for a beer with those spices.  It’s also worth a try.

And now some one off’s.  Continuing with the Schlafly thing, Susan was nice enough to get me 2 bottles of their Dry Hopped American Pale Ale.  This one is fantastic.  The dry hopping gave it a nice floral aroma.  It has a nice floral hop flavor to it as well and then goes into the pine and grapefruit flavors as it warms up a bit.  It’s a fantastic APA.

I decided to open my bottle of Russian River Damnation while watching and helping some friends brew an ESB.  I’m not normally a big Belgian Golden Ale fan.  However, this beer is probably my favorite of the bunch.  It’s absolutely perfect in my opinion.  It has a good amount of carbonation, but not too much.  It has a nice malt flavor with just the right amount of hops.  It’s sweet, dry, and crisp all at once.  I wish I could get their beers on this side of the country.

And finally, last but not least, probably the single most talked about new pale/amber ale on the market.  I got to try the Budweiser American Ale, and I have to say that I’m very impressed.  It’s nothing special, but it’s solid.  It’s a good pale/amber ale.  It has a nice body, which isn’t thin.  It has a good flavor of hops and malt.  And the best part it, it’s very accessible by people new to craft beer, while having a brand that’s familiar to them.  I think this will be the next gateway beer for many people.  I can see myself buying it for friends and family who prefer lighter beers.  I see myself giving it to people new to the craft beer scene.  I see myself drinking it when I want something cheap or if it’s the only thing a bar has (I drink other stuff if they don’t have any craft beer).

Thus concludes my recent beer thoughts.  I’ll try to keep up from now on, though you never know what might happen.  I apologize for the long post, but this had to get written.  I have even more that I didn’t write about.  If I added those, it would be about 3 times as long.

Smoke and More Cherry

Published on August 8, 2008 in Ale, Beer, Lager and Review. Closed

Tonight I decided to try one of the beers from, new to RI, Fort Collins Brewing.  I tried their Z Lager, which is a rauchbier.  It pours a darker reddish amber color with almost no head.  It smells of caramel and other malts with a hint of smoke.  The taste isn’t quite as smoky as I would have liked, but it is nicely smoked.  It’s an easy drinking beer and worth a try as it’s one of those styles you don’t see very often.  Fort Collins is likely a welcome addition to RI.

On Wednesday, I had Southern Tier’s Cherry Saison from their imperial beer series.  I’ll start off by saying that I wasn’t crazy.  It was a little dark for a saison.  It had a cloudy orangy yellow hue to it.  It smelled of spices and a slight hint of cherry.  The flavor lacked the cherry, which wasn’t too bad, but it had too much of something and not enough of something else.  I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this beer seemed off.  I didn’t finish the bottle.  It wasn’t overly drinkable and it is definitely not worth another try.  In fact, if you have to drink the whole bottle yourself, it’s not worth the price.  It’s worth trying if you’re going to split the bottle with 2-4 other people.

As usual, Playing Catch Up

Published on March 17, 2008 in Ale, Beer, German, Lager and Review. Closed

As always seems the case with me (mainly because of other stuff going on), I’m playing catch up.

Last night, Susan and I split the bottle of Hoppin’ Frog B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout (BORIS stands for Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout) that we picked up at Yankee Spirits over the weekend.  We had never heard of Hoppin’ Frog and she likes Oatmeal Stouts, so we decided to try it.  I’m glad we did.  It pours a thick black with a thin dark tan head.  There is very little carbonation present.  Smells of roasted coffee and chocolate.  It’s thick and slightly oily in the mouth with a nice roasted flavor.  There’s a lot of bitter chocolate and coffee flavors, along with a slight caramel sweetness.  It had the nice smoothness of an Oatmeal Stout mixed in with the power of a RIS.  This is one flavorful beer and definitely worth the purchase.  Hoppin’ Frog is a brewery from Akron, Ohio.  It’s good to see more of the midwestern beers making their way to the Northeast.

Saturday night, I had my bottle of Burton Bridge Empire India Pale Ale.  The bottle says that this English India Pale Ale was brewed using the recipe of the original IPA, which was used to make a stronger, more hopped beer to last the voyage overseas for British soldiers and colonies.  Now, I will say that English IPA’s tend not to be quite as hoppy as their American cousins.  That’s not a bad thing (unless you need that hops flavor).  This beer was no different, though it does have a different taste.  It’s bottle conditioned, so it had a lot of yeast taste to it.  It says to let the sediment settle to the bottom, and I had let it sit for a good 5-10 minutes after removing it from the fridge (where it also sat).  I guess the sediment in this one is in suspension most of the time as it wasn’t clear.  Anyway, the flavor was nice and malty with a little hops and the yeast added a little tartness to it.  It had a slight bready mouthfeel and smelled a little on the sweet side with a hint of lemon.  It was good, though I don’t know if I’ll buy it again for the price ($5+ for a 500 ml bottle).

I don’t remember when I had my Long Trail Double Bag, and I don’t have an exact writeup about it.  It’s a stronger Altbier than the regular Long Trail Ale.  The label calls it a German Sticke.  The beer is really good.  That’s, unfortunately, all I can say.  If you see it, buy some.  It’s worth it.  Long Trail is one of the single most underrated breweries in my opinion.  Their beers are solid, they just don’t brew anything really extreme (though the Double Bag is 7.2%), which shouldn’t be held against them.  I’m hoping to do a tour of their brewery in Vermont on my honeymoon in June (yes, we’re being different and going to Vermont).

Finally, on Wednesday, I had Einbecker Schwarzbier.  This dark lager wasn’t anything special.  It poured a brown color with very little head.  The beer had a very malty aroma, though nothing really stuck out.  It had a light flavor of slight chocolate with a hint of caramel.  I wasn’t overly impressed with this one.  It was too light for my tastes and I’ve had other schwarzbiers that I liked much better (Sam Adams Black Lager and Monschof).

That should do it for now.  Perhaps I’ll write more tonight.  I think I’ll start down my small IPA collection that I’ve been building.

Catching Up…

Published on March 6, 2008 in Ale, Beer, German, Lager and Review. Closed

So I haven’t written a whole lot lately, but I have had some pretty tasty beers.   I’ll go in reverse order as I remember them.

Last weekend, Susan and I went back to Yankee Spirits because I wanted to try to get Alesmith Speedway Stout.  They were out of it, so I got some barleywines and the Sam Adams Longshot 6 pack.  Longshot is a homebrew competition that Sam Adams holds every year.  They brew the 3 top beers and put them in a 6 pack.  Unfortunately, this year, one of the winners was a Double IPA.  Because of the hops shortage, they will brew it next year.  So there were 3 of each of the other winners, a Grape Pale Ale, and a Weizenbock.

Last night, I tried the Grape Pale Ale.  It pours a nice amber color with a 1 finger white head that hangs around for a while.  It smelled like a pretty weak pale ale with some hops, but mostly malt.  It had a very very faint grape scent to it, but not really enough for me to notice that much.  The flavor was much the same, pretty light on all parts.  I couldn’t really taste a whole lot of grape, but it added to the sweetness.  This beer would be better for the summer.  It was nice and light and easy drinking, but not big on flavor.

The night before, I had EKU 28, one of the German beers I picked up.  This Eisbock was big on flavor.  It poured an amber color with a small head.  Smelled of fruit and malty sweetness.  Very little hops were present in the aroma.  The taste was fantastic.  It was nice and fruity with a slight alcohol warmness that lasted throughout.  It was a very sweet beer and worth drinking again and again (though maybe not in the same night at 11% ABV).  Very different for a lager.

Finally, the night before that, I had Left Hand’s Imperial Stout.  This was one of the smoothest, imperial stouts I have had.  It had a nice sweetness with just enough bitterness to balance it out.  It pours a dark mahogany color with a very small tan head that disappears quickly.  The smell is of roasted malts, some slight sweet chocolate, and a very slight hint of hops.  The taste is sweet and slightly bitter.  It’s a very smooth and easy drinking, especially considering the 10% ABV, which was not at all noticeable.

One Brewery, 2 very different Pilseners

Published on March 2, 2008 in Beer, German and Lager. Closed

I haven’t written anything about the great tasting last week at Nikki’s yet, but here’s a couple of the beers I tried there (and liked since I bought some).

All the beer was from the same brewery, Kulmbacher Brauerei AG.  Last night I had the EKU Pils and the Kulmbacher Edelherb Premium Pils, both German Pilseners (a style I wouldn’t normally try).

The EKU Pils is a clear yellow color with lots of nice carbonation and a nice thick white head.  Smells dry, crisp, and refreshing.  Has some nice notes of some grassy hops in the nose as well.  Taste is very much the same.  It’s crisp, cool, and very refreshing.  This would be a great beer for a hot summer afternoon.  It’s not very bitter, but it’s not overly sweet.  There’s a nice balance of the grassy hops and the sweeter malt.  I could easily down several of these in a sitting.

The Kulmbacher Pils is quite different.  It pours similar, though it’s a bit cloudier than the EKU.  The smell is quite a bit sweeter with some fruity/sugary notes in there, but still some grassy hops.  The taste is very different from the EKU.  It’s sweeter with a sugary quality to it.  The grassy hops are present, but only as a little balancing act for the sweet malt character.  It’s almost got a slight sweet apple/pear flavor to it.  It’s just as refreshing as the EKU, but in a very different sort of way.

Both beers were quite good.  If you’re looking for something different for a hot summer afternoon, these are perfect thirst quenchers.

Broadway Bistro

Published on February 15, 2008 in Beer, Food, Lager, Providence and Review. Closed

Broadway Bistro opened up on (you guessed it) Broadway in Providence a week or 2 ago. It’s where La Prima Caffe used to be. I heard some good reviews; so Susan and I decided to try it tonight (after passing on Loie Fuller and Nicks on Broadway because they both had waits and we were hungry). I’m glad we did. We were seated right away because it wasn’t full (though I don’t imagine that will last much longer once word gets out). It’s a small space and a little cramped, but very quaint. They had an eclectic mix of music playing (I heard some Ryan Adams, Dylan, Flaming Lips, Kinks, and a bunch of other stuff I didn’t recognize).

We decided to split a salad. It was an artichoke salad with fried artichoke hearts on a bed of salad greens, some bleu or Gorgonzola cheese, and pancetta. It was excellent. I ordered the Crusty Hen and Susan ordered the Hangar Steak. I only had a bite of hers, but it was excellent. It was served with spinach and risotto (which was different, but still very good). Mine was a Cornish game hen on a bed of sautéed onions with a small piece of sweet potato bread pudding. The hen was coated with a crust (go figure) and a mixture of spices and herbs. It was cooked perfectly and was nice and moist. The only complaint about that was that they could have done with fewer spices on it. It was a little overwhelming, but not too bad. The sweet potato bread pudding was excellent, though quite different. I was very impressed with the meal and the prices were fairly reasonable. The entrees range from $14 to $23. They don’t have a dessert menu (though I expect they’ll have one at some point), but they brought out a small complimentary cup of chocolate mousse.

Since I love beer, I can’t leave that out. They had the usual suspects (nothing on tap) – Sam Adams and Light, Heineken Light, Amstel Light, Guinness (in a can), Harpoon (I assume IPA, she didn’t specify), Newport Storm (the bottle looked like the blueberry ale), Newcastle, Rolling Rock, and Peroni. OK, I guess it’s not exactly the usual suspects, but nothing spectacular. However, they also have Brooklyn Lager, which is something you almost never see around here (in Sam Adams and Harpoon country). I ordered that because it’s awesome and because I never see it in restaurants around here. The waitress brought it out with a glass and it was at the perfect temperature. I figured it’d be pretty cold, but it was perfect. They also have a pretty nice wine menu (though I know nothing about wine, but Susan’s Pinot Noir was decent, not my favorite).

All-in-all, this was a great night and a great restaurant. I’ll definitely be going back. If you live in the Providence area or are visiting, I would suggesting checking it out. It’s at 205 Broadway.


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Samuel Adams Double Bock

Published on February 6, 2008 in Beer, Lager and Review. Closed

Tonight I decided to try Sam Adams Double Bock.  This beer is fantastic, probably one of the best beers from Sam Adams.  Anyway, it pours a nice copper color with a nice thin white head and ample carbonation.  It smells of caramel malts and a bit nutty.  It tastes of some nuttiness, some caramel malts, a very slight hint of chocolate, and some malty sweetness.  All that is balanced nicely by the Bavarian hops.  The beer is perfectly balanced and very tasty.  It’s full bodied and even though it’s 8.8% ABV, it’s not noticeable and the beer is extremely drinkable.  This is one excellent beer from Sam Adams.  I’m glad I tried it.

Cisco Tasting

Published on January 25, 2008 in Ale, Beer and Lager. Closed

Last night, Nikki’s had their weekly tasting.  This week was Cisco Brewing from Nantucket.  They had the whole lineup.  I had been wanting to try one of their beers for a while now and finally got my chance.  The beer I wanted to try only came in 750 ml bottles, and they were more expensive, which is why I never tried it before.  Anyway, here’s the lineup:

The Sankaty was good for a light beer.  It had an apple scent, but a grapefruit taste.  It was a bit too carbonated though (and that’s kind of the theme for the night).  The Whale’s Tale was a decent pale ale.  It wasn’t really anything special though.  The Bailey’s was a good blonde ale with a nice light hoppy flavor.  I was disappointed with the Indie Pale Ale.  It wasn’t as hoppy as I would have hoped.  The Celebration Libation is their winter beer.  It smelled strongly of spices, but the flavors were milder.  It was probably my favorite of the night.  The porter was an excellent porter.  I’ll probably be buying a bottle of this at some point.  The stout was a little too watery and carbonated, but had a really nice flavor.