Lobster Lovers Beer: B

I enjoyed this 9.5% ABV Lithuanian Euro lager.  It had that simple Euro lager taste, and I would've guessed it was only a bit heavier than usual, maybe a 7.5% or so, until I got nice and toasted off it that is.  Sorry, I really didn't do a full on tasting 'cause I was busy catching up with my family!

Purchased at the Dekalb Farmer's Market for two bucks!

Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale

I lost my pictures of the most recent beers I've tried, but make sure you steer clear of the Kennebunkport Pumpkin Ale.  It tastes like a combination of cider, Hefe-weizen, and Bud Light, and not in a good way (if a good way somehow seemed possible to you from that description).

Trader Joe's Vintage 2010 Ale, on the other hand, was pretty darn tasty!

Meantime Coffee Porter

Dump

These TJ's beers are very drinkable but not complex. B-, B-

Allagash white: B+

Smuttynose Star Island Single: B

Dumping Beer Pics

C+

C-

A-, went really well with some Irish cheddar cheese

B

B

B

Zywiec Beer

This Zywiec Porter (Baltic Porter, 9.5% ABV) was pretty dern tasty. A bit strong, but lots o' flavor of course. Large head, fairly thick, took a while to recede, thick lacing. Butty, coffeeish (or maybe more like coffee liqueurish), soy sauce, molasses. I'd say B+ for my taste.

Yasmin's Graduation and Matt's Birthday

Well, I have started a new blog that I have decided will be the focus of my blogging efforts from now on, so this will devolve all the way into a list with pictures I keep for myself.

At 310 Park South for Yasmin's graduation I had a Paulaner Hefe Weizen that they had on tap since I'd loved it so much from a bottle. Well, it wasn't really any better on tap for some reason.

After dinner we went to Eola Wine Company for Matt's Birthday.

Southampton Imperial Porter on Tap (American Porter, 7.2% ABV): weak nose, pretty thick, somewhat acidic, really thick lacing, most flavor happens at the back of the throat, B, picture didn't turn out well

Okay, I started getting pretty lazy and then too tipsy/drunk to give opinions, but I had:

La Fin Du Monde (Tripel, 9.0% ABV)

Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale (English Brown Ale, 5.0% ABV), 2nd time having it, mm...

Darn, don't remember the rest.

Total Wine!

I finally went to a Total Wine to check out their 1000+ beer selection. Oh sweet torture. I allowed myself three purchases. I went to a new friend's house to hang out and drink the beer. First up, was a Wexford Irish Cream Ale (Irish Red ALe, 5.0%).

The creamy head was encouraging, though this beer didn't end up being quite as good as I was hoping. It was pretty good though, silky down the throat. This was a little more malty and fruity than I'd like. B+.

Next I had a sip of Matt's Thomas Hardy Ale (Old Ale, 11.9% ABV).

This was really good. I forgot to take a picture until it was half drunk, but you're not missing much in this picture as there wasn't much head in the first place. I could taste brown sugar and raisins, prunes. It was thick with little carbonation. It's strange to me how much I enjoy the high alcohol taste in beers now, whereas I never really have with liquor. I liked how I could taste bread in the beer. A-.

My next beer was a Red Brick Double Chocolate Oatmeal Porter (American Porter, 7.7% ABV). I thought the color and head were promising, but the taste didn't meet my expectations or at least my hopes. I couldn't really taste much chocolate or oatmeal, it was more burnt malt with an astringent aftertaste. B-.

Finally, I had a jug of Mississippi Mud Black and Tan (Black & Tan, 5.0% ABV).

Not bad for a bottled Black & Tan. It was kind of sweet but didn't have much flavor. B-.

You know, I've gotten away from telling about my night. I'm going to get back to that, though this night I was just hanging out with Matt and Yasmin, so no shennanigans occurred. We did learn about Matt's stroke last year though, which was an awesome story. I wish I could have one without the threat of death or any long term consequences.

I had a beer at Hot Olives Saturday night after a nice neighborhood Christmas festival at which a friend of mine was singing in a quartet, impressing us all with her strong and solid soprano in many songs, including the freaking Hallelujah Chorus. You just don't get that on the street corner every night. Anyway, the beer I ordered was from the Czech Republic, a Krušovice Cerne (Schwarzbier, 3.8% ABV).

It was pretty good, a nice accompaniment to my meal. It was roasty and malty, with maybe a suggestion of coffee. Basically, if I want a stout or porter but don't need 10% ABV at the moment, this will do the trick.

Beer Festival!

On Friday I went to the Orlando Holiday Brewfest! It was fun! There was free food from restaurants around town, and I sampled probably 35 beers. There were many samples I'd already had before, and most of them were unremarkable. Unfortunately for the people giving the samples, my having tried them means they've been crossed off my list so I don't have to buy them in the future. There was this one interesting beer I may buy some time though, called Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale (Winter Warmer, 6.0% ABV). Now, this isn't a beer drinker's beer, but don't we all have some girlfriends who aren't beer drinkers at all but occasionally think seasonal beers are cute and think a beer and pizza night is quaint? This is the beer to buy for them - it tastes just like cream soda. It can be found at Publixes and Total Wine stores.

Afterwards, I met up with some friends and some new people at Red Light, Red Light for some scrumptious beer. The first beer I had was a Terrapin Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, AKA Wake and Bake (American Double/Imperial Stout, 8.1% ABV). Of course it was amazingly delicious. Another A from Red Light, Red Light. This was on tap, and most people aren't so lucky to have the occasion to try this beer on tap, thank you RL, RL! It was black, thick, and creamy. Mmm... Coffee is the predominant taste. Others compared it to black coffee, but I don't really like to drink straight black coffee (as much as I love coffee), and this was different, delicious to drink.

I had agreed to buy someone a beer, so I bought her a Smuttynose Strawberry Shortweisse (Berliner Weissbier, 3.0% ABV?) since that seemed interesting and I wanted to try some. It was okay, but not my cup of tea, if you will. You could definitely taste strawberries, and it was a bit sour. B.

Cami finally figured out the beer I'd had the other night that she really liked because it tasted of butterscotch to her. It's called a 3rd Coast Stout, but I can't find it elsewhere on the internet. Anyway, it was delicious, but I'll have to do more...research! A-.

On Sunday night we had some friends over for game night, and I had some more beers. First up was St. Peter's Cream Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 6.5% ABV).

Mmmm... Thick, creamy, and delicious. Cinnamon colored head, not as creamy as I'd like. Flavors are chocolate malt, coffee, and cream. A-.

Next up was the Samuel Adams Cream Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 4.69% ABV). Well as always Sam Adams beer is kind of plain. This beer tasted good, but not great.

That being said, this has been my favorite Sam Adams beer so far. The head was decently thick and creamy. Flavors: Roasted malt, some coffee, some chocolate, brown sugar, somewhat bitter. B+.

After that I had the Samuel Adams Winter Lager (Bock, 5.8% ABV). This one surprised me as I liked it better than I'd thought I would.

You can taste hops, some fruit flavors, and some wintery spices like cinnamon. I wouldn't seek any more out, but I wouldn't turn my nose up at 'em either. B.

After that I had a Yuengling and then called it a night.

Saturday 11.28.09

Cami and I went and used up the chips we had for free drinks at a random lame bar called Suspenders Saloon. The only interesting part was when, in a bar full of nothing but white people, three black people walked in, and everyone cheered - literally and loudly. We felt that now that we'd had a fun and inexplicable moment it was time to move on to somewhere more fun, so we went to Red Light, Red Light so I could have some delicious beer.

First up was a Ten Fidy (Russian Imperial Stout, 10.0% ABV). Oh my "god" it was delicious.

I couldn't get the picture in time to get the bit of head in there, but it was thin and dark and dissipated quickly. What flavors didn't it have, so thick and creamy. I need to have another when I'm not already tipsy.

Next I had one of Brewmaster's delicious beers, but now I'm not sure what it was, a stout, a porter... this was one of those situations in which I really thought I was going to remember a lot more than I did. Well, I'll just have to go back.

Well one thing I do know is that it had, in addition to being creamy and delicious, it had a high ABV.

Cami couldn't finish her framboise, so I helped out with that. A nice guy bought me another beer, probably a 6.0 or so. Fuck only knows if I had more after that (besides sips from the beers of every single person there I'm sure) because I lost consciousness. Arielle did the things she tends to do in such a state, and I woke up very dehydrated the next day.

Random Party 11.21.09

I went with a new friend to a house party with 20-25 people I'd never met before. I'm really loving walking into new groups of people and shaking things up. Before leaving for that party, I had a pre-beer. I tried this expensive gluten free beer I'd acquired from a Whole Foods, Toleration (English Pale Ale, 4.4% ABV).

I think the people who named it were laughing at the people who were going to drink it. The best you could do is tolerate this wretched tragedy of a beer. Thank the merciful heavens I don't have a gluten allergy. It was the most sour beer I've ever had, with what tasted like spoiled brown sugar. Avoid! Your gluten allergy is all in your mind anyway! F. I thought it deserved a second picture.

At the party I had this Oktoberfest beer. I don't know the company, so I'm not sure much about it. It was very so so, muted spices, just plain stuff. I give it a B-.

Next up was a Left Hand Milk Stout (Milk/Sweet Stout, 5.2% ABV).
Unfortunately, the Toleration beer had left such a sour taste in my mouth about sour beers, that this wasn't a very pleasant experience. And maybe I'm just not a huge fan of milky stouts in general. B- again.

Before switching to generic beer for the evening, I had one last interesting one that night, the Post Road Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin Ale, 5.0% ABV).

This was better than the Oktoberfest, more flavor, still with all the usual spices you'd expect of course. Not going to be numbered among my favorite pumpkin ales, but not bad, a B.

I was also invited to participate in a threesome, hit on by the guy friend I came with who totally knows I'm a lesbian, and had two different kinds of fast food on the way home.

Monday night I decided to fit a beer into my 1800 calories, so I had a Ruedrich's Red Seal Ale (American Amber/Red Ale, 5.5% ABV, 177 calories). This was a great beer!

Really one of my top 10 beers so far. Sorry about the bad pouring job. I think this beer had a good malty thing going on, I'm really still trying to figure out all these flavors, and I was focusing more on the conversation I was having than on all the flavors and qualities of this, but I enjoyed it immensely. If you want a sure thing, this is one. A-.

Solid Beer Weekend 11.13.09 through 11.15.09

I went to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse for a couple beers on Friday night. I had the BJ'S P.M. PORTER (American Porter, 5.7% ABV) first. It was yummy yummy. For some reason I felt like it'd be lame of me to take a picture of it at the time :[ Anyway it was black and had a creamy head that lasted a good bit of a while, with good lacing. The chocolate, malty, and molasses flavors were distinct and delicious. It was thick too and had nice creamy mouthfeel. I'd say it's time for me to start a rating system. I'll give this one an A-. I'm surprised to learn it was only 5.7% ABV 'cause a pint of it really got me as far as I needed to go.

After a couple drinks with some girlfriends, I had another beer. It was a Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing Co. (American Pale Ale, 6.0%). I really liked it! I knew it was going to be distinctly hoppy, and it was nice to be able to isolate that I found the hops refreshing! I give it an A!

It was nice and foggy and had the normal banana, clove, spice flavors, not bitter, medium thickness. It was easy to drink for sure, but not particularly memorable.

Oh the glass on the right was my porter glass, so you can still see a bit of the lacing. I sneaked my camera out while the other two people I was with were away for a minute. I just didn't want to get into an explanation to the middle aged man we were with that I blog about the beers I drink.

Anyway, as always the service at BJ's was ridiculously slow, but at least they didn't mess anything up. Also, the man we were with picked up the bill, so yay!

Saturday night Cami, Yasmin, and a newly(ish) married Mormon couple Jack and Michelle, and I went to our Mellow Mushroom for yummy food and beer. It was dollar off drafts, so we forewent the samplers in favor the special. Cami got the tasty Sleepy Hollow again, and I got the Cigar City Cuban Espresso Beer (American Brown Ale, 5.5% ABV). This may be the Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale-Espresso Aged because the descriptions sound like the beer I had. It was black and had a small creamy head that dissipated quickly. The espresso aroma was distinct, delightful and lasted all the way through. Unlike most coffee beers, the coffee/espresso taste just kept coming. At the very end it had that coffee astringency thing going on, but by that time I was pigging out on a mushroom laden hoagie and cared little. Oh, I almost forgot, the Espresso beer gets an A!

I may have a beer tonight, hard to say, I now have 4 beers in the cupboard. Mmm, :]

Lotsa drinkin', not much beer

This weekend did not see a lot of beer consumption for me since the wedding I attended featured only two beers in it's primarily wine and liquor oriented open bar: Heinekin, and Coors Light. I plan to make up for lost time next weekend. I want to go to Whole Foods to get some good imports...mm...

Halloween Party

Well ABC Liquor was just closing up for the night when I pulled up, so I had to resort to the dismal selection at RaceTrak. I wound up with Stella Artois (Euro Pale Lager; 5.0% ABV). Well I had to get it out of the way sometime. It tasted like a Euro Pale Lager in the most generic way possible.

The Weekend Before Halloween

I had a hankerin' for a beer and some Pizza on Thursday. I really wanted to go to Lazy Moon or try out Mellow Mushroom since I'd never been there, but when my sister got home from work she let me know she'd already told some friends of hers we'd meet them up at Sip, less a down to earth pizza joint than it is a quasi swanky wine-focused bar. Whatev's, I tried two new beers.

It was too dark (stupid swanky people) to get good pictures. My first beer was Orlando Brewing Company's Blonde Ale (American Pale Ale, ?% ABV). The first sip was the best, but it was decent to the bottom, kind of strawish, grassy hop flavors.

The other beer I had was the Orlando Brewing Company's Red Ale (American Amber, ?% ABV). I didn't like it as much, but it was okay. Too much hop, not enough carbonation.

After these, I was tipsy as I have lost my tolerance and had not eaten much, having saved calories for a big yummy slice of pizza. Cami and I determined that the only pizza place still open past midnight on Thursday within a reasonable distance was Broadway Pizza. It was okay, but not great, and that was disappointing. Also, I scorched the top of my mouth.

Friday night I was a loser at home with ice cream, convalescing once again from a damn gym injury.

Saturday night I had a Halloween party to attend, but my costume had not yet arrived in the mail. I still have no car, and Cami had to run out the door as soon as she got home from work. Actually, the rest of this story will appear in my travel blog. Click here if you're interested. At one point I was at Orlando Ale House and had a Shipyard Export (American Pale Ale, 5.0% ABV). This was lackluster, thin, boring, drinkable but not all that enjoyable.

Eventually I wound up in a costume, pre-drinking a Shock top Belgian White (Witbier, 5.2% ABV).




I thought it was all right, certainly drinkable anyway (probably due to being pretty carbonated and really mild).

When I got to the party I had some more of the Yuengling Black and Tans I still had around. They also had a keg, so I had some keg beer whilst losing badly at a game of beer pong. At the end of the night, I finally had the Grolsch Light (Light Lager, 5.0% ABV) I've randomly had in the fridge for a few weeks.

It wasn't offensive, just a milder lager, not so offensively bland and shitty as a Bud Light.

Sunday night another friend wanted to go to Mellow Mushroom, which was awesome except that I'd just secret shopped a fast food restaurant and wasn't really hungry. Needless to say, I still ate a third of a 10" pizza and did a sampler of four 5 oz. beers. Since Cami also did that, I tried 8 beers. Hooray! Too bad some of them aren't getting the proper glass...

1. Clipper City Loose Cannon (American IPA, 7.25% ABV): Sweet at first, then a little bitter

2. Hazed and Infused (American IPA, 4.85% ABV): Smells good, tastes pretty good, bitter/harsh finish

3. Rogue Dead Guy Ale (Helles Bock, 6.5% ABV): Not bad, not delicious, kind of different (pine?)

4. Terrapin India Brown Ale (American Brown Ale, 6.2% ABV): Pretty good, solid all the way through, with brown sugar and earthy flavors

5. Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Head (Pumpkin Ale, 9.0% ABV): Yummy, good spicyness, better at first

6. Sleepy Hollow (I believe this was another one from Shipyard, a pumpkin stout, ?% ABV): This was my favorite of all of them. Of course I love creamy stouts, and then it had the holiday spices and pumpkin flavors.

7. Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale (Fruit Beer, 4.6% ABV): Boring, just the sugary blueberry flavor.

8. Woodchuck Granny Smith Cider (Cider?,?% ABV): Well, it was cidery, kinda tastes like wine to me.

10/09/09, 10/10/09

On Friday night I joined Cami and her work friends at the Pub again (I should have this situation rectified by this weekend). Anyway, I gave Smithwick's (Irish Red Ale, 4.5% ABV) another chance since they have it on tap there. Well, it must have been better at the more authentic Irish pub where I originally had it because it was pretty meh. I think there's a special Smithwick's Pub Draught that this wasn't. It's too dark to take good pictures at that pub. Moving along...

The next night saw me through a variety of imbibing. I started the evening with an apéritif beer, one of the Yuengling Black and Tans (Black and Tan, 4.7% ABV) I had in the fridge.

This was somewhat tastier than the regular Yuengling lager, probably due to it's being half not a lager, but I'd prefer the dark half of the equation to be thicker. The head dissipated too quickly, it was somewhat smokey and crisp, kind of boring. Too bad I still have 4-5 more of these in the fridge.

After that I wound up having some wine at a Jamaican restaurant and then wound up at The Stardust Cafe, where I had the Lion Stout (Export Stout, 8.0% ABV) they had on tap.



The first sip was the best, nice and creamy, and it subsequently got a bit more bitter. I think my bartender didn't know or care enough to leave me with much head on this, but I got over it.

Unfortunately, from this point on, we went to the club where the situation dictates I must drink Bud Lights as I'd be a douche to try to order any better beers, which probably weren't available anyway, and if I'd had liquor I probably would've had an even worse hangover than the one I ended up having anyway,

Ate too much to have much beer 10/3/09

I had a Staropramen beer the other night. The picture matches the Staropramen light (3.5% ABV) beer on Beeradovate.com, but I'm pretty certain it was actually the regular Staropramen lager (Czech Pilsener, 5.0% ABV) as I have a memory of it saying 5.0% ABV. I wouldn't have knowingly picked up the light version anyway...

It was boring but not horrible, so it must have been the regular.

A couple random beers

At a pub last weekend I decided to get Harp Lager (Euro Pale Lager, 5.0% ABV) out of the way, off my checklist. I'm not a big fan of lagers anyway, and this one is plain and boring. It's not complex at all, just a little cereal, and it's a little too carbonated. Done.






The other night I had one beer (before delving into the liquor fiasco alluded too on my Bad Day Blog). It was a Hacker Pschorr Weisse Bock (Weizenbock, 5.5% ABV).
I like these unfiltered wheat beers. This wasn't my favorite ever, but it was good. Pretty decent sized, fairly thick and creamy head. You get the cloves and banana flavors, but there's not much depth to it, no real aftertaste. This beer is great if you want refreshing rather than complex.

Two Birthday Parties in one Night - 9/19/09

After getting my hair cut to an acceptable length again, I headed off to the birthday party of one of my sister's recently married, Mormon, ex-boyfriends. We went to a sports bar/restaurant. In the middle of the table sat we ex-Mormons, my sister and her friend Yasmin sipping their adorable little Bud Light Limes. I sat next to the Brit who had just cut my hair down at her salon, neither of us drinking in favor of stuffing our faces with fries, fried green beans, fried mushrooms, wings of various flavors, a muffalata, and about a dozen dipping sauces. Oh and then the birthday cake of course. I taught Yasmin how to make a good whistling sound with her straw, so that occupied us the hour or so we were there.

Then I picked up my 6 beers from ABC and headed off to party numero dos. I had actually had a beer on Thursday and Friday, and was feeling strangely hungoverish (well, the way I feel after drinking anyway), so I ended up not drinking much. Oh, the beers I had the previous two nights were draft beers, one at The Uptown Bar and one at Lazy Moon. I can't remember what the beer at Uptown was because I couldn't really read it. At Lazy moon I had a Beamish Irish Stout (Irish Dry Stout, 4.1% ABV) on tap. Oh how I love Irish stouts. So creamy...mmm... This was creamy, smooth, and malty, and it felt so good going down my throat.

Moving on to the party at which I drank beer. First up was Samuel Adam's Imperial Stout (Russian Imperial Stout, 9.2% ABV)Oh Sammy, you never fail to deliver that perfectly mediocre beer, do you? Sadly, I didn't have the most appropriate glass available to me, but I doubt the head would have improved much anyway. Really, for 9.2% ABV, I should consider this beer delicious. The first few sips tasted the best, but then the dark chocolate and coffee faded out in favor of the anise.

My second beer was a Black Dog Ale (American Amber/Red Ale, 5.2% ABV). The thing about this beer was that it had this coppery, metallic aftertaste as if I had been drinking it straight from the bottle. Other than that it was fine but not remarkable.








My final beer was a Warsteiner Premium Verum (German Pilsener, 4.8% ABV). I thought this one was delicious and gained an appreciation of the German Purity Law of 1516. It tasted like a biscuit in some ways. Mostly, my thought was that it smacks of Smacks.

Well by this point a straight girl had announced her crush on me, so my work was done, and it was time to head to bed.

Housewarming Party on 9/11/09

I went to ABC Fine Wine and Spirits to pick up some beer on the way to the party. I now have a frequent shopper's card, and I will definitely be using it. You get 10% off if you get 6 random beers, so of course I had to get 6. First up was Rogue's Mocha Porter (American Porter, 5.3% ABV). Pretty good sized head, but not as thick and creamy as I'd prefer. It was roasty, malty, and somewhat bitter. For something with "mocha" in the name I was hoping for a bit more coffee, whereas there was really only a hint here. Ah well, you can't win 'em all.

Next I had a Spaten Optimator (Doppelbock, 7.2 ABV).



The head here was pretty good, fairly thick. This was very drinkable for a 7.2%, probably due to the molasses and brown sugar one can relatively easily taste. This pushed me into nice and tipsy, prompting me to slow down on my drinking, further prompting someone to ask me if I needed latex gloves and a stethoscope. "What?" I asked. "You know, to help you nurse that thing." Well excuse me, miss rum and coke.

Haha, moving along... Samuel Smith's Organic Cider. Good stuff I'm sure, but I guess I'm just not a big cider fan. I'll stick to Sammy's ales and stouts. The next beer I hardly remember - I was at that point. Too bad I don't remember because I've been meaning to start exploring ginger beers. Left Hand Brewing Company's Juju Ginger beer (Herbed/Spiced beer, 4.0% ABV).

I went back to the fridge to decide which was next of the two remaining beers. There was only one. I walked around the party until I found the culprit, Capt. Douche: I was forgiving after letting him know he had stolen one of my beers. He wasn't exactly contrite, explaining that he had analyzed the contents of the fridge and determined this would be the beer to take. Let's take a moment: If there are a couple of unique beers alone in the back of the fridge as well as a couple of twelve packs of Yuengling, take the Yuengling, or YOU'RE a DOUCHE. He's pretty much a douche no matter what though as I've learned he spends an hour minimum every day to get his hair like that. Sexy, no?

Well after that I was offered someone else's random beer: Rocky Mountain IPA (American IPA; ABV?). I really have no memory of this beer, nor do I have any of the last of my purchased beers, Slim Chance Light Ale (American Blonde Ale, 3.9% ABV). I vaguely remember thinking it didn't taste bad.

Then we went to Steak and Shake to continue our conversation on eugenics since Pita Pit was closed.