New Belgium Snow Day
- Overall 84/100
- Appearance 21/25
- Aroma 20/25
- Taste 21/25
- Finish 22/25
This winter seasonal is brewed by the New Belgium Brewery located in Fort Colline Co, and has a 6.2% ABV.
I found this Black Ale pours out a nice dark brown color that has a nice Ruby color to it when held up to light. It created a thick off white head that laces on the glass. The aroma had some piney hops which surprised me to go with the roasted malts. There is also some chocolate, caramel, and toffee malt that is found as well. When tasting this beer I found the roasted malts to start off nicely before finishing up with a slightly bitter hop finish. I found it to carry a wonderful balance as well as a medium body and smooth mouthfeel.
Overall I found this to be a very nice winter beer from New Belgium, and from what I have found in the past New Belgium knows what they are doing when it comes to brewing beer. I would recommend you pick this one up before it is too late.
Cheers!
In: Ale's, Rating 80-89, Winter Seasonal's
Samuel Adams White Ale
- Overall 81/100
- Appearance 21/25
- Aroma 19/25
- Taste 20/25
- Finish 21/25
This White Ale is brewed by the Boston Beer Company which is also known as Samuel Adams. They are located out of Boston MA, and this beer has a 5.2% ABV.
I found this beer to pour a typical hazy orange color that created a nice amount of white head that laced on the glass. The aroma of this Witbier is spicy, with hints of orange peel, coriander, and some bready malts. The taste of this beer is very inviting as it has a nice mouthfeel, and a great balance. It starts off with some of that orange peel, and bready malt found in the aroma, and then finishes crisp, clean, and slightly bitter with the coriander, and spices.
This in my opinion would be a very nice beer for either a warm summer day, or even a chilly fall afternoon while watching football. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.
Cheers!
In: Beer Reviews, Fall Seasonal's, Rating 80-89, Wheat Beers/Hefeweizen's
Mikkeller It’s Alive!
- Overall 81/100
- Appearance 23/25
- Aroma 19/25
- Taste 21/25
- Finish 18/25
This Belgian Wild Ale is brewed by Mikkeller which is located in Lochristi-Hijfte Belgium. This is a limited release and it has a hefty 8% ABV.
I found this beer to pour out a nice dark orange color with a thick white head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. The aroma is somewhat sweet as it had hints of lemon, and Belgian yeast, and some dark fruit to go with some bready, and caramel malts. I found the taste of this beer to contain some sweet caramel malt as well as some spicy Belgian yeast right away. It finished up with a rather bitter, and tart lemon taste to go with some bready malt as well. I think this beer carried a decent balance and I found the mouthfeel of this beer to kind of bite at you.
Overall this is a above average beer and I would say give it a shot. The price may defer this from happening, $16.99 per 750ml bottle. Luckily I found my bottle on clearance for $6.99 so I question the age of this beer as it wasn’t marked. Give it a shot if you find it and let me know what you think.
Cheers!
In: Ale's, Belgian Styled Beers, Rating 80-89
New Belgium Ranger IPA
- Overall 86/100
- Appearance 21/25
- Aroma 22/25
- Taste 22/25
- Finish 21/25
This IPA is brewed at the New Belgium Brewery located in Fort Collins CO. It has a 6.5% ABV, and is available year-round.
This IPA pours out a nice copper color with a thick white head and laces the glass. The aroma is wonderful as it consisted of bouquet of floral, and citrus hops as well as a hint of some sweet malts creating a nice balance. The taste of this beer almost mirrored the aroma. I found the initial taste to be rather hoppy yet balanced well with the malts found in the aroma. The finish is rather bitter which is to be expected with an IPA however it isn’t anything overpowering.
This IPA is about perfect when it comes to an everyday IPA. In fact it has become a staple in my beer fridge. I would recommend you pick it up when you get a chance, and hey It is even better on draft.
Cheers!
In: Beer Reviews, IPA's
New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale
- Overall 77/100
- Appearance 20/25
- Aroma 19/25
- Taste 19/25
- Finish 19/25
This Amber Ale is brewed by the New Belgium Brewery located in Fort Collins CO. It has a 5.2% ABV and it is available year-round.
I found this beer to pour out a nice amber color with a thick white head that laces on the glass. The aroma has a strong touch of caramel, toffee, and nuts with a nice subtle hint of some piney hops. The taste starts you off with the malts tones found in the aroma before carrying in to the very mild hop finish. It has a decent balance to it as well as a medium body.
This may be the most popular New Belgium beer and it isn’t bad but in my opinion but there are better options to reach for when looking for one of their brews. It is worth a shot however so if you haven’t tried it already pick it up in one of their sampler packs.
Cheers!
In: Ale's, Beer Reviews, Rating 70-79
Southern Tier Phin and Matt’s Extraordinary Ale
- Overall 75/100
- Appearance 18/25
- Aroma 18/25
- Taste 20/25
- Finish 19/25
This American Pale Ale is brewed out of Lakewood NY at the Southern Tier Brewery. It has a 5.4% ABV, and is available year-round. They also state that this beer is brewed with three varieties of hops, and three styles of malt.
I found this beer to pour light golden almost copper color with a decent head. The head however didn’t retain well and left minimal lacing on the glass. The aroma of this APA had some rather sweet pale malt to it as well as some floral, and earthy hops. When tasting the beer I found it to start off with the pale malts that were found in the aroma before finishing dry and slightly bitter from the earthy, and floral hops.
This beer has a decent mouthfeel to it as well as balance however it didn’t have that “wow” factor to me that the name suggested. This isn’t a bad beer, but just average at best in my opinion.
Cheers!
In: Ale's, Beer Reviews, Rating 70-79
Cathedral Square Iglesia Agave Ale
- Overall 62/100
- Appearance 17/25
- Aroma 15/25
- Taste 16/25
- Finish 14/25
This beer is brewed by the Cathedral Square Brewery located in Weston MO, and is available year-round. I couldn’t find an ABV for this beer but if I had to guess it would be right around 5%. They also state on the bottle that this beer is brewed with three malts, two hop varieties, and authentic agave nectar.
I found this beer to pour out a darker golden orange color with a decent amount of head. The said head however did not retain nor did it leave any lace on the glass. The aroma of this beer was rather light and I detected some sweet malt as well as some honey and that agave nectar. The taste of this beer was almost a mirror of the aroma as it was sweet from start to finish with the nectar, and honey showing through. I did not detect any hops in this beer however the finish seems to linger on your tongue and in the back of your throat.
Overall this isn’t a bad beer however it isn’t something that I think I would go after again unless it was on tap.
Cheers!
In: Beer Reviews, Fruit and Vegetable Beers, Rating 60-69
Widmer Brothers Drifter Pale Ale
- Overall 67/100
- Appearance 20/25
- Aroma 17/25
- Taste 15/25
- Finish 15/25
This Pale Ale is brewed by the Widmer Brothers Brewery which is located Portland OR. It is available year-round and has a 5.7% ABV.
I found this Pale Ale to pour a nice copper color that produces a nice amount of head that laced the glass. I found the aroma to be rather sweet and it has a bold hint of citrus and piney hops. When tasting this beer I found it to have a sweet almost candy like caramel malt front before it finished up with a very mild bitter hoppiness. I honestly expected a bit more of a bite to this beer after the aroma. This Pale Ale does have a decent mouthfeel to it while carrying a decent balance as well.
Overall this isn’t a bad Pale Ale but there are others that I would choose first. The only thing that let me down about this beer was the finish. I just wanted a bit more of a bite.
Cheers!
Schlafly Citrus Witbier
- Overall 85/100
- Appearance 18/25
- Aroma 23/25
- Taste 22/25
- Finish 22/25
This is the third beer that is a part of the 20th Anniversary series. It has a 6.5% ABV and is brewed here in St.Louis Mo.
This beer pours out a nice hazy yellow color that almost resembles orange juice. This beer had a decent amount of head that laced on my glass. The aroma was rather pleasant as it had some nice spice undertones to go with the strong citrus backbone. Oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruit is what stood out here. The taste of this beer started off with a slight malt front before the oranges, lemons and other citrus fruits take over. It finishes up nicely with a bit of the spice found in the nose as well as a hint of hops. This beer had a great balance to it to go with it’s full flavor and medium body. The higher ABV is also very well hidden in my opinion.
Pick this beer up before it is too late if you are lucky enough to have Schlafly distributed near you. I think this beer is better off as a summer beer but I would drink it year-round.
Cheers!
In: Rating 80-89, Wheat Beers/Hefeweizen's
Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale
- Overall 65/100
- Appearance 18/25
- Aroma 13/25
- Taste 17/25
- Finish 17/25
This beer is brewed by Coors Brewing located in Golden CO. It is available in the winter time and has a 5.6% ABV.
I found this beer to pour a nice copper color with an off white head that left minimal lacing on the glass.The aroma consists of caramel malts, as well as some brown sugar, and toffee. When tasting this beer I found it to be rather sweet with the caramel, and brown sugar showing through and then the toffee comes out in the finish. It had a decent mouthfeel and a nice balance as well.
This is not a bad beer but it left me wanting more from it. It had all the hints of flavor but nothing really stood out and said here I am enjoy me. Pick it up if you would like but I think I will hold off again in the future.
Cheers!
In: Beer Reviews, Belgian Styled Beers, Rating 60-69, Winter Seasonal's
