La Rossa by Birra Moretti
Birra Moretti after giving it a bad review last week i decided to go ahead and give a different beer of theres a try, mainly because my cousin picked it out and i ended up with it so here it is!
This beer is a lot darker than its sister we tried last week. The flavor is, well, quite unique… when thinking about something to compare it to i could only think of one thing, a small microbrewery in Britange, France made a beer that had the same finish. Don’t get me wrong though, this one is actually pretty tasty. This beer goes down pretty smooth but the one thing i find very noticeable about this beer is how strong the smell is, its a very sweet beery smell, i really dig it. The after taste is very mellow, and it sits pretty lightly in your stomach. This beer has proven to me that there is good beer that comes out of Italy.
Because of how unique this beer tastes i would recommend having it with some food. This beer would perfectly complement an alfrado dish with white meat.
La Rossa by Birra Moretti (6.8/10)
Skull Splitter Orkney Ale by Orkney Brewery
First of all, the label on this beer is cool looking. So when makeing my 6 pack tonight i decided to spring for a little more expensive beer and go for one i’ve really been wanting to try.
This is a Scottish beer, now the only other Scottish beer I’ve ever had was Wel Scotch wile i was in France which was pretty disappointing. This however is not, it has a nice dark amber color and has a very simple taste thats smooth and tasty. It has a malty flavor with a very traditional tasting Scottish aftertaste, which i really like. The malts in this are great, they taste amazing. The other thing i found very interesting about this beer is how smooth it is for a beer that has an alcohol % of 8.5, Usually beers with that high of alcohol are kind of overpowered by it, this isn’t its a very strong, very smooth, and VERY tasty beer. I would recommend this despite its higher price, because your really getting what you pay for, a delicious brew from the high lands.
Skull Splitter Orkney Ale by Orkney Brewery ( 7.4/10)
Milk Stout by Left Hand Brewing Co.
I found this beer for a really good price next to me for only 6.50 its usually around 9 bucks so i don’t usually get it too often.
Personally when it comes to dark beers i usually prefer porters over stouts but this is one big expection. This is one of the most fantastic beers you can ever drink, its dark, sweet and has a perfect finish thats almost creamy. It leaves you with a great aftertaste that just makes you want more. I absolutely love this beer and would recommend it over any stout I’ve had so far.
Milk Stout by Left Hand Brewing Co. (Longmont, CO) (9.2/10)
Shock Top Belgian White by Anheuser-Busch
This beer is quite good and very orangy, it reminds me a lot of sunset wheat by Lienenkoogel. Its very light and very refreshing with a really nice after taste. I’m really supprized this beer is as good as it is, considering its from Budwiser, the name brand American beer. However this beer really is pretty good despite it’s name brand origins.
I Think i’ll Have to try this beer again in the future.
Shock Top Belgian White by Anheuser-Busch (7.3/10)
Trippel by New Belgium
Because this is a Trippel I’ve been saving this for last. I’ve been to Belgium and I’ve had a few real Belgian abby style trippels and they have been with out a doubt the best beers I’ve ever had, so needless to say, I’m really looking forward to seeing what us Americans did with a great European idea, hopefully we didn’t fuck it up like we always do =).
This beer surprised me, Jesse tired it before me and he hated it. I just took my first sip and i think I’m in love, I’ve just found a beer thats a great local rival for white rascal. It has a very authentic Belgian taste which surprised me because New Belgium i feel kind of strays away from true Belgian brewing despite the brewery name, don’t get me wrong though i love fat tire just as much as anyone else, i just don’t think it tastes very Beligique. However this one really does! Its the second beer i’ve found here in America that has a authentic Belgian taste. Jesse calls it the rubber glove taste but i call it the greatest flavor on earth. This actually tastes like a real Trippel too. Extremely flavorful, heavy in gravity, spiced to perfection… you have to give this beer a shot if you see it because its fantastic.
So as i finish my sampler disappointed in the majority of the beers i thought sounded good that i haven’t tried, this was just what i was hoping for, discovering a new beer that i love. Finally when I’m missing the crowded small streets of Europe i have another option to have the wonderful taste again besides white rascal.
Trippel by New Belgium (Ft. Collins, Colorado) (8.7/10) Jesse: (3.7/10)
Spring Ale by Blue Moon
When i first started drinking blue moon was always a beer of choice, still kind of is you can find it anywhere and its pretty decent for being so mass produced, its not the best but its a good option. Now i usually don’t care much for there seasonal beers with the exception of last years winter ale which was brewed with butterscotch and was quite possibly the tastiest beet of all time. I still however like to see what there doing with there seasonal because for a brewery that only realeaces 2 beers at a time you’d expect both of them to be extremely well made and delicious….
…however this ale isn’t very good at all. When i got home i realized that it was a lime wheat ale, so bascily we’re talking about a Mexican style beer because of the lime and after having read that, it lead up to its reputation, this really is a Mexican beer made in Canada. Also for being a wheat beer its very dark, it has an amber color. The taste is well, a bit unsettling, it says lime and it means it. Your basically buying a corona with a blue moon logo. Its light, its lime and its unbalanced. I think this beer is borderline awful.
Spring Ale by Blue Moon (Toronto, Canada) (2.3/10) Jesse: (2.5/10)
Birra Moretti
Theres a first time for everything and tonight i had my first Italian beer. Usually i expect most imported beer to be fairly mediocre because usually the really good dark kinds are kept in there country only. For instance here in Colorado the only leffe i can get my hands on its the blonde, which is good but not nearly the best. But a really good example of this is Stella Artois people go crazy for it but i think its on par with MGD.
Jesse is raving about how great this beer is however i don’t really see it being anything that special, it tastes like a light European beer, just like stealla. To me this just tastes a lot like a mid grade American beer, light, no after taste and a smell that just smells like well… cheap beer. For the price this beer really isn’t that great, just get something cheaper from the states… MGD maybe?
Jesse had this to say: “Smells like weed, Tastes like heaven”
Birra Moretti (2/10) Jesse: (7.8/10)
Never Summer Ale By Boulder Beer
Last night when i was writing about pass time pale ale i discovered this winter brew on there web page Never summer ale, i thought it was kind of funny because its my buddy’s aim name so i went out of my way today to find it, Expecally since its boulder beer’s winter seasonal i probably won’t be able to find this brew again in a few weeks. Anyways to the beer…
This is a very mellow and very light beer for being a winter ale. One thing i really like about it is it has a very nice ale taste to it, light but still fairly tasty. In all honsty though theres nothing i can really see that makes this brew stand out among all other ales. This is the kind of beer I’d really like to drink at a bar, I think its because it reminds me a lot of my usual drink at the bar, Full Sail amber. Really though i can’t see my self rating this beer too high because they really didn’t push the bar with it, its an ale, very standard nothing really too unique about this one. If you want a very standard ale drink this, but i find it rather boring for a seasonal beer. To me, I think a seasonal beer should be something you should look forward to, i really don’t like winter so the one thing that really cheers me up during wintertime is the delicious winter brews, this one really doesn’t do much for me however, this beer is far too boring and meidcore for me to wait all year for it to come out.
Never Summer Ale By Boulder Beer (5/10) Jesse: (5/10)
Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery
The second beer i’ll be trying tonight is Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery, which i have had before. i think that the name suits the taste and look. Its an extremely dark beer with a complex taste. When you first taste it its a very thick rich stout with a slightly hoppy first taste that comes on, as you swallow it you can taste the very bold and very different after taste. The after taste is a really nice chocolate flavor, its very malty. The one thing i find really odd about this beer is it coats your mouth as you drink it with its really nice after taste flavor. This is a very unique dark beer i would recommend trying at least once.
Obsidian Stout by Deschutes Brewery (7.6/10) Jesse: (4/10)
Black Dog Winter Cheer by Spanish Peeks Brewing
Tonight i decided to pick up a sampler so i could add alot of entires all at once. Also tonight i’ll be drinking with my cousin Jesse and he’ll be giving scores to each of these beers as well.
First Beer of the night will be Black Dog Winter Cheer, i’m a big fan of winter beers so i decided to give one a try i haven’t had before. Its a very amber in color beer thats extremely hoppy and mildly thick. Every taste is like being punched in the face with hops. Its very dry and the hoppy taste is over powering. Theres really nothing i like about this beer, cept maybe its easy to chug, and on that note down the hatch and I’m done with it.
This Beer offers no Cheer to Winter like the name advertises.
Black Dog Winter Cheer by Spanish Peeks Brewing (3.2/10) Jesse: (4/10)
(Added March 5, 2008: Its amazing this review has become hands down the most read review on my web page!)
