Anchor Summer Beer

Making it's second appearance on my 52 week journey, the Anchor Brewing Company presents Anchor Summer Beer.  Anchor Summer Beer is a filtered wheat beer which usually means that I won't like it.

Sometimes beer makes me sad.

Samuel Adams Imperial Stout

 

I am generally not a big fan of dark beers, but I decided to give Sam Adams Imperial Stout a try. The Boston Brewery puts out four brews as part of it's Imperial Series, beers that are crafted to enrich the drinkers overall beer experience. Imperial Stout does not disappoint in that regard

Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA

As promised, this week I will not be talking about Samuel Adams.  Instead I am featuring Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA.  I first learned about this brewery and brew on the Discovery Channel series Brew Masters, which actually aired in Italy.  Of course they didn't actually sell the beer there, which meant I had to wait to see what all the fuss was about.

Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier

Being back in America has fully recharged my love of beer.  I have discovered varieties of Samuel Adams that I didn't even know existed.  I don't want to use up the rest of the year just enjoying the fruits of the Boston Brewing Company, but I just can't stop.  Sam Adams haters just need to bear with me for this and next week I will bring you something different.

Samuel Adams Porch Rocker

One of the benefits of living in the United States is the availability of beer.  On Monday, I walked into a liquor store for the first time in two years and I felt like David Bowman.

My God, it's full of beers!

Shiner Ruby Redbird

Shiner is great beer...but occasionally they go a little out there with the flavors.  When I saw Ruby Redbird at the store, I checked out the label and saw that it was brewed with grapefruit and ginger.  Much like wheat, I have never tasted a beer and said, "Nice, but where's the grapefruit?"  I was willing to give this one a try though.  I took a sip and was hit by the grapefruit right away.  I will admit it was a little off-putting but I kept drinking.  And it grew on me.  This is definitely a beer that is worth the effort. 

Point Nude Beach Summer Wheat

It seems that all beer manufacturers are trying hard to get drinkers to associate their brews with refreshment on a hot summer day.  For Stevens Point Brewery, associating their summer brew with spending the day at a nude beach seemed like advertising genius.

Makes me want to drink!

Sierra Nevada Summerfest 2012

This marks the first time in two years that I have gotten a seasonal beer before that season actually started.  (They are still selling Fall samplers here)

Punishment Budget Birra

This is Budget Birra.  Since I technically missed a week from being sick, I am punishing myself by drinking 66 cl of Italian cheap brew.  This was purchased for 57 euro cents which is about 71 cents US.  Not too bad for 66 cl which is about 22 ounces.  This is exactly what you would expect for beer that costs less than a dollar.  It's brown, carbonated and most likely made with barley, hops, water and yeast, but I can't be sure.  If you are poor and you are living in Italy, go nuts.  If you aren't, DO NOT DRINK THIS!

DAB Original

A while back I had the Shiner Dortmunder as the Beer of the Week and mentioned it was probably based off of DAB.  Well this is the original brew from Dortmund Germany.

Anchor Brewing Humming Ale

I have been doing a pretty poor job of keeping this site updated lately.  There are a lot of things going on with my move and some other excuses that I will think up later.  I going to use this weekend to try and remedy this.  First up is a brew from Anchor Brewing, Humming Ale.

This will be the last time I use the sampling glass for a while since it is on a ship to America.  Humming Ale is an interesting beer with a slightly bitter taste to it.  The color is nice and it has a very fragrant aroma from all of the hops.  The flavor seems a little heavy on the hops when you first drink it, but it grows on you.   Humming Ale is very full bodied.  I'm not sure if this is Anchor Brewing's spring brew (they don't advertise it that way), but it has more of a fall or winter feel to it.  Overall, it isn't bad, but it is more for people who like their beer with a lot of hops.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring

I will admit that I am a huge homer for Samuel Adams' beers, which is easy to see by the fact that my sampling glass is from the Samuel Adams brewery.   I can say without bias however that I really look forward to their seasonal brews and the new Alpine Spring is no exception.

This beer truly tastes like a spring lager with hints of citrus and the slight aroma of flowers.  It pours nice with a slight head like all Samuel Adams brews.  The light color is reminiscent of an IPA and is unusual for a lager.  It indicates how smooth of a beer this really is.  Like all of their brews, this is a beer for enjoying with a meal and not for slamming with your bros.  A definite recommendation.

Boddingtons Bitter/Spitfire Ale

I took some time off this week and went with the family to England.  There I was able to sample two very different English brews.  First up is Boddingtons Bitter:

This was available on draught at the hotel so I gave it shot.  Boddingtons was originally brewed by the Strangeways Brewery in Manchester England, but it is now owned by Anheuser-Busch.  This beer doesn't really have much of a personality at all and was overall disappointing.  It poured with a nice thick head and had a good color, but the taste and aroma were too mild.


We found the second beer while waiting for our plane at Heathrow Airport.  It just goes to show that you can find new and interesting beers everywhere.  You may notice that the picture is of an empty bottle of Spitfire Ale and that is for a reason.  This Kentish Ale was fantastic and didn't stand a chance.  Spitfire is brewed in Kent by the Shepherd Neame Brewery which claims to be the oldest brewery in England.  It is a rich dark amber colored ale with an excellent flavor and aroma.  It went down smooth and is a   definite recommend if you come across it.

Birra Messina

Italy is known for wine, for pasta and for fashion.  One thing it is not know for is beer.  In the last two years I have tasted almost all of the beers the country has to offer from Moretti to Castello with Peroni in between.  While none of these beers are bad, they lack the ability to wow your taste buds like some of the other brews I have had.  Unfortunately, Messina is no different.

The beer presents with a deep amber color and a medium heavy classic lager flavor, but that is where the story ends.  Messina does not take any challenges and is therefore indistinguishable from the other Italian lagers or even American standards like Budweiser.  This brew will not offend your tastes and is worth sampling for the sake of checking it off the list, but i wouldn't recommend buying it by the case.

Shiner Dortmunder

Spring is here and with it the latest batch of seasonal beers.  This weeks beer is the Shiner Dortmunder from the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX.

The Dortmunder name is probably a reference to the German lager brewed in the town of Dortmund, although the Shiner is an ale.