Cerveza De Los Muertos Queen of the Night Pale Ale

I don’t find Mexican beers to over the top great nor do I find them terrible, most of them taste okay. I also don’t see much craft beer out of Mexico either, but I do see some starting to appear on the shelves here and there. Mexico has some of the biggest breweries in the world down there that produce some popular beer that are all over the world. So Mexican brewers are doing okay. So here is one example of Mexican craft beer. This is Cerveza De Los Muertos (Day of The Dead Beer) Queen of the Night Pale Ale, 4.8% ABV. Queen of the Night Pale Ale pours a deep orange/copper color with a two and a half to almost three finger fluffy white head. The head fade rather slowly and leaves behind nice foamy lacing in the glass. There is some light coming through the glass but on a lot, and I found there to be a nice level of carbonation there. The aroma on Queen of the Night Pale Ale is slightly malty with a big aroma of grassy earthy hops around it with a touch of an orange like citrusy scent. The taste is nice with a grassy earthy note with a slight hoppy bitterness but just enough to let you know that the hops are there. I don’t find this to be overly hoppy. Queen of the Night Pale Ale does have a nice malt flavor that complements the hoppy flavors. Queen of the Night Pale Ale has a nice balance between the hops and the malts. I also get a bit of an earthy citrusy orange flavor. Queen of the Night Pale Ale has a nice slightly malted grassy hop bitter finish that isn’t to bad and has an after taste of a grassy and slight bitter hoppy orange that fades sort of slow on your taste buds. Overall not a bad beer, but not what I would call great, I’d say that Queen of the Night Pale Ale is a C beer. Yeah I though I was interesting, just because it was a craft beer from Mexico and you don’t see to many of that. There is nothing wrong with the beer, or none that I could find. Go out and try Cerveza De Los Muertos Queen of the Night Pale Ale and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!  

  

Rail House Brewery KA-BAR BROWN

Brown ales run the gambit of differences; there are many different brown types of ale out there. Brown ales can be light or dark, semi-sweet to very sweet. Some are nutty and others can be hoppy, which is an India Brown Ale (brown IPA). There are even American and English style brown ales. But brown ale is originally English steam from mild ales. Here is and American version of an English style brown ale, Ka-Bar Brown, 6.0% ABV. A Ka-Bar is a U.S. Marine issued knife. This brown ale is brewed by Rail House Brewery in Aberdeen North Carolina and is owned and brewed by veterans. Ka-Bar Brown is brewed with prominent caramel and nutty flavors. Ka-Bar Brown pours a deep dark brown almost black color with a two and half tan head that fades somewhat slowly.  I found very little light coming through the glass with large amounts of carbonation bubbler. The aroma on Ka-Bar Brown is sweet and slightly malted with a hint of chocolate. The taste is slightly less exciting than the aroma, but not necessarily a bad thing. There is a big sweetness that comes over your taste buds at first, a little too much for me but it was okay. There is also a faint chocolate flavors that are barely there, with the prominent caramel that is there. I found a bit of some malted flavors. But I didn’t really taste any nutty flavor, which is a let down. If it is marked on the label as nutty flavors then I should find nutty flavor in the taste. The mouth feel is thin (like some of the flavors). Ka-Bar Brown has nice smooth finish that leads into a sweet after taste of semi-sweet chocolate and a faint malted flavors. Overall not the best brown ale, but not the worst, so Ka-Bar Brown just barley gets a B-. I felt the beer was too thin tasting and need more body to help it out some. But it was okay. I would have this again; it’s not bad at all. So go out and try Rail House Brewery Ka-Bar Brown and see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!     

Chimay Triple (White)

The name “Triple” actually steams from part of the brewing process, in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt than a Standard Trappist “simple”. Triples tend to have high alcohol levels that range 8.0% - 12.0%. They tend to have higher bitterness for a lighter body beer. But Triples tend have a good balance and most of the time you can’t taste much of the hops. The lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candy sugar (up to 25% sucrose), which not only lightens the body but also adds complex alcoholic aromas and flavors. Small amount of spices are sometimes added as well. Here is on famous example of a true Belgian Triple, Chimay Triple 8.0% ABV. This Chimay is also known as Chimay White due to the color of the cap and the label. Chimay Triple pours hazy copper color with a three and a half finger brilliant white head that last until your Chalice (proper glass for a triple) is empty. There is great thick lacing on the glass as well. I found some nice amounts of light through the glass with a huge amount of carbonation.  The aroma on Chimay Triple is yeasty and sugary with some bread aromas and some slight sweet pear like scents as well. But I also found there to be a faint floral note, but it’s like it almost not there. The taste is carbonated and sweet with a big hit of alcohol. It has a yeasty sweet breaded taste with hints of pear and very faint lemon with a touch of spice that very faintly reminiscent of a Belgian White spice. The mouth feel is medium to almost heavy with a thick yeasty sweet and lightly spicy finish, which leads into a nice sweet yeasty pear after taste that is very pleasant. Chimay Triple is a solid example of a Belgian Triple, and is on of the top beer in the world that you must try. I give Chimay Triple an A+. It is exactly what a true Belgian Triple should be. Chimay Tripe is a classic Belgian and been around for a very long time. I highly recommend Chimay Triple. So go and try Chimay Triple and see how you like it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

Allagash White

When you think of the state of Maine not much really comes to mind except for lobsters. But there is a great craft beer brewery there in Portland Maine, Allagash. Allagash brews mainly traditional Belgian style beers. Most of them are widely popular among concerning craft beer drinkers. Here is on of they’re offerings, Allagash White, 5.1%, beer brewed with spices. A white beer is usually brewed with wheat and spices such as coriander and can be bottle conditioned (last fermentation is done in the bottle, which means there is a bit of yeast at the bottom of the bottle) such as this Allagash. This Allagash beer comes in a 12 ounce four pack or a 750 ML corked bottle. Allagash White pours a hazy yellow color with a big fluffy three finger bright white head that sticks around for a while, leaving behind thick whips of lacing. There is a very small amount of light coming through the glass, but its just barely visible, and there is a decent amount of carbonation bubbles. The aroma on Allagash White is slightly spiced with yeasty wheat scents, and a faint lemon like note. The taste on Allagash White is a nice spiced wheat and lemon like note that is quite refreshing. The spices in this beer aren’t as predominate as some white beers have, but it’s still noticeable. The wheat components are present than the spices. The spices are more noticeable in the back of your mouth. The mouth feel is medium with a nice somewhat spices crisp finish. The after taste is most refreshing with nice spiced wheat flavor that linger on the back of your taste buds. Overall Allagash White is most refreshing and crisp making it a great beer, so this gets an A+. I really enjoyed Allagash White a lot, and I highly recommend this. It is spot on what a Belgian style White beer should be. So go out and try Allagash White and see what you think of it. You will not be disappointed. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Astra Alsterwasser

One German style of beer that is found to be most refreshing is the Radler. Radler is originally half beer (hops, malt, & barely) and half lemonade. But there are some that have other fruits in them such as grapefruit. It isn’t uncommon to find radlers with low ABVs; they are usually around 2.0% to 3.0%. Here is Astra Alsterwasser from Hamburg Germany, 2.5% abv. This Astra Alsterwass was brought to me from German by one of my great exchange Brother Ben Engles. Alsterwasser pours a nice crisp clear golden color, with a quarter finger thin white head that fades super quick. This beer is so clear you can see straight though the glass and there is tons of carbonation bubbles. The aroma on Alsterwasser is somewhat similar to a Sprite. It has a nice fresh lemonade scent with nice effervesces. The taste on Alsterwasser is refreshingly sweet and carbonated. It has a nice balance between with the lemonade so that it isn’t overly lemony or sweet. The mouth feel is light, crisp and refreshing. Alsterwasser has a nice semi sweet refreshing finish and an after taste of lemon and lemonade that is quick on your taste buds. Overall Astra Alsterwasser is a crisp, refreshing and very drinkable beer, and I really enjoyed it. I also thought the label and bottle cap were cool. Astra Alsterwasser gets an A here. With and ABV of only 2.5%, this is a great summer beer for a hot day. If you every come across Astra Alsterwasser, I highly recommend you try this you will not be disappointed. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Diamond Knot Brewing Co. Vienna German Style Ale

It’s has been a while since my last post/review. But here is another review. Here is a beer from Diamond Knot Brewing Co. in Mukilteo, Washington, and this is Vienna German Style Ale, 5.6% ABV and is in a one pint six fluid ounce bottle. Vienna pours a slightly hazy bright orange color with a one finger white head that fades relatively slowly but doesn’t leave much behind in the way of any lacing. I found very tiny amounts of light coming though the glass with an average amount of carbonation. The aroma on Vienna is kind of IPA like with a somewhat citrus like scent with some light grassy herb like notes. The taste is first lightly bitter with some citrus orange that is a bit off putting. The bitter taste on this beer is almost a touch sour, but just barely. The mouth feel is light (feels thin on your taste buds). Vienna has a bittering finish that is slightly dank. The after taste is not very good; it has even more bitterness that leans more in the sour direction. Overall this beer is most disappointing. I was thinking it was going to slightly better than okay, and I knew that it wouldn’t be a great beer. So having said that Vienna gets a D- here. Just one beer that didn’t having anything good going for it, not even the label was remotely good. I do not recommend this beer at all. Please don’t try this beer. I wish I had not had it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

Shiner White Wing Belgian White

The Belgian White Style is probably one of the most popular styles of beer; this is due to the fact that Blue Moon and Shock top are so widely popular. Belgian white is a light drinking and refreshing style that isn’t high in alcohol either. Here is a new Belgian White from Shiner, (The Spoetzl Brewery, Shiner, Texas) White Wing Belgian White, 4.7% ABV. White Wing is brewed with authentic Belgian yeast, coriander, orange peal, barley, wheat malts and Saaz hops. White Wing Belgian White pours a light yellow color with a big thick three finger head that fades somewhat slowly into thin lacing. There is plenty of light streaming through the glass with a healthy amount of carbonation. The aroma is big with nice citrus orange and just a tiny hint of a lemon like scent. The taste on White Wing Belgian White is light, crisp, and refreshing with nice orange flavors and hints of a coriander spice with a very faint lemon flavor.  The mouth feel is light to medium, and has a nice refreshing citrus finish that leads into a nice clean citrusy spice after taste. Overall not a bad beer from Shiner, they usually brew decent beers; White Wing Belgian White gets a B+ here. The Belgian White style is usually a good popular style so most of the beers are good. But I’ve had really awesome Belgian White’s and this one is close. A few of the actual Belgian Whites from Belgium are the best of the Belgian Whites. But I think some of those can be a bit on the heavy side where as White Wing Belgian White is more drinkable. It doesn’t fill you up as quickly as the Belgians do. White Wing Belgian White is good and I do recommend this White Wing Belgian White. So go out and try White Wing Belgian White as see what you think of it. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Unibroue La Fin Du Monde

The Unibroue brewery in Chambly, Québec, Canada is probably one of the best breweries’ to come out of that country. They brew mostly the Belgian style of beer. In my opinion Unibroue’s beer seems to have a classy aria about them, and have some of the coolest labels on their bottles. Here is one of their fine beers, La Fin Du Monde (The End of The World), 9.0% ABV a Triple. This is a bottle refermented, which means that it goes through another fermentation in the bottle, and yes there is yeast at the bottom of the bottle. La Fin Du Monde pours a hazy light golden color with a thin three finger head that is quick to fade away into light lacing. There are nice amounts of light streaming through the chalice with lots of carbonation bubbles racing to and fro. The aroma is slightly spiced and has a nice scent of a light apple and some pineapple along with a yeast character. The taste is big with lots of light spices, probably coriander, and you do get a nice yeasty fruity flavor that is slightly sweet with a bigger booziness alongside a nice effervescence. The mouthfeel is medium to almost a fuller feel with a nice spicy yet sweet finish that leads into a nice yeasty fruity sweet finish that lingers for a short while, just enough to enjoy. La Fin Du Monde is great from start to finish, so La Fin Du Monde gets an A+. I really love the Triple style of beer very much, and this Unibroue La Fin Du Monde is one of the best in my own opinion. It looks great, smells great, and tastes great. It is a top beer for sure. So go out and try this Unibroue La Fin Du Monde and see what you think of it, I highly recommend you do! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!