Beer Review #45: Boulevard Pilsner

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I have to credit Boulevard Brewing (www.blvdbeer.com) with getting me into the craft beer scene with their Wheat beer. I always like to try their new releases and their beers are something I know I will enjoy if I can’t decide on another beer.
Let me first say that if you are new to craft beer and had been drinking light beers all the time, then Pilsner styles might be a good transition to the craft beer scene.
With Boulevard Pilsner, this is what American Pilsner should be. A straw colored beer, aroma of grass and malts. Flavor on the lightside with a little hop at the end. Not bad. However, I’ve recently been addicted to Sam Adams Noble Pils which is my favorite American Pilsner out there.
REVIEW
POUR: Deep golden,straw colored pour with nice white head.
AROMA: Grassy, malty smell.
TASTE: Flavor of malts, yeast, and hops at the end.
OVERALL: C

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: See this more often now, and the price tag has been anywhere from $6-$8. A great transitional beer and very easy drinking. Try this and then make sure you try Sam Adams Noble Pils.

Beer Review #44: Rogue Chiptole Ale

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I am a big fan of Rogue Ale (www.rogue.com) and have liked or loved many of the ones I’ve tried. Of all of them, the most bizarre one I’ve had has to be their Chipotle Ale. They use their Golden Ale and spice it up with smoked chipotle peppers. It has a nice golden pour with the fragrant smoke smell. If you are not into smoked beers, this is not for you. The taste is smokey and smooth. This is not a beer for all occasions and is definitely perfect for the adventurous beer types. This is a spring release beer and I read that if you mix this with their Chocolate Stout you get the impression of a good Mexican mole black and tan. I have not done this yet, but I’m guessing this would be perfect in a chili recipe.

REVIEW
POUR: Deep golden pour with a nice white head.
AROMA: Definite smokiness with the malt aroma coming through.
TASTE: Smokey and spicy with malts on the back of the tongue. Very interesting beer.
OVERALL: C

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: A spring seasonal I’ve only seen at John’s Grocery in Iowa City and a select few Hy-Vees. If you’ve had it, let me know your thoughts!

Beer Review #43: Leinenkugels Fireside Nut Brown

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Leinenkugels’ beers (www.leinie.com)  for me are usually middle of the road, they won’t knock your socks off with a fantastic flavor but they won’t repulse you with their products either. This is a decent nut-brown ale, and reasonable priced. Fireside nut-brown is a little too sweet for me, has sugar caramel almost Tootsie roll taste that sticks out a little too much for my taste.  The price for a six-pack is very reasonable however and this beer is drinkable. I would rather spend my six bucks on a Hazelnut Brown by Rogue however.
REVIEW
POUR: Dark brown color pour with a somewhat tan head. Nice lacing.
AROMA: Roasted malts, nuts, and caramel.
TASTE: Overly sweet caramel taste, a little too much for me, roasted malts. A good brown to start on.
OVERALL: C

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: A winter seasonal offering by Leinenkugels that is available at most good liquor stores. Hy-vee, John’s Grocery will certainly have it.
If you’ve had it, let me know your thoughts!

Beer Review #42: Shock Top Belgian White

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Don’t let the name fool you, this is an Anheuser Busch product. Not that there is anything wrong with that but it seems they are hiding their name on the label for some reason. Anyway, tried and was not impressed, pretty sure AB is trying to take some steam from the success of Coors’ Blue Moon product and Shock Top falls way short. Almost an artificial fruit loop cereal flavor is way too sweet for me. This beer just seems to lack its own personality and is instead trying to be a ripoff of an already successful product and not trying to stand out on its own.

I know a few people who have tried and liked this beer, but my recommendation is to avoid it. If you want a white ale try Blue Moon or Millstream’s Johns’ Generation White Ale; both are much better and stay true to what a white ale is supposed to be.

REVIEW
POUR: Hazy yellow pour.
AROMA: Smell of citrus, corriander, oranges.
TASTE: Artificial fruit taste, overly sweet. I’ll pass.
OVERALL: D+

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: This beer is available everywhere and is also on tap on many bars and restaurants. Could be a good start to drinking craft beer, but if you are already drinking craft beer then you don’t need to try this one.

Beer Review #41: Bell's Hoplsam!

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Going to continue with the Bell’s Beers. Got a tweet from Reds Ale House in North Liberty, IA about their keg tapping of Hopslam! from Bell’s Brewery. Big fan of this brewery and a big fan of Reds. Since they made a big deal about it I figured this beer must be the real deal. 
Ordered the beer and looked like a nice perfect IPA. The aroma of grapefruit really stood out and the flavor of piney hops and grapefruit was creamy and fantastic. This beer is limited realease, I believe, so if you ever get a chance to try this please do, it is a must try beer! I also have to commend Reds Ale House and the Sanctuary for continually getting these great beers to the area for us to try. 
If you try this beer let me know what you think!
 REVIEW
POUR: Cloudy yellow/orange pour.
AROMA: Smell of piney hops and grapefruit.
TASTE: Very smooth, piney, bitter, grapefruit, and creamy.
OVERALL: A+

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: On tap at Reds Ale House in North Liberty, IA and the Sanctuary in Iowa City.

Beer Review #41: Bell’s Hoplsam!

4 Comments

Going to continue with the Bell’s Beers. Got a tweet from Reds Ale House in North Liberty, IA about their keg tapping of Hopslam! from Bell’s Brewery. Big fan of this brewery and a big fan of Reds. Since they made a big deal about it I figured this beer must be the real deal. 
Ordered the beer and looked like a nice perfect IPA. The aroma of grapefruit really stood out and the flavor of piney hops and grapefruit was creamy and fantastic. This beer is limited realease, I believe, so if you ever get a chance to try this please do, it is a must try beer! I also have to commend Reds Ale House and the Sanctuary for continually getting these great beers to the area for us to try. 
If you try this beer let me know what you think!
 REVIEW
POUR: Cloudy yellow/orange pour.
AROMA: Smell of piney hops and grapefruit.
TASTE: Very smooth, piney, bitter, grapefruit, and creamy.
OVERALL: A+

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: On tap at Reds Ale House in North Liberty, IA and the Sanctuary in Iowa City.

Beer Review #40: Bell's Two Hearted Ale

5 Comments

A few years ago before I started appreciating the craft beer and before I was acquainted with the taste of India Pale Ale, a cousin of wife and her boyfriend at the time came over to our place and he brought Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (www.bellsbeer.com). Having no idea what the beer was and seeing a fish on the cover I immediately thought of Schmidt’s beer that the old-timers drink at the Bowling Alley. My preconceived notions had me not liking the beer already and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Today I consider Two Hearted Ale one of my favorite beers out there. I regularly place it in my “Top 5” which changes daily, but if I want a beer to drink and I am undecided, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is the way to go. Nice grapefruit, hop, citrus flavor that is very smooth and easy to drink. I have also seen it on tap at a couple of my favorite restaurants, Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty and the Sanctuary in Iowa City.
I also owe Christian an apology and a beer for introducing me to this beer. I laughed at it then, but now it’s one of my favorites. 
 REVIEW
POUR: Cloudy yellow/orange pour.
AROMA: Smell of grapefruit, more citrus, and hops.
TASTE: Very smooth, almost a creamy grapefruit flavor. Awesome!
OVERALL: A

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: Found at any Hy-Vee liquor store and any store that sells good craft beer. You will be paying $10 a six pack, but you pay for what you get, and in this beer you get a fantastic IPA.

Beer Review #40: Bell’s Two Hearted Ale

5 Comments

A few years ago before I started appreciating the craft beer and before I was acquainted with the taste of India Pale Ale, a cousin of wife and her boyfriend at the time came over to our place and he brought Bell’s Two Hearted Ale (www.bellsbeer.com). Having no idea what the beer was and seeing a fish on the cover I immediately thought of Schmidt’s beer that the old-timers drink at the Bowling Alley. My preconceived notions had me not liking the beer already and I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Today I consider Two Hearted Ale one of my favorite beers out there. I regularly place it in my “Top 5” which changes daily, but if I want a beer to drink and I am undecided, Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is the way to go. Nice grapefruit, hop, citrus flavor that is very smooth and easy to drink. I have also seen it on tap at a couple of my favorite restaurants, Red’s Alehouse in North Liberty and the Sanctuary in Iowa City.
I also owe Christian an apology and a beer for introducing me to this beer. I laughed at it then, but now it’s one of my favorites. 
 REVIEW
POUR: Cloudy yellow/orange pour.
AROMA: Smell of grapefruit, more citrus, and hops.
TASTE: Very smooth, almost a creamy grapefruit flavor. Awesome!
OVERALL: A

EASTERN IOWA RESIDENTS: Found at any Hy-Vee liquor store and any store that sells good craft beer. You will be paying $10 a six pack, but you pay for what you get, and in this beer you get a fantastic IPA.

Guest Review #3: New Belgium 1554 Black Ale by SLIM

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Guest Review by Slim: New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

I found myself standing in the walk-in freezer at a Hy-Vee in West Des Moines for almost 10 minutes trying to decide what six-pack to try out for the night. I finally decided on 1554, a product of New Belgium Brewing, a well known but still good brewery. After just a couple of sips I didn’t feel I made a good decision. It is about as dark as you can get but that didn’t  help the flavor and overall it had too much else going on that I couldn’t enjoy the boldness and robustness that I expected.  I also didn’t feel I could TASTE the chocolate. It was apparent in the aroma but strangely I felt the other flavors masked it when I took a sip. The beer was a little too hoppy and bitter for me and I do not think I will be enjoying another one anytime soon. It is worth noting that I drank this out of a standard pint glass which is maybe not the type of glass that best suits this brew. Most serious beer advocates think highly of this beer but it wasn’t for me.

Pour-Very dark, almost completely black with a white head

Aroma- Smell of hops and chocolate, I think I may have even caught a trace of toffee?

Taste-This was the disappointing part, not enough of the chocolate flavor was present and the excess hoppiness turned me off to this brew.

Overall-A good effort, although it didn’t appeal to me you could do a lot worse for a dark beer. It is still drinkable but that doesn’t necessarily translate to enjoyable and it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

 Rating-C