Review: Bush De Noël (Scaldis Noël)

Brasserie Dubvisson Fréres


Grade:  B+

Appearance: Pours a brownish-orange with a dirty white head that leaves good lacing.

Smell: Strong Belgian yeast and alcohol aromas.  Smells of cherries, plums and raisons.  Candy sugar and caramel linger as well.  Alcohol presence is strong, but blends in well with the various flavors.

Taste: Lots of dark fruit and yeast up front, followed by sweet, candied malt.  The dry alcohol finish is complimented nicely with slight spiciness.  Not as complex as others of the sytle, but the few flavors are good.

Mouthfeel:  A medium, chewy mouthfeel with bubbly carbonation, especially at the finish.  Yum.

Drinkability: This little 8 oz. bottle packs a 12% ABV punch.  Needless to say, it is a sipper.

Overall: This is a well crafted Belgian Strong Ale.  It lacks complexity, but in this case, simple is better.  It is boozy, but compliments the flavors, like a fine liqueur.  Well done.  I'm going to pick up a couple more to age.

(Wanted to review it in my snifter, but I couldn't find it.)

Review: Wilco Tango Foxtrot

The Lagunitas Brewing Co.

Grade:  C+

Appearance: Pours a dark ruby color with a big, frothy off-white head that lessens, but leaves thick, sticky lacing.

Smell: Strong pine hops with thick malts and citrus notes.  Undertones of coffee, caramel and dark fruits.  It definitely smells like an American Strong Ale.

Taste: Strong taste of roasted malts and burnt brown sugar.  Some faint toffee, vanilla and citrus.  Light hops linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel: On the heavy side of medium with medium, airy carbonation.

Drinkability: While the 7.8% ABV is hidden well, it is a heavy, malt forward beer.  If you are drinking this on a full stomach, forget about asking for another.

Overall: This is a pretty average strong ale from a great brewery that should be better.  There aren't enough hops to balance out the heavy malt.  However, the hops really show up towards the end of the bottle, as it gets warmer.  This is a respectable strong ale that is easy to find, but there are better ones out there.

News: The Top 10 Selling Beers in America 2011

According to beer sales, the Top 10 (per market share) are as follows:

Grandpa: "I remember when beers cost 15¢!"

1.  Bud Light: 19.2%

2.  Budweiser: 12%

3.  Miller Lite:  8.6%

4.  Coors Light:  7.8%

5.  Natural Light:  4.2%

6.  Corona:  4%

7.  Busch:  2.8%

8.  Busch Light:  2.8%

9.  Heineken:  2.4%

10.  Miller High Life:  2.3%


What decade are we in?  Are we still in the decades where the the only beers around were beers like PBR, Budwesier and Schlitz? Can anybody else see what is wrong with this list?  The fact that beers like Busch and Busch Light are on it should be enough of a clue.  Seriously, America?! It seriously makes me throw up a little.  I just want make it clear that I am not blaming the older beer consumers or the college kids.  Most of the older crowd grew up 20-30 years ago when only PBR, Miller and Coors were around.  And most college kids drink it to get wasted on a budget.  To be frank, this is an embarrasing list.  The prominent beer countries of the world, which are Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic, are laughing in our faces. Come on America!

"There are hot girls in their ad! I'm going to
buy their beer!"

Anheuser-Busch spends over $1 BILLION A YEAR on marketing.  $1 BILLION! Do you know why?  It is the only way to convince consumers to drink their beer.  None of their advertising discusses the quality of their beer or how great of a product it is.  They put out stupid commercials trying to be clever and funny only to distract consumers and hide the truth.  They know their beer is crap, but they don't want you to know that. They count on the fact that you will ignore the quality and drink Bud Light because everybody else does and it is the trendy thing to do.  And don't get me started with MillerCoors' "Man card" bs.  The way I see it, you shouldn't even have a "man card" if you are drinking Miller Light, or any light beer for that matter.  People say they hate Target and Wal-Mart because they put local business out of commission.  Well guess what?  Anhesier-Busch and MillerCoors are the Wal-Mart and Target of beer.  Why Americans continue to support them is beyond me.  Considering that not one quality beer is on this list is flabbergasting and seriously scares me.

I have heard numerous reasons why people choose to drink those beers instead of real beers:

"I'm happy drinking a watered down light beer
because I need to lose weight."

"I am trying to lose weight," or "I can't afford all the calories a better beer provides."  

First of all, if you are worried about your weight, you shouldn't be drinking beer at all.  Period!  Drink wine or have a mixed drink.  If you want to have a beer, suck it up and drink a real beer!  Instead of pounding a 20 pack of Bud Light, buy a six pack of an enjoyable, quality beer and drink it in moderation.

"These beers are cheaper."

With the price of these beers steadily rising, the price gap between these cheap beers and good quality beers has narrowed.  I even went to the store the other day and compared.  A six pack of Budweiser was priced at $6.99 and a six pack of Sierra Nevada was priced at $7.99.  Only a dollar more!  Its not like choosing the cheaper beers will save you a bunch of money or will give you a higher alcohol content.  Its just choosing lower quality, watered down beers with the equivalent alcohol content of a good quality beer. 

"I like the taste."

If you say this in regards to any of the beers mentioned above, you don't like beer.  Period! None of those "beers" should ever be considered beers.  Beer doesn't taste like carbonated water and corn adjuncts.  They are a beverage made with the crappiest and cheapest ingredients.  They then water it down making it easier to pound a six pack in 10 min., thus increasing their sales and profit margin.  It no coindidence that a 20 pack of Bud Light is usually cheaper than a 12 pack of Bud Light.  It's all about quantity over quality (and yes, I am picking on Bud Light for several reasons).  If you drink those beers, its fine, but please don't call yourself a beer drinker.

So there you have it, folks.  The top 10 selling beers in America.  Sigh....

Review: Pike Dry Wit

The Pike Brewing Co.

Grade:  C-

Appearance: Pours a hazy pale orange with a weak white head that reduces to a thin layer of foam and laves ok lacing.

Smell: Yeasty with fruity notes and coriander.  Some wheat, lemon grass and spices are present as well.  A bit of orange peel and possibly grains of paradise.

Taste: Almost tastes like a hybrid of an American wheat and a wit.  Dry citrus notes of wheat take over the start.  The various spices of cinnamon, coriander and lavender show up.  Mid-palate there are accents of graham crackers.  Finishes bone dry with some residual spices.

Mouthfeel: Light for a wit with medium, almost creamy, carbonation.

Drinkability: Its refreshing and light in flavor and body until the finish.  Like most wits, its pretty drinkable.

Overall: It is what it is: a dry wit.  However, this one  just has too many spices and not enough malt.  The taste is bone dry throughout and leaves me wanting a bit sweeter wit that isn't a spice bomb.

Review: Grand Cru Winter Reserve

Flying Fish Brewing Co.

Grade:  B

Appearance: Pours a somewhat cloudy white orange with a soda-like off-white head that reduces quickly and leaves traces of lacing.

Smell: Classic floral and fruity Belgian yeast with some honey, light caramel and lemon citrus.

Taste: Yeasty with some wheat and malt sweetness.  Simple, light flavors of hop bitterness and lemony citrus.  Finish is slightly dry and yeasty with some hops and lemon.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate, tickling carbonation on the tongue.

Drinkability: Strong.  This is a lighter and refreshing Belgian style ale.  The yeast is there, but in moderation and the lemon notes balance it out.

Overall: I enjoyed this brew.  Its nothing extraordinary, but the flavors are clean, distinguished and in balance.  I would easily buy this again when I come across it.  I'm not sure why it is a "Winter Reserve" because I can drink this all year, especially in the summer.

Review: Scuttlebutt Porter

Scuttlebutt Brewing Co.

Grade: D-

Appearance: Pours the classic porter black with a tan head that dissipates to solid, sticky lacing.

Smell: Sweet, roasted malts with chocolate and a bit of coffee.  There is some tartness, toffee and slight biscuit flavors.

Taste: Strong coffee and sour tartness with dark fruit.  Fairly astringent and possibly infected.  There is a light flavor of malt and dark chocolate.  It finishes dry, tangy and roasty.  Not much else is going on.

Mouthfeel: Thin and watery for a porter with medium carbonation.

Drinkability: The light body makes this porter easy to down, but the astringency prevents me from having another.

Overall: Not a very good porter.  Thin, watery and strong sour tartness makes for a below par porter.  This is my first beer from Scuttlebutt and I don't know if it is infected or plain bad.  I will give the brewery the benefit of the doubt and vote infected.  I will revisit this one if I happen to come across it again and see if I get the same results.

Review: Leavenworth Boulder Blend Dunkelweizen

Fish Brewing Co.

Grade: D+

Appearance: Pours a cloudy dark brown with an amber tint.  The dirty white head fades fast and leaves weak lacing.

Smell: Sweet malts with a bit of chocolate and caramel mingled with some wheat and yeast.  The smell is pretty muted.

Taste: Toasty malts and a light choclate flavor.  No wheat-like characteristics at all.  Some spices and clove notes are there.  The finish is slightly toasty with minimal hops. That's about it.

Mouthfeel:  Lighter-bodied with medium carbonation and pretty smooth.

Drinkability: Decent.  Light toasted malts with a pretty thin body makes this very sessionable.

Overall:  The label says, "Alpine-style Dark Wheat Ale."  Where is the wheat?  Where is the weizen yeast?  I can't find them.  This is a decent dunkel, but in no way should it be considered a dunkelweizen.  It seems more like a Munich Dunkel to me, but that's it.