Beer Review: Stone Enjoy By 9.21.12 IPA

This is a limited release, "small batch" beer by Stone, a company that normally is known for their high production volume and reach for a craft beer company. I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of bottles at my local liquor store after visiting the downtown Binny's franchise and learning that they had sold out in a couple hours. The name seems to be an effort to place emphasis on the freshness of the beer; it is indeed meant to be drunk before 9.21.12 as you may have guessed.

This beer pours a clean, golden color with a thick, modest-in-size head. A steady stream of carbonation is visible pouring from the bottom of my tulip glass. Pretty standard for a DIPA... nothing to hint at any distinctive qualities.

The smell is where this beer starts to get interesting: awesomely complex for an IPA. Usually, even in "sweeter" IPAs, the hops really dominate the smell but in Stone's Enjoy By, there is a wonderful mix of citrus flavors fused with the Hops. Scent is thick; I can tell that this is going to be an intense beer flavor-wise. Easily one of the best smelling beers I've ever had.

The taste is complex. Right off the bat I get fruity notes; first sweet... some lemon, mango mix then bitter fruits... BIG grapefruit taste accompanied by orange rind. It is on the back end of the sip that you get hit by the hop flavor. While this doesn't pack the hop punch of Ruination (also by Stone), the sheer amount of juiciness and flavor in this beer MORE than makes up for the decreased bitterness (which I happen to love).

This beer continues to stand out in the mouthfeel. The thickness; dare I say "chewiness" reminds me of something like Founder's Double Trouble (to be reviewed in the near future) and that is a very, very good thing. Great fullness in the body of this beer which compliments the fruitiness that is on showcase. Maybe not the most drinkable beer in the world but beers this flavorful rarely are. A good amount of carbonation rounds this beer out.

For $6.99, I thought this was a great deal but maybe that was in light of my [unfortunate] trend towards buying more expensive bottles of beer lately. Bottom line, was easily one of the best beers I've ever tried and possibly my favorite. I'll give it a slightly unrepresentative grade flavor wise due to the higher cost per ounce of the 22oz bottle format but make no mistake... if you see this beer on the shelves, get it!

Score: A-  4.25/5

Beer Review: Red Stripe

Red Stripe is a beer that has gained popularity through advertisement over the years; because of this, the makers and distributors have been able to play it off as a beer superior to generic macro lagers. We'll see how it fares in a real world test in just a minute.

The beer pours a thin straw yellow color with quite a bit of carbonation. There's not head to speak of; even with a rather aggressive pour, only a few stray bubbles manage to make it to the surface. Overall a pretty generic looking beer. 

There's a sweet smell to Red Stripe; something akin to a corona or similar imported lager. Kind of musty but definitely syrupy. Not altogether off-putting, but not what I would call pleasing. 

Taste is sweet right off the bat. You get some bready/malty mix throughout the sip but not much else beyond that. Taste is funky; not quite your generic bud taste but almost like you took a bud and aged it. 

Soft drink consistency; drinks thin with a watery mouthfeel. I can deal with watery if there's some flavor to it but if you've read the previous paragraph you know my opinion on that. Not as thin as a light beer which is I guess a redeemable quality. 

You can find Red Stripe "Jamaican Lager" at your local store for around $7.99 but honestly, don't. There's not much that distinguishes Red Stripe from your corona-type varieties; some twists on the adjunct lager taste but basically its the same beer. The only thing keeping me from giving this beer an "F" is the slightly-better-than-light-beer mouthfeel. No other way to describe it other than a bad value. Want taste like this? Get a 30-pack of whatever macro is on sale.

Score: D-  1.5/5

Beer Review: Goose Island Honker's Ale

Today I'll be reviewing a Chicago favorite, Goose Island's Honker's Ale. This was actually the first craft beer I tried when I moved to Chicago and it's grown to be one of my go-to beers.

This beer pours a light amber color with a quick fading, fluffy head. Overall a nice full-looking beer.

The smell is complex; you get some sweet smelling malts as well as the piney hops as well as a faint citrus smell. The nose really adds a lot to the experience this beer offers.

The taste really wows you from the first sip. Everything that the nose promises is present and then some. There are some really bready malts present that are complimented by some decent hop bitterness. Not a whole lot of fruity flavor but the malt/hop balance is superb, with both of those flavor profiles shining through with strength.

As good as the taste is, the body and mouthfeel of this beer could be even better. The bready malts meld well with the full body and moderate carbonation creating a really bold tasting beer.

This is a solid all around beer that really has no weaknesses. At $7.99 a sixer or even better, $12.99 a 12-pack, this is another one of the best value beers around. Best of all, stores in Chicago love to have sales on it so I've seen a 12 pack for as low as $10.99.

Score: A  4.5/5

Beer Review: Smuttynose Finestkind IPA

A beer review to kick off the summer! This is probably one of my favorite beers ever; really the standard for value as far as I'm concerned. Just a note: it's not uncommon to observe sediment at the bottom of the bottle; even if it looks "chunky," it will break up when you pour it!

I poured this into an oversized wine glass and I think it did a good job of displaying the great cloudy appearance this beer has. Plenty of head  that fades pretty fast but leaves your standard creamy layer on top that keeps that aroma locked in.

Speaking of aroma... it smells resinous. The nose is all hops; oily, piney hops. You can tell how hoppy this beer will be just from its smell. It's not musty but quite crisp smelling (this bottle was pretty fresh).

Let me say here that because of the taste, this beer is my favorite single IPA. You obviously get the huge hops upfront but this beer is more than the hops. Some citrus flavors make their way through; definitely grapefruit and orange rind. You also have a little bit of malty sweetness though I wouldn't say it has a strong malt grounding at all... the main attraction here is the hops! Bold and perfectly melded flavors.

The body and mouthfeel are just about par for the course for an IPA; nothing surprising, just no nonsense goodness.

At $8.99/sixer this beer is a much better deal than almost every worthwhile IPA. Absolutely my go to beer when I can find it in Chicago and it's available widely in NE. Kudos to smuttynose for an outstanding beer.

Score: A+ 5/5

Beer Review: Boulevard Dark Truth Stout

For my first review in over a half a year, I needed to take a look at a really interesting beer... and the Boulevard Dark Truth Stout definitely fits the bill! I received a 4-pack as a gift from a friend but it will probably run you $10-11; a big shout out to the beer lover in question as this was an extremely generous present! This is an american imperial stout from Boulevard's "Smokestack" series (their high alcohol content beers) but it's brewed with belgian yeast, giving it that creamy belgian consistency.

The beer pours a pitch black color with a fluffy, mocha colored head that dissipates rather quickly into a thin, creamy film that crowns the beer. Upon inspection under light, the beer has a cola-like hue.

Smells consist of raisins, coffee, roasted malts; really more fruity than anything. There is a hint of rubbing alcohol in there (it is 9.7% abv after all) but it's not a dominant scent by any means. Overall a forgettable smell.

This beer has some intense flavors! At the fore are thick toasted malts and raisin/plum flavors with a little bit of alcohol on the back end of the sip. The fruitiness is really secondary to the bitter malt/chocolate notes but its certainly there. Combined with the creaminess of the belgian yeast, the fruitiness makes for a refreshing departure from your normal double stout. I wouldn't say that its a perfect marriage of the two flavor profiles, but it does a damn good job. It's worth noting again that both flavors are bold.

It's been mentioned above but I love the body of this beer; nice and thick like an imperial stout should be (in my opinion). It is on the carbonated side, but not overly so. Alcohol is masked very well.

Bottom line; this was an enjoyable beer! Downsides include a less than perfect mesh of fruit and bitter malt flavors but the body is just excellent. This beer would be a good value at $9/4-pack but I think $11 is pushing it (unconfirmed price).

Score: B+  3.75/5

Beer Review: Unibroue Maudite

After trying the Unibroue La Fin du Monde and loving it, I was excited to try the Belgian Strong Dark Ale, Maudite from Unibroue. A 4 pack of this beer ran me $9.99 which is OK for a Belgian style ale from a company such as Unibroue.

The color of this beer is a smooth dark brown color with a dark orange hue. The head is not huge like many other Belgian beers but it is sizable and really locks in the citrus smell for the duration of the glass. There's a steady stream of carbonation coming from the bottom of the glass indicative of a healthy amount of carbonation.

There's a medley of clean fruity smells that hit your nose immediately. Big citrusy notes present here; lemon and orange peel mostly. Some yeast smell definitely makes its way into your nose as well. Overall pleasant smell though it does remind me a bit of chemical cleaners... this seems to be a common theme with citrusy beers. Maybe its just my nose.

The taste is impressive. The citrus taste mirrors the smell and everything is wrapped up in a substantial, doughy malt backbone. This beer strikes an excellent balance of sweetness and other flavors with some dark fruit flavors coming through. To complete the package, everything is very crisp without being thin; truly a great mesh of flavors.

The body of this beer is excellent for an everyday drink; it's substantial but drinkable. This is definitely one of my favorite belgian style beers. Even at 8% abv, there is no hint of alcohol burn at all but you will certainly feel the effects of it after 2 beers. Not an amazing value at $9.99 + tax, but worth every penny.

Score: A-  4.0/5

Beer Review: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

This beer is regarded, in the craft world as one of the best doppelbock's (a stronger version of a bock) produced. I picked up a 4-pack for $10.99 + tax. There's is actually a funny story behind this beer for me. When  I was down to my last beer of the bunch, I reached into the fridge to grab it and to my dismay I found a bottle covered with beer slush. Apparently the fridge was on full blast and the beer was close to the freezer unit so the beer froze, expanded and seeped out onto the bottle. I was able to salvage about 1/2 the bottle from this frozen one but the following review is based on a fresh beer (not frozen at any point). As for the beer itself...

The dark amber color looks like a glass of root beer until you see the modest head. It's enticing and though the head is not large, it is very creamy and sticks well to the side of the glass.

There is a whole lot going on in the smell here: tons of sweet, fruity flavors excite the sense. There is definitely a dominant dark fruit smell; maybe prunes, raisins or cherries. Not much hop smell here, but I wouldn't really expect any in the first place.

The first sip is a delightful melody of the aforementioned flavors; big complex raisin/plum flavor followed by sweet malts. There is a definite doughy taste to the malt, but the problem is that the doughy flavor does not correspond to a viscous consistency in the body. More on that later. There's a little bite of alcohol on the back end of the sip but that is really overshadowed by the sweetness of the beer. I really did love the first few sips but by the end of the glass I wasn't psyched about the flavor; it was a bit TOO sweet for me, I found, and while the flavors were robust, they were very separate and didn't meld particularly well together.

The body of this beer is, to be frank, is off. There is not a lot of carbonation and it's a very thin beer. I guess I was expecting sort of a viscous consistency and this was quite the opposite. I could have dealt with the little carbonation if there was any substance to the body, but alas, there was none. Even though the thin body makes it very easy to drink and the 6.7% alcohol is nowhere to be found, I wasn't wowed by any means. Definitely some disappointment here.

For the money I paid, and the hype surrounding it, I was expecting more from this beer. Maybe doppelbocks just aren't for me, but his beer left something to be desired.

Score: C+  3.25/5