Budlight Platinum
- Overall 64/100
- Appearance 17/25
- Aroma 14/25
- Taste 17/25
- Finish 16/25
This lager is brewed by Anheuser Busch located in St.Louis MO. It has a strong 6% ABV and is available year-round.
I found this beer to pour out a nice golden color with nice head however there was no retention, and no lace. The aroma was grainy, and malty but carried no real definitive smell. The taste of this beer is rather smooth however there again is no real flavor here. You get some grains, malt, and a little corn. This beer has a decent balance to it and since it is so smooth I found that it can sneak up on you rather quick with it’s 6%ABV.
One knock that I have on this beer is that when drinking, the beer feels heavy and very filling. When I am drinking an American Lager I want it to be light and something that I can enjoy all day if need be. This is an American Lager that you could not do that with.
Cheers!
In: Lagers/Pilsners, Rating 60-69
New Belgium Belgo
- Overall 88/100
- Appearance 21/25
- Aroma 23/25
- Taste 23/25
- Finish 21/25
This Belgian IPA is brewed by the New Belgium Brewery located in Fort Collins CO. It is available year-round and has a 7% ABV.
This beer pours out a nice light golden color with a thick white head that laces on the glass. The aroma is full of Belgian yeast, clove, and citrus hops that I found to be rather pleasant. The taste of this beer was even better as the citrus fruit shows up with the clove found in the aroma. The wonderful Belgian yeast then shows up and wows the taste buds before the slightly bitter hop finish.
I found this beer to have a great balance and I would recommend you try it, as it has become a staple in my beer fridge.
Cheers!
In: Belgian Styled Beers, IPA's, Rating 80-89
New Hoptimistic IPA Bottles from Charleville!
So I was invited back out to Charleville last weekend to hang out with Head Brewer Tony Saballa, his trusty sidekick Panda, owners Jack, and Joal , Jake, and Paul, as well as Ben, and Abby from Category 23 Brewing. While there I got to try some amazing beers including the German Chocolate Cake on Cask, the amazing Box of Chocolate, Ale Mucho Hoppo, Whiskey Scented Santa, and the awesome St.Dorian Abbey Rye.
Well the main reason for this post is because Charleville is releasing new packaging, and 6 pack’s of bottles for the wonderful Hoptimistic IPA. It will be released in stores in two weeks so keep you eye out for it. Tony, and Panda also upped the IBU’s for this IPA from 55 IBU to 65 IBU and I personally think it turned out great!
I would suggest you give this beer a shot if you haven’t already, and are lucky enough to have it distributed near you. If not take a road trip to St.Genevieve MO because it really is worth the trip. They have great beer there but more importantly great people who know how to make you feel welcome! Here is a link to their website and follow the directions on the website because if you put it into a GPS you will not make it.
I wanted to again thank Tony, Panda, Jack, and Joal for having me out to their establishment, I had a blast!
Cheers!
Buffalo Bill’s Alimony Ale
- Overall 63/100
- Appearance 17/25
- Aroma 16/25
- Taste 15/25
- Finish 15/25
This American IPA is brewed by the Buffalo Bill’s Brewery located in Hayward CA. It is available year-round and it has a 6.8% ABV.
I found this beer to pour out a nice copper color that produced a decent head however there was no retention nor lace. The aroma of this beer had some citrus hops, to go with the caramel malts. Other than that there wasn’t much going on. I found the taste of this beer to be on par with the aroma as this beer starts off with the caramel malt before the citrus hops take over the palate. The balance this beer creates isn’t bad but I was expecting more of a hoppy experience being the fact that it is an IPA and I feel it fell short.
Give this beer a shot if you would like. The rest of the brews that I have had from Buffalo Bill’s have been wonderful.
Cheers!
In: IPA's, Rating 60-69
Perennial Artesian Ales Hommel Bier
- Overall 93/100
- Appearance 23/25
- Aroma 23/25
- Taste 23/25
- Finish 24/25
This Dry Hopped Belgian Pale Ale is brewed by one of my favorite local breweries here in St.Louis, Perennial Artesian Ales. It is available year-round and it has a 5.9% ABV. You can visit their site here, and I would recommend you check out the brewery as it really is nice.
I found this beer to pour a nice cloudy orange color with a thick white head that laced nicely on the glass and also had good retention. The aroma had a lot going on and was filled with Belgian yeast, as well as some earthy, and citrus hop tones. It wasn’t anything overpowering yet still very nice and left me anticipating what was to come in the tasting. This beer did not disappoint as I found it to have some bready malts up front while balancing very nicely with the Belgian yeast, and the slightly bitter citrus hop finish.
I would strongly recommend you try this beer and anything else that Perennial brews. To date I have not been let down yet, and I fully intend on making it back out to the brewery soon.
Cheers!
In: Ale's, Belgian Styled Beers, Rating 90-94
Goose Island Pepe Nero
- Overall 86/100
- Appearance 23/25
- Aroma 20/25
- Taste 22/25
- Finish 21/25
This Saison is brewed by Goose Island Brewery located in Chicago IL. It has a 6% ABV and is a spring seasonal.
I found this beer to pour out a nice dark mahogany color that created a nice off white head that laced on the glass. The aroma consisted of some caramel, and toffee while hinting at some Belgium yeast, and some dark fruit. The taste of this beer was very reminiscent of the aroma but I found the dark fruit, and yeast to show up while hinting at the caramel, and toffee. There also seemed to be a hint of coffee in the finish. I found this beer to have great balance and a nice full flavor but it almost seemed more reminiscent of a porter than a typical Saison.
I would still strongly recommend you pick this beer up because I was not disappointed. Give it a shot this spring!
Cheers!
In: Belgian Styled Beers, Rating 80-89
Charleville Hoptimistic IPA
- Overall 83/100
- Appearance 21/25
- Aroma 20/25
- Taste 21/25
- Finish 21/25
This IPA is brewed by Charleville located in St.Genevieve MO. This beer has a 6.5% ABV and is available year-round.
This beer pours out nicely into the glass making a hazy copper color while producing a thick soap like head that laced the glass. The aroma contained some bready malts, as well as some citrus, pine, and floral hop tones. Getting to the taste now, I found alot of the aroma to show through as it contained that bready malt front. This carried over with a decent balance to the rather bitter pine, and citrus hop finish.
Overall I really enjoyed this IPA and would recommend you try it out. I also got to have this on draft, and cask at the Charleville Brewery courtesy of Tony Saballa the head brewer. If you get a chance go and check out their setup. It really is a beautiful area, and nice brewery. Check out my write up of the visit here.
Cheers!
In: Beer Reviews, IPA's, Rating 80-89
Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA
- Overall 83/100
- Appearance 22/25
- Aroma 20/25
- Taste 21/25
- Finish 20/25
This American IPA is a limited brew from the Boston Beer Company also known as Samuel Adams which is located in Boston MA, and it has a 5.8% ABV.
I found this beer to pour out a nice light hazy orange color. It created a thick head that retained and laced on the glass while enjoying. The aroma of this AIPA contains a strong apricot presence as well as some other citrus, and piney hops balancing well with the light wheat malt. When tasting this beer I found it to have a strong hop presence containing the apricots, found in the aroma as well as some grapefruit, and oranges. The Whitewater IPA balances well with the wheat malt backbone and it carries a light to medium body to go with a nice mouthfeel.
Overall I thought this was a pretty good AIPA from Samuel Adams and I wouldn’t be shocked if it became a regular in their rotation. Pick it up I think you will like it.
Cheers!
In: IPA's, Rating 80-89
Samuel Adams Mighty Oak Ale
- Overall 79/100
- Appearance 17/25
- Aroma 18/25
- Taste 22/25
- Finish 22/25
This Amber is brewed by the Boston Beer Company also known as the Samuel Adams Brewery located in Boston MA, and it has a 5.7% ABV.
This beer poured a gorgeous ruby red color in the glass however the head did not retain and left minimal lacing. I found the aroma to contain caramel malts, oak, but the vanilla tones take over. The taste of this beer was sweet as it hinted at the caramel and vanilla that was found in the aroma. The oak taste showed up in the finish while creating a nice balance within this beer. I also thought that the Mighty Oak Ale had medium body, and a very smooth mouthfeel.
I would recommend this beer because it does have a full flavor and nice mouthfeel. It seems like the tastes are all right there but I think the Vanilla overtakes the beer.
Cheers!
In: Rating 70-79, Red's and Amber's
Samuel Adams Alpine Spring Citrus Lager
- Overall 72/100
- Appearance 20/25
- Aroma 15/25
- Taste 17/25
- Finish 19/25
This Citrus Lager is brewed by the Boston Beer Company also known as Samuel Adams which is located in Boston MA. It has a 5.5% ABV and is their new Spring Seasonal. It states on the bottle that it is brewed with Noble Tettnang hops that are grown in the Foothills of the Alps and Two Row Pale Malts.
This beer pours out a nice light hazy yellow color with decent head that did lace the glass. The aroma contained some light tones of lemon, honey, and some sweet malt, and grains. The taste of this beer was rather light and more malty than I was expecting or wanted. I was expecting a light citrus filled lager to pair with an upcoming spring day after I cut the grass but instead I found this beer to be full of malt while just hinting at the lemons, honey, and other light citrus tones.
Overall this isn’t a terrible beer but there are many other beers that I would pick up after cutting the grass, or bbq’n on a nice spring day. I still think you should give it a shot as you may just like it.
Cheers!
In: Lagers/Pilsners, Rating 70-79, Spring Seasonal's
