International Guest Reviewer

Today we have a special guest beer reviewer, Mesmin from Rouen, France.
I know I've said some bad things about French beers in the past, and she has set me straight and suggested some very fine ones, and provided a wonderful review of a beer I cant find in the US. So Im going to use this opportunity to start off an entire week of French beers.
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L'angélus beer got its name from the painting of JM Millet illustrating the bottle. This spiced wheat beer has earned two years in a row prices from "Concours général d'agriculture", the most recognized French competition for artisanal foodstuff products.
Made with a mix of malted and raw barley that gave it it's light golden color, l'Angélus is what we call a "bière de garde".
The smell is fresh, redolent of the wheat in it, and slightly spicy. I can't yet recognise those.
The foam is creamy, and dissipate quickly, but the bubbles remain very presents, not too big but tickling the tongue in a pleasant way.
First sip is mildly bitter, spicy, and fresh : the fresher the better for this beer.
In the mouth, the wheat is very present, the taste strong but not overpowering, nicely rounded and with a surprising honeyed tang in the end. I still can't identify the spices but those are giving a great body to the beer!
Aftertaste is light, flowery, with notes of toffee.
Very different of the hop beers I generally tend to, this beer was a very good surprise to me, so here is the notation:

Looks: 3 a clear, blond beer
Aroma: 4 the smell does remind of a freshly mowed field!
Taste: 4 surprising but delicious
Feel: 4 lighter that what I like but very good still
Total: 15

Awesome Anniversary

The St Ambrose brewery has been making beers in Canada for the last 20 years, and for their 20th anniversary they produced this very special ale. Yes, that thing on the left is a can that holds the bottle. Im not sure why.

It starts off very nicely, with lots of carbonation, and a deep amber color. Very cloudy, and some floaties in there too. The aroma is lightly malty, with fruity scents of apple and peach.

The taste... wow. Layer upon layer of flavors flow across your mouth, starting with sweet malt and apple juice, then deep caramels and molasses, floral and spicy hops, and finally the fruit returns in the aftertaste with just an edge of sour to it. As it warms up, it just gets more complex and delicious.

The guys at St Ambrose must be doing something right!

Scoring

Look: 3 - great color and carbonation, but it lost points for floaties

Aroma: 5 - fruit, floral, and spice

Taste: 5 - super complex thats great both cold and slightly warm

Feel: 4 - good carbonation, lots of body

Total: 17

Retro!

Theres been a trend recently of "retro" style pilsners, attempting to bring back some classic brands and flavors from the 60's or earlier. Today its the pilsner from the Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City.
It certainly looks the part, with the retro-style label and the medium-yellow color. Decent carbonation, and lots of malt aroma. My wife commented that you can smell this across the room. The flavor is what you would expect from a classic pilsner, too. Light, relatively sweet, and light bodied. The hop aftertaste is mild and unobtrusive. Altogether a decent alternative to the big labels, if you're into this style of beer.
Looks: 3 - classic golden color
Aroma: 2 - a bit too much
Taste: 2 - not my thing
Feel: 3 - thin, but ok for this style I guess
Total: 10

Mean Porter

I have to admit, the bottle caught my attention first. This is Meantime London Porter, and yes, its made in London. The bottle is (I think) supposed to be shaped like the bottom half of an hourglass. Time, get it?
Anyway, it starts off like a nice solid porter. Nice and dark, relatively low carbonation, and a pretty hoppy aroma. The first taste is surprizing, the hops take over much more than you'd expect for a porter right from the beginning. The deep malty flavors seem almost an afterthought. It mellows out a bit as it warms up, but the hops are still pretty strong on the front of the flavor.
Scoring:
Look: 4 - nice, dark porter, med brown head
Aroma: 3 - just what you'd expect
Taste: 2 - too hoppy for a porter
Feel: 3 - decent mouthfeel
Total: 12

Wee Heavy

Belhaven is one of those breweries that you keep hearing good things about. They've been making Scotch ales since the 1700's, and according to the bottle they're the oldest locally owned brewery in Scotland. Quite a reputation.
Scotch Ales, if you couldnt tell, were developed in Scotland. Because they traditionally had a difficult time getting hops up there, these beers were made with very little hops, and sometimes used peat instead, giving a smoky and very sweet flavor. The "wee heavy" refers to the strenght, which in this case is moderately high.

This is a beer you really need to let warm up before you drink it. Cold, its very bubbly and light and smooth, but the flavors are dead. Let it get up above 45 degrees or so, and it really opens up, with tons of sweetness and flavors of malt and honey, and a little bit of smoke on the aftertaste.

Scoring:
Looks: 4 - dark and clear
Aroma: 3 - light, sweet, no hops
Taste: 4 - once it warms up, its great
Feel: 3 - decent body, but could use a bit more

Total: 14

Big, Bison, Ale

Another from a small local brewery, this is the Big Bison ale from Crown Valley Brewery in Missouri. The label says its a Belgian Dubbel, good thing I read it because I wouldnt have known from tasting it.

It starts off promising, great reddish brown color, and decent carbonation. The aroma is sweet, with a bit of citrus. First taste is decent, good malty flavors, with hints of caramel and orange, and the alcohol certainly comes through. I didnt get the 'rasin and plum' flavors that the label promised. The aftertaste was a bit disappointing, after a bit it gets taken over by a the citrus, with something like the pithy part of a grapefruit rind. not the best flavor for an aftertaste there.

Scoring!
Look: 4 - great red/brown color
Aroma: 3 - promising
Taste: 2 - lost a lot of points on the aftertaste
Feel: 4 - low carbonation, high mouthfeel
total: 13

Coffee!

Heres a beer I had heard many good things about, but was not able to find until recently when the local beer mega-mart sent out its weekly tasting schedule. Lagunitas Capuccino Stout, from Petaluma, CA.

It starts off very stoutlike, with a coffee aroma you can smell from across the room. Very creamy head. Lots of sweet malt flavors, some nutty undertones that are pretty entertaining. The coffee slips in as an aftertaste, but doesnt take over the beer. Only a mild sourness gets in the way at the end. Overall well worth stockpiling.

On with the scoring!

Look: 4 - plenty dark, good creamy head

Aroma: 4 - nice and stoutlike, lots of coffee

Taste: 4 - great coffee aftertaste

Feel: 4 - good and strong, decent carbonation

New Orleans Light

The Dixie Brewery in New Orleans is pretty well known for its Blackened Voodoo beer, and for surviving hurricane Katrina. This is the Dixie Jazz Amber Light, which I had never seen before, so I thought it would be worth a try.
It starts off promising, with the aroma of a good amber, and plenty of carbonation. The flavor is decent, good maltiness and a residual sourness. However, it doesnt escape the really watery mouthfeel and aftertaste that plagues most "light" beers. For a "light" bere, its really not that bad, certainly better than most ive tried, so if you feel the need to save some calories its a good choice.
Look: 3 - good amber color
Aroma: 3 - decent
Taste: 2 - starts nicely, but falls short with the watery aftertaste
Feel: 2 - thin, but not bad for a light beer

Total score: 10

Classic Stout

Sometimes you have to go for a beer you know is going to be good. Today Im driking Sam Smith's Imperial Stout, from England. This brewery has been in operation since the mid 1700's, slightly longer than Guinness. And with that much time to perfect the recipes, they've made some really good ones.
While they're better known for their standard stout and oatmeal stout, the imperial is nothing to sneeze at either. It starts off incredibly dark, opaque black. Even the head is dark brown. A good amount of carbonation, and an aroma of malt, malt, more malt, and toasted coffee and nuts. The flavor is heavy and complex. You get the malt sweetness by the ton, followed by LOTS of hop bitterness, with traces of coffee, molasses, and a slightly burnt flavor. Like most "imperial" beers, the alcohol content is high, but there is no alcohol flavor cutting through, which is really refreshing. Highly recommended.
On with the scoring!
Look: 4 - so opaque it wont let light through.
Aroma: 4 - malty, toasty, yummy
Taste: 4: - all the flavor you expect in an imperial stout
Feel: 5 - a beer so thick you could chew it

Total score: 17

Floaters?

Today we have a new beer from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee. You may remember them from my review of their gluten free beer last year, which im still trying to forget. But I thought id give them another chance.
It starts off promising, the aroma is very strongly hoppy. Even my wife commented that you can smell the hops from across the room. The first taste is also promising, with the strong hop flavors you expect in an IPA. But the hop flavor is kind of one-dimensional. Yes, theres lots of hop flavor, but what only tastes like one kind, and not much else. The body is kind of watery too. The aftertaste mellows out with some maltiness finally sneaking in, but overall, not one of my favorites.
Look: 1 - dark, cloudy, which you dont expect in an IPA, with floaty chunks in it. not appealing.
Aroma: 3 - strong and hoppy. maybe a bit too strong.
Taste: 2 - hoppy, but one dimensional
Feel: 3 - OK, but a bit watery

Total Score: 9

New Year, New Beer

and a new rating system too. Starting with the new year, I'll be rating beers on a 5 point scale in 4 different areas: looks, aroma, taste, and feel. So a perfect score would be 20.
We're starting the year with something really special, this is the Bourbon Barrel Quad from Boulevard Brewery in Kansas City. Its a Belgian style quad aged in bourbon barrels with cherries, and in small batches. In fact, each bottle is numbered.
It starts off strong, with a clearly bourbon aroma, a touch of fruit, and plenty of carbonation. The flavor is very complex. Lots of deep malty oaky flavors, a hint of cherry, and undertones of smoke, maple syrup, and molasses. As the beer warms up, it really opens up and changes, the cherry flavors come to the front, and the oakiness backs off. The alcohol content is high, nearly 12%, and you can certainly feel the warmth from it.
Ok, first try with the new rating system, here goes!
Look: 4 - deep reddish brown, a bit cloudy
Aroma: 4 - bourbon with a touch of fruit
Taste: 5 - great complexity, many layers of flavors
Feel: 4 - lots of body, good carbonation
So we end up with a final score of 17. That sets the bar high, but I think the score was deserved.

Final Holiday Beer of the Year

This festive label caught my attention, and I just had to try it. Its the Sogaards Bryghus, by the Aalborg Brewery in Denmark. The label says its a seasonal holiday bock.
The aroma caught me by surprize, its got plenty of sweet and malt, but also a dash of cinnamon and what I can only describe as banana. Interesting. First taste is nice and complex, lots of nutty maltyness, with undertones of maple syrup and orange peel. Great body, lots of carbonation. As it warms up, the nutty flavors become more strong, and you get some sour/tannic flavors too, which arent bad at all.
Excellent choice for a celebration.