Beer Review Thread

[MrDrew]

[BrettFavre004]

[Waldo]

[Waldo]

Old Chub Scottish Ale

Best beer that comes in a can.

Old Chub is a domestically brewed Scottish Ale by the Oskar Blues Brewery. Scottish Ale is a really tough style to pin down in description as it can vary so much, being anywhere from a light ale to barley wine strength (Old Chub is strong at 8% ABV), and anywhere from a light beer to a dark beer. Scotch Ales are very malty and only use a minor amount of bittering hops. Basically Scotch Ales are beers brewed from the same grain and largely by the same people (originally) that make Scotch. Scottish brewers are very proud of their grain and have very complex malt profiles, using some of the same techniques as Scotch malt such as floor malting and drying with peat. Aging in oak barrels is not unheard of either. Scotch Ales also use a fairly distinct style of yeast, it ferments fairly clean but leaves slightly smokey hints in the beer. Old Chub is a darker, heavier version of a typical Scotch Ale, but it is not a dark beer. There is a lot of residual sweetness, and overall an explosion of caramelized grain flavor from virtually every part of the spectrum. The hops are practically invisible.

I love the flavor of this beer. Scottish Ale is not a style commonly brewed in America, and most attempts are quite poor. Old Chub IMO is a very good example, really the only good domestic example that I've had. Given a year of aging in Oak, this beer would be incredible. This beer gets the malt right, it is just an explosion of malt flavor, sweet, smokey, nutty, chocolaty, toffee, etc.... Practically every term that can be used to describe malt flavor, this beer has hints of.

I think this beer could stand to sit for a year or two. It has a bit of a green beer flavor, really good heavier Scotch Ales tend to merge the flavors into a multifacted whole. The potential is there, this beer just needs a few years, a few years in oak and this would be crazy good.

Don't let the can scare you, this is really good stuff. Theoretically cans are superior to glass, they don't add a taint and most importantly there are no photoxidation worries, light can have no effect. The drawback is that this beer lacks living yeast (at least I'm pretty sure, I can't image that they can condition it), thus will not age well on its own. Unfortunately.

I really wish America would develop a tradition of really good domestic grain (ours is extremely powerful when it comes to enzyme action and very, very clean tasting, but nothing like the care that is taken with Scottish Malts to develop the flavors) so that we could make beer like this in an American tradition. However our primary domestic beer industry is much more closely aligned with the German brewing traditions than British/Irish/Scottish, yet we have no domestic counterpart to the Dopplebock, the Dopplebock being essentially a Lager version of a Scotch Ale (Scottish Ales are to Pale Ales as Bocks/Dopplebocks are to Pilsners).

Old Chub is one of my favorite domestic beers with national distribution. If you like heavy malty beer, you will love this beer.

Grade - 8.2
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[BrettFavre004]

[MrDrew]

For those that were wondering what style of beer to pair with the food you're eating, I found this chart. Pretty good way to help make a decision.

http://www.craftbeerandfood.com/pdf/beer_food.pdf
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[Waldo]

Duck Rabbit Brown Ale

My second beer reviewed from the Duck Rabbit Brewery in NC, and the first time I've had it. This is not a traditional Brown Ale, at all. It is hopped nearly as much as an IPA, with the malt schedule of a Brown Ale. This beer is quite bitter and has a lot of hop flavor, in addition the moderately strong taste of the chocolaty malt. If you do not like hoppy beer, you will not like this one. The aroma is of the malt, and is has a deep mahogany color.

I like the malt flavor a lot. The taste of the chocolate malt is very clear and distinct.

Why add so many hops to this? The beer is quite bitter, hop flavor does not go that well with dark malts IMO, the two flavors compete too much and aren't very compatible.

I don't really care for this overall beer all that much. It is basically like mixing an IPA with a sweet Brown, IMO not the two most compatible flavors. But the malt is good tasting and I imagine paired with only lighter malts the hops would be quite good too. This to me embodies the typical thinking of the American "too much of everything" craft brewing movement.

Grade: 4.0
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[MrDrew]

[Waldo]

Lagunitas Lucky 13

Lagunitas is a dometic brewery located in California. Lucky 13 is dubbed as a "mondo large" Red Ale offering by them. Red Ales are related to, but different than Brown Ales, using roasted barley, not deeply caramelized malt, to develop the color and flavor. Red Ale is the traditional beer associated with Ireland. Unfortunately it is a style that isn't brewed very much by craft brewers, for some odd reason, I'm not sure why. It is a very good, refreshing, and drinkable style, with loads of flavor. This version uses more hops than a typical version, using a moderate amount of both bittering and flavoring hops, and a small amount of aroma hops (a nice touch that is rarely seen in commercially produced beer, kudos). The malt flavor can best be described with one word. Butterscotch. The aftertaste is basically a Werthers Original candy. This one is very strong (8.3% abv).

I love the malt flavor of this beer. Smooth, sweet butterscotch. It is very strong and very notable.

I think that it is slightly overhopped. The butterscotch flavor is IMO the featured flavor, nothing should detract from it as it is so well done. The hops are a tad overdone.

Really, really well done Red Ale. Red Ale is such an interesting style, it is incredibly good for how rarely it is made. Which is odd as it is an ez beer that is very simple to brew. This is probably my favorite domestic Red, though Sam Adams makes a very good version as well (Killians is terrible when viewed as a Red Ale)(I've had homebrewed versions that put everything else to shame, by a longshot, this is a commonly done style by homebrewers).

Grade: 7.5
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[ienjoythesnow]

[MrDrew]

Mamas Little Yella Pils



Brewer: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew
Style Pilsner

My Review:
Another beer in a can, and yet another winner by Oskar Blues. Pours clear, and deep yellow (pee colored). White head started at about two fingers, and slowly diminished through the glass. Good carbonation, and decent lacing. Scent is heavy malts, that give a bread scent, grapefruit, light grass, and light pine. Taste is essentially the same, sweet malts, light bread, pine, grapefruit, and light grass from the hops in the middle, and a light bitter finish.

Everything I was hoping for last time I bought a Pilsner. Light and crisp, very refreshing. The hops make their presence known, but don't overpower the malt. Great for the first time they put a lager in a can.

Tech:

[Waldo]

Boy I look at that stuff every time I stop to the store and think to myself.....should I.....

Apparently I should. I stop tomorrow, so that'll be my weekend purchase.
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[BLick12]

Just had some of the Sam Adams Summer Ale last night and I'd say your rating is spot on.
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[Waldo]

[MrDrew]

Deep Cover Brown Ale



Brewer: Left Hand Brewing Company (Longmont, CO)
Style: Brown Ale

My Review:
Pours a deep, clear, brown, with a reddish hue. A little foam to start, but it disappeared quick. A lot of carbonation. Scent was chocolate, and slight malt. Taste was watery to start and finished with chocolate. Not much on the flavor front at all.

I became really disappointed as I waited for the flavor to come. It never did. This is the first Left Hand beer that I didn't like. It wasn't horrible, but it didn't impress me at all. I'll finish the 4 that I got in the mixed 12 pack, but I don't see myself drinking this again.

My Score: 3.5
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