October 30, 2005 - #113 of 365

Brewer: Boston Beer Company (Massachusetts, USA)
Beer: Samuel Adams Hefeweizen
Style: American Wheat Beer
abv: 5.4%

Background: Sampler.

Appearance: Pours amber-tinted gold with a huge head. The bottle says unfiltered, but it’s not all that hazy.

Aroma: Wheat-heavy, with some breadiness and very faint banana and lemon.

Flavor: A little bit of wheat and an even smaller helping of fruit. Bland.

Notes: Boring but somewhat drinkable.

Rating: 2.9 out of 5

October 29, 2005 - #112 of 365

Brewer: The Boston Beer Company (Massachusetts, USA)
Beer: Samuel Adams Black Lager
Style: Schwarzbier
abv: 4.9%

Background: Bottle from a sampler from Kroger.

Appearance: Pours very dark red that looks black until held up to a light.

Aroma: Toffee, caramel, a little chocolate.

Flavor: More of the same, with emphasis on the chocolate and a little added coffee. It gets a little harsh before the finish, which is dry and surprisingly long-lasting (the aftertaste is a bit like smoky licorice).

Notes: Good stuff.

Rating: 3.6 out of 5

October 28, 2005 - #111 of 365

Brewer: Heineken Nederland (Hertogenbosch, Netherlands)
Beer: Amstel Light
Style: Crappy European Lager
abv: 3.5%

Background: It’s Friday night and I’m desperate.

Appearance: Pours pale straw with a small head.

Aroma: Corn and stale hops.

Flavor: Nothing but a sour corn finish.

Notes: I’ve already said too much.

Rating: 1.9 out of 5

October 27, 2005 - #110 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij van Steenberge (Ertvelde, Belgium)
Beer: Bornem Triple Ale
Style: Abbey Tripel
abv: 9%

Background: The last of ‘em.

Appearance: Pours clear gold with a huge head and lots of effervescence.

Aroma: Citrus, alcohol, brine, light hops, and a bit of sourness.

Flavor: Dominated by lemons, with some breadiness and a lightly hoppy finish.

Notes: Not bad, actually.

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

October 26, 2005 - #109 of 365

Brewer: Legend Brewing Company (Virginia, USA)
Beer: Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
abv: 6.4%

Background: My last one from these Legend jerks.

Appearance: Pours gold-amber with a large head. Decent lacing.

Aroma: Very good piney hop aroma, backed by bready malts and light caramel.

Flavor: Interestingly, the hops hit you from the get-go—piney and citrusy. The malt flavors are barely perceptible, but there is some toffee in the aftertaste.

Notes: I guess all their beers are either really, really bad or really good.

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

October 25, 2005 - #108 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij van Steenberge (Ertvelde, Belgium)
Beer: Bruegel Amber Ale
Style: Belgian Ale
abv: 5.2%

Background: Will this six-pack never end?

Appearance: Pours light amber with a large white head.

Aroma: Dark malt and dark fruit. Not bad, but not special.

Flavor: Begins sweet, then turns somewhat sour. There is a slight bitterness in the aftertaste.

Notes: Drinkable, but not re-drinkable.

Rating: 3.1 out of 5

October 24, 2005 - #107 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij van Steenberge (Ertvelde, Belgium)
Beer: Gulden Draak
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
abv: 10.5%

Background: Another one from that Belgian six-pack. I tried this at one of Vintage Wines’s tastings, but you can’t tell much from a one ounce serving.

Appearance: Pours dark brown with a large tan head.

Aroma: A big citrus and alcohol aroma hit me as soon as I opened the bottle. In the glass the smell is weaker, and is complemented by raisins and candy sugar.

Flavor: Begins with some Belgian yeast and sweet fruit notes, then turns horrifically spicy, then settles back down to a maple-esque sweetness. The finish is overpowering hot alcohol.

Notes: I found it hard to keep in my mouth for longer than two seconds, not because of a particularly bad taste (though that’s in there, too), but because of the spices and alcohol. That problem was gone by the middle of the glass, as my tastebuds became assimilated.

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

October 23, 2005 - #106 of 365

Brewer: Richbrau Brewing Company (Virginia, USA)
Beer: Old Nick Pale Ale
Style: English Pale Ale
abv: 5.4%

Background: Bottle from that same 3-pack.

Appearance: Pours amber, with a large white head that leaves thick lacing.

Aroma: Very weak. Some biscuity malts and grassy hops. Faint diacetyl.

Flavor: Very strange start—diacetyl and, if you can believe it, phenols. Not very good until the hops come in at the end, giving the beer a lightly bitter finish.

Notes: Not much going on, and most of what is, ain’t supposed to be.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

October 22, 2005 - #105 of 365

Brewer: Richbrau Brewing Company (Virginia, USA)
Beer: Griffin Golden Ale
Style: Golden Ale
abv: 5%

Background: Bottle from a 3-pack from Kroger in Richmond.

Appearance: Pours gold with a large, quickly-receding head.

Aroma: Very citrusy and sweet—lemon cleaning agent with honey.

Flavor: Bland, with a slight soapy hoppiness.

Notes: Not that great.

Rating: 2.4 out of 5

October 21, 2005 - #104 of 365

Brewer: Old Dominion Brewing Company (Virginia, USA)
Beer: Raleigh Tavern Williamsburg Pale Ale
Style: English Pale Ale
abv: unknown

Background: Bottle courtesy of my brother. They only sell this stuff in Colonial Williamsburg. It’s a different recipe than Dominion’s regular Pale Ale; this is an English-style one.

Appearance: Pours amber with a mid-sized head.

Aroma: Faint, but appetizing, hops.

Flavor: Dominated by malts, with a slight hoppiness at the end.

Notes: Very drinkable.

Rating: 3.4 out of 5

October 20, 2005 - #103 of 365

Brewer: Carolina Beer Company (North Carolina, USA)
Beer: Cottonwood Endo
Style: India Pale Ale
abv: 5.9%

Background: Bottle from Kroger here in Harrisonburg.

Appearance: Pours dark amber with a large head.

Aroma: Grassy hops, faint dark fruits, and tea.

Flavor: Interesting. Only a light citrusy hop presence, but that tea is very noticeable, along with some licorice.

Notes: Very good atypical IPA.

Rating: 3.6 out of 5

October 19, 2005 - #102 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij van Steenberge (Ertvelde, Belgium)
Beer: Double Bornem
Style: Abbey Dubbel
abv: 8%

Background: Another from that six-pack of bad Belgians.

Appearance: Pours brown with a large off-white head. I swear I saw one bubble dancing above the rest as though suspended from a spider’s web. The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

Aroma: Yeasty and bready, with dark fruits like raisins and prunes. Kind of hot on the nose.

Flavor: Harsh carbonation makes it hard to distinguish flavors. Some dark fruit. The finish is sweet and yeasty.

Notes: Eh.

Rating: 3 out of 5


My batteries are dead again.

October 18, 2005 - #101 of 365

Brewer: Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
Beer: Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale
Style: Pumpkin Ale
abv: who cares?

Background: On tap at Buffalo Wild Wings during that Tuesday evening lull after History of the Old South and before the Film Comedies weekly screening.

Appearance: Poured amber with a smallish head.

Aroma: Smelled like a Budweiser with a dash of nutmeg and a slight hint of actual maltiness.

Flavor: Tasted like a Budweiser with a dash of nutmeg and an even slighter hint of actual maltiness. The taste carried through to the beer I had afterward. This one can ruin an evening.

Notes: I paid $3.25 for a pint of this crap?

Rating: 2.1

October 17, 2005 - #100 of 365 - A Milestone

Brewer: Beck’s/InBev (Bremen, Germany)
Beer: Beck’s Oktoberfest
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
abv: 5%

Background: I thought I’d turn tradition on its head and drink as number 100 the beer in my fridge with the least potential (ignoring, of course, Leigh’s Amstel Lights).

Appearance: Pours clear copper with a generous head.

Aroma: Barely there. Light caramel and toffee.

Flavor: Begins with promise—nice and malty—but then turns harshly metallic, like a mouthful of blood.

Notes: When I said it poured copper, I didn’t think it was actually made of pennies. A good appearance and an innocuous aroma saved this one from a truly horrendous rating.

Rating: 2.5

October 16, 2005 - #99 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij Bosteels (Buggenhout, Belgium)
Beer: Pauwel Kwak
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
abv: 8%

Background: Bottle from Vintage Wines.

Appearance: Pours clear red with a large white head that leaves some decent lacing.

Aroma: Candy sugars, malts, and a little leather. Also slightly floral.

Flavor: Very sweet, with some alcohol and a hint of a metallic unpleasantness in the aftertaste.

Notes: Surprisingly good.

Rating: 3.8

October 15, 2005 - #98 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij van Steenberge (Ertvelde, Belgium)
Beer: Augustijn
Style: Abbey Tripel
abv: 8%

Background: Bottle from a mixed six-pack of crappy Belgian beers from that stupid store near Roanoke.

Appearance: Pours clear gold with a large, dense white head that sticks around.

Aroma: Light Belgian spices, some fruitiness (banana, citrus), and very light hops.

Flavor: Sweet and fruity at the beginning. Finishes semi-dry with a faint hop bitterness. Watery.

Notes: Not that great.

Rating: 3 out of 5

October 14, 2005 - #97 of 365

Brewer: Weyerbacher Brewing Company (Pennsylvania, USA)
Beer: Black Hole
Style: Porter
abv: 7%

Background: Bottle from that stupid store near Roanoke.

Appearance: Pours black with a small, dark head.

Aroma: Light roasted malts—chocolate and coffee.

Flavor: Same as the aroma, with a lot of roasted bitterness and an emphasis on the chocolate.

Notes: Great Porter.

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

October 13, 2005 - #96 of 365

Brewer: Chimay (Baileux, Belgium)
Beer: Cinq Cents (Blanche)
Style: Abbey Tripel
abv: 8%

Background: Bottle from the Virginia Touch. It’s called Cinq Cents (Five Hundred) because it was brewed for the 500th anniversary of either the Chimay monastery or the town of Baileux. I can’t remember which and I’m not going to look it up.

Appearance: Pours gold, slightly darker than most other Tripels I’ve had. There’s a huge white head that leaves a little bit of lacing.

Aroma: Spicy, yeasty, citrusy, fruity (pear and peach).

Flavor: Very good Belgian yeast and spice flavor, with a slight hop bite and a long, dry, very unique finish. Slight alcohol warming.

Notes: At least as good as the Chimay Grande Reserve (Bleu).

Rating: 3.9 out of 5

October 12, 2005 - #95 of 365

Brewer: Clipper City Brewing Company (Maryland, USA)
Beer: Balto MärzHon
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
abv: 5.8%

Background: Bottle from the Virginia Touch.

Appearance: Pours orange-amber with a one-finger head and some effervescence.

Aroma: Big, sweet, malts, along with an ever-so-slight hint of pumpkin spice.

Flavor: As smooth as an Oktoberfest should be, but not nearly as flavorful as I would like. The malt flavor just doesn’t live up to the malt aroma, and there’s a metallic finish that isn’t helping.

Notes: Blander than Dominion’s or Victory’s Fest, but not a bad domestic attempt.

Rating: 3.2 out of 5

atOctober 11, 2005 - #94 of 365

Brewer: Avery Brewing Company (Colorado, USA)
Beer: Hog Heaven
Style: Barley Wine
abv: 9.2%

Background: Bottle from the Vintage Cellar.

Appearance: Pours red-amber with a half-finger head that recedes quickly.

Aroma: Huge piney hop aroma overpowers the underlying sweet, bready malts.

Flavor: Great malt flavor, great hop flavor, but the two don’t mix as well as they should. Very hoppy aftertaste.

Notes: Definitely an American Barley Wine. You could call it a Double IPA and not be too far from the truth.

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

October 10, 2005 - #93 of 365

Brewer: J.W. Lees (Manchester, England)
Beer: Harvest Ale (Calvados)
Style: Barley Wine
abv: 11.5%

Background: Bottle from Once Upon a Vine. Vintage 2004. Matured in Calvados casks.

Appearance: Pours reddish-brown with a half-finger head.

Aroma: The sweet maltiness of the other Harvest Ales. The Calvados (a wine from the Normandy region) is more noticeable than the Lagavulin Whisky in the whisky-aged version. It lends a thick vinous smell, like sweet grape juice. There are some woody notes, as well, and hints of spices like nutmeg.

Flavor: Starts exactly like the others, then turns very vinous and oaky. Vanilla, sweet fruit (apple and grape), caramel, and brandy-like alcohol in the middle. The finish is the dry, smoky, tobacco finish I’ve come to expect from Harvest Ales. Thick and oily in the mouth.

Notes: My favorite Harvest so far.

Rating: 4.1 out of 5

October 9, 2005 - #92 of 365

Brewer: Heavyweight Brewing Company (New Jersey, USA)
Beer: Biere d’Art
Style: Bière de Garde
abv: 7.7%

Background: Bottle from Downtown Wine and Gourmet. Crappy modern art on the label.

Appearance: Pours hazy orange with a large head and good lacing.

Aroma: Very fruity—raspberry, peach, green apple—and tart. There’s a slight mustiness and a little bit of funk.

Flavor: Surprisingly funky, with a dry, bitter finish. Very prickly on the tongue.

Notes: Good, but maybe too spritzy.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

October 8, 2005 - #91 of 365

Brewer: Dupont Brasserie (Tourpes-Leuze, Belgium)
Beer: Saison Dupont Vieille Provision
Style: Saison
abv: 6.5%

Background: Bottle from Downtown Wine and Gourmet here in Harrisonburg.

Appearance: Pours straw gold with a huge, dense head and some initial swirling effervescence. Good lacing.

Aroma: Hay, cloves, and citrus. Quite a big yeast smell, too.

Flavor: Very spicy and barnyardy, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Creamy yet spritzy.

Notes: Good.

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

October 7, 2005 - #90 of 365

Brewer: Weyerbacher Brewing Company (Pennsylvania, USA)
Beer: Prophecy
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
abv: 9.3%

Background: Bottle from the Vintage Cellar. This is their Merry Monk’s Tripel aged in oak barrels. I had the Merry Monk’s but it had gone bad.

Appearance: Pours orange with a very small head.

Aroma: Very vinous, like an oaked chardonnay. There’s also some citrus, and a background smell like apple cider.

Flavor: Vinous in the mouth as well, with a light tartness and some Belgian yeast notes. The oak has imparted a semi-dry finish. That finish, though, is strange and bitter (not hoppy-bitter, but just weird-bitter) and detracts from the beer. Thin mouthfeel.

Notes: Not bad, not something I’d buy again.

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

October 6, 2005 - #89 of 365

Brewer: Victory Brewing Company (Pennsylvania, USA)
Beer: Festbier
Style: Oktoberfest/Marzen
abv: 5.6%

Background: Bottle from Vintage Wines.

Appearance: Pours copper with a two-finger off-white head.

Aroma: Toffee, caramel, and a slight roastiness.

Flavor: The same, with a long finish.

Notes: Short notes, but, as far as Oktoberfests go, this one’s excellent.

Rating: 3.6 out of 5

October 5, 2005 - #88 of 365

Brewer: Brouwerij Bosteels (Buggenhout, Belgium)
Beer: Tripel Karmeliet
Style: Abbey Tripel
abv: 8%

Background: Bottle from the Vintage Cellar.

Appearance: Pours clear pale orange/amber with a large, dense head. There’s a screw of bubbles rising in the middle of the glass—that, with the head, looks a lot like a mushroom cloud.

Aroma: Honey, bread, a little sourness, and a peppery spiciness.

Flavor: Feels and tastes like a loaf of bread at the beginning. The middle is peppery, and it ends on a floral note, backed by honey.

Notes: Excellent. Possibly better than Allagash’s Tripel.

Rating: 4.4 out of 5


And of course I forgot to take a picture of the mushroom cloud.

October 4, 2005 - #87 of 365

Brewer: Avery Brewing Company (Colorado, USA)
Beer: The Reverend
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
abv: 10%

Background: Bottle from the Vintage Cellar. Yeah, this is two of their beers in a row, but it was a long day and I'm about to go to sleep and I want something strong that comes in a big bottle.

Appearance: Pours clear copper with a small head. Too light, too clear, too small a head.

Aroma: Very sweet and fruity—apple, pear, some plum. Hell, maybe even some cranberry. There are some candy sugar and Belgian yeast notes, as well.

Flavor: Sweet and alcoholic. Very much so on both accounts.

Notes: Drinkable, but not worth the spent grain husks in the garbage at Rochefort when compared to others of the style.

Rating: 3.2

October 3, 2005 - #86 of 365

Brewer: Avery Brewing Company (Colorado, USA)
Beer: Samael’s Oak-Aged Ale
Style: Barley Wine
abv: 14.5%

Background: Bottle bearing the angel of death himself from the Vintage Cellar. Aged with oak chips. As you can see, ridiculously strong.

Appearance: I wasn’t expecting a head on this one, but I sure got one, a big white one. When it receded the top of the glass looked like a weird microscope slide. The beer’s amber-copper-orangish.

Aroma: Big bourbon smell to it, on account of the oak chips and all the alcohol. It’s also a bit sweet, with dark fruits and a light floral hop aroma.

Flavor: The alcohol is up front, and it hits you hard. The middle is syrupy, very sweet, and then the alcohol comes back for the finish, this time with some oak. Mouthfeel is thick, but the carbonation makes it feel lighter (most beers this high in alcohol have very little carbonation, especially English-Style Barley Wines).

Notes: Some aging would do this one well, I think.

Rating: 3.3 out of 5


None of my pictures turned out, which sucks because that was a pretty cool bottle.

October 2, 2005 - #85 of 365

Brewer: Harvey’s (East Sussex, England)
Beer: Christmas Ale
Style: Barley Wine
abv: 8.3%

Background: Bottle from Once Upon a Vine.

Appearance: Pours dark copper with a small, quickly-receding head.

Aroma: Sweet and alcoholic, with banana, raisin, and caramel notes.

Flavor: Like a greatly toned-down (and much worse) Lee’s Harvest Ale. Sweet, with a fairly large alcohol presence and some peatiness/smokiness. There is a bit of the dry tobacco finish of the Lee’s, but none of its breadth, length, or chewiness.

Notes: This is probably why Harvey didn’t get that bike he wanted last year. Actually, it’s not that terrible. I just wanted to make a joke.

Rating: 3.1 out of 5

October 1, 2005 - #84 of 365

Brewer: Brasserie la Caracole (Falmignoul, Belgium)
Beer: Nostradamus
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
abv: 9.5%

Background: Bottle from the store. I probably should have had an Oktoberfest today, but who cares.

Appearance: Pours like all these other Belgians I’ve been having—murky brown with a large off-white head.

Aroma: Brown sugar, dark fruit, yeast.

Flavor: Sweet but not cloying. It dies a rather quick death.

Notes: Good, too thin to be great. If it was better I’d say something like “I can see myself drinking this in the future.”

Rating: 3.7 out of 5

September 30, 2005 - #83 of 365

Brewer: Rogue Ales (Oregon, USA)
Beer: Morimoto Soba Ale (also sold as Buckwheat Ale)
Style: Soba/Buckwheat Ale
abv: 4.8%

Background: Bottle from Mike’s. Yes, it is named after the Iron Chef guy; he had a hand in its making.

Appearance: Pours orangish-amber with a small white head and little effervescence.

Aroma: Smells like a nutty lager.

Flavor: Starts off good and nutty, with a great-tasting maltiness, but finishes on what can only be the soba. And I apparently don’t like soba. Different, but not too good.

Notes: Light and refreshing.

Rating: 3.1 out of 5