This article started as a review of Weedwacker; however, Weedwacker and Fancy Lawnmower share the same formula except for the yeast used. Having not tasted Lawnmower either, this has turned into a double-fisted review; Lawnmower in one hand and Weedwacker in the other. Let’s start with Fancy Lawnmower, a Kölsch-style beer. It’s golden, crystal clear, and a bit sweet and malty. Overall, it’s a pleasant beer to drink but nothing extraordinary. I’m also drinking Weedwacker. This beer is the first  [ Read More ]

What makes a pils a Noble pils? No, it’s not beer royalty. According to Samuel Adams, it’s the inclusion of all five Noble hops into this one seasonal brew. This is one of the better pilsners I’ve had; it’s sweet at first and gives a bitter bite on the back end. A light citrus flavor comes with the bitter hops. I’m a bit surprised this beer is this good! Noble Pils can be found around the Walt Disney World resort  [ Read More ]

Check out the photo from my new photography studio! It may or may not be made from a cardboard box, tissue paper, masking tape, and poster board. But that’s not why you’re here… on with the beer! I previously reviewed Divine Reserve #9 by Saint Arnold about 12 months after its release; it was still delicious and perhaps even better than it tasted when first released. Here we are now about 19 months after it had been bottled and it’s  [ Read More ]

Black Butte Porter, named for the Black Butte (pronounced byoot, not butt) in Oregon, is a pitch black porter from Deschutes (pronounced dey-shoot) Brewery in Bend, Oregon. I’ve not been to Bend, but I have been to Eugene, Oregon (home of the Oregon Ducks) and it’s absolutely beautiful up there. Looking at Google Maps, however, I was closer to Bend than I thought; we skied at Mount Bachelor which is just west of Bend and just north of the Deschutes National Forest.  [ Read More ]

This brew is one of Ed‘s and @KimberKnight‘s favorites; Unibroue Éphémère.  The word éphémère means ephemeral in French. Dictionary.com defines ephemeral as “lasting a very short time”. Something I did not know prior to writing this is that Éphémère is actually a series of beers whose fruit content changes with the season. The one I have here is apple, the most popular version. There have also been cranberry, blackcurrant, peach, and raspberry varieties. Apple is the only one sold year-round, and also the only one available  [ Read More ]

La Fin du Monde – “The End of the World” in French – is an absolutely delicious beer from Canada’s Unibroue. This brewery, although located in Quebec, concentrates on brewing beer in the Trappist tradition. In this case, La Fin du Monde isn’t referring to the Book of Revelations or the Flash animation (“Fire ze missiles!!”), but how European explorers thought North America was “the end of the world” when they discovered it. According to Unibroue this is the first  [ Read More ]

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is named after the Sierra Nevada mountain range. But don’t worry, it doesn’t taste like mountains. Mountains taste like dirt, water and trees. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale still tastes like beer. According to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company website, “critics proclaim [the brewery's beers as a whole, I guess] ‘Among the best brewed anywhere in the world.’” No word on who these critics are, however. Marketing thrives on hyperbole. Now don’t get me wrong,  Sierra Nevada’s  [ Read More ]

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 ]