Short Hiatus

Starting tomorrow Wisdom of Beer will be going on a short hiatus for a couple of reasons. The biggest will be that we are redesigning the site and moving to new content management system. That will allow us to provide better posting and give users the ability to search our articles much easier and to post their own reviews. As the redesign progresses we will let our readers know and give you a time frame of when we will be back.

Beer Review of the Week: Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest

Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest is classic märzen style ale, which has nice caramel body with under tones of pale hops. It has little aroma to add to the experience, but it does pout with a coppery-amber color into a pint glass. As the head subsided, it left a nice two finger thin lacing around the glass. This flavor was nice and smooth with the caramel and hops making up the majority of the flavor profile and finishing with a nice creamy after taste. In summation, this was a surprising good traditional style beer that came out of Leinenkugel Brewing Company, which is known better for its sweeter style beers.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 3 out of 5
• Flavor – 3.5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3 out of 5
• Smell – 2 out of 5
• Overall – 11.5 out of 20
• Price – $7.99
• ABV – 5.1%
• Style – Märzen

Beer Review of the Week: Michigan Brewing Company Screamin’ Pumpkin Spiced Ale

I was at the Michigan Renaissance Festival this past weekend and came across one of the seasonal beers from Michigan Brewing Company: Sreamin’ Pumpkin Spiced Ale. I have had several spiced ales and this one really surprised me, it was tasty pumpkin infused spiced ale that was very smooth and easy to drink. It didn’t make any pretense about what it was, the name of the beer tells you exactly what is what. The pumpkin flavor comes through but isn’t over powered by the Ennis, cardamom, cinnamon and other seasonal spices. I didn’t have the chance to get a good smell of the beer since this taste was from a sampling tent, but I did get the distinct smell of pumpkin and allspice from my shot, which gave me a really warm and homey feeling. I really enjoyed the balanced flavors of this ale, too many spiced ales are over powered by one or another spice and loses the infused flavors, Michigan Brewing Company did an excellent job crafting this ale. Screamin’ Pumpkin Spiced Ale is one of those seasonal brews that is like a comfort food, it connects memories through the various senses of taste and smell to remind you of those fun memories of Halloween.

• Drinkability – 5 out of 5
• Flavor – 4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4 out of 5
• Smell – 4 out of 5
• Overall – 17 out of 20
• ABV –?
• Style – Pumpkin Ale

Beer Review of the Week: Whitsun Ale by Arcadia Brewery

Whitsun is a good wheat beer, with a pronounced wheat body and notes of coriander. This beer reminds of Oberon, but with a much a stronger wheat flavor to it. I really enjoy this stronger base flavor, because this is wheat beer that does not need anything added, which is commonly done with Oberon. It poured out with dark golden color and gave off aroma notes of wheat and orange. One of the drawbacks I found to this ale was the lack of head and lacing, I prefer my ales to have a slight head to them because this keeps the beer colder a bit longer than those with no head, as is the case with Whitsun. Nevertheless, in the end a very tasty beer would be paired well with a nice porterhouse steak, baked potato and some sautéed beans to make a great summer or deep winter comfort food meal.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor – 4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3 out of 5
• Smell – 3 out of 5
• Overall – 10 out of 20
• Price – $8.99
• ABV – 6.2%
• Style – Wheat Ale

Beer Review of the Week: Flying Dog Road Dog Scottish Porter

The other night my wife and I had dinner with our friends and my friend pulled out a couple of Flying Dog Breweries Road Dog Porters. I really liked this beer because of its unique flavor; I loved the bitter-sweet flavor of this porter. Road Dog has a very dark malt color, which comes from the Black malt, the hops flavor in this beer is understated with the chocolate and coffee notes that give beer a really interesting mellow beer. This would be an excellent beer to pair up with a steak or other grilled red meat.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor – 5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3 out of 5
• Smell – 4 out of 5
• Overall – 16 out of 20
• Price – $9.99 a six-pack
• ABV – 6.0%
• Plato - 14⁰
• Style – Porter

Monday Beer Review of The Week: Tap Room 21

This week I tried Tap Room 21′s Pale Ale with one of our other reviewers, AlexisArlington which gave us mixed results about the beer. To be honest we had differing views on this beer, I thought it was middle of the road while my colleague thought it was an excellent beer. Therefore, we will dive right into it and let you be the judge of this pale ale. I poured it into a small glass to check color and aroma; I did like the color reddish amber color when it poured. However, it gave off very little aroma and almost no head which tells me two things, it has a weak flavor and will warm quickly. Now the real debate comes in the flavor profile, I thought the flavor of Tap Room 21’s Pale Ale was rather weak for the style, that the hopps and barely should have been more pronounced and that the yeast and grapefruit notes were too forward. However, Alexis really enjoyed those aspects of the beer, “if you are just getting into IPAs this is a good starting point”. This is definitely a good summer beer, but it is not a beer that either of us would sit back with and drink more than one. In the end, it comes down to the fact that each person needs to try it and decide for yourself.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 3 out of 5
• Flavor – 3 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3 out of 5
• Smell – 1 out of 5
• Overall – 10 out of 20
• Price –$7.99 per six pack
• ABV – 5.3%
• Style – Pale Ale

Monday Beer Review of The Week: Woodchuck Draft Cider

I must admit this week I was feeling a bit uninspired for beers this week, so I have deviated from our normal beer review and have opted for a hard cider this week. I chose one of the most common hard ciders, most people have heard of Woodchuck Draft Cider and from my experience not a lot of people have actually tried it. It often has the reputation of being a “foofoo” drink. But it does have some interesting flavors, since the primary ingredient is Granny Smith apples it has the bold refreshing taste of the apple. The sweetness of the apples helps to mask the alcohol flavor, now for some this may be but I do like that distinctive base flavor that the alcohol gives to the drink. I did enjoy drinking this cider, but I do not think that I will be returning to it as I have some of the other beers that I have reviewed on this site.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor – 4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3 out of 5
• Smell – 3 out of 5
• Overall – 14 out of 20
• Price – $7.99 per six-pack
• ABV – 5,0%
• Style – Hard Cider

Monday Beer Review of The Week: Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat

I have had a couple of different beers and ales by the folks over at Chicago based Goose Island Brewery. They produce a wide variety of ales from their Urban line to heavier stouts, all of the distinct and signature qualities about them that make them stand on their own. 312 Urban Wheat Ale is a very smooth ale with clean distinct wheat base with a aroma of hops and crispy fruit notes. I always enjoy the first sip of this ale as the pungent aromas give you a much fruitier flavor at the beginning, which then transforms to the smooth creamier flavors as progress through the drink. Given the smoothness of this drink, it is a great beer to enjoy by friends sitting around an outdoor dinner and can then progress into the evening. With an ABV of 4.2%, this isn’t a beer that is going to leave feeling heavy or tipsy at the end of the night, but will allow you drink a couple over the course of the night. During the summer and fall months, this would be excellent ale to enjoy with friends with a nice bonfire burning in the background.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 5 out of 5
• Flavor – 4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4 out of 5
• Smell – 5 out of 5
• Overall – 18 out of 20
• Price – $8.99 per six-pack
• ABV – 4.2%
• Style – Wheat Ale, Summer English Ale

Monday Beer Review of The Week: Budweiser Light Lime

I am a total skeptic about any of the Budweiser products, but I am a fan of their American Ale, so when a friend brought over a six pack of Budweiser Light Lime I thought I would give it a try. I must say that it actually had a good flavor to it and I was able to drink a couple of them with out getting that heavy “drinking with friends” feeling that can sometimes sneak up on you when you have had four of five beers. While the predominant flavor of this beer was the lime, the smoother rice and barley flavors were still present. I would have say this may become another of my “going out” beers, we all have two or three beers that we like that are fairly cheap at the our local watering hole, where we can have a couple of beers with our friends and not break the bank. This is definitely not the higher shelf beers that I have become accustomed to in recent years, but it doesn’t have have a bad taste, it is very smooth and I can live with the strong lime flavor as I am an avid Gin and Tonic drinker as well. This is actually a Budweiser lager that I would actually say is pretty middle of the road and a good bar standby beer, especially during these warmer summer months.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 5 out of 5
• Flavor – 3 out of 5
• Refreshness – 3  out of 5
• Smell – 2 out of 5
• Overall – 18 out of 20
• Price – $7.99 six-pack
• ABV – 4.2%
• Plato -
• Style – Pilsner Lager

Monday Beer Review of The Week: Samuel Adam’s Boston

This past weekend I ran across another of the Samuel Adam’s Brewmaster’s Collection of ales and lagers, Boston Ale. I have had a couple of beers from this series and have found them to interesting and quite tasty so I picked up a six-pack and took it home to sit on the back porch and try. I poured a sample into a glass and let it sit for minute; I drank it down and found the brew to be a very rich and smooth malt, hopps and wheat combination. It has the distinct classical brown ale characteristics of flavor, but with a hint of citrus on the back end of the pallet. As you work through the beer, the caramel undertones come out changing the flavor slight, personally, I really enjoy this transition; but many that I have spoken with do it so I will that decision up to you our loyal readers. Given and ABV of 5.35% it is not a beer that will knock you on your butt, but will allow you to have a couple during these warm summer evening with some friends. I am slowly working my way through the six pack of this brown ale, but is becoming very apparent that this will become one of seasonal favorites that will have to be kept in the beer fridge when it is on the store shelves.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 5 out of 5
• Flavor – 5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4  out of 5
• Smell – 4 out of 5
• Overall – 18 out of 20
• Price – $8.99 six-pack
• ABV – 5.35%
• Plato - 12⁰
• Style – Brown Ale

This past weekend I ran across another of the Samuel Adam’s Brewmaster’s Collection of ales and lagers, Boston Ale. I have had a couple of beers from this series and have found them to interesting and quite tasty so I picked up a six-pack and took it home to sit on the back porch and try. I poured a sample into a glass and let it sit for minute; I drank it down and found the brew to be a very rich and smooth malt, hopps and wheat combination. It has the distinct classical brown ale characteristics of flavor, but with a hint of citrus on the back end of the pallet. As you work through the beer, the caramel undertones come out changing the flavor slight, personally, I really enjoy this transition; but many that I have spoken with do it so I will that decision up to you our loyal readers. Given and ABV of 5.35% it is not a beer that will knock you on your butt, but will allow you to have a couple during these warm summer evening with some friends. I am slowly working my way through the six pack of this brown ale, but is becoming very apparent that this will become one of seasonal favorites that will have to be kept in the beer fridge when it is on the store shelves.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 5 out of 5
• Flavor – 5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4  out of 5
• Smell – 4 out of 5
• Overall – 18 out of 20
• Price – $8.99 six-pack
• ABV – 5.35%
• Plato - 12⁰
• Style – Brown Ale