I’m not a huge fan of IPA’s, although the more beer I drink the more I like them. As I’ve said before, it’s the bitterness that gets to me. This IPA, however, is incredible. It has very little of that bite common to most IPAs. It also has a milder bouquet, which is a little disappointing, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too. With the oak aging, this beer is mellower and smoother than your standard IPA. The picture may not show it, but there were some big suds in the bottle after I poured it.  Make no mistake about it; this is a full-bodied beer. The mouthfeel is thicker than the color would suggest. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point of the glass and feeling fine. On warm summer days, this is a great refresher and everything a person could want in a beer. Take mouthfuls, or sips, either way is great. However, this guy will get you lit up quick - it’s a whopping 11.0% ABV!

Specs:
22 oz. bottle
11.0% ABV

This is supposed to be a “Brew 2000 Imperial”. I don’t know what that means. It’s only 6.3% ABV, which seems low for an Imperial, and the label doesn’t go into further detail. It does say that it took the gold in the 2008 World Beer Cup. I was more intrigued by the fact that this has jasmine in it. It’s not that I have an unhealthy obsession with Disney characters, or that I have any special affinity for jasmine. It’s really more that I’m interested in things I haven’t seen before, and I’ve never seen a jasmine beer. I am not 100% sure what jasmine tastes like, but to me this seems like a fairly standard IPA. It’s a little less bitter, and a little smoother on the finish than other IPAs I’ve had, but otherwise tastes like a bitter beer. I’m not sure what I was expecting out of a “Jasmine IPA”; something more exotic or interesting tasting, but this doesn’t meet up with my expectations.

Specs:
22 oz. bottle
6.3% ABV

Think a standard yellow beer. (The beer is actually a little lighter than the picture shows.) Say, Budweiser. Give a bit of a fuller flavor and slightly thicker mouthfeel. (This would be from the maize included in this beer.) Now add more hops for a dry, slight bitter finish and floral notes, and you’ve got an idea what this beer tastes like. Post sip, it’s clear that this was beer you were drinking. This beer is pretty well carbonated - not to the point where it’s annoying, but it continues to bubble as I write this, 5 minutes after the pour. It leaves a pleasant foam band on the glass.  It’s a decent enough warm weather “I just mowed the lawn” sort of beer, but otherwise it’s unremarkable. At $4 for a 22oz bottle though, it’s worth it.

Specs:
22oz bottle
5.6% ABV

I realise it’s May. I realise that pumpkin ales are generally consumed in the fall. But I’ve gotta tell you this story. I was at a local beer store, talking to the proprietress. She spoke of this special pumpkin ale. According to her, Seattle’s Elysian Brewing makes a pumpkin ale in the fall, but they make a better Imperial Pumpkin Ale that they don’t normally bottle. However, they bottled some and she got the hook up. Enter the Great Pumpkin. This is a fantastic beer. My normal complaint of pumpkin ales (aside from the fact that you can only get them in the fall), is that they aren’t spicy enough. You take a swig, after a few moments you find the meager spices. In my (not-so) humble opinion, pumpkin ales should be bold, big, and spicy. There should be no question as to what you are drinking. In that category, this beer delivers. You can taste the allspice and cloves while the beer is still in your mouth. Post-swallow notes are honey-sweet. There is a very mild hop taste, probably Tettanger, that is smooth and doesn’t take away from the spicy pumpkin-y goodness. If you look closely in the picture, you can see that there are floaties in this beer. This is a good thing. My guess, they are pumpkin and spice bits. Living up to its Imperial moniker, this bad boy is 7.7% alcohol. Which is really just icing on the cake, err, Cool Whip on the pumpkin pie. (As a noteworthy sidenote, the second beer that I made was a pumpkin ale that was pretty similar to this one. It called for Tettanger hops, which I didn’t have, but that explains my guess at the hops in this one. So for those of you that can’t get this particular beer, you can also not sample the homebrew pumpkin ale I made - but you can have the recipe.)

Specs:
22 oz bottle
7.7% ABV

New rule…I am only going to review my 11th beer of the evening from now on. Too few before and my vocabulary hasn’t properly warmed up with oral calisthenic exercises (no jokes, please…). Conversely, too many beers and I tend to use more periods than a Hemingway novel. Soooo, it looks like 11 is the new 42. On my 10th miller high life tonight, I thought to myself, “Where’s the smoothness? Where’s the unmistakable top-fermented process, so it undergoes an extended period of cold-conditioning or lagering after primary fermentation is complete which reduces fruity esters and gives the beer a cleaner flavor.” Oh, here it is. For my 11th beer tonight, I chose the Mad Brewer Imperial Cream Ale. The amber color invokes thoughts of rich, decadent flavors which will swirl around the palette like something that swirls a lot. Upon first whiff, you smell light fruit, malts and grass. The taste is sweet and malty with some caramel, pine, floral, and watermelon flavors to boot. Very nice and with just enough detectable alcohol to remind you of why you are glad you’re not a child. The medium body and low carbonation give it a smooth mouth feel that just begs for another draw. Indeed…11 is the new 42.

22oz Bottle
11 ABV

I think that I have been a bit negative lately. So today, I decided to review an amazing beer. The Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier Naturtrüb is a mouthful, but oh. my. god. It pours appropriately cloudy for a hefeweizens; straw-gold in color, and with a thin 1/2″ white head. There wasn’t much head retention and left a thin lacing down the glass. It had a very nice aroma of bananas, cloves and yeast, although its not quite as fragrant as some other hefeweizens I have had. Upon your first sip, there is a very yeast-y forward, leading off with flavors of orange, lemon, and apple, followed by bread-y malts. After the initial taste of awesome-ness, the middle is light with hints of cloves. The finish is a bit tart, which makes me want that next sip that much more. This is one exceptionally drinkable beer, and it’s one of my girlfriend’s favorite session beers. The smoothness, crispness, and sweetness all combine to make for one delicious beer that disappears a lot faster than expected. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!
16 oz bottle
5.5% ABV

Preemptive Happy Mother’s Day to all the awesome Moms out there! You know, I took my mom to Curacao for a cruise once. We ate a bunch of indigenous foods and drank a lot of local spirits. It was awesome! Our best meal was a Caribbean/Indian restaurant where we ate fried cheese in lentil curry and stewed goat with nan bread…absolutely amazing. I share this prior to my review to show the juxtaposition of my beer experience. They only had one kind of beer there and it was Alfa Super Strong 9.2. It came in a 500 ml can, and it had a nice golden color and sweet aroma. Now, I never thought I would say this, but this beer was just too alcohol-y for my taste…and too sweet too. There was definitely a skunk-y nose and a very strong finish. Not very pleasant at all…

Specs: 500ml Can
7.5% ABV

Sunburns suck. Sunburns on an Asian with no hair and fair skin sucks that much worse. Sunburns on said Asian while in a sunny Aruba sucks the most. Good thing there was plenty of Balashi beer around. The aroma was sweet and mildly mead-like. Unfortunately, there was a hint of dirty socks. The pour had a light golden color with a soapy head that clung to the glass. Despite being a generally bland American-styled adjunct lager, it makes up for it in sheer coldness. I never once saw this beer come out of anything less than a freezer. The tiny frosted green bottle shinned like a seraph as I would apply it to my glowing-red epithelial tissue. (Probably explains how I got that staph infection…) Although faint, there was a slightly sweet taste that had a hint of metal and cardboard. Good thing it’s the only beer in Aruba! Bon Bini!

7oz Bottle
5% ABV

If you’ve seen “Ten Things I Hate About You”, you’ll know Julia Stiles is sleeper-cell hot. You don’t think she’s hot off the bat, but she sneaks up on you. You will also have seen the “Fremont Troll”, which is under the Aurora Bridge in Fremont, in Seattle. The street there has been renamed to Troll Ave, natch. This same Troll adorns the label of this beer, and serves as its namesake. While I wanted to get a nice foamy white head to contrast the dark dark black (turns only dark brown in bright light!) body, the picture shows the dearth of suds on the beer. I didn’t really pour it softly, either. No matter. This beer is smooth, brotha, smooth. To be fair, I am listening to jazz right now, Duke Ellington. Be that as it may, this brew is smooth and satisfying. The lack of head is due to the soft carbonation that contributes to the Miles Davis of the experience. The opening pull is on the bitter side, which mellows quickly into roasty burnt toast that all the good porters possess. The finish is slightly sweet, earthy, lip-smacking good. I must admit, I picked this up because of the cool label, but this is a damn good porter that I’ll look for again!

Specs:

22 oz bottle
7% ABV

Green Lakes Organic Ale is another brew by Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. Or as I like to call it, Mecca. I have not yet been to this Holy Shrine of Hopdom, but rest assured, I will go and it will be glorious.  (Where do I come up with this stuff? Hopdom? Yes it’s late, yes I’ve been drinking. Back to the beer at hand.) Green Lakes is certified organic, according to the label. Even though this is an amber ale, it is incredibly bitter with an overwhelming hop flavor. This clocks in at 45 IBUs, which is right around where an IPA usually is. Given a blind taste test, I’d say this was an IPA. It pours nicely, with a good head and satisfying color. It starts hoppy and bitter with slightly sour notes and ends the same way. There’s no malt flavor to speak of. The mouthfeel is pleasant, carbonation level is good, but this is far more bitter than an amber has any right to be.

Specs:
12 oz bottle
5.2% ABV
45 IBUs