Beer Review: Cambridge Brewing Company Red God

Cambridge Brewing Company just starting bottling their beers in 2011 and join the growing ranks of popular New England born craft beers available around the greater Boston area. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we can get these out in Chicago and since it took them 22 years after inception just to start bottling their beer, I'd say we might have to wait a bit longer... but who knows! On to the review.

Pours a dark amber color with thin head that sits as a thin filament on the top of the pour. Gorgeous beer as beers go; a vibrant departure from your run of the mill yellowish pale ale.

Big grapefruit hops smell in the nose but you can tell there is a sizable amount of malt there as the sweetness is distinguishably intertwined in the scent.

HOPS of the grapefruit variety, certainly not piney and the fruity hops provide a nice bridge to the sweetness of the malt. I'm not sure what to say about the malts other than they impart a thick molasses taste on the palate; maybe some raisin-y taste in the aftertaste? One thing is clear: a lot of malt was used to mask the 9% abv contained in this imperial red ale. Compelling taste for sure; nice balance of sweet and bitter.

THICK, very sparingly carbonated and heavy on the palate. Meets expectations for a beer of this gravity but I do wish there was a bit more carbonation.

I bought this in the 22oz format for $6.99 at Trader Joe's so the value there is going to be lessened. I wouldn't say there is much remarkable about this beer that I can say “Hey, go out and try this beer regardless of the price” but, to be sure, it is a flavorful, heavy beer that you can enjoy with a meal or after.

Score: B-  3.5/5

Beer Review: Goose Island 312

This review is one that has been a long time coming; truth be told I am appalled that this is not on my blog yet. Shout out to a certain second lieutenant for making this review possible. Goose Island's 312 Urban Wheat Ale is one of the first craft beers I ever had and has long set the bar (in my opinion) for affordable, accessible and delicious wheat beer. Even after all the great beers I have tried, I can still go back to 312 and find a perfectly good beer to enjoy with dinner or at a party. Let me qualify all this praise by saying there are many other better alternatives to the american pale wheat style, but very few at 312's price point. Let's explore.

I poured 312 like any respectable wheat beer should be poured, like so:

In all seriousness, this is a great way to make sure your wheat beer gets a [near] perfect pour every time (I would recommend wiping the mouth of the bottle before you pour it since it does touch the beer). The golden, unfiltered haze of the beer is inviting and the head is thick and offers nice lacing around the glass.

The scent is all fruit as sweet citrus dominates the nose. Dish-soap lemon zest finishes off the smell... you get the picture here. Very thin, clean and fruity scent.

The first impression of the taste is the same as the nose, pretty sweet and a fair amount of lemon taste, maybe a pinch of lemon rind in there to make it a bit more bitter. The second taste reveals an old, musky taste that reassures the drinker that there is indeed more to the beer than the nose would indicate. The thin bready malt taste lingers and I am left expected something else at the end of the drink. No hops to speak of here. Aftertaste reminiscent of an adjunct lager.

Very thin, dare I say watery, beer with surprisingly low carbonation. Nothing special here with even more similarity to your generic adjunct lager.

You're a savvy reader, so you noticed the disconnect between my preface and the body of the review. Call it nostalgia, call it frugality but I still have a favorable overall impression of 312 despite its mediocre taste. It is a great value at $7.99/ 6 pack or $11.99/ 12 pack and it does taste good while remaining a very simple beer.

Score: B  3.5/5