Beer Review: Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

This beer review was made possible by the generosity of a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. We salute you, anonymous beer donor; without your selfless gifting of beer, this review of a great beer may never have occurred. Your contribution to beer advocacy will forever be enshrined on the inter-webs via this blog. Now, on to the review.

The beer is poured from an 11.2oz Euro style bottle; a departure from the normal stuff we get here in the US from Guinness. A little over an inch of mocha-colored head caps this jet black beer. Totally impenetrable by light.

Lots of roasted malts and some espresso bean smell fill the nose. Simple, strong scent is quite different from regular Guinness extra stout offerings.

As soon as this delicious black liquid hits your taste buds, you are hit with big roasted malts which give way to a surprisingly potent hop presence. The hop bitterness transitions into a dark chocolate taste on the back end of the sip which leaves you with a bittersweet taste in your mouth. There's a slight warming sensation, probably due to the alcohol but without any alcoholic bite. Rich and creamy throughout, this beer definitely hits the spot. I'm very impressed with the flavor.

This beer is so smooth! There's not a whole lot of carbonation (but certainly not flat) but rather, the creamy smoothness mentioned above is present.

I definitely wanted more of the beer; the 7.5% abv is not noticeable other than a warming touch at the end and the heavy flavors seem refreshing rather than imposing. Enjoy this one slow; you'll notice all the flavors and the body makes you drink it slow anyway.

This is a beer that I would have had no problem hating; I don't particularly care for Guinness' other offerings, but I must say that they definitely got this one right. This bottle was a gift, but you can buy a 4-pack of Guinness FES for $9.99 +tax most anywhere. That's expensive for me but worth it; this beer had surprisingly bold flavor that justifies the severe price hike from their normal extra stout.

Score: A-  4.0/5

Beer Review: Duvel

This beer pours a dark gold color; very similar to a Belgian Saison or Tripel, with a big fluffy head. As you can see by the picture, I have the Duvel tulip glass that is just about perfect for an 11.2oz bottle of Duvel. The head dissipates rather quickly but leaves a filamentous and creamy layer on top of the beer. Bubbles can be seen streaming from the bottom of the glass for the duration of the drink.

Smells of citrus fruits, yeast, and some faint spiciness. Not a very complex scent but very strong.

Tastes a bit like lemon-lime soda at first; then the yeasty, bready flavors kick in followed closely by a barrage of lemon taste. Cloves a lot less present than other belgian styles making this a very sweet beer. Hugely refreshing and a hint of alcohol at the end to let you know that this is not a soda but a 8.5% abv strong ale.

Pretty heavy carbonation from the get go until the end. Very smooth and almost too light on the palate in spite of all the flavors just mentioned.

Goes down like a beer of much less alcohol content; the 8.5% abv mentioned above is not invisible but superbly blended into the core of the beer. One could probably drink a bunch of these but the alcohol will catch up to you and it's a very expensive beer to put away a 4 pack in one night with.

Bought the holiday gift pack for $14.99 + tax which included 4 bottles and the tulip glass pictured above. The beer was delicious and I love the glass, but I simply cannot stomach shelling out $15+ for 4 beers on a regular basis. As such I can't recommend this as a go-to beer, but would certainly recommend giving this a try if you can find a single bottle or if you don't mind the high price.

Score: B  3.75/5

Beer as Art Part II: Success!

A couple week ago I posted about a little art project I started using labels from the beer bottles that I've drank over the course of the last year or so. Yesterday, that venture came to a conclusion with the pasting of the last few labels onto the foam board. The poster now sits on the wall overlooking my bed and I must say, it is a very artistic addition to my room. As of now I have not used any adhesive to seal the labels onto the board; they simply sit, glued to the board. I am considering getting some spray on adhesive to ensure that the labels do not peel off. Another way to do this that I found online is to cut a bunch of glue with water to make a solution and paint it on top of all the labels but I'm a little weary of doing this because I found that watery glue makes the labels more prone to ripping.

If anyone has any questions about how to do this, on any scale (even small posters look great) let me know and I can answer any questions. Also refer to my previous post for instructions on removing labels from the bottles and pasting them onto the board. A quick note about gluing and the effect of paste on a foam board; when you glue the labels on the front of the board, the adhesive grips the board and pulls the edges towards the middle. The result is a foam board that is concave and very difficult to mount to a wall with any sort of poster-hanging material. An easy way to counteract this is to take any sort of paper and basically do the exact same thing you did to the front; glue those sheets of paper to the back. This will create the same curling effect in the opposite direction; compensating for the concavity that formed. Good luck to anyone trying this out and keep drinking good beer!

Beer Review: Founders Red's Rye Pale Ale

The beer pours a dark amber color; almost red (I'm assuming this color can be attributed to the rye character of the beer. Minimal head and the little bit that does exist disappears quickly.

Smells of hops and more hops. A tinge of sweetness does enter the nose if you really hold it up to your nose.

The taste is an extremely interesting medley of flavors; first, big hop flavor assaults your taste buds. The beer is a lot like an IPA in that sense but then one notices a surprising sweetness; it's more of a candy sweetness than a fruity sweetness sometimes found in pale ales. The combination makes for a very enjoyable and full flavored drinking experience.

The beer has a decent body though it is more on the “refreshing” side. While not thin, the beer lacks the substantial backbone of the some of the meatier ales out there.

Echoing the sentiment above, the beer is very refreshing and easy to drink. At 6.6% it's not light by any means but easy to put back a couple because of the body and great taste.

A 6-pack of Red's Rye ran me $10.99 +tax so it's not a cheap beer but I'd say it's worth it. I was really impressed with it's unique taste!

Score: B+ 4.0/5

Beer Review: Weihenstaphener Hefeweissbier Dunkel

This is a beer called a dunkelweizen which roughly translates (I don't really speak german) into “dark wheat beer.”

This beer pours a cloudy, amber/brown color with a huge fluffy head. The head lasts forever and really makes this a great looking beer.

Smells of banana, cloves, a faint detergent smell and some citrusy notes. Pretty typical for a weizen beer; if I hadn't looked at this before smelling it, I would have thought it was a normal hefeweizen.

Big banana taste upfront followed by a medley of spices and a little bit of lemon. The difference in the hefeweizen and dunkelweizen really shows through here. While the smell was almost identical, the dunkelweizen has a much heavier malt taste. Personally I think that the almost roasted flavor somewhat detracts from the other superb flavors present (and as such I prefer the normal weihenstaphener hefeweizen) but it is still a very flavorful beer.

Mouthfeel is silky and light. A yeasty richness gives way to a crisp finish that is very refreshing; definitely one of the best qualities of this beer.

Drinkability is high, as with most wheat beers. At 5.3% abv it is quite easy to drink many of these without noticing any alcoholic effect and the light palate experience simply exacerbates this.

I purchased a .5L (16.9oz) bottle for $3.29 +tax and I thought I got my money's worth. Weihenstaphener has a variety of german styles so I opted for this bottle format so I could try a couple. It's a very tasty beer despite the slight contradiction in wheat and toasted malt flavors and a great example of the style.

Score: B+  4.0/5

Beer Review: Brooklyn Lager

This is an amber lager from Brooklyn brewing company.

An aggressive pour produces less than an inch of head but the nice clear amber color makes up for the lack of head. Lots of bubbles produce a steady layer of (minimal) head that persists.

Smells of creamy malts and lots of hops for an amber lager. Lots of floral notes in the nose.

First sip tastes sort of watery but the flavor is there; following the smell, there's some sweet malt taste upfront followed by a substantial bitterness on the back end. Kind of one dimensional hop flavor towards the back but pleasing nonetheless. The aftertaste is somewhat bitter, certainly lasting and makes it seem a bit fuller than it is.

As stated before, it seems watery at first but this feeling did not last and by the end of the glass I was of the opinion that this was a much bolder beer than I first thought. Crisp and smooth on the palate and moderate carbonation make this a great mouthfeel.

Very high drinkability typical of the style. Refreshing and flavorful at the same time; definitely a good combination.

Bought a 6-pack of this for $8.99 +tax which is a good deal for a refreshing, quality beer. At 5.2% abv, its a good beer to have while hang out with friends and kicking back a few.

Score: B  3.5/5

Beer Review: Lagunitas Hop Stoopid

This is a Double or Imperial India Pale Ale which basically means prepare for a bitter, hoppy delight.

The beer pours an orange/amber color with about an inch of head. Lots of bubbles rising to the top of the glass. The head persists for a while and when its just about done there's a nice creamy thin layer on top of the beer just holding in all that hop aroma.

Speaking of hop aroma... WOW this is a pungent beer! The floral, intense citrus flavors show through in a big way; a foreshadowing of what is to come in the ensuing sips.

The hop flavors hit you right off the bat with some pretty intense bitterness. Tastes a little like grapefruit and citrus rinds going down with a pretty significant malt taste in there too. Extremely flavorful, very bitter and so satisfying.

Quite an interesting mouthfeel; starts off crisp and refreshing until all the flavors assault your palate which gives the impression of a much heavier beer. The significant amount of hop oil definitely gives this beer a unique consistency.

Not highly drinkable, but at 8% abv I wouldn't expect it to be (although the alcohol is nowhere to be found). Pretty refreshing for a “big” beer and it certainly goes down easily.

The beer is only available in 22oz bottles and I bought it for $4.49 + tax. It's a great deal considering the taste, but I love bitter beers; others might not consider this such a tasty beer. In the end I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, especially those who are new to craft beer, but if you're adventurous and/or love bitter beers, this one comes highly recommended.

Score: A-  4.0/5