Belgian White

Tasted before heading to Kate and Elises to enjoy some freshly harvested morels from the Augustana Slough. We breaded them in almond flour and fried them in butter.

Appearance: Extremely high carbonation as it aggressively clings to the side of the glass. The foam white head was big and bubbly, initially, but quickly fell resulting in a soapy film. A ring is very active around the glass as it's fueled by the carbonation below. A basic pale straw color with a present haze.
Aroma: Very yeasty to the nose with some complex clove phenols. A wheaty citrus and a floral undertone take on the backbone of the beer. Even some lemon zest and other relatable spices are notable.
Taste: Bready sweetness with a paralleled yeastiness throughout the entire flavor. To accommodate, a bit of tang presents itself which may be comparable to oranges. Cloves and lemon begin to emerge by the midtaste. To finish I taste a strong Belgian yeast character as well as undertones unmalted wheat grist tannins. Finally there is a big coriander spice at the end.
Mouthfeel: Carbonation wasn't as aggressive as the appearance led me to believe. In fact it was quite smooth with fine micro bubbles tickling the top of the tongue. Light body and high drinkability.
Overall Impression: A decent white beer, it incorporates a lot of complexity if you stop to think about it, otherwise it's a good drinking beer. Yeast and coriander dominate with an underlying foundation of wheat malt. 


82/100

Oktoberfest Marzen Style Beer

Purchased within Points Craft Pack while I was working at Binny's in Highland park. Tasted with some homemade Indian food while reviewing for my political philosophy final presentation tomorrow.

Appearance: Basic amber in color with a huge and overwhelming carbonation profile from the looks of it. As if it were a soda with the accumulation of bubbles on the side of the glass. Head was extremely minimal only amounting to a thin film at the beginning and then dissipating to nothing. Some chill haze is present.
Aroma: Crisp with a toasted malt bill and an accompanying fruitiness in the form of pears and plums. In fact the fruitiness and the malt sweetness are predominating characteristic. A little viney.
Taste: Sweet with toasted barley and caramel malt sweetness. Again a fruity element parallels but is balanced by a mild finish with a crisp hop bitterness. Some grainy element is present in the end along with a tart flavor. However it remains extremely refreshing. Overall there is an underlying spice to this beer that melds very well with the general flavor of the beer. Aftertaste is resinous, but not overwhelming
Mouthfeel: Light body with a smooth mouthfeel. Carbonation seems to brace the tongue and comfort it, especially underneath and along the sides. Finishes clean but with a touch of dryness.
Overall Impression: Actually this was a very drinkable beer with a uniquely incorporated hop profile. It maintained an interesting spicing that didn't conflict with any of the basic components of the beer itself. There is space between the flavor!


84/100

Horizon Wheat

Tasted mid afternoon following lunch while editing my final paper for moral philosophy. I'd picked this beer up in a 12 craft pack when I was working at Binny's Beverage Depot over winter break.

Appearance: Pale straw color with an initial 1 finger soapy fizzed white head it then dissipates into a foamy ring. Evenly hazed with a luminescent glow. Carbonation is still visible, but hardly.
Aroma: Very bready smelling with a banana and passion-fruit smell. Yeast predominantly. Clove and coriander add a spicy nose. Sweet and pungent.
Taste: Foretaste is lightly toasted sweetness with a complementary citrus wheat flavor. Earthy smells and pungent yeast character. The flavor reminds me of a young dough that hasn’t been baked yet. The sweetness is further encouraged by the mesh of spices and herbal flavors near the finish of the beer. Less of a banana flavor than the aroma led on.
Mouthfeel: Lighter carbonation and medium body. Some dry and resinous textures at the finish. The carbonated fizz on the tongue is less of a spike and more of a sand paper like texture to the tongue. Very drinkable and refreshing.
Overall Impression: A very normal wheat ale with a characterized yeast and bready palatability. More spices than usual, but still quite balanced. I think I’d recommend this for anyone in search of a stylistic wheat, nothing too extreme, but more of a mean.


80/100

Classic Amber

Bought a craft pack from Binny's while working there over break. Tasted following a snowy evening run. What was supposed to be an easy day turned into a freezing struggle fighting wind, ice, and snow. Finished a lot slower than I expected. Did some lifting, ate dinner and logged some beer. Following this post we headed to RIBCO for some 1/2 price craft pints.

Appearance: Strong bubbly off white 2 finger head upon pour, leaving behind it a thin coated lacing. Color is maroon with a darker ambered hue. Looks more like a brown and a red ale combined. Still clarity maintains itself against the darkened color. Carbonation bubbles race along the sides of the glass to the surface.
Aroma: Aroma is estery but carameled candy sub cedes the fruity notes. The follow-up smell is a little spicey and toffee notes to complement. Very sweet and estery. Kind of medicinal.
Taste: A basic sweetness brushes over the palate. Somewhat of candied sugar and caramel malt. This really only has a neutral flavor to it with nothing really standing out. Balanced, yes. Too balanced it's bland. Yes. There is a bit of smokey taste as well as a grassy/tannin grain husk aftertaste to the beer as well. Fruits and (corn) sugars are prominent. There isn't too much to the bitterness aside from what provides a refreshing crispness. The more I think of it, the beer is a little soapy or even synthetic tasting. Plastic develops in the finish. Watery and light tasting do not correlate to what the appearance led me on to assume.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with a lighter carbonation, but nicely incorporated to tickle the sensory tasting nerves on the way down. Decent drinkability.
Overall Impression: Enough to perhaps pleasure your basic Coors or frat drinker trying to look classy, but nothing special. The taste is watery and the flavor is lacking. Looks good, but taste and smell are contradictory.


68/100

Burly Brown Ale

Post number 199! Happy Australia Day! Tasted with some organic pumpkin pie I made (for dinner) following a difficult track workout of 11 x 200 followed by 5 x 400m repeat intervals.

Appearance: Very dark with little clarity, if any. Poor head retention, but more so lacking it all together. The beer is predominantly blackish brown with a little chestnut brown/reddish tint along the edges when held to the light.
Aroma: Mild sweetness comes from mostly toasted barley. Some dark browned sugar smell along with an earthy/leafy like finish. Caramel is also apparent, but still takes a background. Smell altogether is quite faint at best.
Taste: Non-descript sweetness to start, then a carameled grain husk sweetness emerges to be finished with an earthy roasted nuttiness, which is then complemented with a light leafy bitterness to the end. The beer puts more emphasis on the bittering finish than any roasted, toasted, even biscuit malt sweetness. I find the bitterness oddly off-putting, but still adds to a refreshing finish. Some resinous and grassy flavors emerge midway through, of which further plays a poor game in my mouth. Almost watery
Mouthfeel: Medium to light body with a high carbonated spike mid tongue. Very light feeling in texture though. Somewhat watery as well.
Overall Impression: Eh, not exactly my ideal for a brown ale. A little watery and more emphasis on the bitterness than I would like. I think some more toasted malt would have been a great addition to the beer. The grassy/leafy finish is a bit deterring, though I notice it adds to a crisp refreshing finish


78/100

2012 Black Beer

Thanks to Thomas Christian for giving me this one to try. I've seen it a couple times in the store but I never had enough drive to purchase the entire six pack. Luckily people donate single bottles for me to determine if they are six pack worthy.

Appearance: Yup. Black. No transparency, and actually had quite a thicker pour than I expected. Many of the black beers I've tried were from Australia and they came off as light in taste and consistency but black in color. This one is different. Grayish Brown head, that falls back into the beer quickly. Lacing is noted.

Aroma: Strong roasted grain smell with some nuttiness and even an alcoholic zip at the end. Very effervescent and clean with some smokiness apparent.

Taste: Quite dry upon initial taste, mostly burnt flavoring with a tobacco like appeal. It reveals a roasted malt sweetness in the back of the throat. Bitterness is extremely limited but definitely some Golding hops here. The aftertaste reminds me of a subtly burnt crust of a whole grain toast. Very well balanced leaving much of the flavor to the specialty malts used. Chocolate flavoring begins to develop midway through maintaining a buttery hot-chocolate sweetness

Mouthfeel: Very thick, but the carbonation helps break that up a bit. A partial mid-spike separates the flavors from foretaste to the end taste. Alcohol finishes this beer dry.

Overall Impression: What a surprise, a decent black ale. Other's I've tried weren't so great like Xingu Black beer. Nevertheless this one was a full bodied delectably roasted malt beer, that maintained a complex flavor apart from any fruit malts and focus on what the grains offered.

88/100