Other beers

Before I write the reviews on my most recently brewed beer (which is awesome) and do a write up on my next beer (Bavarian Heffewiezen) I figured I should complete my reviews of the beers I got in my last beer of the month club shipment. My first shipment was amazing, exceptional even, with the exception of the weird Belgian Bock that tasted like soda with medicine in it; Barbar winterbock. I had to choke down that last bottle (my wife insisted I toss it down the drain because of the faces I was making and the terrible sounds accompanying those faces) but I refuse to throw beer away unless it is infected. I was expecting the same level of exceptionality from this shipment, and if you recall my review of the friar's Belgian style white I was let down. The other beers I got were Sweetwater's Georgia Brown, Alhambra Negra from Spain, and De Koninck Pale Ale from Belgium.

First Sweetwater: I was super excited about this one because I've heard good thing about this brewery that I've never seen around here. The first bottle was too cold I think because I drank it and said "This tastes just like Yuengling". Don't get me wrong I love Yuengling. I can get it for 15.99 a case and it's my favorite every day beer in the summer. I just expect more flavor from a brown ale than I do from a lager. My next bottle I drank warmer and there was a little more hop bitterness but no more complexity than the first bottle. I would say this is a decent, easy drinking beer, but if it costs more than 16 bucks a case I wouldn't bother with it. I think I just prefer my brown ales to have more malt character and complexity like an English brown.

Next Alhambra Negra: This is a black lager. A BLACK LAGER! It combines the easy drinking profile of a lager with the toasty deliciousness of a stout! Or so I thought. I only drank one of these cause I opened the first bottle and it tasted so much like metal I thought I was sucking on a fistful of pennies. I can't stand beers that taste metallic. If it's only a little I can deal with it but this beer took it to a new level. I'm going to have difficulty finishing the other 2 bottles, maybe I will cook with them or something.

Finally the De Koninck Pale Ale. I like this one. It's a strange little hybrid. It's got the normal flavor profile of a pale ale but the added complexity that comes from Belgian yeast. I don't know if this is typical of Belgian pale ales but it's a nice combo that makes for an interesting beer to drink.

Now I don't want anyone asking "Jason, do you hate everything cause you give a lot of negative reviews?" because in reality I like a lot of beers. I think I've just been on a bad luck streak lately. Next month I am getting my next shipment and hopefully I will have 4 glowing reviews about the beer. And if I get my friend in California to send me the Sierra Nevada 30th anniversary series then I hear those are amazing so I bet I'll have good things to say about them, unless they taste like metal. Or soap. Or hotdogs.