New Belgium BELGO

I guess you could call this a hybrid beer style, or mixed style. This is a Belgian style IPA (India Pale Ale). This is a 7% ABV beer. Belgo has amarillo, cascade, centennial, and simcoe hops brewed in, along with Belgian yeast. This is a bottle-conditioned brew. Belgo pours a nice darker gold color with a thick beige head that really laces nicely around the inside of the glass. You can really smell all those hops in this one. It has a strong crisp hoppy scent. Very nice there. It has a crsip very hoppy taste that really fills your whole mouth nicely. Belgo also has a nice hoppy bite towards the end. On it's aftertaste it has a strong hoppiness with a very very faint almost not present yeasty taste. You have to pay really close attenation to taste it. As you get to the bottom of this beer the hops flavor becomes even more intensely flavorful. This is a good IPA, a good Belgian IPA. I recommend this one. Go and try one, share it, and enjoy this hoppy guy here. It's great! Please create a Google account so that you may leave comments and blog post suggestions, thank you! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Carolina Strawberry Ale

Yeah I know what you see is a summer beer and yes it is winter, well it sure feels like spring. But this, Carolina Strawberry Ale, is a blonde/amber ale brewed with fresh strawberries. It is 4.6% ABV and It sure smells like tart sweet strawberries. This fruity brew is a nice dark/dirty blonde almost orange color with no head, that is because it is such a light tasting beer. Its head is gone in two seconds. This beer has an overly sweet strawberry taste, in fact it so sweet it might as well be a fizzy strawberry soda. I can't really taste the beer ingredients such as the yeast, hops, barly, ect. There is way to much sweet strawberry flavor here. But this brew is crisp and drinkable. The aftertaste is yep you guessed it sweet and tart strawberry. No surprises there. This beer is sweet and boring. I am not saying its bad, just boring and overly sweet, not enough of beer and other non-sweet flavors to this one. I have one left and I would not mind giving it away to someone. What you want to try it!? Well go for it mr. boring beer! But if you like Strawberry beer, then I suggest you try Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager, that is much better and less boring than this brew here. Well now I want an Abita Strawberry Harvest. Well I will when it gets spring time I will, and that blog post will follow. Please join this site to comment, by creating a Google account! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Ridgeway Brewing Bad Elf

Well here is a fine beer from all the way across the pound in merry ole England. This comes to us from the Ridgeway Brewery in Oxfordsire. This Bad Elf is a winter's ale. Ridgeway use three pounds of fresh hops in every barrel of Bad Elf. I got this a a Christmas present, and it comes in a 1.9 pint bottle. This beer is a nice 6% ABV. This beer pours a shady gold color with a very thick white lacey head. It has a nice hoppy aroma with hints of fresh bread. On first taste Bad Elf is creamy sweet with a touch of a hoppy bite. But as you get to the bottom to the glass it gets much hoppier tasting. I think it's the temperature and the air that causes this. The ale has a much hoppier aftertaste that is crisp and most pleasant. I think it is really good this one. I thought It was going to be good, but not as good as it turned out after I finished this wonderful pint. I have only briefly heard of this one. I do not know to much about this brewer yet, I have another beer from this brewery in my refrigerator, Lump of Coal, a dark stout. That blog post will come soon, I promise ya! Try this one quick it is a Christmas seasonal beer, might be gone before you know it! Please join this site to comment, by creating a Google account! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

HE'Brew Messiah Bold

Shalom! Yeah this one sounds Jewish and your right it is. This comes from the Shmaltz Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs NY. This beer is a  rich and robust dark brown ale. It pour a nice inviting dark brown color with a nice beige head that really sticks. This beer is pleasant on your nose. Messiah has a bold scent of nice yeasty bread. On taste, this beer has a faint sweetness that is almost too faint to taste and has a bold bready taste that's good, rich and creamy. Messiah has a nice creamy sweet finish that tells you to have another sip or two.  It is indeed a good brown ale. I like this one, it's good, but I did not think it would be that good. It is that good! Yes I do think so. I only bought one 12oz bottle for a good taste test, and it passed and it is definitely an A+. I suggest you try this one, get a few and share with your friends, family, and loved ones. It is great! L'CHAIM TO LIFE! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre

You may be familar with the Dogfish Head brewery from the Discovery Channel show, or from your love or good craft beer. This is a deep mahogany Ale brewed with Belgian beet sugars, green raisins. It pours a dark brownish red color, yes mahogany, with a big white head. It smells like a hoppy dark Belgian ale, with a simi-sweet raisin scent as well. On the first taste its stong in flavor (8% ABV). Yes that is like a Belgian double or trippel. It aslo has a sour taste and feel all over your mouth. The finish is nice sweet like brown sugar. That is good but for a short time. The after taste goes away fast. Not so good. But it is not one of my new favorites. I don't like it very much and I do not suggest you get some. But you can try if you want. Someone likes this or Dogfish would not brew this. Dogfish is always comming up with really of the wall brews, like chilie beer. What! Why! I don't know about that. Well I don't like this much. It is at the low end of okay for me. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Saint Arnold Christmas Ale

I had this one way back during Thanksgiving and I might not give this a proper review. But I will think hard and do the best I can. The Saint Arnold, no relation to that action movie guy, is out of Houston Texas. This beer pours an red amber color with a skinny white head. Now it does change a little in color if you slowly drink it. It becomes a lighter red color over time but not very much different shade. But I am no chemist so I don't know why it does. Anyway, it has a dark bready scent with a hoppy scent mixed in. Smells alright, but not great. It has a soury malt and hop taste that has a heft to it and really stick to your tounge. The aftertaste is spicey with sour grapes and grass notes to it. Not my favorite one. I close to the dislike side for this one. It is not really great nor is it aweful, but close to it. You might try it or not. I am not saying you should leave it and go on. Oh no it is not that good. But maybe worth a try sometime. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Making comments and more!

I would love for all people who follow and read The Best Beer Blog to sign up for a cool google account so that I can get you feed back through comments. You can suggest topics which beer, bar, and or brewery to blog about. I would so enjoy hearing what you have to say about my topics. So just click on the blue rectangular box on the right side of my blog. Then enter you e-mail, create a google account password and follow the rest of the instructions. Thank you and I really enjoying hearing all your wonderful comments and more. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Hoegaarden Wit

This is another unfiltered wheat beer, but this is a Belgian white or Blanche. Hoegaarden is a large Belgian brewery. It is also old as well, 1445. This wit is brewed with spices, and is 4.9% ABV. This on has a how to pour this beer on the back of the bottle, just four easy steps. This ensures that you get all the great taste out of this beer. This Hoegaarden is the only offering from they're brewery that you might find here in the US. I have yet to find the many other they brew. This wit poor a very very cloudy yellow color that is almost a hazey white. The head is a bright white and very thick. This beer has the crisp wheat, malted barley, slight hint of coriander and orange peal. The finish and after taste are crisp simi-sweet clean and refreshing. This is a very good beer. I love this one alot. I think most beer drinks would. It has great flavors all around and is smoothly drinkable. So go out and pick up one for an awesome try. Cheers! Please drink repsonsibly!

Pyramid Hefewizen

This is from Pyramid Breweries, and yes it is similar to their apricot ale. But it tastes much different. This Hefeweizen is a 5.2%ABV unfiltered wheat ale. It pours a nice light hazy orange color with a nice creamy white head, that looks so good. This Pyramid has a nice wheat and grain scent to it. It has a nice sweet wheat taste that is very nice and crisp. This brew goes down smooth. It has a good clean crisp wheaty taste that is refreshing. This would be good on a hot summer day, with a good sausage or burger. That's a great meal. I like this one. But I only bought one 12oz bottle of this to try and next time. I'd say this hefeweizen is great! I love it! I like this brewery too. They brew some tasty beer. I would love to get my hands on some of their other beers to try and blog about. You should pick this one for a try. You might find it as refreshing as I did. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

New Belgium Trippel

Here we are again for another beer. New Belgium yin Fort Collins Co. This is a new world Belgian Trippel ale, that is bottle-conditioned. This means that the beer is unfiltered and the final conditioning is done in the bottle. This Trippel is 7.8% Abv, and it's brewed with coriander. I only bought one 12oz bottle, to see if I should by an entire six pack, and yes I should. This New Belgium pours a nice golden copper color with a nice white lacey head. This has a strong taste, but not in that bad sour kind of way. It's due to the fact that it, like most Belgium and belgian style are of a higher abv. percent It has a sweet hoppy floral scent. This Trippel has a sweet taste of the coriander and a slight sugary taste that you get at the end of the corainder followed by that sweet hoppiness. On the after taste you get a less sweeter taste with that strong mouth feel of the 7.8% alcohol. This brew is smoother than some new world Belgian Trippels. This is suprisingly good. I though I would like this, but not as much as I did. I really like it. Trippel is really good. I should get it in a six pack next time. This is a well brewed Belgian Trippel, New Belgium does brew great beers. I think you should go out and try this one, you'll be surprised how good this really is. Go for this one and tell ya friends it's good! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Olde Mecklendburg Yule Bock

Hello and merry Christmas, I have here a local beer from OMB, Olde Mecklendburg Brewery here in Charlotte. This is a authentic German-Style Bockbier. But a christmas or yule bock. This brewery does not make regular 12oz six packs, they're beers come in pints, bombers, and growlers. I don't know why thy do this but they do. This bock is 1 pint 6 lf oz (650 ml), and is 7.0% ABV. That slightly stronger then and average beer. This OMB bock pours a deep amber color with a crimson red and a very handsome off white thick head. It has a nice banana bread scent with a slight faint hop scent as well. This is a great bock. It has a malty sweetish taste with a spice after note, and its after taste is of a carmel and yeast but faint spice, that warms you and makes you glad it's holiday time. This is a smooth bock with great flavor. I really enjoyed this one. and shared it with my father whom liked it too. Yes there is enough in this bottle for two. How nice of OBM. I would surly have this again. I love a good bock beer and this is great. You should try this too, and share with someone for a merry christmas. Cheers! Please drink responisbly! 

Newcastle Winter IPA

Well this post comes at the request of a friend of mine and the fact that every other post has either been an American or a German beer. I thought it was time for something different. Now I know what your thinking, wait I thought Newcastle only brewed brown Ale. Well yes they still do, along with this one and three others, Werewolf, summer ale, founders ale. All brewed in a certin season, But I will blog about them later in the new year. Well this Newcastle is an IPA (India Pale Ale). This is an old world IPA that follows 18th century IPAs  That was a beer brewed with a lager amount of hops to make the long trip from Great Britian to India. Yes it's close to a british pale ale, but with more hops. This IPA is has bold hoppy scent and flower aroma. Winter IPA pours a pale redish color with a sticky yet foamy head. It has a zesty, malty, carmel simi-crisp taste, and has a hoppy creamy finish that is good. This one is a darn good IPA, a good drinkable IPA. Most Newcastles are good and drinkable beers. I would try this again and again I like this one. It's great tasting. Pick some up and give it a taste! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Barrel Trolley Belgian White

This Barrel Trolley brew just sprang up out of nowhere in my local Harris Teeter. Never heard of this before. But I do know this style, Belgian White. One of my favorite style and favorite brewing countries. This beer was made for the Harris Teeter company. This is just your average Belgian white. This white is a gold color witha thick white head. It has a strong bread scent. This beer has an average taste of wheat hops, The finish is sweet, smooth, crisp and refreshing. This brew is in the middle of the Belgian whites scale, nothing overly awesome here just plan and average. Not like a Hoegaarden which is great, but that will come later. It's an average good though. Would I try this again, well I wouldn't say no to that, but I wouldn't rush out right now to get more of this. I like it enough, not in love with it. I would say you should try this, but there is no real hurry to try it. Just try it sometime. I think you well see it as I see it. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Shiner Beer Bohemian Black Lager

Yes, it yet another beer from Texas, another Shiner. Shiner, the Spoetzl Brewery in you guessed it, Shiner, Texas. This a style much the same as Ugly Pug I wrote not to long ago. The first Bohemian Black Lager was brewed to commemorate their 97th anniversary, that's why there is a 97 on the top of the neck. Shiner brews this beer to keep it to the old-world heritage of the German and Czech immigrants who settled in Shiner. That area of Texas, not far from San Antonio is the german hill country of Texas. So this Shiner pours a dark rich black color with a thin white foamy head. Shiner Bohemian has faint scents of baked bread and grassy hops, but you really have to smells closely to notice them. It has a semi-sweet taste with a light sourish twist in middle. It's in between okay and good. On the after taste, it has a sour hoppy bite that is kind of good. I think this Shiner is one is good, but I do think Ugly Pug is better. This isn't as smooth as Ugly Pug, but still smooth though. I still think that this shiner is good, but it could be a tiny bit better. I would lower the sourness to this one and make it even smoother. I would get this again. Shiner brews great beers and is growing in popularity these days as with most craft beers. Maybe you will like this one better than Ugly Pug. But you need to try it to find out, have a few with a friend and spread cheer with Shiner beer! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Rahr & Sons Texas Red

Well howdy, here is another Rahr & Sons offering down in big ol' Texas. This is a Amber Lager. Texas Red, doesn't that sound like a title to a western. I see a ranch had drinking this after a hard days work, well it does have a seen right out of life on the ranch on the front lable. Looks cool. Well it's just the name of a they're beer. I like the name of this one. Maybe cause it has a larger than life state in the name. But I'm not liking this one just cause of name or the picture on the lable, no. I like it cause the way it taste. This Amber Lager pours a deep red color with a white head, and has a great sharpe cripsy sent of a light faint hop plant in a field. It looks like an ale, thats wrong. It has a nice malt carmel tast that is good and full of creamy flavor. This is good! Its super-smooth but not so smooth that it taste like water. Its has good blance of drinkablity and flavor. That's good for a brewer to have that blance in at least three different beers. That I like, and that's what makes it good. It has a nice sweet, super-smooth after taste. It has a great finish and a call for another. I am starting to like the Rahr & Sons Brewery and they're beers. I would like to try all that they brew. I think you should too. Starting with this and Ugly Pug. Its a good one. Tell ya friends and please share some with them for a good time! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Stone Levitation Ale

Now here is a beer with a sort of mascot, the gargoyle. The Stone brewery in north county San Diego, is known for brewering strong hoppy beers. Some are way hoppier and stronger than others. Levitation isn't so strong, it's only 4.4% abv. But yes it's very hoppy and sour. I know that this isn't starting out good here, but it is good trust me. It pours a dark red with a hazey thin head. You can really smell the hops in this one, along with sharp scent of a grass. Levitation has a sharp sour hop taste that is more of a good sour than a bad sour. It's not sweet at all it far from it but it a good way. There is no sharp overly sour finish or aftertaste like other very hoppy beers have. That aftertaste is some what small and quite pleasent. This is a good hoppy beer with a good strong taste. Laevitation won 2007 gold medal at The Great American Beer Festival, which Stone has etched on the neck of the bottle as well to the left of the gargoyle. I wonder if he has a name, Stoney perhaps, That gargoyle appears on all of they're beers, bottles, boxes, ect. I like this and would drink it again. But like I said before all the flavors in Levitation are of bold, strong, and sharp hoppieness. So pick this up and try it to see if you like this style. Not all do, but some do. I do! Well it's getting time again to have a beer! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

The Bruery 4Calling Birds

Here is another Christmas beer. This is another brew from my rare beer of the month club. 4Calling Birds is brewed by The Bruery, in Placeinta CA. You all know the song 12 days of Christmas. Well Every year they make a brew from on the days fo Christmas in the song. Now this is a strong beer due to the fact that its aged on oak spirals. Its 12.6% abv. Its black with almost no head. It smells like old burned coffee. It has the same old burned coffee taste with a heavy spice and bad cough medicine. Aftertast is no good, has that awful medicine taste that leaves a funk in your mouth. This bird sticks to your ribs and coats your stomach and makes you full. This is my least favorite one. I had to throw it out, and I don't ever do that with a beer. But this is just awful tasting all around. Stay away from this nasty pigeon. I call it GROSS. I would never have this again nor would I give it to another beer drinker. No sir! Find something else to have instead of this brew please. Well I now think that the Bruery can't brew beer. So much of that brewery. Merry Christmas! Cheers Please drink responsibly!

Abita Christmas Ale

Happy holidays and a Merry Christmas to all! This is another Christmas Ale. This one is an Abita seasonal ale. I bet you know what season this is for! This is is slighly heavier brew that is dark red amber brown with a thick beige head. This one is not out to be a big one of a kind speciality beer or something of that nature, is not a christmas ale. Nothing more nothing less. I like most Abita beers so far. I think they are good some are great. It smells spicy and bready. This one is a bit like Abita Pecan Ale on the frist taste then it has that spicy bite in the end. The after taste is a big creamy spice that is faint but you know its there. After the drinking one of these Abitas it not as good as you though, but as you drink more of these, if its right after or next week, this one grows on you. I like better now then when I first had one. Its good now. Its almost up there with my favorite abitas. I might by this again. I like it. Buts not a oh thats so good, but its good. Abita gets a B- on this one. If your into Christmas Ale, maybe you should try this one. You might like it. I hope it grows on you too. Well Merry Christmas to you beer lovers. May all you beery dreams come true and have a safe one this christmas. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Rahr & Sons Ugly Pug

Howdy! Another beer review here on this cold day in December. Well, this is another beer from Texas brought to me from Aunt over Thanksgiving. This brewery is down in East Texas, Fort Worth. This is a schwarzbier, black beer, or black lager. I've not had black lager before, at least I don't think I have. The Ugly Pug story goes like this, Fritz Rahr once saw Oscar, his mother-in-law's dog and shouted, "What an ugly pug!" I don't know how that relates to a beer but maybe Fritz has his reason for name his black lager that. Ugly Pug pours a nice black color as it says on the bottle. If you don't know that then I suggest you ask for help. It has a semi-thick white foamy yet creamy head. It looks interesting at this point, so now you sip. When you first partake of this you get a light mouthfeel of very faint coffee and a very light taste of malted caramel. When the aftertaste hits you get a tiny little sour bite of caramel candy. This is not heavy like a stout or porter. It's a lager beer, therefore, it is lighter. You should know that. Remember that from now on, that will be helpful when buying beer. This one is good. I don't know much about Rahr & Sons. But I am finding more info about it. I would like to buy this again. I thought it was good, not a WOW GREAT, but a solid good, a buy it again good, tell few of my friends kind of good. You to should try this one. Keep your eyes and ears open to the news here in N.C. about the changes coming regarding the brewing laws. It will be SO AWESOME!! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!