This years winner is not typical in that it is fro the first time in the history of my blogging the winner is not a beer but an entire brewery. This one brewer has produced such thinking outside the box brewing innovation that the entire brewer as a whole is worthy of this accolade. The problem with most nonconformist brewers is that they are too young and as such produce such crap, it is either too bitter or too watery. However, with Buffalo Bill’s Brewery out of Hayward, CA has been of the blog three times this year and every time it has been met with rave reviews. This beer has bucked the notion that a beet an only be good if it is good to drink as a standalone and an eating beer. They have walked the fine line of placing the taste and substance and done it with such style. I can not say enough about this brewer and the beers that they put out. please try these beers for yourself and I think that you will see why I am such a fan of this brewer. In conclusion, I want to thank you for another year of blogging and beers. I will be posting less in the upcoming year due to some other projects I am working on in 2012. I look forward to blogging for you in the future. Thank you, and bye bye for now.
Guinness Black Lager
This is the last beer review of the year before I announce the beer of the year next week. As I stated in past reviews, I would love to hear from any of you out there in regards to what you think the beer of the year should be. Having said that, hers this weeks review and unfortunately it is not a hit. This is the latest offering from Guinness, yes the people who brought the world the dark of night beer Guinness stout which if you ever have ever it, it is one hell of a rotten beer, like bitter cold coffee thats been left in the pot over night. Then there is also the middle of the road sort of beer form Guinness which is Guinness Draft. which is a modern marvel in that to export it to beer drinkers around the world they had to invent a way to carbonate the beer like when it comes out of the tap and into the glass. The issue was that to carbonate the beer like normal it would not cat right in the glass when opened, because when you let beer sit in the glass it will slightly settle in the carbonation department and so out of the necessity of proper beer drinking of a fine brew came the “WIGIT” which carbonates the beer the moment you bob the top. You will only see Guinness Draft in the can because of this. Now on to the brand new offering, the Guinness Black Lager, made to toe into the american markets where the other tow beers could not penetrate. The average joe six packs house. Yes this is Guinness selling out to make the green and I am not referring to hops here. This is just lame and tasteless, this is what an Irish man uses to clean sheep shit from his dogs feet. Pandering to the average american moron (yep, I said it and if this makes you angry then prove me wrong. Say by the way did catch todays Playboy morning show, or anything on “spice” radio? I rest my case) in this way is tantamount to taking your heritage filled name to the abortion clinic for an appointment. I am so unimpressed by this beer. The story of the three Guinness beers goes like this there was one Guinness that was too bitter, there was one that was in the middle and just right and there was one that was too light. This really is like drinking water and is such a letdown for black lager lovers of the world because there are some out there that are really flavorful and provocative, and in this case some that are not. If you are looking for a good example of what a “good” black lager is, then look no further than shiner’s version of the black lager. I can not suggest this beer for anything. However on a food related note, I noticed that when had with hot sauce it enhances the spice to a hiccup inducing amount. Live to drink another day and I hope that flavorful beers come your way but head this warning I say steer clear of this black lager in a major way and oh by the way happy holidays.
Abita Christmas Ale
Tis the season, for Christmas beers and what we have here is a failure of a beer. This is the beer you give to all the people on your shit list. First things first, I can’t think of any food that this beer would go well with. It is just too bitter to go well with most foods. Perhaps you could place it with chocolate but doing so would really only be to make the beer taste better as apposed to enhancing the experience. The beer smells like soy sauce and rye bread. The overall taste of the beer is of hops and that is about all the beer has to offer. The beer is common in taste and nothing really stands out about it. The hops flavor is slightly muted in the beginning but before the swig is over the bitter taste comes through in the end. The effervescence (carbonation) that I enjoy in beers is just not there. Dear Santa, due to China’s up and coming economy you might not like the price of coal so I have a way to help you when it comes to giving punishment gifts to bad boys and girls. This beer in their stockings is far worse than getting coal because they can use coal in their stoves and BBQ grills. This beer however is a punishment far worse because the bad boys and girls will be compelled to drink this punishment. So in closing, if you like bland bitter hoppy beer, then by all means enjoy this beer. However, this is not for me. As far as the Christmas beers go I don’t think that I am a real fan of any thus far, but I will keep drinking them and reporting my findings to you. In addition to that, my advice to all of you this season and for the year to come. Follow your gut feelings and what I mean is this. I was standing in the beer isle at my local grocer this Sunday there on a totally fluke matte and for whatever reason I started to hunt for the beer I was going to review for the week and after much deliberation settled on this beer. However I somehow knew that this beer would suck but I purchased it despite what I knew in my heart of harts. My rational was that it was Christmas time and I wanted to review beers that reflected the season and so here we are eight plus bucks out but really no worse for wear but still displeased with myself for not listening to myself when I knew it was going to suck. That is life I suppose, damned to screw ourselves despite out better judgment. I al just lucky that it was only a six pack. I can live with that mistake and try fore a nock out the park next time.
Anchor Brewing Company’s Christmas beer
Anchor Brewing Company’s Christmas beer
The wear is winding and as such, the multitude of brewers around the world start to deliver there holiday brews on all the little good little beer drinking boys and girls and to start thing off I have for you the 37th holiday brew from Anchor Brewery. For starters, the beer looks fantastic in the glass. Like gingerbread in the glass and acts like a “snake” firework. You know the one that when you light the puck looking firework it grows like a snake. This is what the head of the beer looks like in the glass. This is a really fantastic looking beer in the glass, however when you start to drink it it is less than fantastic. This is not one of those beers that you enjoy with food, and is just barely a good standalone beer. However, it is not without it’s merits. After the initial headiness of the beers goes away it takes on a sort of flat mellow quality that is smooth yet slightly bitter. The beer starts out excessively bitter and chills out as it has time to breath out some of the C02 and unwind. This unwound beer has a slight chocolate hops taste but it is muted by the smooth cream taste. This beer is not one that I would serve to my guest and in addition to that the beers cost is not in line with what I wanted to pay either. Ten dollars plus is not worth it in my book knowing what I know now about the taste of the beer but that is only my opinion. So enjoy this last run of the year and al of the beers that it has to offer. Just remember, not always is your favorite brewers seasonal of holiday beer selection of the highest quality. They only brew it once a year.
Imperial Lager
Harpoon GRateful Harvest Cranberry Ale
Gobble Gobble, I wanted to squeeze this one out at the beginning of the week so that you all can have ample time to think about what beer you are planning to have at Thanksgiving this year. On the chopping block this year (no offense “Tom”) is Harpoon’s (Grateful Harvest Cranberry Ale). Now before I start to rip on this bean town brew, let me just say that it does give one dollar per every six pack to “your local food bank” and that is good no matter how bad I think the beer is. Let me start by saying that this beer when put into a glass has more head on it than Herman Munster. This thing is thick baby and the head just hangs there like sea foam atop a rusty red ale ocean. I cannot taste any hint of cran at all. What I do taste is hops to the einth degree. Which traditionally ale beers have the hops taste as a sort of signature of the brew. However, if you are going to call it a cranberry ale the drinker should be able to taste the cranberry somewhere in the beer. Slapping a Thanksgivingesk sort of labile on a box with a smug looking turkey with pint glass in hand and saying that it is some sort of quintessential (insert your ideal Thanksgiving ingredient of choice) ale, does not a Thanksgiving ale make. This is not a fair representation of what an ale called cranberry ale should taste like. The bitter hops taste rides rough shot over and cranberry taste that might have beer there. Don’t be suckered in by the beers bio on the bottom of the box. I can tell you from experience, that the beer taste nothing like the box wishes it did. Perhaps this beer will go better with the true Thanksgiving meal. You know, turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, CRANBERRIES!!!!!! Of which I am happy to say that this year I will be participating in for the first time in a long time (thanks unique extended family situations). So win louse or draw, I will reevaluate this beer during my Thanksgiving this year and report to you in the day of or soon there after on how the beer went with food. On a family relations note, this beer has a ABV (alcohol by volume) of 5.9% so if you need a little liquid chill the Fa-la-la-la out to get through holiday time with your Fa-la-la-la family then this is the beer for you my friend. just sit back, relax and crack open some of this “crantastic ale” and let the fact that your in-laws can be self-riches hypocrite save the world DB’s slide right down the back of your reclined lazy-boy. Because just like a hangover, it will all come to an end soon enough, but in the mean time, you just got to sit back and take in all in stride. So stick that in your cornucopia and drink it.
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