Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier

Germans know how to brew lighter beers. Especially wheats. But, I guess, I forgot that even a German Weissbier has that goofy phenolic band-aid taste. This beer looks great, with a cloudy whitish orange and a great almost white head that never fades, rare for a wheat, or most any lighter bodied beer.

Unfortunate band-aid smell. It's lighter and sweeter than most wits, with more of a malty wheat zip. I was hoping the taste would be similarly subdued, but it's not. This beer is right on style and is from a great brewery, but I just don't like the way this style tastes. I kick myself every time I try one again, but I'm always hoping that the taste will come around.

Grand Teton Brewing Company's Teton Ale

Always glad to see an unusual find like this one from Wyoming. Pours a deeply clear amber with a slightly disappointing thin tan head and medium carbonation.

Smells great though. Bready malt with an herbal grassy hops and a slight sweetness. Grainy, more than bready, actually.

Excellent amber. Solid grassy/grainy bitterness hits you right up front like a good amber should, but it fades quickly, also like it should. If it were an IPA or bigger it should last longer, but this one hits and fades, like a lighter style should. Great balance between body, bitterness and malt. Well rounded, like the style calls for. Another beer I wish was regularly available in Texas.

Cape Ann Brewing Company's Fisherman's Ale

Probably the most vastly underrated style, Kolsch also happens to be one of my favorites. This one pours an intensely clear deep yellow with a hint of orange. Great crisp white head with good carbonation. This one just looks like it's going to be crisp and light, like it should be.

Great light malt smell with a complete absence of hops, as it should be. Slightly sweet, just because the malt is all there is.

Yep. Just right. Light feel made even lighter by the fairly high carbonation, with a bitterness that comes out in the taste, but is mild at best. It's indistinct, not overpowering, and secondary to the overall malt flavor that retains the slight sweetness. Great lawnmower beer, and one of the best Kolsch's I've had. Wish it was available in Texas.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Stout

Stout. Says it all, right? Not Torpedo, or some other goofy name. Stout.

Pours deeper than most straight-up stouts. Not heavier in body really, but definitely more opaque. Great roasted malt smell. Definitely more substance to it than most stouts. Slight but not insignificant hops zing to it.
Perfect for a stout. Not really a roasted coffee or chocolate taste, just roasted malt and a solid bitterness that's not grassy or piney, it just let's you know it's there.

Every time I drink something from Sierra Nevada I can't help but think that this is everything BBC wishes it could be.

Warsteiner Dunkel

One of my favorite German dark lagers, puts the crap Shiner and many US brewers pump out to shame. Pours a deep raisin-like brown. paque-ish, with a nice light tan head that stays.

Smells zippy, more like a lighter lager than expected. Still has a deeper malt than the straight lagers, with a bit of the funk of a German pils.

Pretty much the same in the taste--darker than usual in appearance, a little heavier and slower than most lagers, but still nice and light with a decent bitterness and malt.

No tterriby sexy, but well worth it.

Grolsch Premium Lager

This one is old school for me. Maybe not Silver Bullet old school, but back when I was first preparing to home brew I saw these swing-tops and quickly decided that I should buy quite a few an save them so I didn't have to cap or keg right away. The good news is that I have a ton of the bottes, and they have served me well. The bad news is that I had to drink the beer out fo them.

And that's not really fair, because I like Grolsch, and back then I hadn't had the variety that I have now so I realy didn't know any better. Now I shun drinking more of one of the same beer in a two-week span and have enough in my cellar to get me by for several months. Internet beer stores are perfect for that kind of variety.

As for this one, Grolsch pours a bright but deep yellow with a huge white head for a lager. Most fizzle as they pour, but this one just builds. Lots of carbonation.

Smells a lot like a malty German pils, with an added sweetness like a Euro Golden, but it's too clean for that. Too crisp.

Solid bitterness hits you first, with a twang that's not citrus, but not an off cardboard bitterness either. Best when cold because it keeps its crispness. Gets slightly oily when warmer, like many pilsners can.

Overall a good, light lager. Falls inbetween pilsner and golden, and nowaays I'd much rather have a Czech Pilsner than this but it's certainly beter than mst lagers out there.

Belhaven Brewery's Scottish Stout

A Scottish stout? Worth a try. Oddly enough my favorite beer from this brewery so far is the IPA, but this one is showing promise and I was glad to see some variety at the store.

Pours a deep black with ruby highlights. Great tan head that fades slowly.

Great smell. Roasted grain and bread smell, but quite hoppy as well. A bit grassy.

Very smooth feel, on the heavy side of a stout. While the roasted coffee flavor is the most prominent, it has a solid bitterness for a stout. There's no real chocolate flavor, as the label claims, but it does come out in the aftertaste as the bitterness mellows.

Very good stout. The best of the Belhaven offerings, if you ask me.

Oskar Blues Brewing Company's Mamma's Little Yella Pils

Excellent. A new beer from Oskar Blues, and in one of my favorite styles.

Pours a great clear yellow with a surprisingly large fluffy off-white head for the style. Slowly fades, with good carbonation.

Huh. It's funky like a Czech, but malty like a German. A bit too much hops for the style if you ask me, but it doesn't even come close to being as hoppy as that abomination to God known as Prima Pils. Non-distinct bitterness, a bit cardboardins like a lager can be.

All in all a good beer. Pushes the style on malt and hops, and it's a bit oily feeling even cold whereas most pilsners have to warm up to get that way, but a good beer. Nothing to look for, since I still prefer the lighter-bodies and funkier tastes of Urquell and Chechvar, among others, but good for hikes and to take on the water because of the can.

Real Ale's Sisyphus 2008

I have high hopes for the 2008. I've heard it's hoppier, as a barleywine is supposed to be, and the 2007 was decidedly unexciting.

Starts out great. Pours slowly and thick, almost oily. Great light tan head that thins to a sheet with slow, small carbonation. Excellent deep amber color.

Smalles hugely malty. Sweet with a hint of grassy hops. Strong smell of bread, but it feels a bit crisp in the smell.

Man, it's slow. Goes down smoothly, like a heavy cream ale. Huge body. Big bitterness that is mostly indistinct, primarily because it has to fight through the big body and malt. Fades to an twangy grassy aftertaste, and the bready malt never fades.

Very good beer. Huge step up from last year, and I'm looking forward to letting it age and also to trying it side by side with the '07 as well. Good to see such a big beer from Texas.

Harpoon Brewery's Brown Session Ale

Pours a deep red, light brown, with a pillowy light tan head that thins to a heavy sheet and stays due to decent carbonation.

Smalls great. The head throws off floral hops and a strong sweet malt. It says it's brewed to accentuate the sweetness of the malt, and they hit that mark for sure. Sweeter than most, but a bit nutty and right on style. Smells remarkably like Saint Arnold's brown.

Decent yet indistinct bitterness. Leans more toward a red than a brown should, but it's a session beer so it's a little lighter in feel and taste than the smell indicated. Nuttier and hoppier than the smell indicated too, and not quite as sweet, which I relate to the fact that the floral hops smell isn't present in the taste.

Pretty good beer. Browns aren't the sexiest stle, but this is a good one that I'll pick up and keep around if I see it in a store.

Uinta Brewing Company's Angler's Pale Ale

I wasn't too impressed with the other Uinta beer I had, but this one may be better.

Pours a decent but slightly too clear, amber. Light tan head fades quickly, with moderate carbonation. Smells nice and malty with decent hops. Like a solid pale, but maybe too sweet in the smell.

Not bad. A damn sight better than that other one. Decent grassy hops that are stronger than in the smell. Overall it's a decent pale, it's just a bit too fizzy and a bit light in the body. Odd twangy adtertaste as well.

Not much to say about this one, it's within the guidelines but nothing more.

Otter Creek Russian Imperial Stout

Finally, back to stout of the day. I've heard good things about Otter Creek but don't remember having had one of their beers before. Hopefully their Imperial Series isn't another version of Sam Adams' Brewmaster Series.

So far so good. Pours inky black that just looks heavier than a standard stout. Great deep tan head. Good roasted coffee smell as well.

You know, it feels a little too light. Not sure if it's because of the higher than normal carbonation, but either way it gives it sort of a soft-drink feel. And although there is a solid bitterness and a stronger roasted malt taste, it's a bit too vinous. It has a bit too much of that merlot tannins without the vinegar, and sort of wanders back and forth between that and a chocolate stout. Slightly sweet and sugary at times, which fights through the bitterness.

I'm not sure about this one. It's a little bit of a porter, a little bit of a chocolate stout, and a little but of an impy stout. It's just not a good, right in the middle of the style imperial stout. It's hard to beat the beers from Colorado to the West Coast in this style. This one certainly doesn't make it.