The Beer Babe's Brew Reviews

If you get a chance, go check out the Beer Babe, she has some excellent reviews. She calls her blog

"A place for reviews of craft beer, breweries, brewpubs, beverage centers and everything else beer - from the Beer Babe's perspective!"

Reviews are posted every Monday and Friday. She is even helping the Aleuminati raise money for Prostate Cancer awareness. (Which I have now linked on the right side of my page).

PS - Look for a new site update soon (colors/header change), as the fall beer season is over.

Happy Drinking!

Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

This was the last of the fall seasonal's we had in the ice box. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale is one of the better pumpkin ales that I have tried so far. The real problem I have with pumpkin beers is that they concentrate to much on the all spice and nutmeg.

Dogfish Head comes in with a different idea, they make it taste like a pumpkin not pumpkin pie, they also introduce a brown sugar flavor that really helps to make this beer drinkable compared to other pumpkin ales. It pours a nice orange/amber color more like a brown ale (Newcastle) than an Oktoberfest. You can smell all of the spices: cinnamon, brown sugar, all spice and nutmeg. A pretty full bodied beer and I probably could only drink the one at a time. The pumpkin taste is very apparent but not overwhelming and there is a pretty nice hoppy bitterness to finish it off. Which is why I probably liked it more than other pumpkins.

A good beer to try if you can find it. I am definitely glad that the autumn ale season is over, I've grown tired of this beer season and am excited for the winter/Christmas ales to come out.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: $$$
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Feast of All Saints - Christmas Ale Style

On 11.01.08 (the Feast of All Saints), join the Great Lakes Brewing Company to celebrate the the early release of Christmas Ale six packs from 12:01 AM - 1:00 AM this Saturday, November 1, 2008 in GLBC's Gift Shop ($10.99/six pack)! Limited supplies available; certain restrictions may apply. Christmas Ale will officially be on tap at 11:30 AM on Saturday, November 1, 2008. Remember, 12:01 AM on November 1st is late Friday night going into Saturday morning...!

Happy Drinking!

Green Man Ales ESB

This was the growler we picked up in Asheville, NC. Cathy had tabbed Green Man Brewery as one we needed to try before we even made the trip. We picked this up at Brusin' Ales in downtown Asheville.

Green Man Ales ESB from the growler was very delicious. Pours out a dark amber / red and smells of toasty caramel and earthy hop tones. Was a pleasant medium bodied brew with a slight touch of sweetness and hop bitterness. It was very easy to drink and you could get 3 or 4 down with not problems.

The only issue I had was the $3 bottle deposit! I understand the concept and would be fine with it, except we live in Ohio. I am not able to get back to NC to recover the cost and we recycle everything anyways! That extra cost pushed the price of the growler to $14 (for 4 pints). Either way it was a good beer and hope to be able to try a few more from Green Man in the future.

Who: Emily
Where: Em and Bill's
Price: $$$$
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Cottonwood Endo IPA

From the Carolina Beer Company in Mooresville, NC.

Cottonwood Endo IPA was a pretty good American IPA. I really enjoyed this beer and wish I could get it up here in Ohio. Poured a copper brown ale and smelled of caramel malt and hops. It was a nice blend of the hop and malt flavor, it was less hoppy or bitter than other IPA's, but not bad. Was a medium bodied beer and it could get easy to lose count on this one.

Who: Em
Where: Em and Bill's - Johnson City, TN
Price: Free
Score: 3 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Asheville Brewing Scottish Red

Beer #2 from Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co was the Scottish Red.

Deep amber/red color typical of Scottish Red beers. Smells of malt and toasty caramel. Head was nice and left pretty good lacing as the beer went down. Very smooth taste that was similar to the smell. Toasty caramel with sweet malt and a slightly bitter finish. Cathy really enjoyed this beer because it has both the sweet and bitter combination.

I wasn't overly impressed with the beer but it was a pretty good Scottish Ale. Glad we got to give it a try.

Who: Cathy
Where: Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co
Price: $$
Score: 3 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Asheville Brewing Shiva IPA

Cathy and I took a long weekend to visit friends in Johnson City, TN and on Friday we took a day trip to Asheville, NC for some shopping and a few beers.

The first stop was the Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company. While we didn't try the pizza, the beer selection was right on. The beer-tender suggested the Shiva IPA (pronounced She-Vah) and I listened.

Had from the draught it pours a cloudy yellow/orange color. Smells of citrus and floral hops. Tastes very much like the smell, a great combination of grapefruit and hops. Surprisingly smooth yet bitter. A very pleasing beer start to finish. The beer was very drinkable and I easily could have had 3-4 and not gotten tired of it. Sadly, we were on time constraints and had to move on. If I ever see this on tap I would have it again.

Who: Cathy
Where: Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co
Price: $$
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Dogfish Head Midas Touch

Beer #6 from the parents.

Dogfish Head Midas Touch Golden Elixir

White wine meets beer, a very interesting combination. I have never tried anything like this and was pleasantly surprised. It poured a very nice honey-amber color with almost no head. Smells of honey, champagne grapes and saffron. Imagine mixing a light lager with champagne and this is what you get with Midas Touch. I don't think that I could have had more than just the one, but it was a nice find by my parents. I do enjoy champagne every once and awhile, so this was a nice beer.

This was such a different take on beer and I would recommend everyone to give this a try. I doubt that I will have this stashed in my collection but it was a good experience.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Aris Greek Lager

Aris Greek Lager

Beer #5 from the parents.

My first taste of a beer from Greece, and it was as expected. It is your typical green bottled Euro Lager. Drinkability is not bad, it is very light with a low ABV so it could replace Stella or Miller Lite or Bud Light. Although I have never seen this beer at a bar or anywhere else, I highly doubt any of my buddies who like this style of beer would choose it over any other.

Light golden color with a very strong skunky smell. Taste is on par with Stella, Heineken et. al. Not my favorite style of beer, but I've had worse.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 2 / 5

Happy Drinking!

PS - We are headed to Asheville, NC and Johnson City, TN this weekend so hopefully I will be able to hit up a few brews from Western Carolina. We will be stopping at Bruisin' Ales in Asheville to check out their great selection. They also have a beer blog if you have time to check it out.

Must Love Beer

Just got a message promoting a Social Networking website -- seems like a pretty cool way to get beer lovers together.

If you have a chance, go check out their Beer - Must Love Beer is a social network for beer lovers to chat and share knowledge about their favorite beers.

Bluegrass Brewing Jefferson's Reserve

Beer #4 from the parents.

Bluegrass Brewing Company Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout

When people think of Kentucky they think of Horses, Bluegrass and Bourbon. So it would make sense that beer and bourbon would come together. This stout is housed in old bourbon barrel's to give it that iconic Kentucky flavor. First you may think Thomas Jefferson, but you would be wrong. The Jefferson namesake would be the county that Louisville and the BBC reside in.

This is a very fine Imperial Stout. Smells of chocolate, bourbon, coffee and malt. Pours a very thin dark chocolate color with a slight off white head. It taste's exactly like it smells -- which is to my liking. Love chocolate and coffee but the bourbon flavor is very subtle and can be easily missed, a nice change up for me.

Who: Me and the UC Bearcat football game
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 4 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Dixie Jazz Amber Light

Beer #3 from the parents stash...

Dixie Jazz Amber Light from New Orleans, Louisiana. The brewery was almost completely demolished in Hurricane Katrina. During the rebuilding process, Dixie's brands are contract brewed by the Joseph Huber Brewing Company.

I've never been to New Orleans, but friends who have said I needed to try some Dixie beer. Amber light lager has a very nice light orange amber color, which distinguishes it from other American light lagers. Toasty malt smell, which is expected because of the Amber styling. It was a very bland / poor tasting beer. Not really much going on, just a very typical light lager without much flavor. It is very watered down and reminded Cathy and I an awful lot of Natural Light.

Really the most impressive part of the beer is the label. It totally captures that New Orleans feel with the typeface choice, piano keys and jazz singer silhouette.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 1 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Weyerbacher Blanche

This is the second beer from my parents that we tried. I had never heard of the Weyerbacher Brewing Co. from Easton, Pennsylvania and was excited to try this beer.

Cathy and I popped open, Weyerbacher Blanche, while we were cooking dinner and the excitement to try a new beer was short lived, because I (and Cathy for that matter) don't really care for wheat beers. It had all the characteristics of the style of beer that made the city of Hoegaarden, Belgium famous. Very cloudy lemon beer with a very fruity sweet smell including orange, banana and most likely corriander. It had some sweetness as well as spiciness to the flavor (probably the 2 fruits I smelled as well as some clove flavoring).

For all I know, this beer might great, but I just don't care for the style. Glad I was able to give it a try though, because you never know when your palette may change.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 2 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Tommyknocker Butthead Doppelbock

My parents came to visit us this past weekend and brought down a box full of new beers that I have not had before. This is beer #1 of the bunch.

Tommyknocker Butthead Doppelbock from Idaho Springs, Colorado.

Pours a very dark orange with a slight creamy/tan head. Not much lacing down the side of the glass, but what was left was expected. Not a bad tasting beer, not a great tasting beer. It was right down the middle. This doppelbock was very sweet with caramel, cocoa and maybe some molasses (which is why I will give it a 3, not a big fan of molasses).

The high ABV of a typical doppelbock gave it a big full sweet flavor. Although, it had a pretty nice hop finish which helped me get over the sweetness. Because of this, I could probably only have 1 or 2 of these.

Who: Cathy
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 3 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Breckenridge 471 Small Batch IPA

Breckenridge 471 Small Batch Double IPA.

Joe brought this down a few weekends ago along with the Lagunitas. That was a great beer tasting weekend, as both have been given 5/5 ratings from me.

Pours a nice orange color with a creamy head. You can really smell the hops, a hint of grapefruit citrus as well as a nice caramel really balances this out.

This beer is not for those who don't like hops. It was a great combination of the malt with the double hops though. Although the bitterness and hops are in your face from the beginning, it wasn't overwhelming. The sweetness of the caramel was their at the beginning, but it isn't enough to take away from the bitter finish. The brewmaster really outdid him/herself with this beer. Even with the high ABV (9.20%) I could sit and have a handful of these.

Highly Recommended!

Who: Joe
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 5 / 5

Happy Drinking!

Summit Oktoberfest

All the way from Minnesota, Summit Brewing brings us a decent Oktoberfest style beer.

Pours a light orange color with a slight off white head that disappears. A caramel, grainy, toasty smell is apparent. A very sweet caramely taste with a mixture of hoppy bitterness. Has a pretty high avb which is surprising from the taste. I would say it was a medium bodied beer as I had 2 at the end of the night (after pizza) and didn't fill me up completely. Easy to drink 2 or 3.

They didn't do anything to distinguish it from the others, but it is a decent Oktoberfest and I would recommend a try to anyone.

Who: Cathy and Dad
Where: Home
Price: Free
Score: 3 / 5

Happy Drinking!