Shiner Old-Time Alt

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Altbier
State/Country: Texas
ABV: 5.0%
Serving Type: 12 oz. Bottle

Look: 7.5
Light Amber color, clear.  Thin head with little retention, but nice lacing


Smell: 7
Mild scent of toasted malt, nuts, hay, and corn 

Taste: 7
Toasted malt, balanced nicely by the hops, then some mild malt, and a lingering metallic taste

Mouthfeel: 7.5
Light body, and medium carbonation, with a slight dry finish

Drinkability: 7.5
Crisp and smooth

Overall Score: 7.3

Value: 9
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.42

Overall Impression:
Another pretty average beer, but it was better than I expected.  I bought a variety 6-pack, which is kinda cool, since you typically have to get a 12-pack or a case for a 4-6 beer variety.  This is far a great representation of the Altbier style, but judging it on its own, it was pretty enjoyable.  Not every beer has to be amazing or cost you an arm and a leg.  If you want to save a few bucks and drink something decent, check it out.

Otter Creek Copper Ale

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Altbier
State/Country: Vermont
ABV: 5.0%
Serving Type: 12 oz. Bottle

Look: 8
Amber color, slight haze.  Medium head with decent retention and lacing



Smell: 7
Very mild scent of sweet malt, raw sugar, and herbal hops 

Taste: 7
Metallic hops, toasted malt, with a hint of caramel and toffee, and a lingering bitterness

Mouthfeel:7.5
Light-medium body, and medium carbonation, with a slight creamy finish

Drinkability: 7.5
Smooth and easy to drink

Overall Score: 7.4

Value: 9
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.42

Overall Impression:
A pretty average beer across the board.  The aromas and flavors are nice, but there is not enough of them.  Still, a good beer for the money, and certainly worth checking out

Stone Pale Ale

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: American Pale Ale
State/Country: California
ABV: 5.4%
Serving Type: 12oz. Bottle

Look: 8
Deep amber color, hazy, with a medium, off-white head and good lacing

Smell: 7
Faint malt, and piney/resinous hops

Taste: 8
Hops coat the tongue, and give way to a mild malt flavor in the finish

Mouthfeel: 9
Medium body with medium-high carbonation. Slightly sticky and mouth coating

Drinkability: 8
Smooth, mellow, and refreshing

Overall Score: 8
Value: 9
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.78

Overall Impression:
I reviewed this beer by request. I'm glad I did, because I do not recall trying this one before, and I thought I tried everything from Stone. West Coast brewers are known for their over-the-top beers, and few brewers exemplify this more than Stone. Their beers are as bold and brash as the words displayed on their bottle. I still think they have the best bottles and verbiage going. But back to this beer...I was curious to see how Stone would do with a more "basic" style of beer, and I was not surprised that they pulled it off. It was nice to see that it was not overly hoppy. I dare say that it was balanced...very different than the beers that they are more famous for.  Definitely worth checking out!

Triumph Bohemian Pilsner

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Bohemian Pilsner
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 5.4%
Serving Type: On Tap @ Triumph Brewing Co (Princeton)

Look: 8
Light golden color, very clear, with a thin white head and little lacing


Smell: 7
Not much there...but I did detect bready malts and floral hops

Taste: 7
Up Front: Spicy hops, asssertive bitterness giving way to a long grainy finish

Mouthfeel: 8
Medium body with medium-high carbonation

Drinkability: 8
Quaffable! 

Overall Score: 7.6
Value: 3
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.50

Overall Impression:
Yes, I have been on a bit of a Lager binge lately, but this one was just ok. Triumph usually puts out excellent beer in every style, but this one fell just a little bit short. Still worth trying tho, especially if you love Pilsners.

Bitburger Premium Pils

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: German Pilsner
State/Country: Germany
ABV: 4.8%
Serving Type: 16.9 oz Can

Look: 8
Straw color, very clear, with a thin white head and not much lacing

Smell: 7
Crackers, with very faint biscuit malt and floral hops

Taste: 7.5
Up Front: Very sharp & assertive hops giving way to light malt character, and a clean hoppy finish.

Mouthfeel: 8
Medium body & carbonation

Drinkability: 7
Balanced, but the metallic taste is a bit of a turn off for me

Overall Score: 7.5
Value: 9
Cost/12 oz serving: $0.87

Overall Impression:
I would have liked it more if the metallic flavor was subdued or absent altogether. Still, not too bad, and for only 87 cents for a 12oz serving, you really cant comp[lain too much.

Yards Saison

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: Saison / Farmhouse Ale
State/Country: Pennsylvania
ABV: 6.5%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 8
Hazy golden color with decent head & lacing

Smell: 7
Citrus, banana, some Belgian yeast

Taste: 7
Up Front: Spicy and sharp. Finish: Sweet with a lingering spiciness


Mouthfeel: 8
Light body and well carbonated.

Drinkability:7
It is a little on the harsh side for my palate.

Overall Score: 7.4

Value: 8.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.78

Overall Impression:
Not a bad Saison, especially for the money. Certainly worth checking out.

Terrapin Rye Pale Ale

Reviewed By: Herr Mike
Style: American Pale Ale
State/Country: Georgia
ABV: 5.3%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle


Look: 8
Light orange color, fluffy head that dissipates quick, good lacing

Smell: 8
Malt, citrus, honey, pine, bread

Taste: 8
Up Front: Malt, green apple, orange, toast. Finish: Slightly spicy and sweet

Mouthfeel: 7.5
Dry, bready, slight carbonation

Drinkability: 8
This is an OK quaffer. It goes down easy and has a low ABV

Overall Score: 7.9

Value: 10
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.52

Overall Impression:
Pale Ale is not my favorite style, but the slight rye flavor made it interesting. This is a beer I would bring to a mortal barbecue, because it’s not too over the top.

Allentown Brew Works Hop'solutely

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: Double/Imperial IPA
State/Country: Pennsylvania
ABV: 10.5%
Serving Type: 22 oz Bottle

Look: 7.5
Deep copper/amber color, slight haze, almost no head with little retention & lacing.

Smell: 8.5
Tons of malt, with caramel, citrus

Taste: 7.5
Up Front: Very sweet malt, toffee, caramel. Finish: Citrus and pine hops, more malt

Mouthfeel: 7
Full body with little to no carbonation, very cloying

Drinkability: 7
I had a tough time with this one

Overall Score: 7.5

Value: 6
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.75

Overall Impression:
The malt/toffee,caramel flavors were really nice, but I felt the beer was flat, too sweet, not nearly hoppy enough, and thus unbalanced. If you like super sweet beers, you'll love it.

I'd like to throw out some kudos to Chris and his staff over at Hawthorne's Cafe in Philly. Very courteous & knowledgeable staff, great food & atmosphere, and an impressive selection of Quality Craft Beer. PROST!

He'Brew Messiah Bold

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: American Brown Ale
State/Country: California
ABV: 5.6%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 9
Brown color, medium tan head with good retention & lacing

Smell: 8
Chocolate, sweet malt

Taste: 6
Up Front: Bland, chocolate
Finish: Same, with a strange lingering bitterness

Mouthfeel: 6.5
Medium body, low carbonation

Drinkability: 6.5
Average at best

Overall Score: 7.2

Value: 7.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.61

Overall Impression:
It looked great, smelled ok, but it was flat out boring after that. The flavor that was present was good, but there was not nearly enough of it. This reminds me of a beer that one of the Evil 2 would put out.

Victory Golden Monkey

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: Tripel
State/Country: Pennsylvania
ABV: 9.5%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 8.5
Bright golden color, medium head with low retention, and little to no lacing

Smell: 8
Booze, Belgian yeast, citrus

Taste: 7
Up Front: Alcohol, orange and lemon. Finish: Malt, typical spices from Belgian yeast

Mouthfeel: 7.5
Light/Medium body, high carbonation

Drinkability: 7.5
It's Crisp...perhaps too much so. That plus the alcohol bite, makes this just average in this department

Overall Score: 7.7

Value: 8.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.78

Overall Impression:
This is a great starter Tripel for Newbeez, but those already familiar with the style may find it to be average at best. It IS a great value, and it is from one of our local breweries, so give it a shot.

Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: Specialty Grain
State/Country: Oregon
ABV: 4.8%
Serving Type: 22 oz Bottle

Look: 7
Brownish red color, massive head that will not go away with insane lacing

Smell: 8
Roasted malt, nuts, buckwheat

Taste: 7.5
Up Front: Buckwheat, coffee. Finish: Chocolate, slight metalic taste, then more chocolate

Mouthfeel: 6
Light/Medium body, high carbonation

Drinkability: 7
The sharp carbonation bite made this harder to drink than it could have been

Overall Score: 7.1

Value: 5
Cost/12 oz serving: $4.20

Overall Impression:
It was impossible to pour this beer without excessive foaming, and since the head retention excellent, that was an issue. The high carbonation killed this beer in mouthfeel and drinkability as well. That sucks, because it had a pretty interesting flavor. I'm hoping this was an isolated incident.

Southern Tier Porter

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: American Porter
State/Country: New York
ABV: 5.2%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 8.5
Dark brown/almost black, thick head that thins out quickly, with little lacing!

Smell: 8
Roasted malt

Taste: 8
Up Front: Strong roasted flavors, smoke. Finish: Smoke, trace amount of malt

Mouthfeel: 7.5
Thin body with medium carbonation

Drinkability: 7
Coffee lovers will find this quite drinkable

Overall Score: 7.8

Value: 7
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.78

Overall Impression:
A little too much roasted flavor that is not balanced out by the malt. Also too thin for my liking. It's a decent Porter, and decent value. Give it a shot.

Rock Art Golden Tripel

Reviewed By: Herr Mike AND Herr Rick
Style: Tripel
State/Country: Vermont
ABV: 8%
Serving Type: 750ml Bottle

Look: 8.5
Orange amber, cloudy, decent head that dissipated quickly, with decent lacing

Smell: 8
Orange, yeast, ginger

Taste: 7
Up Front: Orange - lots of it, with slight ginger. Finish: Malt, and then a very astringent, bitter ending

Mouthfeel: 8
Medium body, short crisp carbonation, dry finish

Drinkability: 6.5
Unbalanced flavor, and the bitter finish was disappointing

Overall Score: 7.7

Value: 6
Cost/12 oz serving: $2.92

Overall Impression:
There are many much better Tripel's on the market, but this one would do if you can't find anything new to try

Sierra Nevada Glissade

Reviewed By: Herr Mike
Style: Heller Bock
State/Country: California
ABV: 6.4%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 8
Med golden color, very effervescent , nice head that dissipates quickly, light lacing

Smell: 7
Yeasty, floral and slightly hoppy

Taste: 8
Up Front: Dry, peppery, spicy
Finish: Slightly sweet & bready

Mouthfeel: 7
Light, almost like champagne, slightly sweet, bready aftertaste

Drinkability: 9
Slightly high for a mortal session beer, but it is easy to drink

Overall Score: 7.8

Value: 8
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.52

Overall Impression:
Heller Bock is a good transition beer from winter to spring, and would be a good "starter" QCB because of it's pilsner like characteristics. It would also pair nicely with many foods because it's not overpowering