Sapporo Reserve is touted on the can as an “all malt beer” though if it was really all malts and didn’t have the yeast, water and hops that literally created and defined a beer we’d probably be quite disappointed when we opened the can and just dried barley fell out. So we’re guessing “all malt” does not mean what they think it means. That or something is lost in translation, like the instructions for putting your bookcase together (“Happily insert slot A with regards to cam B while flange dowel anti-clockwise”).

For our test we poured our 650 mL (22 oz for those not versed in the metric system) can of 5.2% ABV Sapporo happily into a regular British pint glass. We got a starting beer temperature of 45 F.

Our initial pour yielded an average 1 1/2″ frothy white head that left virtually no lacing as it dissipated quickly. There was a medium amount of carbonation to the sparkling clear yellow/gold body of the beer.

Our initial aromas were barley, grain, very light floral, light soap and light corn. We’ll grant them that there are a lot of malt smells in there.

Our initial flavors came in with a light sweet and very light bitter that evolved in the finish to a very light sweet and light to moderate bitter. Our tastes came in with barley, very light lemon, light ginger and light corn. Overall the whole beer is very light on the nose and taste. Crisp and clean for sure, almost to a fault.

The finish length is short to average, the mouthfeel is dry, the tongue hit is front to middle and there’s no body lacing. On our patented malt to hop scale it comes in just a click to the right of balanced on the hoppy side.

For our bottom line notes we got a yes to drinkable, repeatable and balance, while getting a no for harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again.

Overall it reminds us of one of our favorite obscure quotes from our all-time favorite Christmas movie A Christmas Story: “This wine’s not bad. It’s not good either.”

Sapporo Reserve is crisp and clean, yes, but so is water. Unlike water though, Sapporo has enough hops to know it’s beer, so that gives it an edge over water. It’s actually fairly hoppy for an “all malt beer” like it touts itself. It would be highly sessionable as long as you don’t let it get too warm.

The best part about the beer? Seriously, it’s got to be the can. The can is an absolute beast of a steel can. You can’t crush it with your hand and if you tried to crush it on your head like real men did in the 1950′s and 60′s you’d quite possibly knock yourself out. Even Agent Gibbs probably couldn’t figure out what did you in after you bludgeoned yourself to death with the mighty steel vessel.

The second best part about the beer? Probably the 22 oz size. A really great, perfect single serving size.

If you’re at a Japanese Steakhouse where they flip the shrimp into your shirt pocket against your wishes, it’s not a bad beer to get. You can feel a lot better about yourself ordering up a Sapporo than a rank American domestic. Is it craft beer? Technically they might make too much of it to fit the definition of craft beer, but we’ll spot you this one.

The Carlsberg Group actually has a tremendous history of innovation – in 1875 they set up the Carlsberg Laboratory to figure out how to improve the quality of beer. It was here where they figured out how to consistently produce beer (a daunting problem before this time). It started with a revolutionary understanding of the nature yeast and expanded on Louis Pasteur’s findings that yeast are actually living organisms. They discovered that yeast was composed of different kinds of fungi and that the yeast culture could be cultivated. From here they isolated a single yeast cell and developed a pure yeast culture which became the key to consistent, repeatable batches of quality beer. What’s so great is that instead of keeping this method for cultivating pure yeast a secret they shared it with brewmasters all over the world. This Carlsberg yeast is still used in most of the lagers available on the market today.

Additionally they created the first formal fermentation device in the world to break down yeast into alcohol and carbon dioxide, giving us beer with alcohol and carbonation. Fermentation of course happened before this, but mostly consisted of storing beer barrels in caves and letting the magic happen inside. They also invented the pH scale that is used in all of science to measure how acidic or basic a liquid is. Who knew when you were studying the pH scale in science class that it was based on research from a brewery? Beer is all around you my friends.

Carlsberg Beer, the one we’re reviewing here, is their flagship beer and has been brewed since 1904. It’s exported globally all over the world. For our review we used a standard pint glass to hold the contents of the 11.2 oz green bottle that sports a 5% ABV. We got a starting beer temperature of 43.0 F.

The pour yielded an average to large 2″ foamy white head that left a fair amount of head lacing. There’s a soft amount of carbonation and a brilliant gold color that’s clear in the glass. Exactly what you’d expect from a pilsner/pale lager type beer.

Our aromas came in really clean – light hay, light honey, lemon, light yeast and light ginger.

Our initial flavors came in with a moderate sweet and very light bitter that evolved in the finish to a light to moderate sweet and light bitter. Our tastes came in with light honey, lemon, light yeast and light ginger. Overall it’s a very delicate beer on the palate.

The finish length is short, the mouthfeel is dry and the tongue hit is in the middle. There’s a fair amount of body lacing left on the glass over the course of drinking it and on our patented malt to hop scale it comes in perfectly balanced.

For our bottom line notes we got a yes to drinkable, repeatable and balance. We got a no to harmony, memorable and wow factor. We got a maybe to buy again.

For a green bottle brew, Carlsberg Beer isn’t too bad. It’s got a nice sweet taste that continues to taste good as the temperature gets into the 50s. It’s better cold, but it’s well-crafted and doesn’t completely fall apart as it warms. Our preference would be to do it cold and drink it quick for maximum enjoyment.

Final verdict: It’s got a good profile and could be a good everyday beer for somebody. The BeerFathers probably aren’t their target market though.

Our pale ale for this review comes from New Yorker Brewing, the East Coast spawning ground for the Kirkland beers. Our best by date was January 3, 2011, and the review commenced and finished on December 30, 2010, right before the New Year was rocked in by an early bed time.

The 12 oz bottle came in at 5.4% ABV and 35 IBUs – the most bitter of the bunch from the Kirkland series. For our review we used a British pint glass and got a starting beer temperature of 43.7 F.

For our initial pour we got an average 1 1/2″ frothy white head the left no head lacing as it dissipated quickly. There was a lively amount of carbonation and the clear body presented with a golden amber color. Quite nice.

For our aromas we got light caramel, light honey, generic citrus, light floral, grapefruit, light orange, pine, yeast, light butterscotch and some general spices. Not a bad bouquet – heavy on the hop aromas as you’d imagine given that it is a pale ale, specifically an American pale ale (put “American” in front of just about any beer and add 20% more hops, as a rule of thumb).

For our initial flavors we got a light sweet and a moderate bitter that shifts in the finish to a very light sweet, light acidic and a heavy bitter. The tastes came in fairly true to the aromas – light caramel, light honey, generic citrus, light floral, grapefruit, orange, pine, yeast and light spices. The orange and pine are the predominant tastes.

The finish length is long, the mouthfeel is oily, the tongue hit is in the front (surprisingly) and there’s virtually no body lacing. On our patented malt to hop scale it came in two clicks to the right of balanced on the hoppy side.

For our bottom line notes we got a yes to drinkable and value. We got a no to balance, harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again (which is tricky – more details below). We got a maybe for repeatable.

Ultimately, the Kirkland Pale Ale is a little like green eggs and ham to us. We just don’t like it. It’s less about the beer and more about the style though – we’re not big American pale ale guys. It does get some good sweetness to it as it warms, but not enough for our tastes.

As for the buy again factor – it’s a paradox. You have to buy it again to get any of the other Kirkland beers. We’d love to see Costco take it a step further and start offering the beers individually as 6 packs, or single style 24 packs. That would really hit the spot for us.

Overall though, you just can’t go wrong with the whole Kirkland box set. It’s 4 pretty sessionable beers and it’s a wonderful way to get people trying new stuff. The four 6 packs concept is really nice. For us though, the Kirkland Pale Ale just doesn’t quite ring true. Remember though that the 24 pack comes in at $18.99, or 79 cents a bottle, and you’d be hard pressed to find a better pale ale at the price. If you like pale ales, give it a try. If you don’t buy the box set anyway and surprise a hophead friend with a surprise 6 pack of the stuff.

Our hefeweizen for this review comes from New Yorker Brewing, the East Coast hub for the Kirkland beers. Our best by date was January 3, 2011, and this review was done on December 9, 2010, so we beat the clock. Of course drinking it after the best by date is okay too – these are well crafted beers (in case you were wondering).

Our 12 oz bottle of hefeliciousness came in at 5.5% ABV and 26 IBUs. For our review we used a Weizen glass (because that’s how you do hefes, our friends). Our starting beer temperature was 43.7 F.

For our initial pour we got a large 2″ rocky white head that left no head lacing as it dissipated slowly back into the glass. There was a lively amount of carbonation to the brew and the body was slightly hazy and a nice golden color. Good start.

For our aromas we got wheat, light floral, lemon, yeast, light bubble gum, banana, clove, light pepper and also a light metallic.

For our initial flavors we got a light sweet and very light bitter, followed in the finish by a very light sweet and a light bitter. For our tastes we got wheat, lemon, yeast, light bubble gum, banana, clove, light pepper and a touch of metallic on the finish. The predominant tastes in the profile are yeast, lemon and metallic.

The finish length is average, the mouthfeel is oily, the tongue hit is in the front and there’s no body lacing to speak of. On our malt to hop scale it comes in almost balanced – a half click to the right of balanced on the hoppy side.

For our bottom line notes we got a yes to drinkable, repeatable, balance and value. We got a no to harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again.

The beer is much better colder than it is warm – the metallic edge ramps up quite a bit as it warms up. Alas, it did not pass the 60 degree test. We’d recommend drinking it around the lower 40′s rather than the upper 50′s in terms of temperature. We’d also recommend drinking it fast to ensure it doesn’t warm up.

The Kirkland Hefeweizen is a deceptive beer – the cooler profile in the 40′s is drastically different from the warmer profile. For grins we did a second one quickly that stayed cold (we didn’t spend 45 minutes analyzing it to death like we did the first beer) and it was a much better experience. We actually got some floral notes in the taste we didn’t get when it was warmer. If you kept it cold it could almost turn our rating up a notch or two to a 4 or even a 5. Alas, we rate the beers going from cold to warm as a test to see how well they are crafted. Good hefeweizens can hold in there around 60 F.

All the elements of a hefeweizen are in this – yeast, lemon, banana, pepper – but they just don’t sing to us. Overall it’s a bit thin and just not that refined. Of course, for the price it’s still a heck of a value – the Kirkland 24 pack comes in at $18.99, or 79 cents a bottle. You’ll likely spend $7 to $8 for a 6 pack of Pyramid or Widmer hefeweizen, and this is just as good as those. Bottom line – you can do better, but this really isn’t that bad.

The Bohemian Black Lager, as well as all Shiner beer, comes to us from the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. It is a schwarzbier (which is just German for “black beer”) and is Shiner’s darkest brew. Schwarzbiers can be tough to stereotype due to the looseness of the definition of black beer. Some of the best schwarzbiers we’ve done really come in strong with coffee, roasted and smoke flavors, which you’d think all schwarzbiers would, but they don’t have to. Well, they do if they want good ratings here at The BeerFathers, but we digress. We try to put those characteristics into black beers as we tend to identify black beers with stouts but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Remember, a schwarzbier is a lager, so you’re not always going to get some of the strong ale characteristics in the beer.

The Black Lager packs a 4.9% ABV into a 12 oz bottle. It comes in at 18 IBUs and for our review we used a British pint glass and got a starting beer temperature of 53.8 F. Our initial pour yielded an average 1 1/2″ frothy light brown head that left no lacing as it dissipated quickly into the dark brown to black body. Though dark, the body clarity is clear. There was little to no discernible carbonation in the brew.

It has a general “sweet” smell to it that’s nice. For our full-on sniffy sniff we got only a handful of aromas: chocolate, coffee, roasted malts and milk. It’s a pretty thin smell, even with the nice sweetness.

Our initial flavors struck us with a light to moderate sweet and a light bitter, followed in the finish by a light sweet, light to moderate bitter and a light acidic. The flavors hold fairly true to the aromas – chocolate, coffee and roasted malts, but we dropped the milk from the smell and got a hint of light black licorice on the taste. The overall taste is somewhat bland – it tastes “dark” but there’s almost no finish to it. The finish that is there is odd – almost like tasting the dark part of the grain.

Thankfully the finish length is short. The mouthfeel is dry and the tongue hit is in the middle. There was no body lacing to speak of and on the malt to hop scale it comes in 1.5 clicks to the left of balanced on the malty side.

For our bottom line notes we got a yes to drinkable and balance, but a no to repeatable, harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again.

Perhaps other schwarzbiers have ruined us, but this one just didn’t bring it. There’s just no depth to it. It’s like a big mouthful of not too much. Granted it is a lager, but we’ve done some other schwarzbiers before that have at least blown one sock off. I think we wanted it to be more like a stout or at least some of the other schwarzbiers we’ve done, but it’s just not there.

It’s got a malty taste but no bold flavors and that’s what it needs – some boldness. It’s just a little too subdued. The malts that are there are just too thin and it needs a more robust mouthfeel to it – more creaminess. The bitter at the finish seems more malt than hop based, surprising as schwarzbiers tend to get their bitterness solely from the hops, but as we said before schwarzbiers can be tough to characterize. It’s actually a bit annoying towards the finish. Perhaps we need to try it colder than we did it, but a well crafted beer should hold up in the 50 degree range and this one just doesn’t do that.

We like to say “May the schwarzbier be with you,” but if it is we hope it’s not this one.

Beer temp. 44.0 F (7.7 C). In a pint glass I got a 2 inch frothy white head that dissipated slowly with almost no head lacing. Carbonation was lively and the body was a clear orange. The aromas were caramel, nutty, citrus, grapefruit, pine, plum and raisin. Taste were the same except the plum and raisin were lost. Initial flavors were a light sweet and a moderate bitter. Finish flavors were light sweet and a heavy bitter. The mouthfeel was oily with a long finish and fair body lacing. On the malt to hop scale I gave it a 7.5 or 2 1/2 clicks to the hop side of balanced. On the bottom line I got a yes to drinkable and a no to repeatable, balance, harmony, memorable, wow factor and buy again.

With all the hops it should have a good shelf life. I liked the fruitiness in the taste till the hops became so much more predominant. If you’re a hophead this might be kind of tame to you but I’m a malty kind of guy and it just was not to my taste. I must admit I have changed some over time as a couple of years ago I would have poured it out. It really makes a statement and has been on the market since 1975. Hats off to the guys at Anchor Brewing.

For starters it’s brewed in the town of Plzen over in the Czech Republic. We’ll give you three guesses what they invented there. Because of it’s water source, Pilsner Urquell has been used throughout Europe by many people to help dissolve kidney stones and gall stones. The water source comes from the nearby city of Marianske Lazne (visit their official web site), which is a spa town where people go to drink the local spring water for it’s health benefits. Not just the plebians of the town, but world dignitaries, royalty from many countries and other famous people as well. The visits are actually doctor prescribed in many instances. The spa is actually the town’s main industry. Now for the beer – they say one Pilsner Urquell a day will do it to realize the health benefits. Note the “one” qualification there – everything in moderation here people. No other beer has this claim because of the water source.

Now on to the review. For our test we used, naturally, a pilsner glass. We got an initial beer temperature of 44.2 F and our 12 oz bottle sports a 4.4% ABV. Our initial pour gave us an average 1 1/4″ fizzy white head that left virtually no head lacing as it dissipated quickly. It’s got a medium carbonation and the body is a clear sparkling yellow/golden color. It looks like a textbook pilsner.

For the aromas we picked up a light biscuit (almost a sweet biscuit smell), citrus, grass, bread dough and some ginger. It’s quite a clean smell – very refreshing and crisp. Unfortunately the smell is the most intriguing part of the beer.

On the taste side we were able to note the light biscuit, grass and some light lemon. Not much complexity here – you pick up some hops and it’s kind of like a Heineken on the finish – somewhat skunky and also slightly metallic. This results in a strange disconnect from the aromas to the flavor. The malts thin out significantly and the hop bitters edge on in. The finish is very sharp.

For our initial flavor notes we get a light sweet and a very light bitter. The finish notes evolve to a light acidic and moderate bitter. The finish is average in length and it’s not a coating finish – one sip of water cleans it right out of your palate. The mouthfeel is watery and the tongue hit is right in the middle of your tongue. There’s no body lacing to speak of and on our malt to hop scale it comes in about a click and a half to the right of balanced on the hoppy side.

For our bottom line notes we get a yes to drinkable, yes to repeatable and yes to balance. This means a no to harmony, memorable, wow factor and unfortunately a no to buy again.

It’s a textbook session beer at 4.4% ABV and we feel like it should be done pretty cold to dull the taste out a bit. Maybe a thick walled cold, not frozen glass. It could be a good intro to a slightly hopped beer without a strong malt backbone for a craft beer newbie. We want to like it more because of the smell, but ultimately we’re just not big fans.

We poured our 4.9% ABV, 12 ounce bottle of Premium Pils into an American pilsner glass (how appropriate!) and got an initial temperature of 43.3 F. The first pour generated an average 1 3/4″ foamy white head that dissipated quickly and left a fair amount of head lacing in the process. A good start! There was a tremendously lively amount of carbonation with some big bubbles. The body clarity was extremely clear and sparkling – actually one of if not the clearest beer we’ve ever done. The body color was light – in the neighborhood of straw.

The initial aromas were barley, hay, citrus (mostly lemon) and yeast. Not much too it, but it is a pils after all. The initial flavors gave us some light toasted malts, some more lemon and something resembling a light white wine vinegar. The initial flavor notes are a light sweet and light bitter that evolve in the finish to a very light sweet, light acidic and a moderate bitter. The finish duration is average, the mouthfeel is dry and somewhat thin and there is no body lacing to speak of (surprising considering there was some decent head lacing). The tastes hit you right in the middle of your tongue, except for a touch of sweet on the front. On our patented malt to hop scale we came in about one and a half clicks to the right of balanced on the hoppy side.

Our bottom line notes show a yes for repeatable, drinkable and balance and a no for harmony, memorable and wow factor. We probably wouldn’t but this one again.

Overall it’s not offensive, there just isn’t anything to write home about here. It’s not complex but it’s not supposed to be. It’s slightly sweet and reminds us of a Dortmunder/Helles with a slightly stronger hops edge at the end. Though it’s light it’s got a decent balance, skewed a bit by the vinegar taste in the hops on the finish. This is another one that would probably be better pretty cold, maybe in a frosty mug. Father Beer Love notes it could work nicely into a radler (our favorite dessert – half beer and half lemonade). We wouldn’t mind trying something like this in a dunkel or a dark beer. We started out giving this a 4 out of 10, but skewed it down to a 3 by the end. We’re looking forward to trying some of the other Kulmbacher beers in the coming weeks.

The Abita Purple Haze is one of the staples of their lineup and it’s touted outright as a raspberry beer. It’s pretty readily available anywhere and I’ve even found it on tap in San Diego. With that said we poured our 12 ounce bottle into an American pint glass and got an initial temperature of 41.2 F. The ABV rates in at 4.75%. We got an average 1 3/4″ foamy white head on our pour that dissipated slowly and left virtually no head lacing. There was no carbonation to speak of in the hazy golden body.

It’s a little light on aromas – we picked up wheat, vanilla and of course a lot of raspberry. There may also be some other berries in there but we couldn’t pull any out specifically. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a very good, fresh aroma, there’s just not a lot of punch in it. The flavors echo the wheat and raspberry, but not the vanilla. We did pick up a touch of lemon as it warms in the finish, but that’s it. Initial flavor notes are a light sweet, light acidic and light tart. The finish moves to a very light sweet, light bitter and light tart. The finish duration is short, the mouthfeel is dry and there’s a fair amount of body lacing. On the super useful The BeerFathers patented malt to hop scale it comes in just one click to the left of balanced on the malt side.

Bottom line notes – It’s repeatable, drinkable and balanced. It’s also memorable because you’ve probably not had a lot of other beers like it. No on the harmony and wow factor. Ultimately we probably wouldn’t buy this again.

Don’t get us wrong, we love Abita (probably a little too much sometimes), but this just isn’t one of their better beers. It’s not complex at all. The aroma is definitely the best part. Though it tastes like beer, it’s a bit too fruited for us. The hops may be the only thing that keep it from tasting like Kool-Aid. It may be a good refreshing beer for cooling off, maybe after mowing the yard, but it’s not a go-to beer. This is one of the few beers I’d say you should do with a frosty mug, because it’s better ice cold, which dulls the taste a bit. Don’t let it get too warm.

The reality is (and this may be their target market) it’s a good chick beer. A great craft chick beer. It’s very unique and it’s the first fruited beer I ever had that I actually somewhat liked. That was quite a long time ago though and I’m afraid my beer tastes may have moved on past it.

For now we’ll focus on the Sam Adams Summer Ale, which is another in our regular Father and Son Thursday night beer reviews. Why Thursday? Why not? Actually it’s because Father Beer Love has Friday off so it’s a good night for us to not worry if we experiment a little too much with the brews. Drink responsibly, that’s what we say. Well, we’ve never actually said it, but I’m sure we think it. Not really consciously think it, but it’s probably back there in the id or the superego or superid or some other part of the brain that works without being told what to do. Anyway, the Sam Adams Summer Ale is an American wheat ale that comes to us from the Boston Beer Company, makers of well, you know. For this scientific review we used an American pint glass and our 12 oz bottle of Summer Ale registered a 5.3% ABV at 41.9 F.

The initial pour generated a large 2 1/2″ fizzy white head the dissipated quickly and left virtually no lacing. The beer itself has a really lively amount of carbonation and the color is a slightly cloudy gold. Good pour and good start. The smell strikes you as fairly hoppy, not surprising since it’s a Sam Adams, but a little surprising since their other seasonals aren’t overly hopped like their main lineup is. It’s not a terribly complex smell but a fairly clean one – hay, citrus (grapefruit and lemon for sure, but maybe some others) and ginger are the main aromas we pick up.

The taste continues with the citrus theme – it’s a lemony taste with grapefruit and ginger notes. There is also a touch of wheat taste to the finish. Though it lacks complexity it goes down quickly. The initial flavor notes are a light sweet and a light tart. The finish moves a little and gives you a light sweet and a moderate bitter and a light to moderate tart. The finish is about average in duration, the mouthfeel is a bit on the dry side and there’s no body lacing to speak of. On our patented malt to hop scale (original patent application circa 1879) it comes in guess what – fairly hoppy. We marked it 2 1/2 clicks to the right of balanced – not the hoppiest thing in the world but it’s right on up there.

Though it’s drinkable, we wouldn’t really want to drink another one. It’s not so good for the rest of our bottom line notes – it’s not quite balanced, doesn’t have much harmony, isn’t particularly memorable and we probably wouldn’t buy it again. Sam Adams can do so much better with their seasonals and all the other ones definitely prove it. The OctoberFest and Winter Lager especially are much better examples of what they can really do with their seasonal lineup.

So then what is the saving grace for the Sam Adams Summer Ale? It’s a great bar beer. Throw in some salty snacks and this thing really hums. What was originally a 2 became a 3 with some mixed nuts or salty chips. We’ve heard many people say they’re disappointed when they try a wheat beer that isn’t a hefeweizen, I guess because they’re expecting that hefe experience. I know we say it. Our take is there’s lot of other good summer beers (including several hefes), so give them a shot and revisit the Sam Adams Seasonals for OctoberFest.

We used an American pint glass and got an initial temperature of 52.5 F. The pour yielded an average 1 inch fizzy off-white head that dissipated quickly and left a fair amount of head lacing in the process. It had about a medium carbonation and was a hazy orange/red in appearance.

The aromas were all over the place with this one – caramel, some toasted malts, citrus, broth and vegetables. A bit V-8 like and also a bit beef stewish. More specifically on the citrus we pulled mandarin orange and on the vegetables we pulled tomatoes. We also got an overall slightly metallic smell that wasn’t great.

There wound up being a lot fewer flavors than aromas – mostly the caramel and toasted malts. It actually had a pretty good balance – it leans a bit malty initially and then the finish gets a little hoppy. There is no body lacing to speak of and the mouthfeel is somewhat oily. The initial flavor notes are a light sweet, light acidic and light bitter. In the short finish everything dissolves but the bitter, which stays light. On our patent pending malt to hop scale it’s about a 4 – one click on the malty side of balanced.

Though it is drinkable we wouldn’t call this repeatable. It also wasn’t particularly memorable and we probably wouldn’t buy it again. If we were in a bar and had ordered this we’d finish it and then switch off to another beer.

The 12 oz bottle features a 5.4% ABV and we served it up in an American pint glass at 52 F. The bottle has a great label on it featuring a monocled bulldog wearing a tuxedo holding up a beer. That may be the best highlight to our session.

The initial pour yielded a huge 2 1/4″ light brown rocky head that had a good amount of lacing as it dissipated slowly. The color was an opaque ruby dark brown, almost black. No carbonation to speak of, but it can be hard to tell in a beer this dark.

The aromas were burnt, chocolate, coffee, earth, black licorice and smoke. The initial flavor was lightly sweet and heavy bitter, as were the finish flavors. The finish was long in duration and there was only a fair amount of body lacing. The mouthfeel was terrific – nice and creamy. On the malt to hop scale it was on the very malty side.

Aside from the great mouthfeel there wasn’t a lot to write home about with this one. It started out well enough with a good, somewhat surprising first impression, but it became much less enjoyable towards the end. The lack of balance really started grating on our nerves. It’s not very complex and the burnt malts led to some strong bitterness. What was attractive in the beginning became annoying in the end. It’s like you’ve been on 6 dates already and now you’re resenting her. Do you break up or keep going because it’s too much trouble?

It’s definitely not repeatable and was only so-so in drinkability. It wasn’t memorable, had no wow factor and we wouldn’t buy it again. The 6 pack was in the $7 price range, so that may have some appeal, but we’d say it’s worth trying only if you can pull a single of it. There’s a lot of other porters out there better than this one.

We served it up in a Weizen glass where it produced a huge 3 inch rocky white head. The head laced a fair amount and dissipated quite slowly. Not a bad start. The golden yellow body had the typical wheat haziness that you look for – translucent in appearance with a soft carbonation.

The aromas included biscuit, cereal (grape nuts), wheat, light honey, yeast, citrus and lemon. The smell was quite strong but the taste was only lightly sweet and slightly tart. No new flavors came through we didn’t pick up in the aroma – as a matter of fact fewer tastes came through in the flavor than in the smell. The aromas tended to bait us into thinking it might be something better than it was. The finish was short with a light bitter and light tart. The mouthfeel was somewhat watery.

Overall it had a mild hop bitterness to it and the taste just wasn’t nearly as complex as it could have been. Was it refreshing? Yes. Could we drink another? Yes (especially if the heat index is in triple digits). Overall though it’s not memorable and didn’t have that wow factor we look for in a good beer. It’s not nearly as good as a hefe and is somewhat unremarkable. There’s a lot of other good options to pick up before this one.

Almost no hop bitterness which would be nice. I think the berries are good but way overpowered by the sweetness. Less like a beer and more like Kool-Aid. Could be OK for someone who doesn’t like the taste of beer. The balance is skewed way too much too sweet and no detectable malt flavor which are very delicate in wheat beers. Interesting but no favorite. Abita Purple Haze has better balance.

On reflection I would rather pour it over vanilla ice cream than drink it but it’s too runny. How about with vanilla ice cream and make a float, a beer float, now that just might work.

A semi-aggressive pour yielded a 1/2″ head that dissipated rather quickly. The beer itself is amber in color with more copper tones than dark tones. It’s cloudy and unfiltered with light sediment in the form of dark black specs.

The aroma is not bad – sweet and hoppy with notes of caramel and citrus. The taste features a lot of citrus undertones – a lemony edge, and bitter hops that predominate throughout. It’s not as sweet as the aroma and the lingering hoppy finish starts with caramel and becomes toffee. It get more hoppy as it warms and is just too hoppy to be good. There’s no sweetness, no complexity and a lack of harmony that unsettles us. It also has a slightly burnt taste that may in fact be the hops killing our taste buds. Those come back don’t they?

It reminds us a lot of a lighter version of Sam Adams – our guess is the New England area for beers is just quite hop-ridden. That may or may not be true, but the Ipswich was just disappointing. It might be better with food, but we don’t think we’ll be giving it a second chance.

Post review, Father Beer Love added a note on the Ipswitch Original Ale.

Not a big favorite and at $4.99 I say give me a Boddingtons Pub Ale. Not worth the money.

Beer temp. 33.4F – 1.3C. Pours medium amber with an off white thin head with no lacing. May have had it too cold. Caramel and molasses aroma. First taste yields caramel and black licorice and a pronounced bitterness. Rather thin mouth feel. Has quite a lingering aftertaste from the heavy roasted malts more so than the hops. Sharpness works the tongue. It seems toward a stout with the licorice but stops way short. I don’t find any sweetness at all, some might be nice.

Not much of a favorite. As it warmed it didn’t get any better. I’m glad I only bought one. There is also a fruit flavored one by the same brewer so will try it also. Repeatability forget about it.

Wish I hadn’t bought a 6 pack. It’s not bad enough to pour out though. Being extremely thrifty (cheap) I tried making a black and tan out of it. Couldn’t use a sweet stout as that would be way too sweet so I selected a Beamish and it worked out pretty well. Abita makes some good beers but this isn’t one of them.