Day #346 – Abita Christmas Ale

Abita Christmas Ale

This is the winter seasonal available from Abita Brewing Company. It is an amber ale at 6.13% ABV.

This beer pours a fairly clear reddish orange color that looks brown when not in the light. It has a white to off-white head that foams up very quickly.

The aroma is a bit strange. It reminds me of what boiling hops smell like when I am brewing a beer. Kinda grassy and plant-like but in a really bitter sort of way. Not so sure about that.

The flavor has some of the same bitter plant-like flavor with hops as well. Maybe a bit of cocoa in the taste but isn’t all that impressive.

Cheers!

Day #341 – Rogue Santas Private Reserve

Ah yes, another Christmas beer! This one even has a picture of Santa on it which makes it all the more cooler. Let’s get into it.

Rogue Santas Private Reserve

Rogue Ales of course is one of the better breweries that I have reviewed beer from. They are located in Newport, Oregon and I can safely say that they distribute WAY more to our area than I have been able to review. Such is the way of things when you have only a single beer to choose in a day and a whole wall of options to select from. Maybe if I opt for a 2nd year of this crazy project then we’ll see what happens. We’ll see. Anyways this is their seasonal winter release (obviously) and it is classified as an Amber Ale. This is a hopped up version of one of their original brews, the Saint Red with double the hops. After hearing that I have a bit of an idea of what to expect.

I am absolutely shocked to find out I do not have a Rogue glass. Not one! Well, into my santa Franziskaner it goes and it looks quite nice in it as well.

This beer pours a clear amber orange color with a foamy off-white head. Lots of carbonation bubbles emanate from the base of the glass.

Hops can definitely be detected on the nose, with a bit of caramel sweetness and malt undertones. The hops are not terribly aggressive but rather earthy, leafy and soft. Maybe I’m imagining it but there might be a bit of holiday spice in this. Might be.

The flavor is a bit drier than I was anticipated and it leaves an odd aftertaste on the palate after the finish. The hops provide quite a bitterness that appears in the middle of the flavor and goes through the finish. No spice to speak of however.

Well I can say it smells better than it tastes, and it’s worth a try but I wouldn’t order another.

Cheers!

Day #308 – Widmer Brothers Brrr Seasonal Ale

I’m really starting to get into the winter seasonals that are coming out. Today’s blog comes from Widmer Brothers.

Widmer Brothers Brrr Seasonal Ale

Widmer Brothers is based out of Portland, Oregon. It is an Amber Ale that rings in at 7.2%. This is their winter seasonal.

Forgive the drinking vessel; I was out on a bike ride when I stopped for this beer. The appearance is fairly clear with a reddish orange color. White foamy head on this.

The aroma is very hoppy; hoppier than I was expecting. The hops are spicy and piney with a bit of caramel sweetness. Almost candy sweet.

The candy sweetness comes through in the flavor with a hoppy bitterness that comes near the finish. A lingering bitterness fills the finish. Not bad at all!

Cheers!

Day #281 – Pyramid Juggernaut Red Ale

Pyramid Juggernaut Red Ale

Watching the Rangers game right now. Let’s see how things pan out.

This beer is the fall seasonal for Pyramid. It is an Amber Ale at 5.6%.

This beer pours a clear copper orange color with a foamy white head.

Aroma is leafy, caramel malts and sharp hops. Light dusty notes as well.

Flavor is a bit spicy with the hops that prevail in this. Bitter notes with a slight touch of sweetness. Finishes bitter but not too dry.

And the Rangers win! 2-0 series baby!!
Cheers!

Day #275 – Magic Hat Hex

I’m a bit behind on these but I’ll catch up.

Magic Hat Hex

Hex is brewed by Magic Hat. It’s an amber ale, their fall seasonal and holds 5.4% ABV.

This beer pours a clear rusty orange color with a ring of white head.

Aroma is malty sweet with caramel notes. Bit of roasted notes but only a touch.

Flavor is heavy caramel malt with a sugary sweetness. Finishes a bit dry.

Pretty easy. Cheers!

Day #245 – Abita Pecan Harvest Ale

Back from moving and driving a truck all day and I’m ready for a beer!

Abita Pecan Harvest Ale

Several companies come out with a pecan beer or a ” nut brown” type of ale. My buddy actually did some research on pecan brewed beers and said there really aren’t too many breweries that actually USE pecans in their brew. I’m not sure if I believe this or not, but I would believe that brewing with nuts would be incredibly hard, as exposing them to water that is too hot would inevitably draw out the tannins present in the nut and taint the beer. I have never attempted to brew a beer with pecans or almonds or any other nut but I would like to one day. I need to study up on the process a bit more. My guess is they use the nuts in the mashing in stage where the water is only around 152 degrees. Anyways this beer “claims” that it is brewed with real Louisiana pecans. It is an amber ale at 5%.

This beer pours a nice shade of amber orange. It has a tall foamy off-white head that lingers.

Aroma is sweet malts, caramel notes, roasted flavors and I can actually smell a bit of pecan. How about that? I’m pretty sure the last bottle I had of this was bad as I ranted about how much I hated the aroma. This go round it’s actually quite pleasant. Smelling the beer as I was taking my first drink reminded me of autumn.

The flavor is definitely roasted and almost bitterly so. The pecan flavor isn’t quite as present in the taste as it was in the aroma but it is still there. Dry malts and a lingering dry bitter aftertaste round this one out. A nice jaunt into Fall but I don’t know if I’d order another.

Cheers!

Day #244 – Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Ale

Headed up to Lubbock for a night to help my Grandma move down to Plano, but I had enough time to grab a beer before the road.

Deschutes Green Lakes Organic Ale

I’ve reviewed several things from Deschutes now. They rarely seem to disappoint. I grabbed this beer because it was organic and that interested me. The malts they used in this batch are all 100% organic according to the label. Not sure of the difference there and regular malts. I suppose it has to do with fertilizers and such. Anyways seeing the organic label reminded me that I have still yet to review a gluten-free beer. I will have to get on that soon. Now THAT will be an interesting post for sure…

This beer is an amber ale at 5%.

Pours a clear amber orange color with lots of fizz and carbonation. This creates and sustains a nice healthy head for quite awhile.

The aroma is hoppy sweet right off the bat. Plenty of spicy, piney hops are present with a healthy malty sweet backbone.

Flavor is hoppy bitter, dry and bready malts. Very dry finish. The bready malts provide for a very different malt flavor. Very earthy to say the least.

Cheers!

Day #214 – Saint Arnold Amber Ale

Hooray! I’m on vacation! There’s no telling what kind of crazy things I’ll find to review. Today though, is something we can find up north in DFW.

Saint Arnold Amber Ale

This is a good old fashioned Texas beer from Houston. I haven’t had it in awhile so this will be a nice review. Brewed by Saint Arnold out of Houston. It’s an amber ale with 5.5%.

Pours a very clear orangish copper color with light white ring of head. Served super cold.

Aroma is fairly light, mostly due to the temperature of the beer, but I can smell caramel malts and a bit of sharp hops.

The flavor is much the same. Fairly bitter malts and grainy flavor. Some bitter kiss of hops. Bitter finish.

Cheers!

Day #133 – Summit Horizon Red Ale

My friend and fellow beer blogger King Bob recently reviewed the Anchor Summer Ale followed by today’s beer, the Summit Horizon Red Ale. By an odd coincidence I happened to have these 2 beers in my fridge at the exact same time, and I thought it would be funny if I reviewed them back to back also. Check out his blog too if you get a chance.

Summit Horizon Red Ale

Summit Brewing Company is based out of St. Paul, Minnesota and is the 20th largest craft brewery in the US. They distribute several things to our area, including several rotating seasonals. This beer is an Amber Ale at 5.7% ABV.

Pours a clear amber color with a tall foamy cream head. Pretty solid head response and great retention.

Aroma has lots of hops and bitter malts. The bottle said it is brewed with exceptional American hops and I can definitely smell them. Also has a bit of a bitter tea leaf smell.

Flavor is very bitter and dry. Lots of hops and an earthy flavor as well. The finish remains pretty dry and bitter, and is almost a bit overpowering. Not sure if I like this as it dries out the mouth considerably. Definitely hoppy!

EDIT: As this guy warms up the hops dissipate and the caramel malts come out in the flavor.  Hmm let it warm slightly before trying it.

Cheers!

Day #83 – Sierra Blanca Roswell Alien Amber Ale

Ok, I’m going to be honest here and say straight up that I have no idea what I’ve gotten into here.  I seriously only bought this next beer due to the label, but I am terrified about what it might taste like.  Advertising works people; let’s hope I don’t live to regret it.

Sierra Blanca Roswell Alien Amber Ale

Sierra Blanca Brewing Company is based out of Moriarty, New Mexico.  I hope your mind immediately went to the episode of Star Trek where Data battles Professor Moriarty in the holodeck and Moriarty takes over the ship.  That was awesome.  This is a fairly small brewery with a regional distribution, so don’t expect to see this outside of the Southwest.  It is classified as an Amber Ale at 5.2%.

Check out the picture of the label!  I mean first off it’s named Roswell Alien Amber and it has a picture of a green alien with UFO’s flying in the background.  How could I NOT buy this??? Even the cap has a picture of an alien on it.  Hope it doesn’t suck.

This beer pours a clear, dark amber color with a foamy beige head.  Looks alright, with a fair amount of carbonation in it.

The aroma is a mix of sweet and bitter malts with some notes of old grain and water.  Meh I’m indifferent about the aroma it seems.

The flavor is bitter malts, old grains, popcorn, stinging metal and alien sweat.  BAH!!!

I’d rather be abducted and anally probed than drink this again.

Aliens!