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Today is Wednesday
February 22, 2012

Search Results Category: Beer Reviews

February 18, 2012

Newcastle Founder’s Ale: Sweet, Agreeable Pale Ale

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Imports — Tags: , — No Comments

Newcastle made a name for itself a long time ago when it introduced Newcastle Brown Ale to the world. Newcastle Brown isn’t the greatest brown ale, but it is still good and it is probably the most recognized name in its class. Today, Newcastle has branched out beyond the brown with four limited edition products. The latest one is Newcastle Founder’s Ale, a beer named in honor of the five founding breweries of Newcastle.

 

Beer Bio:

 

Style: English Pale Ale

Calories: 144 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 4.8 percent by volume

 
Looking at the basics, Newcastle Founder’s Ale pours to an amber/orange hue with a nose that combines biscuits, bread, a small amount of fruit, and a touch of peat. The body of the beer is completely clear and well- filtered and the foam level, while less than impressive, does maintain a thin layer as you consume. The flavor profile is pleasant, with tastes such as caramel, toffee, bread, and sweet malts. There is a toasted/roasted dimension to the malty component and the flavor offers a small amount of herbs and even a hint of pear.  

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is a pale ale by name, but it is brewed in the British tradition of a pale ale so it is quite different from the pale ales that American craft breweries have produced over the years. The flavor profile with Newcastle Founder’s Ale leans toward the sweet side with a touch of dryness in the end and with a lower bitterness rating than most examples of the pale ale style. Looking at the official numbers, this ale has a bitterness rating of just 20 IBU. This is not only less bitter than the typical pale ale, it is also less bitter than most other beers in the market.  

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is a little light on taste and doesn’t offer the full body common to many of the great English Pale Ale. This fact could win the product some fans, but also some criticism. The lighter body and easy- drinking style will be just fine with casual beer drinkers who want something smoother and less pronounced. But beer connoisseurs are likely to take issue with the lighter body and taste. I find the flavor profile intriguing due to the complex tastes of toffee, barley, fruit, caramel, and herbs, but I am also a little disappointed that the body is this light. In other words, I like what I taste, but I wish there was more of it.

Newcastle Founder’s Ale is one of four of Newcastle’s limited release products and, like the others, it is going to be available in the United States for only a set number of months each year. It will be sold in six packs and twelve pack from February, 2012 through April, 2012 to be followed by the other products in Newcastle’s limited edition series: Newcastle Summer Ale, Newcastle Werewolf, and Newcastle Winter Ale.  

Newcastle’s iconic Brown Ale is known the world over, but Newcastle Founder’s Ale will likely never grow to enjoy such a high level of name recognition due to its limited release status. Even if it was a year- round brew, I am not sure it would catch on with all beer fans for the reason cited above. Still, in spite of its flaws, it is still a good session beer and a nice, easy- drinking example of an English pale ale. It’s not the type of beer that will blow you away with its greatness, but it still has enough of the good qualities I expect in a beer to make it deserving of a try.

 

Rating: 6 cheers out of 10

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February 4, 2012

St. Arnold Weedwacker: The Yeast Makes the Difference

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Microbrews — Tags: , , , , , — No Comments

Hefeweizen- style beers enjoy millions of loyal fans and I can think of many who rate this German beer style as their number one favorite. Others find hefeweizen a little too far from the ordinary beer and avoid hefeweizen whenever possible, but there is one hefeweizen that may appeal to a larger audience due to its hybrid qualities. That product is St. Arnold Weedwacker, a newer beer from the St. Arnold Brewing Company.  


Beer Bio:

 

Style: Hefeweizen

Calories: 147 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 4.9 percent by volume.

 

Poured from a bottle, St. Arnold Weedwacker is yellowish in color with a somewhat cloudy, unfiltered body. A head of frothy white foam adorns the top of the beer and remains in place for a good amount of time, leaving some lacing as the beer is consumed. The nose on this beer is interesting, combining scents of citrus, yeast, wheat, and pilsner essence.

St. Arnold Weedwacker offers an unusual taste for a hefeweizen style of beer or any other style, for that matter. The flavor is like a combination of a pilsner and hefeweizen and it combines wheat, yeast, and earthy grain with a touch of lemon and banana. Some toasted notes and crispness are present in the body of the beer and the overall flavour is sweet overall, with only 15 IBU of hop bitterness.

St. Arnold Weedwacker is an unusual beer and it ranks as one of the newer products in the St. Arnold lineup. It was originally conceived as part of St. Arnold’s so-called “Movable Yeast” series, which was an educational effort to let people see and taste how different a beer could be when nothing was changed except the yeast strain. Weedwacker uses the same base recipe as St. Arnold’s Fancy Lawnmower, but replaces the Kolsch yeast of Fancy Lawnmower with Bavarian hefeweizen yeast. Everything else is the same, yet the tastes are quite different, proving the educational point of the Movable Yeast series: That yeast is an important contributor to the taste of beer and its influence is more pronounced than the average person realizes. Weedwacker made its point on an educational level, but also proved so popular with the public that it was added to St. Arnold’s regular rotation.

St. Arnold Weedwacker is an eminently quaffable beer and its flavor profile is actually a little smoother than Fancy Lawnmower. The yeasty qualities, wheat, low bitterness level, and other qualities make this beer a refreshing brew for a warm day and also a very good brew to consume with certain foods- especially breakfast foods such as eggs, sausage, and biscuits. I like this product, but at the same time, I can see how some consumers may have reservations about the taste. The chief complaint I anticipate from first- time samplers is the somewhat sour taste, followed by the unusual scent. Sourness, as most beer drinks will agree, is usually associated with an inferior product, but if you can get past the sour sensation and the odd nose, I think most will find this product to their liking.
St. Arnold Weedwacker is, overall, an interesting beer from St. Arnold and one I am certain to purchase countless times over the years to come. Its refreshing nature and hybrid style make it a unique entry from St. Arnold and one that most people- including both rookies and seasoned beer connoisseurs- will find to their liking.

 

Rating: 7 cheers out of 10

 

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December 8, 2011

Founders Porter: Sex in a Bottle

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic, Microbrews — Tags: , , , — No Comments

Think of Grand Rapids, Michigan and what comes to mind? If you draw a blank, you are not alone. Grand Rapids is a city with only minimal name recognition and even those who know the name are hard- pressed to discuss anything else related to this city in western Michigan. To the beer lover, however, Grand Rapids holds a special place in our hearts and palates, for it happens to be the location of one of America’s great craft breweries. The company is Founders Brewing and one of its many incredible products is Founders Porter.

 

Beer Bio:

 

Style: American Porter

Calories: Unknown

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 6.5% by volume

 

Founders Porter is a dark brown/black malt beverage with a heavy, thick body. A good pour directed toward the center of a glass will result in a beautiful head of tan foam that emits aromas of coffee, chocolate, and light spices that stimulate the senses and pique the curiosity.

 

Tasting Funders Porter is even more amazing. The assortment of taste sensations include roasted malt, mocha, caramel, nuts, coffee, woodiness, and some vanilla. There are some dark fruits in the finish along with roasted notes and a touch of hop bitterness. The body of the beer is creamy and robust and a final analysis shows a bitterness rating of 45 IBU.

Founders Porter is an amazing American porter and one of the best examples of its style I have tried in a long time. The silk, rich, tantalizing body of this beer and its many delectable taste sensations and a treat to behold, and it is the type of beer that just keeps on giving and continues to amaze with each passing sip.

 
Porters are a somewhat varied style and the unfortunate fact is that too many breweries make their porters a little too much on the light side. They seem worried that too much flavor will offend the average drinker, but what they fail to remember is that lovers of porter are usually beer snobs to begin with and, if anything, are likely to be offended by products that are too light. The people at Founders Porter wisely understand this and they brewed their porter as a standout in the crowd. And stand out it certainly does, with complexity and flavor that is unmatched by few other American porter.

My time with Founders Porter is over now, but the memories continue and I plan to live the moment again in the future on a more permanent basis. No more one night stand next time- I want Founders Porter with me, beside me, and to guide me ‘til death do us part.  It is a world- class porter all the way and it has set new standard for this style.

 

 

Rating: 10 cheers out of 10!

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December 1, 2011

Yuengling Light: Good Light Brew from America’s Oldest Brewery

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Beginners, Domestic — Tags: , , — No Comments

When you think about the taste of light beer, what is the first word that comes to mind? I have heard lighter brew referred to in many ways, but more often than not, the word of choice is “bland”. Light beers, as a whole, just don’t have much to offer in the flavor department and many feel the calories saved are not worth the taste sacrificed. However, there are some light beers that taste better than others and one good example is Yuengling Light, a low- calorie lager.

Yuengling Light

 
Beer Bio:

 

Style: Light American Lager

Calories: 99 per 12 oz. service

Carbs: 8.5 grams

Alcohol Content: 3.4 percent by volume


 
Yuengling Light is a beer that, based on appearance, seems exactly the way a light beer should be. The body of the beer has a golden/tan hue and a normal pour produces little to no foam. The aroma on this beer is light and sweet and while not offensive, doesn’t seem all that impressive. The taste, however, is a little better than the appearance would lead you to believe. Yuengling Light has a light caramelized malt flavor with a bit of a toasted character and very little hop taste. The body is light and the bubbly action keeps the beer at a refreshing level.

Yuengling Light lager has nothing unique to offer in terms of taste, but it has enough going for it to make it standout among other light beers. It is, as expected, a somewhat watered down (seemingly, based on taste) version of regular Yuengling. But Yuengling Light is actually a little better than the average light brew because the lightness factor is less pronounced. There is still some decent taste to be found in Yuengling Light, in contrast to other American light lager, which are often like yellow- colored water and seem very little like the regular beers they are supposed to represent.

Yuengling Light is a good option for those who count calories. It is one of the very few beer products with fewer than 100 calories per 12 oz. serving and since it does have more taste than average, consumers can save a few calories while not sacrificing a large degree of taste. I find it a little odd, however, that the product still has 8.5 grams of carbs because other light beer products with similar calorie levels have fewer carbohydrate grams. It also has a lower alcohol level than most. This combination of reduced alcohol and extra grams of carbs might explain why this light beer tastes better than others and still keeps the calories in check. 

Light beer is generally something I avoid, but Yuengling Light is a decent tasting light beer with a fair amount of character and some memorable moments. The direct taste of cereal grains and sweet caramelized malt are not necessarily anything special, but the flavor is, overall, better than other American light beer and it is certainly worthy of a try.

 

Rating: 6 Cheers out of 10

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November 17, 2011

Deschutes Jubeale will keep you warm and happy

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Breweries, Microbrews — Tags: , — No Comments

Winter is my least favorite time of the year, at least from a climate perspective. From dry skin to sinus problems to numb fingers, there is really nothing enjoyable about the feeling of cold air blowing against the body and I often count down the days to the return of Spring. There is, however, one redeeming factor for the winter season: Winter seasonal beer. These winter seasonal products are often spicy, warming, and often a little stronger than average. A good example of a winter beer that sets itself apart from the spice- enhanced winter crowd is Deschutes Jubelale, a winter ale.

Beer Bio:

Style: Winter seasonal ale

Calories: 216 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 6.7 percent by volume

 

Deschutes Jubelale is a reddish brown ale and a good pour produces a solid head of foam that sits proudly atop the medium to full body and leaves legs as you consume. The nose on this beer is enticing, with scents of dark fruit, spice, chicory, and a small amount of chocolate. The beer has a strong and pronounced  flavor with the taste of caramel malt up front, followed by raisins, prunes,  figs, a small touch of orange peel and a dab of butter. There is a spiced  finish and the hops, while generous, remain subdued by the malt, which helps to balance the overall flavor.

Deschutes Brewery is ranked among the ten top craft breweries in the United States and among the products I have tasted thus far, I have yet to find a bad one in the bunch. I actually had not yet tried Jubeale until now and given my past experience with Deschutes, my expectations were high. Jubeale, thankfully, didn’t fail me. It has a body, complexity, and alcoholic strength along the same lines as Deschutes Inversion IPA and I found it a very good beer for sipping purposes. It is fun to taste slowly, small amounts at a time, as you discern different flavor sensations.

Deschutes brews and sells its Jubelale from October through December each year and like other winter brews, it has a higher alcoholic strength than the average beer. One quality that sets it apart, however, from many winter brews is the lack of spicy emphasis. Yes, there is some spicy character here, but it doesn’t overwhelm. Jubeale relies more on its fuller, richer, more alcoholic body to qualify its winter beer status.

Winter is still my least favorite time of year, but one bright spot is winter seasonal beer and Deschutes Jubelale is certainly a winter brew worth seeking out during the cooler season. I like its balance and I like that it doesn’t try to distinguish itself through the use of excessive spices. Its complexity, medium to full body, and stronger flavor profile make it just right for the cooler time of year and a few bottles can easily help cure the wintertime blues.

 

 

Rating: 8 cheers out of 10

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November 10, 2011

Widmer Okto Festival Ale: An Oktoberfest? Not Really

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic — Tags: , , , — 1 Comment

Fall is still hanging on and will be officially with us for the next several weeks. This means there is still plenty of time to sample some of the many Oktoberfest/Marzen style beer products produced and sold by America’s craft breweries and one Fall beer  that is certainly worth a try- and not too difficult to find- is  Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale.

 

 
Beer Bio:

 

Style: German Altbier

Calories: Unknown

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 5.3% alcohol content

 
Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale is an amber/copper colored brew with a sweet, caramel nose. A moderate pour produces a nice amount of foam that leaves a good deal of lacing as you consume. Based on appearance, this beer easily scores several quality points.

 

Moving to the taste, Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale doesn’t disappoint. Multiple layers of complexity greet the palate with flavors that start with the taste of sweet, bready malts. Next, one can detect caramel followed by some fruity flavors such as citrus and even some dark fruit, like plums. The beer finishes with some floral hops and a long, pleasant aftertaste that is bread- like and highly enjoyable.  

Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale is a beer produced by Oregon’s Widmer Brothers, a craft brewery best known for its Hefeweizen. Okto Festival Ale is a step in a different direction; a seasonal beer that is promoted as a brew made for the cooler time of the year. A quick look at a fact sheet shows that this is not a true Oktoberfest/Marzen brew.  Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale is actually a German Altbier and is brewed using ale yeast. The not- quite- authentic nature of this beer might be a liability to some beer critics, but I can’t  hold this against  Widmer for one simple reason: Widmer doesn’t claim this beer  is Oktoberfest. Sure, the name leads you to believe that it is, but they don’t actually state this.

Widmer Brothers isn’t a brewery I rank among the all time greats, but considering that I have rated all of Widmer Brothers products as average or better, I must agree that Widmer Brothers does command respect. And Widmer Brothers Okto Festival Ale is a respectable beer; medium in body and with a good amount of character that doesn’t go too far in any direction. I recommended grabbing a six pack before the Fall season comes to a close.

Rating: 7 cheers out of 10

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October 13, 2011

Harpoon Octoberfest: Not True to Style, but Good

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic — Tags: , , , , — No Comments

Seasonal beers offer a nice change of pace from our usual brands and the fact that they are released on an infrequent basis adds to their anticipation and appeal. Since Fall is upon us, the seasonal beer for the moment is marzen style Octoberfest and one good tasting example is Harpoon Octoberfest, a seasonal beer from the popular Boston craft brewer.

 

Harpoon Octoberfest

Beer Bio:

Style: Marzen (Octoberfest) ale

Calories: Unknown

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 5.5 percent by volume

 
Harpoon Octoberfest is a ruby/copper colored beer with a nose that is enticing, combining scents of sweet malt, nuts, plums, and cherries. A good pour produces a good deal of foam that eventually settles down to a thin layer. The body of the beer is completely clear and this combination of qualities makes for some self- evident appeal to the visual and nasal senses.

Moving to the taste, Harpoon Octoberfest offers a good deal of complexity with flavors like bread, nuts, a small amount of chocolate, earthy notes, toasted malt, caramel, and fruit vying for attention. The beer is medium in body, a tad salty, and offers a mild bitterness. Harpoon brews it using Munich, pale, and chocolate malts along with willamette hops.
 
Harpoon Octoberfest has been around since 1990, but I havent tried it and, consequently, haven’t bothered putting my feelings to paper until this year. I see this product every year on the store shelves, but I haven’t reached for it until this year. Part of my reluctance is that I am not a huge fan of the Marzen/Octoberfest style. I have tasted many versions that simply missed the mark, but at the same time, I agree that there are some notable Octoberfest beers and so I decided to try Harpoon Oktoberfest and hope for the best.
Now that I have sampled a few bottles of Harpoon Octoberfest, I can say that this is a good tasting beer and one worth trying if you haven’t already. I found that I liked this beer a little more with each passing sip and I found it interesting in its complexity. I like the different combination of nutty, toasted malt, and caramel notes and I can agree that this is the type of Octoberfest that most will find acceptable at worst and very good at best.

Harpoon Octoberfest has its plusses, but it isn’t without a few faults and chief among them is the glaring fact that this beer is brewed as an ale and thus it isn’t a true representative of its style- a style that is traditionally brewed using lager yeast. Second, it is a little fruitier in taste than I prefer for this style. Among the Octoberfests I like, the reason I like them is usually due to their bready- like aroma and taste. This beer doesn’t have that nice, liquid bread character and isn’t really the best example of its style.

On the other hand, if you can get past the word “Octoberfest” on the label and rate this as a generic beer, you will find that this is a good malt beverage product.  I was a little offended at first that Harpoon decided to call this a marzen brew even though it is brewed as ale, but once I got past my purity standards, I found myself liking this product for what it is. It could be better if the recipe was tweaked just a tad, reducing the fruity component and increasing the taste of bready malts. But Harpoon Octoberfest is still a good tasting beer and a nice change of pace during the cooler time of the year.

 

Rating: 7 cheers out of 10

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September 27, 2011

Big Sky IPA: Smooth IPA from the Mountain West

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic, Microbrews — Tags: , , , , , — 2 Comments

Montana is, as we all know, a state in the Mountain West. Its population is low, there are no large cities, and it derives a good deal of revenue from tourism. But there is more to Montana than outdoor scenery- the state is also known for its craft brewing business and Missoula’s Big Sky Brewery is one that has enjoyed a good deal of national success. One of its many fine products is Big Sky IPA, a hoppy yet smooth brew. 

 
Beer Bio:

 

Style: American IPA

Calories: Unknown

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 6.2 percent by volume

 
Big Sky IPA is amber/orange in color and its well- filtered processing results in a clear, see- through body. The nose on this beer is caramel- like, spicy, and citrusy with some floral notes. A standard pour is all that is necessary to produce a noticeable head of foam and it leaves a generous amount of lacing as you drink.

Moving to the taste, Big Sky IPA has a flavor that emphasizes the spicy, citrus hops common to many IPA, with flavors of grapefruit, pine, orange peel, and even a touch of pineapple. A nice caramel- malt backbone holds everything together and provides some balance to the taste, even though it still leans toward the bitter side with 65 IBU.

Big Sky IPA is a tasty American style IPA, with a medium body and a slightly oily mouthfeel, Most people have likely not heard of this brewery, but Big Sky is making a name for itself and is aggressively distributing its products to more and more areas of the United States. Just recently, it showed up on the store shelves here in Houston, Texas, and having not seen it here before, I was instantly attracted and grabbed a six pack to go.  

Big Sky IPA is a memorable brew and one quality that will appeal to many is its lack of hop attitude. Now, I am fully aware that there are many hopheads out there who crave the bitter sensation that only a bold IPA can bring, but a milder IPA like Big Sky IPA does have its usefulness. It offers easy drinkability and is much smoother than most. Its malt contributions arrest the bitterness before they have a chance to become extreme and this makes it a good IPA for those who are not yet accustomed to the style or who have tried IPA in the past and have been scared away due to the extreme, hair- raising bitter flavor.

Big Sky IPA is, overall, a tasty IPA and one of the few examples of its style that is smooth enough to qualify as an everyday drinking type of beer. It isn’t easy to find, but if you happen to be within Big Sky Brewing Company’s distribution area, I recommend giving this beer a try.  

 

 

Rating: 7 Cheers out of 10

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September 11, 2011

Freestyle Wheat: Independence Brewing again Fails to Impress

by bryancarey — Categories: Beer Reviews, Domestic, Microbrews — Tags: , , , , — No Comments

Summer beers are usually oriented toward refreshment and more often than not, these products contain a percentage of wheat malt. One wheat- based brew made in the Lone Star State is Freestyle Wheat, a product from Austin’s Independence Brewery. 

 

Beer Bio:

 

Style: American Wheat Ale

Calories: 144 per 12 oz. serving

Carbs: Unknown

Alcohol Content: 4.9% by volume

Freestyle Wheat Beer is yellowish/golden in color with a slight chill haze. The carbonation in this beer is active and it forms a white head of foam that is short lived and leaves little or no lacing. The nose on this beer is sweet and grainy, with hints of spice and apple/citrus in the background.

 

Moving to the taste, Freestyle Wheat Beer offers flavors of sweet grain up- front, with a small amount of clove and other light spice coming through in the finish. There is only a small amount of bitterness and it quickly makes way for a return to the flavor of sweet malt in the aftertaste. The beer is brewed using American two- row pale malt and white wheat. The finished ale has a bitterness rating of only 18 IBU.

Freestyle Wheat is one of several products from Independence Brewing and, like other malt beverages from Independence, it is very average in overall quality. It does offer some decent refreshment qualities but it reminds me of other Independence Brewing products for one simple fact: It is just not that impressive. It is certainly an acceptable beer that most anyone will find agreeable enough to drink, but those who crave a complex craft beer with personality will find it disappointing.

 

I’m not one to add fruit to my beer, but Freestyle Wheat Beer has a taste and character that almost  seems to beg for an additive. There is a certain level of fruitiness to this beer and because it is so ordinary, it might actually be enhanced with a slice of lemon. This isn’t what most craft beer lovers want in a malt beverage- we usually want our beer to taste great all by itself- and it doesn’t say much for the underlying product. 

So, in summary, Freestyle Wheat Beer is an average beer from a company with mostly average products. It fails to impress, but it also succeeds at quenching thirst and it is the type of summer brew that most anyone will find at least good enough to finish. It isn’t a bad wheat beer, but it leans toward the boring side and isn’t a brand I am likely to seek in the future. 

 

 

Rating: 5 Cheers out of 10

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August 24, 2011

Reader share: Five Favorite Organic Beers

by nitengale32 — Categories: About Beer, Beer Reviews, Microbrews — Tags: , — No Comments

Excerpt . . . According to Mason Walker, author of Organic Beer Industry Flourishes, “In 2009, the organic beer sector more than doubled the $19 million in sales reported just four years prior in 2005.” But to simply say that a beer is organic can be confusing, as there are actually several different levels of organic certification. The highest of those levels is “100 Percent Organic,” which means that all ingredients and processing aids are organic. This is followed by “Organic,” which means that at least 95 percent of the ingredients and processing aids are organic. According to Brittany Dern, author of The Big ‘O’ – Defining Organic Beer, the other five percent is usually made up of the hops, since it can be difficult to find organic hops in great quantities. With this in mind, let’s take a look at a few examples.

Continue reading Five Favorite Organic Beers

 

Do you have a favorite beer, beer recipe or beer pairing you would like to share with Great Beer Now?  Then Contact Us we would love to hear from you.

 

 

 

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