In Epcot, Carlsberg can be found in Norway in World Showcase. However, Carlsberg (the beer) hails from Denmark, not Norway. Wikipedia has an entire article about beer in Norway that details its history. The major beer-producing company for both Norway and Denmark is Carlsberg-Ringnes. The Ringnes side of Carlsberg-Ringnes is based in Oslo, Norway, while the Carlsberg side, as noted before, is Danish. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to serve one or more Ringnes beers instead of Carslberg as  [ Read More ]

Stone, a brewery in San Diego, CA, loves to make a strong beer; they refer to the brews as “big character ales”. Sometimes, they go overboard. Stone’s IPA, however, is pretty good. It’s a one-trick pony; hops dominate the flavor throughout, giving the beer a citrus aroma and bitter taste with citrus notes. It’s also a bit dry, and the taste gets more flavorful as it warms up a bit. When a beer is ice cold, it numbs the taste  [ Read More ]

Many say the Guinness served here in the States doesn’t taste the same as the Guinness served in Ireland, its home country. Since I’ve never been to Ireland, I can’t say for sure whether that’s true or not. Like Boddingtons Pub Ale, this one came from a nitrogen-pressurized can. The effect is much the same as the Boddingtons; the nitrogen makes this an extremely smooth and creamy beer with a nice head. It has a light coffee and chocolate flavor  [ Read More ]

I picked up Kona Brewing Company’s season beer, Kona Wailua because I love their Longboard beer commonly found at the Polynesian resort. Kona Wailua is a wheat ale blended with tropical passion fruit and has a slightly sweet/sour flavor. It’s not an overpowering beer and is fairly refreshing, especially in the summer heat (well at least its hot down here in North Carolina). I highly recommend this beer if you are a fan of fruit beer or even if you  [ Read More ]

I bought another pick 6 from the grocery store, and Samuel Adams Imperial White is the first brew out of the pack. Wow, this beer delivers a kick in the teeth! It has a strong citrus taste with a alcoholic bite. This is quite a sweet beer and lacks a hoppy bitterness though. It’s also a bit syrupy; the label claims it has a bigger mouthfeel and it certainly does. In my admittedly limited Samuel Adams experience, this is one  [ Read More ]

Leinenkugel’s signature flavor has a caramel flavor to it that I honestly wasn’t expecting. Not that it’s a bad thing, by any means.  I actually like that it gives it a unique flavor.

Summer Shandy is a lemonade-flavored beer that is designed to be a summertime favorite. The lemonade flavoring is distinctive without being over-powering. I probably wouldn’t drink this on a regular basis…but it’s more enjoyable than I expected.

It’s almost unfair to drink this after drinking Divine Reserve #11. As Saint Arnold’s normal IPA it’s pretty good, but the comparisons to Divine Reserve #11 are inevitable. It’s much more muted than Divine Reserve #11. Heck, it’s more muted than Lagunitas IPA and Abita Jockamo IPA too. That being said, this beer is extremely smooth, especially for an IPA; this style usually attacks your tongue with hop flavors. I don’t dislike Elissa, but it’s not my favorite IPA either.  [ Read More ]

Lindsay, Jackie and Scott spent the afternoon together to enjoy a few beers; two of these were for an upcoming article, but the third was the newly-released Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #11. Every so often Saint Arnold, Houston’s local microbrewery and Texas’ oldest craft brewery, releases a single batch of a big beer under its Divine Reserve label. This particular beer is a double IPA. So who is Saint Arnold? According to the Wikipedia article, Saint Arnold was a soldier  [ Read More ]

This could have been a one word article: “Fail”. Roswell Alien Amber was one of the latest pick six I bought from the grocery store. The label looked interesting so I bought it. I should have seen the gimmick from a mile away. According to the label, Uncle Sam has been trying to keep this ale a secret for 50 years. The only reason to keep this a secret is because you’re embarrassed you drank it. Its taste is almost  [ Read More ]