Used a pint glass and got a large 3 inch frothy off white head. Beer temp. 47.4F – 9.2C, ABV – 5%. The head dissipated quickly and there was almost no head lacing. The color was a clear sparkling amber. The aromas were pretty thin which is why I needed an extra really cute nose to help out. We came up with light caramel, citrus. dough and yeast. Taste were caramel and butterscotch. Initial notes were a moderate sweet and a light bitter. Finish notes were a light sweet a moderate bitter and a light tartness. The finish was short, mouthfeel was dry and almost no body lacing. On the malt to hop scale it came in at a 5, or balanced. The tongue hit was mostly in the back. Repeatable yes, drinkable yes, balanced yes, harmony no, memorable no, wow factor no and buy again maybe.

Overall the aromas were pretty weak and the taste of caramel was light and the butterscotch was kind of a stretch, maybe I was trying too hard and make something complex out of something simple, that’s why I gave buy again a maybe. It could be a change of pace and wouldn’t offend anyone. Price isn’t bad either. At first I thought it was a lager until I looked it up online. Could be a transition beer to ales too.

We used a Weizen glass for the test, which was a good thing because we got a large 2 1/2″ foamy light brown head when we poured it. Beer temperature came in at 55.4 F and the ABV on this bad boy was a little on the light side at 3.8%. Nonetheless it’s an impressive pour and we even got a fair amount of head lacing as it dissipated slowly into the ruby brown body below. The carbonation was fairly soft and though the color was dark it wasn’t really cloudy like you’d expect.

Aromas came in as caramel, coffee, molasses, roasted malts, cola and dark fruits – dates, prunes, raisins and a possible dark cherry. Not a bad list of smells to kick off the schwarzbier opening day. The tastes are quite intriguing – the main two things that come through are the coffee and the roasted malts. The coffee isn’t just coffee though – it specifically tastes like coffee with real sugar in it. The bottle says that artificial sweetener is an ingredient – may it’s aspartame? Either way it’s good. Initial flavor notes are a light sweet and light bitter and on the finish it stays the same with the bitterness moving up ever so slightly to a light/moderate. No body lacing to speak of but it’s got a watery mouthfeel, a short to average finish and on our patent pending malt to hop scale it comes in a little to the left of balanced – meaning it’s slightly malty.

Krusovice Cerne is a pretty tough sounding name for a beer. You want to say it loudly in a Russian accent even if you aren’t quite sure how to pronounce it (and yes we know it’s Czech Republic and not Russia, but who can do a good Czech accent? Russian is much easier because we all saw Rocky 4). It’s a good beer, not as good as say an Amber Bock, but good in it’s own way. It’s pretty simple, not too complex, but nothing is overdone and it’s wildly drinkable.

We think this is probably a perfect example of a session beer (that is a beer you can drink multiples of in one session without falling down – see Beer Advocate for further explanation). We marked it as repeatable, drinkable and something we would buy again – perhaps that’s The BeerFathers litmus test for session beers. One recommendation would be to do it colder than we did (we were in the mid 50s). We’d recommend trying it in the lower 40s and seeing what you thought. We feel the need to reiterate that we loved the 1/2 liter size for this beer and we’re thinking all dark lagers should start to come in 1/2 liter sizes, mandatory in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. All in favor?

The O’Fallon Brewery is conveniently located in O’Fallon, Missouri, and I’m sure the crew there was pleased with the happenstance of the name/location. This Smoked Porter weighs in at 6% ABV in it’s 12 oz bottle, which also tells us it was the 2004 Gold Medal winner for the best smoked beer in America. To celebrate we served it up in an American pint glass and had an initial pour temperature of 47 F. Perfect!

The pour produced a small 3/4″ frothy medium brown head and an opaque black body. The head dissipated rather quickly and left a fair amount of lacing in the process. Not much carbonation to speak of. Our initial aromas, using our patented BeerFathers sniffing process, gave us roasted malts, black licorice, soy sauce and smoke. We rated the smoke smell as very comparable to liquid smoke that you use to marinade your meats when you can’t actually smoke them outdoors.

Our initial flavor was a moderate bitter, followed by a lightly salty aftertaste. Very interesting. The soy sauce taste is high predominant and the smoke flavor follows thereafter. It’s not terribly complex and we were a little surprised there was no coffee or chocolate notes at all to it – being smoked porter newbies we’re not sure if that’s the style or just the style of this one in particular. The finish had an average to long duration and produced an odd saltiness we really haven’t experienced much before in other beers. The mouthfeel was dry and on the malt to hop scale it was closer to the heavy side of malts.

It’s definitely worth trying one – it may suit you or someone you love’s tastes very well. It definitely won’t appeal to the masses and didn’t really appeal to us. Try it for its uniqueness though – this thing makes its own statement and we respect that. Plus one point in the rating for it’s boldness, brazenness, brashness and bravado. This may work with a hearty meal – think briskets and stews. The heavy bold flavors might jive a bit there. Hell, it may be worth a shot to marinade your steaks right in this. Now that we can get into!

We poured the 6% ABV 12 oz bottle into an American pint glass and pulled a temperature of 45 F. This bottle had a bottled on date of June 26, 2007 (we reviewed on January 31, 2008). We got a large 1 3/4″ off-white creamy head that produced a good amount of lacing as it dissipated quickly. There was a medium amount of carbonation and the appearance was a somewhat murky amber color.

The initial aromas were caramel, wheat, citrus (maybe grapefruit), herb, bubble gum and spices. The initial flavor was lightly sweet, lightly sour, and moderately bitter – the taste bud trifecta. The hops are strong, but not bad – it gives it a definite character. The taste gave us some more fruity flavors and the fruitiness increases as it warms. The finish flavor was lightly sweet and harshly bitter, with a long duration. This biting aftertaste may have a touch of that grapefruit we smelled to it. The mouthfeel was oily and the body lacing was fair, not nearly as impressive as the head lacing. On a malt to hop scale this one slides over somewhere in the mid range of the hoppy side.

Overall it’s drinkable, but not repeatable, not memorable and we wouldn’t want to buy it again. It would probably be better with food. It’s a decent ale from Schlafly, but it could be much better.

This review is another from our Thursday phone reviews. Boulevard calls this their “interpretation of a classic Belgian witbier.” Zon, by the way, is Flemish for “Sun.” We served this 4.4% ABV brew up in an American pint glass. Beer temperature was about 41 F at the onset for the 12 oz bottle.

The initial pour produced at large 2 1/2″ frothy white head that dissipated quickly but left excellent lacing. The beer seemed to have little carbonation and was a hazy straw color.

Initial aromas were wheat, coriander and citrus – specifically grapefruit, orange and lemon zest. It’s a good medley of citrus aromas and a very good clean smell. The initial flavors were a light sweet and a light tart, with the sweetness the more predominant of the two. The taste wasn’t as complex as the smell, sadly, and there was virtually no body lacing as it was consumed. The finish flavor was again light sweet and light tart, but added a dimension of light bitter, with the hops showcasing themselves most prominently. The finish was rather short in duration and the mouthfeel was actually somewhat dry.

The main issue with this beer is it just doesn’t have a great balance. It may edge a little toward the malt side on a malt to hop scale, but the balance feels more out of whack than that. It is repeatable and is drinkable, but it’s not memorable, has no wow factor and we probably wouldn’t buy it again. Overall it’s no Hoegaarden. It may compare fairly favorable with a Blue Moon, but the advantage would have to go to the Blue Moon. It could be a good summer beer and a triple digit day may have us giving this thing several bonus points. It may be a little too hoppy for a witbier, but it might be a good fit for a hophead (neither Father nor Son Beer Love fancy themselves a hophead). Worth a try, but there are other good Belgian style wheats to choose from first.

Son Beer Love Review (March 11, 2008):

The Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale is the fall seasonal from Blue Moon Brewing Company, makers of Blue Moon, which isn’t half bad for a mass market craft beer (it’s brewed by Molson Coors, though you won’t find Coors anywhere on the bottle – just a reference to Golden, CO). This one came in a 12 oz bottle (I got a six-pack) and it’s 5.6% ABV. I served it up in a regular pint glass with a beer temperature of 46 F.

I was unsure what to expect with this one. Past experience with “fruited” beers weren’t always great – (see Sam Adams Cherry Wheat). But you may be saying “well pumpkin isn’t a fruit, it’s a vegetable!” and I would admit I’ve got very little experience with vegetable-based beers, but pumpkin is actually a fruit, though we generally regard it as a vegetable. That aside, I approached with trepidation, not knowing what the future would hold.

I was actually surprised. We’ve said it before, the fruit should enhance the beer, not overwhelm it and this one hits that mark. The pour produced a 1 1/2″ average sized frothy off-white head that laced a good amount and dissipated slowly. The beer itself has a little bit of carbonation and the clarity was normal with an amber/orange color.

It’s got a good malt aroma and a nice subtle flavor. I was able to pull out notes of caramel, roasted malts, some florals, alcohol, brown sugar, clove, nutmeg, spices and a vegetable smell I presumed to be pumpkin. The initial flavor is lightly sweet. The pumpkin is really done well (meaning it’s subtle) and there’s enough other things going on that you don’t overfocus on it – though the other notes are not nearly as discernible in the taste as they were in the smell. I was also surprised to pick up a touch of alcohol in the taste, given it’s relatively average gravity.

The finish is average in duration and a little hoppy – sweet but sharp. It’s actually pretty smooth considering. The body laced really well in the glass (impressive!) and the mouthfeel was somewhat watery. On a malt to hop scale I’d put it slightly favoring the malt side, but the balance overall was good, though not too complex (not as complex as the aroma led me to believe it would be).

It’s a very unique taste for a beer, quite unlike anything else I’ve tried (I’ve shied away from any other beer with pumpkin in it after my wife tried one with her friends once and said it was the most rotten swill she’d every consumed). I liked it but probably wouldn’t want a second one. It passes the drinkability test, fails the repeatability test, passes the memorable test and the unique taste gives it a bit of an unexpected wow factor. Final say is worth a try, but share the six-pack with some friends and have it as a good change-of-pace, one-time session beer. I’ve got to think as pumpkin beers go, I can’t imagine one being better.

Father Beer Love Review (May 16, 2008):

After my last visit home in the fall Mom Beer Love sent me an article out of the K.C. newspaper about the new pumpkin ales out in the area. Thanks Mom. This was about the only one I could find locally.

I got a 6 pack and went to work on it (this is my favorite kind of work). I used a pint glass and got a large 3 inch frothy, off-white head that faded slowly and left a fair amount of head lacing. Body color was amber and had a soft carbonation to it. It came in a 12 ounce bottle and had an ABV of 5.7%. The aromas were caramel, toffee, floral, yeast, allspice, brown sugar, nutmeg and spices. Taste were lemon, allspice, nutmeg and pumpkin. Initial flavor was light sweet, acidic and sour. Finish flavors were light sweet, bitter and salty. Finish duration was short, mouthfeel was dry, and it had some body lacing. On the malt to hop scale we use I gave it 2 to the left of balanced toward malty – in other words a 3. This is right up my alley. It was repeatable and drinkable but was only so-so for memorable. It didn’t have a wow factor but I would buy it again.

Overall it was fairly complex and was my first pumpkin ale but I knew I couldn’t go wrong with a Blue Moon product, they do have a way with craft style beers. I found the pumpkin subtle and a nice change of pace. There is also the historical perspective that we have all read about. I must admit this has got to be the best way to study history I’ve ever found, 12 ounces at a time. Wonder why they didn’t teach us this way in high school? Guess I’ll never know.

I was surprised after the Berry Weiss of the same brand. The light sweet taste allowed some of the malt taste to come through and the hop bitterness was present but still fairly mild. There is a tartness that’s hard to place so I’ll just call it citrus. The balance was good but it lacks the harmony in better Weiss Beers. It lacks the hazy appearance I’ve come to love in wheat beers. This could be a decent summer beer as the sweet taste doesn’t become annoying as it warms, but there are still a lot better wheats out there.

Beer temp. 50.9F. Pours light amber with a thin head. Caramel aroma, definite pronounced caramel malts come through first and as it fades the hops take over. Hops really work on the back of the tongue and then coat the whole mouth. It has a rich mouth feel. The caramel malts live up to their billing and seem to balance the bitterness of the hops. Later pours gave a little better head with an off white color but it still didn’t hold well. Caramel and bitter hops were all I could detect, no undertones of anything else.

This is the fourth S.A. product I’ve tried and the best of the lot but I don’t think I’ll buy it again. This isn’t a nothing beer. It started as a 2 and ended as a 3 and I’ll give them an extra bonus point cause ” They Got Stones”.

The pour is good – light to medium carbonation – and the color is a nice, true amber with a little red in it. It has a decent creamy head that laces well on the glass. It has a strong aroma – honey, molasses and vinegar. Rice vinegar is exactly what it reminds me of and it is a strong smell.

The taste is fairly clean – molasses, citrus fruits, biscuity malts, modest/medium hops and maybe some added herbs. The mouthfeel is light and slick – some carbonation. The aftertaste is a little sour with the vinegar revisited and a little bit of hops.

I’ve got to give it a 4 because of the rice vinegar overtones that seem to dominate. It was slightly refreshing, but reminded me more of a bad rendition of a Red Stripe.