Update

Good News! I have taken a position at a major Craft Brewery!
Bad News... I am not sure reviewing beers would be appropriate now... So for now the blog stays as it is until I decide what to do.

Stone Levitation Ale

Poured my Levitation Ale 12oz into my AB pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a half finger tall frothy off white head.

Smells of hops, citrus (grapefruit), and evergreen.

Taste is great well balanced hoppiness matched with sweet and tart notes. The sip is sweet then hoppy followed by citrus and leaves an aftertaste of citrusy evergreen and hops.

Mouthfeel is thin and carbonation is good, both fit the beer very nicely.

Overall it is a great beer and it rounds out stones product line very nicely. It’s still defiantly a Stone product and you can taste the hops but it is also a beer that non craft drinker can enjoy. Very drinkable, I wish I had another one.

Availability – Not in Texas yet sadly
Style – American Amber Ale
Alcohol – 4.4% ABV
Price – $7 for 6 pack

Samuel Adams Winter Classics Part 1

So Yesterday I bough the Samuel Adams Winter Classics 24 pack which has has 4 of bottles of each 6 styles. Boston Lager, Black Lager, Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, Holiday Porter and Cranberry Lambic.

Today's three reviews are the most exciting out of the pack Old Fezziwig Ale, Holiday Porter and Cranberry Lambic.


Old Fezziwig Ale

Pours a dark but still translucent brown that when held up to the light is somewhat ruby with a small light tan head.

Smell is pleasant hints of berry, caramel, slight spice and earthy.

Taste is good but could stand to be a bit bolder. Tastes of coffee and berries toasted malt. Sip is of coffee with a small explosion of berry followed by chocolate. Aftertaste is mild but is and tastes of coffee.

Mouthfeel is good and carbonation is slightly about medium but it’s nice.

Overall it’s a very good beer, not the best winter warmer I have tried but a lot better then other I have had. I think that they should start alternating this every other year with their Winter lager.

Holiday Porter

Pours a very dark brown black that when held up to the light barely lets any purple color through. Nice ginger tall dark tan head that sticks around.

Smell is good hints of chocolate and coffee.

Taste is good, coffee, berry, chocolate and slightly nutty. Smooth taste that becomes somewhat tart with maybe a bit of berry then it becomes more bold with the coffee and bitter taste. Nice aftertaste of coffee.

Mouthfeel is good but it was a little thin. Carbonation was good.

Overall a good porter, very drinkable.

Cranberry “Lambic”

Cranberry “Lambic” is nothing more then a fruit wheat beer, which it even says in the fine print. Pours a translucent dark gold with a slightly yellow white head.

Smells like wheat and cranberries.

Taste is surprisingly strong and tart taste of cranberries.

Mouthfeel and carbonation fit this beer nicely.

Overall better then some cranberry beers I have had

Worst Burglar Ever

This video is priceless.

Anheuser-Busch plans 60 new products for next year

Snippet from Brew Blog (click to read whole story)

Anheuser-Busch plans to have 128 different products on the market by the end of this year, including 60 new ones, the brewer told distributors at a recent meeting.

I understand what they are trying to accomplish. But I really don’t think they need to infiltrate the craft beer market more then they already have in the past and with their new Stone Mill and Wild Hop. It’s obvious that these names are designed to confuse buyers with products and brands currently in the craft market.

I also feel bad for my local small beer stores that where somewhat tricked into buying these beers at a high cost that they have to pass on to the buyer just to break even. And with 60 new products it’s going to hard for the market to not get flooded. Luckily some of these will be specialty items that sound nasty like “a mix of Clamato and Budweiser called Chelada”.

Shopping Penguin

Now if they could only teach it to go buy beer... "doobie doobie doo"

Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale

Poured my Winter Welcome (in the new brown glass bottle) into a pint glass. Pours a nice transparent dark copper with a 2 finger tall fluffy tan head that sticks around and clings to the glass.

Scent is light but is of toasted malt and hints of caramel.

Taste is nice smooth but very full bodied. Taste is of toasted malt, caramel, raisins, and a slight amount of bitterness with a nice sweet aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is good, I wish it was thicker though and carbonation is light.

Very drinkable, something nice to look forward to at the end of the year.

Availability – Everywhere
Style – Winter Warmer
Alcohol – 6% ABV
Price – apx $4 for a 550ml

Breckenridge Christmas Ale

Poured my Breckenridge Christmas Ale into a pint glass. Pours a nice blackish brown that is red when held up to the light. It had a small head that was a gray white color.

There is a strange smell that I can’t put a finger on which is somewhat unpleasant actually.

Taste is smooth at first then gets a bit more bitter. It’s not good but not bad either. Almost no aftertaste but it some leftover bitterness.

Mouthfeel and carbonation are both light

Drinkablity is good but I was a little disappointed by this offering from Breckenridge normally their products are top notch.

Availability – Seasonal at Specialty beer stores
Style – Winter Warmer
Alcohol – 7.4% ABV
Price – apx $8 for 6 pack

Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale

Finally getting around to reviewing one of my favorite beers and I don’t know what took me so long! Poured my 22oz bomber into my AB pint glass. It pours a nice dark blood red brown with a half inch tall amber tan head.

The smell is a pleasant scent that is slightly sweet but full of hops with hints of citrus.

Taste is great, quite smooth with an explosion of bitterness from the hops, slight hints of citrus. The taste complements the smell very well. Aftertaste is bold and full of hoppy goodness.

Mouthfeel is slightly thick and carbonation is good.

This is a very drinkable beer. Arrogant Bastard Ale is a classic and every beer lover has to try it. In fact this was one of my very first craft beers I ever had and remember drinking it quite fondly. Now this is one of my regulars that I always get.

Availability – Everywhere, but only in 22oz in Texas
Style – American Strong Ale
Alcohol – 7.2% ABV
Price – apx $4 for a 220z

Rhar's Bucking Bock

Ok so I tried this last night and enjoyed it a lot so know I’m going to sit down and review it. Pour into a pint glass a very nice gold with a bit of amber with a nice one finger tall white head.

Smell is good sweet wort like smell

Taste is very interesting, smooth then hoppy and then very sweet, almost tastes like wort.

Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is good.

Overall I was really surprised by this one. I couldn’t get over that it was a golden bock, I’m glad that I read that off the label before I poured it or I would have been very confused.
It’s good that it isn’t just another bock because Texas has enough of those.

Availability – Most stores here in Texas
Style – Golden Bock
Alcohol – 8.1% ABV
Price – apx $7 for 6 pack