Leinenkugels Fireside Nut Brown‏--JT's Review

I made a Sunday beer run to Macadoodle's in Missouri, with my brother, and found the Fireside Nut Brown on the build your own six pack isle. It turned out to be awesome!

It is a dark amber color when poured in a glass and has a thick foamy head. It had a really full flavor, but it wasn't too strong. There was a light taste of hazelnut in the malts followed by a soft hoppy finish.

I really liked it a lot. I reminded me of a combination of a Oktoberfest and a malty lager. I thought it was really good, and I'm looking forward to drinking it again.

Goose Island Mild Winter‏--JT's Review

I have always enjoyed Goose Island beer. As I posted earlier in my Honker's Ale review, I had it for the first time while working in Chicago. Obviously, they weren't serving seasonal winter beer in the summer. I ran into the "Mild Winter" as part of a sampler pack while on a Sunday beer run to Macadoodle's in Missouri.

I don't know if it made a difference or not, but on the bottle it said serve in a Willi glass, so I did. I thought the beer was really good. It was a dark brown from the pour with a nice foamy head. The malts gave it a caramel flavor followed by a hint of brewing spices. The finish was mild and smooth.

As the weather cools off, this is a solid choice if you are into a good seasonal.

1554 Enlightened Black Ale

This black ale is from the New Belgium Brewing Co.  I would have to say that I have started liking New Belgium brews more and more.

As for this beer, it was not my favorite black ale of all time, but there are a bunch more worse than this.  The 1554 was nice and malty, but they didn't over do it with the chocolate malts.  Probably the best thing I discovered was the 5.6% ABV. 

Overall........good beer.  I would probably buy it again.  I would really like to try this beer from the tap!!

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock‏--JT's Review



photo courtesy of http://www.dailybeerreview.com/2011/01/samuel-adams-chocolate-bock.html

 My good friend, and excellent beer drinking friend Shawn brought over a seasonal box of Sam Adams the other night. Ten years ago, I would have never dreamed of trying a Chocolate Bock. I really enjoyed this beer a lot. The bocks, tend to fit my tastes, and this one was perfect!

We poured them in a glass, and held them up to the light. No light came through at all. At one time that would have been a big turn off for me. The malts jump out at you at the first sip. There is a quick dash of citrus, and then chocolate follows in the finish. It was outstanding.

It is no doubt a sipping beer, but very good none the less.

Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)

OK, I did it.  I bought a $13.00 bottle of beer.  As you can see, it is actually bigger than a normal bottle.  I have been curious of this beer for a while, but I couldn't force myself to spend the money.  Thanks to this blog, I felt like it was my duty to make the purchase.......for you guys!!

Not only was this a drinking experience.....it was somewhat of a history lesson.  The label on the bottle gives you the background on how/why/when/where this beer is made.  It involves monks in an abbey in Belgium..........and the revenue from the beer goes to their charitable works.  There is also a little pamphlet that comes on the bottle that tells you how to drink the beer (what temp/what type of glass to drink from.)

So how was the beer???  It was very interesting.  As you can see, it is dark but not black.  There is a lot going on with this brew.  The one word I would use to describe this beer is RICH.  It was like drinking a very flavorful dark loaf of bread.  It was my liquid dinner.....with a kick (9% ABV).  All I can say is everyone should at least try this beer once.  I feel like each person might taste something different.

Was this beer worth the money?  Who knows.  I am glad I bought and tried it.  Will I buy it again?  Probably not.  Just because this was a "one and done" beer doesn't mean it was bad. 

Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale‏--JT's Review

This is about the time of year that I go into a phase of winter seasonal beer drinking. I like to try all of the different brands seasonal brews. The Winter Abbey Ale was surprisingly good!

I like Blue Moon beer. I was a little skeptical of their seasonal winter ale, however, Joe at "The Bottle" said it was a good selection, and he was right. The malts had a nice roasted taste, followed by a sweet caramel/brown sugar, and ending with a wheaty hop flavor at the end that was smooth.

For lack of a better way to put it, I felt like I got a lot of beer in this one. The taste was long and good. I will have more of these from November to January when they stop the winter ale production.

Shiner Bohemian Black Lager

I was a little disappointed in this beer.  It, by no means, is a bad beer!  I was just expecting a little more.  The Shiner original is very flavorful, so I figured the Black Lager would follow suit.....not really the case.  I try to compare all the black/dark lagers that I have had.  This one was just pretty good.  I was expecting more flavor.....something like Guinness Black Lager or Abita Turbo Dog.

If you get a chance, go to the Shiner website.  I was amazed by all the different beers that they are brewing down there in Shiner, TX.  I would love to take a field trip there with my boy JT!!

New Belgium Snow Day Ale‏--JT's Review

I have always been forthcoming with the fact that I am a sucker for marketing, and a beer label is no different. With the weather getting cooler, I have been thinking about some heartier winter time beer. At Macadoodle's there other day, I saw Snow Day Ale. It has a picture of a nice warm house where they have to be snowed in. That's all it took for me.
 
The beer was ok. I am not a huge ale fan,(for whatever reason I keep trying to convince myself that I am?). It was pretty dark, and more hoppy than I usually like. However, there were enough brewing spices in there to dull the prevalent hoppy flavor to make it ok. I thought there was a hint of vanilla, but my neighbor Shawn pointed out that it was clove.
 
Not my favorite beer, but certainly not bad. If you are into ale's, go for it. I think you will like it.

Bohemia Clasica‏--JT's Review

photo courtesy of http://www.dailybeerreview.com/2011/05/bohemia-clasica.html

I saw the Bohemia Clasica for the first time the other day. It originated in Mexico, but it is brewed by FEMSA, the brewers of Heineken.

It poured with a nice golden color into a glass. The taste was smooth and sweet. There were several tones of malts, that finished with a light easy hop at the end. It was a little more like a brown ale, than a typical Mexican beer, but it did have that overlay of a good Mexican beer.

If you buy it, do not expect it to have the flavor of a Corona or Pacifico, but I do think that you will like it.

Sudwerk Fest Marzen‏--JT's Review

I have had several of the Sedwerk beers, and for the most part I have been impressed. This is their seasonal Oktoberfest beer. I found it to be outstanding!

It had a dark redish brown tint when poured into a glass. It had a toasted flavor of nuts in the malts. It was really smooth. The hops made a strong showing, but weren't to strong. There was a nice microbrew aftertaste that goes with most Sudwerk beers.

If you like Oktoberfest beers, and I really do, this is a great choice.

Belhaven Scottish Ale‏--JTs Review

One of my good friends from Eastern Arkansas put me on to Belhaven's. I'm really glad he did. This is one of the best beers I have ever had.
 
The Belhaven Brewery in Scotland has been brewing beer since 1719, at least. Monks settled there maybe as early as the 16th century and started brewing beer. 
 
The Scottish Ale was as smooth as any beer I have ever had. It was a nutty and malty with just the right amount of hops in the finish. It has a nice dark brown redish color when I poured it in the glass.
 
Cheers to my friend Aaron Owens! The only problem is that I am now hooked on a 13 dollar a six pack beer. I'm hoping that my new friend Joe at "The Bottle" is down to give me a discount.

Tallgrass Ale

I got this pint of beer for $1.00!!!  It was a part of a "build your own" six pack from a great beer store on the MO/AR border.  It is bottled/canned in Manhattan, KS.  I guess this could be the official beer of Kansas St U!!  I didn't realize that there was a brewery in Manhattan.

OK, now for the beer.......on the can it says "Defiantly Dark. Seductively Smooth."
It is dark and smooth, I will vouch for that.  It is actually, almost too smooth.  It is very light on the carbonation.  One could say that it is on the borderline of being flat.  I  am not the one to say that.

Is this beer the greatest thing ever???  Maybe not..........but..........it was a dollar..........and it is brewed in a great college town with a 4.4% ABV.  I know this.....I would drink the heck out of this if I lived in Manhattan, KS (especially if I were a college student..GO Wildcats!) 

Saint Arnold Amber Ale‏--JT's Review

What a great beer! My brother turned me on to Saint Arnold's from his time living in Texas.

It was a very balanced and smooth beer. It was really malty, which I like a lot. It had a taste of caramel, but as it finished, it was sweet and had a citrus flavor that made the hops go down a little easier.

I hope that the Saint Arnold brewery will be able to sell in Arkansas soon.

Stawski Lager

I made this beer purchase as part of a "build your own" six pack.  I don't believe that I have ever seen or heard of this brew.  It is imported from Poland.

Stawski has that typical taste of a European lager (Becks, Heineken, etc.)  This beer seemed to be the watered down version of those beers.  That's not necessarily a bad thing.  It is extremely "easy drinkin."  I could pack a cooler full of these for a get together or tailgate.  Just be careful, it is 5.3% ABV. 

Tap Room 21 Amber Ale‏--JT's Review

I bought this one on my road trip to Dallas, but it is brewed in Rochester, New York. I was intrigued by the label that reads "celebrating the repeal of prohibition since 1933"! How could I pass that up?

The beer was very good. It had a great full bodied flavor. It was a little sweet at just the right time between the malt and the hops.

I look forward to drinking it again soon!
I really like Amber Ale's, so this was a good one for me.

Tommyknocker Butthead Dopplebock Lager

If you like bock beers, then you have to give this one a try!  First off, as you can see, another great cartoonish label by the Tommyknocker brewery.  As for the beer........it is very malty.  It was very sweet, but in a good way.  I also noticed that it had very little carbonation, but it didn't taste flat or anything like that.

You can see that it is caramel in color.  What you can't see (on the bottle) is that it is 8.2% ABV!!!  That was just the icing on the cake for me.  I six pack of these bad boys and you're feeling just fine!!

I thought that the Maple Brown was going to be my favorite of these Tommyknockers..............I am beginning to rethink that.

Imperial La Cerveza‏--JT's Review

Imperial claims to be the beer of Costa Rica. They have been brewing it there for the last 80 years. I found it in on the sampler isle at Macadoodle's in Springdale. My good friend Rod is a Corona man, and I told him that we would try to review some different Latin beers.

This was a good choice. As a rule of thumb, I like Corona, Dos Equis, SOL, and a lot of other beers from our neighbors to the South. Imperial is one of the better ones that I have had. It has that light refreshing "Mexican" beer taste, but it is a little more full flavor than a Corona.

The next time you are in the mood for a cerveza, give one of these a try!

Tommyknocker Ornery Amber

Yes, another Tommyknocker beer.  Two things lured me to these beers..............one was the price ($1.00 per beer).............the other was the great artwork on the beers' labels.  I am a pretty easy sell!

This amber was decent.  I actually drank it after I had the Maple Nut ale, so it was a little disappointing.  It was a typical amber but the taste seemed to linger around a little too much for my liking.

I looked for this beer on the Tommyknocker website.  I don't know if they make this brew anymore.  It might have been replaced/discontinued.  So far I have liked the Tommyknocker beers......this just has been my least favorite so far.

Tommyknocker Maple Nut Brown

I really like waffles and pancakes!!!  However, I don't put a lot of maple syrup on either of them.  I will tell you what I do like maple syrup on/in.........this beer!  This review comes from the "build your own sixer" I put together with mostly Tommyknocker beers.

I enjoy sweet beers, and this would definitely be categorized as one of those.  So if you don't fancy the sweet brew, then you might stay away from this one.  I enjoyed the heck out of it.  It was a little darker in color than say the honey brews, which it reminded me of.  The good thing is that I could see myself drinking several in one sitting.  The bad thing is it is a little low in the ABV at 4.5%. 

Overall, in my opinion, this is an enjoyable beer.  I might enjoy one with a tailgate breakfast in the near future.......my wife will be so proud. 

Kingfisher Lager‏--JT's Review

Kingfisher Lager is a beer that I have wanted to try for a long time. My reason for not has been that I have a hard time spending 10 dollars on a six pack that I'm not sure I will like. I found it in the sampler isle at Macadoodles several days ago, and added it to my cart.

It is brewed by United Breweries Limited in Bangalore, India. Its heritage goes back to 1857.

It was a good beer. I would consider it to be a lighter body lager, although it is considered a light beer. It was light and smooth, and almost a little watery for a lager beer. It had a sweet after taste. I would say that it would be a good tail gate type of beer, but at 10 dollars a six pack, I couldn't afford to drink them all day very often.

I'm glad I tried it, and it was good, but if given the choice, I can get the same satisfaction from a Budweiser.

Tommyknocker Jack Whacker Wheat Ale

This beer comes from the Tommyknocker Brewery located in Idaho Springs, CO.  The brewery's website is pretty cool.  It gives the whole background on the name(s) and the town it's brewed in.  It's basically a old mining town with mining themed beers etc.

This particular beer is an unfiltered wheat ale with the addition of lemon grass towards the end of the brewing process.  The beer has the common hazy look as any other unfiltered wheat.  The main difference is the prominent flavor of the lemon grass.  It is quite "earthy." 

I enjoyed this beer.  It isn't my favorite wheat beer of all time, but I am glad I made the purchase.  If you like light wheat beers with a bit of citrus, then you should definitely give this a shot......if you can get it in your area.

This beer was previously reviewed by JT.  I thought I would give it a try as well, since I am a fan of the unfiltered wheat

Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower‏--JT's Review

While I was in Dallas, I added 3 different Saint Arnold beers to my sampler packs. My brother said that he used to drink Saint Arnold all the time when he lived in Texas. The one he liked the best was Fancy Lawnmower. How could I pass up a beer with Saint Arnold on the label, covered in grass, with a lawn mower on each side of him?

The beer poured very nicely. It had a light body with a soft foamy head. It was a little sweet, but not too bad. The finish was a fruity hoppy flavor, but it was also good. It is a beer that you could drink all day long!

I'm excited to try their other beers. Being from a small craft brewery in Houston, you can only buy it in Texas, so I hope I don't like them too much.

Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat

Shock Top Belgian White good............Shock Top Raspberry Wheat not very good.......Shock Top Pumpkin Wheat mixed reviews.  I will explain.

Pumpkin brews are seasonal beers.......which some might consider to be somewhat of a gimmick.  I'm fine with "gimmick" pumpkin beers, in fact, I really enjoy them......if they are full of pumpkin flavor.  This beer was a little too light on the pumpkin for me.  That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it.  I drank the whole six pack in less than a week.  This beer are for those who just like a bit of pumpkin flavor.

The good thing about this beer is that you could actually drink it with a meal (unlike some pumpkin brews).  I drank one with a bowl of chili and it worked out nicely.  If you like wheat beers and pumpkin beers, definitely give this a shot.  Also, it's pretty easy on the wallet being a good ole Anheuser product.

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Marzen‏--JT's Review

There is a new liquor store in Fayetteville called "The Bottle". I hadn't been in there before, so I decided to give it a try. This is a review of a beer, but let me first say, that the store was outstanding. I met the manager, Joe, who has an outstanding knowledge of beer. He sent me home with some great selections. Some of which turned out to be really interesting.

I'm not even going to try to pronounce the name of this beer. It is German smoked marzen beer. The web site is in German by the way too. Joe asked me if I had ever had smoked beer. I have smoked a lot while drinking beer, but never had a smoked beer. He gave me a discount, so how could I say no. He said it would taste like I was drinking beer and eating smoked ribs.

It defiantly had a strong smoked flavor. My neighbor, Shawn and I split it(the bottle was a pint and 9 ounces). At first I liked it more than he did. He felt like it had a medicinal flavor. About half way through the beer, we had a role reversal.

I didn't think this was a bad beer, it just didn't taste that much like beer to me. It had such a strong smoked flavor, it was hard to taste much else. I am glad I tried it. My new friend Joe expanded my horizons, but it will be a while before I go down that road again.

Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale

I tried this beer the other night when me and the wife were out with some friends at a local restaurant.  It was on tap, so I decided to give it a try because I had never seen it.............and also I am a big fan of the Boulevard "family." 

When it was delivered to our table it kind of looked like any other beer. It wasn't dark or overly hazy.  So, it was a little surprising when I took a drink of it.  It hit the taste buds in a hurry......somewhat of a punch to the face.  It was a little citrus and a lot of hops.  I had some of the others at our table taste this brew.  Everyone had the same reaction.  I don't know if they all made a "bad" face, but it was definitely a "face."  It was almost like they had just bitten into a lemon......a lemon made of hops.  They didn't ask for another taste.

I did not hate this beer, especially when I found out it had 8% ABV.  I would have ordered another one if we had more time......and a shorter distance to travel back home.

Mustang Harvest Lager‏--JT's Review

The Mustang Harvest Lager is the product of one of my neighbors trips to the beer store. I'm really glad that he picked this one up. It comes from a relatively young brewery in Oklahoma City, and is one of their seasonal beers. According to their web site, it won a Silver Medal at the 2010 World Beer Championships, a place I hope to visit soon!

The beer is a Marzen style lager, and it was very smooth and rich. The malts are very prevalent, and it almost has a toasty malt flavor. The aftertaste is crisp and not too hoppy.

This is a beer that I will defiantly buy again. They make several other types of beer that I am going to look for soon as well.

JT's Public Service Announcement‏

This has absolutely nothing to do with reviewing the flavor of a beer. I just had a beer drinking break through, and thought I would share.

For those that know me, they know I love beer. I love beer of all kinds that are not Miller Lite. My "meat and potatoes" are Bud/Busch Light. I love to try new beers, but day in and day out, Anheuser Light beer is what I live on.

I also love sports, specifically baseball. Naturally, I love to sit in my recliner, drink beer, and watch sports. Here's the problem: I have to get up to get another beer way too often. On occasion, I have set a cooler by the chair. That presents two problems. First, my wife tends to frown upon that most of the time. Second, there are dead soldiers piled up on the end table, and therefore it is easy to quantify how much I have drank. If I have to keep getting up, it becomes very obvious how quickly each beer is consumed. Usually that is frowned upon as well.

My solution is so obvious, but it took me so long to arrive at. The answer is 40 ounce bottles. No more jacking around with 12 ouncer's for me. Now in a 9 inning game, I only have to get up 3-5 times. I used to think they were only for the ride home from the beer store. I see the genius in quantity now.

The next time you settle in for the sporting event of your choice, try it with the man sized bottle!

Samuel Adams Dunkelweizen‏--JT's Review

There is a new bar in Fayetteville called Tanglewood Branch. It is at an intersection that I travel regularly, so I decided to stop in for a beer and a look around. It is a pretty cool place as it is set up in an old gas station. The only problem is that they don't have a tv, which I guess will insure that its never too crowded? Anyway, they have Sam Adams Dunkelweizen on tap. I decided to give it a try.

Not a bad selection. I don't think I could drink more than a couple, but it was really good for the purpose of stopping in for a quick beer. Dunkelweizen means "dark wheat", and it lived up to that. It had a hazy look in the glass. The flavor was all over the place. It had a bunch of brewing spices, but they were complimented by a hint of fruit. It had a nice crisp finish.

I will drink it again soon, but I recommend trying it in a sampler pack or off tap. It may not be for everyone.

Corona Familiar‏--JT's Review

On my trip to Dallas, I found a 32 ounce bottle of Corona Familiar. I haven't seen these in Arkansas, so I went ahead and grabbed a couple. I was expecting a revolutionary Corona flavor. What I got was interesting. It tasted almost exactly like Corona Extra.

For the sake of our beer guide I decided to experiment. I felt like the Familiar was a little bit more of a full flavor, and maybe a little better tasting. I poured them in a glass side by side, and there was virtually no difference. Then I noticed that the Familiar bottle cap said Corona Extra.

Here's my take: I think Corona's motive is two fold. First, I think that they are trying to experiment with their full flavored beer in a darker bottle to protect it for sunlight. The second thing, which totally worked on me, is to package it differently to sell more. At the end of the day, I found it to be the same beer in a different bottle, but still really good all the same.