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Beer Review #20: Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale

05 Jan

UPDATE: It looks like Wells sold off some of their breweries and beer recipes to Eagle Brewery. This beer is now known as Eagle Brewery Sticky Toffee Pudding Beer.

Website description: Using traditional British desserts as our source of inspiration, we discovered that the natural, rich flavours of Sticky Toffee Pudding could be exquisitely combined with darker malts to create a truly distinctive ale. With toffee and caramel hints and rich fruit aromas, Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale is an intensely satisfying beer.

ABV: 5%

My thoughts: This tastes just like toffee! It’s a lot more like one of those gourmet fancy sodas than it is a beer. The carbonation is pretty strong and its a very sweet beer. It’s aroma is quite sweet as well and is reminiscent of pudding, hence the name I suppose. I like it, but my uncle isn’t a big fan. I don’t think he likes beers that skew towards being sweet or fruity. With these last few beers, I’ve been trying to get him to expand his beer palette. When I got here, he was drinking Bud Light Lime, as if that was the pinnacle of beers! Clearly I had to set him straight, and although this one missed the mark, the misses do help me get a feel for what his preferred tastes are.

Number of times I’ve had it: 1 (12 ounce bottle)

Rating: 3.5/5

Location: Store bought, drank at home

Wells Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale
 
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Posted by on January 5, 2016 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #19: Drifter Pale Ale

04 Jan

Menu/bottle/website description: None available, since apparently its no longer in production and Widmer Brothers pulled it from their website!

ABV: 5.7%

My thoughts: An interesting taste. This was recommended to me by the bartender at Black Wolf Sports Bar as being similar to the Long Ireland Celtic Red Ale. It is, but it isn’t. It has a bitterness that isn’t present in the Celtic Ale, and is crisp and clean.

Number of times I’ve had it: 1

Rating: 3/5

Location: Black Wolf Sports Bar
This place was in Syosset, until it closed down. I guess the Drifter Pale Ale isn’t the only thing that’s no longer available.

Drifter Pale Ale
 
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Posted by on January 4, 2016 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #18: Lagunitas Censored

03 Jan

A post a day? Ha! More like a post a week, amirite? I really need to set an alarm or something so I remember to do this. ANYWAY! Today’s beer is Lagunitas Censored, from the fine people at Lagunitas!

Website description: Malty, Roasty, and Deceptively Smooth This Amber-esque ale gets more of a cocoa-toasty flavor from the use of chocolate malts.

ABV: 6.7%

My thoughts: This was my second beer here in Cali. It’s got a sweet and sour thing going on, which I really liked. Its not really a sour patch kid thing, but more of a sweet and sour chicken thing… if that makes sense. It tastes like it’s made with brown sugar or something similar (which I later learned was chocolate malts). I’m not sure what gives it the tart taste, but its a combo that works really well. I wish I’d taken a picture of it poured out in a glass, but I was too busy being a savage and drinking straight from the bottle. I’m definitely a fan.

Number of times I’ve had it: 2 (12 ounce bottles)

Rating: 4/5

Location: Store bought, drank at home

Lagunitas Censored
 
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Posted by on January 3, 2016 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #17: Angry Orchard Green Apple

29 Dec

Earlier this year I moved to CA. Very recently I moved back to NY. Its been quite a year, filled with a lot of change and uncertainty, but thankfully it was also filled with a lot of beer! Now that I’m more or less settled back in NY, I thought I’d resume posting my beer reviews. I’ve decided to alternate between the beers I’ve had in CA (I tried an even 100!) and those I’ve had in NY. I’m hoping (don’t get your hopes up) that I can put out a post a day. Let’s see how that goes! To start with we have…

Website description: Angry Orchard Green Apple has a bright, fresh apple aroma, with notes of honeydew melon and kiwi. This cider is slightly tart with balanced sweetness, reminiscent of a fresh green apple.

ABV: 5%

My thoughts: This beer, or more properly cider, was the first new alcoholic beverage I had in California. Its got a light apple scent, as one might expect, and it totally tastes like green apple candy. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this cider. I mean, how different can green apple be from… regular apple? Or whatever it is they use for the standard Angry Orchard cider. Apparently, it can be different enough! More tart than the standard cider, but just as sweet, its an interesting drink. It’s pretty good, but I’m not sure that it’s something that I’d drink several of because I think it would get too sweet. One or two is fine though. There’s a bit of pleasant tartness at the end. It reminds me of a green Jolly Rancher or better yet, a green apple Charms Blow Pop! Anyone remember those?

Number of times I’ve had it: 1

Rating: 4/5

Location: Store bought, drank at home

Angry Orchard Green Apple
 
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Posted by on December 29, 2015 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #16: Ramstein Maibock

22 Jul

This is one of my early reviews. I knew less and wrote less and generally they are not as detailed as my later reviews. As I go through my tremendous backlog of beer notes, I’ll indicate which reviews are based off of my older notes. They have less info than I’d like, but they still helped me keep my beers straight, so I figured they’d be worth posting. From here on out, I’ll simply add the “early review” tag to beer review posts that are from those early days instead of having this big block of text at the start of the post.

Menu description: Bready malt, hint of honey, very smooth.

ABV: 7.5%

My thoughts: It has a strong honey taste. Aaaaand that’s about it. There wasn’t much in the flavor that I really noticed other than some mild malts and the honey. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really anything special. The description from the Croxley’s menu lies about this beer being smooth. It’s an easy enough drink, but again doesn’t stand out in the smoothness category. It smells pretty nice, but unfortunately you don’t get any of those scents in the flavor. It’s too bad, with an angry sounding German name like that, I expected a more exciting beer.

Number of times I’ve had it: 1

Rating: 3/5

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

Ramstein Maibock
 
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Posted by on July 22, 2015 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #15: Troegs Nugget Nectar

21 Jul

This is one of my early reviews. I knew less and wrote less and generally they are not as detailed as my later reviews. As I go through my tremendous backlog of beer notes, I’ll indicate which reviews are based off of my older notes. They have less info than I’d like, but they still helped me keep my beers straight, so I figured they’d be worth posting.

Menu description: Smooth resin and grapefruit notes balanced by subtle caramel malts.

ABV: 7.5%


My thoughts: Very light citrus aroma. It’s quite smooth and the caramel flavor really comes through. It finishes mostly clean, but there’s a hint of something at the end. I’m guessing that’s the resin, because I don’t know what else it could be. It certainly doesn’t taste like the grapefruit mentioned in the description. The caramel flavor I mentioned kind of reminds me of those soft caramels you used to be able to get at supermarkets back when they had loose candy bins because apparently people didn’t steal and lol sanitary concerns, amirite? It was a bit unusual for me as most beers with caramel flavors don’t give me that impression. This is a pretty sweet beer, but not so much that you can only drink one. Of course this is a decently strong beer, so maybe you don’t want to go too hard.

Number of times I’ve had it: 5

Rating: 3.5/5

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

 
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Posted by on July 21, 2015 in Beer

 

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Overdue Review #4: Mukda

20 Jul

Let me start this off by saying I love Thai food. However I’m very picky with it because of two reasons:

  1. It’s very easy to mess it up and end up with something really lackluster.
  2. I’m not a big fan of coconut and that’s an ingredient that’s used in many dishes. I tend to avoid those, unless I have it from a trusted source that the coconut in a particular dish isn’t excessive.

That said, I do like trying new Thai places. We came to Mukada for dinner in May of 2012 for my mom’s birthday. She’d heard about it from a Thai coworker who said that she ate here whenever she wanted a taste of home. That was enough of a recommendation for me, so off we went!

The decor was a bit odd. It looks almost like a cross between what I imagine a diner in Thailand would look like and a proper fancy pants restaurant. It wasn’t bad though, and it was clearly well maintained.

The staff was very nice and cheerful and I enjoyed their enthusiasm. They acted as if they really excited about having us there. That kind of welcome and attentive service is always appreciated. On to the meal!

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Posted by on July 20, 2015 in Restaurant Reviews

 

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Beer Review #14: Southampton Biere de Mars

20 Jul

Menu description: Hints of vanilla & almonds, spiced fruits, floral hop.

ABV: 6.5%


My thoughts: Southampton Biere de Mars is a Long Island beer, in case you couldn’t tell by the name. Its brewed by the Southampton Publick House, a place I sadly never got to visit before moving to California. While I’ve had quite a few LI beers, this was one of the first I’d had from the east end. This one’s got a mild, but very fresh smelling aroma. I imagine this is due to the vanilla. It’s lightly hoppy, but you don’t notice that right away. The sweet fruity flavors are what first hit your tongue. I didn’t really taste any vanilla, which disappointed me. I like the oddball brew every now and then and a vanilla flavored beer would be pretty interesting, I think. Alas, this was not the beer to explore that particular flavor with. That said, it was pretty good. There’s slight nuttiness to it that shows up at the end along with the hop flavor. I think that flavor combination worked pretty well and I’d like to see more beers try that. It is a smooth and easy drink, which I always appreciate. I’ve only had this beer once, primarily because I’ve never seen it again after that first night. It’s a shame too, because its definitely something I’d like to have again.

Number of times I’ve had it: 1

Rating: 3.75/5

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

 
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Posted by on July 20, 2015 in Beer

 

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Beer Review #13: Dogfish Head Red & White

07 Jul

This is one of my early reviews. I knew less and wrote less and generally they are not as detailed as my later reviews. As I go through my tremendous backlog of beer notes, I’ll indicate which reviews are based off of my older notes. They have less info than I’d like, but they still helped me keep my beers straight, so I figured they’d be worth posting.

Menu: Orange peel & coriander, hints of sweet & tart fruits.

ABV: 10%


My thoughts: This is a really sweet beer. Its smooth and quite pleasant. It has just enough carbonation to give you a tickle. Despite the high alcohol content, it doesn’t taste like its going to get you drunk. The flavor of the beer masks the alcohol flavor completely. This has quickly become one of my favorites; enough so that I ordered a second round, which I hardly do when trying new beers!

Number of times I’ve had it: 2

Rating: 4/5

Location:
Croxley’s Ale House
Farmingdale, NY

 
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Posted by on July 7, 2015 in Beer

 

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Overdue Review #3: Snaps American Bistro

06 Jul

I came here on 4/28/12 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The decor is nice, but typical of a bistro. Its a modern/industrial look. Overall its appealing, but its dark as fuck and it was pretty cramped as well. I have to make a special note about the parking lot. It’s TINY! Like 5 cars tiny. I had to park down the goddamn street, like 4 blocks away! They take reservations here, so plan accordingly. I’ve noticed that some of my friends have a habit of really liking places that are impossible to park in front of. :| That aside, let’s move on to the food!

After looking at the decently varied menu, I decided to go with the $30 prix fixe menu. The menu looked pretty interesting and there were several things I wanted to try. The prix fixe option covered several of them, so I decided to go that route, figuring I’d go back and try the other stuff at a later date. And speaking of the menus, they look pretty cool. They have this big metal cover on the front. It looks really great, but it makes each menu fairly weighty. Delivering a stack of them to the tables can be a work out for the wait staff! Our group was 13 large and the waitress made 3 trips to deliver them. I felt bad for her!

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Posted by on July 6, 2015 in Restaurant Reviews

 

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