Brewery Website: http://www.smuttynose.com/
Type of Beer: Belgian Pale Ale
Alcohol Content: 5.8%
Beer Review -
Appearance: This beer poured a deep straw yellow with a hazy complexion. There wasnt much head, maybe one finger and settled pretty quickly leaving ok lacing.
Smell: The smell is light and enticing. It’s clean and yeasty with some citrus and alcohol esters. Enough malt is present to make this a sweet smelling beer.
Initial Taste: What a nice beer. Flavors of grain, bready yeast and fruit are the first to hit your tongue. A nice clean citrus follows the bready yeasts cleaning the palate for the sweet malts. Some spices are present but are so soft they blend into the other flavors. What a wonderfully balanced beer. Flavors are clear and flavorful.
Thoughts: I always enjoy supporting a beer from my hometown especially when its made by a brewery as talented as Smuttynose. While New Hampshire isnt known for great beer Smuttynose is one of the top rated craft beers out there. These guys continue to make incredibly tasty beers and Star Island Single is no slouch. This beer is a great balance of flavor and drinkability. It has just enough flavor and sweetness to keep your tongue happy but finishes dry and crisp to leave you wanting more. While this isn’t the greatest representation of the style (Belgian Pale Ale) I recommend this as a session beer.
http://www.smithwicks.ie
Brewery Website: www.oskarblues.com
Type of Beer: Czech Pilsener
Alcohol Content: 5.3%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a hazy, bright yellow-gold with brilliant, white one-finger head that settles to a white film leaving behind beautiful lacing. VERY attractive pils!
Smell: Nice, clean smell. Some lemon citrus with soft yeasts and biscuit malts.
Initial Taste: Tastes like how a pilsner beer should taste. Sweet taste up front with a soft hop bite. Light malt and light hop make this a very easy to drink beer. The finish is very clean and ever so slightly bitter…begging you to drink more.
Thoughts: Another home run by those can-happy beer wizards at Oskar Blues Grill and Brewery. It’s one thing to make such delicious craft beer but to put it in a can as well? Crazyness. With Mama’s Little Yalla Pils these guys have created a pilsner (or spelled pilsener) beer in the tradition of the original pilsner from Pilsen, Czech Republic. Unlike mass market “pilsners” diluted with corn & rice, Mama’s Little Pils is made with 100% pale malt, German specialty malts, and Bavarian hops. Pilsners have always been my favorite style of beer. Pilsners are usually lightly flavored, refreshing, crisp and very easy to drink making them the perfect session beer. Oskar Blue’s pilsner delivers on these points with perfection. If you are a fan of this style of beer you are doing yourself a huge disservice by not running out and getting yourself a can of this golden deliciousness. Don’t fear the can!
Type of Beer: Märzen / Oktoberfest
Alcohol Content: 5.10%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Nice light mahogany color with thick two finger white head. Head lasts almost entire beer but lacing isn’t that great. Very good looking beer!
Smell: Sweet malts with a little hops and grain added in for good measure. Smells a lot like other beers in the marzen style. A nice clean smell that is quite appealing.
Initial Taste: Not too bad. Very smooth sweetness of malts matched very well with a spicy hoppiness. Very little bitterness in this beer but JUST enough to balance out the sweetness of the malts that make up the core of this marzen. The flavor is sweet but light enough to keep on drinking. Aftertaste is a subtle lingering sweetness.
Thoughts: What a surprising beer. I didn’t have much hope for this beer when before I first tried it. Being made by Michelob I just assumed it would be like the rest of the American watered down brews like Budweiser and Miller…but boy was I wrong. This beer is one of the smoothest beers I’ve ever had the opportunity to drink. Michelob has done a great job in making a smooth, highly drinkable, German Marzen beer that does not fail to deliver. There are other Marzen beers that represent this style a little better…but none as easy to drink. Definitely my favorite beer from the Michelob lineup. Highly recommend.
Type of Beer: Pilsner
Alcohol Content: 4.40%
Beer Review -
Appearance: Pours a beautiful golden orange with pure white head. Good lacing.
Smell: Soft hoppiness with subtle bread and citrus notes.
Initial Taste: Perfect mix of crisp hops and smooth malt. Finishes with a nice dry bitterness that makes you want more.
Thoughts: This beer is special as it is the original Pilsner beer. Most lagers made in the rest of the world are based upon this delicious brew. I recommend this beer to anyone who is looking for a refreshing, crisp, session beer. Enjoy!
