Tag: review

Beer Review:  F2X – The Canadian Muscle

This my weekly column of beer reviews. I’m excited to share some of my favorite beer with you, and to talk about the things that matter. It’s a reflection of my personal thoughts on the things that matter.
This week’s review: MASSIVE HOPS
So what does it say about me that I’d choose to drink a beer made with giant hops? That’s the big question I’m trying to answer with this beer. MASSIVE HOPS is a Golden Ale brewed by Bell’s Brewery.

 

Beer Name:Hofbräu Munich Kriek
ABV 4.50
Style: Munich Helles Lager
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4.5
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: stokebeer
Review: A: Clear, straw gold with a thin, foamy white head. Good lacing. S: Mosaic and malty, with spice and malt in the background. Some dryness as well. T: Spice and malt take the lead at first. Thigh hot taste is followed by an over-the-top malted malt flavor. Light body and a dry finish follow. M: Medium-thick body, dry finish with a crisp, floral finish despite the massive malted flavor. D: This is a very refreshing, tasty, and drinkable lager. Overall a good example of the style.

 

Beer Name:Lac Du Bay Beer
ABV 5.00
Style: American Brown Ale
Appearance: 4.5
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: xylophonica
Review: The beer is a deep brown color with a massive frothy white head. The nose is of caramel malt and grassy hops. The taste is of caramel malt and grassy hops. The rest of the beer is really tasty. This is a coffee brown ale. I know the flavor of the coffee beans would be a lot better, but it doesn’t have to be.

 

Beer Name:Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale
ABV 5.30
Style: Pumpkin Ale
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Muddles
Review: The head is huge, but manageable. The head is thin but pours very slowly, and even has a big, lingering look. I really like the bottle, especially since I can always drink the whole bottle. The foam is nice and thick and stays with the beer. The beer is a very crisp beer, not too spicy and not too thin. I do not think I’ll ever have a problem with this beer.

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated. 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:  Heavenly Belly’s Cooler!

This my weekly column of beer reviews. I’ll be reviewing different beers in this column each week, so make sure you tune in. This week, I’ll be reviewing one of the most interesting beers to come out of the Belgian beer scene in recent memory. Today I’m reviewing La Folie from La Folie Brewing . La Folie was brewed with peaches and is made in conjunction with an online game called Monopoly. This beer was featured in a 2011 issue of The Craft Beer Cellar Magazine and you can read more about it here .

 

Beer Name:Black Fire Ale
ABV 7.50
Style: English Barleywine
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4.5
Palate: 4.5
Taste: 4.5
Overall: 5
Reviewer: Gavage
Review: The head is a nice light brown color, it has a nice retention and relatively thick, but clean looking ring that lasts through the glass. No lacing, and a nice amount of foam. Dry sweet beer, malty, with a sugary finish. This is pretty darn tasty.

 

Beer Name:Herberholz Spalt
ABV 7.00
Style: American Saison
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: dyan
Review: It pours a hazy golden that tops with a nice thick layer of white head that clings to the glass like a few friends. The nose is big and sweet like the taste. It almost tastes like a Hersbrupp brew that is freshly made. There is a sweetness and a touch of alcohol towards the end. The mouthfeel is smooth and the beer is very tasty. This is a very drinkable beer.

 

Beer Name:The Bruery Triple IPA
ABV 11.00
Style: American Double / Imperial IPA
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: Necrotic
Review: Poured from a 12oz. brown bottle into a tulip. Commonly known as the Triple IPA, but this one’s a bit more obscure than a typical Double. Pours a hazy gold with a thick, white, white head that expels to a nice film of foam that rivals any beer head that’s ever been seen. The nose has a hint of caramel, hops and some citrus. The taste is pretty much as advertised. Bit more citrus and the alcohol is quite evident in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium (hybrid) with a little bit of a bitter aftertaste. The Triple IPA is a decent beer, certainly worth seeking out. This is a solid great beer, and I’d love to see some good offerings around in the year ahead.

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated. 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:  Barnes & Noble’s Three Barrel Beer:  “The Future of Beer”

This my weekly column of beer reviews. Every Friday, I’ll be reviewing a new beer from a brewery that I am aware of, but I haven’t yet reviewed. I’ll be reviewing a “side project” beer from a brewery I am not familiar with. I’ll also be taking a look at a beer from a brewery I am quite familiar with, but which I am not reviewing yet. I will be looking at the beer from the perspective of someone who has never had it before, and in doing so, will hopefully give you a better idea of the beer and the brewery, as well as perhaps giving you some new information that you didn’t know before. To start off, I’ll be reviewing a beer from Ale Syndicate.

 

Beer Name:Arizona Redwood Lager
ABV 5.90
Style: Lager
Appearance: 3
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3
Taste: 3
Overall: 3
Reviewer: jlindros
Review: Had this at an in-patient brewpub for a trip, and could have easily wrong-drank it. I’m glad I had to try it. A: Very dark behind a very murky, partially opaque straw colored brew. A small mainly head spilled a good bit of foam. The head was quite amusing. S: There was a bready malt scent, but I didn’t really get that. There was a mild roasted malt smell.

 

Beer Name:Alka Meche
ABV 11.00
Style: Belgian Strong Pale Ale
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 4
Palate: 4
Taste: 4
Overall: 4
Reviewer: andytook
Review: 12oz. in the Alka Meche tap at the Stouty Grille in Westboro, MA. Poured in a tulip glass. Pours a nice dark mahogany with a slight cloudy hue. Smells pretty awesome. I’ve always had this beer in my fridge, but never had a chance to try it. It just looks really great in the glass. Taste is perfect too. It has a great taste. The initial taste is spicy and fruity. Its right at the forefront in this beer. Any other flavor takes a back seat as the alcohol warms. A bit less on the hoppy side, but still nice. Drinkable.

 

Beer Name:Bitter and Twisted
ABV 10.00
Style: Witbier
Appearance: 4
Aroma: 3
Palate: 3.5
Taste: 2
Overall: 2
Reviewer: NattyBlack
Review: Well I was hoping this beer was a Belgian, but I was shocked to find it was a carbonation light witbier. The alcohol is well hidden and I had to break it up with the hops. What a mess. The beer is about 5% abv and I’m not used to the abv. What the hell, I like it.

 

 

note: If you couldn’t tell, this stuff is AI-generated. 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.

Two Beers, One Lunch: De-Stressing

Sometimes you just need a burger and a beer. This would probably be my go-to for “chill out” food, when I just want to kick back and enjoy my meal, in this case lunch. I’d been dealing with some frustrations at work, and I just wanted to relax for an hour and put something tasty in my mouth. 

Best place for this by me right now is the Dog & Cask on Rochelle Park, NJ. I’ve talked about it before in this series, and I’m sure I’ll talk about it again. 

This time, to add to my frustrations, they had a few taps that had already been kicked, including my first two choices. I decided to finally try a house beer. Since Dog & Cask opened they’ve become a brewpub in a sense, having some beers that have been brewed by them. This always seems like a nice touch for a restaurant. On theme, the beer was called Pavlov’s Bell and it was a Double New England IPA.

photo by Ceetar
Mouthwatering isn’t it? Makes you salivate?

It was good. Nothing to wow me, but I enjoyed drinking it and even more so that it was local to the restaurant. It had a little of that grassy hop burn that a lot of NE IPAs have, with maybe a bit more malt sweetness coming through. Mostly mango and orange on the nose. Taste is similar, some light sweetness, the mango and orange, maybe even something redder like cherry, and that juice burn. Finished sticky in the mouth, lip-smacking you might say.  A good example of the style and an appropriate house beer.  

I’d intended to finish this first, but my burger came pretty fast so I ended up drinking this one with my food and the next on on its own, but that worked out just fine. I got the standard “Dog & Cask” burger with cheddar, cooked medium, with fries. It really did hit the spot, and the fries are always good here.

For my next beer I went light–a Kölsch from Czig Meister called Huntsman. 

I found this one oddly pillowy, in a way you’d usually ascribe to  NE IPA. It reminded me of the little air pockets in bread, and the smell was deliciously similar. Fresh yeast bread filled my nostrils, and the taste matched. It had a hint of something I’d say was sourdough with a bit of lemon though the beer wasn’t sour at all. It was sweet, and pleasant, and full of flavors that I loved. I could drink this one all day and enjoyed savoring it after I finished my burger. 

Then back to work feeling refreshed and content. It’s always nice to break up a busy or stressful day with delicious food and drink. 

This Mets Fan Group Has It’s Own Beer At The Ballpark

Tasting the new United We Cheers beer from The 7 Line Army and MIkkeller NYC.

The 7 Line Army is an offshoot of the T-shirt company created by Darren Meenan that sells creative fan merchandise for Mets games. It’s a dedicated group of fans that have outings and tailgates at the park, and often travel to other parks as well, bringing a dedicated cheering section on the road is something that’s pretty neat, and something the ballplayers definitely notice and appreciate.

They recently teamed up with Mikkeller NYC, a brewery that’s actually attached to Citi Field, to create a special beer called United We Cheers, utilizing Mikkeller’s unique artwork style. It’s a 4.3% German Pilsner, which really makes it an excellent tailgating beer that’s pretty drinkable by most beer drinkers, perhaps even especially non-craft ones.

I stopped at Mikkeler before Opening Day and had a can of it. I also had a delicious Hill Farmstead IPA, but that’s not why we’re here.

The beer had that light sulfury smell many Pilsners do, and a bit of lightly warmed bread. The taste matched that well, crisp, a bit of light phenols from the hops and some of that sulfur taste from the water chemistry. The hop bitterness is present and accounted for, that spicy/peppery noble hop varieties that are typical of the style. It’s full flavored and not at all watery. If the hop varieties were different, you might even call it a session IPA, but noble hops are more crowd pleasing.

This is a beer I’d be happy to drink all day watching or playing sports. It’s a great drinking beer.