Salzburger Stiegl Lager Pils

Served into A glass from A green, 11.2 Fl.oz bottle.  $2.50 at the House of 1000 Beers.

Stiegl Pils is A German Pilsener coming in at 4.90% ABV.
Brewed by Stieglbrauerei zu Salzburg GmbH
Austria

Look: Poured A pale, golden, yellow color.  Was glowing like the sun in my glass. Completely clear and very clean. Almost no head formed even with a fairly aggressive pour. Active carbonation flowing through the brew. This beer resembles the look of apple cider.

Smell: Some honey malt, light toasted biscuits. A bit of skunkyness escapes into the air. I am really hoping that the skunkyness does not carry over into the flavor. I also picked up just A bit of some earthy hoppyness and some mineral hints from the water.

Taste: I am surprised at how chocolaty the malt tastes for such A light beer.  I definitely pick the malt up at the front. I also get some honey, biscuits, A little butter, and some light roasted coffee.  The mineral in the water really hits afterwards and  becomes A bit earthy.  The middle to end picks up the bitterness from the earthy hops and finishes quite dry and bitter. Hops attribute a nice earthy, slightly piney bite.  I did pick up the smallest amount of skunkyness that left as the beer sat.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. A little slick.  The beer slides down like just about any other Euro-lager. The beer does have some biting carbonation that stings the under part of the tongue.

Overall: A fine example of Euro-lagers. Nothing too special but also nothing that will turn anyone away. I did find it to be borderline boring and i'm not sure if I have A reason to ever get this one again.

Stiegl gets A 3.8/5.

One of the better Euro-lagers, nothing special though.

Abita Christmas Ale

Consumed from the bottle into A Sam Adams special glass. Purchased for $2.50 at the House of 1000 Beers in New Kensington, PA.

The Abita page about the beer can be found HERE.

Abita Christmas Ale is A seasonal brew. (Winter)

An American Brown Ale coming in at 5.50%ABV.
Brewed by Abita Brewing Co.
Louisiana .

Look: Very nice orange/brown/ruby-amber color.  The beer poured A thick 2 finger tan, off-red head. Semi-cloudy/clear.  The beer wasn't murky but it also wasn't easy to see through either. Abita Christmas Ale left some decent lacing around the glass as I consumed it. 

Smell: From the start, I get pine.  It smelled as if I had walked into A store that sold nothing but Christmas trees.  The real ones...not the plastic ones. I also picked up some very faint, lightly toasted malt.  Maybe even some faint spices hiding in and around somewhere. A bit lacking and uninspiring. 

Taste: Well. The first sip was very disappointing. I picked up almost nothing.  Some pine from the hops and maybe some light nutmeg and biscuit...but not much of those even. Maybe the beer is too cold?  After letting it warm up for A good half an hour or more, I decided to give it another go. This time A bit more flavor showed up, but not too much. Picked up some more nuttiness that blended nicely with the pineyness from the hops. Some honey and toasted malt. A little baker's chocolate, and some spices that I was unable to identify because of how faint they tasted.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied. Low carbonation...Which I like in these kind of beers.  I don't need A lot of carbonation ruining the flavor by numbing my tongue. The beer was just A bit chewy. Definitely came across as creamy.  It was able to coat my tongue and mouth just A little bit.

Overall: I'm pretty disappointed with this Christmas Ale. Especially compared to other ones. It's A bit piney and A little spicy but it just falls short of what I had expected.  Maybe I was hoping for too much?

Abita Christmas Ale gets A 3.5/5 from me.

Not bad, not great, A little better than middle of the road. 

Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier

Brewed by Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla
Germany

The Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier is A Munich Helles lager coming in at 4.30%ABV.
1pint 9oz.

I consumed this $6 bottle in A Sam Adams special glass at the House of 1000 Beers.

“Schlenkerla Helles” is brewed with fine Bavarian aroma hops from the area around the city of Nürnberg. It's lagered in century old caves underneath the historic Schlenkerla brewery and maltings. Schlenkerla Helles is boiled in the same copper kettles and bottom fermented by the same yeast as the historic Schlenkerla Smokebeer. Its subtle smokiness without using smoke malt makes “Helles Schlenkerla Lager” a unique representative of the classic lager beer style “Bavarian Helles”.  


You can view more info about the line of beers and the brewery at the WEBSITE.

Look: Pale, murky, hazy, golden-yellow color. Strong, active carbonation forces it's way up to the top of the glass forming A finger and a half of foamy off-white head. I noticed A lot of particles floating around in the beer and stuck in suspension.  A bit thick and syrupy. Looking good so far.  

Smell: Right off the bad I'm hit with the strong smell of smoked cheeses. It's very pungent and predominant. For people who are not use to beers with smokey aromas and flavors, this will sure be a surprise. Heck, for someone not familiar with this lager beer...this will be A surprise. Under the smoked cheese aroma, I picked up some cooked bacon, smoke extract, cigar smoke, and some toasted malt.  A tad bit of fruitiness and honey was also in it somewhere underneath the smokiness. As for the hops, barely any in the smell.  What I got was A tad bit of pineyness and maybe some floral leafyness.

Taste: Following the nose to the dot.  The beer begins very smokey. I can't say I was caught off guard or anything, because I was not.  I was prepared and anticipating it.  It may have been more smokey though than I had originally imagined.  Not A bad thing at all though.  I picked up some smoked cheeses such as gouda and the like. Some light hints of burning cigars, and some honey.  The toasty malts sneak in just A bit to give you A bit of wheat bread and biscuit.  Some vanilla lingering around about mid drink.  The finish slides off right into the hop pool.  You're hit with A nice, smooth bitterness that tingles the tongue, some fruitiness, and some leafy hop that finishes the beer nice and dry.

Mouthfeel: A little chewy, prickly and very drying.  After every sip I found my mouth extremely dry and craving another drink.  The beer was A bit on the heavy/thick side. Nothing too crazy though for the style.  The carbonation was just enough to enhance the flavors and not ruin the beer by burning your tongue to ashes.

Overall: I think this is a magnificent beer and has easily pushed some other beers out of the top tier of my favorites.

Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Lagerbier gets A 4.5/5 from me.  

A great beer that I think more people should really get out and find. 

Fuller's Nitro E.S.B.

I was visiting The House of 1000 Beers yesterday evening and finally stumbled upon A wonderful gem of a beer.  Well...I guess it's not "finally."  I've stumbled on many fine brews at this establishment.  If you are in the Pittsburgh area and interested in the place, you can go HERE and visit the site. ,k

Fuller's ESB was on a nitro tap. Served in A Redhook pint glass.

Fuller's ESB is brewed by Fuller Smith & Turner PLC. In the United Kingdom (England.)
5.90% ABV
The style is Extra Special / Strong Bitter (ESB)

Fuller's ESB is brewed with Pale Ale and Crystal malts and from Challenger, Goldings, Northdown, and Target hops.

Look: Fuller's ESB is a very rich, deep amber color.  I love drinking beer on nitro because you actually have to wait to taste it.  It's like a challenge to see how long you can go as the beer settles into A very creamy, rich, tan-white head.   The beers leaves plenty of lacing.  It barely wants to leave the glass.

Smell: The first thing I'm picking up the some earthiness from the hops. Some weedy, grassyness as well. After that, I can really smell the sweet, toasted malt used in this brew. Very delightful and tame.

Taste: Cooked fruit. Some melon and strawberry. Starts off a bit sweet and finishes nice and semi-dry with some really nice hop bitterness thrown in. The hops provide an earthy, tea-like flavor that just floats across the tongue and tingles the back of the mouth and throat. Very well balanced and easy drinking.  I am in love with this.

Mouthfeel: Fairly chewy and smooth.  Just enough of a tingle to notice it on the tongue, and then it slides right down your throat without any fight at all.  Magnificent.

Overall: This is easily my new favorite beer. Fuller's really have this locked down.  I fell in love with it from first sight and first sip.

Fuller's ESB gets A 5/5 from me.
I can't wait to stock up on some bottles of this.  Every bar in the U.S. needs to carry this on nitro draft.

Modelo Especial

Modelo Especial.
4.40% ABV.
Brewed by Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V.
Mexico

Gold foil wrap...this is fancy as all hell.  I will not be putting any limes in this one. Not A fan of putting fruit in my beer. If it can't stand alone, it can't stand at all. Am I right? Am I right?

Look: A clear bottle...why? Why could this not be in A brown bottle, or at the least in A green bottle. Like most Mexi-lagers, this one follows suit. The beer pours A very light golden color. Nothing to special about it. It looks like most others. Perhaps A bit more dark.  A thick, off white head forms with an aggressive pour and quickly dies out. Some carbonation trickles upward from the bottom of the glass. The beer does leave a bit of decent lacing around the glass though. Not that this creates A special beer or anything.

Smell:  By the grace of whomever, this beer does not smell skunky.  It does smell A bit cheap though.  Some stale malt is about all I'm getting.  It smells very sweet.  I'm not really A fan of overly sweet lagers, so hopefully this doesn't follow into the taste.  After sitting A bit I was able to pick up just the faintest trace of hops.  I have no idea what variety of hops they use in this brew.

Taste: Here we go. The beers sloshes into my mouth and goes right down my throat without any problems. A tad sweet on the mouth. Some toasted malt and A touch of honey up front, followed by A bit of bitterness to balance. A bit of earthy hopping thrown in as well. Nothing is really too discernible.  Very unoffensive. At least, I was not offended. An easy drinker.  I also am picking up some metallic aftertaste.  Not really against that though, It could have ended A cloyingly sweet. The beer finishes semi-dry and even A bit sticky. A simple lager that you could down easily on A hot day. I guess that is the aim of these brews.

Mouthfeel: Smooth. Easy to drink. Moderate carbonation. Surprisingly doesn't burn my mouth or throat. I don't really like it when the beer feels like I'm swallowing tons of little needles with every gulp.

Overall: This really isn't bad. It's actually one of the better Mexican lagers I have had. It's leaps and bounds ahead of Corona in my opinion.  I would get this again. I would like to try it from the can some time in the future.  It is A bit pricey though.  I paid $28 for A case of it at my local distributor.

Modelo Especial gets A 3.5/5 from me.
 It's not amazing but it's also not disgustingly awful. A middle of the road brew for people tired of the Corona.

Egervin Egri Bikavér Bulls Blood 2008

Finally. The time has come for me to do my very first wine review.  My fingers type with glee and jubilation at the thought of scattering this over the millions of feeds that exist on the internet. Oh, what A fantastic idea.

Egervin Egri Bikavér Bulls Blood vintage 2008. A Hungarian red wine. Kadarka varietal. Produced by Egervin Borgazdaság Rt.

(If you would like to learn more about the Egri Bikavér style of wine from Hungary, visit THIS.)

Look: A deep, dark red. I guess that is why they call this "blood." It is as murky and dark as the richest blood any living creature could produce. Pitch-dark puddle of red liquid fills the glass.  I'm sure I could compose A poem just around the look of this wine... I don't have the time though.  I'll leave it to the "experts."

Smell: Very oaky. I'm really amazed at how woody this smells. Some hints of vanilla and over-ripe strawberries sneak in there under the wood.

Taste: The soft acidity of this wine really just glazes your tongue. Sort of like if you poured cough syrup in your mouth and swished it about a bit. Except, this tastes much better. The first taste you get is the smokiness of the grapes used, followed by A strong woody flavor.  Some soft floral tannins   peak through and dance across the palate. Underlying hints of vanilla and peppercorns are present. Just a bit of tartness and some soft alcohol hits the back of the throat. Delicious.

Mouthfeel: A full bodied wine. Velvet smooth with some soft acidity. Does not burn the tongue or throat. A very harmonic composition to say the least.

Overall: I absolutely love this wine. It has easily become one of my favorites.  I would recommend that everyone who is A wine drinker give this one A try. At $8.99 A bottle, you can't go wrong.

Egervin Egri Bikavér Bulls Blood 2008 gets A 5/5. 

Kirin Free

The nice folks at Kirin USA sent me two bottles of this for me to sample.  Kirin Free is A 0.0% beer.

A Japanese non-alcohol beer brewed by Kirin Brewing Company.

Info from the website says that the beer is 60 calories.
Protein: .1-.3g

This is my first non-alcohol beer and I was a little worried to say the least.

Off the bat, the bottles are great. They are thick, sturdy, brown, and big.  They are 12oz but the weight of the bottle is nice.  I'll be making beer glasses out of these for sure.

Look: So here we go.  The beer poured from the bottle into my schooner glass, poured an odd orange color with no head formation.  The beer glows like the sun.  Plenty of carbonation can be seen streaming up from the bottom of the glass. 

Smell:  Sticking my nose into the glass, what I detected caused me to immediately jump back from the glass. A very odd, sour smell.  Sort of reminds me of grape kool aid...

I also picked up some crackers form the malt, some fried egg, and even A bit of pizza dough. Not what I was expecting.

Taste:  After the shock of the smell settled, I gathered up the courage to actually taste this.  Thankfully, It was not as bad.   What first hits your mouth is like a cherry or grape soda flavor. I'm still not completely decided on which flavor of soda it is. It has the tang of cherry but almost the taste of a cheaper grape soda.  What follows is a sour, pizza dough flavor.  I assume this would be from the malt.  I didn't detect any honey, or toasted wheat, caramel, or even any hops for that matter.  I have come to the conclusion that the hops are in there just to hold that pizza dough back a bit.  The aftertaste finishes a bit dry and a tad sour.  I'm not really liking this at  all...

Mouthfeel: Very light and watery of course.  Some stinging carbonation on the tongue and even the back of the throat.

Overall: This has it's place. I'm not going to knock it around too much since Non-alcohol brews aren't my thing at all. This was my first and hopefully my last.
Kirin Free is not beer.  It is a malt beverage but absolutely not beer.  Don't mistake it for that.  I could see this coming in handy if you are pregnant, an AA member, or someone who wants to take a drink on the road with them, that sort of tastes like beer but really isn't beer.

I'll give Kirin Free A 1.5/5 in the NA brews category.