Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale

Oh how I do love a malty beer, and this one, Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale, 6.2% abv, and fits that perfectly. This style red ale focuses on malts in the beer. River Falls pour a nice dark orange, amber almost red hued color with a two finger off white almost tan head. The head sticks around nicely, with a decent amount of pretty lacing. Light does come though the beer a little, and there is a small to medium amount of carbonation there. The aroma on this red ale is of a nice breaded sweeter malt, and a slight caramel, but a tiny amount. The aroma is not too strong nor is it to week; I found it to be a perfect balance. The taste is malty sweet with nice bread notes coming though with a touch of caramel. There is a little sweetness from the malts, more of a tiny caramel flavor on the back of your tongue. The mouth feel is big with sweet malts. River Falls really covers your tongue nicely and really spreads that nice sweet malt around and finishes smooth creamy and refreshing. The aftertaste is bready malty slightly sweet, but does not stay to long, but just long enough for it to get a great flavorful aftertaste, leaving your mouth feeling a bit velvety. So I'm giving this an A. A great malt forward red ale that is smooth and not overly sweet. This is a greatly brewed effort from the folks a Thomas Creek. I highly recommend this beer, so please remember to head over to Mike's Discount Beverages, 4700 Park RD Charlotte NC 28209 for this Thomas Creek River Falls Red Ale and all your fine wine and beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

BridgePort Dark Rain

In recent months I've really beginning to really like pale ales, but I've always loved darker beers and this is two things that I love in one beer. Here were have a Black Pale Ale from Oregon's oldest craft brewery BridgePort Brewing. They call this Dark Rain, 5.6% ABV. It take it's name from the type of weather common to the pacific northwestern US. This dark beer pour a thicker black color with a medium one finger khaki head that fades slowly and stays just above the suface, and provides very nice lacing. I found no light through this due to its dark appearance. I don't see any carbonation bubbles. Dark Rain has a hoppy malted aroma with hints of slight roasted coffee. I didn't find any sweet scents like I thought I was going to find. There is a very tiny bread aroma coming through. The taste of Black Rain starts out smooth then quickly becomes hoppy. I get a nice hop flavor. There is a roasted malt on the back of the tongue. The malt flavor is bold and semi sweet. The mouthfeel start out light and quickly become heavier, but none that is bad or overbearing in any way. This black ale finish nice with a malted semi sweetness and a tiny hint of hops. The aftertaste really coats your mouth and stick around with a nice malt flavor that isn't to strong. Well overall I am giving this an B. The hoppy start is okay, but not the best, but the malted finish really makes up for that and really helps the beer finish well and taste good. So remember to come and see me down at Mike's Discount Beverages 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 28209 for this, Black Rain, and for all you fine wine and beer! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Tusker Premium Lager

This here is an interesting premium lager, not because of what is brewed into this but where it is from. This is Tusker Premium Lager 4.2% ABV, from Nairobi, Kenya. This Lager is named after the elephant that killed the brewer's founder, hence the elephant head on it's label. Tusker has a nice sessionable quality to it and has a good, lower abv. Tusker pours a bright golden yellow color with a half of a finger head that fades really quickly into somewhat of decent lacing, but not a lot. Lots of tiny carbonation bubbles on this and plenty of light stream though the glass. The aroma is a little barnyard like but not to overly powerful. There is nice faint bready scent there with a tiny bit of grain around it. The aroma reminds me of a nice sunny day. The taste is nice crisp with grains and a tiny amount of sweet honey to it. Mouth feel is mild, crisp and refreshing. This really cleans up very well after each sip. The finish is just as clean, sweet, crisp, and refreshing. Tusker's aftertaste is great with sweet honey and grains, but doesn't really stick around long, but is good none the less. I'm giving this a B-, better than most American lagers and some Latin lagers. But yes there as even better lagers out there. I wouldn't mind having this again, a solid lager beer. So please remember to head over and see me at Mike's Discount Beverages, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC  28209 for all you fine wine and beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Genesee Cream Ale

Here we have Genesee Cream ale, 5.10% ABV, which has been brewed since 1878. This beer is labeled as flavor of a fine ale and smoothness of a premium lager. This cream ale pours a golden color with a one and a half finger bright white head that fades quickly into nice decent lacing. There is tons of carbonation bubble streaming of the bottom and sticking to the side. Lots of light coming through the glass. The aroma on this Genesee Cream Ale, is slightly floral with semi sweet grains. But all are very light scented, but pleasant. I also found a the most faintest of malt scents in there too. The taste on this is somewhat of sweet malts and tiny bit of grassy hops. The mouth feel is light and cleans up nicely with each sip. The finish is a bit creamy and semi sweet with less hops than the start. This Genesse has a great clean and crisp aftertaste with a little creaminess. Overall, I'm giving this a C+. Better than I thought it would be, but still could've been better, you know creamier, a bit sweeter. But still a little above average to me. Getting a C+ all around, and I  would have this again, and I would kind of recommend this. So please remember to come down to Mike's Discount Beverages, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 28209 for all you fine wine and beer! Cheers! Please Drink Responsibly!  

McSorley's Irish Pale Ale

McSorley's Irish Pale Ale is a Pabst Brewery product from New York and is 5.50% ABV, and has been around since 1854. This Irish pale ale pours a copper redish like color with a finger of white head that fades kind of slowly into a very nice thick lacing. Some light comes through the glass between little carbonation bubbles quickly streaming of the bottom. The aroma on McSorley's is not very strong, with a hoppy scent, but mild at best with a hint of pineapple and citrus. There is a little bread scent as well. The entire aroma is not so strong, leaning somewhat on the lower/weeker side. The taste is hoppy with a nice faint pineapple and bready taste. The mouthfeel is medium and coats your mouth nicely and fades somewhat slower, leaving behind a slight citrusy bitterness that is nice and pleasant. The finish is a little crisp, refreshing and the littlest bit creamy. The aftertaste of McSorley's is slightly bitter with a nice creamy faint pineapple. Nice aftertaste on this one, a nice solid pale ale. Overall I would give this an A-. There are better pale ale's on the market, but that doesn't mean this is bad or not good. Just a solid level pale ale. I would give or recommend this to anyone who has never really had a pale ale before. Could have a touch more hops to this, but is still good. Remember to come and see me down at Mike's Discount Beverage, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 28209 for this, McSorley's Irish Pale Ale. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!    

Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout

Here we have Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout, 10.0% ABV. This stout is brewed once every year in limited bottles and had the month and year printed on the neck label. This particular Black Chocolate Stout was brewed on 11-12. The Brooklyn brewery uses six varieties of black, chocolate, and roasted malts to achieve the flavors in this beer. The Brooklyn Brewery only put this stout in four pack of twelve-ounce bottles and from what I hear, it sells very well. Black Chocolate Stout Pours a deep thick black color with a rich cocoa khaki head that fades into nice sticky lacing. No light that passes through this super dark beer with no a trace of carbonation. This pours like motor oil but not in a bad way. The aroma of Black Chocolate Stout is of bakers/Hershey chocolate, and a slight caramel coffee scent. Smells like dessert for sure. The taste of the stout is sweet chocolate with a few roasted malts and coffee, with a hint of bitter caramel. The mouthfeel is medium to heavy with all the flavors really coating your mouth and sticking there for a while. There is a little amount of alcohol burn in the finish, and the aftertaste has a slightly bitter roasted coffee note. Also in the aftertaste, you'll find a slightly less sweet coca flavor. This stout is a bit boozy tasting all around but none too bad, but that would be expected with this being at 10.0% abv. Overall I'd give this an A-. A really good chocolate stout, but a little too much alcohol in this but it's somewhat okay, and it's slightly thicker than I would've liked it to be. I would recommend this to any stout or chocolate beer lover. I solidly brewed beer, and remember to come and see me down at Mike's Discount Beverage, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 28209 for this, Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout, and all your fine wine and great beer needs. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Great Lakes Brewing Doppelrock

Doppelbock lager has got to be one of my favorite beer styles, and this here is Great Lakes Brewing Company, Cleveland Ohio, Doppelrock, Doppelbock coming in at 7.8% abv.  But Doppelrock is a only a seasonal beer, offered February though March in four packs. Doppelrock pours a deep rich black color with a khaki head that fades into nice tan lacing. There isn;t any carbonation bubble on this and ni light coming through due to it dark color. You know when I first poured this I could really get the aroma on this a little. The aroma of Doppelrock is chocolatey roasted malts with a tiny bit of caramel coming though. Nice dark fruit a little there too. Very nice aroma on this. The entire aroma really makes you want to drink this doppelbock. The taste on Doppelrock, is almost taste like it smells, there is a nice roasted chocolate malt up front with a little dark caramel fruit right behind that. This has a medium mouth feel and the taste really stays in your mouth. Very flavorful doppelbock here, quit nice too. The finish is nice sweet malty full and rich. The aftertaste is just like to the taste but a little less, just as good. All the flavors aren't as strong on the aftertaste but are just as delicious. So overall I'd give this an A, really a great doppelbock, but not like Ayinger  Celebrator doppelbock. Doppelrock is really really close to how good Celebrator is, a very very very close second. I really highly recommend that you get Great Lakes Doppelrock. So come to Mike's Discount Beverages, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 29209 and see me for Doppelrock and all your fine wine and great beer needs! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Lobster Lovers Porter

Well here is another Rinkuskiai beer, this is Lobster Lovers Porter, a Baltic Porter, an English style porter brewed for the Baltic countries. The porters the ABV of this is a little funny because beer advocate has is listed at 8.2% abv and the bottle has it a 5.2% abv . A bit strange on that, but it seem more like a 6.2% abv to me. This porter pours a deep amber color with a huge pillowy off white to khaki  fluffy head, it looks like ice cream. This porter doen't look like a true porter, but it is. The head sticks around a fades slowly. Not very much light coming though with very little carbonation. The aroma of Lobster Lovers Porter has a big scent of sweet caramel and bit of malts arounds. it does have a little bready scent as well. It does remind me of a nice sweet desert bread. Very nice aroma on this one. The taste of this Porter is a big sweetness and nice caramel with a hint of the malts coming. The taste of this is kind of deserty and sweet, something to have after a meal or on it's on. The mouth feel is full and rich, and lingers there a while. The finish is nice sweet with a big malt hit with a though of alcohol following it. The after taste is sweet cream with a full rich malted bread taste. Over all I give this an A+. Really a surprisingly great beer. Very good aroma, scent, flavors, taste and such on this. I really enjoyed this, wow it is wonderful. I highly recommend this Lobster Lovers Porter. Please come to Mike's Discount Beverages, 4700 Park Rd, Charlotte NC 28209 and see me and pick a up a few. I'd love to see you down there! Stop on in! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!