Wellington Arkell Best Bitter

It's been awhile...I'm back with another Canadian brew review.

Wellington Arkell Best Bitter

Wellington Brewery

Ontario, Canada

English Bitter

4.00%

Look: The beer poured A very rich, yet clear amber, brown color.  A nice off-white head stood up for A few minutes before deflating into nothingness, leaving behind A decent amount of lacing on the rim of my glass. Not much trace carbonation visible.  Not the best looking beer I should add.

Smell: Immediately I get A very roasty, nutty scent.  I could smell it as soon as I popped the can open.  Also pick up A bit of some honey biscuit and cereal grain. Perhaps A bit of some grapefruit from hops, maybe A little pine as well.  Besides the nuttiness everything else is fairly subdued.

Taste: Some light bready notes, watered down coffee, and A bit of caramel.  About half way through the taste you get A bit of bittering from the hops to balance the beer out quite well. Finishes with A brush of some roasted cereal and some piney/grapefruit hoppiness.


Mouthfeel:  Medium bodied. Perhaps A bit lighter than that.  Medium carbonation as well. Does not sting the tongue and goes down very easy.  Maybe it could be A little more full bodied but I think that the amount of flavor to mouthfeel ratio is really making this beer work.

Overall: This really isn't A great example of A bitter, yet it's also not A horrible one.  Maybe A bit higher than middle of the road when it comes to English Bitters.  I would suggest giving it A try though if you are ever in Ontario, maybe you will have A different experience than me.  

Wellington Arkell Best Bitter gets A 3.5/5 from me.

Elora Grand Lager

Continuing on my Canadian vacation from mid March, Elora Grand Lager.

Brewed by Trafalgar Brewing Company
Ontario, Canada
Pale Lager
5%

Purchased from an LCBO in Scarborough.

(I have no idea why Blogger is doing this to my photos...)

"Dry-Hopped" and "Craft Brewed" Oh really...? We'll have to see about that.

Look: The Elora Grand Lager pours A very bright, golden color. It looks sort of like light orange juice.  The head barely existent, forms about a quarter of an inch of just pure foam. This does not look very appetizing at all.

Smell: A bit of bathroom cleaner. Seriously. It smells like lemon pledge. Maybe A bit of corn, faintest trace of some barley malt as well. The smell was pretty hard to pick up because of the solvent hints it gives off.  I really hope the taste does not follow.

Taste: Ok, here we go. The first thing I notice right up front is A hoppy twang. Not so much A good, quality hoppy twang. Maybe A cheaper, hop oil twang. It really hits you on the tongue. It's pretty sour and A bit solvent...like I imagine lemon pledge would be. After you dig your way through that, you can finally pick up A bit of sweetness that flickers throughout the middle but then gets buried again by that lemon twang.  I guess it's not awful. It could be really refreshing if I just got done mowing a couple acres worth of grass with push mower and needed to drink something to quench my dying thirst. Meh...

Mouthfeel:  The mouthfeel is pretty slick. Not really drying at all. Carbonation is pretty moderate with this one.

Overall: It's not too bad. I don't think I would really ever buy it again. It was pretty cheap and at least it was drinkable. I'd rate it higher than most Macro brews too but for me, it just doesn't hit the spot.

Elora Grand Lager gets A 2/5.

Sleeman Clear

I spent A few days in Toronto, Ontario, Canada last month. Specifically March 13-15. What did I do? Well, I drank beer. Lots of it actually.  Well I guess that's not all I did. I made A few great friends too. Yeah, that actually never happens. It did though, I swear... Anyways, over the next many posts I plan on reviewing all of the my libations.

Lets get started.

Sleeman Clear
Sleeman Brewing and Malting Company
Guelph, Ontario
"Light Lager"
4% ABV

Look: Right off the bat you can see the beer.  It comes in A clear bottle, it's impossible not to be able to. It's A very light, "corny" yellow color.  Poured almost no head at all. What did form was about an inch and A half of a rocky, bubbly head.  A sad looking beer.

Smell: Very grainy.  Before I even got close to it, I could smell fresh cut grains and heaps of corn.  Underlying all of that is A musty hint of some old apples and maybe some rusting metal.  I am not detecting anything too discernible except for maybe the corn and the metal.

Borrowed photo from Libres-Penseurs. I neglected to take A photo for some reason.

Taste: Yep, it's A light beer. The first taste I get is actually the non-existent taste. A crisp, watery, drink.  Some light hints of corn and sweet apple linger throughout the entirety. Maybe the faintest taste of some hops.  Surprisingly the beer wasn't skunked because of the clear bottle. I guess you need to actually have hops in the beer for it to skunk though. All in all, it doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't really taste like anything.  It sort of reminds me of Coors light with that hint of fruity banana or apple flavor.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation doesn't sting as much as I thought it may have for A beer like this.  Medium carbonation. Very smooth and easy to put down, especially on A hot day.

Overall:  It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's also not the best.  It's A light beer.  Primarily water.  I can't say that it didn't go down really good after walking around Toronto all day. I'll give it that.

Sleeman Clear gets A 2/5 from me.  I'd drink it again if the circumstance are right.

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.

Charmsoju

I'm going to switch it up a bit this time and review a different form of drink.  This one coming all the way from South Korea.  Soju. What is Soju you ask?  Well, Soju is a distilled alcoholic beverage traditionally produced from rice.  

I picked this up at my local liquor store for about $4. Comes in a 375mL green bottle.  A clear alcohol. Coming in at 19.7% abv

Look: Soju doesn't have anything special to the look. It is very clear and that's it. Just clear.

Smell: Mostly alcohol with a bit of a sweetness and a little bit of a lemony tartness.  There is citric acid and sugar added to this drink, according to the label.

Taste: This tastes almost like vodka.  It is more sweet and the alcohol flavor is a bit subdued due to the sugar but the taste is almost there.  This kind of reminds me of Sake just with more alcohol and water.  Quite crisp and very clean.  This would mix very will with many juices.  Ah! What an idea. I need to try this with some cranberry juice...or maybe pineapple?

Overall I will definitely be purchasing this again. I've had it before and there is no reason to quit.  I really do enjoy it on a hot day or even a cold day.  It's crisp, clean, and not overpowering.  Sweet and just a bit tart with a decent alcohol kick in the back.  All I have to do now is try mixing it with a few juices maybe...I guess that goes against tradition though.

I give Charmsoju a 4/5  in the Soju department. Mainly because I have not had any other Soju.

Newcastle Summer Ale

I received a sampler six pack of this from Heineken USA about 3 weeks ago and finally have gotten around to reviewing it.

Newcastle Summer Ale is an English Bitter. Coming in at 4.40% abv.

Ahhh...An Ale made specifically for summer consumption. One would imagine it being light and refreshing. Not too over powering and ready for the masses.

What do you think of when it comes to Summer? The beach, mowing the lawn, carnivals...? You can't really leave beer out of that equation either. Beer is definitely a summer staple in much of the western world. So leave it to some breweries to capitalize on the summer

fervor and make an attempt at some sort of Summer themed beer.

Newcastle is not the first brewery to make a "summer" beer and i'm sure they will not be the last either.

What did I think about it? Put your shades on, your swimming trousers, and get ready to ride a wave of summer bliss...

First of all, why is this in a brown bottle and not a clear one like the Brown Ale? Well I asked this question to customer service and was never answered. I was led around the question and instead of an answer was given the history of the Brown Ale. Bollocks I tells ya, bollocks!

I consumed this Ale on 9/13/2011 on a fairly warm day. It was clear and 79 degrees F. I guess Summer is fading but was still an enjoyable day to say the least.

Look: Newcastle Summer Ale pours a light amber, golden color. The bubbles leftover from carbonation danced to the top of the glass, doing the tango to create a thick, whispy, white head that stood about an inch and a half, and lasted for well over a minute. The beer itself does advertise itself fairly well and looks very appealing on a hot, summer's day.

Smell: Time to stick the ol' nose in the glass and take a whiff. Hmm...quite peculiar to say the least. I get apples and raisins. Very fruity. Even some pear in there too, maybe mango? Not sure I have smelled a beer like this before. Definitely a bit odd...not bad though.

I also picked up some sweet caramel no doubt from the malt, and some bitter grapefruit doused in a bit of wet hay. It's actually fairly appealing, odd...but appealing.

Taste: Down the throat it goes. This Summer Ale is actually moderately bitter. Tea like hops and some sour grape flavors float across the palate. I'm also picking up a bit of a buttery flavor. I am assuming this is from the yeast? It's a bit off putting but truthfully, as I drink more, it grows on me and I begin to actually enjoy it. About mid drink, some smoked malt and caramel begin to round out the beer. The aftertaste leaves a bit of a sticky caramel flavor that just about clashes with a grassy, slightly bitter flavor. Oh, and more butter.

Overall, the more I drink of this the more I actually enjoy it. Would I get it again? Yes, I can say I would. It's not anything exceptional and it's definitely not a great Ale. It's a good beer though if you really aren't looking for anything complicated and want something to drink on a hot day that isn't complete swill. It's light, a bit hoppy, and a Summer Ale. If you are into that thing, great. If not, also great.

Newcastle Summer Ale gets a 3/5

Stroh's

I've consumed Stroh's in the past and have always considered it my go to beer along with Pabst and Schlitz (which I sadly can not obtain at my local distributor any longer) when I am low on money. I would like to mention that being low on money for me seems to be a recurring theme.

I paid $4.75 for a 6 pack of these guys at River Road Six Packs in Vandergrift, PA.

Stroh's is an American adjunct lager, 4.60% ABV. I consumed these from the can into a standard beer mug.

Appearance: The beer pours a very light, straw like, golden color. Just about the color of a decently hydrated urination. Stroh's produced a 2 finger, bubbly head that actually stuck around a bit longer than most AALs. Active carbonation bubbled it's way furiously to the top, supporting the bone white head.

Smell: Pretty standard for this style of beer. Mostly corny and adjuncty with a little bit of a light hint of lemons and grass. Like I said, not too much different than a Budweiser, Pabst, or Coors.

Taste/Mouthfeel: This is where Stroh's sets itself a part from the standard fair a bit. The

first taste you get is a slight citrus, lemon, grassy hop twang that turns into a bit of a

bitterness. The malt then shows it's face with a bit of a honey sweetness that finishes off with a little more hoppyness that turns into a bit of a grassy aftertaste. The beer is moderately

carbonated, not too little and not too much. Of course the beer is watery as well...what else would you expect?

Overall for the price, I really enjoy this beer on a hot, sweaty summer day. Where I buy my beer it usually ends up being a few dollars cheaper than PBR or Blatz which are a few of my other standard fridge keepers. Nothing too special, definitely a step up from Budweiser or Coors in my opinion but it's definitely no Stout or IPA.

I'll give Stroh's a 3.5/5 just for what it is and nothing else.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

I've had my share of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale bottles before and it has grown easily to be one of my all time favorite beers.

I absolutely love the bottle save for a few things. We will start with those. The bottle doesn't really give any background information about the beer or any statistics, or anything. It does however state:

"Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a completely natural ale. There are no additives; only the finest malted barley, whole hops, brewers yeast, and crystal-clear water. The fine layer of yeast in each bottle is a result of the traditional bottle-conditioning process that produces carbonation naturally."

It's obvious from this and the website that Sierra Nevada puts great pride in the brews they produce. They should rightfully so.

I consumed the pale ale from a tulip glass out of a 24 Fl.oz bottle. I picked the bottle up at my local Giant Eagle for around $3.49 The beer comes in at 5.9% abv and 37 IBUs.

Look: Light amber, golden hue. The ale pours a medium 1 and a half finger length head. Very small bubbles begin bubbling to the top. Not too many though actually. I only observed around 10 or so bubbles a minute. This ale leaves behind a lot of beautiful, sticky lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Very citrus like hops. A bit floral with

some big pine notes as well. Some sweet malt shows its presence. Sort of like a light honey or caramel smell, maybe some light brown sugar in there too.

Taste: Very nicely hopped. I'm a huge hop head like I have said before and this beer really hits the spot. Fairly moderate pineyness offsets just a bit of a floral twang. Some caramel and honey sweetness slides across the tongue just before you swallow which leads to another piney note from the hops. Very balanced beer.

Mouthfeel: Mildly carbonated. The label says that it's bottle conditioned so that means that the carbonation is naturally produced by the yeast that is left in the bottles. Medium body to the ale that seems to fit in perfectly with the other attributes. The beer finishes off a bit on the dry side, but in my opinion, this is just how a pale ale should be.

Overall: This is a fantastic beer. Easily one of my favorites. However, this is by no means a hopsplosion, or a hop bomb. If you are looking for something much bitter or stronger, this isn't the ale for you. I however really enjoy this ale and how well balanced it is. I'll give Sierra Nevada Pale Ale a 4/5.

Cheers!

Redhook ESB

Redhook

Tonight's brew is an ESB from Redhook.

"Brewed in the style of a traditional British ESB (Extra Special Bitter), we’ve been making ESB continuously since 1987, and it’s now the benchmark for the Amber beer category. Despite having “bitter” in its name, Redhook ESB is really not that bitter at all. This brew is all about the balance of caramel malt sweetness completed by spicy, citrusy hops."

I picked this brew up from Franklin Village Distributor in Kittanning, PA. I paid about $27 for a 24 pack of bottles. Not too bad. Especially for the quality of the nectar contained within the bottles.

The logo that Redhook uses is really quite amazing, I think. The mountain stretching up to the sky with the words; "Redhook" in between. Really something I can get behind, you know? Anyways, let's discuss the brew a bit.

Redhook Extra Special Bitter

Redhook ESB is 5.8% ABV

Coming in at 28 IBUS

13.75 degrees plato for an original gravity

Brewed since 1987

Has won Gold awards at the 2008 & 2009 at the ABA and ABF

The bottle that Redhook ESB comes in is

actually quite intriguing. As you can see, they

are not the normal bottles that most people will be accustomed too. They are a tad short and stubby with a very short neck. The cap is

not a twist off so you will need something to

open it with other than your hands...unless you're some sort of tough guy or something.

Since this was my first try of anything from Redhook, I had to completely clear my mind so that I could make an honest, wholesome review and also clear my palate so that I had no odd, off, or misplaced flavors floating around in there.

Upon popping the cap off I noticed a bit of

smoke billow out from the bottle. It was not

too much, definitely have seen far more. However, it's not about the smoke, it's about the beer. I poured the contents of these stubby bottles into my 16 oz English pint glass. The

beautiful golden, amber body quickly filled my glass leading to about a half an inch worth of head that did not stick around for all that long. A bit disappointing on the head section. I let the beer sit for a few seconds to watch the

medium sized bubbles quickly make a dash for the top of the glass. Plenty of stragglers where left clinging to the side of my glass throughout my consumption of this beer.

At first smell I didn't really get too much of anything. A lot of people may be expecting this

to be a super hopped up brew, but it really isn't. Being called an ESB or Extra Special Bitter does not actually mean this beer is that bitter. My fiance does think it's bitter, but she is not a hop head in the least bit. An almost sweet, honey like smell made itself present. It seems that was the strongest scent I get from the beer. Some toasty malts and a bit of grassy hops try to sneak in, but they are easily powerbombed to the mat by the honey scent.

The beer actually starts off quite malty in taste. The honey-ness of the bees is back for a second round as well. I'm not sure why but I just can't shake the honey sweet taste that this beer has. It reminds of honey grahams, the cereal (at least I think that's what it's called.)

Anyways, the honey like malts are very present but they lead into a very nice, and smooth lemon rind hop bite. Not too bitter. If you are a huge hop head and expecting something extreme, this is not the beer for you. Everything in this beer works together perfectly and is balanced just right. No one aspect overpowers the other. The carbonation is very tight and even tingles the tongue a bit. The beer is very smooth, the only downfall is that it really is just a bit watery. I wish the mouth feel could have worked out just a little better (or should I say bitter) but I guess it fits the style well.

Over all this is definitely not a beer I would turn down and I can truthfully say that it is now one of my favorites. As for being a good or great representation of the ESB style...I can't really say for sure. The only other English bitters I have had are Boddington's and Tetley's Ale. I found those both to be pretty enjoyable as do I with Redhook ESB.

I give Redhook ESB a resounding 4/5 . OBTAIN RIGHT THIS VERY INSTANT