Beer Review: Rainer
May0
Take your vitamins!
Ahh Rainer also known as Vitamin-R this is a staple of maybe people here in the NW. You can even see the old Rainer brewery driving down I-5 as you are leaving Seattle. Anyways, this beer is super light on flavor and reminds me of flavored water. I couldn’t even bring myself to buy this beer so I had to bum a can of this beer from my neighbor. Well, I could buy this but it comes in cases or big bottles and since I don’t expect to be drinking more than one can within the next month. Anyways back to the review… it is best cold, fairly fizzy and that is about it. There is a slight hint of barley and the can says there are “yakima valley hops” but I can’t taste any hops at all. This beer is what I was expecting from all of the jokes and stereo-types. I think of this beer like an adult version of soda pop; it is easy to go down and chug, makes you belch and doesn’t do much for you except help you gain weight.
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Beer Review : Moylan’s IPA
May0
This is one hoppy mofo (picture by Jana)
Note: This is a guest post from my lovely fiancee she also enjoys a good beer and wanted to do a review and why would I refuse? So, anyways now you know and you can stop wondering why the hell there are references to “Mr. iluvmybeer” that would be me. Well enjoy reading her witty banter 
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Basic Stats:
Brewed By: Moylan’s Brewing Company in Novato, CA
Contains: 1pint 6oz of fluid
Warm and Fuzzy Factor: 6.5% alcohol by volume
Price: Mr. iluvmybeer can’t remember
Type of Brew: India Pale Ale
On the bottle, it says that this beer “provides a stimulating assault on all senses.” It is true that it is a pretty gold color, it smells like a hoppy IPA, and tastes like someone crammed a few barrels worth of hops into the bottle. It was a little weak in the sound arena though.
Immediately out of the fridge and bottle, this beer tastes like most other “assaultingly” hoppy IPAs. You must be in the mood to have this beer. (No, not THAT mood.) When Mr. iluvmybeer took a taste, I am pretty sure that he had sour beer face going on. As this beer warmed up, the hoppy-factor did cool it a bit and it was more drinkable.
The brewers also said that the beer had floral notes to it, but that isn’t something that I picked up on. Neither did I notice the “notes of resin and herbs.”
Unfortunately, this is the type of beer that isn’t that great for my virgin review. It isn’t that awesome and it isn’t that bad, just middling.
The good: It is a hoppy IPA
The bad: It is a HOPPY IPA, which may drive some people away
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Beer Reviews – Moylan’s Brewers Night
May0
8 Moylan tasters
One of the events for Seattle beer week is Moylan’s brewers night. They had an 8 beer sampler with the following beers: Sömmer Kölsch Bier, Pomegranate Wheat, Moylan’s Special Bitter Nitro, Nor Cal IPA, Batch #1000 Bourbon Double Scotch Ale, Batch #1000 Double Kilt-sickle, Wet Hopsickle 08, Dry-hopped Hopsickle Cask.
Sömmer Kölsch Bier – tastes like water with wheat it is light on the body and flavor. However it is very easy to drink and pretty fizzy. A lot of girls at the table liked this beer and it was described as a good lawnmower beer which is a pretty accurate description.
Pomegranate Wheat – This beer was just slightly sweet with very little carbonation. It was nice because many beers with a fruit associated with them are usually so overpowering. The beer was super easy to drink and there was barely a wheat taste to it, so much that I forgot it was a wheat beer until someone reminded me that it was.
Moylan’s Special Bitter Nitro – This beer had very little bitterness to it and was pretty damn sweet. I know nitro beers tend to be mellower but this was almost over the top it was just too damn sweet for a bitter. It was very sweet smelling and had a sharp bite like cough syrup. Around the table I heard this beer being described with adjectives like soy and whiskey.
Nor Cal IPA – One person in the group said this beer seemed toxic after drinking the bitter but I beg to differ. It had a light hop bit and it was pretty damn refreshing after the bitter. It was a little syrupy for my taste and you it had the mellowness of malt.
Wet Hopsickle 08 - Ahh there are the hops I was hoping to see. This beer was pretty good it had an initial sweet taste but the refreshing aftertaste of the hops. This was a great change from the sweeter and bland beers I had just been having.
Dry-hopped Hopsicle Cask - Oy, this beer sucked! It smells like a wet sock, and no taste and no fucking hop taste. It was like someone took one of my gym socks ran some water through it and rung it out into the keg.
Batch #1000 Double Kilt-sickle – This beer had a tangy fruity smell, the taste was like the smell but it included lovely lovely hops. By far the best beer so far in this tasting and it the color was like a pilsner but it sure didn’t taste like one!
Batch #1000 Bourbon Double Scotch Ale – Sweet like you would expected from a beer aged in a bourbon barrel but it also had a nice bitter taste to it. It was not over-sweet like you get with some bourbon aged beers. It was very strong alcohol wise (I think it was like 10%+) but there was no noticable alcohol taste to it.
Recap – Overall I felt these Moylan beers were pretty good there was some crap ones in there but I am sure that is a matter of taste. I was glad I got to go to this and try some beers that are not available up here in Washington or available ever.
Beer Review: Panty Peeler – Midnight Sun
May0
* Results may vary
Panty Peeler is brewed by Midnight Sun Brewing Company in Anchorage, Alaska. Here are the pertinent stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 22 fluid ounces
ABV: 8.5%
Type of brew: Belgian style ale w/orange peel & coriander
Price: ~$8.99
My fiance picked out this beer for her and I would have to say she made a great choice. Although I am not sure why the beer is called panty peeler . The beer tastes like a Belgian styled ale but it is a bit sweeter and leaves that sweetness as an aftertaste. It isn’t over powering but if you were to pay attention it is there which is kind of nice. When I usually have a Belgian beer I don’t really notice much of an aftertaste and if I do it is just kind of blah. Like most Belgian beers it was fairly carbonated which is always a nice change of pace. I didn’t really taste any orange or coriander nor did I smell anything but then again I had this beer right after standing around a BBQ with mesquite smoke penetrating my smell and taste buds. This Belgian isn’t my favorite beer of all time but it is darn good that is for sure! If you ever get a chance I would pick-up a bottle and if you are on a date maybe you can put the name of the beer to the test .
The good: Great tasting Belgian ale
The bad: It can’t over ride the smell of mesquite BBQ (is that really a bad thing?)
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Beer Review: Collaboration not Litigation – Avery & Russian River
Apr2
Maybe a lawyer should have been involved...
I have seen this beer at one of my favorite watering holes but have never purchased a glass. The back story of this beer is that it was created because both the Russian River and Avery breweries had the same beer name and instead of getting all of those crappy lawyers involved they decided to combine beers. Here are some stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 22 fluid ounces
ABV: 8.72%
Type of brew: Belgian style ale
Price: ~$6
Like many craft beers this beer is not meant to be consumed cold (i.e. right out of the fridge) but I always like to try it anyways . For this beer I would highly suggest not doing that as it gets about 10x better once it warms up a little bit. But even after the beer has been warmed up there is nothing really noteworthy about it. The beer has a hazelnut color, is decently carbonated and had no noticeable smell. When the beer did warm up it did have a very slight sweetness to it but only slightly. This beer gave me a serious case of the blahs and I consumed it without much fanfare. My fiance was not a fan of this beer she thought I should rate it 0.5 out of 5 and she tends to like Belgians.
The good: easy to drink Belgian beer once it warms up
The bad: not very noteworthy just a middle of the road Belgian (once it warms up that is)
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Beer Review: Traquair Jacobite – Merchant du Vin
Apr0
May I have some cilantro with my beer, please?
During this past week I went to the store with my fiance to pick-up some food I was running low on review beers so I decided to grab a few. This beer was picked out by my fiance (who also digs beer but that is a whole different subject) but I get to drink it, I am not sure who gets the better half of that deal in this case! On a dorky sort of note the design and typography of the label on this beer is damn good it has style but is still very easy to read, well enough design dork shit here are some stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 11.2 fluid ounces
ABV: 8%
Type of brew: Ale w/Coriander
Price: ~$5
This beer pours a dark molasses type of color and is decently fizzy (sort of like a cola that has been sitting out for a few hours). There is a sweet and tangy smell to the beer which is almost normal except I don’t usually describe my beers as “tangy”. One thing that stood out to me was the part of the label that said “Ale flavored with coriander” I had no fucking clue what coriander was so I did what any self-respecting person would do I google’d it. Coriander is also called cilantro which made me emit a WTF and to look sideways at this ale that I was about to consume. On first sip I drew back a face like it had just been hit with a very disgusting wet dishrag but as the beer warmed up the taste got better or I just got accustomed to the taste. I think once it got to serving temperature the tastes mellowed out and blended together. This beer reminds me of a wood-aged beer but not as sweet or mellow.
Overall this beer is pretty damn decent it is very drinkable once it warms up a bit. It has some taste to it but is not overwhelming like some of the higher alcohol beers but it is not piss-water. It does not have the bite of something crazy hoppy or anything else it is just a straight sipper type of beer.
The good: Easy to drink and it gives you bragging rights that you drank a beer with cilantro in it
The bad: If the beer is cold it tastes like shit
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Beer Review: Hop Rod Rye – Bear Republic
Apr0
One hoppy mofo!
This review is full of firsts: my first bear republic beer and my first rye ale. Before we get into the bulk of the review here are some pertinent stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 22 fluid ounces
ABV: 8%
Type of brew: Rye ale
Price: ~$5
This beer smells like an IPA but it doesn’t exactly taste like one. The hop taste is very prominent but go figure since the name of the beer is “Hop Rod Rye.” However it does not exactly taste like a normal IPA it has a hint of weird spiciness and bitterness to the beer. On top of the flavor differences the color of the beer is a dark amber. Besides that this beer is pretty much a middle of the road IPA like beer. I don’t have too much to say about it except that it is pretty much a strong ass IPA. I know it isn’t called an IPA but it sure as hell tastes like one. I think the added rye does give a certain punch to the beer I know on first swig I respond with “wow.” But it is something I got quickly used to. If you ever are in the mood for a different type of hoppy beer I would definitely suggest you try this one!
The good: Pretty good hoppy beer
The bad: If you don’t like hoppy beers run away
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Beer Review: Dogzilla Black IPA – Laughing Dog Brewery
Apr1
Run away from this monster!
This is the second the beer I have had from Laughing Dog. The first one I had was the Dogfather which was pretty good. When I first saw an ad for this beer in a local beer magazine I was really looking forward to it since I had never heard of a black IPA at that point. Since then I have always kept my eye out for this beer and when I saw at one of my local grocery stores I snatched it. Anyways enough back fill here are some pertinent stats for the beer:
Amount of brew in bottle: 22 fluid ounces
ABV: 6.9%
Type of brew: Black IPA
Price: ~$5
From the first sip I hated this beer. It tasted like someone took a sock threw it in a toaster oven for a few minutes, liquefied it and threw in some hops. On the flip side my fiance thought it was a pretty good beer. For me I think the taste was off because the malt and hops they used did not blend well together. Either that or they burnt the shit out of the malts to make the IPA black. One other interesting flavor was that the beer had an initial sweet taste and then went all down hill from there. This is not a beer I will ever buy again.
The good: cool name
The bad: horrid taste
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Beer Review: Spring Reign Ale – Ninkasi Brewing Company
Apr0
It is reigning beer! - Photo by Jana
This is the second Ninkasi beer I have had and my first seasonal from them. Here are the pertinent stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 22 fluid ounces
ABV: 6%
Type of brew: Session / ale
Price: ~$5
The first thing I noticed when I poured this beer was how much carbonation it had, it almost poured like a pop! This beer has a hoppy taste but not as full of hops as an IPA. It has an IBU rating of 38 so it isn’t as bland as a lager but it is no 120 IBU monster . The color of the beer is close to apple cider but thankfully it doesn’t taste like cider. The beer is not that sweet so the bitterness from the hops is very apparent which makes it a nice weekday beer. Like many spring and summer beers it is highly refreshing and it would be great to have during a warm day or while eating a nice juicy burger.
There is not much more I can say about this beer. It is a great beer for drinking throughout the day on a hot day or after a hard bike-ride/hike/run. I like this beer but it is not something I will be having dreams about.
The good: great session beer
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Beer Review: Pliny the Elder – Russian River
Apr0
This IPA is a keeper!
So for the past month I have heard about this beer Pliny the Elder as a must drink IPA, given all of these claims I was skeptical. My fiance was even told by a bartender at a local beer bar that a grocery store had some but they didn’t stock it on the shelves but you had to ask nicely and they might give it to you. Before I get into the bulk of the review here are the pertinent stats:
Amount of brew in bottle: 500ml (~17 fluid ounces)
ABV: 8%
Type of brew: IPA
Price: $6
What can I say? This beer lives up to the hype! It is one of the best IPAs I have ever had and it comes at a decent price which is a welcome change to some of the beers I have been drinking. The beer has a fruity smell to it and on first taste there is a slight sweetness to it with a hoppy aftertaste. One of the cool things about this beer is that it isn’t too hoppy but it still has a great taste. Considering that this beer is an IPA it is fairly mellow. But being a mellow IPA is not a bad thing. I think it is great especially for an IPA as many people try to just load up on the hops and make it a hop monster. I feel that Russian River has struck a great balance between a beer that you can taste the hops but still make it great tasting. If you ever get a chance to try out this beer do so, I know I can’t wait to try the beer off the tap.
The good: a great IPA!
The bad: not always available
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