Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Darklord - RateBeer.com

The 2007 ratings for beers are in for RateBeer.com.

My standing in line was for what they rated the #1 beer brewed in the US, and #3 brewed in the world.

I'll finally taste some in a few weeks when I celebrate my birthday.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Rasberry Brown

Style: Brown Ale, flavored
ABV: 5.0%
Color: never saw it outside the bottle
Price: 3.99
Rating: 3/10


Ok, this'll be short. This is a brown ale with "natural raspberry" flavoring.

I'll be honest, this beer is less than appealing. I thought it'd have a brown ale flavor with a hint of raspberry, but I unfortunately was incorrect. Rather, the raspberry flavor is so strong that it is almost sickening. It tastes like a carbonated, slightly bitter, raspberry iced tea. And after a while, it just tastes bad.

The after taste is where the chocolate malt taste comes in, but unfortunately, for the most part the good ale flavor that MIGHT be there is steamrolled by the raspberry flavor.

Not to mention I'm not entirely certain how "natural" this flavor is. Tastes pretty fake to me.

Steer clear of this one, if you're ever out in California.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Three Floyds Tenth Anniversary Ale

A couple weeks ago, something told me to go into a liquor store near my house. I just had this gut feeling I'd find something unique.

That I did.

A 22oz bottle of Three Floyd's Tenth Anniversary ale. Here's the specs.

Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 10.5%
Color: Copper
Price: $9.99
Rating: 9/10

Pours a beautiful deep copper. Little head, which quickly faded into a nice lacing. At first sniff I found a bit of a fruity bouquet. A slight scent of apples.

The first drink brought a good dosage of hops. Grapefruit being the strongest flavor. A strong, hoppy beer, not as balanced as Dreadnaught, but not as overkill as something like Hopslam.

It has a good malty base to it, but the hops quickly slap that out of the way.

This is as appropriate a beer for Floyd's tenth anniversary as they come. A hoppy, slight kick in the nuts, American Strong ale. (Their flagship beer is an American Ale called Alpha King).

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Genesis 10:10 by He'brew



Beer: Genesis 10:10
Brewer: He'brew (Schmaltz Brewing Company)
Style: American Strong Ale
ABV: 10%
Color: Dark Amber
Container: 22oz Bottle
Price: $4.99
Rating: 7/10

My first sip of this got a "Wow." Very complex flavor. Malty, with hints of fruits. Noticeably cherry. Some dates. I expect that some of the fruityness comes from pomegranate juice added to it (sacrificed as the website says), but pomegranate tends to be tart, which is hidden in the beer quite well. Pours with a nice head that doesn't dissipate quickly. Would be an 8, but after warming I began to taste a bit of a hint of soap to the flavor.

Genesis has Warrior, Centennial, Cascade, Willamette, Simcoe, Crystal, and Mt. Hood hops. It also features 2-row, Caramel 40, Munich, Black Malt, Wheat, and Dark Crystal 80 malts.

Since the beer companies opening, I had wanted to try one of their beers. I mean, c'mon, who could pass up a kosher beer? This is my first sampling and I will definitely need to try more of their offerings.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Mini Review - Adnams Broadside

One of the reasons why I wanted to start a blog on beer was to give me some names to look out for, as things to try, and things to avoid.

Recently, I was shopping at Binny's and came across Adnems Broadside, which I knew Adem had mentioned on here in some sort of positive manner. So, I picked up a 4 pack.

Excellent beer Adem.

Malty and hoppy. I'd give it a 9/10.

Reminds me a bit of Isaac the Bruce from Three Floyds, as they are similar in color and malt flavor, but the Adnems has more hops.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Darklord Day 2007

This past saturday, I went on a field trip of sorts. I went to the cherished brewery of mine Three Floyds for the holiday known as "Darklord Day."

Now, what is Darklord day?

Why, it is the only day of the year that the brewery sells Darklord, which according to BeerAdvocate.com it is the second best beer in the world, and the best produced in the United States.

Darklord is a Russian Imperial Stout, brewed with coffee and molasses. It is 13% ABV.

The sale of Darklord would begin at noon, so I arrived at the brewery at 10AM. At that time, it looked like this. A good amount of people, all sharing beer from different breweries around the globe. Plastic cups and tasting abound.


At 11AM, they began selling drafts of other beers in the lot. Their original beer Alpha King (American Pale Ale, 6%ABV, hoppy with citrus notes), Isaac the Bruce (Scottish Style Ale, 6.5%ABV, malty with caramel notes), Gumballhead (American Wheat Beer, 4.8%, Citrusy, also my Girlfriends favorite she had), and Rabbid Rabbit (Belgian Saison, 7.4%ABV, strong cinnamon notes).

By 11:30, people jumped in line. At noon the doors were opened. The line experiance was fun, as we conversed with people around us, and talked about some of the various beers we have had. One guy just behind me had driven 12 hours overnight from Alabama just to buy beer. I salute him. He wasn't the only one, as me and my friend were unable to find anyone who lived closer than us (me being a half hour drive, and him being a 15 minute drive). The license plates on the street ranged from Ontario Canada to Arizona.


Soon, I was in the brewery. My mere wait in line of one hour to buy 6 22oz bottles of beer (the limit) was complete. I then walked back to my car with my great bounty. By then, it was 1PM, and the line was, by my guess, an eighth to a quarter of a mile long.


Yes, that is a picture taken on the street of the beer line. You can see the tent in front of the brewery off in the distance, to the top right of the photo.

As far as the taste of the 2007 batch?

I do not know yet. Of my six bottles, one is for my brother, one is for fellow blog contributer and man who sends me beer regularly Garlic Butter, and the other four I have set for opening on my birthday, Christmas Eve, and two days yet to be determined, which may be a distance off since the beer is supposed to taste better upon aging.