COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:Anchor Brewing Company STYLE:Steam Beer ABV:4.9% PURCHASE:60-oz. pitcher, $12.00 SERVING:Said pitcher, poured into pint glass. Standard pour led to standard one-inch head. Average retention. APPEARANCE:Rusted copper color and translucent. Beige-white head. Scattered lacing. BOUQUET:Subtle nose highlighted by moderately floral hops and doughy grains. Relatively clean, however. Slightly fruity, mainly in the form of apricot (seemingly). PALATE: Average carbonation accompanying a light-medium body. Mild overall mouthfeel; smooth and agreeable. Malty entry, albeit a fairly subdued one. Moderate hop bitterness that crescendos mid-palate, then converts to sweetness at the finish, which continues on to characterize the otherwise yeasty aftertaste. Malt is still there at the end, albeit as an undertone. On the whole, though, seems ever so slightly watery. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS: "Steam beer." Also known as "California Common." Developed in California in the late 1800s due to the common occurrence of lack of refrigeration, necessitating the use of warmer fermentation. But that's technical talk. Anchor Steam has long, long been the flagship representative of this style. And it has also long, long been identified with its hometown: San Francisco. What Sam is to Boston, Anchor Steam is to the City by the Bay. To the naive, novice, or otherwise uninformed, it represents a departure from the mundane world of boring macrolagers, and an entry point into the intriguing world of alternative or craft brews. And it still remains an admirable product and maintains a loyal following. Alas, Anchor Steam has now become what I call a "safe" beer, one that is nonetheless impressive and still bests most of its competition, but one that has clearly been surpassed by the vast array of newer and even better microbrews and imports on the global market. In other words, if you don't know much about specialty beer and want to impress people, this will still do it!
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:Sixpoint Brewery STYLE:IPA ABV: 6.5% PURCHASE:60-oz. pitcher, $12.00 SERVING:Said pitcher, poured into pint glass. Standard pour, standard head (more or less), better than standard retention. A slower pour ironically resulted in a crown over the usual inch to inch-and-a-half. APPEARANCE:In the pitcher, translucent copper-rust color and absolutely beautiful. In the glass, however, poured more transparent and a lighter shade of copper, bordering upon burnt orange--like a bengal! (Sorry.) Bright white head. Lacing uneven but prominent. BOUQUET:Though an IPA, hops don't jump at you. Rather, there is a brief note of malt at the forefront, before a gentle segue to hops . . . and citrus. Hop-citrus ratio is more or less dead even. PALATE: Citric entry featuring . . . you guessed it . . . grapefruit. Hop factor is fairly tame throughout, rising mid-palate and peaking in the aftertaste--though not nearly to the extent of various other IPAs. Along the way, malt factor is minimal and the citrus factor is constant but held in check. Agreeably bittersweet finish, and a pleasant hop-grapefruit aftertaste. Carbonation sets in fairly quickly but doesn't get out of control so long as you don't hold in for too long. All in all, one of the lightest IPAs I've had, to date. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:An uncommon IPA that is arguably more fruity than hoppy. Grapefruity, specifically. This fits right in with the canon of American microbrew IPAs in that it is certainly better than adequate, intriguing, and inviting for repeated sessions. But it doesn't pack a true wallop; it fails to plant a flag and stake its own territory with respect to its category. What it does is simply put forth an honest, viable entry in an already crowded market. As the cliche goes, you can't go wrong. As another cliche goes, you can do worse. As I go, you can still do better. Another one for the like-it-but-don't-love-it pile.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:The Traveler Beer Company STYLE:Shandy; Fruit/Vegetable Beer; Pale Wheat Ale ABV:4.4% PURCHASE:Six-pack of 12-oz. bottles, $13.99. SERVING:12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. Initially heady; the first bottle's head took up half the glass. A slow pour got it to about an inch. However, the third bottle produced even less . . . with a fast pour. Weird. In any case, this is one of the least retentive heads you'll ever encounter in a beer; dissipation was very quick. APPEARANCE:Golden-orange and effervescently hazy. Off-white head with no lacing. At all. BOUQUET:Upon first encounter, grapefruit is most prominent, as can be expected. But its influence begins to wane halfway down the first serving. Rolled wheat is noticeable, as are other citrus essences, namely lemon--this is brewed with lemon peel, per the label. No hop factor, and other grains seem nonexistent, too. PALATE: Light-medium body with soft carbonation that is slow to accumulate--a common trait for this style. Again, zero hop factor; no surprise there. Wheat and malt notes are minimal as well. Citrus, citrus, citrus. That's the name of the game with this one. Starts as a sort of lemon-grapefruit hybrid, with the lemon remaining and the grapefruit seemingly giving way to orange toward the finish. A bit of zest in the aftertaste. Seems to have the taste profile of a sports drink more than an actual ale, truth be told. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:This is more of an alcohol-infused thirst quencher than an actual beer; if Gatorade opened a brewery, this could be the result! Not that I'm complaining. But beer purists likely will. So what? This could stand to be fuller-bodied and a little more assertive in the palate. But it amply serves its purpose. It's extremely refreshing and beyond smooth, which makes it an ideal candidate as a Memorial Day barbecue companion; or, as I like to say, as a mow-the-lawn brew.
GRADE: B
*SPECIAL NOTE: This beer was formerly known as "Illusive Traveler Shandy."
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA BREWERY:Matt Brewing Company STYLE:Pale Wheat Ale ABV:5.2% PURCHASE:60-oz. pitcher, $8.00. SERVING: Said pitcher, poured into pint glass. Not particularly heady, but retentive. Yielded a roughly 1 1/4" head from tap to pitcher. From pitcher to glass, the pour speed didn't seem to matter, as I wound up with about a half an inch regardless. It took a very fast (five-second) pour to get over an inch. APPEARANCE:Golden-orange and glowing. Effervescent yet a bit foggy. Toes the line between opaque and translucent. Slightly off-white head. Not much lacing. BOUQUET:Prominent hop and grapefruit notes at the forefront. Rolled, doughy wheat overtones. Other citrus essences--mainly orange but tinge of lemon--complement the nose. Floral and also a bit peachy. PALATE:Light-medium body with soft carbonation that lurks in the background. Citric sweet front and mid-palate. Wheat is not nearly as noticeable taste- as it is aroma-wise. Hoppy and grapefuity through-line. After all, this is a pale wheat ale. Crescendoing grapefruit, which remains dominant in the aftertaste, as do hops. A tad yeasty, and a tad peppery--just a tad, at the very, very back. With oft-repeated pours, comes off as bit too watery in the finish. With a prolonged refrain from sipping, the grapefruit then assumes control of the overall aftertaste. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:One's infatuation with this beer seems to correlate with his/her infatuation with grapefruit. Is it just me, or is grapefruit, figuratively speaking, a flavor-of-the-month of sorts in the craft beer world? It does seem to hog the spotlight here. That said, that doesn't detract from the Prism's appeal. It's very agreeably palatable and easily gratifying. It doesn't leave you too dehydrated. Citrus beers tend to share that quality. The problem is, this lacks a wow factor. There's still too much to scrutinize. The surging grapefruit prevalent in each sip of the Prism tends to alter an otherwise idyllic palatial balance. Hence, the result is a markedly better-than-average brew that retains a semblance of interchangeability.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA BREWERY:Yards Brewing Company STYLE:Strong Ale ABV:8.0% PURCHASE:13-oz. draft, $7.00 SERVING:Said draft, served in tulip glass. More or less a standard head (around 1.25") from the tap. APPEARANCE:Deep copper color, bordering upon auburn or henna. Cream-white tinted head. Walks the line between transparent and translucent. Lacing is initially outstanding, then fades to nothing with each sip. BOUQUET:Somewhat cidery in the nose, and a tad bready*. Mostly, however, there is an intriguing aromatic mix of malt dextrins, pronounced fruit essences, and caramel (or maybe honey). Hop notes are minimal. *Upon further reflection, rye seemed to be the grain, or "bready" note, in question. PALATE:Medium body with mild carbonation. Spice notes (mainly pepper and coriander) not present in the aroma make an unmistakable appearance in the taste, entering just past entry and remaining for the long haul. As with the bouquet, hop notes are at a minimum here. A whiff of straight alcohol seems to emerge in the crisp finish. The aftertaste is warm, slightly peppery, and a bit grainy and piney. Honey is detectable if you strain for it. If there is one overlapping analogy I can make here, it's that the Jefferson Ale is Belgian in overall character. Experienced drinkers will know what I mean by that. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:Thomas Jefferson, the third president of these United States (and unquestionably one of the greatest), reportedly brewed a beer at Monticello strikingly similar to this; according to Tom Kehoe, a brewmaster at Yards, it is brewed with honey, wheat, and rye. In retrospect, I can affirm the honey and rye; but I couldn't honestly make out any wheat factor. Oh well. In any case, this is one of Yards' "Ales of the Revolution." Despite any minor discrepancy I may have with the official description of this ale's brewing process, it's a noteworthy entry in the Yards lineup, and one my rival reviewers have been too timid to fully endorse.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:Magic Hat Brewing Company STYLE:Pale Lager; IPL ABV:5.7% PURCHASE:Six-pack of 12-oz. bottles, $11.99. SERVING: 12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. Moderately heady but not overwhelmingly so. Both a standard and slow pour produced heads of one and a half to two inches, with good retention. APPEARANCE:Auburn-caramel color and transparent. Sudsy white head with decent lacing. BOUQUET:If ever there was a beer with a dead-even hop-malt ratio with practically nothing else of note in the aroma, it's this one. I strained to pick up some sort of spice or citrus factor, but came up empty. Although, a hint of apple skin seemed to lurk in the background. PALATE:Soft carbonation. Light-medium body. Slightly sweet front palate that gives way to a mild crescendo of hop bitterness, which in turn partially yields to a yeasty and relatively dry finish. Sam-like aftertaste. Very smooth overall. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:A relatively recent addition to the Magic Hat lineup, Dream Machine comes, like many offerings from the Burlington, Vermont brewery, in a psychedelic-looking bottle with a font reminiscent of another "machine": The "Mystery Machine" piloted by one Fred Jones in a certain Saturday morning cartoon from Hanna-Barbera. Although, to be fair, the label appears spacier and even trippier than the paint job on the sides of that famous animated van. As for the beer itself, Magic Hat has a winner here, if not exactly an elite entry in the burgeoning new category of "IPL." What is an IPL? As the abbreviation suggests, it stands for "India Pale Lager." What is India Pale Lager, then? As the name suggests, a "lager version" of an IPA; more specifically, a beer that essentially merges IPA qualities with those of an amber--or perhaps a Vienna--lager. Hence, the Sam Boston Lager-like qualities in the palate. This goes down effortlessly for a hoppy beer, precisely because the amber factor keeps the hop factor in check. As a result, this is one of those beers that seems equally at home as a meal companion, party brew, or cut-the-grass beer on a hot summer day, and equally appealing as a sampling or session choice. So far I have found this to be a highly underrated offering, in terms of the reviews from rival sites; BeerAdvocate's users, for instance, have collectively graded this as a C. RateBeer and Untappd haven't judged it much better. Perhaps it's a case of a brewery's reputation preceding itself. I myself have found many of Magic Hat's entries underwhelming, but this one wasn't. Those other sites are wrong this time.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:Tröegs Brewing Company STYLE:Imperial IPA ABV: 7.5% PURCHASE:Six-pack of 12-oz. bottles, $12.99. SERVING:12-oz. bottle, poured into pint glass. Fairly heady, as it took up over half the glass with what I call a "normal pour." Slowing it down (to about 30 seconds) chopped it in half and then some, resulting in about an inch and a half. Better-than-average retention. APPEARANCE: Light copper tint and fairly transparent. Off-white head that retains excellently and leaves irregular lacing around the glass. BOUQUET:Hops--it's an IPA. Duh. But this one is rounded out by pleasant complements of rolled grains and citrus. PALATE:Very well balanced for an IPA, particularly for an imperial IPA. Very subtle carbonation and a medium body. Not too filling. Hop factor is actually fairly mild in comparison with other IPAs; further, it remains consistent, with little variance. Finish is hoppy-grapefruity with teases of orange and lemon. Touches of malt but very little in the way of any sort of spice. Makes for effortless imbibing--again, especially for this style of beer. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:Hershey, Pennsylvania ain't all about chocolate anymore, kids. Nor is it all about the amusement park that bears its name. It's now--at least these days--about the beer, particularly that put forth by the good folks at Tröegs. The problem with a lot of IPAs is their one-dimensionality. This one bucked that trend. Rather than feature a sharp peak of hops, this one not only exercised restraint in that regard, but knew what to use as counterbalances. As a result, what we have here is a beer that will satisfy the craft snobs while also beckoning the novices to temporarily venture from the macrolager comfort zone. Much like an amusement park. (Was that a stretch?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY:Pabst Brewing Company STYLE:Adjunct Lager ABV:4.7% PURCHASE:Case of 30 12-oz. cans, $16.99. SERVING: 12-oz. can, poured into pint glass. Heady from the can; even a slow (30-second) pour produced two solid inches of suds atop the body. A faster (20-second) pour yielded three. Good retention, particularly for an inexpensive adjunct. APPEARANCE:Transparent straw-brass color, though on the darker side of that part of the spectrum. You can watch YouTube videos through a glass of this, as I did tonight! Bright white, effervescent head with nice lacing. BOUQUET:Like most mass-produced, North American adjuncts, sports a largely clean aroma with traces of a freshly sanitized metal surface. That said, there are actual beer-like scents present: Biscuity malt, floral essences, and a tinge of noble hops. Agreeable nose. PALATE:Light-medium body with moderate carbonation, but a smooth overall mouthfeel. Entry is semisweet and grainy. A bit of hop bitterness sneaks in mid-palate, but remains subdued. Finish is yeasty, while the aftertaste features a kiss of malt sweetness. Fairly simple taste profile. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS: If you're a patriotic American, you can relax. Pabst was not sold to the Russians. Rather, it was sold to an American entrepreneur in conjunction with an American equity firm. The brewery is now based in L.A., after decades in storied Milwaukee. Has this recent development affected the product? Hard to say. Time will tell, as the cliche goes. In any case, PBR is known as a "hipster" beer; in other words, it is held in high regard by mainly younger, urban, male consumers with stylish facial hair, rimmed glasses, and a record of social alienation during their high school years. However, it is also known as an "All-American" brew favored by our country's everyday working-class iron men, as well as the beer of cinematic anti-heroes like Walt Kowalski, and villains such as Frank Booth. What did they see in it? Probably the same thing I do: No frills; just simple gratification. In that sense, PBR is the beer world's answer to Corn Flakes: A straight-forward product that doesn't pretend to be anything fancy; and not only endures, but enjoys iconic status, perhaps because of that. I have no objection to a bowl of Corn Flakes in the morning; but to be truthful, I don't get excited for it either. I trust you see the analogy.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:England/The Netherlands (It was originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, in England. After Heineken took it over, production has moved to The Netherlands in recent years.) BREWERY:Heineken Nederland B.V. STYLE: Brown Ale ABV:4.7% PURCHASE:60-oz. pitcher, $10.00 SERVING:Said pitcher, poured into chilled pint glass. Standard inch-and-a-half head from tap to pitcher, but smaller head from pitcher to head. First pour, a slow one, yielded less than half an inch. Faster (20-second) pours on the second and third go-'rounds produced a standard inch or so. Better than average in terms of retention, but minimal to non-existent lacing. APPEARANCE:Translucent and henna-tinted; kind of like a coffee table. Henna is a reddish-brown color. I only know that because of Shemp from The Three Stooges. It was the episode where they operate a dry-cleaning business. A lady walks in and requests a dress be dyed henna. And then Shemp replies with--I don't want to spoil it. You can watch the clip I have posted at the end of the entry! Light-beige head, by the way. BOUQUET:A bit nutty, with traces of toasted grains. However, the main aromas are toffee and fruit. What fruit? Are you ready for this? Apple, particularly apple skins. It's a brown ale, and apple is prominent. There are largely muted malt notes, as well as a seeming touch of cinnamon. PALATE:Relatively light body with slowly building, but nonetheless soft, carbonation. No real flavor kicks in until just before the finish; the front and mid-palate are fairly empty. And you know what it was? Apple. Though it smells a bit nutty, it doesn't taste so. Though it smells a bit toffeeish, it doesn't taste so. Apple in a brown ale. This really shouldn't be a surprise. Apple butter is . . . brown. And again, it's more apple skin than apple juice. The aftertaste, which is, palatially speaking, by far the best part of the experience--a saving grace, even--is characterized by . . . apple skins. Okay, maybe there was some degree of malt dextrin. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:Just as Foster's is no longer really Australian, Newcastle is no longer truly English. It's now Dutch. In any case, it's yet another in a growing list of beers I like a little bit less each time I drink it. Newcastle is a beer you think is great. Until you discover actual great beer. Until you discover craft beer. Then you realize just how average (at best) and underwhelming it really is. It's a crowd pleaser--in my experience, particularly among younger, trendier drinkers on the West Coast. It goes down effortlessly, sure. But that doesn't make it memorable. A safe and inoffensive, but ultimately unremarkable, brew. Although Shemp may have liked it.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:USA BREWERY: Smuttynose Brewing Company STYLE:Saison ABV:9.3% PURCHASE:Draught, $6.00 SERVING:13-oz. tulip glass. Barely 3/4" head from the tap. Not much retention. APPEARANCE:Hazy, with a pale-golden tint. Head is white and wispy. Come to think of it, "White and Wispy" was the name of a movie I once saw on Cinemax at 3AM. I swear. As for the lacing, it was minimal but scattered around the tulip. To my recollection, I've never seen a film called "Minimal Lacing," nor "Scattered Around the Tulip." BOUQUET:Yeasty and fruity (lemony), seemingly in equal parts. Subtle pepperiness. Citrus factor is high; hop factor is nonexistent. A hint of caramel seems evident, but I don't trust that; caramel isn't typical for a saison. Lemon rind is the main attraction here. PALATE:Fairly light body with soft carbonation and a highly inviting overall mouthfeel. Crisp entry and mid-palate characterized by slowly rising lemony-yeasty essences. My instinct was right: No caramel here. 'Twas a mirage. Spicy overtones in the form of pepper and coriander round out the palate, while the finish is somewhat dry with an even more pronounced yeast quotient, meshing with lemon tartness. Aftertaste is pleasantly bitter; is that an oxymoron? Very well balanced. MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:Saisons are also known as "farmhouse ales," due to their history of wintertime brewing for summertime consumption . . . on farms. In the modern beer world, these are summer brews for people with sophisticated palates. Deceptively strong and delicious, this can knock you out if you're not careful. This is one of those beers that achieves the ideal balance of easy drinkability and a refined mouthfeel. A rival to Ommegang's Hennepin, as far as stateside saisons go? Very possibly.
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