Beer 383/365 – The Bruery Autumn Maple

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 10.5%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: The first beer I have ever tried that was brewed with Yams…

Will I be drinking this again: I have another bottle in the basement, it was a little hot so hopefully some age will tame it a bit.

Grade: A-

3/22/2011: Let it be known that I will try any beer that has maple in it. I LOVE maple flavor. It also helps that they use yams in this because sweet potatoes/yams are right up my alley as well. You might see a blurry face in the reflection of the window behind the beer, and that would be my good friend Donnie who I split the beer with.

I was expecting a lot of maple in the nose, but there was zero. Lots of spice, nutmeg and cinnamon maybe? Also something fruity. The flavor is great, but not what I was expecting. Cinnamon, nutmeg and clove are the front runners. Maple is there but to be honest I’m not sure if I would have picked it out if i had not known it was in the beer. Lots of caramel flavor as well. Everything about this beer is great except for the mouthfeel, and strong alcohol bite. The mouthfeel is a bit light for such a high ABV. Overall though I’ll bet this beer will be great with some age.

Picture of the day: I can already tell this chick is going to make a great mother.

Beer 338/365 – Short’s Strawberry Short’s Cake

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 5.0%

Purchased at: Sent in a trade

What makes this beer different: It actually tastes like angel food cake with strawberries on it.

Will I be drinking this again: Wouldn’t mind having another sometime down the road.

Grade: A-

10/12/2010: Not sure why fruit flavored beers are so frowned upon in the beer geek world, yet lambics are not? Never really understood that, but regardless I am secure enough in my sexuality to say that I like a good fruit flavored beer every once in awhile. That being said sometimes breweries over do the fruit flavors.

The nose instantly reminds me of angel food cake, that marshmallowy/sugary/vanilla type smell you get from the cake. They got the smell right on the mark. The flavor is great; obviously strawberries, angel food cake, vanilla, some lactic action going on as well. All the flavors play very well together, no one here is looking for attention which makes for a great blend of flavors. Mouthfeel and carbonation are both right in the middle. Very well done! Just enough strawberry flavor without over doing it.

Picture of the day: At least they are honest.

Beer 333/365 – Short’s Key Lime Pie

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 5.75%

Purchased at: Sent to me in a trade

What makes this beer different: It really does taste lie Key Lime Pie.. well done!

Will I be drinking this again: I would love to get my hands on some more of it.

Grade: A-

10/7/2010: Mmmmm Key Lime Pie. Key Lime Pie seems to be one of those desserts that you either love or hate, personally I love it. Reminds me of going to the Ocean City on vacations with the family.

The nose is full of marshmallow and tart/semi-acidic. The flavor is pretty damn accurate to the name of the beer, lots of tangy lime, heavy marshmallow (which also adds to the mouthfeel), graham cracker is light but there, and there is this semi-earthy thing going on a well. Mouthfeel could be a little lighter but this is probably a result of brewing with actual marshmallows. Overall this is much better than I expected.

Picture of the day: I hate it when this happens.

Beer 213/365 – Short’s Smoked Apple Ale

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 6.25%

Purchased at: An extra in trade from Andy

What makes this beer different: Tastes as advertised, smokey and appley

Will I be drinking this again: Its a pretty limited release but if it was more accessible then yes I would.

Grade: A-

6/9/2010: Thanks a bunch to reader Andy for sending me this as an extra. I have been wanting to try Kuhnhenn Raspberry Eisbock for awhle now, and he hunted me one down. $14 for 6.3oz worth! I might have to break my 10oz per beer per day rule for that bad boy.

This beer smells like an apple cooked over a campfire. The taste is heavy on smoke at first, with a little bit of apple in the background. You can feel the smoke in your tear ducts its so intense. About halfway through the beer it really mellows out and the split is almost 50/50 smoke to apple, but still heavier on smoke. Very unique beer to be sure. A little over carbonated but it helps cut through the smoke a bit.

Picture of the day: Ronaldo is jealous.

Beer 184/365 – Unibroue Ephemere Apple

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

ABV: 5.50%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman OH

What makes this beer different: Sour apple cider

Will I be drinking this again:No

Grade: C+

5/11/2010: Unibroue probably brews some of the best Belgian style beers outside of Belgium. La Fin Du Monde, Trois Pistoles, Maudite, La Terrible, all very very solid beers. Actually I think La Terrible might be my favorite of theirs. I have yet to try a beer of theirs that I do not like …until now.

Ephemere smells like straight apple juice made from granny smith apples. The taste is a very bitter apple, with not nearly enough sweetness to back it up. Not much malt/sugar to speak of. Very dry also. Overall it kind of tastes like a fizzy sour apple juice mixed 50/50 with some very dry champagne. I guess you can’t hit a home run every time right?

Picture of the day: Human heads are delicious.

Beer 124/365 – Shorts PB & J

Style: Fruit/Vegetable Beer

Purchased at: Given to me by loyal reader Andy from Detroit

What makes this beer different: Lots of sour fruit flavor

Will I be drinking this again: Hoping the other ones I have are not infected like this one

Grade: B-

3/12/2010: I might have been more excited to try this beer over any other beer previous to this one in my 365 mission. Very hard to find so I was surprised that Andy was able to find this one for me. Especially since Short’s does not distribute out of Michigan (as far as I know). Thanks again Andy!

From what I understand Shorts PB&J is half Uber Goober, and half Soft Parade. I have tried both so knew somewhat what to expect. Unfortunately I am pretty sure this one is infected. The smell was spot on with PB&J… lots of strawberry/raspberry smell, with a little bit of peanut. A Lot of carbonation going on here.The taste was very very sour. A lot of strawberry/raspberry flavor, with no peanut hints to be found. Oddly enough the head itself tastes a good bit like peanut, but not the liquid. The reason I think this might be infected is it was rumored that many of the PB&J’s were, and secondly I had the Soft Parade and it was not nearly this sour. Once I was halfway finished with the beer, I added about a half shot of Castries Peanut Rum Creme to the mix. Now THIS is what I expected this beer to taste like. I urge anyone who has some Short’s PB&J that they think might be infected, to run out and grab some of this creme rum to add to it. I still have two bottles left so I am hoping one of those is “clean.”

Picture of the day: Not so much funny but very creepy…Hitler without a beard.

Beer 107/365 – Abita Purple Haze

Style: Fruit/Vegetable beer

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman Ohio

What makes this beer different: A touch of raspberry.

Will I be drinking this again: Yes

Grade: B

2/23/2010: Purple Haze is brewed in the home state of this years Superbowl champions, Louisiana. Of course the name of this beer is a tribute to the best guitar player EVER.. Jimi Hendrix. I actually work as an usher at the Mellon Arena where the Pittsburgh Penguins play, and last night Eric Clapton was in town. He is no slouch on the geeetar either. Although his set was very short, probably because he was actualy sober.

Well Abita got it about half right, this beer is hazy but not very purple. Damn you Abita. But seriously this was one of the first craft beers I have ever tried. The smell is a typical wheat beer smell, with almost a berry jelly type smell. The taste is a lot of wheat, a little bit of raspberry, and not quite enough malt. The ingredients are right, just not quite balanced. If it had a touch more raspberry and malt, this beer would be an A. I remember when I first tried this beer I LOVED it, but I guess my palette is getting a bit more “refined.” I will still drink it again as it is a sessionable beer, but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I used to.

Picture of the day: This pretty much sums up some of the problems in the US.

Beer 70/365 – Eel River Acai Berry Wheat

Style: Fruit / Vegetable Beer

Purchased at: 3 Sons Dogs ‘n Suds – Wexford PA

What makes this beer different: Its more tranparent than a gingers skin in the dead of winter

Will I be drinking this again: Maybe if it was free

Grade: C-

1/17/2010: After two A+ in a row I was due for a crappy beer. We got this on a whim because I never see Eel River, and we (girlfriend also) really like acai juice. If you have never tried acai berry juice you need to.

Acai Berry Wheat should be called “Water with a hint of blueberry”. I don’t get any acai flavor, but you can taste blueberry. I can’t stress how watery and devoid of flavor this stuff is. It honestly tastes like a Michelob Ultra with a tiny bit of berry added. Again like most of my negative reviews, the flavor wasn’t bad it was just not there. Avoid this one at all costs.

Funny Picture of the day: Conan is turning to Craigslist for help.

Beer 57/365 – Shorts Brew The Soft Parade

Style: Fruit / Vegatable beer

Purchased at: Siciliano’s Market – Grand Rapids MI

What makes this beer different: Like a Red Fruit Salad

Will I be drinking this again: Possibly

Grade: B+

1/04/2010: Not sure the label of this beer is a reflection of the brewmasters desire to be somewhere more sunny, but I am going to assume so because Michigan is cold and snowy as hell. Okay its not like that all the time but damn it was bitter cold when I was there, and laying on a beach in chair in the sun sounded like a good idea at the time.

So I really had no idea what style of beer this was before I bought it. I made it a mission to buy every shorts beer I could get a hold of when I was in MI. Not that I am against fruit beers, but I don’t go out of my way to drink them. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with this one being that fruit beer isn’t my favorite. Clean fresh cut berry smell, and the taste was similar; strong strawberry taste with a raspberry/blackberry tinge (I think that might be the first time in my life I typed Raz-Berry, who knew it had a silent P in the middle). The berries were not overpowering but you without a doubt know they are there. The mouthfeel was medium and almost felt like a sparkling wine cooler when I wasn’t paying attention. The over carbonation is what knocked this one down a few pegs for me. Not bad for my first sample of Short’s!

Bonus Beer – Bell’s Apple Ale

Style: Fruit/Vegetable beer

Purchased at: Bells Eccentric Cafe

What makes this beer different: Tastes Like Apple Cider mixed with beer

Will I be drinking this again: No because you can only get it at Bell’s

Grade: B+

1/02/2010: Don’t mind the lipstick on the lip of the glass, its not mine haha (girlfriend snagged a taste before I could snap a picture). Had this one on tap at Eccentric Cafe; Bell’s tap-room. I like to try stuff you otherwise could not get unless you are at the brewpub. Apple Ale sounded pretty different so I figured why not give it a shot. If you go here just be sure to avoid the female bartender with the lip ring, she sucks at life.

The smell right off the bat is fresh apple juice with a mild vinegar smell. At first taste the vinegar comes through, it almost tastes like apple vinegar to me. Apparently Apple Vinegar is supposed to be really good for you so hey what the heck. Little to no carbonation, and mouthfeel was light to medium. The more you drink it the more it comes through like a sour cider, which might be what knocked this down a couple notches for me. I have never been a huge cider fan, so my grade might be a bit slanted. Halfway through the beer I was kind of over it. I guess for the style though it was probably more in the A- range.