Urban Family Muerte Al Cereal Imperial Stout

I have a bad habit when I holiday shop of treating myself to something nice, while shopping for others. It mostly happens if I decide to get someone beer as a Christmas present. My wife enjoys sour beers, especially fruit-forward sour beers. So, in my quest to get something interesting she had yet to try, I found myself contemplating whether I needed something for myself. I got one look at Urban Family Brewing's Muerte Al Cereal(Death to Cereal) and decided of course I did. Out of Seattle, WA, Muerte Al Cereal is another Mexican Hot Chocolate style beer. A style, simply put, I can't seem to get enough of. For example, Stone's Xocoveza has been consistently in my fridge since October, along with a few others. So I was excited to see how Muerte Al Cereal pulled off the style and report the results right here.

As I was pouring Muerte Al Cereal I immediately noticed how thin it was. This was a bit disappointing because I like my imperial stouts full-bodied. Basically I want my imperial stouts to pour like motor oil. While Muerte Al Cereal did not pour like motor oil, that was only a slight disappointment, not a deal breaker. The aroma provided a nice roastiness, some chocolate, lactose, light cinnamon and pepper spice. For the most part this matched what I got on the first sip. Roasted malt kicks things off before going right into the bold flavor of milk chocolate. The pepper spice is subtle and mostly comes through on the finish. As with most of these beers, I wanted a little more heat from the pepper on the finish. Still, the pepper was present at least. The cinnamon spice however was mostly MIA. I felt like I spent most of the remaining time drinking this beer looking for it. When the cinnamon did come through it was way too subtle. I thought letting Muerte Al Cereal warm a bit would bring the cinnamon & pepper spice out more, but sadly that did not happen. What did happen is the flavor of the chocolate & vanilla got even bolder.  I thought this was fantastic and if this wasn't a Mexican Hot Chocolate style beer, I would have been raving about it. Unfortunately, this is a Mexican Hot Chocolate style beer and it's a Mexican Hot Chocolate style beer with barely any spice. To be clear, I am not saying I needed a lot of spice in the flavor, I just wanted more than I got. Still, the flavors that I was left with were quite good. While I was disappointed Muerte Al Cereal missed the mark for the style, it is still a really nice chocolate milk stout.

Overall I would rate Muerte Al Cereal a 3/5. It's a good beer, just not the beer I hoped it would be.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

For my most recent appearance of 13 WHAM's Good Day Rochester: Click Here!

Happy Holidays! Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Gun Hill Roll Call East Coast IPA #3

About a month or two ago I was in a bottle shop looking for some new stuff to try. I was already a bit over the amount I would have liked to have spent but that is something I am used to at this point. I came across cans of Gun Hill Brewing Company's Roll Call East Coast IPA. I picked one up, pondered buying it for a moment, then set it down and said “next time” to myself. A few days later, a friend of mine said he had this fantastic IPA from Gun Hill and my heart sank. I rushed over that day to the same bottle shop to find the cans long gone. Since then I have waited for the day I would finally cross paths with it again. I am happy to report that day finally came last week. Call it a holiday miracle or just the next time my area got distribution of Roll Call East Coast IPA, whatever works for you. This time I would not leave it on the shelf. I bought it immediately and felt its miraculous return would make it the perfect beer for this week's review.

Out of Bronx, NY, Gun Hill Brewing Company's Roll Call East Coast IPA #3's aroma blew my mind the second I opened the can. The bold aromas of passion fruit, pineapple, apricot, tangerine and mango were practically jumping out of the can. Before I even took my first sip of this hazy golden orange IPA I knew I was in for a treat. Then the first sip of Roll Call EC #3 confirmed the previous statement. This beer is absolutely fantastic! Passion fruit, along with tangerine, pineapple, mango, orange peel and a touch of grass were all up front before a dry, bitter, spicy, pine finish. I liked everything about this beer. The fruitiness of the hops are front & center, which I thoroughly enjoy. The malt provides just the right amount of sweetness but rightfully takes the backseat and allows the hops to shine.

As I made it farther into my glass of Roll Call EC #3, I became a bigger fan of it. In Rochester, NY, the most popular IPAs distributed here are by Grimm Artisan Ales. Now, I am not saying that Roll Call East Coast IPA #3 is better than a Grimm IPA(although in some cases I think it is), I think it merits being mentioned in the same conversation. Then again, we can save that debate for another day. I just personally feel Gun Hill's Roll Call EC IPA  is one of the better IPAs I have had recently. To make things even more appealing, it is less expensive than Grimm and that doesn't hurt either.

Overall I would rate Roll Call EC #3 a 4.5/5. Don't make the same mistake I did, pick up this beer immediately!

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

For my most recent appearance of 13 WHAM's Good Day Rochester: Click Here!

Happy Holidays! Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale

Last week, I reviewed a mediocre barrel aged stout from the normally reliable Founders Brewing Company. That stout set me back about 17 dollars. It was proof that spending more on beer does not guarantee you will get your money's worth. Since it is the holiday season, I for one need to spend a little more money on Christmas presents than I do on beer. Of course I tell myself that now but I most likely will find myself chasing down the next exciting limited release heading this way. For now though, I am here to review something less expensive and easy to find. I mentioned earlier that it is the Christmas season and I realize I have barely touched upon the holiday themed beers out right now. So that is all going to change this week when I take a look at 21st Amendment Brewery's Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale.

Sadly, 21St Amendment's Fireside Chat is not a good beer. I really did not want to give away my overall assessment right away but in this case it felt right. Once in awhile I come across a beer where the first sip seems pretty good but by the time the last sip comes around, I find it completely unbearable. Every time I took a sip of Fireside Chat, I liked it less and less. I thought giving it time to warm would open it up, but that just made it worse. No matter what temperature the beer was, the finish of Fireside Chat completely ruined the beer. I found the finish bitter, boozy and astringent. It felt completely out of place with the rest of the beer. That was disappointing because not everything here is terrible. The aroma was pleasant and delivered mostly what you would expect from the style. Toasted caramel, toasted nuts, molasses, dark fruits and a hint of spices. These notes all come through nicely initially in the flavor. There's also a candied sugar note that is nicely complemented by cinnamon and nutmeg. What's even better is the cinnamon and nutmeg are nicely subdued here. Some holiday themed beers are drowned with spices. There is just enough of those spices here to make their presence known but not so much as to detract from anything else going on here. There is also a nice cherry note to the beer which makes it seem even more festive. Then the finish hits and ruins any potential this beer had. In the case of Fireside Chat, a little bitterness to the finish could have been a nice compliment to the malt sweetness. Instead this beer goes overboard on the bitterness, which seems even more intense because of heat from the booze. At 7.9%, the alcohol should have been hidden better. Instead the alcohol is there front and center delivering a final blow to any potential this beer had.

Fireside Chat is a disappointing beer and definitely not the best representation of winter beer on the shelves right now. Due to the fact that I am just now touching upon the winter and holiday styles of beer this late into the season I feel like I can't just leave you with my usual “this beer particular beer is terrible, try something else.” So, I will leave you with two really nice recommendations. Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale and Genesee's Winter Warmer Ale are two wonderful Winter beers on shelves right now. I highly recommend them both for your holiday festivities.

Overall I would rate Fireside Chat a 1.5/5. This is bad beer, plain and simple. However, if you are looking for a nice beer from 21st Amendment to compliment this time of year, try Monk's Blood.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

For my most recent appearance of 13 WHAM's Good Day Rochester: Click Here!

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Founders Lizard of Koz

Welcome to my new readers who saw me on 13 WHAM's Good Day Rochester!
For the video of our "Holiday Pub Crawl" Click Here

As a beer drinker, I absolutely love the holiday season.  Breweries from across the country seem to release some of their best beer around this time of the year. From old favorites, to new exciting beers, there is no shortage of great beers to try. What is not ideal is the impact this has on my wallet. It almost feels as soon as I find one exciting beer, I find out another one is just hitting shelves. For this week's review, I parted with 17 dollars and picked up the latest offering from Founders Brewing Company, Lizard of Koz.

For a huge fan of barrel aged beers from Founders, Lizard of Koz sounded very exciting. A bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with blueberries, vanilla and chocolate seemed like it was going to be an automatic 5/5. I actually got nervous that this blog would sound more like a commercial than a critique. As soon I got my first whiff of the aroma, I immediately knew this wasn't going to be the case. The aroma of Lizard of Koz is practically just chocolate & blueberry. The taste of Lizard of Koz is practically just chocolate & blueberry. These flavors are so dominant that nothing else really gets a chance to shine here. I had to keep looking for any presence of the barrel and if I did not let Lizard of Koz warm a bit, I would not have found it. There is just a little oak & bourbon on the finish which is nice, but there needed to be more. Enduring the sweetness of the chocolate & blueberries became extremely tiresome midway through the glass. If you are wondering how sweet this beer actually is, think hot chocolate packet mix sweetness with blueberry syrup on top of that. Once my glass was empty I was more concerned about getting a cavity than refilling my glass.

To me, Lizard of Koz is a huge miss from the makers of amazing barrel aged classics like KBS, CBS, Backwoods Bastard and Project Pam. I say “to me” because I genuinely believe someone else will really enjoy this beer. For people that have a “sweet tooth” this beer might be right up your alley. If you read my review above and thought that it sounds good, I would strongly encourage you to pick up a bottle. I promise I will be leaving the rest of them on the shelves.

Overall I would rate Lizard of Koz a 2/5. A surprisingly disappointing offering from an outstanding brewery.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Genesee Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Black IPA

Dogfish Head Beer For Breakfast Stout

I have never eaten scrapple. Actually I do not believe I have ever seen scrapple. In fact, it took a quick Google image search for me to actually see what it was. Now that I know, I wish I had not seen it. If you are like me and are curious what scrapple is, I can save you the trouble. It is an unappetizing looking meatloaf made of mushy pork. To be more specific, according to Wikipedia, it is made from unused parts of the pig during butchering. So obviously the perfect place for this completely unappetizing looking meatloaf is in a beer, right? Well, Dogfish Head thinks so and it's an ingredient in their latest offering, Beer for Breakfast Stout. Obviously I am a huge fan of being creative with beer but my initial reaction to this particular one is, “Why?” By the time my glass is empty, I hope to see any reason to justify this beer's existence.

Pouring a rich black with a tan head, the aroma of Beer for Breakfast is actually amazing. It is a blast of coffee with a nice smokiness, liquorice and some chocolate. With an aroma like that, I think I'll be able to completely disregard the image of that horrendous looking meatloaf. The taste fortunately is very much like the aroma. It is a blast of coffee & smoke accompanied by dark chocolate, liquorice, pepper and a splash of cream. There is a tiny hint of maple sweetness in the finish along with a lot more smoke. Much like Singlecut's Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead from a couple weeks ago, I wanted more maple in this beer. Still, the coffee & smoke flavor really work for me here. Obviously I do not get any meat from the beer, as clearly this is more of a gimmick than anything else. Perhaps the flavor of the meat added to the smokiness but since I have no further interest to learn any more about scrapple I'll move on.

I think Dogfish Head did a pretty solid job with this beer. It is a bit more complex than their Chicory Stout. Unfortunately, I can't for certain say it is better. It is definitely worth a try if you like coffee & your beer smoky. If you do not prefer the latter, I would just stick with Founders Breakfast Stout. It really is an amazing achievement in beer.

Overall I would rate Beer for Breakfast a 3.25/5. It's a nice coffee forward beer that I fear will only be remembered for the fact that scrapple is an actual ingredient in it.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Craft Beer Recommendations For Your Stubborn Macro Beer Drinking Family Member: From Your Pal, Sean

My Dad and I have a bit of a Thanksgiving tradition. He comes over and asks to try whatever beers I recommend from my refrigerator and I oblige. His sampling usually goes on for several hours. He calls it his “Trip Around the World.” At the end of it, he will pick his favorites, as well as tell me which ones he did not enjoy. He will then go home and the next beer he will buy on his own will still be Heineken, Corona or Guinness. While I have nothing against those beers, I still hold out hope that one day he will find a beer in my refrigerator that breaks this habit. One that is so good to him that it finds its way into his regular drinking rotation. I know I can't be alone in this. We probably all have a family member that regularly drinks macro beer when we wish they would find their way into the craft beer domain. So instead of reviewing beer this week, I am going to recommend what I consider several gateway beers that I use to try and steer people into craft beer. They are not crazy, complicated beers, they are just solid beers that are an excellent introduction to their respective style.

I mentioned earlier that my Dad likes Guinness. I gave him Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro for the first time and his mind was blown. Think of this as a slightly sweeter, more boozy version of Guinness Draught. At 6%, the booze is beautifully hidden behind semi-sweet chocolate and roasted malt. This is a perfect beer for the cooler months ahead. It's also super fun to pour...

(Sweet shirt, right?)

Saisons are not the easiest beer to give an inexperienced beer drinker. Some of them are too spicy. Some of them are a bit too funky. I have even had some that have tasted like I was drinking an ashtray. Brooklyn Brewery makes one of the best saisons I've had. It's a wonderful showcase for the sorachi ace hop. It has a beautifully light lemon note and a wonderful malt backbone. It's easy to drink and deceptively strong at 7.2%. If you know someone or are someone who absolutely despises saisons, try this one. You and/or they might be pleasantly surprised, I know I was.

Ithaca Apricot Wheat is a beer I had back for the first time in 2004. It was also one of the first fruited beers I tried. In my early days of craft beer drinking, I did my best to steer clear of fruit beers. I immediately enjoyed this one and to this day find a way to have a few. I actually got my wife into craft beer by having her try this beer. Because of that we actually served it at our wedding. It was a big hit with some people and too big of a hit to others. Simply put, this is a super easy drinking, fruit-forward beer. If you like apricot, you will probably like this.

Finally, I couldn't write this blog without touching upon something hoppy. Jack's Abby Calyptra Session India Pale Lager is perfect for your macro lager drinking friends. It has a wonderful lager backbone with a beautiful but not overwhelming tropical and citrus hop profile. At no point does it get too bitter. It is just an easy drinking 4.9%, and is perfect for a long, drawn out holiday celebration. This has also become a favorite of my father, I just can't seem to get him to remember the name. He just calls it “the purple can” and encourages me to bring it over when I visit. I have a fridge full of it for Thanksgiving, so I hope with repetition he finally remembers its name.

All of these beers are easy drinking and a beautiful example of their respective styles. Each one is extremely easy to drink. I just hope you err on the side of caution if you decide to have a session with the Sorachi Ace. I also hope that these recommendations help you, or help you get a friend or family member a bit more into craft beer.

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving Sláinte!

Singlecut Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead

Last week, I had a whole election night beer tasting blog planned out and was going to post it Wednesday morning. Then I took one look at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. and felt it would easily get lost in everyone's election reactions. Now that things are starting to slightly cool down, social media seems like a kinder, gentler place to be. I felt it was time to return with a big beer. By chance I happened to walk into one of my favorite bottle shops and stumble upon a bottle of Singlecut Beersmiths Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead. I unfortunately did not have the base beer to compare it to, as I drank that back in March. I remembered it being quite enjoyable and I looked forward to seeing what a year's worth of aging would do for it. I also liked the idea of infusing the barrel with whiskey-marinated maple syrup. All in all this sounded like a really interesting beer. So I popped the top and poured the rich, dense black liquid into a glass. I watched the thick brown head almost crest over the top of the glass. I tried to contain my excitement but I had a feeling that with 16.9 fluid ounces and an 11% ABV I was going to be in for quite an experience.

The aroma of Singlecut Beersmiths Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead was surprisingly sweeter than I expected. I got a lot of rich chocolate, roasted notes and vanilla up front. There were also hints of oak and whiskey but I couldn't seem to find the maple. The first sip of Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead blew me away. I got a bit of everything. It was roasty, full of chocolate, with vanilla up front. I swear I thought I got a bunch of maple too before a dry, spicy oak finish. At this point, I wanted to drop everything and go grab another bottle before they were gone. However, my gut told me to put a pin in that idea. Pro wrestling and football were about to start. More importantly I needed to see how this big stout warmed up.

As Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead began to warm, the flavors dramatically changed. The maple sweetness I thought I got was gone. Sadly, the chocolate & vanilla sweetness I enjoyed so much in those first sips, also seemed like a distant memory. What I did get was a lot of roasted malt up front, a bit of smoke and a whole lot of oak tannins in the finish. It became a very dry, oak-dominated beer the longer I waited to take the next sip. Normally I love a huge barrel presence in an imperial stout, but it did not work for me here. I fully understand this beer could be a bit polarizing. I could see many beer drinkers thinking this was fantastic. I am not in that group. It was a solid beer but not what I'd hoped it would be. When a beer emphasizes the addition of whiskey-infused maple syrup and does not deliver on that, it's disappointing. Perhaps buying another bottle to age would be interesting. I'm just nowhere near motivated to seek this out again.

Overall I would rate Singlecut Beersmiths Barrel Aged Heavy Boots of Lead a 3/5. This is probably the highest rating I have given to a beer I was not particularly crazy about. It's not a bad beer, it's just not as good as it could have been either.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

New Belgium + Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale

This past week, my wife and I traveled to Burlington, Vermont for our annual Beercation. We pick Burlington for several reasons. The town is beautiful, the food is fantastic and some of the best beers I have ever had are readily available. This year we enjoyed Lawson's Sip of Sunshine, Hill Farmstead's Sumner, Edward, and George, Fiddlehead's Mastermind Double IPA and The Alchemist's Heady Topper, Focal Banger, and The Crusher. While I could write a review on all of those beers, I am not sure it would be appropriate. I say that because I feel I love those beers so much, my blog would sound more like a commercial for them than a critical review. I will say this though, if you get a chance to try any of those beers, do it. They are all incredible and will not disappoint.

We also love Vermont for more than just beer. We love to walk through their state parks. We love to stop at their Farm Stores. We love their maple syrup and cheddar cheese. We also love Ben & Jerry's. For us there were two big goals on this most recent trip: go to The Alchemist's Visitors Center and go to Ben & Jerry's. For Ben & Jerry's, it did not have to be the factory tour(we've done that), we just had to go to one of their locations. Our visits to both of those were absolutely fantastic. So at this point you are probably wondering just where this blog is going. Well instead of reviewing a Vermont beer (because everything I had with the exception of my flight from Vermont Pub & Brewery was fantastic), I decided to review a beer with a taste of Vermont. That beer is New Belgium's latest collaboration with Ben & Jerry's, a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale.

Before I continue with the review portion of this blog, I think it is important to mention that I think this beer sounds gross. I've drank a lot of beers with ridiculous flavoring in my time but none in recent memory seemed as ridiculous as cookie dough ice cream. That being said, I really wanted it to be good. I really like Ben & Jerry's and I hope they would not put their name on something terrible. My gut just told me the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale was going to be an artificially flavored mess of a beer that I was most likely going to pour down the drain.

I watched the fizzy white head dissipate on this golden yellow ale and tried to work up the courage to take my first sip. The aroma was light but sweet with chocolate, vanilla with some grainy malt sweetness. Frankly, the aroma reminded me more of Cocoa Puffs than anything else. I do like Cocoa Puffs so I began to feel a bit of optimism. This feeling was fleeting as I took my first sip. The flavor is not as gross as I first feared, but it is just not that good either. There is a light, almost cereal-like chocolate taste in the beginning that lingers with some vanilla creaminess and doughy malt. The finish brings in the hop bitterness that stays longer than it needs to on the palate. I was fairly lukewarm on this beer until the finish where I think it completely fell apart. To the beer's credit, the flavors are not overwhelming here. This could easily have been overwhelmingly artificial and sweet. Fortunately it's not, but unfortunately it's just not that good. This is just another example of a bland base beer with some flavoring to cover it up. All New Belgium's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale really did was make me want to forget about the beer and grab a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream. It certainly would taste better.

Overall I would rate New Belgium's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale a 1.5/5. To sum everything up, go to Vermont, drink the beer and enjoy some ice cream. Just don't combine the two.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Until next time Vermont...

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Firestone Walker Lil Opal Barrel Aged Saison Farmhouse Ale

I always seem to miss out on the Firestone Walker limited edition beers. Something always comes up that prevents me from getting to the bottle shop in time to buy one. To make things worse, if I do get there I seem to just miss them. For example, one time I walked into a bottle shop right as someone was walking out with the last bottle of Firestone Walker 19th Anniversary. Another time, I was next in line as the last Velvet Merkin went to the customer ahead of me. The point here is I have no luck with the “Box” beers Firestone Walker releases throughout the year. What I do have luck with however, is the Firestone Walker Barrelworks beers. I passed twice on the first release in the series, Bretta Rose. To this day, I ask myself, “why?” I still have yet to find a good enough answer. By luck again I stumbled upon Lil Opal, a farmhouse saison aged 17 months in American and French Oak Barrels. This time, I decided to purchase a bottle for 2 reasons. The first being I could write a review on it. The second being I get to publicly vent about my frustrations of not getting any of the “Box” beers. I feel like it is a good way to commiserate because I know many of you out there are in the same boat as me. So for all of us, here's hoping we get one on the next release! In the meantime however, I was just hoping Lil Opal was worth the purchase.

As I stared at Lil Opal's hazy golden orange color and white fizzy head, I could not help but hope more that usual that it was going to be a good beer. This is because the cost of this beer per ounce is slightly higher than what I usually review here. At a little over a dollar an ounce I hoped that the luxury the bottle promised would translate to the glass. I was relieved to find that the aroma delivered the complexity I was looking for. Brettanomyces funk, tart lemon, pepper spice, vanilla sweetness and oak were what greeted me in the aroma. There was much more going on when I took my first sip. Brett funk, lemon, and a lactic sourness start things off before giving way to the barrel which is a bit too understated. After spending 17 months in a barrel I thought the barrel would have a bit more of a presence in Lil Opal. It did provide a bit of spice and a nice vanilla sweetness that added a bit of creaminess to the mouth feel. I just wanted a little more of that. The finish brought yet another layer to this complex beer by being reminiscent of dry white wine. To sum things up, Lil Opal did not disappoint in bringing the complexity.

I enjoyed drinking Firestone Walker Lil Opal. I thought it was a good beer and that it was worth the purchase. Drinking it felt like a long, complex journey. Like any long journey, fatigue began to set in around the midway point. The funk and tartness which I enjoyed in the beginning began to grow a bit stale. Then after it had some time to warm, the vanilla sweetness became a bit more present. I felt revitalized from that and it got me into finish the glass. The thought of drinking another Lil Opal however seems exhausting. For that reason I can't say it would be worth a second purchase. Of course that would mean I am lucky enough to stumble upon it again to make that statement a bit more meaningful.

Overall I would rate Lil Opal a 3.75/5. It's a good beer and I enjoyed drinking it. I just wish I had shared it with someone. Believe me when I say 6 ounces goes a long way here.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Guinness Antwerpen Stout

Two years ago, I reviewed Guinness Blonde American Lager. I remember it quite vividly because it was one of my first extremely negative reviews. I tried really hard but I could not find a single nice thing to say about it. I recall it reminding me of watered-down Rolling Rock and found it a chore just to make it through a glass of it. To this day I still can't believe the makers of Guinness Draught made such a lackluster beer. I'm stating the obvious when I say Guinness Draught is a classic. To me, it's a solid beer that works in any season. So when Guinness announced they were releasing Antwerpen Stout in the US as part of their Brewers Project line, I was excited. If anybody could deliver a fantastic stout it would be Guinness. While I was excited to try Antwerpen Stout, the memory of drinking Blonde American Lager put a slight damper on my expectations. I tried my best however to put those doubts aside and opened a bottle of Antwerpen Stout and hoped for the best.

Guinness Antwerpen Stout pours a rich black with a khaki colored head that stuck around for awhile. The familiar roastiness of Guinness was practically jumping out of the glass well before I put my nose up to it. The aroma of dark chocolate, smoke with a slight fruitiness was there as well. I felt very optimistic about the first sip and that optimism was rewarded until the very last sip. To put it simply, I loved this beer. The semi-sweet chocolate is the star of the show here. As Antwerpen Stout warms the chocolate becomes bolder and sweeter. However, it never gets to the point of being too sweet. A nice touch of vanilla also comes out as well, as it begins to warm. It is a wonderful compliment to the chocolate and the rich, roasted malt. There is also a subtle hint of fruity sweetness, think raisin/date and smoke in the finish. The smoke and the roasted malt linger long after you put the glass down. I really enjoyed that part. It left me looking forward to the next sip.

Guinness Antwerpen Stout is a beautiful stout.  It's so good it got me to forgive the awful mistake that is Guinness Blonde American Lager. Although I have to admit, I would have liked Antwerpen Stout to have a little more body. I thought it was a little thinner than it should have been. Still, with an 8% ABV, it's a big stout. It practically doubles the ABV of Guinness Draught. With the weather getting a bit cooler now, I could see this being a staple in my fridge in the immediate future.

Overall I would rate Guinness Antwerpen Stout a 4.25/5. If you enjoy Guinness Draught, I believe you will really enjoy this.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout

For the past 2 years I have enjoyed trying to explain Stone's Xocoveza Mocha Stout to people unfamiliar with it. The idea of a beer brewed in the style of Mexican Hot Chocolate always seems to get a fun reaction whenever I try to describe it. The most common reactions I encounter are bewilderment, curiosity, confusion or outright disgust. I find all of them highly amusing. That is mainly because for those a bit more into craft beer, Xocoveza is the kind of beer you drop everything for to grab a six pack of. A winner of Stone's 2014 Homebrewer Competition, Xocoveza boasts an interesting set of ingredients that include coffee, pasilla peppers, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa. If you have yet to notice it on shelves that is because it flies off of them as soon as it reaches them, especially in my Upstate NY market. So with this week's blog I answer whether the 2016 version of Xocoveza will live up to the hype. Or is Xocoveza just another overrated & overhyped beer?

As I poured Xocoveza, the aroma of the coffee, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper spice jumped out of the glass. There is some roasted malt in this “Winter spiced mocha stout” as well, but the spices here are clearly going to be the star of the show. My first sip confirmed this but there was so much more going on. The roasted malt, along with the coffee starts things off before giving way to the cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate and vanilla. The vanilla works well here. Its presence here is reminiscent of whipped cream over a Hot Chocolate. This, along with just the right amount of carbonation attains the right amount of creaminess. The pasilla peppers are there but shine most at the finish to complete a fun and extremely delicious drinking experience. 

There is a lot I like about Xocoveza. Everything here seems to work well together. For me, one thing that always holds this beer back from getting a perfect rating is the use of the peppers. I love the spice they provide, I just wish there was more of it. A little bit of heat from the spice would make this a perfect beer-drinking experience. Still, this is a great beer. It's so good it got me to review a Winter beer in early October. I thought for sure I would see snow on the ground before I did that. Then again, you can drink Xocoveza anytime. For those of you that like to cellar beer, Xocoveza ages nicely. The boldness of the coffee fades a bit, the 8.1% ABV smooths out and the spices blend together wonderfully. If you have patience I highly recommend setting aside a bottle and doing a side by side with the 2017 batch. 

Overall I would rate Stone Xocoveza Mocha Stout a 4.5/5. If you see it and it sounds good to you, buy it, you will dig it. 

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar

It really dates me when I say this but I can't believe how much the craft beer industry has grown since I started drinking it well over a decade ago. There are craft breweries popping up all over. There are groceries store that have beer sections instead of aisles. Speaking for my part of New York there are fantastic bottle shops all over. When I first started drinking craft beer going to the only bottle shop in town was a rare treat. The concept of selling a single bottle out of a six pack blew my mind. No matter what my budget was when I entered the store, I would drastically exceed it by the time I walked out. Some beers were great, and some were terrible but I kept learning more and more about different styles. The brewery I could not get enough of was Rogue Ales & Spirits. Their creativity with their beers and their labeling were right in my wheelhouse. My favorite of them all was their Hazelnut Brown Nectar. This hazelnut-flavored brown ale became the beer I bought every time I went to the bottle shop. It was the one constant in the selection of different beers I would always leave with. Then one day I didn't leave with it, and then another. As different brands began to gain distribution in my market the beers from Rogue Ales & Spirits started to become an afterthought. Over the past several years I have had a few of their beers, but outside of the mediocre 7 Hop IPA and gimmicky Sriracha Stout I can't remember a single one. So for this blog, I thought it would be fun to revisit an old favorite of mine in the Hazelnut Brown Nectar.

It had been years but the minute I began pouring Hazelnut Brown Nectar, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. The hazelnut aroma jumps out of the glass. There are notes of toffee, vanilla, and spice in there but it is mostly hazelnut. The first sip of this slightly hazy reddish brown treat immediately brought a ton of memories back. Once I got past the nostalgia, I genuinely realized how much I missed this beer. The hazelnut flavor is absolutely wonderful and it dominates the beer. Usually I would complain about this but in this case I like it. Aside the finish, vanilla, roasted chocolate malt, and hazelnut flavor is mostly all you taste.  This finish is where things get a little odd. The finish that consists of nuts, grass and spice which do not seem to mesh well together. It's not terrible, it just could have been better.

Due to the dominance of the hazelnut flavor there is not much else here to write about. Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar is a beer that still works well for me. Its flavor may be fairly one-note but in this case simplicity works really well. I am glad I went back and revisited this one. I do not think it will be years again before it finds its way back to my refrigerator again.

Over all I would rate Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar a 4/5. Over the years my tastes may have changed, but my love of this beer has not.


Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

A Crafty Recommendation: Founders Breakfast Stout

The lighting is terrible. The beer recommendation is not. Cheers & thanks for watching!

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter, Instagram & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!