Corona Familiar

This big, brown, 32 oz. was given as a gift, so I gladly accepted and looked forward to enjoying it.  Corona Familiar is a clear, yellow brew with attractive carbonation, a minimal head and so OK, if evanescent lacing.  It is sweetish with just a touch of bitterness.  There’s really not much to it.  The men I work with love Corona Familiar, but I find it little more than adequate to quench a thirst on a hot day, or to wash down spicy food that lingers too long on the tongue.  These same men love tequila, and to me that is the polar opposite of Corona Familiar.  Go figure.  Sure, you can pound a pint of this in no time, and have a pint left (to share or to dump in the sink, your call), but like the other beers in the Corona family, it’s not really worth my time.

46/100 Lager

 

Turbodog

 

Image courtesy of Abita Brewing Company

Turbodog, from Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs, LA, is a dark brown 5,6% ABV ale with a good light brown head and sticky lacing.  There is coffee in the nose, some chocolate too, caramel of the deep-roasted variety and a little yeast to boot.  Turbodog is smooth and creamy, toasty and malty and has a dry and bitter finish.  It’s a brown ale with personality and character.  The long-lasting bitterness may be too much for some, but give the underlying sweetness some credit for its balancing properties.  It’s a very drinkable, not-too-heavy brown ale.

82/100 Brown Ale

On a side note, it tastes even better with ribs at Blues City Cafe in Memphis!

Titan IPA

Titan IPA from Great Divide Brewing Company has a lot of sweet in the bouquet (pear?) at the pour.  Titan IPA is deep gold with a generous multi-sized bead head, with white-washy lace.  The bouquet is of course hoppy, but there are nice whiffs of yeast, alcohol (7.1% ABV) and a decent hops presence.  Piney, earthy and very creamy, Titan IPA has a nice, smooth texture.  The finish is fairly bitter, but a balancing sweetness tempers the effects.  It’s very good and very drinkable.  The label says “assertive-aromatic” and that sums it up nicely.

85/100 IPA

Kennebunk Porter

Image courtesy of Beerpulse.com

Kennebunk Porter, from Kennebunk Brewing Company (aka Federal Jack’s Brewpub), Kennebunk, ME, pours really black with slight chestnut highlights.  The bouquet is pleasant and contains notes of sweet cream and butter, and light patent malt.  Not the bad beer butter smell, but a pleasant and complimentary one.  Kennebunk Porter floats a whispy head that leaves very little lace.  The taste has a bit of licorice, a bit of coffee and has a sooth, buttery texture, and again, the buttery aspect is not offensive.  There is some coffee in the finish.  Kennebunk Porter is fairly drinkable, but it is not exactly inspiring.

60/100 Porter

Ranger India Pale Ale

Image courtesy of New Belgium Brewing

You may notice a theme here lately.  IPAs.  My favorite style.  The hoppier the better.  Ranger India Pale Ale from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO is the next in the series of IPAs in my beer fridge.  Simcoe (for aroma and bittering), Cascade (for that citrus/grapefruit essence) and Chinook (spicy, piney notes) hops are used in this medium gold, crystal clear and lightly carbonated IPA.  The bouquet off the head of Ranger India Pale Ale is just a bit skunky, maybe earthy is a better adjective, but it is mainly piney with some toast or biscuit, and a touch of metal guitar string.  I know, it doesn’t sound appetizing, but it works.  The head is generous, white and very lacey.  More hoppy goodness greets the tongue, and the sparkly, lively nature reveals the carbonation.  Some malt helps balance the hops on the back end, but the dry finish reminds you that Ranger India Pale Ale is about the hops.

85/100 American IPA

Bad Beer Makes Me Unhappy

I gave Jameson’s Charhouse in Woodridge a second chance (against my will) and was even more disappointed in what I found.  The Sam Adams on tap had that tell-tale buttery taste of a diacetyl infected line.  D*mn it, how does this not get picked up by the bar staff?  The waitstaff was overwhelmed and the dining area was uncomfortably hot.  The food was served from one spot so that the waiter stuck his arm in your face as he reached across the table.  He passed out knives like that too.  I thought someone would get slashed.  I left this place pissed off, again.  Don’t go there.  Here’s what I said last time…

Good Steak and Bad Beer

Wingwalker Lager

Image courtesy of briansbelly.com

R.J. King Wingwalker Lager is a light gold, lightly carbonated American lager whose frail white head quickly collapses to become a sparse film on the surface of the beer.  The bouquet displays some malty sweetness and hops…not really.  There is a hint of alcohol, but perhaps that is the hop resin making its presence known in a disguise, as Wingwalker Lager is only 4.5% ABV.  This medium-bodied lager is sweetish with some minor hop notes in the form of a mild and pleasant bitterness.  It’s a thirst-quencher, and better than your Buds and Millers by a bit.  Interestingly, the Wingwalker Lager that I review now is contract brewed by Genesee.  A few years ago I tried it and it was made by City Brewery in LaCrosse, WI and it was not so good.

60/100 American Lager

Indie Pale Ale

Indie Pale Ale from Cisco Brewers, Nantucket, MA.  Being a fan of indie music, and just about anything indie, I was drawn to this American IPA when I spotted it in the build your own 6-pack at Binny’s.  I can hardly describe it better than the label itself.  ”This beautiful red-orange ale has a full malty body balanced by a fruity apricot/grapefruit nose. Mounds of dank Summit hops in the whirlpool and dry-hop additions provide a deliciously quenching finish to this East meets West-coast ale”.  I’ll add my own take.  Indie Pale Ale (6.5% ABV) is amber colored, displays a light haze and a big, globby head.  Rings of lace remain as the level drops in the glass.  Be sure to use a tallish, thin-walled glass so that the beer can warm sufficiently to release all of its intriguing scents and flavors.  Indie Pale Ale’s hoppy, malty bouquet highlights some apricot and doughy notes, but dry and earthy notes are first to appear upon tasting.  Plenty of astringent hops and a good dose of sweetness greet the tongue, but mainly it’s about the hops, with a very dry finish and a lingering bitterness.  Although I am a fan of the dryness, the bitterness is a little too pronounced.  I will say this one gets better as it warms and you become accustomed to it.

79/100

Saison-Brett

You probably think the multi-talented, deceased entertainer Brett Somers had something to do with this beer, but I can assure you that is not the case.  Saison-Brett from Boulevard Brewing Company is a wonderful, complex beer.  I shared bottle number 20780 from the 2011 batch with my brother-in-law, and this limited release Belgian-style saison is great.  Dry-hopped and bottle conditioned, Brett gets its name from the Brettanomyces wild yeast strain used in concert with other yeasts during bottle conditioning.  Saison-Brett is cloudy bright yellow with a fizzy white head that makes it hard to pour more than a few ounces at a time.  The brettanomyces give a funky, earthy scent, but there is plenty of citrus, orange peel and spice to make it more palatable.  Tart and fairly bitter, Saison-Brett mellows a bit as it warms and about halfway through the alcohol becomes very noticeable, not so much in the taste, but in your head.  Very complex, very enjoyable, but maybe too much for some folks.  Me?  I want more!

95/100!

Schlafly Oatmeal Stout

Courtesy of Schlafly Brewing Company, St. Louis, MO.

Deep brown and sporting a generous, tan, fine-bead head, Schalfly Oatmeal Stout lets very little light pass through it, but enough does to reveal some russet highlights.  It’s lacing pattern is like Zeus’ beard, generous, white and swirly.  There’s coffee, smoke, caramel and yeast in the bouquet.  The taste follows the bouquet closely with some earthiness, more coffee and bitterness in the finish.  Schlafly Oatmeal Stout is smooth and lighter than you’d expect at 5.7% ABV.

75/100 Stout