Brooklyn is no place for me.

Well the third beer that I will be reviewing is a summer ale that is done by Brooklyn Brewery, I will admit it took me awhile to do this review because for me this just wasn't a strong outing for a new beer or in my opinion Brooklyn Brewery. It is good to have good and bad beer, how else are you going to get people to try different beer I just always feel letdown when I think I am going to drink a great beer when sometimes they are no better than your run of the mill cheapo beer. Enough about that let us get down to business.

LOOK: As always I like to start with the eye candy factor of a beer, this one was ok nothing jumped out at me though. It had the color of apple cider, the head or lack there of was very light reminded me of a Budweiser or Miller so already starting off I knew I was going down a road I wanted no part of. 

SMELL: This beer to be honest was just a surprise all around and not the good kind, the smell of the beer smelled like copper or some other kind of metal. I know some beer will have that smell but not a big fan of the smell in something I enjoy. It also had  very hoppy notes with a light fruit smell that was overpowered by the metal/hop mixture. The beer continues to leave me wanting more, so much so that my nose retired for the night.

TASTE: Now this is my favorite part of drinking beer, and even more so now that I actually take the time to taste the beer and not see how many beers I can down a night. This beer had I been new to micro beers would have left me thinking that the big guys have the only taste there is and they are cheaper. Anyway the first sip the head of the beer is in more of the sip than actual liquid, now when I do get a sip of beer the taste is fruity but very dry. It definitely gives the summer vibe, but for me it has to be a summer in India which I am more of a beach guy myself. The aftertaste was very dry and I love dry beer, but this beer just continually left me wanting more. I would love to try more Brooklyn brews but for a first outing this was a strike.

Thanks for reading,

Jon The Beer Guy

Sittin' back with Stout in hand.

So for my second beer I decided to go with something a lot darker and in my eyes a lot tastier. The second beer that I am going to be reviewing is the Chocolate Stout from Harpoon Brewery, and where should I start with this nice in my eyes ale/stout hybrid. I guess I will start with the to me the label is nothing catchy and to be honest, had it not been for my wife I possibly would have overlooked this beer. This is my first chocolate stout and although it is my first and certainly wont be my last I have to admit I fell in love, with what is the start of a beautiful friendship between chocolate stout and myself. So onto the review.

I will start with the pour into the glass: It was about medium thickness nowhere near the thickness of a Guinness or a Murphy's but still had that great black tar look (which I love). Also with the head of the beer I was expecting it to have a thick white head like a normal stout, and although there was a nice head the thickness didn't stick around too long. The color of what I like to call the halo, as the head isn't completely gone but it also isn't foamy like a normal stout has a nice warm chocolate look to it and it hangs around for the entire beer.

Now moving onto smell: I have to admit knowing it was a chocolate stout I really wanted to smell this and I was hoping that it wouldn't have that bitter alkaline smell that most stouts have and I have to say that I was extremely happy with what I found. With the first smell I got cocoa wrapped in dark chocolate and you may be thinking (that doesn't sound that great) but believe me it is equal to going to see the philharmonic, it is just very pleasing to the nose. I could have actually sat with my nose in the beer all night it was that rich and made me want it all the more.

 

My favorite part of trying and drinking craft beer the taste portion: I have to start this off with WOW!! This as of right now IMHO is the best stout that I have had in awhile and I think it has to do with a few things mainly the thickness or lack there off and the smell of normal stouts that for the meek is not too kind. But anyway I digress, the taste of this stout had a nice espresso taste with a heaping tablespoon of Hershey chocolate syrup, with a nice hoppy finish but didn't have a big bite which I was surprised with and have to admit I really like in this beer. It was definitely a welcomed overload to the tongue made me wishing I had this on tap in my house right not, the end of the taste was just as great I found myself thinking I had just had a nice cup of coffee or a big glass of chocolate milk, which in my book is win/win.

To sum it all up The Chocolate Stout from Harpoon was fantastic, I definitely want to try more chocolate stouts before i grade this one completely but for my first adventure in this realm it was a great ride and look forward to more than the norm stouts in my future and also I love Guinness but I would take a Harpoon over it any day. So pick one up and try it out.

Jon The Beer Guy

Good Ol' Sawtooth Ale

Well how to start this first post into the blogging world about craft beer, well my first beer to drink that I wanted to review is Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewing company out of Longmont,Colorado. This was the first time I actually drank a beer in a nice glass that allowed it to show off it skills, I actually took time to look at this brew from head to toe and surprisingly also sipped instead of gulped which happens all too often with great beer. Well what I should start with is the packaging and bottle presentation, because on the wall of craft beer this one really caught my eye with it's blazing sun in the middle of saws that made a diamond it just makes an all around interesting graphic. Bright colors are always catchy to me but doesn't always mean a great beer. Well after pouring this nice ale into a glass I took note of the color which was a nice medium amber color and instantly I was happy the color was really warming like the sun on the label of the bottle, the head on this beer which there really wasn't one was very light and dissipated quickly but had a light caramel color too it something else I was pleased with. Now I will have to admit at this point, it was really hard to not down this beer right on the spot but I knew if I did I would ruin this review and would pretty much have no use for a blog and sharing the great and possibly not so great beers I run into. So after the eye candy portion was over I went to the ol' sniffer and shoved my nose right into the glass and closed my eyes, what I found was very nice and instantly had me salivating. The smell was a nice floral smell with hints of citrus and spice notes (kind of tingled the nose) like ginger beer or something like that would do but I very much liked the smell, not too sweet and not too bitter either. Now came the real test and what my mouth had been begging for since I had popped the top of the bottle was the taste test, I took in just enough to fill the mouth but not too much as to where I had chipmunk cheeks. Again I closed my eyes and I have to say felt really weird about having a religious experience with my beer, but to be honest that is what should be done with a nice craft beer that a small company took the time to really develop. Anyway back to the taste, what I came away with was a nice fruity and spice mixture with a nice bite at the end of the tasting and what I was left with for an aftertaste was a nice floral note with a nice bitter end slightly similar with an IPA (India Pale Ale) and to be honest this beer finished very smooth and dry which I really thought worked very well with this beer. I would have to say someone just starting to drink craft beer may not want to start with this, but I would say it is definitely a middle of the pack contender for sure. All in all this is definitely a beer that I would pick up again and would be great for those spring/summer cookouts and gatherings. I hope you enjoyed my post as much as I enjoyed drinking this beer.

Until next time,

Jon The Beer Guy