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Monchshof Schwarzbier

Tim Brady — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:58:58 +0000

Oh the schwarzbier… This is an under appreciated style that I happen to love. Roasted malts, even a bit of chocolate and hazelnut – really smooth and delicious. Plus it’s in a swing top bottle and you know how that gets me all excited. It doesn’t take much.

Brewed by the folks over at Kulmbacher Brauerei in Germany (they also brew EKU and a bunch of other German beers – you can check the list on this real beer site) this is a beer and a style that I would love to see more of. A quite poundable session beer at just under 5%, if it weren’t so pricey it would be a slam dunk.

Overall, damn good – Believe in the Schwarz.

Mönchshof Kellerbräu

Lawson’s Finest Liquids Chinooker’d IPA

Tim Brady — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:05:20 +0000

From the elusive Lawson’s Finest Liquids of Vermont, the Chinooker’d IPA is an atomic hop bomb – and that bomb’s name is Chinook. This is Lawson’s award winning single hop IPA – with that single hop being Chinook for the slower readers out there. Chinook hops are not for everyone, especially me – but Amy got all hot over this brew. Call me a cascade pussy.

Bitter as hell, with a load of citrus and grapefruit in the taste. Far from poundable, at nearly 7% ABV and with a taste bud destroying hoppiness; Lawson’s Chinooker’d leaves a dry and almost perfumy aftertaste on the back of the tongue.

If you are looking for an East Coast hop monster, this beer certainly fits the bill and has an incredibly high flavor to dollar ratio. I won’t be going back for another, but hell – this is the perfect brew to get Amy all chinooker’d.

Pabst Blue Ribbon – PBR

Tim Brady — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:27:39 +0000

There is a time and place for everything. Even PBR. In the can.

For me the time was about 1:45am and the place was a dive bar with good music where I was offered a “stimulus package”, including a shot of old crow and a can of PBR for $5.

Pabst apparently won a ribbon for this beer one day in the 1850s and knowing that it was probably a tabulation error, they plastered the award on the label and have given a bad name to blue ribbons everywhere since. A lager by definition, I’m sure that PBR is brewed with all kinds of corn and rice and yummy extracts, but honestly – this beer pulls it off.

I’m sure that the beer snobs out there would never be seen in public with a PBR in their hand (they’d put theirs in a glass to hide it) but for a cheap lager, this beer ain’t that bad. You’re not going to find many beers more poundable and certainly not going to find anything as tasty for a buck at your local bar. Have to knock it a few points on sexiness, but the tallboy can and familiar blue ribbon score it points for packaging. Aftertaste was not wonderful, but if you keep drinking them – you don’t have to deal with that for a while. And hell, you can always kill it with your shot of old crow…

Face it – in a hot room with loud music, when presented with a row of macro beer taps – PBR in the can just fits the bill. Cheap and wet.

Mönchshof Kellerbräu

Duvel

Tim Brady — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:51:00 +0000

Being we are having a very Duvel week, I figured I would continue with a review of the original duvel. While I had admittedly not tried this beer in some time – the Duvel Green event gave me the welcome kick in the ass to revisit the original.

I have no idea why I don’t go-to this beer more often. Probably because there are so many new beers coming at me now that I tend to shy away from those that I have tried before. That’s a shame, especially in a case like this, where it keeps me away from an amazing beer.

The bottled Duvel is a Belgian Strong by definition – which is another one of those beer style names that goes above and beyond to state the obvious. Duvel is packaged in a unique bottle and served in a custom oversized tulip glass – scoring them serious points for packaging and sexiness. Both are the perfect compliment for the kickass beer they contain.

The brew itself is malty, spicy and sweet. incredibly drinkable, just shy of a session beer. Crazy carbonation from the re fermentation in the bottle creates a giant head. Much like mine.

Killer dry finish and a great belgian-y aftertaste round out this awesome beer. This is certainly one that I will be back for. I am glad that the introduction of the new brew brought this old school favorite back to my radar. I am in good company when I say that this is one hell of a beer – Drink it.

Duvel Green

Tim Brady — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:43:08 +0000

This killer image from beerlens.com, which is why it doesn't suck

So what makes this duvel Green? I actually wish they hadn’t named it “Green” as it gives the impression that they are just jumping on the “green” bandwagon like so many others. Which is a shame becasue in all honesty, this beer is awesome.

Of course, I am biased here as I tend to love Ommegang’s beers and their Hennepin is one of my all time favorites. (For those who don’t know, Duvel owns the Ommegang brewery. Duvel is brewed in Belgium, Ommegang is brewed in New York).

This draft version of the traditional Duvel bottled beer bares a resemblance to the Hennepin but is somewhat (frighteningly) more drinkable. I say frighteningly as it still comes in around 7% abv, but doesn’t give that impression at all. Very flavorful and delicious while still showing all the signs of a traditional Belgian beer.

Only available in the US on draft, and with the hopes of grabbing handles in taprooms everywhere, it looks like the plan with this one is to go up against another popular belgian lager, Stella. I think they have a good chance at grabbing some of the Stella drinkers out there, this beer is way more complex and flavorful. As we have heard, it’s the thinking mans Stella.

A great beer from a brewery that had been off our radar. I will be going green.

Boont Amber Ale

Tim Brady — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:25:39 +0000

Boont Amber Ale, it’s “bahl hornin’”. That’s what it says on the label. Turns out these yocals are so far removed from civilization that they created their own language to fuck with the yuppies from L.A. At least they can make beer.

The Amber Ale is solid. Carmel and roasted malt, offset with some subtle aroma hops. Definitely leans toward the malty side, which is why I liked it. Actually fairly crisp and refreshing for a maltier beer. I’d put this in the session category for sure.

So when you cock a fister with your apple-head dis steinber el get ya in da burlap. After all, It’s not just shy sluggin’ gorms neemer.

Yeah, you’ll need their website and 10 minutes of your life that you will never get back to figure that out. Be careful though, it’s the site that inspired my rant about age verification.

Boont Amber – a tasty beer that I might have more of. Gorm it.

Allagash Black

Tim Brady — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:54:16 +0000

A Belgian style stout, the Allagash Black is something delightfully different. It pours black in color (bet you didn’t see that coming) and has a slight light tan head. Packaging is sleek and sexy (i do love a cork and cage). Tastes of chocolate, burnt coffee and a clearly Belgian style yeast. Full flavored and complex with a pleasingly bitter aftertaste. Goes down smooth and easy.

This is just the way I like my stouts: dark, dry and full bodied. Hey Allagash, I went black – and it was delicious.

Ridgeway IPA

Tim Brady — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:52:39 +0000

A British IPA. Kind of an oxymoron. While Britan may have their share of scary looking talent, they are the William Hung of hoppy beers. Historically I would think that British IPAs would be hoppy – after all the origin of the style itself would lead you to believe that the first IPAs were hopped to the extreme. Fortunately for us, we got all the hops after the revolution, shipped them out west, and today British IPAs are weak and blah.

That said, the Ridgeway IPA surprised me. Fresh hop flavor and a nice malty balance – very flavorful and drinkable (nay – poundable). Dry as a British sitcom and twice as enjoyable. I say cheeri-o.

Dogfish World Wide Stout

Tim Brady — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:11:11 +0000

Alright, as you know I am usually a session beer guy. That’s why my ratings favor good session brews. But I never turn down a beer suggestion from a professional, and so when the barkeep sent me a Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, I happily obliged.

Far from a session beer, this beer is the extreme opposite of poundable. But in such a delicious way. Dark, black, vanilla, burbon, a little bit of chocolate and sweetness – I can just imagine sitting outside by the campfire fire on a cool summer night sipping on this. Probably would pare well with this jerks bacon smores…

Of course if the high alcohol level doesn’t make you sip it slowly, the price will. At $9 a bottle (at the store, it was $12 at the pub) this beer is probably reserved for the elitists out there. Luckily I’m one of them. More for me.

Sexy as hell and yet another fun beer from the people at Dogfish. This is the perfect “I’m only having one tonight” beer. Make it count. Make it a World Wide Stout.

Green Flash Brewing – Hop Head Red

Amy Brady — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:00:37 +0000

I was the driver on our most recent trip south to the Moan and Dove. I allowed myself only one beer. Considering I was only having one beer I reviewed my choices very carefully. I wanted to try something I had not had before and I was hoping to be knocked off my bar stool by hops. All signs pointed to the Hop Head Red, brewed by Green Flash Brewing in San Diego, CA. I love hops, I would easily consider myself to be a hop head (have you noticed?). My favorite hops are Fuggles and currently my favorite IPA is the Otter Creek Imperial IPA (which is at 135 IBU). I am not however as well versed in types of hops and the characteristic they each display in beer as I would like to be. There are in fact some hops that I just do not care for, but have not been diligent enough to identify which ones they are. My goal is to become more familiar, so if you have any advice for me I would love for you to share it. I must admit that the hops used in the Hop Head Red did not agree with my palette. That said, I was certain to drink the whole beer as some hoppy beers require some time to get the taste buds numbed up just right to fully enjoy it. Still – not “knock me off the stool” good.

So here we go according to Tim’s rating system. The Hop Head Red for me was like a busty confident red head that just walked into the bar. From a distance she was the sexiest beer on the draft menu, but up close she was a butter face. Only because this beer did not agree with my palette would I not have another, it is only 6% ABV so it does posses some level of poundablity. I found it to be quite affordable considering it had to travel across the country to reach me, but hell Tim does the bills. What I learned from this beer is that I need to review more closely what hops are being used in some of my favorite hoppy beers and at the same time, which are being used in the hoppy beers I do not care for. Hopefully that will help me make a more educated pick next time I only get to have 1 beer. All in all, this beer turned out to be a dud in my book.

HereForTheBeer.com » Beer Reviews

Monchshof Schwarzbier

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