|
Bee Sting Honey Wheat (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe, NM) |
Kluge | Refreshing, almost sparkling. Nice, light and hoppy, not sweet at all. Maybe even a note of lime in the aftertaste. |
Wesi | To my utter surprise, I found the first honey beer that I almost like. Fresh, crisp, with just a hint of honey in the aftertaste. Cute. |
|
High Altitude Pale Ale (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe, NM) |
Wesi | Flat, with a nutty-roasty aftertaste, prominent hops. Low carbonation. Drinkable, but just so. |
Kluge | Pale? Kinda like an amber, fruity smell, roasty taste, fruity, fast-fading aftertaste. |
|
Sam Adams White Ale (Samuel Adams, Boston, Mass) |
Wesi | White beer, belgian style, typical smell and taste. Maybe a bit fruity in the finish, but fresh and tasty |
|
Prescott Pale Ale (Prescott Brewing Co, Prescott, AZ) |
Kluge | Ugh. Looks like someone had his hands on too much aroma hops which were close to their due date. Lots of aroma-hoppyness, but not much else. |
Wesi | Hoppy, but rather flat in taste. Flowery aftertaste. OK, but not my favorite |
|
Turn On Your Love Light Ale (Bank Street Brewing, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | Low on carbonation, a bit aromahoppy-sweet in the finish, but overall quite all right |
|
State Stout (Monte Carlo Casino Brewery, Las Vegas, NV) |
Wesi | Quite ok up front, but with an aftertaste of fried bacon. Yuck. Bacon and beer don't mix. |
|
Winner's Wheat (Monte Carlo Casino Brewery, Las Vegas, NV) |
Wesi | Good, refreshing, but a bit too heavy on aroma hops. Don't like that fruity sweetness in a wheat. But anyway, the crispiest and most refreshing beer of the Monte Carlo's |
|
Banker's Wheat (Bank Street Brewing, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | Nutritious. More cerealish than wheaty, not at all the Bavarian Hefeweizen taste that I expected. Still, there's nothing really offending to it, except maybe the hint of metal in the aftertaste. Low carbonation. |
|
Banker's Bitter (ESB) (Bank Street, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | Yo. Great Britain live. Too warm, too low on carbonation, or, in other words: Like a true olde worlde style bitter has to be. Tasty, presumed you like british beers. |
|
Lock City Pale Ale (Bank Street, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | One of the more moderate IPA's that I know. Not mouthdryingly bitter and even with some lingering taste which is not getting steamrolled by the hoppyness. Amazingly, pretty good. |
|
High Roller Red (Monte Carlo Casino Brewery, Las Vegas, NV) |
Wesi | The know-one-know-everyone kind of red roast. Not really bad, just plain boring |
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Desert Amber (Sonora Brewing Co, Phoenix, AZ) |
Kluge | A nice amber, although quite ordinary in taste. |
Wesi | Distinct amber taste, but fresh and nicely hopped. Decent carbonation, and a pretty south-western landscape style label, too. Good. |
|
Deep Canyon Amber (Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Fresh, with a decent malty aftertaste. Nice golden-brown color. Maybe a bit weak in the aftertaste, but still good. |
Kluge | Like their cream ale, just with a different color. Taste hardly noticeable. |
|
Nut Brown Ale (Bank Street, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | Brit style. Nutty ale, all right, but I'm not that much into that type of brew... |
|
Safecracker Stout (Bank Street, Stamford, CT) |
Wesi | Promising solid foamy cap, smooth, with a pleasant finish. Could use a trifle more "boldness" and "body", but still a very good stout |
|
Obsidian Porter (Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Wow. Very decent porter taste. Not the warm flatness of english porter, but rather fresh and pleasant. Nicely full-bodied. |
Kluge | A well-rounded dark beer. Tastes almost like coffee-grounds, but very unobtrusive. |
|
Bees'n'berry (Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Yack! I *hate* bright red beer, even without trying it. After some convincing myself, I finally tried it and found that it sucks even more than it looks. This ain't beer. |
Kluge | If this would be jelly, the smell would be perfect. But unfortunately, it is supposed to be a beer. Weird. |
|
Prescription Pils (Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson AZ) |
Kluge | Pils? More like a strongly hopped lager. |
Wesi | Pils all right. But american pils. Simply adding hops don't make it no Pilsener. Drinkable, though. |
|
Tucson Blonde (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Kluge | Rather flat, with an extremely fruity aftertaste. Quite a twist. If you don't like sweet beer, hands off. |
Wesi | Thin, weak, with an amazingly fruity and sticky aftertaste. Slight twang of raspberry. Sucks. |
|
Copperhead Pale Ale (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Not all that bad. Kinda heavy on aroma hops for a pale ale, though. Fruity. OK, but just so. |
Kluge | Tastes even more of aroma hops than it smells. Otherwise, not much of taste. |
|
Red Cat Amber (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Lively, and with an amazingly full-bodied taste. Fresh, with hops and maltiness in near perfect equilibrum. |
Kluge | Full-bodied amber, nicely blended taste. I like it. |
|
Nolan Porter (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Reminds me of Britain. A bit too generously carbonated for british beer, but in taste the perfect olde world porter. Slightly overdone with aroma hops. |
Kluge | This is another example of a no-balls beer. Interesting taste of roasted barley, but its overall impression is just weak. |
|
Ben's India Pale Ale (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Kluge | What it lacks in taste, it makes up with it's bitterness. Weird. |
Wesi | The typical IPA. Prominent, even offending bitter hops, lingering hoppy finish. Drinkable. |
|
Mac Blane's Oatmeal Stout (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Kluge | If cooked-up, this would make good coffee. Quite strong taste of roasted barley. |
Wesi | A bit heavy on the roasty side, leaving the lingering aftertaste of dark mocca. Not bad though. |
|
Taylor Jayne's Raspberry Ale (Gentle Ben's Brewing, Tucson AZ) |
Wesi | Yuck. I can smell it from across the table. As raspberry-ish as no honorably grown raspberry could possibly taste. Awful. |
Kluge | Ugh. Holy fucking shit. Smells like cheap artificial raspberry flavor, like the one used in room air refreshers in hospitals. Tastes even worse than it smells. |
|
Liquid Amber (Prescott Brewing Co, Prescott, AZ) |
Kluge | Amber? If not for the color, it would be impossible to distinguish from a light beer. Aftertaste like a weak lager, with just a (faint) hint of roast |
Wesi | Huh? Kinda void for your tastebuds. Ain't much to wake up your senses. Hint of caramel amber taste, but virtually no hops. The "Snooze Button Beer (tm)" |
|
Petrified Porter (Prescott Brewing Co, Prescott, AZ) |
Wesi | Hmm. The cold-coffeee-kinda beer. Better than some porters I know, quite well blended hops. OK. Maybe even good, if you like Porter. |
Kluge | The typical smell of cold coffee. Unfortunately, it also tastes like coffee, it's lacking the round warm taste of roasted barley. |
|
Lagunitas Pale Ale (Lagunitas Brewing Co, Petaluma, CA) |
Wesi | Hoppier than some, but perfect smell, color and carbonation. It's a kinda "the other way round" beer, usually pale ales start off fruity-hoppy and leave a lingering bitterness behind. This one starts hoppy, then blends smoothly into a pleasant reminescence of aroma hops. Good. |
|
Sandstone Cream Ale (Thunder Canyon, Tucson, AZ) |
Kluge | Nice beer that got swamped with a bucket of water too much. Or maybe two. Hardly any taste. |
Wesi | Thin, very american, with an unpleasant metallic twang in its aftertaste. Weak. |
|
Catalina Pale Ale (Thunder Canyon, Tucson, AZ) |
Kluge | Smooth beer, interesting mix of aroma hops. |
Wesi | Sierra Nevada style. Tasty, with perfectly blended hops. OK. |
|
Thunderhead IPA (Thunder Canyon, Tucson, AZ) |
Kluge | If you really like the taste of pure hops, this is the beer for you. Tastes like chewing on hops pellets, but without the annoying bitterness. |
Wesi | The Catalina pale ale, with some (lots) aroma hops added. From an IPA, I expected some additional bitterness, but certainly not additional sweetness. |
|
Fat Tire Amber (New Belgium Brewing, Ft.Collins, CO) |
Wesi | Well. The amber taste is there, but where's the hops? It's ambery, all right, but I'd rather call it FLAT tire. Like with a real flat tire, it depends on what mood you're in whether it sucks big time or just a bit. But it always sucks. |
|
Spanish Peaks White Ale (Spanish Peaks) |
Wesi | Ugh. Awfully fruity and lemonade like. On second thought, I checked the label and really found the dreaded words: "Ale with orange peel, coriander and black pepper." If they ain't able to craft a decent ale with the traditional ingredients, how come they think it'd get any better by adding stuff to it? I h-a-t-e flavored beer. |
|
Yakima Weis Beer (Yakima Brewing Co, Yakima, WA) |
Wesi | Pretends to be a wheat beer, but you'll notice the typical Weizen taste only if you know it should be there. Thin, not very bubbly, with a slight hint of both, wheat and red roast. Not offending, but boring. |
|
Squatter's Full Suspension Pale Ale (Squatter's, Salt Lake City, UT) |
Wesi | Smells like the white glue you use on wood, and tastes, hmm, even kinda worse. Awfully unbalanced hops, with an offending chemical-like taste and a stickingly cheap hoppy aftertaste. I didn't drink it up, and presented the rest of the sixpack to a friendly neighbourhood bum. |
|
Randol's (Abita, for Randol's, Lafayette, LA) |
Wesi | Hmm. Rather metallic taste, a bit like out of can. Nothing special on the first try, boring on the second. Go to Randol's for the food and the music, but not for the beer. |
|
Rikenjaks American Ale (Rikenjaks, Jackson, LA) |
Wesi | Blonde ale with sightly limey taste. Too sparsely carbonated for a beer of my liking. Rather flat, with a chemical, "Homebrew Kit" like aftertaste. |
|
Dixie (Dixie Brewing Co, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | From my last visit in Nawlins, I had remembered the taste of Dixie to be a bit fruity, but rather refreshing. Checking it this time, I found it to be rather boring and nothing special. Seems as if I'm getting older ... However, if you ever get to New Orleans, make sure to try it. Dixie is THE local beer. That's what prevented me from rating it lower. |
|
Abita Turbo Dog (Abita, Abita Springs, LA) |
Wesi | Not very full-bodied amber, but with decent roast. Make sure you don't drink it too cold. I discovered its real taste only with the last few sips, when the bottle got warmed up in my hand. Have to check it again, might justify a better rating. Tasty. |
|
Whiptail Golden Ale (Unita Brewing, SLC, UT) |
Wesi | Funny watery-metallic-cereal like taste. Not offending, though, just not what I'd expect from a golden ale. Aftertaste of corn flakes and hops. It sure tastes nutritious, maybe try it as a breakfast beer :-) ? |
Kluge | Tastes not like much, but has a funny aftertaste like frosted flakes. Sweet and wheaty. Strange, but drinkable. |
|
Plantation Brown Ale (Plantation, Breaux Bridge, LA) |
Wesi | Hops, where are you ? An amber without a trace of hops is not an amber, it's a soft-drink. Creamy, sure. But nothing more. |
|
Sam Adams Summer Ale '99 (Samuel Adams) |
Wesi | Reading the label, I became suspicious. But Sam Adams has yet to disappoint me. Even this suspicious flavored brew is acceptably tasty. Not very wheaty, with a bit too much of lemon flavor and an unpleasant note of metal in the aftertaste. It is drinkable, but not really worth to bear the Sam Adams brand. |
|
Grant's Imperial Stout (Grant's, Yakima, WA) |
Wesi | One more trying to imitate the uniquely smooth blend of good ol' Guiness. Try it not iced cold but somewhat warmed up, and you'll have a tasty, creamy, dark amber. It is somewhat over-hopped for my taste and the aftertaste is just a tiny bit artificial, but overall, it's quite good. |
|
Coors Cutter (Coors Memphis Brewery, Memphis, TN) |
Wesi | I was amazed to read that Cutter is a so called "low alcohol beer". I didn't think it was a beer. Tastes like hay smells. Imagine some healthy hospital tea, slightly carbonated - and there you go. Watch out! The 0.5p.c. alc. are bound to sneak up to you before you notice, grin. |
|
Coors Original (Coors) |
Wesi | According to Cathy, who led us through the brewery, they just changed the recipe back to the original developed by Mr Coors some 100 years ago. Since I don't really like Coors, I can't quite remember how it used to taste before - but believe me, the taste of the new one is still the same. Thin, boring, with a faint hint of milk in the aftertaste. Might be because of the rice they seem to put into everything they brew. Well, I'd prefer a MGD anytime. |
|
Kilian's Wild Honey Ale (Coors Memphis Brewery, Memphis, TN) |
Wesi | Amber stout. Doesn't taste sticky sweet as you'll expect it if you know other honey beers. Still too fruity for an amber of my taste, but nevertheless one of the best beers Coors brews. |
|
Keystone Light (Coors) |
Wesi | Coors - the inventor of yellow water. (tm) |
|
Red Ass Ale (Cold Spring Brewing, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | Generously hopped red roast ale. Rather tasty in the beginning, but maybe a bit TOO generously hopped: prepare yourself for a mouth-drying bitter aftertaste. Not really bad, but, hmm, kinda weird. |
|
Old Hardhead Scottish Style (Rikenjaks, Jackson, LA) |
Wesi | Amber with a funny aftertaste of turnip greens. Might be what comes out if you let some lettuce rot for a week in a bottle of cheap amber. Brrr. |
|
American Unfiltered Wheat (District Chophouse and Brewery, Washington DC) |
Wesi | Fresh and tasty, a bit aromahoppish sweet in the finish maybe. Nicely blended with the right amount of bitterness. Not an european style wheat, but since it doesn't _claim_ to be one...:-) |
|
Bourbon Stout (District Chophouse and Brewery, Washington DC) |
Wesi | Ugh. Shoulda stayed with their wheat. More bourbon than stout - the beer taste is almost undetectable. Sweet fluffy cheap whiskey taste, like a heavily watered down Jack Daniels. I _hate_ obnoxiously flavored beer. |
|
Prohibition Porter (Capitol City Brewing Co, Washington DC) |
Wesi | Mmh. Nice and complex combination of malt, roastyness and hops. Decent, long-lingering aftertaste. Together with their "homemade meatloaf" (which aint bad either, by the way), this brew is just perfect. |
|
Capitol Kölsch (Capitol City, Washington DC) |
Wesi | Hmm. Surprisingly, well, kinda stale. But decently hopped, with a fruity twang in the aftertaste. Pretty close to an average boring ordinary lager, though. |
|
Pale Rider Ale (Capitol City Brewing Co, Washington DC) |
Wesi | Wow. Unexpectedly hoppy, almost like an IPA, but with more flavor than most. Long lingering but quite pleasant bitterness in the finish. Very un-american in its hoppy boldness, especially if you drink it while trying out their ovenwarm pretzels with mustard dip... |
|
Capitol City Oktoberfest (Capitol City Brewing Co, Washington DC) |
Wesi | The taste triggers some childhood memory I can't quite place... A whiff of barn, a note of tea, yep, that might be it: This lama-dung kinda aftertaste of Argentinian Mate tea. Drinkable, but nothing to write home about. |
|
Grants India Pale Ale (Grants, Yakima, WA) |
Wesi | Smells like my sweaty sneakers after a 5 mile run. And the taste ? Bitterness and nothing else, with an aftertaste of bile. Enjoy... |
|
Jack Daniels Oak Aged Pilsner (Jack Daniels, Lynchburg, TN) |
Wesi | Wow. Still tasting like an american beer, but lots more taste and "body" than many others. Nice taste of hops, just the right quantity. The brewers claim it's the oak ageing that makes the difference. Overall, an interesting, tasty brew. |
|
Vermillon Red Ale (Brasserie Breaux Bridge, LA) |
Wesi | Certified Cajun? You bet! Tastes like it got stuck somewhere between bayou water and gumbo soup. Naa, not to my liking. |
|
Abita Golden Beer (Abita, Abita Springs, LA) |
Wesi | Not all that bad, but rather thin in taste, with a noticeable hint of metal. Kinda funny aftertaste, like another of the "homebrewed in your bathtub" kind. |
|
Red Eye Lager (Tommyknocker, Idaho Spgs, CO) |
Wesi | Sweet and malty, but with a crisp hoppy finish. If you like malty-hoppy beers (and I mean malty), try this one. |
|
Pelican Louisiana Amber Lager (Pelican Brewing, Covington, LA) |
Wesi | Lager? Naa. I'd say it's a flat red roast with just a hint of carbonation. No foam - no joy. Watch out, or you might find yourself asking for a straw... |
|
Anchor Liberty Ale (Anchor, San Francisco, CA) |
Wesi | Rather fruity, both in smell and in taste. Actually not all that bad, but not really what I like either. |
|
Anchor Porter (Anchor, San Francisco, CA) |
Wesi | Very dark color, but not too much roast noticeable in its taste. We finally agreed that it rather tastes like some elderberry liquor than like a beer. |
|
Sierra Nevada Stout (Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA) |
Wesi | Very dark, with heavy roast. Coming quite close to Guinness, but lacking the solid foam and the decent aftertaste of the original. I gotta check it again sometime, had it together with some Taco Bell food and it didn't fit at all... |
|
Millstream Lager (Millstream Brewing, Amana, IA) |
Wesi | I first thought it to be a corn beer. But it isn't. I wonder what they put into it. It sure tastes like beer, but has this fruity-sweet, artificial aftertaste that makes me suspicious of the ingredients. |
|
Boulevard Pale Ale (Boulevard, Kansas City, MO) |
Wesi | No smell at all - and that bit taste it has doesn't taste much like beer. Fruity and nothing else except a really nasty aftertaste. One of the few I threw away without drinking it up. |
|
Anchor Steam (Anchor, San Francisco, CA) |
Wesi | A good beer with light red roast, decently hopped. If you are growing tired of all these flat american beers and looking for something tasty, try this. It is good, but considering its reputation I think I expected more. I think its taste is a bit too bitter and slightly metallic. Hmm. Kinda reminds me of some German Pils. OK - but I wouldn't give it a better rating than |
|
Boulevard Wheat Beer (Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO) |
Wesi | Well, a wheat has to be really bad for me not to like it. I tried this one with some lime added, and it was just OK. Rather flat for a Weizen, without lime, it might be just a bit watery. |
|
Michael Shea's Lager Export (Michael Sheas, Rochester, NY) |
Wesi | Just a flat lager with a prominent hint of chemistry. At least, I don't like it's aftertaste. If there is any. If it's goal is to taste like beer uses to taste in good ol' England, they get close. Problem is, that I don't like English beer. |
|
Michelob Centennial (Anheuser Busch, St Louis, MO) |
Wesi | Argh. I expected something better considering the "Centennial" label. Not really all that watery like many other Anheuser Busch brewskys, but still rather flat, with no aftertaste at all. |
|
Samuel Adams Golden Pilsner (Samuel Adams, Boston, MA) |
Wesi | Decent taste of fresh hops, solid and really smooth. I rather like this one. Good! |
|
Creamy Porter (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton, MO) |
Wesi | Creamy dark amber with heavy roast. Maybe a bit too "roast and nothing else", but I rather liked its aftertaste. Decent smell, a bit weak in hops, but overall quite OK. |
|
Black and Tan (Michael Sheas, Rochester, NY) |
Wesi | A mixture of Porter and Lager ? Suspicious. The taste is as expected: A lager that looks like an amber and comes with just a hint of amber taste. Not all that bad. |
|
Roche American Amber Ale (Oregon Brewing, Newport, OR) |
Wesi | Red roast ale with a hoppy smell that doesn't keep its promise. Taste a bit artificial, aftertaste like roasted malt mixed with some medicine. Seems there's something in it that doesn't belong into a beer. |
|
Full Sail Golden Ale (Full Sail, Hood River, OR) |
Wesi | The first few sips taste just like a beer should taste, with amazingly generous hops for an american beer. But the more sips you take, the more you'll realize that it is just hops with no real taste to smoothen the bitterness. And the warmer the beer gets, the more its wet-paperbag like aftertaste will take over. |
|
Jack Daniels American Ale (Jack Daniels Brewing, Lynchburg, TN) |
Wesi | Perfect color, decent taste with just the right amount of roast. Not very full-bodied, but still leaving an aftertaste the way a beer should. Good. |
|
Jack Daniels Amber Lager (Jack Daniels, Lynchburg, TN) |
Wesi | Funny. I'd say their American Ale is more an amber than this one, both in color and in taste. A bit flat, with a really faint hint of roast, and even less hops. Still, it's rather refreshing and a beer I would certainly try again. |
|
Red Bird (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton, MO) |
Wesi | Another one of these thin, tasteless red roast ales. Don't take me wrong, I like red roast beers, provided that they taste like beer. This one sure starts like a beer, but the taste drops like from a cliff and it even leaves a cheesy (yuck!) aftertaste. Brewer, please clean the bathtub before you start the next batch... |
|
Alsatian Ale (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton, MO) |
Wesi | Red roast amber, rather tasty in the beginning, but hardly any aftertaste. It's a pity - taste and then nothing. |
|
O'Douls (Anheuser Busch, St Louis, MO) |
Wesi | Mh. Not bad for a non-alc, but it doesn't really taste like I expect a beer to taste. Aftertaste ? Huh... Maybe a bit like rice, but certainly neither like hops nor like malt. |
|
Icehouse (Plank Road Brewery, Milwaukee, WI) |
Wesi | The usual. Rather flat, both in taste and in aftertaste. Drink it fast, the longer it takes, the more boring the taste seems to be. All right if you can't get anything better. |
|
Abita Amber (Abita, Abita Springs, LA) |
Wesi | This one is really not bad. Malty and rather sweet, but with a decent amber aftertaste. Quite close to my ideal of how an amber should taste. Good. The beer to chose if you visit Louisiana. |
|
Black Forest (Crescent City, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Amber with a decent taste, sweet but noticeably hopped. Well balanced round aftertaste. OK. |
|
Liberty Lager (Crescent City, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Amber, looking like watered coke, but with a bitchy bitter aftertaste. Just throwing in hops doesn't make it a beer. |
|
Crescent Weizen (Crescent City, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Tasty wheat beer, nice opaque color. Good - but as you know, a weizen has to be really bad for me not to like it.... |
|
Crescent Pilsner (Crescent City, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Slightly bitter and nothing else. Not all that much taste, offending aftertaste. Let it be. |
|
Red Stallion (Crescent City, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Add a hint of malt to the Crescent Pilsner. Same metallic bitter aftertaste. Definitely a "hands off" for me. |
|
Red Ass Pale Ale (Cold Spring Brewing, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | Pale Ale? My ass! Tasting like a watered red roast, with an acid-like aftertaste that tries to dissolve your tongue. Dammit. I wanted a pale ale, not italian salad dressing. Brrr! |
|
Cold Springs Pale Ale (Cold Spring Brewing, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | Not bad, really. Maybe a bit weak in hops, but overall rather tasty. Sure, tasty in the american way. But certainly drinkable for Europeans. OK. |
|
Dixie Crimson Voodoo (Dixie, New Orleans, LA) |
Wesi | Starting a bit like vinegar, acid-like. Taste? Not much. At least the aftertaste is like beer. Naa, no voodoo, this one. Just a weak brew. |
|
Acadian Pilsner (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | I had it with a spicy muffuleta, and the hoppy bitter taste of this beer blended perfectly. Maybe a bit too bitter to drink it just as is - but together with something to eat, not bad. |
|
Rikenjaks ESB (Rikenjaks) |
Wesi | Quite watery, very light amber color. Far too fruity for an amber of my taste. Can sure think of better ones. |
|
Lagerhead (Lagerhead Brewing Co) |
Wesi | Very light amber with metallic-hoppy taste. Doesn't taste at all like you'd expect it to taste considering its color. Not all that bad, but somehow strange. |
|
Abita Purple Haze (Abita, Abita Springs LA) |
Wesi | Cheap lager with some drops of raspberry sirup. Purple haze? Indeed - in front of my eyes. I see red whenever I get near a fruit-flavored beer. If you think beer has to taste like this one, you should maybe settle back to drinking cherry cola. Brewers, gimme a break! Sirup and beer dont mix! |
|
Old Foghorn (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Generously hopped amber, tasting darker than its light roast reveals. Rather bitter, but well balanced, with an aftertaste as it should be. OK. |
|
Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout (Breckenridge, CO) |
Wesi | Good. Somewhat lacking a bit the "body" of a real creamy stout. But still, the taste is there. |
|
Snakebite (Cider and Lager) (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Mh, intriguing combination. Not all that bad if you like both, cider and lager. I found it to taste amazingly fresh and not half as fruity or sweet as I had feared. Still, I'd prefer cider and lager in separate glasses. |
|
Southpaw Premium Light (Plank Road Brewery, Milwaukee, WI) |
Wesi | I don't buy light beers unless I can't get anything better. As expected, it starts like a real beer on the tip of your tongue, but the taste drops like from a cliff when you swallow it. Still, this one has unexpectedly generous hops for a light beer and is in my opinion better than the Icehouse Brew made by the same brewery. |
|
Busch Beer (Blue Label) (Anheuser Busch, St Louis MO) |
Wesi | Yack. An offending lager smell and - gasp - no taste at all. How do they manage to get all the beer taste outta it ? Seems to be the secret of Anheuser Busch. As drinking water, it would rate quite good - but as a beer, it gets |
|
Miller Beer (Red Label) (Miller) |
Wesi | Might have been a beer once, before it met with 20 gallons of water. Thin. The typical american taste. Fill your bathtub and take a dive. |
|
Michelob Amber Bock (Anheuser Busch, St Louis MO) |
Wesi | Amber in color doesn't necessarily mean amber in taste. A bit more taste than the ordinary Busch brewskis, but still rather thin and with hardly any aftertaste. Try it only if you ain't got anything better handy. |
|
Memphis Brown (Coors Memphis Brewery, Memphis TN) |
Wesi | Ahm, yet another of these light red roast ales. This one is even a bit flatter in taste than the average. Hardly any body. Imagine there would be an amber Bud - it would taste like this one. |
|
Market Street Golden Ale (Market Brewery, Nashville TN) |
Wesi | American ale with a slight hint of wheat taste. Rather refreshing, but also rather thin. Aftertaste reminds me of a cheap red roast. Thus, a bit of everything but nothing really outstanding. |
|
Market Street Bock Beer (Market Brewery, Nashville TN) |
Wesi | Brewed in accordance to the German Purity Law. Red amber of fresh taste with just the right amount of roast. Not very full-bodied, but still not bad. |
|
Market Street Pilsner (Market Brewery, Nashville TN) |
Wesi | Starting like a tasty Pils, but coming with a nasty, slightly artificial aftertaste. The more sips I took, the less I liked it. |
|
Samuel Adams Cream Stout (Samuel Adams, Boston MA) |
Wesi | Good! Dark, heavily roasted malt. Nearly black in color. Tasty. One of the best ambers I ever had in the States. |
|
Leinenkugel Red Lager (Leinenkugel, Chippewa Falls, WI) |
Wesi | Red roast beers seem to get more and more popular in the States. The more I get to drink them, the less I am thrilled by the taste. This one is the average red roast brew, with a hint of roast and faint hops. OK, but not outstanding. |
|
Market Street Wheat (Market Brewery, Nashville TN) |
Wesi | Not bad, really. I rather like wheat beers. Typical smell and nice opaque color. Genuinely refreshing Weizen taste. If you like wheat beer, try it. |
|
Berghoff Famous Bock Beer (Berghoff Huber, Monroe, WI) |
Wesi | Dark, with heavy roast. Actually, far too much roast and nothing else. Aftertaste a bit like cough sirup, or maybe like one of these Swiss alp herb candies. Overall, leave it. |
|
Berghoff Famous Red Ale (Berghoff Huber, Monroe, WI) |
Wesi | Red roast, both in color and in taste. Actually, tasting a bit like thinned Berghoff Bock Beer. Still with an aftertaste that reminds me of cough medicine. Naa, I don't like it. |
|
Sierra Nevada Porter (Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA) |
Wesi | Dark amber, quite creamy and tasty. A bit too bubbly, maybe. Roasty aftertaste that really sticks to your tongue, but doesn't offend. Quite good. |
|
Woodchuck Draft Amber Cider (Cavendish, Vermont) |
Wesi | Yuck! A beer tasting like flat apple juice? What am I reading on that label? CIDER? Well, I think the words "Draft" and "Amber" got me... Anyway, Swiss ciders are far better, grin. I don't rate ciders, but this one would get |
|
Samuel Clemens Missouri Lager (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton MO) |
Wesi | Taste? A tiny, tiny bit of hops, and a barely noticeable hint of malt in the aftertaste. Try a generous sip of Mississippi water instead - it is certainly richer in taste, and possibly less saturated with chemicals... |
|
Nut Brown Ale (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton, MO) |
Wesi | Whack! Dark ale, not all that bad in taste but without ANY carbonation. Might be an exception, maybe a leaking bottle cap. But my sample was definitely WEIRD. |
|
Oktoberfest Lager (Custom Brew Haus, Clayton, MO) |
Wesi | Hm. How do they get that fruit taste into it? Dissolve some grape jelly? Not all that bad, actually, but with a distinct taste of its own that doesn't fit at all with how I expect a beer to taste. |
|
Miller Lite Ice (Miller, Milwaukee, WI) |
Wesi | "The Ice Brewed Less Filling Beer". This praise on the label certainly fits. It is not filling at all - but also not tasty and not a beer. Think of it as carbonated water, with a tiny artificial beer-like aftertaste. Not offending, though. Water never offends me. |
|
Miller Lite (Miller, Milwaukee, WI) |
Wesi | They did the impossible. Even less taste than Lite Ice. Its taste is kinda the black hole of beer tastes: If you had a decent beer right before trying this one, you can literally feel it sucking up all the beer taste left in your mouth. And the taste it leaves? Well, ever had a Sprite with chlorine-water ice cubes? Yuck, it sucks. And, phew, whadda smell! |
|
Old Milwaukee (Stroh, Detroit) |
Wesi | Offending smell, a bit like soap. Just enough beer taste to rate as beer and not as laundry equipment. Not my favorite. |
|
Breckenridge Avalanche (Breckenridge, Colorado) |
Wesi | Colorado? Tap the Rockies, obviously. Other tap, but same Rockies. Just a weak brew. |
|
Pete's Wicked Red (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | One of the amber ales in the test. Better than expected, friendly and well balanced taste. Not too sweet, not too bitter. If you like amber ales, check this one out. |
|
Tye Dye Premium Lager (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Having peace signs all over the sixpack, Tye Dye is also known as 'peace beer'. Not too bad a name - it is as peaceful as beer can be. Perfectly normal beer, boring and flat. |
|
Red Wolf Amber Ale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Yet another amber ale. Don't drink it out of the bottle - if you can't see the color, you'll miss half of it. Smooth, interesting taste. |
|
Bridgeport Coho Pacific Extra Pale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Nice label showing crystal clear water and a jumping salmon. Unfortunately, they didn't use the crystal clear water to brew this one, they took the fish! Take a bottle of lemonade, put some fish into it and let it rot for two weeks - and there you go. One of the few I threw away without finishing it. |
|
Saxer Lemon Lager (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | As expected, just like some (not too good) lager, mixed with lots of artificial lemon flavoring. Tasting quite like a panache made with diet lemonade - more like medicine than like beer. |
|
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (Sierra Nevada, Chico, CA) |
Wesi | One of the few tasty pale ales you'll find in America. Well balanced hoppyness, crips, fresh, simply good. Check it out! |
|
Oregon Honey Beer (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | What would you expect? The label says it all. Beer mixed with honey. Nothing more, nothing less. Wack! What's next? Beer mixed with tomato juice, apple cider or Tabasco sauce ? |
|
Samuel Adams Amber (Samuel Adams, Boston) |
Wesi | Hmm. When I tried this one, the bottle had been out of the ice chest for half a day. No wonder I didn't like it all that much. Anyway, a bit too bitter for an amber of my taste. |
|
Samuel Adams Boston Ale (Samuel Adams, Boston) |
Dani | Slightly bitter in taste, just the right amount. Lovely mouthwatering aftertaste, each gulp a joy. |
Wesi | Very good. Rich, fullbodied taste with a nice twang of aroma hops. Beats the hell out of their Lager. Slight roast in the aftertaste, maybe a hint too much lingering fruityness. But overall a very good beer. |
|
Rollin' Rock Extra Pale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Ugh. Take a bottle of some cheap lager, cook it to the boil 'till all bubbles have escaped, cool it down and enjoy. Seems as if somebody confused pumpkins and hops while brewing this one. |
|
Schaefer's Beer (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Calls itself proudly "Americas oldest Lager". Perfectly normal lager with european taste. Mix your favored Swiss beer with a bottle of Calanda and there you have it. Not too bad, but boring. |
|
La Jolla Red Roast Ale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Declared to be made in San Diego, Southern California, but according to a faint note on the very edge of the tag actually brewed by Schell in Minnesota. Yet another amber, nice color, malty, slightly bitter and with a touch of mesquite barbecue. OK. |
|
Milwaukee's Best (Miller, Milwaukee) |
Wesi | Brewed by Miller's. Perfectly normal American beer. If this one is their best, better don't try the others. Looks like water, tastes like water - so why buy it, if it is on tap in every restroom ? |
|
Spanish Peaks Black Dog Ale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Amber, brewed in Seattle. Well balanced and creamy. A bit too bitter to drink it just for the fun of it. Try it instead together with a charcoal grilled steak - it'll fit perfectly |
|
Nor'Western Weizen (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Funny. They seem to call it 'weizen' as we do in Switzerland. I rather liked this one, add a bit of lime and you'll have a great thirst quencher after a long and dry day. |
|
Keystone Premium (Coors) |
Wesi | Advertised to be "smooth and never bitter". That's certainly true. Take a cup of water of your choice - and you'll have enough bitterness in it for twenty sixpacks of Keystone. The ususal American beer. If you really have to buy it, buy it for your dog or your goldfish. |
|
Spanish Peaks Black Dog Pale Ale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Red-golden color, tasty, with a quite strong hint of hops. Rather bitter, like the other black dog brewskis. Anyway, not too bad. OK. |
|
Pete's Wicked Ale (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | Amazing color, deep brown with a distinct hint of ruby red. Typical brown-ale smell of hops, caramel and a wiff of wet cardboard. Aftertaste dry-hoppy, with lingering caramel in the finish |
|
Red Dog (Brewery missing) |
Wesi | I don't know if this is supposed to be an imitation of Red Wolf or vice versa. This one is quite sweet and malty. OK, but I'd prefer Red Wolf anytime. |
|
High Life (Miller) |
Wesi | Truly American. In taste very like to Bud Light. Something to gulp down one after the other if you're really thirsty. Yet another one for your goldfish. |
|
Aspen Vista Golden Ale (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Wesi | Good. Generous amount of aroma hops, lots more taste than I expected. |
Kluge | Low on carbonation, very smooth. Lots of aroma hops, but without the commonly offending fruity aftertaste. |
|
Copper Mesa Amber Ale (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Kluge | A very smooth amber with a nifty kickback of bitterness and aroma hops in the aftertaste. |
Wesi | Decent amber ale taste. Crisp, slightly hoppy, with a nutty finish. Well balanced. Good. |
|
Pinon Nut Brown Ale (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Wesi | British-style brown ale, with nutty-sweet taste. Hint of unpleasant sourness in its aftertaste. |
Kluge | A nice blend of aroma hops which almost masks the malty sourness in the aftertaste. |
|
Lobo Negro Porter (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Wesi | Dark, opaque. Hoppy and roasty taste and aftertaste, the latter lingering and even getting stronger over time. |
|
India Pale Ale (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Wesi | The genuine IPA hoppyness, dry and bitter. |
Kluge | Decievingly fruity smell, but bitter hops all right. |
|
Honey Beer (Wolf Canyon Brewing, Santa Fe NM) |
Wesi | Surprisingly drinkable. Up front, it tastes like a weak cider, but then hits your tastebuds with a perfectly blended honey-hoppy aftertaste. If you like flavored beer (I don't), go for this one. |
Kluge | Distinct smell of honey, but not overly sweet in taste. Mild hoppy-sweet aftertaste. Good. |
|
Hefeweizen (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe NM) |
Kluge | Probably as close as you can get to a Hefeweizen without having to travel to Bavaria. Quite low on carbonation. |
Wesi | Grin. They call it "Heifer Visen" to ensure that every (?) american gets the pronunciation of "Hefeweizen" right on the first try. Served nicely chilled, with a slice of lemon. A bit low on carbonation, but the decent Hefeweizen taste is unmistakenly present. Slightly disappointing flatness in its aftertaste, but overall a nice try. |
|
Schlafly Pale Ale (The Saint Louis Brewery, St Louis, MO) |
Wesi | Ruby amber with crisp hoppyness. Plenty of hops, but in a quite nicely blended mixture. Decent beer with an astonishing width and density of taste. Lingering, but rather pleasant aftertaste. |
|
Plaza Porter (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe, NM) |
Wesi | Actually not all that bad. What put me off was the hint of blackcurrant and licorice in the aftertaste which reminded me of cough medicine. |
Kluge | Quite a smokey smell and taste. Roasty aftertaste. |
|
End of the Trail Brown Ale (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe, NM) |
Kluge | Where's the taste? Strong carbonation with just a hint of roasted barley. |
Wesi | Not much of a taste, sparkling water with a hint of roast in the aftertaste. Weak. |
|
Atomic Blonde Ale (Blue Corn Cafe, Santa Fe, NM) |
Wesi | Promising crisp and hoppy start, but a lingering sweet finish. |
Kluge | A bit flat, could use a bit more bitterness. |
|
Pure Desert Wheat (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Faint, but chemical wheat taste, gluey, bitter aftertaste. |
Wesi | Wheat? Well. Maybe. The taste is so faint, it could be anything. Not offending, though, just kinda like refreshing water. A diluted Sprite, maybe. |
|
Canyon Cream Ale (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Not bad. Kinda sticky aftertaste of bitter hops, but at least something I would recognize as beer with my eyes shut. |
Kluge | Begins quite strong, with a good hoppy taste, but the finish is weak. |
|
Moab Rock Amber Ale (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Hoppy and not much more. Without seeing the color, I would have guessed it to be a thin IPA... |
Kluge | Colored water with hops. |
|
Extra Special Bitter (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | English style bitter, a little flowery in its aftertaste. |
Wesi | First impression: Ugh, why is it so warm? Second impression: Ahm. Kinda tastes like the stuff you get in Britain. Thus, the temperature fits. Considering all that, it ain't half bad. |
|
Sky Island Scottish Ale (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Thin again. Do they dilute all their stuff? Watery, nondescript, bores-your-ass-outta-there kind of beer. |
|
Chestnut Brown Ale (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Smells and tastes a lot like the walnut liquor of our Tchech friends. Not much of an aftertaste. |
Wesi | Light taste of roasted - no, not chestnuts, but rather walnuts. Hoppy finish. Drinkable. |
|
Cisco Bend Stout (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Kinda weird stout, with a never-tasted-before complex of deep roast and dark chocolate. Hoppy finish. |
Kluge | Does not smell or taste like much, but has an annoying aftertaste of very dark roast. |
|
Raspberry Wheat (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Oh my, tastes like thin raspberry siroup. |
Wesi | Get me outta here, part one. |
|
Blueberry Wheat (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Get me outta here, part two. |
Kluge | Ugh. Faint hint of beer taste paired with sledgehammer-strong blueberry aroma. |
|
Black and Blue Blueberry Stout (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Wesi | Get me outta here, part three. |
Kluge | Highly carbonated crapy stout with some nondescript, but heavily lingering sweetness. |
|
Jalapeno (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Smells and tastes like a jalapeno that has been rotting in water long enough to carbonate it itself. Disgusting. |
Wesi | Cheap, warm, nondescript, uncarbonated beer, with some canned(!) jalapeno in it. Sucks. |
|
Lime Beer (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Receipe: Take one gallon, no, two gallons of lightly carbontated water, add one lime (just a tiny one), and some coloring. |
Wesi | Cheap and warm, low on carbonation. Lime taste doesn't make it none better. |
|
Ed's Seasonal Brew (Summer 99) (Ed McStiffs, Moab, UT) |
Kluge | Smells and tastes like honey. Way too sweet. Try it as breakfast spread, maybe. |
Wesi | Sweet and flowery, room-airfresh-spray kinda taste. A honey beer of the offending kind. (they say it's an American Pale Ale!!) |
|
Honker's Ale (Goose Island Beer Co, Chicago, IL) |
Wesi | Tasty. Crisp, rather hoppy finish. The chewing-on-hops-pellets kinda aftertaste got on my nerves after some time, though. |
|
Nor'Easter Dark Amber (Nutfield Brewery, Derry, NH) |
Wesi | Nice beer, with an aroma-hoppy and malty finish. Looks, smells and tastes very much like Ittinger, one of my favorite Swiss beers. Good. |
|
Old Man Pale Ale (Nutfield Brewery, Derry, NH) |
Wesi | Tasty. Not a very hoppy version of a pale ale, thus easily drinkable. Nice malty finish. |
|
Auburn Ale (Nutfield Brewery, Derry, NH) |
Wesi | Dark, with a crisp, very hoppy finish. They call it "typically Irish", I would call it "typically american". Pretty drinkable, though. |
|
Black 47 Stout (Nutfield Brewery, Derry, NH) |
Wesi | Irish style stout. A bit soapy maybe, but still bloody perfect to go with a decent steak. Which is what I had, so consider this rating to be a bit biased. |
|
Dunkelweiss (Prescott Brewing, Prescott, AZ) |
Kluge | A weak weizen with a small roasty kick in the aftertaste. Like a decent amber mixed with a thin Weizen. |
Wesi | Good. An interestingly crisp combination of amber taste and light Weizen taste. Not as heavy nor as banana-smelling as the original Munich Dark Hefeweizen. |
|
India Pale Ale (Prescott Brewing Co, Prescott, AZ) |
Kluge | Although you can smell the aroma hops quite well, they are not overly dominating the taste. The aftertaste is almost purely bitter hops, but with a flowery note. |
Wesi | Hoppy, yes. It's an IPA, after all. But to my surprise, the aroma hops almost beat the bitter hops in this one. The aftertaste is again IPA-like, though: Hoppy bitterness, there to stay. |
|
Willow Wheat (Prescott Brewing, Prescott, AZ) |
Wesi | Rather thin Weizen, not much of wheat taste. Quite refreshing and crisp, though. |
Kluge | Shy. Its taste stays hidden, just the aftertaste of wheat dares to take a peek. |
|
Loggepole Light (Prescott Brewing Co, Prescott, AZ) |
Wesi | Your average american light beer, with no hops in evidence. Hint of barley and metal in the aftertate. OK, but just so. |
Kluge | Like most american light beers, highly carbonated, light yellow in color, and very little taste. What sets this one apart from others is its nice fresh hint of barley in the aftertaste. |
|
Märzen Auburn (Gordon Biersch, San Jose, CA) |
Wesi | Mild, with a distinct smell and taste of aroma hops and a note of caramel in the aftertaste. Not enough crispyness for my liking. Drinkable, but boring. |
|
Blonde Bock (Gordon Biersch, San Jose, CA) |
Wesi | Hmm. Tasty. Light, residual smell of yeast, taste fresh with a decent note of malt in the aftertaste. Good. |
|
Golden Export (Gordon Biersch, San Jose, CA) |
Wesi | Plain lager, not much of anything, with a metallic, dry finish. Easily drinkable, but boring. |
|
Summerfest (Monte Carlo Casino Brewery, Las Vegas, NV) |
Wesi | Prominent sweetness of aroma hops, just enough bitterness to make it bearable. Low on carbonation. Lacks some kinda special kick. |
|
Superior Ale (Wasatch, Park City, UT) |
Wesi | Hoppy light amber ale, generously carbonated, leaving a crisp, rather hoppy aftertaste with a slight unpleasant note. Still, quite OK. |
|
Slickrock Lager (Wasatch, DontRememberWhere, UT) |
Wesi | Perfectly all right. Maybe a note too malty and a trifle underhopped for a lager, but very drinkable and tasty. Worth to be called beer. |
|
Hefeweizen Unfiltered Wheat Ale (Michelob) |
Wesi | Hefeweizen? My ass! This is as far from a Weizen as the south pole is from Bavaria. It starts like a hoppy lager, but then smoothly changes into strawberry lemonade. Not even real strawberry, but rather the friggin' artificial one you already came across in toothpaste, chewing gum, and now beer. This brew sucks. Don't buy it if you can get Coke, Pepsi, well, even Dr. Pepper instead. |
|
Hidden River Amber (Old Fort Brewing, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | Malty and rich, with a sweet and not overly exciting finish. Could use a hint more hoppyness. Still, quite fresh and well carbonated. OK. |
|
Uinta Club Pils (Uinta Brewery, SLC, UT) |
Wesi | Not all that much Pilsner style, but to be honest, I didn't really expect it to be :). After all, this is the country where Hefeweizens taste like dishwasher soap, so why shouldn't Pilsners taste like a Lager? That's one up on the soap, at least. The Club Pils tastes like an ordinary european lager, but it is fresh, hoppy and decently carbonated. In other words: Not bad at all. |
|
Shiner Bock (Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, TX) |
Wesi | Tasty, if a bit very american (read: thin) in its substance. Kinda tastes like home-brewed in some car wrecker's shop in Waco... If it were not for its quite prominent hoppy aftertaste, you could easily mistake it for an ordinary fish-pond beer like Coors. Grin. |
|
Lawson Creek Pale Ale (Lawson Creek Brewery, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | Funny smell of rotting turnips, taste and aftertaste with a very weird note of metal. Remember that feeling and taste in your mouth which you get from visiting the dentist and having him poke and scratch with his tools for half an hour? Well, here you go. Dentist experience, now available bottled (tm). |
Boris | Bloody nickel taste, like licking on a quarter while drinking cheap beer. But really doesn't taste as bad as you'd think after smelling it. |
|
Blue Paddle Pilsner (New Belgium, Ft Collins, CO) |
Wesi | Pilsner? Ah well, as a light reminescence in the aftertaste maybe. But in the taste, there's more evidence of root beer and grape jelly than of a real beer. A bit more boldness in taste would blend in better with the - surprisingly acceptable - hoppy aftertaste. |
Boris | Hmm. Has as much in common with a real Pilsner as a cow with mountainbiking. It's got a bloody piss taste, they should call it Pissener and not Pilsener. Like drinking the sewage water of a zoo. Distinct monkey smell. Brrrr. |
|
Widmer Hefeweizen (Widmer, Portland, OR) |
Wesi | Not very wheaty, and certainly not very yeasty - in other words: miles away from its namesake, the bavarian original. But still a pretty decent, refreshing brew - if somewhat disappointingly lager-like in its taste. |
Boris | A beer trying to find its identity. Am I a pils? Or rather a lager? Or even an Oktoberfest-type of dishwashing water? Maybe all of the above? But I stand for the persuasion that I'm NOT a Hefeweizen. Hmm. Am I a beer at all? |
|
Rolling Rock Extra Pale (Latrobe Brewing, Latrobe, PA) |
Wesi | Wow. I figure they tint the bottle in green to make it at least almost LOOK like a beer - until you pour it, anyway. Thin translucent weird watery voidness of a beer. Imagine one (just one) breakfast cereal soaking in 12floz of water for a week, and you have the secret receipe for this brew. A true non-event of a beer. |
|
Wasatch Unofficial Amber Ale 2002 (Wasatch, Park City, UT) |
Boris | Slow start, doesn't really reach it's cruising altitude before preparing for landing again. Just hops alone don't make a good ale. Nevertheless, it's fair beer, and I would certainly pour others down the drain first. Cool label. |
Wesi | Fresh and crisp up front, but lacking a bit of the malty "body" that I would expect of an amber ale. Still, a refreshing, rather hoppy, tasty brew. Chances are good that it is much tastier than the official beer of a certain event taking place in Utah in 2002. |
|
Hidden River Pale Ale (Old Fort Brewing, Cold Spring, MN) |
Wesi | The sweet artificial glycerine taste that you remember from the gum candies of your childhood. Sweet like a cheap soda, and stale like -- well, maybe the brewery should rather be called Old Fart. Pale ales are supposed to have at least a noticeable hint of residual hoppyness. This is a fraud rather than a beer. Sticky sucking sweet. |
Boris | Hidden River? Why hide the river, it's not the one to blame. But I would definitely hide this beer. Cos if I brewed a beer and it turned out to be carpet glue, I would not put my name on it. Smells promising, but the first gulp makes you repent. |
|
Ziegenbock Texas (Anheuser Busch) |
Boris | Smells like a rotten toilet sink. Hello? Tuuuut? Waiting for the dialtone. [coughs, then laughs] I wanted a beer, not a bottled water. But water nicely matches the first impression of the sink. They sure musta have a sick brewmaster. The water he used is really nice, but where the hell are all the other ingredients? No annoying side taste, though - pure mountain spring water. |
Wesi | Gasp. How hard have I tried not to have a prejudice. But, alas, no temptation was needed to find proof for what I feared: A Busch beer, true to its heritage, watery sucking plain tasteless dull stupid blunt crappy kinda beer. Just boring. Bock beer? They sure musta cleaned the bock inside out to get rid of all the stink. |
|
Sunshine Wheat (New Belgium, Ft Collins, CO) |
Wesi | Hmm. Would not have pegged it for a wheat with my eyes closed - it rather tastes like an amber with a whiff of chocolate malts in it. On the second or third sip, though, it finally starts to build up some faint wheatish aftertaste. Not bad at all, but not wheaty enough a wheat for my liking. |
Boris | 404 Error. Wheat not found. Please try again later or contact the brewmaster. |
|
Lone Star, The National Beer of Texas (Lone Star, Ft Worth, TX) |
Wesi | Surprisingly decent. I expected something like a combination of Bud Light and Tecate, and was positively surprised to encounter some evidence of taste. A bit nondescript and watery, maybe, but still easily drinkable. If I had to pick the national beer of texas, though, I would rather go for a Shiner. |
|
Boulder Amber (Boulder Brewing, Boulder CO) |
Wesi | Surprisingly tasty, well balanced combination of rich malts up front and a crisp hoppyness in the aftertaste. The lingering, Pilsener-like hoppyness won't make the brew a favorite of yellow water drinking Americans, but for hop-seasoned Europeans, this brew is a true find. |
Boris | Promising smell, like the Texas High Desert just after a serious thunderstorm. A honest beer. Right after the sip, the malt kicks in like the clunky transmission of a ten year old Ford truck, before it gives way to a solid, hoppy aftertaste. Good. |
|
Kings Peak Porter (Uinta, SLC UT) |
Boris | Instantaneously comes up with a surprising amount of different tastes, occupying quite some bandwidth. however, right after you have begun enjoying it, the spectrum flattens out and becomes pretty quiet, maybe with the exception of a peak at chocolate malts and hops. |
Wesi | Mh. Pretty good. Not very heavy-bodied, but with a nicely blended finish of chocolate malts and hops. Tasty and hoppy, yet easy to drink. One of the better Porters available in the States. |
|
India Pale Ale (Uinta, SLC UT) |
Boris | Upon opening it, I'm greeted by the stink of a 4 days old trash bag. Luckily, however, a beer is not supposed to be inhaled but drunk. Applied properly, the initially smelly experience is replaced by a decent sip of Holy Hoppiness. No doubt this beer would make it as far as India, if necessary. |
Wesi | Bloody scary smell, reminding me of something unpleasant I can't quite place. A decomposing body, maybe? But the taste is all right - hoppy to the hilt, as you'd expect from an IPA, but fortunately not hoppy alone, and not metallic either. Quite acceptable. |
|
Ruby River Pale Ale (Ruby River Brewpub, SLC UT) |
Wesi | Smooth and tasty, almost creamy in texture. A bit weak on the hoppy side up front, but with a decent lingering aftertaste. |
|
Ruby river Red Ale (Ruby River, SLC UT) |
Wesi | Kinda like their pale ale, with the same deficit in hops, but with an additional hint of damp cardboard in the aftertaste. Not all-out bad, but not my favorite either. |
|
Ruby River Hefeweizen (Ruby River SLC UT) |
Boris | Obviously brewed in Yukon and pipelined into Utah, this is the coldest Hefeweizen you can get. What are they trying to hide by even making the foam freeze? |
Wesi | The wheat is there, presumed you know in advance that your tongue has to look for it. Only a slight trace of the banana note typical for a true Bavarian Hefeweizen. Good, but not outstanding - and, brrrrr, way too cold. |
|
Polygamy Porter (Wasatch, Park City, UT) |
Boris | While freezing the bottle to death rock bottom in your cooler may be the only way to make most yellowish mountain spring water of American provenience drinkable at all, this is not what you shall do with this brew. Let it enjoy the sunshine for a while, and not only will it reward you with chosen chocolate malts, but also as a indispensable ingredient for the greatest chili this planet ever blessed me with. |
Wesi | Don't make the the mistake I first made when tasting this brew. This is a decent old world porter, meaning that you are missing half the fun if you drink it iced cold. At a proper temperature, say around 50F, you'll get the full bore of complex malts and tangy hoppyness, topped by a decent aftertaste. The marketing gags on the label are cool, but this brew don't need it. It's a true beer all on its own. And, yes, this beer also makes a perfect ingredient for an impolitely obnoxious Texas Chili. |
|
Old Dominion Lager (Dominion Brewing Co, Ashburn VA) |
Wesi | Perfectly normal european-style lager, hoppy and tasty, but somewhat boring. Might be a microbrew, but tastes like any other lager of which half a million gallons are made in every batch. |
|
Blue Heron Pale Ale (Mendocino Brewing, Ukiah, CA) |
Wesi | Rather crisp and hoppy, almost like an IPA. Not much taste besides the bitterness, tough. |
|
Peter B's Amber Ale (Peter B's Brewpub, Monterey CA) |
Wesi | Hoppy and crisp, almost unexpectedly so for an american amber ale. Nice color and carbonation, though little foam. Tasty and readily drinkable, also for Europeans :-) |
|
Peter B's Pilsner (Peter B's Brewpub, Monterey CA) |
Wesi | Hmm. An undecided beer. The only thing it is sure of is that it doesn't want to be a pilsener. But it's still hesitating between being a sweet and slightly roasty ale and a weird flat pale ale. |
|
Peter B's Stout (Peter B's Brewpub, Monterey CA) |
Wesi | Not the creamy irish kind of stout, rather the watery british style. Crisp roast, nice aftertaste, but just a bit "un-stouty" in both look and feel. |
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Peter B's Oktoberfest (Peter B's Brewpub, Monterey CA) |
Wesi | Every pub all over the US seems to be playing (and cash in) on the big bavarian beer party. This one is, hmm, I'd say a ruby amber ale, perfectly drinkable, but as far from Oktoberfest beer as a hotdog is from a Weisswurst. |
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Scorpion Tail Ale (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | Hoppy all rite. The fifth beer of their sampler, and finally some hops. Not much else than hops, though. Sigh. |
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Elephant Hill Hefeweizen (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | Not really any Hefeweizen smell, and alas, no Hefeweizen taste either. Yet another breakfast cereal beer. |
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Whitewater Lager (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | Nomen est omen. Even though the water is more yellow than white. |
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Brewmaster Special Kolsch (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | A bit more spice than their white water. And even a hint of hops at the end of the tunnel... |
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Dead Horse (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Boris | Pretty good, but hmm, the horse is a bit very dead. |
Wesi | Pretty decent amber considering their other brews. A fruity twang in the taste, but overall quite drinkable. |
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Derailleur Red Ale (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | Nicely hopped, but unlike their Scorpion Ale, the hops in this brew are countered by a rich and well balanced malt complex. The best beer of their seven-beer sampler. |
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Oatmeal Stout (Moab Brewery, Moab UT) |
Wesi | Roasty, british-style stout, meaning that it is rather flattish and lukewarm. Cowardly taste, hardly leaving an impression. |