Its Beer Time!

So I said I would write a blog entry about beer, so now I am.
I found a cool little craft beer shop a few blocks from my apartment, so I've been going there and sampling all sorts of different beers. This is going to be reviews of 4 of them. I don't know where you can get all of these. I know you can find at least on at most Bev-Mo's if you are on the West Coast. But other than that, I dunno... Sorry.

First up is the Podge Belgian Imperial Stout.
This beer is an import from Belgium, and its not from a very big brewer, so you might have more trouble finding it. Their website, www.alvinne.be is all in dutch, so its also hard to understand, even with google translator.
I poured this 12 oz bottle into a pint glass, it had a very dark body, with a thin tan head. It was a very nicely carbonated beer, with some nice textures and tastes. It was smoother than I expected, with some dark, chocolate and a bit of coffee taste. However overall, it wasn't exceptional. It was a good beer, but I don't think it is completely worth the money. Being an import it runs about 5 bucks per 12 oz bottle, and if you want a comparable beer you can but the Rasputin Imperial Stout, from North Coast Breweries for less than half the cost. This beer would be great if it was cheaper, but as it stands, it is simply too expensive. It is a quality stout, but not good enough to warrant the price tag. I would gladly drink it again, but I won't be buying it.

The next beer is the Three Philosophers belgian-style ale by Ommegang. The website for this beer is http://www.ommegang.com/index.php?mcat=1&scat=4 However, I didn't like this beer too much. My main problem is that it is very sweet. Too sweet. I enjoy belgian beer, and all of its fruity after taste, but this beer was so sweet it was almost syrupy, and the cherry aftertaste was absolutely overpowering. As soon as you taste it, you get the taste of a nice mild ale, but then it gets completely washed away by the aforementioned cherry flavor. Its almost syrupy, its so sweet. It reminded me of drinking Port, or some other dessert wine. I can see this working better if it was a bit more bitter, or went easier on the sweetness. Overall, I wouldn't buy, or drink this beer again. Finishing off the 4 pack that I bought was kind of a chore, each time I though I would get a different, or better experience, but each time I was wrong. However, people who generally don't like beer because of its bitterness, might want to give this one a try, as it is basically the opposite of bitter.

On the subject of Belgians, I was redeemed by the Unibroue Maudite. This is a Canadian beer, brewed in Quebec, whose name, Maudite means Damned. (This was basically why I bought this beer, I mean its named Damned...) This beer was excellent. It was exactly what the Three Philosophers should be. A bit more bitter right off the bat, with a lighter, sweet aftertaste that tasted slightly of cherries (its the type of Cherry lambic malt that they use in Belgians). A very nice, easily drinkable beer. I really enjoyed it, and am looking forward to drinking the rest of the 4 pack. It was mildly expensive, but not excessively so, and I feel that I will be putting this one in the rotation of good beers I will buy regularly.

The final beer that I will be quickly reviewing is Mayflower Breweries Porter. This was another very good beer. I was looking for a nice strong dark beer, and I got it in the Mayflower Porter. It is a nice, decently bitter dark porter. It isn't immensely carbonated, but I didn't find that this detracted from the beer at all. Its rather smooth and has tastes both chocolate-y (but not overly so), and with a bit of coffee. It was a very good beer, and being a Massachusetts micro-brew, it was rather cheap. This is another one that I will have to be sure to keep stocked in my refrigerator, and I advice you to give it a try if you happen to run into it.

Well thats it for my beer reviews. If people liked this, I might keep at it, and do a regular sort of “What I'm Drinking” sort of thing...
So let me know! Also let me know if you find these beers, I'd be interested to see how far west some of these get.