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

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: 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

Beer Review of The Week: Left Hand Imperial Stout

The other weekend when the weather up here in Michigan was actually warm for a spell, Gino and I were sitting on the back porch after doing some furniture moving; but I digress. I had a 22oz of Left Hand Imperial Stout in my beer fridge, so we pulled that out and poured out two mugs of it and gave it a try. To be honest, I was quite surprised by the rich and pungent flavor of this brew. The barley flavor hits you first, but then is complemented with a rich coffee taste on the back-end of the flavor profile. With very little aroma your tongue feel as though something is missing from this brew, I prefer beers with an aroma, it helps you to draw out more of the subtler flavors by utilizing multiple senses. Finally the booze flavors hit and in this beer they are actually quite strong given the hearty alcohol content of the imperial stout. I would have this beer again, but I am not sure if I would buy it regular price or wait for it to be on sale.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 3 out of 5
• Flavor – 4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 2  out of 5
• Smell – 0 out of 5
• Overall – 9  out of 20
• Price – $7.99 22oz
• ABV – 10.4%
• Plato -
• Style – Imperial Stout

Beer Review of the Week: Southern Tier Imperial Chokolat Stout

Imperial Chokolat Stout is one of winter seasonal beers produced by Southern Tier Brewing Company. This is a chocolate twist on the traditional imperial stout, Chokolat starts out with a sweet chocolate taste on the front of the palette followed by the full richness of the stout base flavors. The stout’s base has a richness that gives the coffee like taste coming from the barley and roasted caramel brewing mash. Chokolat’s flavor profile gives this beer such a luscious and sweet taste that I would recommend this as a dessert beer. The sweetness would make this stout pair very well with chocolate or vanilla flavored ice cream or the light flavor of  crepe.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor – 5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 2  out of 5
• Smell – 5 out of 5
• Overall – 16  out of 20
• Price – $8.99 22oz
• ABV – 9.5%
• Plato - 195⁰
• Style – Imperial Stout

Michigan Brewing Co. Celis Grand Cru

I got this beer in a 12-bottle variety pack; this pack had a Celis Grand Cru, Celis Raspberry, and two other Celis beers. All four are labeled “Authentic Bavarian Style Ale.” Fortunately for me, there was only one of the Grand Cru. The color was VERY blonde and the appearance was very light and bubbly. In the glass it almost looked like a bubbly wine. Funny how things sort of look how they taste: This beer tasted just like a Chardonnay; very light, yet bold at the same time. It had a full, long finish and bitter aftertaste. I am not a fan.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 2 out of 5
• Flavor -3 out of 5
• Refreshness – 2 out of 5
• Smell – 3 out of 5
• Overall – 10 out of 20
• Price – Part of a 12-bottle variety pack, $19.99
• Style – Michigan Brewed, Authentic Bavarian-Style Ale

Monday Beer Review Of The Week: Heineken Light

I have been a fan of the Heineken lager for many years now, to be honest it a great beer to have while you are out at a place that maybe sketchy on its beer selection, because Heineken always puts out a consistently great lager that goes well with most dishes. This week, I am reviewing a beer that I ran across completely by accident, because one of my brother-in-laws bought and popped it into the frig while we were on vacation. Heineken Light is really the same flavored beer as the regular; however, it is lower in calories. This is one of those rare findings a light beer with the same flavor as the original, but let us moves on to the actual flavor it. Heineken Light has a very distinctive hopps flavor found in many pilsners, but at the end, it has a hint of sweetness that is very refreshing. Heineken Light is a good beer, but it is a very good light beer and one that I would have at a bar I did not know every well.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor – 3 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4 out of 5
• Smell – 3 out of 5
• Overall – 14 out of 20

Info:

• Price – $8.00 six pack
• ABV – 3.5%
• Plato -
• Style – Pilsner Lager

Beer Review Of The Week: Dragon’s Milk

This week’s post is one of those “better late than never” moments, hey we have all had times like that. So I was looking around my local beer monger shop and ran across Dragon’s Milk ale, which is part of New Holland’s High Gravity series of beers. This stout style of beer is not your typical stout ale, while it does have the rich dark flavor profile akin to the classic stout Guinness, Dragon’s Milk has a sweet component to it and it is this sweet and rich combination that really builds a layered and complex profile. The richness of the classic malt flavors, combined with the sweetness of vanilla and milk have built a very unique taste sensation. According to New Holland these flavors are then aged in oak barrels in the same way that whiskey is; allowing the flavors to pick up a hint of that sweet oak taste so many of us love in good whiskey. When poured into a glass, Dragon’s Milk pours with a very dark almost black rich color, but does lack the typical stout heavy head and honestly this is my only drawback about this beer, I would have liked to see a bit stronger of a head to keep the cold while I am working on it. Normally, I would recommend a food to pair a beer with however this is one I would recommend drinking on its own, I say this because the complex flavors I don’t think would pair well with most foods, however those of you that are brave might try pairing this with a slightly sweet desert, possibly a canole or crepes.

Rating:

• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor -5 out of 5
• Refreshness – 4 out of 5
• Smell – 3 out of 5
• Overall – 16 out of 20
• Price – 12oz Single – $5.00, 22oz Growler – $14.00
• ABV – 8.5%
• Plato - 23⁰
• Style – American Stong Ale

Monday Beer Review Of The Week: Roscoe’s Hop House Amber Ale

Roscoe’s Hope House Craft Ale series has been a favorite subject of mine lately, a couple of weeks ago I reviewed Roscoe’s Pale Ale, which was a very full-bodied, yet smooth ale. This week, I am reviewing their Amber Ale, which has a very dark red color that almost peeks into a brown. The flavor is a deep malty richness followed by caramel undertones with a just subtle hint of hops; this crafted beer is very much a throwback to the classic styles of ales. I really like this beer because it very well balanced between the flavors to build a nice, yet complex flavor profile. This would be a great beer to have with a nice porterhouse steak, some greens a piece of crusty bread.

Rating:
• Drinkability – 4 out of 5
• Flavor -4 out of 5
• Refreshness – 5 out of 5
• Overall – 13 out of 15