The Beer Critic

Brewery Website: http://redhook.com/

Type of Beer: Nut Brown Ale

Alcohol Content: 5.8%

Beer Review -

Appearance: This nut brown ale poured a bright copper color with perfect clarity. Head was about one finger and dissipated to a thin film rather quickly leaving behind only a trace of lacing.

Smell: The first thing that comes through when smelling this beer is a sweet yet fresh graininess that is somewhat expected with a well made brown ale. That bright, sweet smell of grains and subtle grasses gives way to a nice hint of hops. There is also a bit of chocolate and caramel malt that come through at the end making this a complex and delicious smelling brew.

Initial Taste: A toffee sweetness hits the tongue first carrying with it a nice mix of grains and subtle chocolate malts. There is no doubt that this is first and foremost a malty beer with big sweet flavors of chocolate, toasted sugar, caramel and vanilla but there is just enough of an earthly hop bitterness to cut through the sweets and help balance things out. Mouthfeel is a little on the thin side due to some high carbonation. The finish is a bit dry with a lingering sweetness.

Thoughts: Mudslinger Spring Ale is a re-branding of their nut brown ale. I’m not sure why they rebranded it, I can only assume it’s to match their catchy seasonal naming convention (ie: Rope Swing, Late Harvest, etc). Either way it’s a great name for this sweet nutty ale. Being a nut brown the predominate flavors are going to be sweet and this doesn’t disappoint. This heavily malted beer has lots of chocolate, nutty, caramel and vanilla flavors to satisfy even the most discerning sweet tooth. Yet all is not lost for the hope heads among us. Certainly this is a sweet beer but Red Hook has added just enough hops to give this sweet ale an earthy, grassy bitterness that not only does a great job at balancing the beer but really tastes like springtime. The only downside I found was the thin mouthfeel. The carbonation was quite high so it gave a thin and somewhat watery feel. Your millage may vary so make sure you check this beer out for yourself. Overall I’m happy with the beer and could easily drink a few on a nice spring day. Cheers!

Brewery Website: http://www.rogue.com/

Type of Beer: American Stout

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Beer Review -

Appearance: Color is completely opaque black. Pours like molasses and gives a nice two finger dark brown head. Looks very similar to an espresso. Head recedes slowly leaving sparse lacing.

Smell: Chocolate, chocolate and some more chocolate. This stout screams chocolate. Pretty much what you would expect from a stout called “Chocolate Stout”. Along with the awesome sweetness of the chocolate notes you can also pick up a slight coffee, smokey smell. Incredibly enticing.

Initial Taste: Luckily the flavor follows suit with the smell. Sweet chocolate malts and natural bittersweet chocolate flavors mix with an ever so slight hop bitterness to create a very well balanced sweet chocolate stout. Finish is sweet and dry.

Thoughts: There are few companies that carry as many awards as the guys at Rogue have accumulated. Turning out beer the likes of Chocolate Stout make all the awards and critical acclaim make sense. This isn’t your usual chocolate stout. A lot of chocolate stouts seem to have an acidic, coffee flavor and fall short with real chocolate flavor. Not with this beauty. Smooth, sweet and chocolaty this beer tastes like a chocolate malted milkshake. With a slight hop and bittersweet chocolate bitterness this beer doesn’t become ‘overly’ sweet. Allowing you to drink multiple beers without feeling overwhelmed with sweetness and chocolate flavor. This is by far my favorite chocolate stout I’ve tried. If you enjoy stouts, more specifically chocolate stouts, and have not had the pleasure of trying this delicious chocolate concoction, I strongly urge you to seek one out. You will not be disappointed. I give this a 5 out of 5. Cheers!

Brewery Website: www.sheltonbrothers.com

Type of Beer: English Porter

Alcohol Content: 6.0%

Beer Review -

Appearance: Pours a deep red brown with a very thin head that recedes quickly to a film.

Smell: Toasted malts and unsweetened chocolate lead the scents on this one. Their is also a nice yeasty, bread-like smell that finishes with slight alcohol esters.

Initial Taste: The taste follows pretty closely with the smell. Even though this looks like it would be a strong beer the flavors are actually quite muted. The initial taste is sweet malts followed with chocolate and coffee. I can’t pick out much hops whatsoever even though I’m assured they are there. Finish is ok but thin.

Thoughts: This beer is from the Ridgeway Brewery in England. When browsing the beer aisle it’s not hard to pick out their lineup of beers. All the artwork for the labels is done by the fantasy artist Gary Lippincott. I spent more time looking at these labels then I did reading the descriptions…haha. And with names like “Santa’s Butt”, “Bad Elf”, “Lump of Coal” and “Reindeer Droppings” they easily take the award for most creative beer names! While there are better respresentations of this style available this is still a good beer. It’s easy to drink, tastes like chocolate and has a decent alcohol content.

Type of Beer: Imperial Stout

Alcohol Content: 10.6%

Beer Review -

Appearance: Pours a really cool ink black with a thick , brown, two-finger head that has great retention. Lacing is very good.

Smell: This is a very strong smelling beer. Right off the bat you can easily pick up on the chocolate notes that smell like dark chocolate coffee beans. The chocolate/coffee bean smell finished with alcohol esters.

Initial Taste: Very full bodied and creamy. What a flavor! Sweet chocolaty malts mix with strong coffee bean flavors. Some alcohol taste but for having almost 11% alcohol you can hardly tell.

Thoughts: Very interesting beer. The unsweetened chocolate notes make the beer taste more like espresso than chocolate. There is still a nice chocolate flavor there that helps balance the bitter flavors of the burnt malts and hops. This is a very high alcohol content beer with an abv of 10.6% but you really can’t taste the alcohol. However, there is a nice throat and chest warming sensation when drinking this beer. I highly recommend this beer to anyone who likes chocolate stouts. This is by far the best chocolate stout I’ve ever had. Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout represents the very best of this style of beer.

Type of Beer: Irish Stout

Alcohol Content: 4.20%

Beer Review -

Appearance: Looks opaque black but if you hold it up to the light you will notice there are red hues. Thick creamy head that lasts. Lots of lacing. Best cascading effect of any beer out there.

Smell: Sweet malts and roasted coffee. Nothing smells quite like a Guinness.

Initial Taste: Super smooth and incredibly creamy. The taste of the roasted malts give you hints of chocolate and smokey flavors with a soft bite at the end. Hard to put down.

Thoughts: There are very few other beers that taste like Guinness. While this isn’t best stout available it is by far the most popular. This delicious beer is enjoyed around the world (150 countries). I well prefer this version of the brew over it’s siblings, Extra Stout and Foreign Extra Stout. If you are looking for a smooth dark stout with possible mystic healing powers…Guinness is the beer for you.