A Beer Blog

The semi daily ramblings of a beer enthusiast. I got tired of trying beers and forgetting how each one tasted so this is my reminder. Personal Blog

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A Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale

American Pale Wheat Ale 7.5% Alcohol

Lagunitas Brewing Co Petaluma, CA

I like Lagunitas, they are a reasonably priced brand and I have never been disappointed in one of their beers. This beer is no exception. Smell is sweet, cirtrusy, and full of hops. Taste is a lot less sweet with a small amount of the citrus flavor coming through but you get a lot of the hop flavor with a great deal of pine bitter aftertaste. This is a great beer to sip and enjoy, not chug.

9.5/10

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Prima Pils

German Pilsener 5.3% Alcohol

Victory Brewing Co Pennsylvania

This has a score of 99 at Total Whine and was only $2 so I was very eager to try this. Floral, grassy smell, slightly sweet. Taste is similar to the smell, the grassy flavor comes up more, and has a strong bitter aftertaste. The beer is remarkably smooth though even with this bitter aftertaste. Good summer beer, and easy to drink but still flavorful and a good beer's beer.

9/10

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Bavik Pils Lager

German Pilsener 5.0% Alcohol

Brouwerij Bavik Belgium

Malty, bread smell, with a slight twinge of alcohol. Taste is grainy, bready, and a slight sweet caramel. Very slick smooth mouth feel. A very solid bear, nothing too complex but tasty, simple, and clean.

8/10

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Redbridge Gluten-Free Sorghum Beer

American Amber 4.0% Alcohol

Amheuser-Busch Inc. St. Louis, Missouri

Not sure if I've had a gluten free beer but saw this and grabbed it off the shelf on a whim. Smell is light with a hint of sweetness. First thing you notice when you take a sip is a strong tingle that the beer gives you. I'm not sure if is carbonation or what exactly but it's something I am unfamiliar with and I did not enjoy it much. What makes it even worse is that with that strong sensation you can not get much taste. It more or less tastes like water after that point, that has a slight strange fake flavor, almost medical taste. I hope that not all gluten free beers are like this because this beer is not enjoyable.

4/10

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Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve Northwest-Style Lager

American Pale Lager 4.8% Alcohol

Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Co. Milwaukee, WI

Malty, sweet, grainy smell. Taste is malty with some slight piney hops. Overall this beer is not complex but really smooth and easy to drink. At first sip I liked this beer quite a bit but then as I drank more I realized a lot of this smoothness came from the lack of flavor. It's a really easy drink that I can't say much bad about but it does not stand out enough to be a great beer. A good beer for those that don't like too strong or overpowering flavor.

8.2/10

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Obsidian Stout

German Pilsner 6.4% Alcohol

Deschutes Brewery Bend, Oregon

A very well reviewed beer and nice and dark, just in time for winter. Faint roasted chocolate smell. A strong coffee bean taste right up front, with roasted chocolate flavor right behind, and then ends with a bitter flavor that wipes your mouth clean. It's a good winter beer, dark, complex, and great for sipping after dinner, just make sure you enjoy bitter beers.

8.0/10

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Bitburger Premium Pils

German Pilsner 4.8% Alcohol

Bitburger Brauerei Germany

Read that this is the most popular draft in Germany so I figured it's worth a shot since Germany makes such great beers. Smell is faint-- malty with a slightly sweet note. Taste is smooth, malty, with a slightly bitter grainy aftertaste, with some light carbonation. Drinkability is high on this beer, it goes down easy and would pair well with just about anything that you are eating. There is no real strong flavor though and it is not complex. I see it as the Bud Light of Germany due to it's popularity and non-offending flavor but obviously it is a much better beer than Bud Light. Drink it, you won't not like it.

7.8/10

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Nectar IPA

American IPA 6.8% Alcohol

Nectar Ales Paso Robles, CA

It has been quite some time so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try a type a beer I generally avoid, an IPA. Smell is piney and hoppy but also surprisingly sweet, although I guess it shouldn't be that surprising when the company is called nectar ales which also led me to trying this beer. First sip you don't really get that strong hoppy flavor but is quite smooth with a honey taste. Each additional sip after that though becomes more hoppy with a strong pine flavor, although the honey flavor does exist still as an aftertaste. Over for big IPA lovers this probably isn't their favorite but for someone that isn't a huge fan of the IPAs strong flavors I think it's a pretty alright beer.

7.2/10

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Josephs Brau Dunkelweizen

Dunkelweizen Ale 5.2% Alcohol

Josephs Brau Brewing Co. San Jose, CA

I'm a fan of Dunkelweizen so I was looking forward to trying this when I saw these for a nice price at Trader Joes. Smell has a lot of banana to it, wheat, and hops. Taste is smooth but also has banana flavor as well as bread, although that bread tastes kind of moldy. There is a little bit of light citrus after taste too. Overall I am kind of disappointed, it has some complex flavors but I just don't like those flavors, they are not that tasty. Not a beer for me.

5.5/10

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Somersault

American Blonde Ale 5.2% Alcohol

New Belgium Brewing Fort Collins, CO

Sweet, malty, grainy smell. Taste is very smooth, malty. Lightly carbonated. Slight citrus hops taste. A perfect summer beer, not too light, not too heavy but still a good amount of taste. The highlight of the beer is the smoothness, extremely smooth and easy to drink. Eat it with some bbq and tan it up. Even better than flat tire and I love flat tire!

10/10

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Young's Double Chocolate Stout

Sweet Stout 5.2% Alcohol

Well's & Young's Brewing Co. Bedford, United Kingdom

Have to state first that this is not the time of year to enjoy this beer as it is heavy and dark but I've had it in my parent's fridge for a few months and didn't want to wait too long. That being said, I'll try to not let that bias me too much. Chocolatey malty smell with a hint of coffee. Taste follows suit; very rich malty taste, with a much stronger coffee aftertaste. Also it leaves a strong chocolate taste in your mouth after you swallow. A  smooth, complex tasty beer. Definitely not something to have with dinner but rather a sipping beer afterwards. I will make sure to try some when the weather is colder.

8.7/10

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Pranqster

Belgian Strong Pale Ale 7.6% Alcohol

North Coast Brewing Co. Fort Bragg, CA

No dilly dallying here, right to the review. Smell is floral with a hint of banana, also a little sour which I've never experience with a beer. Taste is spicy and malty, with some bitter aftertaste. High carbonation which hides most of the alcohol taste but some is present. Still surprisingly little alcohol taste provided the high alcohol content. Good beer, not crazy great like I've seen it reviewed elsewhere but solid, and you get the most bang for your buck with alcohol.

8.0/10

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Red Stripe Light

Light lager 3.6% Alcohol

Desnoes and Geddes Limited Kingston, Jamaica

Hooray Beer! I'm trying to drink more light beers recently, not only cause it's hot and heavy beers don't sit as well in the California sun, but also I realized that anytime I drink a light beer it's hardly for the taste but rather just to drink a beer. I really want to find a light beer that also has great taste. Anyway, smell is musty, kind of sour, with some corn. Taste is extremely light, the corn comes through more here but a little sweeter. Carbonation very high, tingles the tongue when drank. Overall there are very few notes to the beer and the carbonation is borderline too high but it isa light beer so there is not much to be expected. Good for a hot summer day, I'd assume especially in Jamaica.

6.7/10

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Baltika #8 Wheat

Hefewiezen 5.0% Alcohol

Baltika Brewing Company Saint Petersburg, Russia

Again, I want to state how awesome of a price this beer is; only a little over $2 for a pint and it's an import! That being said on it's own it's a fine beer, nothing outstanding but tasty. Very carbonated  when pulled right out of the fridge; the taste of alcohol really comes through, which is not the best thing in the world. Once it gets slightly warmer, which is probably how it is supposed to be enjoyed, you can taste the flavor more. It is definitely an old styled Hef, very bready, malty, but above all smooth. There is also some banana flavor and the wheat comes through strong in the aftertaste. A lot of flavors going on but with the slightly over alcohol taste at the beginning and generally I'm not a huge fan of old style Hefs so I'm not going to rate it that high but still worth trying for the price. I plan on reviewing all of their varieties before too long.

7.5/10

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Sapporo Premium Beer

Japanese Rice Lager 5.0% Alcohol

Sapporo Brewing Company Guelph, Ontario, Canada

I've had Sapporo a lot, mostly at sushi restaurants, and let me first start out by saying how sad I am that this is not actually brewed in Japan. Anyway that won't affect my review, it just made me sad. Smell is grainy with a little bit of malt, but not that strong. Taste is smooth but not that much flavor. Grainy with a bitter aftertaste, but not the best kind of bitter. Also, it's worth noting that as the beer got hotter, it was chilled to start, the flavor became more bitter. Not complex, and not the greatest flavor but at least it's smooth. I'll still order this if it's on the menu at a sushi joint but I won't go out of my way to drink it.

7.2/10

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San Lucas Cerveza

American Adjunct Lager 4.6% Alcohol

Cerveceria La Constancia San Salvador, El Salvador

Haven't done one of these in a while cause been kind of all over the place but now I have a good amount of new beers now so hopefully I can knock a few out in the near future. Anyway, malty light smell, slightly skunky. Lightly sweet malty taste, with a little bit of corn. Nice carbonation, not too much but enough. Overall it's a fairly straight forward lager, not too complex, but light and smooth. Different than a lot of South American beers though in that the flavor can stand on it's own, without the need for lime and salt. I still think I prefer these type of beers with lime and salt but it's not necessary like with Corona. Try it this summer.

7.5/10

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Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss

Kristalweizen 4.9% Alcohol

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company Chippewa Falls, WI

Not quite summer yet but the weather is nice so figured it was a good time for a summer beer. I've had a beer from Leinenkugel before and remembered liking it so figured I'd give it another shot. Smell is a lot more floral and malty than expected, also surprisingly I can smell the alcohol which I've never really encountered in a beer. Taste is smooth and malty with a little bit of wheat flavor but sadly no honey flavor at all. I kept sipping to see if I was missing something but nope, I cannot taste the honey. Has a carbonated feel in the mouth as well. Overall it is a simple beer with decent flavor, good to drink in the summer on a hot day when mowing the lawn or something, just don't expect anything too complex.

8/10