beertastic » Chris

Harpoon Brown Session Ale

Andy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:46:05 +0000

Third up in our Friday night review-a-thon was a second from Harpoon. This was also from the ‘Beer of the Month’ box that Chris was nice enough to bring. We followed this with PBR beerpong, which reminds me: who wants to do that review?

Brewery Hometown: Boston

Appearance: Dark. Nice thick, creamy head with stubborn lacing. Dark amber tones, not opaque but its getting there. The head settles into a creamy, lovely mess.

Aroma: Andy: “more complex spices…shit, the names are escaping me. Strong malt and (very flowery) hop overtones with caramel?” Chris: “nice, hoppy” Cannon: “Smells like an IPA mixed with a dry wheat thing”

Taste: The hops attack immediately followed by a charge of citrus; surprising considering the initial scent profile. Well balanced throughout is the darker malty flavors of a brown ale. Seems to be a fairly decent IPA/Brown ale bastard child. Andy: “I get how this is a dark ale…nice” Chris: “between dark beer and a strong wheat beer…maybe it can’t decide” It has a hoppy, crisp finish that works; much better than what we started the night with. Easily the favorite of batch we tried tonight.

Alcohol: 4.5%

Drink one or all?: Two or three. Decent.

Cost: Guessing $8/sixer

Overall: Overall: Andy: 13/20 not bad, not great, Chris: 15/20 like it enough, Brian: 14/20 better than the others, Cannon: 12/20 bland and lost the carbonation quick.

Harpoon Hibernian Irish Red Ale

Andy — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:56:38 +0000

Second up is Harpoon’s Irish Red, showing up close enough to St. Patties day. Sure whatever. I (Andy) wasn’t too excited for this one based on my previous experience with this brewery, but hell…put something into my hand I’ll drink it (i.e. GRADE 9). Let’s dive in.

Brewery Hometown: Boston

Appearance: Oh baby that is red. Surprisingly dark head. We are licking our lips.

Aroma: Interesting; a maple syrup sweet almost, with darker malty overtones. Possibly a walnut-like (Chris: “planters mix nuts?!”) followup. Chris: “subtle sweetness…nothing is really catching me right now”
Nothing else ever did.

Taste: Chris and I both had a ‘WOAH not expecting that moment’. Fiercely bitter/dry. Andy: “nearly offensive, that’s mouth puckering” Chris: “its almost salty” Andy: “Chris is definitely right…salty!!! My mouth feels like it just ate a bag of pretzels” Chris: “massive dry mouth” Out of line with what we thought it was going to be initially from the aroma. Andy: “alright this is rude…sorry…I can’t support this” Chris: “definitely gets only MORE bitter as it warms” Adam: “sour, bitter aftertaste that is killing me”

Alcohol: 5.4%

Drink one or all?: One with chips. Lots of chips.

Cost: We guess $8/sixer

Overall: Andy: 8/20 Rude when warmer, Chris: 10/20 Better very cold, Adam: 11/20 Can’t drink it without food, Brian: 12/20 Liked it, but its losing me.

Uinta Four+ Rype

Andy — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:46:42 +0000

To celebrate my (yes, finally) completion of college, Chris was nice enough to share some of the beers he has been getting with his “Beer of the Month” (which is so sick I must say) membership. The first beer we reviewed was from Unita. It was by far the most interesting looking out of the box, with a strikingly orange bottle scheme. Side note; Unita apparently manufactures all of their beer using 100% wind power. Greentastic!

Brewery Hometown: St. Lake City

Appearance: Adam: “it looks like a fucking beer…from a commercial.” Thanks Adam. Clear dark yellow. Crispy. Semi-clear foaming white head.

Aroma: Chris: “a light bag of skittles sweetness…maybe blue moon (coriander)” Strong orange rind tones – go figure, its an orange infused beer.

Taste: The orange rind is the standout player with faint hints of coriander (Joe: “it is rrrrrrripe”) The orange is thankfully not a fake-syrup, but the overall character is slightly too sweet. Chris: “they aren’t kidding when they say rype.” (Clever). Jim: “tastes like a beer with orange in it…what more can I say…its a heavily fruited beer” (Even more clever). Fruity, but perhaps little boring. Andy: “very one note” Chris: “not as exciting as I was hoping to be…not as citrus-y as I was hoping for a bottle with an orange on it and an orange cap…if you’re going to do an ORANGE beer, youve got to go for it, they didn’t” Well put.

Alcohol: 4.0%

Drink one or all?: One

Cost: We guess $8/sixer

Overall: Andy: 12/20, clean but boring, Jim: 12/20 gets old fast, Adam: 13/20 doesn’t excite me, Chris: 14/20 good but not what I wanted, Joey: 13/20 ok, now I’m sick of it, Dan: 12/20 (…)

Carlsberg Premium Beer

Chris — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:33:29 +0000

Hey look at this, I’m actually participating in this beautiful little encyclopedia of opinions formed while thinking under the influence of beer. Let’s see if my three years of experience of learning how to taste coffee’s subtlest undertones comes into play while drinking something that isn’t a tongue-burning and taste bud-distracting 196 degrees.

Brewery Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark

Appearance: Medium-bodied, golden-brown, like a nicely toasted bun with latte-esque head that lingers a bit (latte-head may be a result of my pouring technique which originated behind an espresso bar. Pouring that crescent moon is addicting, even if it only lasts for a second before any decent beer’s head takes over that final little bit of the top of the pour).

Aroma: Hints of honey-roasted peanuts with a bit of a caramel-malty undertone.

Taste: Carlsberg has a very rich taste that develops as it hits different parts of the palette. It starts a bit sweet on the lips, but as it falls down the throat there’s a definite bitterness that comes through, if only for a second before calming into the rich, mildly sweet, honey-nut (cheerio) finish. One of my favorite features of Carlsberg is that when you wake up in the morning after a good (bad) night spent drinking the premium beer, you get the whole experience all over again. I’ve honestly tried brushing my teeth, using Listerine before bed, eating hot-wings at the bar, you name it, and I still end up tasting Carlsberg in the morning and remembering how I felt the night before, which is sometimes a good thing, sometimes… not so much.

It seems that Carlsberg is the perfect compliment to a decent meal. Today I had it with a nice, greasy double-cheeseburger (Teddy’s Red-Hots on Main.. we’re not talking McDonalds here), and it worked very well, bringing out the char-grilled goodness of my burger. I also recently had a Carlsberg with a nice salmon and mashed potato dinner and it played nice with the fish as well. It must be something about the variety of flavors that come through as you sip it that allows it to interact so well with different styles of food. This also attests to the weight of the beer; it sits similar to an American light beer, but has many of the flavor characteristics of European’s heaviest.

Like many beverages, Carlsberg, and most beers, taste different at different temperatures. I will say that once Carlsberg warms a little bit, it’s much more likely to linger with the bitter taste of the hops, instead of the sweetness. You’re best off finishing before your beer gets even slightly warm. Who likes drinking slow anyway?!

Carlsberg’s tagline, “Probably The Best Beer In The World,” is probably a pretty accurate statement.

Alcohol: a fast-acting 5%

Drink one or all?: I’d be a hypocrite if I said drink one, seeing as I’ve had a few nights where I just couldn’t stop. Bottoms up, drink em all.

Cost: $11.99/12, $7.49/6, generally moderately priced on draught at a decent bar

Overall: 9/10, sometimes it’s bitterness and staying power just isn’t what I’m looking for, but on almost all occasions, I can dive in and enjoy.