Murphy's Irish Red

Murphy's comes from an old brewing family in the area of Cork, in Southern Ireland. The current company was founded by James J. Murphy in 1856. In 1979, Murphy's Irish Stout was imported to the US for the first time and in 1985 was released as an international brand.

The Irish Red pours a clear light reddish-brown color, with a quickly dissipating 1 finger white head. There's no lacing on the glass left from it. Still, it's an attractive looking drink, and the reddish tints add a lot to the beer's appareance.

The aroma is fairly weak. There's a light hoppiness, but it's not overwhelming. There's also a bit of sweet malt to the smell.

The taste is a little thin. THere's some malted sweetness, a light bitterness from a very muted hop flavor. A little watery. It's in no way bad, but it's not terribly flavorful.

The mouthfeel is light, and extremely smooth. The carbonation isn't overpowering in any way.

All in all, it's easy to drink, but because of the lack of flavor I wouldn't go out of my way for a bottle. Certainly good be a good accompaniment to a good Irish dinner when you desire something lighter than a stout.

- Adam

Warsteiner Premium Dunkel

A Munich Dunkel style lager, Warsteiner Dunkel conforms to the German Purity Law or the "Reinheitsgebot". This law states that the only ingredients used to make the beer are malted barley, water, yeast, and hops. The Warsteiner brewery is a mass production facility, and as such is relatively easy to get and fairly cheap for an import.

The beer pours a dark chocolate brown, with red highlights. There's a bit of a tan head, but it dissipates fairly quickly.

The aroma is sweet and bready. There's almost a biscuit-like quality to it. The malt comes through well though. It's not terribly complex, but not unattractive either.

The taste is mostly biscuity and sweet. There's some citrus flavor mixed in as well. There's absolutely no bitterness to the beer, no trace of hops. Not really any alcohol flavor either. The finish is extremely smooth.

The mouthfeel is pretty light, especially for such a dark beer. There's a mild tangy carbonation to it. It goes down very easily.

The drinkability of this beer is extremely high. It's got a decent flavor, nothing unpleasant about it. On the other hand there's nothing that really stands out about it either. It's pretty cheap ($6.60 for a 6 pack), tastes good, and is really easy to drink. The ABV is relatively low at 4.9%. I can see this going in my regular rotation for when the beer isn't what I'm focusing on.

- Adam

Ommegeddon

I originally discovered Brewery Ommegang through the Duvel USA website. I was looking for more beers from Duvel Moortgat, and found that they owned a brewery in Cooperstown, NY. (Somehow I missed Maredsous, but that's on my short list to try.) I've tried a number of brews from Ommegang in the past, which at some point I'll have to get around to reviewing. These include Ommegang Abbey Ale, Hennepin, Rare Vos, Three Philosophers, and Witte. I've tried all but the Witte so far. However, Ommegang also has a couple seasonal lines, and Ommegeddon is one of them.

This is one of the breweries I've grown to trust in the short amount of time I've been tasting beers. While so far none of their offerings have replaced the soft spot Duvel holds in my heart, nearly everything I've had from them has been darn tasty. Dan was lucky enough to snag a left over 10 year anniversary box set from Ommegang, that included a special anniversary Hennepin glass.

This beer is a Funkhouse Ale... which pretty much means nothing to me. Looking into it a little more though, it seems like this is Ommegang's play on the Farmhouse Ale, or Saison category. Basically this seems to mean that it's brewed seasonally, on a small scale, and using local ingredients. This beer is also brewed with Brettanomyces or "Brett" yeast, which in most beer and wine seems to be an undesirable thing. It's said to impart a odor of a stable.

Our bottle was from Batch #3, brewed in April of 2008. We popped the cork, and poured it into our Chimay goblets. It's a hazy golden yellow color, with a thin white head that nonetheless leaves good lacing on the glass. You may note from the picture that we were careful to leave a bit of the beer in the bottle. This contains most of the sediment from the yeast that the beer is bottled with. The bottle's label specified that this sediment should be left in the glass and not mixed in, so we thought it was best to follow their instructions.

The aroma is decidedly unique... there's that horse blanket smell. Overall the smell of hay is forefront, but there's also a bit of apricot fruitiness in there. There's a wildness to the aroma that's just hard to describe.

The flavor is magnificent. There's the tangyness of apricot, a bit of a sweet-sour flavor. It's well balanced though, and the alcohol flavor doesn't really come through much. Oh, did I mention it's 8% ABV? The hops come through in the finish, with a very light bitterness rounding out the flavor.

It's a light beer in the mouth. The carbonation is mild and tingly, the beer feels somewhat thin, but not in a bad way. It's extremly smooth.

So to sum up the drinkability... very. Dangerously very. I had the impression that the flavor might sour after a few of them, but considering that it's 8% ABV, it's way too easy to drink. The uncharacteristic wildness of it makes it an incredible brew, and something to look forward to every year when it's produced. I will absolutely try this one again if I can get my hands on it. This may be a perfect summer drink.

- Adam

Orval

The second of our trappist beers from the trip, I wasn't sure what to expect from Orval. Unlike Chimay, Achel, Westmalle, and Rochefort, Orval only has one line readily available to the public. It was also noticably lighter than the other trappists we had with us.

The beer poured a light brown color, with a 1 finger off white head. This beer even gave Duvel a run for it's money in head retention... the head stuck around and left good lacing on the glass. It was on the cloudy side, but we poured the sediment from the bottle into the glass to allow the yeast to dissipate through.

The aroma was also a bit unexpected. It was grassy, almost like hay, with an underlying spice scent.

The taste was fairly mild. There was a muted citrus fruit flavor that was slightly tangy, along with a light bitterness. The aftertaste had a slightly metallic tinge to it. I'm wondering how it would be without the yeast in the glass, whether the bitterness would be gone, and how the flavor would be altered.

The mouthfeel was thick and smooth, with a light carbonation. It was however a bit on the dry side.

This was a very easy beer to drink. Because the flavor was so mild, and there was no trace of alcohol in the taste, it was not at all difficult to throw back. I wouldn't say it was the best tasting beer ever, but certainly worth trying.

I do think it's worth mentioning that I'd like to give this beer another shot. My notes for this beer are a bit sparse, and it seems like the trip was so long ago that I'm having trouble remembering the details of it. I'm also wondering how much of an impact the yeast has on the flavor, and whether it's positive or negative. I remember when I tried Affligem blonde, I really wasn't grabbed by the beer at all until I tried it with the yeast in the glass. Maybe I'll run out this week and pick up another bottle.

- Adam

Revisited 10/24/08:

I picked up another bottle today and tried it again, this time without the sediment mixed in at first. I didn't pick up so much of the spice in the aroma this time, but instead got a sweet banana smell. The beer is definitely more clear. The taste is still very mild. The flavor is a bit sweet, with a dull bitterness at the end. The carbonation comes through a lot more this time. There's a bit of warmness to it too.

Mixing in the sediment, the smell is unchanged, but the beer is definitely more cloudy. The taste is a little more tangy, and the bitterness at the end isn't quite so dull, but the taste is mostly unchanged.

It's a little disappointing. I had hoped that the second time around I might be able to reveal a little bit more about this beer. It's the same style as Leffe blonde and De Koninck, a Belgian Pale Ale. I can taste the similarity to Leffe in it, but it's not as flavorful. It's also not nearly as sweet which may or may not be a good thing depending on your mood. Overall though, it doesn't live up to the expectation I have for a trappist. I had expected something that transcends the style, but instead it seems average. It's not bad, but it's not great either. I really can't see myself coming back to this one. I've had it, I can check it off the list of trappists, but really there's not much else worth saying.

- Adam

Czechvar

Looking at the posts I've made so far, it seems like I've been biased towards posting all the darkest beers we brought on our trip. So to remedy that situation, here's Czechvar. Originally named Budweiser Budvar, this beer precedes the American "Budweiser" but due to a trade dispute from 1911, Anheuser-Busch is allowed sole rights to the name in North America. Consequently, imports of this beer from Budweis in the Czech Republic are renamed to Czechvar.

This beer pours an extremly attractive clear amber color. There's no head to speak of, save a thin white ring around the edge of the glass. There's no lacing at all with this beer.

The aroma is fairly standard. However there is a flowery hop smell present that stands out among the normal "beery" smells.

The taste of this beer is dominated by bottled water. Obviously there are plenty of other tastes present, even more strongly than the water taste, but the water really dominated the taste for me. It was like drinking a beer flavored bottle of Deer Park. Besides the water flavor, there were hints of spice and banana present. The rest of the flavor is stereotypical beer.

The mouthfeel was very light and bubbly. It felt thin in the mouth as well as in flavor, but crisp and extremely refreshing.

Ok, so this wasn't the best beer ever. Not even close. But it does stand out in drinkability. It was extremely easy to drink, was very refreshing... I'd say it may be one of the best thirst-quenchers I've ever had. This would be perfect after a hot summer day outdoors... just not so much on a windy day in North Carolina when we can't get out to the beach at all. All in all, this seems like the beer that "Budweiser" wishes it could be.

- Adam

Theakston Old Peculier

Even this beer's name suggests that you're getting something a bit different when you try it. Even though "Peculier" means particular, this beer is a bit odd when compared to pretty much everything I've tried so far. By no means is this a bad thing though, this beer was extremely enjoyable for me.

Old Peculier is a vintage ale, and has been made under this name since the 1890's. I'd been wanting to try this one for a while, and this trip turned out to be a perfect excuse.

Not really knowing what kind of glass this beer should go in, we poured it into our Pauwel Kwak glasses. It poured a deep brown with reddish highlights, and a small light tan head that dissipated fairly quickly. There was no visible lacing on the glass.

The aroma was hoppy with a hint of spice to me. Dan described it as a bit "sweet and sour" which I believe is an apt description. Honestly though, I was stumped by this beer. I really don't know how to describe the aroma. It's very far from anything I'm used to.

The taste was fairly hard to describe as well. There were coffee and caramel flavors. A slight amount of bitterness was present, but it wasn't overwhelming or unpleasent. All in all, it was very rich, complex, and well rounded. There was a fair bit of warmth going down too.

The mouth feel was kind of thick and not too carbonated. However, there was still a good tingle on the tounge from the carbonation, and was not flat at all.

I still don't know how I feel about the drinkability of this beer. My initial reaction was that it was something to savor and enjoy, possibly on it's own. I also said that I couldn't see myself drinking many of these in one sitting. Now though, I wonder if it's because the flavor just takes a little getting used to. I could see this being a great beer for a cold winter day.

-Adam

Brooklyn Brown Ale

Brooklyn Brewery was established in 1988 by a former banker and a former Middle Eastern correspondent. They have a number of different beers available, including core lines, seasonal, and brewmaster reserves which are only available locally on tap. The Booklyn Brown comes from their core line.

This was one of the two domestic beers we brought with us on the trip, the other being Dogfishhead's Punkin Ale. It's not that I don't like domestic beers, although some of them can be pretty awful, but the long standing traditions of European brewers have allowed them to develop well balanced and flavorful offerings over the years. Additionally, there's the cost factor for importing beers, so if the product isn't strong enough, it wouldn't sell well enough to offset the cost of importing.

That said, there are plenty of craft brewers and breweries in the United States that make a quaility product that blows the major beer distributors in the country out of the water. Brooklyn Brewery's Brown Ale is a great example of this fact.

The beer pours a deep brown with a tan head. It has good lacing on the glass, and mild head retention. The aroma is a combination of grassy hop scents, mixed with sweet malt.

The flavor of the beer is sweet and creamy, there isn't much bitterness at all. Typically with a darker beer you have the anticipation of bitterness, but I can see why the style is called Brown and Mild. There's a mixture of roasted barley flavor, with caramel, and general sweetness. Additionally this beer is incredibly smooth going down. It's not terribly high on carbonation, and it's somewhat dry, but fits quite well in the mouth. I can see this beer being great with a meal.

It's also incredibly drinkable. Not only does it have great taste that I can't see myself getting tired of, but because of the smoothness of it I feel like I could drink them non stop if I wanted to. But... I'll let this picture of Dan and myself tell the rest of the story.

-Adam

Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter

As one of the oldest breweries in all of England, and the only remaining independent brewery in Tadcaster (but still the smallest of the 3 breweries there), there's a lot going on behind the Samuel Smith name. There are quite a few different brews available from Samuel Smith, and their reputation is extremely high. Some interesting facts - according to the official Tadcaster website, they're still using the original well, sunk in 1758, to brew their ales and stouts. They use a strain of yeast that has remained unchanged since the early 1900's.

This is a dark British Porter. It pours an extremely dark brown, almost black in appearance. There is a small tan head, with little lacing on the glass. It's aroma is that of roast coffee, with hints of berries. It's a very attractive looking and smelling drink.

The taste is dominated by coffee flavors, but there is a somewhat muted sweet malt flavor as well. The finish is bitter, with a roast coffee bean aftertaste. The mouth feel is rich and creamy, with light carbonation. This beer is very similar in taste and feel to Guinness, but it has a much more balanced bitterness.

This is a very drinkable beer. Even though it's not a thirst-quencher, it is very flavorful, incredibly well balanced, and just tastes great. It was one of my favorite beers of the entire week, and I would rank it right up there with Duvel and Chimay for enjoyability. At $9.69 for a four pack, it's a bit pricey, but well worth it.

-Adam