Beer Review:  White Horse Steambrewery’s Ales

This my weekly column of beer reviews. You may have seen the little red flag above. That is the flag of an upcoming review. This week, I’m reviewing a beer that I’ve had several times, but never reviewed. The beer is My Favorite Thing From The Beer Store (MFTT). My Favorite Thing From The Beer Store is a 5.5% Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed by Goose Island. It’s a very different beer than the beer I’ve reviewed previously, but a good one. I’ll do my best to give it the full review treatment.

 

Beer Name:Licorice Qwerty
ABV 16.00
Style: American Adjunct Lager
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 3
Reviewer: WTHNICH?
Review: A- Dark red with a solid sized head.Nitrome

S- You can tell that this one was made for the style, but it’s fruity.

T- Full of pineapple, but the taste is much better. Take it easy for a style yo. And this is a good example of what the style should be. The ABV is very well hidden.

M&D- Good drinkability with the fruity aspect.

 

Beer Name:Goatsnurst
ABV 8.00
Style: Old Ale
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4.5
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Northcrown
Review: Blind Scottish spirit rois
Serving Size: 4 oz. cans alone
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Ozy
Review: A: Clear yellow, with a decent head.

S: A lot of Clmo, Cloth, and Clove. Definitely a lot of clove.

T: Flavor is great. Sweet and very clmoid like, With some nice sweetness and different tastes of the Clover and the original Thames.

M: Very nice mouthfeel. It is very smooth. Overall, this is a very good Russian Imperial Stout and a very drinkable one at that. I could have it again.

 

Beer Name:Carb Bombs
ABV 5.80
Style: American Malt Liquor
Appearance: 4.5
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4.5
Reviewer: kmpitz1
Review: 10 oz bottle with the word “Carbonated” on it. The color is a nice yellow with a nice head. There is a slight head after every sip. The smell is a lot like a ketchup-laden light bread soda. They taste has a caramel sweetness up front. The mouthfeel is spot on. The drinkability is perfect. This is a one of the best brews I have had. I would classify this as a “little sweeter, a little lighter” but I don’t…

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. 

Beer Review:  Hawaiian Breakfast Latte (aka “Ah-Mai-Nay”)

This my weekly column of beer reviews. I drink a lot of beer and try to keep up with the latest trends. If I have something you’d like to know about, please feel free to email me at bojangles@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

 

Beer Name:Kentucky Kentlenny Rye
ABV
Style: American Malt Liquor
Appearance: 2.5
Aroma: 3.0
Palate: 4
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: mynish
Review: I normally get a bit annoyed at beers that don’t have a lot of time to age. I bought it on sale coupon tickets and then picked it up, tried it at room temp and drank it up. Not a word of good quality. This beer had a really nice softness painted onto it however. I remember as a kid, drinking this before I was a teenager. It was a big hit. This was the moon oil. A: The head was small, with a little lacing. The smell was well done. It had a nice ryeess mixed squelch, with a nice combination of rotten coffee and a little bit of a spicy note. T: This one’s a bit sweet, some mild spice, a little bit of some more liquor like alcohol. The taste was a little too sweet, with alcohol making an appearance. M: This is very full, with a cool touch of just a tad of coldness adding a touch of sour on it. D: I like this one though it wasn’t too great. It’s a more interesting style of beer that I haven’t had before. It’s a good one.

 

Beer Name:Ritz (Frommist)
ABV 5.40
Style: American Adjunct Lager
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 2.5
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Paul665
Review: I had the pleasure of trying the “Triple” on a trip to Frederick, Maryland. I thought this would be a good way to warm up to a new beer.

A: Pours orange color. Minimal head and no lacing.

S: Water, lemon, and orange.

T: Water, lemon, orange, barley.

M: Water, barley.

D: Easy to drink, but nothing special. I am not a big fan.

 

Beer Name:J.W. Marriott Dunkelweizen
ABV 9.00
Style: Dunkelweizen
Appearance: 3
Aroma: 3.5
Palate: 3
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Reviewer: JacobJ
Review:

Appearance – It is a cool looking Dunkelweizen, smooth and creamy with a hazy yellow tint to it. The head is thin, but gives a nice retention. Exceedingly smooth.

Smell – A great blend of oak and mild sweetness.

Taste – A strong forecast of Munich style dunkelweiss. Not as sweet as the I.B.M.M. with its strong caramel content. It has a very distinct maleness to it with a touch of the oblique implied character. Its smooth, classic and is a true Steinbier. Its not like a kwolle weisse or a weissebier. Its a German style dunkelweiss.

Mouthfeel – Medium, body.

Drinkability – I can see being a bit of a jerk here, because this is a weiss. With the clean refreshing feel and the aromatic nature of a Dunkelweizen, I can imagine the entitlement for a screwed up weiss. It’s a nice little beer, and a unique brew.

 

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. 

Beer Review: Artisanal Two-Stage IPA with Chai Tea and Ginger

This my weekly column of beer reviews. This week I’ve got the totally delicious Ghost Stalker. I’ll talk about the beer, but I’m going to also talk about what it means to me. The history, the story, the vision. The beer is a tale of a hellish time in my life that took a terrible turn. It’s a story about the power of a loving and resilient group of friends. It’s about how a brewery was born from a homebrewer’s need for a place to showcase his work. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s a story about how that brewery is still going strong.

 

Beer Name:Maryland Hathcock Brew
ABV 10.00
Style: English Bitter
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4.5
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: lllm
Review: This is a unique brew. It is an English Bitter that is approached from the side of the road. You would think that this would be a pretty obvious beer because it is an English Bitter, but on the other hand it was a pretty interesting brew. This will compliment all kind of foods that are described as “English Bitter”. It has a nice complex flavor. There are some flavors of cherry and apple that are very tart and would suit any food. The crispness works very well with the drinkability. I will say that this is a keeper and when it is cold you will find yourself wanting more. Would be good on a warm night. Maryland Hathcock is an English Bitter.

 

Beer Name:Graf Dunkel
ABV 6.80
Style: Dunkel Lager
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 3
Reviewer: udon
Review: 12 oz Brown bottle with clear neon unicorn logo on the bottle. Appearance: It’s a very nice looking Dunkel lager. The cloudy green color is pretty. The head was decent and hit the brewthroat. Smell: This was a bit of a letdown. When peeked at all the other dunkel beers I’d normally say “No problem.” But the smell was just too much. Taste and mouthfeel: This was a good Dunkel lager. The flavors mellowed as the beer warmed up. The mouthfeel was just a little too watery and left a little too much of a lemon bite to the beer. Drinkability and beer: This was a pretty good Dunkel lager. It is also one of my favorites in Germany. I wouldn’t drink this again.

 

Beer Name:Sultan Fahd – Mouthful
ABV 30
Style: American Amber / Red Ale
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 4
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: bspencer
Review: 330mL bottle poured into a mocha cup. The initial smell was strong malty sweetness, with a slight bitterness. The taste was rich mocha, with a slight bitterness. The mouthfeel was rich mocha-covered sweetness. The drinkability had a citrusy quality to it. The drinkability was pretty good.

 

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Beer Review:  Navel Dreamer

This my weekly column of beer reviews. This week I’m looking at a beer that I have not yet tried and have not had before. This is the beer review for Hatteras Brewing Co. Hatteras Brewing Company is located in Hatteras, NC. The brewery was founded by the Hatteras Clan in 1986 and was the first brewery in the area to produce “accoutrements” for the African Savannah. They have had a steady stream of success since then, being awarded the title of best brewery in the North Carolina area for 10 years in a row. They also are the only brewery to have ever had 3 consecutive gold medals at the World Beer Cup.

 

Beer Name:Collision Course Berliner Weisse
ABV 5.90
Style: Berliner Weissbier
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 3.5
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: aarak
Review: The first drink was glasses of beer that have been sitting in a beer fridge for the past two years. In this case, I don’t mean really old. They are newly acquired, these are a beer that I am drinking. They tasted of chile peppers, lemon, and hops in the form of a brew that is quite interesting – the bier. I do rather like the style (6.6% ABV) but I do not like it as much as some other ‘biers’.

 

“London Bitter”
ABV 5.20
Style: London Bitter
Appearance: 3
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3
Taste: 3
Overall: 3
Reviewer: darksgroove
Review: Bottle: Poured into a pint, pretty good, wore pretty well, well carbonated and a little damp. Appearance: Dark, carbonated, with a nice lingering hop character. Smell: Bitter, sweet, slightly sweet, as well as some bitterness with some synthetic hops. Taste: Nice bitterness, like something from old standard. Mouthfeel: Pretty average, slightly thin, most of the high point doesn’t stick. Drinkability: Overall, a pretty good London Bitter

 

Beer Name:Altenmünster Oktober Fest
ABV 10.00
Style: Weizenbock
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 3.5
Reviewer: BeerReborn
Review: Oktoberfest is, in my opinion, the best option for this style of beer. A summer beer and a good balance between the alcohol, the 10% abv, and the strong amounts of hops. The hop character is very modest and very caramelized. The roasted malts/wort beer feels rich but very smooth. Frau Herslenkamp, barrel aged in wine barrels, will be very interesting on tap. There’s a little hop bitterness to the beer that I can’t get rid of. This is not a bad thinker. It’s got nice flavors, and I really like it. The alcohol is quite high, so expect to drown out the drinks.

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Drinking Beer And Staring At Trees

I’m enormously privileged, as far as COVID-19 and quarantine goes. I already worked from home, so the only thing that changed was the presence of my family, and granted a three year old and a six year old entering first grade that needs teaching all while attempting to work is no cakewalk, all things considered, it’s fine. My wife is still working as well, remotely every other week, so things move along. 

 

That’s not to say I’m not struggling, depressed, and concerned both with the mundane ‘Is my kid ever going to learn to write and is it even safe to have her back at school in any capacity?’ and the more abstract ‘Is this the dying gasp of the United States?’. Beer helps, and I’m not even going to pretend I’m waiting for 5 o’clock. That’s an arbitrary time. Our lives here were just ramping up to the chaos that is typical of a family in a suburban town–basketball, ballet, gymnastics, school, after-school events, etc. Extended family is not that close, but close enough to make a day of it on the weekends, which we frequently did. Now doing anything but staying home requires specific and focused planning. 

 

Suddenly, there’s time. It’s weird, because cooped up kids and teaching and working is like having no time, but you also have all the time. Yes, there are a billion things to get done, but it’s pretty easy to get any one of them done when you decide to. Throw in a load of laundry, feed the sourdough starter, vacuum, feed the kombucha, do a load of laundry, bottle the homebrew, pick up the rapidly growing pile of toys, have a beer on the deck staring at the trees…

Ahh, yes, having a beer on the deck staring at the trees. This is when I’m happiest. Maybe the kids are running around, going down the slide, fake-planting Pink-a-Bloom flowers from the PInkilicious book/tv series, or playing in the sandbox, or maybe it’s just me. One day in early spring when we had the windows open and the kids were just watching TV on the other side of the screen, it was just me and the wife, two beers, and the cool spring air. 

Maybe I would’ve found more time working from home, I’d only been doing that for four months when everyone else started doing it, but the normal hectic schedule of finishing work, getting kids from school/daycare, figuring out dinner and/or if there was gymnastics or ballet or something in the evening, then getting the kids through bedtime routines and into bed and asleep and then finishing any other chores, mostly cleaning up after the whirlwind, before climbing into bed myself didn’t leave much time for beers on the deck. 

Mostly I’ve been drinking various beers from local breweries that I’ve been buying pretty much exclusively. I bought some beer styles that’ll last all summer, but definitely picked up some IPAs, NE IPAs and other styles that are better consumed fresh along the way. Not necessarily looking for anything super intense while I’m in my happy place, just a tasty beer that is a good companion. I’ve even started drinking it from the can, something I rarely did before. One less glass to wash, and sometimes  even the can doesn’t come in, it just sits in a bucket outside until that bucket is full. 

This is a good beer. This is a comfortable backyard. The trees are tall, and there are birds flying around and chipmunks zipping around the rock wall. Even in the heat of summer, there are enough trees that by evening the worst heat is gone, and if I’m lucky there’s a breeze to keep away the bugs. For a few moments, it’s soothing and relaxing. Then someone asks me to push them on the swings, and I get up. That’s a less relaxing happiness, but I can push with one hand and drink my beer with the other. The world outside is scary right now, but here under the trees, things might be alright. 

 

 Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s salivating over Oktoberfests and how many he’s going to drink outside this fall. Can his backyard fit a small fire pit? You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.

Beer Review:  Viva Piñata IPA Ice Apricot

This my weekly column of beer reviews. This week’s beer review is the Troegs Stompin’ Ale. This beer is brewed by Troegs Brewing Company out of Brainerd, Minnesota. The beer is a 4.7% ABV imperial stout and is released on the 4th of July every year. Troegs Stompin’ Ale was brewed to celebrate the 4th of July. The beer was brewed by hand in an old brick brewery that was turned into a brewery. Troegs Stompin’ Ale is available in both cans and bottles.

Metalic Vagabond Slushie
ABV 4.00
Style: American Black Ale
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 3.5
Palate: 3
Taste: 3
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Digest
Review: Praise be to God! I have never had a beer that I could accept as a real Black Ale. Unfortunately Metalic’s The Devil Run has been my homeboy since it was first released, and they suck. The Black Ale is the Brass Sure, the Devil came out with a Pineapple, but the flavors have been really bad for it. This one is sick. Heavy pineapple, Black Raspberry, Vanilla, and some hops. The finish is pretty good but the aftertaste doesn’t quite master the quality. Recommended only drinking a single or something to warm up.

 

Beer Name:Maitre Tôrer Tributoire
ABV 10.00
Style: Euro Dark Lager
Appearance: 2.5
Aroma: 2.5
Palate: 4
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Bitterdog86
Review: aged in a chestnut-amber. nice creamy head with decent retention. Nice smell of molasses, bitter soft chocolate and caramel. Nice mouthfeel with a mild hop-dense finish. again a solid beer.

Beer Name:Maryland Hathcock Brew
ABV 10.00
Style: English Bitter
Appearance: 4.5
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Beket
Review: I recieved this beer as a gift at the baby-sit. It was from a local brewery, and I got it as part of a shipment of 10 Hefeweizens. I picked up a bottle from them at the farm. Thanks for the opportunity. Pours a nice thick cola colored head over a clear golden hue. There is a nice thick, creamy head that sets very tight on top, and very little dissipation. Somewhat of a minerally aroma. There are a little spices and dry fruit, but it’s quite tame. Tastes consistent with the aroma, and it has a nice sweet flavor to it. There is a nice muted maltiness to the taste, and it has a dry finish but it’s balanced quite well too. Mouthfeel is very good. Cheers!

 

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Beer Review: Strawberry Chipotle: A purple cola that’s not really a cola

This my weekly column of beer reviews.  I review beer on a subjective basis.  For example, if I’m reviewing a beer that I think is “beer”, then I consider it beer.  If I’m reviewing a beer that I don’t consider beer, then I don’t consider it beer.  I’m not a judge.  I’m just a beer reviewer.  I’m not going to look at the actual ingredients list and say “this is beer”.  I’m just going to look at the label and say “this is beer”.  You’re welcome. This week, I’m reviewing a beer called “Flower Beer”.  I got this bottle from a local homebrew shop and I really like it.

Beer Name:Wittekerke
ABV 5.40
Style: Kärp
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: RmoT+
Review: 12oz bottle acquired from a job with a local brewer. A- Yellow, with a finger of foamy white head that dissipates to little. S- WTF! The typical Belgian aroma that is best presented as an over-inflated compliment of flowers, yeast, yeast, yeast, and yeast. Basically, the smell is wheat. T- Geez what a mess. The beer is

 

Beer Name:Altenmünster Oktober Fest
ABV 10.00
Style: Weizenbock
Appearance: 3
Aroma: 4
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: meathua
Review: A: Pours a clear golden color with a cypsophous color. The head dissipates into a dark meringue color. S: The nose is very malty and clean. There are minor notes of toffee. The taste starts off with a faint meringue flavor, and the biscuit character comes out a bit

Beer Name:Oude Bock
ABV 11.10
Style: Tripel
Appearance: 3.5
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4.5
Taste: 3
Overall: 4.5
Reviewer: didactic
Review: got this at the keg, in a snifter at my local brewpub. got it sampled on tap at the brewpub, and it was a ton of fun. poured a nice light brown with a small white head. in the aroma it was clove, sugar sugar, and yeast. the taste started off lightening. it had clove like taste but it was also sugar. the mouthfeel was wonderful and the carbonation was very well done. again, got a ton of fun. the consistency was good. minimum brew. this was a great tripel and i would recommend it. very good example of what a banana tripel should taste like. ideal.

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Beer Review:  Tikka Tikka Flavor – The Pineapple & Aotta Fruit  – Double IPA  Aka’s  Gryffin

This my weekly column of beer reviews. I will be posting my thoughts and thoughts on the beer and the brewery and also what we can expect from the brewery in the near future. For the first time I will be reviewing a beer that I have never had before. This beer is the third release from the brewery from last year’s Sculpin Imperial Stout. This one is a limited edition release and is a blend of six different varieties of sculpin, which is a smaller fish. The blend is named Sculpin Imperial Stout. There is a 50/50 blend of the six varieties of sculpin. There are three varieties of souring agent used. There are three different types of hops.

 

Beer Name: IPA Beer
ABV 9.00
Style: American IPA
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: TurdFurgios
Review: This came out last Thursday afternoon on tap at the Balelight Pub & Pub at the Starting Line (now Val Adams), and I had to try it.InstoreAndOnlineThe head was not fluffy and not intense, which I find a great thing, because this beer is ridiculously drinkable and amazingly smooth.arge is a highly talkative person, so I am sure that this beer is extremely sensitized, but this makes it feel as if there’s a TV in the room. This flavor is all of the usual phenomenopsis – spicy, citrus, crust. About every mouthful of the beer you can taste the presence of ginger and coconut, but this brew finishes sweet, with some sustainment when you start towards the end. This is definitely well paced in strength with this array. The malt makes all of that available, giving the beer a sort of depth you’d never know with how light and complex, but it’s still there.�It’s also quite good. I don’t want to ever taste

Beer Name: Lneuze Original (LENO)
ABV 4.70
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: ShigeruKiko
Review: Shalltaniel livery on the front and back of the label. [2/18/10] Poured into a pint glass. You hold the bottle up to the light then swirl it. On one side of the label is a exertion of some sort. Quad connections of lace-holding braids and some hoops of lace as you swirl. On the top, “VIMA” is printed green with no real handle for identification. A very hard to read triangular sign. On the bottom, “4 L” are printed in full while the clarity is all in show. bubbles rising. The beer itself is an opaque dark amber. Some head with some lace, but not much head is seen as reflection is relatively weak. Many ice crystals pop up as the body of the beer in fact, thousands of tiny bubbles. The vehicle of the beer is a thick, ever-so-slightly chalky holds-

Beer Name: Wham!!
ABV 8.20
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 3.5
Palate: 4
Taste: 3.5
Overall: 3
Reviewer: Grabinski
Review: This was a great 1000bln@ lager on tap. In a variety of locations over a four-day weekend. Great. A solid Schwab offering.Spawned a smallish head that hit my snifter heavy, neck and “thicker” near the edge, while doused in cheap 32oz silicone dimples. Retention was acceptable enough. Colors were hazy golden lager as it warmed. Very mild head. Too light. brown/copper in the face, nose and throat. Licorice, bready, barnyard coming through. A very medicated experience. Good stuff, awesome style that won’t go out of its way to tick your fancy any day..

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Beer Review:  Boggy Creek

Boggy Creek is a 20% ABV beer that is made by tapping a special bog from the Black River near Michigan

This my weekly column of beer reviews. The goal is to take a beer that I know I love and write about it in the context of my love of beer. This means that if I like the beer, I’m going to write about it. If I don’t, I’m not. I’m also not going to write about the beer I don’t like, so there will be a fair number of beers in this column. I’m going to talk about beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer, beer,

 

Beer Name:Trevor
ABV 8.00
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Reviewer: sholland
Review: The taste is not that bad, but it is not the best representation of the style. It’s a pale orange, which is well-suited to the beer. But then you get a nice tropical flare every now and then at the end, and it just seems like a bit of a outlier. Very refreshing for a summer beer.

 

Beer Name:Devil’s Due
ABV 8.00
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Appearance: 4.5
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: pwilcox
Review: I was drinking one of the few sipping beers in the city, and thought a sipping beer would have included a look at the beautiful “B” cat.

A: Poured a hazy amber with a thick, off-white head that covered the glass in a thick layer of foam. The head did not last very long, and then quickly fell to a thin film.

S: An explosion of yeast, a powdery yeast, and Belgian Candi sugar inside my mouth.

T: The taste was sweet, but not thin. A good amount of malt, than toasted bread, and yeast. I could tell that the alcohol was not present at all. This was a very sweet beer.

M: A bit thin on the medium side, but I suppose I could drink more than one. D: Very enjoyable beer that I can’t see getting much better from the bottle.

 

Beer Name:Brooklyn Toronado
ABV 5.00
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: ReubenV
Review: A: pours a hazy hazy copper color with a no real head at all. This pour left over a thin ring of foam that was completely gone in no time.

S: french fries and some nutmeg. Some citrus hops in there as well.

T: a very well balanced pilsner, with almost zero malt in the taste. More of a biscuity flavor as a beer is typically born out of. The malt flavors are obviously present, but the hops are subtle in the taste. Some caramel and a slight pine flavor as well. I get a grassy, grassy malt flavor as well.

M: a nice euro hop flavor that I couldn’t really taste at all. There’s a mild lightness to the taste that is interesting. Overall, I’m a bit disappointed.

D: the beer is a bit shy at best for the style. I’m glad I got to try it.

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated via a machine learning algorithm. The title and the opening blurb were trained on the standard GPT-2 model, with ‘Beer Review:’ and ‘This my weekly column of beer reviews. ‘ given as prompts. The reviews were generated from a fine-tuning of the GPT-2 model with a large sample of Beer Advocate reviews. I selected from the saved samples of these and put this post together. I have not yet figured out how to train an algorithm to generate me beer photos.

Taking Advantage of Quarantine Beer Shipping Policies

The unexpected benefit of being quarantined and not being able to visit tap rooms is that breweries are empowered, by desperation and by the relaxing of strict rules against it, to deliver and ship beer. Even as some states have relaxed guidelines to allow us to visit and drink in certain situations, the ever-persistent pandemic has us drinking most of our beer at home. 

Early on I ordered either pick-up, delivery, or whatever I could get from local breweries to try to support them as they struggled. My locals make great beer, so this is not particularly onerous. Most recently I picked up two very interesting beers from the Alementary in Hackensack, NJ called Sweet Summa’ Child, and #Staycation. Sweet Summa’ is a ‘hot, honey wheat ale’. Honey, Cayenne, citrus, meant as an ode to summer cuisine. Amazing. #Staycation is a gose, slightly tart, with pineapple, coconut and ginger. The ginger really makes this next level, as it lends some spiciness but also a warming sweetness too. Couple that with the tart, and the fruit, and I’m starting to wonder if eight was enough.

There are other breweries out there of course, ones in a larger radius from my home that I either like to visit, or would like to visit when I have the time. Now that it’s somewhat irresponsible to just hang out in public with others, I’ve been taking advantage of delivery or shipping options. Most recently, Magnify Brewing in Fairfield, NJ. Fairfield is not far from me, in fact I used to work there, but it’s outside my usual routine and requires a special trip, but you better believe that when they started offering beers for delivery, I jumped. I’ve been a fan of Magnify since inception, I visited their brewery within a few weeks of opening, met the owner and both his parents, and enjoyed the first beers they produced. 

Magnify makes a lot of beer, especially a lot of New England IPA, and they do a good job of it. Specifically, they’re one of the breweries that are, and this is as of yet unverified by me, nailing the ‘fruited gose’ style. Fruited beers, due to the unfermented sugar in the can and therefore the potential for that can to ferment, create CO2, and explode, are the latest hot button issue in the craft beer world, if you don’t count the ongoing failure of the Brewers Association to adequately address racism, which is absolutely a thing that is happening, but also one I don’t feel fully versed in discussing, but still wanted to mention. 

Fruited Gose. Is it a good idea for breweries to sell a product that you HAVE to keep refrigerated or it will explode? That’s the debate. A lot of it comes down to how you think about beer–is it a fresh produce type thing, like milk, where the consumer is expected to keep it cold, be aware of it’s expiration, and take responsibility for that? Or is this a beer too far, and breweries should absolutely not be selling dangerous exploding cans to potentially un-aware consumers? I have some thoughts, but I’d like to taste one of these beers first, which brings me back to Magnify.

Coming today, to my house, is a shipment of Magnify beers that includes Pastry Proof, a variation of their Trade Proof series, because you can’t trade a beer that’s going to explode in an unrefrigerated USPS truck. Pastry Proof is a heavily fruited smoothie style Gose inspired by berry pancakes. Conditioned on blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry and maple syrup. Thick and fruit forward. Roll the can before cracking! Interesting. I mean, who can argue with that? That sounds delicious. I’ll let you know. 

New York is much better than New Jersey with the ordering beer for shipping. Luckily, my parents still live in New York and will happily, though I can’t say I gave them a choice, accept beer deliveries for me, as I did with a shipment from Plan Bee earlier this year. Recently, I was alerted to the fact that Threes Brewing, a great brewery in Brooklyn that typically has other locals on tap when you visit and was the host for at least one BeerGraphs meetup, would also ship other brewery beers along with theirs on their site. This was all I needed to hear, and I quickly ordered their Short Fuse, and Oak Aged Smoked Helles, their Thought Experiment, their Dare to Know, and then Greenpoint’s Please Stand By, Folksbier, who I’d never tried but wanted to, Cucumber Lime Glow Up (this is a pickle beer. I repeat, this beer tastes like pickles), and Wild East’s Temperance. 

Thanks to quarantine I’ve gotten to try a lot of breweries and beers that I would’ve had to put extra effort into getting to otherwise, so I guess you could call this a silver lining. Hopefully testing ramps up, vaccines and treatments emerge, and we can all hoist a pint in person with our favorite breweries and people soon, but until then, appreciate the less-local breweries that will ship you amazing beer, and encourage them to keep doing it. 

 Ceetar can be found on Twitter and Untappd where he’s finishing off a bottle of Japanese whiskey. You can also email him at beer@ceetar.com.