Beer Mail #2 Kirin FREE

Today I received two bottles of Kirin FREE Non-Alcohol Malt Beverage via UPS from Kirin Brewery of America LLC.

Normally A Non-Alcohol beer would definitely not be my thing, but you know what? I will give this one a fair go in the name of science. 

New Holland The Poet

I'm reviewing this one for International Stout Day.  It was given to me by a friend during a night of drinking.  My apologies for the poor picture quality. I used my phone for the photo since I did not have my camera on hand at the time.

New Holland The Poet

The Poet by New Holland Brewing Company is out of Michigan, USA. The Poet is an Oatmeal Stout coming in at 5.20% abv. 

I poured the stout from the bottle into my trusted Newcastle Brown Ale Schooner glass.

Look: The body is almost a pitch black with a bit of some ruby red showing through when light hits it.  Murky, unclear...sort of reminds me a bit of coffee.  The head poured about 2 inches with a bit of retention. It stuck around for a bit but as I let it sit to warm a little, the head said it's good byes and deflated down to about a half an inch. The little bit of head that was left managed to stick around until the end of the party.

Smell: Ah...toasted wood, some grilling charcoal, and a bit of spicy cedar. The malt breaks through and gives off the scent of some sweet toffee, burnt coffee and bitter, baker's chocolate.  The smell is very inviting. I wonder if they make car scents like this?

Taste: Up front you get drawn in with some sweetness from the malts. A bit of caramel and toffee. Some underlying chocolate donut-like sweetness. Some smokiness kicks in from the oats that adds a bit of a smoked bacon flavor. Does anyone else get that from oatmeal stouts? Smoked bacon...Anyways.  The sweetness then drops off into a bit of a biting bitterness. Sort of caught me off guard. Some bitter coffee and pomegranate, grapefruit twang bursting through to even the drink out very well. I will say this though, the flavors are a bit muted and not as robust as I would like from this style.

Mouthfeel: Very crisp and refreshing, yet, it is still a full bodied brew.  They got this one down.  The carbonation is very muted, yet this brew just slides down like it's nothing.

Overall I'll have to say that this is a very good offering of the Oatmeal Stout genre of beer.  New Holland knows how to brew A good oatmeal stout, kudos to them. 

I'll give New Holland Oatmeal Stout A 4/5     

Why not A 5?  Well Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout has always been my favorite. I don't have a review up for this but I'll have to work on it. The flavors were a bit muted and not that robust or in your face. Which some people will like and some people will still like, but want more of.  Don't get me wrong, it's a very good beer...I just felt like I wanted a bit more from the flavor area.  I would still recommend this beer to anyone who loves stouts or even someone who was just trying to get into the style.

I hope everyone had a great Stout Day and enjoyed many stouts they loved or even discovered new ones.

Coors Light

http://www.coorslight.com

It's not very often that I partake in the consumption of light beers.  Usually, the only time I do is at festivities and events where there is no other choice.

I was a little low on beer budget money this week so I decided to just go the cheap route and pick something up to quench my thirst.  I guess you could say that I was bummin' it.  Anyways, what did  I think...Well, not too much.

Consumed in a pilsner glass straight from A 40oz bottle. December 21, 2011 expiration date. "Super cold."

Coors Light is 4.2% abv and is brewed by Coors Brewing Company in Colorado, USA.

Look - Very pale. Light yellow color...reminiscent of a well hydrated piss. What else is to expect from a light beer?  Poured about 2 inches worth of head that was bubbly like soap and dissipated rapidly. I'd say it lasted under a minute or two. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to it because I figured it wasn't worth noting too much.  A lot of carbonation bubbled up like a thick fountain of suds.  Some of the most carbonation I have ever seen.

Smell - As hard as I may have tried, I was unable to really detect too much of anything in this beer. The little that i did pick up was a bunch of adjuncty corn and just a tad bit of an off putting, metallic smell.  I'm not too sure where the metallic smell is coming from. Definitely has to be from the brewing process. I didn't pick up any barley malt or hops at all.  Definitely disappointing but you know what?  I won't give it a hard time because of the kind of beer it is. It's meant to be unoffensive and the smell definitely did not offend me one bit.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Like I said earlier, it's not offensive at all. Very easy drinking, easy going. What I did get was a toss up of some fresh corn, a bit of husk and a very light tinge of some old hops.  Actually, it tastes like bananas.  Does anyone else get that from Coors Light or is it just me?  Some definite banana funk going on there.  The mouthfeel is very prickly, no doubt from the carbonation. Very smooth, as most types of this beer tend to be.  Nothing offensive. Very easy to drink.  Could definitely quench your thirst on a hot day if you weren't looking to drink complete water and was looking for something that had a bit of a beer taste to it.

You know...over all, it's not disgusting.  Would I seek it out? Not particularly, no.  I did today though.    I paid $3 USD for a 40oz bottle of this and I can't really say that I regret it.

Coors Light...you get a 1.5/5 in the American Adjunct Light Lager category. Kudos...

**I have two other 40oz beers to review as well. Look forward to having those up in the next few days.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA

You can check out the web page for this brew HERE.

Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA is an American Double/Imperial IPA.  Served in a 12oz bottle into a mug.  Comes in at 9% with 90 IBU.

"90 Minute IPA was our first continually-hopped beer, which is a method of hopping that allows for a pungent, but not crushing hop flavor. Since introducing the world to the continual-hopping method with our 90 Minute IPA, we've since released a continually-hopped 60 Minute IPA, 120 Minute IPA and even a 75 Minute IPA (a cask-conditioned blend of 60 & 90 Minute IPAs).: "

As you can see from the quote from the website...This brew is all about the hops. I guess there other 2 are as well but this is the one I picked up.  So how does it fare for this guy?  Time to find out.

Look: The beer poured a very dark, hazy, golden, amber color.  Very beautiful glow radiating through out the glass. For some reason I was only able to get about a half an inch of a fluffy, off white head.  Subtle carbonation bubbles up from the bottom of the glass.  Not as sprity as some other "IPA's" i've had in the past, but truthfully...I prefer it this way.   90 Minute IPA left some pretty decent lacing in my glass as I quenched my thirst.  

Smell: Some toasted malts right up front, in your nose.  A little bit of light caramel and a heaping load of toffee. I'm also picking up something a bit sweeter...perhaps some donuts? Yeah, donuts. Also wafting from the glass is a blast of some fresh, sliced grapefruit and some dry orange peel. No doubt from the hops.  The smell isn't as strong as I would expect from all the hop bragging, but we'll see when it comes to taste.

Taste/Feel: Very moderate body.  A little more watery than I had expected but it actually fits with the taste quite well.  It actually is a little sticky in the mouth.  It just doesn't slide down, it is sort of like you are drinking some goo that nickelodeon use to dump on people. What was that stuff called? Ahhh...I can't remember now for the life of me. Anyways. I picked up some hints of toasted malt that came across as some light caramel and toffee. Just as I picked up in the nose when testing the smell. Vanilla.  Yes, I am picking up some vanilla...not cheap, fake vanilla but real vanilla bean. 

Now on to the bitterness, which this beer, surprisingly doesn't overwhelm you with. I was really hoping for a more bitter beer but this one did not deliver as bitter of a bite as I could have hoped.  It seems like these IIPA beers are always letting me down when it comes to bitterness. Oh well...maybe it's just me? Perhaps I set my BU hopes to high? I dont know. The hop flavors I picked up were reminiscent of grapefruit, that is the prime flavor that sticks around for most of the end of the beer. A little bit of lemon rind sneaks in just to splash your tongue with a bit of lemony bitterness that drops off into a semi dry finish with almost no sign of alcohol to be found anywhere in this 9% beer.

Overall it's a pretty good showing for an IIPA.  After finishing this beer quite quickly I did end up with a bit of a buzz from the 9%.  Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten anything all day too. 

This is a pretty good beer and I would recommend it to anyone who is into IPA's and stronger beers. However it does come at a bit of a price.

I give Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA 3.8/5.  I just couldn't give it a 4 because the lack of bitterness let me down a bit.

Greene King Abbot Ale

Abbot Ale - Perfect Real Ale

Another review of a beer that makes it way to me from across the pond. I've provided a link to the beer website, as usual, just underneath the photo.

Greene King Abbot Ale was purchased at House of A Thousand Beers in New Kensington, PA. It came in a 4 pack of pint cans that are 5%abv. It is an English Pale Ale.

Abbot Ale is brewed by Greene King/Morland Brewery in the United Kingdom.

I am very found of canned English Ales. I have a thing for Boddington's and Tetley's. So I was enamored when I saw this Abbot Ale sitting on the shelf.

Look: Greene King Abbot Ale poured a murky, dark, orange, caramel, to amber color. Even holding this up to light proved it not clear. Definitely some particles floating around in suspension that prevent me from seeing threw the beer. The head was nice, thick, and creamy. A light tan color at that. It did fade rather quickly after erupting to about 2 inches.

Smell: After jamming my nose into the glass and just about drowning myself...I came up with the following: Sweet toffee, toasted nuts, some warm caramel, a slight hint of some spicy pine, and some woodiness dragging at the end with a bit of a lemon pledge. Not too shabby at all, If I do say so.

Taste/Feel: Ok, the all important taste. Well, it's definitely a tad bitter. Not overly much so though. Your average bud light, coors, light, miller lite, etc...drinker most likely won't be able to appreciate this, but hey...you never know, right? I tasted some toffee and roasted vanilla. Coming in the middle was a bit of grapefruit bittering from the hops and some black tea leafs that I will also attribute to the hopping. Seems the hops are more complex and hidden than the malt. All of the flavors seem to be on a different level that you must explore to uncover them all. Like a maze. I like it!

After the beer warmed as I was drinking it, I noticed some orange candy taste that started to come through.

The mouthfeel was moderate and just about completely flat. Very drinkable no doubt.

Well, like I said earlier; I really do enjoy these canned ales. Maybe it's not your thing, and some people may say it tastes like chewer's spit, but it sure is my thing. I'll give Greene King Abbot Ale a 4/5

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