Thomas Creek Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale

Here we have a vanilla cream ale from a relatively new brewery out of Greenville South Carolina. That is one of the reason why I bought this, the other being the vanilla cream. Sounded kind of good to me. This cream ale comes in at 4.8% ABV, so not to heavy on the alcohol. The ale pours a clean clear golden yellow color with almost no head, it went fast. The wasn't much on the scents of this beer other that the vanilla and some slight carbonation. I found it the scent of this all to be half way boring, as did it appearance. The taste of this vanilla cream ale was first boring and it was followed up by a cream vanilla bean flavor that was good. But I am not entirely sold on this ale. There is somewhat good amount of carbonation to this al as well. That bring the vanilla flavors more forward on the ales taste. I kind of tasted a crisp candy like flavor in this but it was okay at best. This ales finish is nice with crisp vanilla and yes it is over all refreshing. But I don't think this beer is the next best thing. If I had to grade this I would give it a low C-. If there was no vanilla in this at all this beer would a D, because it seems like they are masking a somewhat average beer with a nice vanilla flavoring. Would I buy this yes, its okay, I don't hate this, I find it halfway okay. I might try it later on and see if I think it's any better. But not soon. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

21st Amendment Bitter American

The 21st Amendment brewer has such eye catching designs all over they're beer cans. This is the one with the monkey Astronut in space on it. Kind of cool. But they may just be why someone would by this off the shelf. Bitter American is a pale ale Session beer, that is on the opposite of the alcohol spectrum from the strongest beer out there. This style is generally lower in alcohol strength about 5.1% or lower and can be any style. This American Bitter is 4.4% abv, and pours a lighter amber color with a simi thin white head that fades a bit fast. This beer has a strong bitter scent to it with lost of wooded scents, such as pine, grass, wet leafs, and pine straw and a little bit of orange peal. I felt as I was camping, I don't like camping. American bitter has a big bitterness up front when it hits the inside of your mouth. But it is a crisp light bitterness, this beer isn't heavy. This is mildly bitter over all in the taste. This beer finishes nice, bitter, and a little crisp. To the average beer drink this isn't one to try, but for a beer nerd or hop head, yes you should or have tried this monkey. I like this one but not soo much. It is something I can drink and to get to drunk with it. Nice, somewhat crisp and refreshing. Would I have this again, yes, I would. if you're a hop lover, then try this. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!  

Shiner Kosmos Reserve

Howdy beer lovers, I have found the Shiner family reunion verity pack to be very interesting. It has a few of they're brew packed inside. One of the beer they offer in this is Kosmos Reserve 5.2% abv. Named for it brewing founder Komos Spoetzl, born in Bavaria. This is a Aromatic dry hopped lager. Dry hopping is where hops are added into the beer after the boil and fermentation phase. Hoppy beer loves consider it a desirable feature. This beer pours a clear red to amber like color with a medium (one and half finger) white head. This hoppy beer has a few floral scents, slight grass and pine. I also found a little caramel, but in the back was a faint scent of tree sap, but very faint. Now this beer had a taste of caramel and a nice hop note that was right on the back caramel flavor. I would not say that this is a big hoppy beer, but it has a nice medium hoppy presence to satisfy a mild hoppy beer lover. The finish is nice crisp still a bit hoppy, but low and this was sightly refreshing. I liked this but didn't love it. It was average. I find  some what most of Shiner beers to be average, some are great. I give this a C. I would have this again, just not to soon. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!    

Samuel Smith's Organic Apricot Ale

Generally when you think about England, Great Britain few things come to mind, soccer, The Queen, cricket, and bitter ale. But you certainly don't think of fruit ale like this. But yes they do brew and drink this in England. This come from the Melbourn brothers tiny brewery in time warped Stamford. using old manually operated brewing equipment. Yes I have blogged on they're other wonderful fruit ales before. But I think this is the best one of the lot. I have only seen this (and all of the other fruit ales) in this 1pt 2.7fl oz bottle. This apricot pours a nice orange color, similar to a wiezen beer with a thick rocky white head. What a wonderful head this has. You get so much fruity aroma upon this. Lots of apricot scents that are mildly sweet. This Sam'l Smith reminds me of fruit juice when I take in it's scent and aromas. The taste of this is sweet smooth and filled with depths of nice apricot with just a tiny fade of a tartness towards the end. Very nice on the taste and very pleasant. This is good and refreshing. Now the finish a step down on sweetness but just as good with a more present tartness that finishes just as smooth and refreshing as the start. Until I had any of Sam'l Smith Organic Fruit ales I would have never know that this was a thing had in G.B. or how tasty this really is. I am glad I did, and this Organic Apricot ale is the best in my book. Good job! Well brewed! I will continue to have this. I didn't really find this to be overly sweet like the cheery or the raspberry. Apricot in a liquid form isn't as sweet and therefor this beer doesn't come off as overly sweet or just to sweet. In my opinion this is just right and taste great. Find out for yourself and see just how good this really is, cause it is! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!            

Aass Stout

I have known about Aass (pronounced like horse)  Bryggeri (brewery in Norwegian) very quite a while now and was delighted to finally get to drink one in Norway no less, how cool is that! Here is the stout that they brew, 4.7% ABV. It looked so so good once I poured in to a glass. I has drooling at the sight of this wonderful look beer. Aass Stout poured a rich black color with a thick tan/beige head that just kept on going for days. I have to say this is a most handsome brew. WOW! Anyway, there was plenty of roasted malt tones with  nice coffee scent that was oh so good and inviting. There is a slight bitter scent but that was barely there, it was an okay scent. On to the good part here, the taste, which is of roasted malt with a very small hint of smoked malts. Very nice and subtle flavors all around this great beer. There was a slight bitterness but none unpleasant or over powering. All and all great tasty flavors to this. The aftertaste is rich creamy with hints of roasted malts with nice coffee notes and tiny amounts of bitterness, but goes down good. Yes this is heavey like most stouts but not so heavy you can have a nice snack or meal with this. I had a great salmon with great people in a great country. So yes, a meal can be had with this Aass Stout. I love a stouts. They make you feel all warm and happy inside, and the is exactly how this made me feel. But some stouts can be over bitter, sour, way to heavy in you stomach and have a high ABV percentage. This wasn't much of any of those things. Great tasting stout and well brewed. Now finding this here in the USA, I have never seen one or any Aass Bryggeri beers before. But I am going to ask around and see what I come up with a report back on what I do  find out. But I will search for the next brew and blog all about it. Cheers! Please drink responsibly!

Shiner Prickly Pear

I have heard of a lot of fruit but have not heard much about the prickly pear. But now I know that this grows on a cactus and is sweet. This is a brew from the Shiner brewery out of Shiner, TX. This is only in a small batch brew, and is limited. So you can only fin this in the Shiner Family Reunion six or twelve pack. Every so often in that said Family Reunion Shiner has what's called Shiner Brewer's Pride Selection and they bring out a new one very so often. This is craft brew number 3. This lager brew is 6.3% ABV. This Shiner pours an copper/amber color with a thick white head. It is better looking then a cactus. Well this prickly fellow has very nice floral aroma to it that just make you want to taste how good it smells. Shiner uses a combination of Citra and US Golding hops. There is your wonderful floral aroma. Prickly Pear has a sweet citrus flavor that is wonderful tart, this one has a sweet tropical fruit flavor. There is a nice refreshing beer I would say this could be a spring and summer beer. Prickly Pear has a nice sweet and tart finish that is a great and wonderful end to a great brew from Shiner. I found out that a prickly pear is has more of a tropical taste than a regular pear taste and it makes for on hellava good beer. So I would love to have this again and again. But you should go now and have this cause it will not be around much longer, being a small batch brew and all. Very good job on Shiners part, but they always brew such good beers. I love the Shiner brewery, and I like this Prickly Pear! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!  

Fynsk Väbryg

This a local Danish beer that I found a very nice local inn/restaurant on the way from Copenhagen to Ry Denmark. Not mush is really known about the brewer but I did find out that is local and is in a farm town.This beer is around 7% ABV, but doesn't really taste or feel quite that strong, this taste more along the 6% ABV range. That's is a good thing about it, kind of. Don't want to tipsy and all. This brew pours a nice rich lovely amber copper color with a very white head that is just wonderful, I had to take a few minutes to look at the beauty of this beer. When I put this to my nose I found a nice aroma of freshly ripe and crisp apples surrounded by a nice floral scent. I really enjoyed the scents and aromas of this, very pleasing. Upon tasting this wonderful brew I found that wonderful crisp ripe apple, but it had a bit of a wine taste to it that was quite good, very pleasing on my pallet. There is also a very very tiny trace of hops there but to the average beer drink you'd never know they're even there. The finish is more wine like and less apple but the wonderful apple is still present only less. Overall I find this local Danish delight to be fabulous. This Danish brew tasted and felt a little more upscale that the usual beer, classy you could say. I really loved this and would take a long while before I had another of these (doesn't even cross the pond). You'd never find one in the USA, and I am not sure how hard of easy this would be to fin even in Denmark, because as I said earlier this a local beer. You know that here local beer can be the best beer. I love local beers because it gives you a taste of the local brewing scene, and to me that is wonderfully cool. Yes you can go to another country and have the 'national beer' but that is probably imported into the USA. So when you go to another part the country or to another country drink local and enjoy, it's FUN! Cheers! Please dink responsibly!

Lausitzer Schwarzes Porter

Well it's been a fun two weeks on vacation, but now it's time to blog and boy do I have some interesting beer to blog about. Here we have one that I had in a small town, Osterburg Germany. The next day when I left for Venna I was gifted this tasty German Porter. This Porter is from Lausitzer Brau and is 4.4%abv. This porter pours a rich dark brown color that is nearly black with a bright white head that is big a pillowy. That is an amazing head for a beer. The Porter has a rich sweet malted scent to it that reminds me of a sweet roll or sweet bread. There also is a slightly hop note that is kind of sweet but nothing overpowering. I found this beer to have an overall sweet aroma to it that is nice and inviting.  The fist sip of this and you get a nice malt followed quickly by a sweetness that sort of reminds you of a    milk stout, I found the sweet taste to be almost candy like. Really good taste gone on with this one. The sweet malted flavor of this make you feel all happy inside. The finish of this Porter is smooth sweet and clean, no bitter bite at the end or anything. This is overall a great beer, and yes it is sold in the US just not all over the US. It might be hard to find one, and if you do there might only be a few different beer from this brewery. But that is like most fine German beer that come to the US.  I was happy to have had this Porter, not like most porter, which are good but tend to be a higher abv heavier, thick, and some can have a slight hop or bitterness to them. You can never be in the middle about a porter, you either like them or you don't. I do! I love this one! This put a nice smile on my face and made hangout swimming with my brother a lot of fun. I would most certainly have this one again, well that is if I can fine it. So I have a beer challenge before me. Great! When I fine this one I will tell you where I find this and for how much, but I think this may be somewhere around six to eight dollar. But you should go forth and find this taste Porter and try it! Cheers! Please drink responsibly!