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Category Archives: Beer

Beer Review #9: 2013 Anchor Christmas Ale

09 Dec

Update: Yeah, so this experiment in real time writing while drinking didn’t really go anywhere. I think I did this for maybe 2-3 weeks before calling it quits. Keeping notes in Evernote and fighting the WordPress app to update the website without posting enormous versions of the pictures and trying to actually hang out with my friends was just a bit too much to juggle at once.

Yes, yes, I know it’s been forever. Why has it been forever? I’m fucking lazy, that’s why! On with the show!

So I’ve decided that on Mondays I’m gonna update this shit real time as I drink these beers. Unfortunately, this Monday all the beers are repeats from last week, so my thoughts are all from last week, but you haven’t seen them so you wouldn’t know anyway!

Menu description: Robust malt & spice flavors, great winter ale.

ABV: 5.5%

My thoughts: This is a very good beer. Malty goodness, which is hilarious for me to say because I’m typically not a big fan of malt flavors, as regular readers would know. Assuming I even have regular readers anymore. Or had them in the first place. Uh, so anyway, this beer is dark as night and smells pretty good. It’s very smooth and easy to drink. Not too strong, so you can have several. Highly recommended.

This is my 2nd glass now, and it’s even better than the first. Christmas seasonal beers are my 2nd favorite type of beer, after fall seasonals. They’re just so full of warm and fuzzy goodness. I don’t know how such a thing is possible and able to be shoved into a bottle, but there it is.

Number of times I’ve had it: 3

Rating: 4/5

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

2013 Anchor Christmas Ale
 
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Posted by on December 9, 2013 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #8: Gulden Draak

26 Jan

So I got diseased but good! I’ve been sick since a couple of days after my last post and have subsequently been cursing every single person I’ve come into close proximity to due to the fact that they are all filthy, disease addled hobos and have spread their pestilence to me. Now that I’m finally better and can think straight, its time to once again get back to the beer reviews. Today’s selection is Gulden Drak, a beer that might be made from distilled rainbows.

The beer menu at Croxley’s states that its a Belgian beer made with banana, brown sugar, caramel, and is lightly spiced. If that sounds pretty awesome to you, that’s because it is. It is SO AWESOME. I’d tell you more about what the beer is made with, or how they make it, or anything else, but all I can tell from the Google translated site of the Dutch brewer is that the beer was named after a dragon on top of a church and it goes on about Irish coffee and some kind of battle or some such. I don’t know, Google translate made a mess of it and I can’t read Dutch, so you’re pretty much on your own here.

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Posted by on January 26, 2013 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #7: Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

12 Jan

Before we begin today, I wanted to note that I’ve updated my post about Blue Point Sour Cherry Imperial Stout. I got to have it again recently (it’s a seasonal beer) and have some more stuff to say about it!

Today’s beer is the illustrious Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Last time we discussed how much I love IPAs, so I’m pretty sure you can guess how I’m going to feel about this beer.

There’s actually an interesting story involved with this one. The first time I had it, there was a mix up and I had the 60 minute IPA instead of the 90 minute IPA. This was after Joe and Luis, a couple of friends of mine, had raved for months about how excellent Dogfish Head Brewery’s beers were. So I grab my glass, thinking it’s 90 minute when it’s really 60 minute and I take a sip.

I had fury.

This was an IPA?! This was one of the best breweries around? Shenanigans! This was swill! Trash! Basura! I did not care for it one bit. I would not drink it with a fox, I would not drink it in a box. I would not drink it with a mouse, I would not drink it in a house. I do not like it, Luis and Joe. 60 minute completely blows!

Because of this experience I swore off Dogfish Head for quite a while. After some time had passed I was prevailed upon to try it again by my Dogfish Head loving friends. Adam (best bartender ever!) assured me that 90 was really good and 60 was not so good. We speculated that there may have been a mix up at the bar I tried it at before, so I gave it another shot here. I’m really glad I did because Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA is an excellent IPA. I don’t think anything will dethrone Sierra Nevada for me, but this is the next best thing, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s classed as an Imperial IPA and that sounds very fancy. I should probably look that up one day to see how that’s different from the regular people IPA that I’m used to. 90 minute is hoppy, even for an IPA, so if that’s not your thing, you’re gonna have a bad time. Its slightly malty, but not overly so. The hops are really front and center here and Dogfish Head must be using some really quality stuff because every glass I have is flawless. I can’t praise it highly enough. It is a bit strong, so be prepared for that.

9% ABV

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2013 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #6: 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die

11 Jan

The holidays are over and its time for me to stop being a lazy asshole. After almost a month of sloth, stuffing my face with holiday treats, and wild parties (maybe not that last part) I’m getting down to business with a delightfully patriotic beer, 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die!

The website has a pretty great description of it, even using some scale I’ve never heard of to describe how bitter it is. It’s 7. It’s 7 bitterness units. Whatever that means. Silliness aside, it’s an IPA and you know how I love me some IPAs!

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Posted by on January 11, 2013 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #5: Brooklyn Blast

13 Dec

A quick one today because today’s beer is nothing special. From the menu: “Grapefruit & other sweet fruits, caramel malts.”

It’s a pretty decent IPA, but that’s about it. It’s not really remarkable in any way, and I gotta say that I don’t know what they’re talking about with all this fruit nonsense. It’s better than a typical house beer and most other generic types or major brands. The price, like the taste, is inoffensive so that’s a plus. Not really much more to say here.

7% ABV

Brooklyn Blast
 
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Posted by on December 13, 2012 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #4: Goose Island Pere Jacques

12 Dec

From the beer menu: “Belgian yeast, fig & dark fruits.”

I’m pretty sure the description here is wrong. I’m pretty sure it should read “Black magic and fairy dust brewed using ancient hoodoo practices, combine to form a tasteful bouquet that will blow your mind.” That more accurately sums up what this beer tastes like. I don’t know anything about figs or what they’d classify as “dark fruits” and I don’t care. This has to be one of the best beers I’ve ever had. It’s the beer that started my love affair with the Goose Island brewery. Most of what I’ve had from them has been very good, and this is among the premier beers they make, at least in my opinion. It’s dark, has a hint of sweetness, and goes down super smooth. While it’s stronger than your average beer, it’s not so strong that you can’t have a few and have trouble standing up. I highly recommend it!

8% ABV

Goose Island Pere Jacques
 
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Posted by on December 12, 2012 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #3: Angry Orchard Hard Cider – Crisp Apple

07 Dec

From the Angry Orchard website: “A crisp and refreshing cider, its fresh apple aroma and slightly sweet, ripe apple flavor make it hard to resist.”

I’ve had more of these than I can count! This is the 2nd best cider I’ve ever had. Its not terribly strong, but its amazingly flavorful and has a wonderful golden color. The Crisp Apple is, as the name implies, quite crisp. It has a clean, sweet (but not overly so) flavor that finishes smooth as a baby’s ass. (On a side note, why are babies asses the standard measure of smoothness? Something seems wrong about that.) Crisp Apple is used in some what I believe is called a beer cocktail. If I’ve watched the bartenders correctly, you add 1/4 of a pint of this to 3/4 of a pint of Harpoon Winter Warmer and you get an Apple Pie. This concoction is pretty much exactly like drinking a delicious apple pie and its one of my favorite winter beers/drinks. Even if you never get to try an Apple Pie (and if you get a chance, I strongly recommend you do!), this is a fantastic cider that’s not only great in the fall/winter, but is also available year round!

5% ABV

I’ll let this man have the final word:

Angry Orchard
 
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Posted by on December 7, 2012 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #2: Blue Point Sour Cherry Imperial Stout

06 Dec

A quick one today as sadly my notes on this were a bit on the light side. Also, the picture is annotated because of some shenanigans with Evernote, so sorry about that!

Blue Point’s rather lengthy description of the beer is located here.

I’ve had 2 of these so far and its pretty good! There’s not much cherry flavor in this beer, but it does have a pleasant cherry smell. The sour notes are light and the predominant flavor is the chocolate. If you’re a fan of stouts or beers made with chocolate, you’re going to enjoy this. It’s no Sam Adam Dark Chocolate Cherry (one of my favorite beers ever!) but its a very solid and enjoyable beer.

EDIT: I recently had an opportunity to have this again and I realized that I had the name slightly wrong. It’s Blue Point Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, not Blue Point Sour Cherry Dark Chocolate Stout. Since I just had it the other day, I’ve got some more thoughts on it to supplement my earlier lack of notes. The menu stated that this beer had “notes of coffee & sherry.” The coffee, sherry, and chocolate make an interesting and tasty blend, but they seemed to take a back seat to the sour cherry. That flavor was a lot stronger than I remember and the others took a definite back seat. Seeing as how they brew this for Valentine’s Day, I wonder if there are slight differences between batches because last time this beer didn’t seem to have too much of a cherry flavor. Or maybe my palette has just gotten SUPER REFINED because I’m awesome like that. It’s definitely good, and I think actually I prefer it with a stronger cherry taste. I liked how light on the tongue this beer was, not like a lot of other dark beers which feel heavy or viscous. Highly recommended!

9.2% ABV

 
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Posted by on December 6, 2012 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #1: Founder’s Dirty Bastard

05 Dec

In the past year or so, I have had 87 different varieties of beer (no exaggeration!) just at this one bar I frequent (Croxley’s Ale House in Farmingdale, NY) that is known for its absurd selection. I’ve had many a new beer at various friends’ houses, other bars, and stuff I’ve found at the local supermarket/beer distributor/stolen from a homeless. It lately occurs to me that I have quite a large amount of content that I’ve written and photographed that’s pretty much ready to go for this site, and I’ve not posted any of it. Let’s rectify that, shall we? Starting right now, I’ll be posting a different beer I’ve tried almost daily, until I’ve caught up with all the backlog. Once that happens, look for the mini beer reviews to become a nearly weekly event as I am at the aforementioned bar nearly weekly. *coughIcanstopanytimeIwantoIjustdon’twanttocough*

Starting things off, here is Founder’s Dirty Bastard!

From the Founders website: “So good it’s almost wrong. Dark ruby in color and brewed with seven varieties of imported malts. Complex in finish, with hints of smoke and peat, paired with a malty richness and a right hook of hop power to give it the bad attitude that a beer named Dirty Bastard has to live up to. Ain’t for the wee lads.”

(I enjoy adding the description from either the beer menu, the bottle itself, or the brewery website because they make the beer sound like a perfectly crafted work of art. I feel like I should have a flavor orgasm in my mouth. This… does not often happen and I usually note when the given description is way off the mark.)

ABV: 8.5%

My thoughts:This is a darker beer that has an almost sweet flavor to it. Maybe its the smoke and peat, but it seems to me like a hint of molasses, similar to Grimbergen, along with some bitterness that I can’t identify. It’s pretty good, although I think the first time I tried it, I wasn’t a fan. I found that it went really well with very spicy wings as that almost sweet flavor cooled my mouth off nicely. Don’t have it with barbecue wings or other strongly sweet foods as that will completely ruin the taste of both the beer and the food! I usually avoid sweet foods with beer anyway, since it usually makes the beer taste odd, but its worth mentioning here because the effect is not only very pronounced, but also seemed to work in reverse and make the food taste bad.

Rating: 3.5/5

Number of times I’ve had it: 2

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

 
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Posted by on December 5, 2012 in Beer

 

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