Beer 326/365 – Mill Street Lemon Tea Beer

Style: Herbed / Spiced beer

ABV: 4.90%

Purchased at: Dave brought it back from Canada

What makes this beer different: It really tastes like Tea! Not too much though.

Will I be drinking this again: Would love to next summer.

Grade: B+

9/30/2010: I had my roommate Dave stop by a six pack shop to grab me some brew while he was on a business trip in Canada a few weeks back. I have never heard of this beer, but it sounded interesting so I had him pick me up one.

The nose really comes off with a lot of fresh brewed tea, with a splash of lemon. The flavor was a lot better than I expected, an even split between wheat flavor, and fresh brewed hot tea. Yes a little bit of tart lemon is there as well. I was afraid the tea would be way overdone, but I think this is a perfect amount. Mouthfeel is light with nice carbonation. This would be an awesome beer to have a six pack of on a hot summer day.

Picture of the day: How to spot a douchebag.

Beer 325/365 – Unibroue La Fin Du Monde

Style: Tripel

ABV: 9.0%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman, OH

What makes this beer different: The best North American brewed Belgian style beer I have ever had.

Will I be drinking this again: I have 3 more aging in the basement, so yes!

Grade: A

9/29/2010: La Fin Du Monde is Unibroue’s highest ranked beer. Which is why I am kind of surprised I haven’t reviewed it yet. I think its almost goes unsaid that Unibroue makes the best Belgain Style beer not brewed within the borders of Belgium itself. I also picked this beer because I really wanted to knock off as many of the Top 100 BeerAdvocate beers as I could before I wrap up my 365 (La Fin comes in at #33 at the moment).

The nose of La Fin Du Monde isn’t quite as funky/yeasty as a true Belgian, but its still good. Pears/Apples at the front, and a touch of clove. The flavor is what makes this beer, its on the sweeter end of the Tripel scale. Lots of apple/pear type flavors, maybe some banana? Clove and pepper are in the background, but theres just enough for you to know its there. Not as spicy as other tripels I have had, but thats okay by me. Mouthfeel is the only knock on this beer, as it doesn’t have the full creamy feeling of a true Belgian. I have yet to find a North American brewed beer that gets the Belgian mouthfeel right. That being said this is still a great great beer.

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Beer 324/365 – Southampton Imperial Porter

Style: American Porter

ABV: 7.2%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman, OH

What makes this beer different: Had a bit of a cereal kick to it.

Will I be drinking this again: Probably not.

Grade: B

9/28/2010: This is another beer that I picked up on a whim. Basically if you throw the word “Imperial” onto a beer, I am legally bound to buy it.

Not a ton of smell going on with this beer, but it does smell a little bit like one of my favorite cereals; Cocoa Puffs. The flavor is a lot of chocolate (similar to cocoa puffs), some coffee, and a little bit of earthiness. The flavor is nice, but where this beer fails is all in the mouthfeel. Its thin, oily, and gives you that weird sugary coating on your mouth similar the film you are left with after finishing a very sugary bowl of cereal. Not terrible but not great.

Picture of the day: This is actually a video. British teen imitates 24 different American Accents.

Beer 323/365 – Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion

Style: American Pale Ale

ABV: 5.2%

Purchased at: Roommate Dave brought it back from Canada on a road-trip.

What makes this beer different: Lots of flavor for an APA

Will I be drinking this again: I would if it were available in the states!

Grade: B+

9/27/2010: Canada… forever America’s top hat. I keed I keed. My roommate recently went on a business trip through the great white north, and of course I had him stop and grab me some brew that I can’t get in the states. Apparently Canada doesn’t have a big selection at thier 6 pack shops like do in the US, but he still got me a nice variety.

The nose of Hoptical Illusion (awesome name by the way) is mostly bready, with some fruity hops. The flavor has a great balance of malt/hops; Pale and bready malts, with some citrus (almost apricot like) and floral hops. Very crisp for the style. Average carbonation and mouthfeel, with a lot of carbonation. Also a bit creamy for the style. Good job on this one Canadia!

Picture of the day: Very witty and appropro (sp?) baseball illustration.

Beer 322/365 – Great Divide Hoss

Style: Marzen

ABV: 6.2%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman, OH

What makes this beer different: A bit of earthy/pepper thing going on for the style.

Will I be drinking this again: Yes next fall I will pick up a 6 pack I’m sure.

Grade: A-

9/26/2010: I really don’t think that Great Divide makes a beer that I do not like, well not that I have tried thus far. I plan on breaking open their Barrel Aged Yeti very soon. I will probably dig into the cellar to try and knock off a bunch of top 100 beers from BeerAdvocate. Oh and sorry for the Steeler’s glass but I did drink this on a Sunday :).

The nose of Hoss is a bit hoppier than your typical Marzen/Oktoberfest. The flavor is an awesome three-way balance between sweet bready malt, earthy/pepper type kick (from the rye), and noble hops. Each sip seems to rotate between the three. The mouthfeel and carbonation are right in the middle, and it finishes on the dry end of the scale. Lots of flavor in this beer.

Picture of the day: If you do this in an email, I hate you.

Beer 321/365 – Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale

Style: Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 4.5%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman, OH

What makes this beer different: TONS of spice and NO pumpkin.

Will I be drinking this again: Hell no.

Grade: C-

9/25/2010: I vaguely remember reading a review of this beer, and the author said it was terrible. Like I said, I was in a blur the last time I went on a beer run and literally grabbed each and every pumpkin/oktoberfest beer I could find. Besides like Jared said, bad beers sometimes make you appreciate the good brews all that much more.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead smells spicy as hell for a pumpkin beer. The flavor has no sign on pumpkin at all. The flavor is almost ALL all spice, with a little bit of nutmeg. Not that I dislike these flavors, but the super light mouthfeel doesn’t help mute them at all. The high carbonation is the only characteristic that avoids making this a drain pour. Avoid this beer.

Picture of the day: This guy needs to give Ru Paul a call.

Beer 320/365 – Stegmaier Oktoberfest

Style: Oktoberfest

ABV: 5.70%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman, OH

What makes this beer different: A bit nuttier than your average okto-fest.

Will I be drinking this again: Probably! Better than I expectec

Grade: B

9/24/2010: Stegmaier brews out of the Lion Brewery in Wilkes Barre, PA. I have yet to try a full 12oz of their beer, but samples a good bit of them at The Big Tap In a few months back. From what I remember their stuff was okay, but nothing outstanding. At this point I’m grabbing everything and anything Oktoberfest/Pumpkin Ale so lets see what happens.

The nose has a lot of caramel, and even a bit of nuttiness. The flavor is caramel, bready, some light nut (pecan?), and even some kind of fruit that I can’t put my finger on. It almost tastes peachy to me. Mouthfeel a bit light, but it works here. Pretty unique for a style that is usually on the conservative end of the scale. Not bad!

Picture of the day: Tetris was one of my favorite games.

Beer 319/365 – O’Fallon’s Hemp Hop Rye

Style: American Amber

ABV: 5.50%

Purchased at: 3 Son’s Dog’s ‘n Suds – Wexford PA

What makes this beer different: Very unique, lots of flavors and very earthy.

Will I be drinking this again: Maybe! I didn’t expect much from this but it was pretty unique and tasty.

Grade: B+

9/23/2010: I have only tried two O’Fallon beers in my lifetime, one of them is my favorite pumpkin beer ever, and the other tasted like a cherry tootsie roll gone wrong (Cherry Chocolate Beer). So who knows how this beer will end up. Regardless I appreciate that they were trying to be original by brewing a beer with hemp added.

The nose is very earthy and spicy for an amber which is usually a bit more tame in the smell department. The flavor has tons of caramel hops, and what I would call a sharp earthy nuttiness. Its not a smooth transition from flavor to flavor but I kind of like it for some reason. Mouthfeel is a bit full for the style, but a good bit of carbonation softens the thickness a bit.

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Beer 318/365 – Sprecher Oktoberfest

Style: Oktoberfest

ABV: 5.75%

Purchased at: Vintage Estate – Boardman OH

What makes this beer different: Very well balanced and creamy.

Will I be drinking this again: Yes, next fall I will pick up some more.

Grade: A-

9/22/2010: I just recently tried my first Sprecher beer via a recommendation from a reader, and I am really glad I did. Sprecher Black Bavarian might be my favorite schwarzbier to date, so I figured why not give one of their other beers a try as well? I also picked up their Russian Imperial Stout for the cellar.

The nose again, is very typical for an oktoberfest. I’m not sure if I just don’t have the best smelling power out there, but all these oktoberfest’s smell so similar to me. The flavor is extremely well balanced between sweet malt, and what seems to be noble hoppiness. The mouthfeel is very creamy for the style, a bit thicker than average. This was without question in the top 5 oktoberfest beers I have tried. I will be drinking this again next fall.

Picture of the day: Anyone else see it?

Beer 317/365 – Sam Adams Octoberfest

Style: Oktoberfest

ABV: 5.3%

Purchased at: On Tap@Cioppino – Pittsburgh, PA

What makes this beer different: My first ever octoberfest beer long ago, so I think my objectivity will be weak on this one.

Will I be drinking this again: Every fall!

Grade: B+

9/21/2010: Sam Adam’s Octoberfest was my first ever beer for this style. It may have actually been my first Sam Adams also. Had this on tap at my good friend Ray’s restaurant. The restaurant is across from an apartment complex where a lot of Pittsburgh athletes live. Well turns out Mike Comrie just so happened to be walking by with his wife Hilary Duff while I was drinking my Sam Adams. I usually don’t get that start-struck but I gotta say she was probably the most famous person I have ever seen in real life. Onto the beer…

The nose is pretty typical for an octo-fest, caramel and toasted malt dominant. The flavors also have the typical caramel/toast malt characteristics, but there are some floral hops there as well. I don’t really to know how to explain it but I feel like every Sam Adam’s beer has this clean/crisp type thing going on in all their beers. The flavors never seem to be too intrusive, but still strong enough to make it a tasty beer. Mouthfeel is medium body, and it goes down quite smooth.

Picture of the day: Probably not safe for work. Very akward facebook post.