Unibroue - Terrible

I was perusing the beer aisle of my local Whole Foods a couple days ago and I stumbled upon two new beers that I had never seen before. Here is the first one that I saw... Terrible is a dark ale by a brewing house up in Canada. Unibroue has been around since 1990 and was founded by André Dion and Serge Racine. The website is very cool, so if you are interested, check it out at: http://www.unibroue.com/en/. I couldn't help but purchase this beer, it comes in a black bottle with a silver negative space logo and silver text on the bottle. This is a cork bottle and includes 750ml of darker than dark ale. I can't remember the exact price, but I bet it was right around $10-$12 for this bottle. The ABV on this is rather high as well, coming in at 10.5%. This beer is a nice dark black with a sliver of red on the sides and bottom of the glass. The head wasn't anything spectacular, but it lingered for a few minutes before dissipating. This beer smells like a Belgian Triple, with hints of citrus and a strong smell of alcohol. The first sip had flavors of sour and earthy tones that I couldn't place my hand on. This beer is anything but terrible! I am going to give this a 4/5 stars on the non-Belgian ale scale. This beer has a dark color and a very deep bodied flavor. I would recommend this for a day just like today, where it is a bit over cast and cold and you would like something flavorful and dark.


See you at the bar!

Speakeasy - Betrayal

Hey Everyone,


This evening I decided to go with a nice local brew, for my brew of choice. I was in my local Whole Foods, looking for an American brewed beer and came across this. I have had many different beers from Speakeasy in the past, so I thought that I might try this one and see what an Imperial Red made by a local brewery would taste like. This beer cost about $6 and came in a 22oz bottle. The picture on this bottle is very nice as well, with favorite 2 color, color schemes.

This beer has a nice red color and a high ABV (8.5%). This beer poured very smoothly and produced a very small head light head. This beer smells like a highly alcoholic red and tastes quite amazing for a locally brewed beer. I am going to give this 3.5/5 stars on the American Locally Brewed scale, as it is very flavorful, with a high ABV, and a rather low cost. I hope to find this on tap so I can taste the difference between bottle carbonated and force carbonated.


See you at the bar!

Mikkeller - Monk's Brew

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I was at my local Whole Foods and I was trying to find something that I haven't tried before, would probably taste pretty good, and was under $20 (as all the really expensive stuff on the top shelf is still left for me to try out). Well, this fellow was on the top shelf, but he came out at $13.99 which I guess is acceptable for a Quad. I have never tried a beer from this brewing house, but looking over their website and the 76 beers that they have launched since their founding, I am quite surprised I haven't. Mikkeller was founded in by two homebrewers and has been run exclusively by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø since 2007. Mikkeller's Bar has 20 beers on tap, mostly Mikkeller brews and some of the best brews from around the world.

This beer is very dark for a Quadruple, as you can tell from the image above, but a hint of red can be seen at the edge and bottom of the glass. This brew seems like it is lacking the carbonation of a normal Belgian beer though, as I poured it quite aggressively but it only produced a slight amount of head. The head lingered and was still very prominent when I took my first sip. This brew smells very dark as well, with subtle hints of citrus and an overwhelming smell of alcohol (like a Quad should). This brew is lighter than most Quads and Triples I have tasted, but unfortunately doesn't have a very good flavor. I am going to give this beer 2.5/5 stars, as it was more expensive than most other beers like it and and it doesn't have a very good flavor. The flavor is not sweet, but it is a tad bit sour, nothing like a lambic or a sour brew, but a hint of sour at the end of every sip.

Unfortunately this brew comes out like most of the expensive brews that I find at my local Whole Foods or Bev Mo... they have a nice label, they say all the right things on that nice label, but they just don't have the flavor or characteristics of some of the cheaper and better brews. I would recommend that you give this guy a try if you have tried everything else below $12 or you are looking for something like with a high ABV that has subtle hints of sour.


See you at the bar!

Coney Island - Human Blockhead - Imperial American Bock

Hey Everyone,


As you all know, life happens. It has been such a long time since I have tried a beer that would be worthy of a review, but the time has finally come. I couple days ago I was wasting some time before my volunteer shift at the Crucible for the Fire Circus (If you didn't see it, you really missed out) and I was trying various beers at Beer Revolution. Beer Revolution was hosting a release party for Coney Island's "Human Blockhead" an Imperial American Bock. There was this silly guy with a box on his head handing out flyers for this beer and other beers that they were releasing that day. I decided that since I was there, I might as well have a look at the beer and see if there was anything to it. I looked at the bottle in the cooler and noticed that the beer came in a 22oz bottle and was 10% ABV. I think this is the first American bock I have seen with such a high ABV. This beer was also aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels (not sure what if that is a nice brand of Bourbon Barrel or not, but its a whiskey barrel none-the-less). It contains 7 types of Malts and 5 types of Hops, which are listed on the neck of the bottle... which I think is very cool and somewhat risky, as you can purchase these malts and hops at you local brew store and try to reproduce this beer. But enough of the story and introduction, on to the review.

This beer is a lovely dark opaque amber and when pour had a slightly off-white head. The beer poured like a Belgian, so make sure that if you don't want a large head, that you pour this guy very slowly. The head stuck around for the whole first paragraph above and is still holding strong. The aroma was very alcoholic and smelled of Bourbon, with hints of the hearty malts that were used to make this brew. The flavor has a VERY strong alcoholic beginning, that is quickly chased by flavors of woods and nuts. Wow, I am used to tasting beers of higher ABV than this guy, but was not ready for the hard hits that he hands out. After a few sips, I got used to the high alcohol content and was sadly disappointed that there really isn't much to this beer. As I am used to drinking Belgian beers of high caliber, I usually expect fruity flavors to precede the alcoholic flavors, but unfortunately this beer doesn't have any extra flavors to mention. I am going to give this beer 3.5/5 stars on the American-style microbrew scale, as it is VERY high in alcohol content and the color and head are AMAZING. I am somewhat disappointed that there isn't much to this guy, but some people like simple beers. So, to wrap things up... if you are looking for something that will remind you of bourbon and is very high in ABV and not very flavorful, give Coney Island's Human Blockhead a try, this beer was made by beer drinkers for beer drinkers.


See you at the bar!

Belgian Beer Battle Royale Results

Hello Everyone,


It has been a while since my last posting, but I haven't stopped drinking beer and the results are in for the Belgian Beer Battle Royale. For those of you that didn't read my last two postings, I decided to put my three most favorite Belgian beers to the test and find out which one was my favorite Belgian beer of all time. The three Belgian beers in question are La Trappe Quadruple, Tripel Karmeliet, and Affligem Triple. As these beers are all VERY good, it was difficult to decide which one would take the prize of being my most favorite Belgian beer, but I have finally decided... my most favorite Belgian beer of all time is Affligem Triple. Affligem's Triple is a tad heavier than Tripel Karmeliet, but much more flavorful. The second place beer is La Trappe Quadruple, which is darker than both the Triple K and the Affligem, but is still very light for it's color.



So in closing, the list is as follows:

1. Affligem's Triple
2. La Trappe Quadruple
3. Tripel Karmeliet

Now that I have this decided, maybe I should try and find these guys on tap somewhere and see if a re-evaluation is needed. :D


See you at the bar!

What is the Best Belgian Beer?

Hello Everyone,


As I am running out of good Belgian and Belgian-style beer, I have decided to do a championship match-up to decide which of my previously reviewed Belgian Beers will win the title of being my favorite Belgian beer of all time. The three contenders will be Affligem Triple, La Trappe Quad, and Tripel Karmeliet. As I will be drinking at least three beers next Sunday, I have decided to give my liver a little break and not do a beer review this weekend. Stay tuned though, as I will compare these three beers and choose which one of them will be my favorite Belgian beer of all time.

See you at the bar!

La Rulles - Triple

Hello Everyone, happy Belgian Beer Sunday's. I am starting to get down to the bottom of the barrel at my local Whole Foods. Today I have a Belgian Beer by the name of La Rulles. This beer is a Belgian Triple... I haven't been excited about this beer since I purchased it, two nights ago. It was in the Belgian beer aisle, but I have gone through all the high ranking Belgian's, so I was pretty sure this brew was going to be mediocre at best. This beer poured lighter than I am used to, I had to agitate the brew to get a decent head. The color of the head was a nice white, but dissipated rather quickly. The sent of this beer is nothing special either, I could smell hints of alcohol, but that is about it. The taste of this beer is as well, nothing special, tasting like any Belgian style brew, maybe a bit lighter in flavor. I am going to give this beer 2.5/5 stars, as it is mediocre in every regard. I would not recommend purchasing this brew, unless you like the label, or you are looking for something new and you have had everything else.


See you at the bar!