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.

Beer mail #1 Newcastle Summer Ale

The fine folks at Heineken USA sent me a 6 pack of the Newcastle Summer Ale so that I could try it, at no expense to me. They even put it on over night shipping. The pack arrived without damage, neatly boxed, and ready for consumption in just a day.

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!

Unearthly Imperial India Pale Ale

Southern Tier Unearthly IIPA

Everyone knows that I am a hop head. I'm not sure if you all have figured this out or assumed this by now, but I am completely head-over-heels for any beer that is just hopped out of this world.

I saw this beer, it was calling my name from the shelf at a local Giant Eagle store. I grabbed this bottle and hoisted it above my head like a treasure I discovered, except the gold inside was hops...or so I believed.

The beer is described as being "an uninhibited infusion of hops & oak" As I later found out, it's not what I was expecting, much to my chagrin.

Look: The beer poured a very rich, golden, amber color with a very subtle, dirty white head that didn't inflate to any great heights, and didn't stick around for the party.

Smell: Very fruity. The smell really excited me. The hops were right there, all up in my face. It sort of reminded me of strawberry jelly, or some sort of strawberry cake or candy. A bit of alcohol sneaks in after the sweet malt and fruity hoppy scent. The beer is 11% so the alcohol was knocking at the door at the last whiff.

Taste: Intensely sweet caramel-like taste with a moderate sour, soapy hop flavor. A bit of alcohol creeps up over the smoothly sweet malts, just enough to remind you are drinking a fairly modest alcoholic beverage. You know what though? It's not as hopped as I initially expected it to be. It did let me down a bit because of that. I love hop bombs and was expecting this to be one since it is an IIPA, however my hopes let me down a bit.

Mouthfeel: A little too thick feeling for an IIPA I believe. The beer is nicely carbonated though, just enough for what I feel it should be. Unearthly is also a bit sticky and slick. I take in fact that it comes from the hops. I do like the mouthfeel.

Well overall, the beer is a pretty good offering from Southern Tier. I am a bit disappointed that it failed me a bit in the hops area, but perhaps that was my own preconceived hops that it was going to bomb my taste buds with hops.

I'll give this beer a 3.5/5.

I mean, I must apologize though, it's just not what I wanted. I would recommend this beer for someone who is looking for something a bit sweeter, but to any hop heads out there like me, don't bother picking this one up. I don't think this one will be in my fridge again.

Labatt Blue

**Actually did a video review for this. It's still in the editing stage. I'll keep everyone posted.**

I'm sure this is a beer most people have so I won't spend too much time on it. It was a hot day and I was just looking for something light, smooth, and corny... Just kidding about the corny part, but that's what I ended up getting.

Labatt Blue

I've had this beer before. From can and I've also had it on draft from my local sports bar. I decided to pick up a 1 pint can at Mel's Pizzeria in Kittanning, PA. Grabbed this one for $1. Hey, it might be cheap swill...but it's cheap. Right? Can I get an "AMEN!" up in here?

Like I said earlier, I don't have any great stories to tell about this one or much to even talk about. It's a cheap, simple, macro lager. So this will be a cheap, simple, macro review.

Appearance: The swill poured a very light golden color. Large bubbles quickly scampered to

the top of the glass to escape the corn hell. Unlucky for them, they didn't really have anywhere to go. The head however, was not too bad, maybe it was just my pour...? It was about a finger and a half thick and looked like a sponge from the side. The head was a completely pale white color. That is a bit depressing, eh?

Aroma: Well...what I did get was corn. What I didn't get was character. That basically describes it. Seriously. It's corn water. At least it smelled just like corn water.

Taste: I'm not quite sure how I can say this without offending too many folks...It's boring. I know Labatt Blue has a huge following on college campuses and in hockey circles but you know what? I'm not afraid to say it. This beer is BORING. The outright taste, just like the smell, is corn. Corn Corn Corn CORN CORN CORN. "How many times do I have to read that word in this loser's review?" You may be thinking. Well, a lot. Seeing as corn is most likely the predominate ingredient in this besides water, it's a hell of a task to try to overcome the corn. It's no Busch though...

There is a bit of sweetness and just the slightest bit of a leafy, hay like hops in there, somewhere. Good luck finding any of it.

Mouthfeel: Highly carbonated. Very watery. It works.

Over all, this is a beer I would drink again over a few other cheaper macro brews. Although, I can honestly say I would never keep this stocked in my fridge regardless of the situation. For what it is however, i'll go ahead and give this a 1.5/5. I just couldn't give this anything higher.

You could do worse. I guess...

Your Magesty, Coco

Took this picture of my darling Coco at about 2AM this morning. She's a beaut is she not?

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