Harpoon UFO White

One very popular and widely seen style of beer is the Belgian White (wit) style. This is a wheat beer brewed coriander and orange peel, and some are unfiltered with live yeast in the bottle. Belgian Whites are easy to find, so many breweries brew them. This particular White ale is Harpoon’s UFO (Unfiltered Offering) White, 4.8% ABV. Harpoon UFO White pours a hazy yellowish color with two finger bright white head that stay for a little while and forms some decent lacing. I found very small traces of light through the glass with an average amount of carbonation bubble, this is do to the cloudy/hazy nature of this beer. The aroma on this Harpoon has a small hint of wheat gains with a big orange zesty aroma with hints of spiciness. The taste on Harpoon UFO White has a slightly sweet orange at first, and then you get a wheat grain taste that has just small hint of spiciness from the coriander.  There is also a nice carbonation feel to this beer. The mouth full is slightly full but has light to medium qualities to it. The finishes is fuller with hints of the citrusy flavors that lead into a nice sweet refreshing wheat like aftertaste with hints of citrus. Overall this is a good and well-balanced beer, so with that said Harpoon UFO White gets an A-. I do think that some Belgian whites are slightly better than this (not that is in any way a bad beer), for example Hoegaarden is at the top of my Belgian White list. The only thing wrong with Harpoon UFO White (not a big thing) is that I found it to be not a crisp as some Belgian Whites, but somewhat close. I do recommend that you go out and try Harpoon UFO White and see what you think of it.  Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager

German beers brewers are pretty straightforward about the styles of beer that they brew. They tend not to stray far from the true version of a particular style of beer. This one Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager, 5.1% ABV, is true to that statement. The style is known as a winter lager. Winter lagers are slightly more malty and rich than are normal lagers would be. Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager pours an amber color with a three finger white head that slowly dissipates into nice wispy lacing around the glass. I saw nice amounts of light coming through and nice carbonation bubbles as well. The aroma is a bit sweeter than a regular lager would tend to be, and there is a faint earthy tone as well. You do get a faint biscuit/breaded scent. The taste is a bit malty, but not overly malty and you do get a little sweetness that isn’t there to long, but just long enough to enjoy. The sweetness is reminiscent of light semi-sweet chocolate. The taste is also earthy with a grassy like taste, but not in the way an IPA would be. It is more of a lager grain type of flavor then an earthy flavor. The mouth feel is medium and the finish is nice smooth with a touch of malty sweetness. The aftertaste is slightly sweet with hints of earthy, grainy biscuit flavor. This Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager goes well for a winter day like yesterday or today, not such an easy drinker, but close. Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager is good, so it gets an A. German beers are always high up on my list, and even ones that I have not had before. Germans are masters and brewing beer and consistently brew great beer and this one was no exception, it was a good winter beer. So go out and pick up Lammsbräu Organic Winter Spezial Premium Bavarian Lager, and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly! 

Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager

The word/style lager gets somewhat of a bad reputation in the world of beer. That is due to BMC (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) for their beers. But in Germany lager is a better style of beer and has been around a lot longer than our good old USA. Here, Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager, 4.9% ABV has been brewed since 1634. Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager pours a bright gold color with a thick three finger brilliant white bubbly head that stick around for a while and leaves behind some amazing lacing around the glass. There is plenty of light shining through the glass with tons of carbonation bubbles racing toward the foamy white head. The aroma on this Munich Lager is bready and biscuity with some slight yeast scents. The taste on Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager is less bready than you get on the aroma but is still as biscuity. I found this Paulaner to be buttery and smooth with a slight hint of a carbonated feel. The mouth feel is on the lighter side. The finish is smooth slightly crisp and has a nice biscuity and slightly buttery after taste. Overall Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager is a nice plan but great lager. So Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager get an A here. This Lager is great not to overwhelming in any sort of way, it’s an easy drinking German Lager and not high on the ABV either. So you can drink a few of this and really enjoy them unlike some lager from this country. So go out and try Paulaner Original Munich Premium Lager as see what you think! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

Bell's Expedition Stout

As the season change so does the style of beer, like now, winter, the beer tends to be darker. People drink dunkels, schwarzbier, brown ales, porters, stouts and other such styles. Here we have Bell’s Expedition Stout, 10.5% ABV.  Expedition Stout is an imperial stout, which is just a stronger stout style usually over 9% ABV.   Bell’s Expedition Stout pours a thick rich black color that is a bit brown on the edges of the glass and has a finger of tan/brown head that went out rather quickly. I found no light coming though the glass nor did I see and sort of carbonation bubbles. The aroma on Bell’s Expedition Stout is big with a roasted coffee bitterness with hint of baker’s chocolate and faint licorice. The taste is big with a bitterness up front quickly followed by a baker’s chocolate with hints of black licorice. I didn’t really get a roasted flavor on this like I would’ve expected. The mouth feel is full and heavy with a warm thickness. The finish is big with bitterness, and aftertaste of bitter chocolate and faint licorice, with a very tiny roasted flavor following around the rest. I would say this Bell’s Expedition Stout is at least a B-. I think that if you bit this in you pantry or cellar for a while it would mellow out and become less bitter, and might be sweeter. Bell’s even recommends that on the back label, I would have to agree with that. It would hold up nicely to time. But having this fresh isn’t bad. It is true to the imperial stout style, but it could’ve been a little less bitter with some more roasted notes. Overall this is not a bad beer. Bell’s Expedition Stout starts to have a little more bitter and roasted flavors as it warms up some, But not enough to go higher than B-. So go and try Bell’s Expedition Stout and see what you think of it, and get two on to have now and one to set aside for a while. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

Vielle Provision Saison DuPont

Well today is the last day of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and I hope everyone had a great one. But here is a popular beer among beer geeks. This beer here is Saison DuPont, 6.5% ABV. Brewed at Europe’s last farmhouse breweries, in Hainaut province. This Belgian is a classic example of the Belgian Saison style. The increasingly rare specialty originated before the age of refrigeration as beer to be brewed in winter for summer drinking. But you can find this style and this beer year round. The style required a beer sturdy enough to age in the bottle but refreshing enough to be enjoyed in the warm weather. Saison DuPont pours a hazy golden yellow color with a dense three finger bright white head. I found very little amount of light streaming through the glass with some carbonation bubbles rising from the bottom. The aroma is a slight fruity bouquet with a peppery spice note. They is a slight white wine aroma to this. The taste starts of fruity with some dankness and a slight peppery spice then becomes slightly bitter and tart. The mouth feel is medium with a refreshing body with a dry and very clean finish with a dank, fruity and slightly spicy aftertaste. Saison DuPont gets a B+ from me, and I though it was just a little to heavy on the pepper like spices for my taste, but not bad.  But other than that it’s a very good beer. Yes it is refreshing and has good flavors to it. Yes I would have this again, but it not one I would hurry out and by again, but something I would pick this up soon.  So go out and try Saison DuPont and see what you think of this Belgian beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Newcastle Cabbie

When one thinks of Newcastle they usually think of brown ale, but this isn’t brown ale this Newcastle is a black ale, called Newcastle Cabbie, 4.2% ABV.  Newcastle Cabbie is brewed with dark malts and noble aroma hops. You’d think being black ale Newcastle Cabbie would pour that way, but Cabbie pours a deep dark brownish red almost black color with tan beige head that dissipates kind of slowly and leaves behind little traces of lacing. I found not much light through the glass nor did I see much of any carbonation bubbles due to the darkness of this ale. The aroma is of very light roasted coffee with hints of chocolate. There is some sort of a light darker fruit scent there as well. The taste on Newcastle Cabbie is light with hints of roasted malts and coffee around a faint chocolate flavor. However I didn’t find much of a light fruit taste. But as this beer warms up a bit the roasted malts and coffee like flavor becomes a bit stronger and more present. The mouth feel is light medium with a nice smooth finish that leads into a mild dark roasted coffee and semi sweet aftertaste. I went into this Newcastle Cabbie thinking it was more stout or porter like and it was way milder than that. Newcastle Cabbie gets a C+, almost getting a B- but not quite. Newcastle Cabbie is still just a C+ beer. I think if I have this again I will let it really warm up before having it. It did get better as I got the end of it and the beer was slight warmer. But I you do expect most Newcastle beer to be much milder than some others out there. Not a bad beer but just not what I was expecting it to be. I would like to have this again just to see how it is when it a bit warmer. So go out and try Newcastle Cabbie and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Special Edition St. Bernardus Abt 12 (three years old)

One of my favorite countries to have beer from is Belgium. They have some of the world’s best breweries and beers. So one of my family friends came for Thanksgiving with a big bottle of Special Edition St. Bernardus Abt 12 11% ABV, (Belgian Quad) but he had it in his closet for two years. What makes this St. Bernardus Abt 12 special is that it’s brewed for the sixtieth anniversary of the creation of this special variety of St. Bernardus Abt 12. This special edition contains hops from Poperinge: Challenger and Golding, and has been brewed with black, amber, Munich and pale ale malts. St. Bernardus Abt 12 pours a deep rich mahogany brown that is dark red around the edges with big light beige three finger head that does stick around for a little bit before it fades. I didn’t see any carbonation bubbles on this nor did is see any light streaming through the glass due to the dark color of the beer. The aroma on this three year St. Bernardus Abt 12 is a slight pipe tobacco with hint of vanilla covered leather, there is a slight scent of faded dark fruits like raisins and plums, but those ad almost not there due to the fact that this bottle is three years old. Now the taste on St. Bernardus Abt 12 is not what you would taste if you where to try this with a bottle you just bought, so the taste on this three year old bottle is way more vanilla and sweeter, but it’s not in your face sweet vanilla, it’s more of a smooth and silky tasting vanilla. There is less of the alcohol flavor presence due to aging this. I also found very small and faint roasted note, but it was so faint that at first I wasn’t sure what it really was. The mouth feel is medium but smooth; St. Bernardus Abt 12 finishes sweet and leads into a nice smooth vanilla and slight yet faint coconut aftertaste. St. Bernardus Abt 12 is one of the best Belgian Quads, if not the best in the world. But normally this beer isn’t as sweet and smooth when fresh, but after a little bit of age it become a masterpiece of Belgian perfection and mellows out a bit. So St. Bernardus Abt 12 (three years old) gets one big A+ here. Aging this is something you should try! I recommend that you pick up two St. Bernardus Abt 12’s one to have now and one to let sit and age for a while and you can see how they compare to one another. So again I hope you had a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Brewery Ommegang Hennepin Farmhouse Ale

Welcome back to The Best Beer Blog, it has been a while but here is another beer review.  Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! in the last few years the Farmhouse Saison has been growing in popularity. This style hails from Belgium and is brewed in the farmhouse to be enjoyed during the summer months. But now Saisons can be enjoyed year round. This particular Farmhouse Saison is Hennepin, 7.7% ABV, from Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown N.Y. Hennepin is named fro the explorer Father Hennepin, the first European to visit Niagara Falls. Hennepin pours a bright but hazy yellow/golden color with a huge three-finger white fluffy head that stays for quite some time. There is a good amount of carbonation bubbles to this Saison with very limited amount of light streaming through the glass. The aroma on Hennepin is a rich peppery bouquet with a hint of lemon and orange peel. The taste of Hennepin is big with a rustic flavor of spicy ginger light hints of orange peel with a peppery yet slightly spicy note. You can really taste the alcohol around all the other funky flavors on this beer. The mouth feel is medium to slightly light with a nice spicy zesty finish. The aftertaste on Hennepin is lemony with hints of a grainy peppery orange. Overall this is a spectacular tasting beer. Hennepin gets A+. Ommegang has brewed on darn good Saison here. I couldn’t find a thing wrong with this beer. Hennepin has a lot of flavors going on here but none of its flavors clash with each other. I really think that you should go out and try Hennepin Saison and see what you think. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!