A killer whale of an ale

December 2nd, 2006 by Andy On a recent trip out west, I had the pleasure of enjoying a few beers from the venerable Alaskan Brewing Company, who beer snobs the world over admire for their celebrated Smoked Porter. On this particular occasion, I had the opportunity to sample the brewery’s Summer Ale and I am […]

What a neat wheat

December 3rd, 2006 by Andy I’m not normally a fan of wheat beers due to a sharpness I find in their taste from time to time. In fact, when I first tasted the Struise Witte from Belgium’s Noordhoek Ostrich Farm (yes, you read that correctly, this brewery is an Ostrich farm) I was a bit […]

Devout to Sierra Nevada Stout

December 24th, 2006 by Kevork Tis Christmas Eve and I am beaming, cherubs singing, bells a-ringing. Nick at Finewine.com did me a solid Found me this stout; apostolic. See, the distributor here in Virginia stopped carrying this beer. Why, I wonder? It’s taste is robust, like nuts a-roasted Smothered in chocolate tones; I boast it. […]

If I had a time machine…

December 31st, 2006 by Kevork I might travel back in time to a truly important event. The bottling of J.W. Lees Harvest Ale 1997. You see then I would be able to tell what it tasted like fresh. I say that because I received a true gift from a friend at Finewine.com. Today, on the […]

Don’t knock the Eisbock

January 13th, 2007 by Andy Ice beer was all the rage a number of years ago– indeed, it was a successful marketing ploy that got a lot of people drinking beastly beer containing a lot of alcohol. First, there was Icehouse, then the venerable Beast Ice, which became the choice of sophisticated frat boys looking […]

A reluctant pick of the Gaelic

January 21st, 2007 by Andy Not long ago, I had the opportunity to venture to beautiful Asheville, NC where I happened upon mixed case of the Highland Brewing company’s beers. Of course, you may remember that in April of 2005, I reviewed the Tasgall Ale and henceforth declared that the Tasgall “is a unique beer […]

The Slaapmustske is one heck of a brewsky

January 25th, 2007 by Andy With a mysterious sobriquet like Slaapmustske, one expects a phenomenal beer with exotic tastes fit for only the most refined among beer snobs (even those living in Tennessee). Being of such esteemed position, I approached the brewsky, obviously not meant for the simple bourgeoisie and found myself unable to disagree. […]

Ahh Lord, if the time is right, I am ready…

There’s something to be said for chanting. That is, chanting and making beer or cheese or chocolate. These are some of the practices of monks. I understand why the brothers of a monastery must keep a vow of silence. There are secret recipes and such that can’t just go wondering off! I have no doubt […]

This Breckenridge flies out of the fridge

February 18th, 2007 by Andy Not long ago, I wrote about the Breckenridge Christmas Ale in a most unflattering manner. The beer’s showing was so poor that I had essentially written off the Breckenridge Brewery– in fact, I had seen their Vanilla Porter a number of times since tasting the Christmas Ale and ignored it. […]

A question mark for this dark

February 25th, 2007 by Andy The Hobgoblin Ale is undoubtedly one of the coolest looking beer labels around– in fact, that’s what caused me to consider picking up a few the other day. But, like a book, which cannot be judged by its cover, one should also judge a beer for its character only. The […]