Braueri Beck & Co. (AB InBev) - Beck's

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a plastic cup

This well-known German pale lager pours a medium pale straw body, crystal clear with a fast-rising carbonation. The light and fluffy white head builds quickly to a medium size and features modest retention, but leaves thick swathes of lace as it fades. The nose is stinky with the signature Euro lager aroma. Skunky hops give a vague Pilsner-like profile. Light maltiness rounds out the base.

The beer is very crisp and gives a light and airy body. Malts are very sweet and almost honey-like. A minor sour graininess comes through on the mid-palate and are matched by a light dusting of dandelion-like bitter hops, which bring forth the Pilsner profile of Noble hops. The flavor fades fast, but leaves a minor skunk on the finish and a moderate crisp bite.

Final Verdict: C

"Blue Moon Brewing Company" a/k/a Coors Brewing Company - Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale

Brewed In: Boulder, CO
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a plastic cup

Among a number of seasonals from Blue Moon Brewing Company (ahem) Coors comes the Blue Moon Winter Abbey Ale. The beer, fashioned after a Beligan dubbel, pours a crystal-clear, medium-brown body with a ruby glow. The head is a large creamy yellowed tan with solid retention. It leaves layers of lace at the top of the glass (err, plastic cup). A big malty nose features minor grassiness on the back end. Mild toasted caramel notes are slightly soured by graininess. Overall it seems fairly dry with a slight sweet kick.

Carbonation is big and crisp up front, but yields to a light wateriness. The beer seems more like a brown ale than a Belgian dubbel or abbey ale. There's a light earthiness with mild wood notes and a faded hint of chocolate. Malts take the center stage, but remain underwhelming. They're thin with a lagery base malt undertone. The finish is mildly medicinal with a dry sweetness.

Final Verdict: C*

* - While I think this is a better beer, I gave a C to the regular Blue Moon Belgian White as well. I think that this Winter Seasonal is a bit better as beers go, but not quite enough to earn it a C+. It is a far cry from a Belgian Dubbel, but it is functional as a brown ale, and not what I'd call bad at that.

"Blue Moon Brewing Company" a/k/a Coors Brewing Company - Blue Moon Belgian White

Brewed In: Boulder, CO
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a plastic cup

Blue Moon is an entry by Coors Brewing into the "craft beer" market. It's got nothing to do with craft beer except for the fact that the idea behind it is to try to win customers over who might otherwise go for a craft beer. Either way, it is a welcomed departure from the other macro adjunct lagers produced by Coors and its counterparts.

The beer pours a hazy, almost milky, orange with yeast flakes that float freely in the unfiltered body. The off-white head is fairly small with a creamy consistency. The retention is moderate and leaves small rings of lace. The nose is mildly spicy with a huge orange component. A slightly medicinal sweetness tops the thinnish wheat malt.

The body of the beer is very light with a high carbonation that approaches lagery crispness. Malt flavor is mild with a moderate sweetness. The beer's graininess turns a bit sour on the mid-palate, but is tamped down by the impact of mighty orange flavoring. On the finish the beer is dry with a slight astringency.

Final Verdict: C

Magic Hat Brewing Company - Howl Black as Night Lager

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a plastic cup


Howl, a black lager/schwarzbier from Magic Hat, pours dark blackish brown with a ruby inner glow. Active carbonation bunches on the edge of the glass and below the medium-sized head. The foam is airy and light tan with modest staying power and light lacing. The nose contains modest smoke with hints of chocolate. Graininess is apparent, even through the moderate toasty notes.

The body is light and crisp with slightly sour, tea-like grains, even through the toasted malt flavors. The flavor is underwhelming and very light on the whole. The beer seems a bit watery and the smokey body feels drowned out. A vague sooty smoke dryness brings in a dark roasted flavor on the finish to pick up the intensity slightly on the way out.


Final Verdict: C

Matt Brewing Company - Saranac Octoberfest Lager

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a Twain pint

Saranac's Octoberfest, produced by the Matt Brewing Company, pours a light amber with an orangey-yellow glow. The thick foam head is frothy with an off-white tint. The retention is moderate and the lacing is thin. The grainy nose is lightly sweet with a mild honey sweetness. A light dusting of hops provides a slight bitterness profile.

This Octoberfest's malts are fairly light with a hint of toastiness. The sweetness has a slightly sugary quality and is light on caramel elements or classic honey flavors. The light hopping is very mild with mostly an addition of aromatics. As the flavor diminishes on the finish there's a slightly funky astringency that leaves a sour, almost citric finish. Finally a wave of dryness finishes the beer.

Final Verdict: C

Abita - Jockamo IPA

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a Mark Twain pint glass

The bright sparkling amber body from the Louisiana brewer, Abita, shines in the light. The medium sized head is a light tan with an almost soapy and sticky consistency. The head retention is moderate, but produces a consistent ring of lacing at the top of the glass. The biscuity malt nose is sweet with understated hops. It seems fragrant, but subdued.

The beer is very malty and shares the same base toasty malts found in the other beers from Abita. It seems the minerally water is also prominent here. It is floral with hints of hibiscus and a textured mouthfeel that departs with a grainy feel. The finish is sweet with a very light hop character. The beer is definitely on the lighter side of hops for a typical IPA, and it finishes with a dry, slightly unappealing, aftertaste.

Final Verdict: C

Opa-Opa Brewing Company - Blueberry Lager

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a pint glass

Opa-Opa's Blueberry Lager ("with all natural flavor added") pours an extremely pale, almost diluted looking straw with a bluish/purple tint. The moderate white head also carries a slight tint, but musters disappointingly lousy retention. The nose is sweet and sugary with a canned blueberry pie filling aroma. Luckily it doesn't smack of either artificiality or cloying sweetness.

This beer has big soda-like qualities. It seems a bit like a soda, only the 'natural' side of things, without the overbearing sugar. It isn't very beer-like but it isn't bad either. The blueberry flavoring adds a sweetness, but isn't over blown or artificial seeming. The modest tea-like maltiness peaks near the finish and is accompanied by a moderate dryness and lacks the customary sugary toothsome feel.

Final Verdict: C

North Coast Brewing Co. - ACME California Pale Ale

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits
Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a pint glass

North Coast's ACME Pale Ale pours a crystal clear amber, bordering on a darkened straw. The large fluffy white head has good retention and decent lacing. The nose is very lagery with sweet grains and light hopping that seems a bit like the Noble varieties you find in Pilsners, although, according to the hop bill, none of those varieties are to be found here.

The beer seems medium bodied with a somewhat velvety mouthfeel. The hopping is quite light, while the beer comes across quite malty. There's a light toastiness, which lends itself to moderate caramel sweetness, but not much. There are also hints of apple juice near the end. The aftertaste is a bit thin. In my mind, this is nothing like a Pale Ale. After the absolute hit that was Red Seal Ale, I was hoping for a lot more.

Final Verdict: C

Dos Equis - Amber

Dos Equis - Amber

Purchased From: Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits

Serving Type: 12 oz. bottle, poured into a Pilsner glass

Like Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Dos Equis Amber is a vienna lager, a fairly obscure style (these days). The body is a radient amber with a small whitish foam head. There’s not a ton of retention and only light active carbonation. No real lacing here. The nose is fairly complex with vanilla extract, a mildly bready aroma and a mix of apple and white grape juice sweetness.

The mouthfeel is a bit thin and the taste emerges slowly. It’s pleasant overall, but light in general. Fresh fruity malts begin to develop along with apples and a hint of spice near the end. The hops are quite light, but there is a vague Pilsnery finish. As the flavor lingers the sweetness turns into candied cherries, taking it a step further than I would have preferred.

Final Verdict: C

Ayinger - Ur-Weisse

Ayinger - Ur-Weisse

Purchased From: Wallingford Wine & Spirit Company

Serving Type: 500 mL bottle, poured into a Weizen glass

Ur-Weisse is a dunkelweizen beer. If recall yesterday’s posting about a dunkel lager and are familiar with the wheat beer hefeweizen style, you can easily surmise that this is a dark wheat beer.

The body is a murky brown with yellowish highlights and a fluffy head. The retention is moderate and the head shrinks slowly down to a light foam layer. What remains produces very little lacing. The beer carries a citrus aroma with mild astringency. Its backed up by notes of dark fruits and must. A moderate active carbonation seems to refresh the head.

Wheat malts blend well with clove spice and typical banana phenols. They flavors combine for a somewhat sweet finish. Light hopping adds a moderate edge to the beer, but the hops aren’t substantial. The mouthfeel is thin and somewhat watery. All considered the beer is tasty but not exactly satisfying.

Something is left to be desired here.

Final Verdict: C