Saturday, June 23, 2007

Boulder Beer Company's Hazed and Infused


Yes I am reviewing two beers from the same company in one day, deal with it.

Brewer: Boulder Beer Company
ABV: 4.85%
Color: Amber-Brown
Aroma: HOPS!!!!
Flavor: A nice floral hop flavor graces the pallet with a good malty flavor to back it up, kind of sweet, a little bit bitter (but in a good way)
Opinion: Now as I said before, I am a huge fan of boulder beer company's beers, thats why I drank two different types today rather then spreading out. Now i have had this beer several times, as it is one of the primary beers in Boulder Beers national distribution (this and Mojo IPA). This is a great beer though, it has a really nice hop flavor but is not one of those hop wallop beers. The strong dry hopped taste and the malts really create a great balance of flavors. The beer is at a good thickness, but i think it is best suited for cooler weather (think fall). I actually have never had this one out of a bottle surprisingly and normally drink it only out of tap, which serves it really well. This beer is amazing in the way that is good for people who are not big hop head and the ones of us who love hops, it is truly a happy medium. From all the Boulder Beers this is defiantly my favorite
Rating: 8.4/10

Boulder Beer Company's Sweaty Betty Blonde

Brewer: Boulder Beer Company
Beer Type: American Wheat/Blonde
ABV: 5.9%
Color: Typical Wheat Color (Dull Yellow), a bit cloudy, seemed filtered
Aroma: Wheat aroma with a hint of citrus
Taste: Typical American wheat, low hop presence, grains and wheat are more apparent
Opinions: So first of all let me say that over the past few months I have become a huge fan of everything that I have had from the Boulder Beer Company. When I first picked it up, I grabbed it from the Summer Seasonal Section, so it was in the company of other summer wheat beers, so I already knew what I was expecting. Although not a micro-brew, in my opinion the best beer of this type (summer wheat) hands down is the Sam Adams Summer Ale, so that was what I was going to hold this in comparison with. Now, I really did enjoy the taste of this, but unlike the summer ale, it was alot more lite and alot more plain. It had all the characteristics of a wheat beer, but stopped there, no effort to go above and beyond that, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The best way I can describe this is that when i picture myself drinking this and Sam Adams Summer Ale, i see myself standing outside next to the grill in the summer or sitting in the yard drinking a sam adams summer ale, while unlike some of the other beers from the summer wheat category, i can actually see myself sitting on a beach drinking Sweaty Betty. Since it is alot more lite and doesn't have that in your face spiced wheat flavor it would be good for that. In conclusion, although this really did not live up to the other beers from the Boulder Beer line up, it is defiantly a good beer and i probably wouldn't hesitate drinking another one.
Rating: 6/10

Monday, June 18, 2007

Erie Brewing Company's Golden Fleece Maibock

Brewer: Erie Brewing Company
Beer Type: Bock
ABV: 8.5%
Color: Brownish Orange (Filtered)
Aroma: Hoppy with a slight Fruity background Aroma
Taste: Seems very syrupy and sugary, quite smooth, very little carbonation. Little bitter aftertaste.
Opinions: A good beer, not quite as good as the other Erie Brewing Companies beers. As I said on the first few tastes it seems like the beer is quite syrupy, like a poor attempt at a homebrew high gravity beer with to much extract syrup. Overall being a beer that you drink one or two at at time it is pretty good, but i could not think about drinking more then that in a night (unless i was horribly trashed). A quick note being that I haven't drank to many bock beers so I don't know if all of this that I have described is normal for bocks, so sorry if i offended anybody (assuming somebody is actually reading this).

Final Rating: 6.2/10