Review: Hitachino Nest White Ale

Purchased from:
Gift but I've seen it at Whole Foods around here

ABV%:
5%

Type:
Wheat Ale

Color:
Straw yellow with a bit of cloudiness, barely existent, soapy, thin head

Aroma:
Ginger, lemons, with a wheat backbone.  Pretty fruity and light in the nose, fizzy

Taste:
Surprising tang and sourness from the lemon with a hint of the ginger and clove in the background.  Hardly any hop flavor to speak of.  I actually puckered at the taste.

Overall:
Wow.  What to say.  I expected alot from this.  My experience with white ales was Allagash White, Hoegaarden, and I loved both.  When drinking a white ale or other wheat beer, I expect a smoothness, a bit of citrus blended with spice, and overall a refreshing experience.  Perhaps my expectations were too high with this one because even though I got some of the things I expected, it was all destroyed by this sourness that dominated the flavor.

When I first poured the drink, it seemed thin based on the head and color.  I saw there was some leftover stuff at the bottom and kept pouring.  What came out was this deeper yellow stuff.  I have no idea what it was - maybe lemon/ginger residue that had settled out?  Anyway this made the first sip horrible as the sourness just blew me away.  I puckered and ended up with this bitter taste in the back of my mouth that I felt like washing away with water.  The over-carbonation helped in that it diluted this flavor a bit to make the drink bearable.  To make things worse, as the beer warmed, the beer became something like a lemon juice.

I'm really confused at what Kiuchi Brewing is going for here.  I get they are incorporating different flavors (as seen in their Red Rice Ale) in to their beer but it just fails here.  The balance is off and screws with the taste.  Behind it all there is a decent beer there, I think, but I couldn't get over the hump.

2/5

Review: Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Purchased from:
Gifted but can be found easily

ABV%:
6.5%

Type:
Ale, Maibock-style

Color:
Light amber hue, a little orangey, like those fossils

Aroma:
Caramelly malt, a muted hop scent and a hint of oranges.

Taste:
First, lots of toffee-like sweetness sweeps through the mouth, hop dryness and bitterness hit the back of the palate but it is somewhat muted and fades fast.  Leaves dryness.  Well-balanced and alcohol is hidden.

Overall:
I loved the design of the bottle.  The little skeleton "dead guy" looks so chilled out on top of that barrel and it got me excited because I wanted to be like that while drinking this beer.  After the first sip, I was a little underwhelmed because the sweetness turned out to be a little more than I expected.  As I continued drinking however, the balance worked itself out and the hop flavor, with a decent level of carbonation countered the malt profile.  Rogue Dead Guy Ale turned out to be a solid beer with good flavor, albeit nothing too complex, robust yet sessionable.  My first brew from Rogue and I won't hesitate to try their other offerings.

3.5/5

Me Likey Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants


With the growth of the craft and microbrew industry, it seems that more and more "mainstream" restaurant/brewery chains are opening up.  In the DC metro area alone I can think of a bunch.  Dogfish Head has grown their restaurant chain to three or four locations in the DelMarVa area.  Great American Restaurants has their Sweetwater Tavern.  Capitol City Brewery, Rock Bottom Brewery.  The beers that are brewed range from all over the spectrum, decent to great.  I think they serve their purpose in pairing great food and bringing purposeful beer to the people.  I met up with a couple friends the other day at Gordon Biersch and tried a beer style I hadn't had before: Dunkel (DOON-kl).  Yum.

Review: Schneider Aventinus

Purchased from:
Free aka gifted

ABV%:
8.2%

Type:
Weizenbock

Color:
Cloudy, muddy brown.  You can't see through it.  Characteristic of wheat beers (the cloudiness that is).

Aroma:
Cloves mixed with bananas, a bit of light bitterness and some toffee/raisin-y sweetness in the background.

Taste:
Really smooth with a medium mouthfeel - not too syrupy though.  Definite clove presence but balanced with the toffee malt and a bit of bananas .  The sweetness is met by some hop bitters in the finish which is balanced by all the other flavors.  Complex and enjoyable.

Overall:
This beer was very tasty.  It went down so easy and every sip brought different flavors out.  The Schneider Aventinus is a wheat beer which lends itself to another layer of flavors beyond the malt and hops.  You smell bananas and spices in the aroma.   The higher level of alcohol is not really noticeable due to the fantastic balance of sweetness, bitterness and spice.  It reminded me of other Belgian beer flavors (clovey) yet didn't leave your mouth dry as some Belgians can.  This is a beer that needs to be savored.  The only bad thing I'd say is that the cloves flavor can at times overpower everything.  But overall, so good.  I wanted more when I was done with the bottle. 

4.5/5
 
Snowed in.

I wanted to get this blog entry in as we are going through round 2 of the end of the world, I mean, zombieland, I mean, a snow storm.  The snow started Friday afternoon-evening and continued straight through Saturday.  I mean it snowed for about 24 hours straight.  Friday morning I went out to the grocery stores and everyone was preparing for 2012 (Mayan-style) or something, not realizing that the snow would be over by Sunday.  More importantly, the snow happened on Super Bowl Weekend, foiling any plans I may have had to go gorge myself on junk food and beer while watching football with friends.  Instead, my wife and I had to gorge and drink with each other. 

I had bought some Otter Creek Copper Ale from Trader Joe's, and we finished up the Brewmaster's Collection from Sam Adams, including the Scotch Ale, Boston Ale, and Cream Stout.  All of these were unique with one not meeting expectations.  Read on for more deets...

Review: Sam Adams Coastal Wheat

Purchased from:
Still working off those gifts...

ABV%:
5.3%

Color:
Hazy yellow, golden wheat color.  Decent frothy head.

Aroma:
Lemons and citrus hops.  Tangy.

Taste:
Somewhat thin and watery.  Slight citrusy hop taste at the front, finishes smooth and especially dry.  Definite taste of the zing from lemons.  Light flavors all around.

Overall:
I've come to believe that the Boston Beer Company can be genius at times and at other times, utterly fail.  The Boston Lager still stands on its own as one of my favorite beers.  The flavor is consistent, balanced, and full providing you a hops fix with a nice maltiness.  It's just solid.  The Sam Adams Coastal Wheat is one of those "other times" unfortunately, when they step away from their forte and try something new. 

I must preface by saying I'm not a big Hefeweizen, wheat beer guy and I don't drink it much.  The Coastal Wheat is brewed in this style.  A wheat beer must be brewed with at least 60%-70% wheat malt rather than barley malt.  This gives these beers a more fruity, spicy flavor and impart a golden hazy color.  Sam Adams has gotten the color down here but the rest of the beer doesn't stand up for itself.  They had to add a bunch of lemon zest to the brew.  You smell and taste the tartness of the lemons that it overpowers anything the beer had to offer.  Which isn't to say the beer itself had much to offer.  It's kind of fizzy and soda water-y.  Really low hop bitterness and without any natural flavors from the wheat malt detected.  I suppose it was refreshing and crisp, but at the cost of any substantial flavor whatsoever.

2/5