Drinking on a Budget at Trader Joe's

For some reason the amount of money I spend on craft beer never seems to bother me. I know it should, but somehow I can justify a basket full of beer I want to try as a necessary expense. I mean, I do write this beer blog. Sometimes though, I feel I need to dial it back. Those moments usually come when I am bringing a large quantity of beer home and my wife is watching. “How much did you spend on beer?” she will ask. Deflecting, I will hold up a bottle of beer I purchased for her and say “look what I got you!” That has about a 10% success rate of getting me off the hook, but it is my most successful solution so far. The truth is, sometimes cutting back on the amount of money spent on beer is a good thing. The question is, where do you start when you are looking to cut back? For this blog, I decided to take a look at some of Trader Joe's exclusive beers to see if there is something good to drink when you are looking to save money.

The criteria of this blog will not be to assign a numbered review to any of these beers. The only criteria is whether or not one of these less expensive options is drinkable or not. While most beers in this price range lack imagination and diversity in style, these beers do not. The most expensive beer here is under $1.20 per bottle. Even more surprising is that these beers are actually brewed out of some national breweries. For example, the Mission Street IPA is brewed out of Uinta Brewing, which makes the fantastic Hop Nosh IPA. So instead of the price lowering my expectations to sample these beers, I was hopeful that I wound find a fantastic value with at least one of these beers.

Brewed by the Rhinelander Brewing Company, the Boatswain line of beers yielded interesting results. I started things off with the 7% H.L.V.(Heavy Lift Vessel) Ale. It had a nice amount of caramel sweetness with a nice bitterness in the finish to provide balance. It was a bit watered down side and the alcohol was not hidden well at all. Still, it was surprisingly easy to drink and for the price(84 cents a can) works fairly well. Next up from Boatswain was Twin Screw Steamer Double IPA. The aroma pretty much smelled almost exactly the same as the H.L.V. Ale. However, it did taste a bit different, and by that I mean terrible. There was a little more fruitiness to this one but it did not help it at all. It tasted like the 84 cents I paid for it was way too much. If you are looking for something strong and cheap at 8.4%, it will certainly get you to your desired destination quickly. I just think regret will be the theme of your following day. Finally, from the Boatswain line of beers is their Chocolate Stout. This may have been the best of the bunch. Outside of a nice milk chocolate aroma, there was not really anything memorable here. It was thin, roasty, with a light chocolate sweetness. While it was a little on the bland side but it was by no means undrinkable. It worked flavor wise and could work as a gateway stout to someone who may think the style is too heavy. For under a dollar a can, you could do worse. Don't believe me? Try that Boatswain Double IPA.

Are these beers drinkable?

H.L.V. Ale: Sure, why not?
Double IPA:  I would not give it to my worst enemy
Chocolate Stout: Yes

Next up, we have Josephsbrau Radler. To make this short and sweet, I did not like this. It's basically a watered-down Radler with a muddled blend of malt sweetness and lemon flavor. There really is not much more than that going on here. The finish is particularly sweet and each time I took a sip, I wanted it to be a little tart. I think that could have made this significantly better, it just never happened. Even with drinking on a budget, this feels overpriced at 7 dollars a six pack. Admittedly, I am not the biggest Radler fan, but I can usually understand why people like them. I do not understand this one at all.

Is the Josephsbrau Radler drinkable?

Nope, easily worst Radler I have ever had.

The crown jewel of the beers I selected for this is Mission Street IPA. Brewed by Uinta Brewing, Mission Street IPA will not blow you away but it will give you a clean, easy drinking experience. Priced at 7 dollars a six pack, this beer has notes of grapefruit, pine and caramel malt sweetness. At 5.8%, it is borderline sessionable and because of that, I think it would work as a nice summer beer.

Is Mission St. IPA drinkable? Absolutely

There are a few beers here that will work if you are not looking to spend a lot of money. There are also a quite a few more beers at Trader Joe's I did not try. Perhaps, this blog merits a sequel.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Lost Coast Watermelon Wheat Ale

The weather is getting warmer and that means it is time for the return of one of my favorite warm weather beers, 21st Amendment's Hell or High Watermelon. I have never talked about that particular beer on this blog because it is my guilty pleasure beer. I call it that because every family member, friend, enemy and general acquaintance I have given a can to seems to think it is absolutely terrible. At first I was confused and disappointed by this. I thought, “how could anyone possibly dislike this beer?” Hell or High Watermelon is perfectly refreshing on a hot day. The watermelon flavor is light and does not overpower the beer as a whole. Eventually I gave up, or just ran out of people willing to try it, not sure which came first. Now I just keep the beer in the fridge for myself and welcome its return each year. I also find myself looking forward to trying other watermelon beers in hopes of finding one I enjoy more and/or one that might be more of a potential summer crowd pleaser. That is what caused me to purchase Lost Coast Brewery's Watermelon Wheat Ale and start writing this blog.

Lost Coast Brewery out of Eureka, California was a brewery I fell instantly in love with in my early days of craft beer drinking. I loved their Downtown Brown Ale, Indica IPA and Eight Ball Stout, as well as their creative bottle artwork. It has been a long time since I have had any of those beers. Still, I felt enough good will towards Lost Coast Brewery to pick up their Watermelon Wheat Ale and give it a shot. Unfortunately, that good will only could go so far.

Perhaps, there is no better way to put it than that Lost Coast's Watermelon Wheat Ale is terrible. I really wanted to like it but I just could not. The aroma was nice, mostly watermelon candy and a hint of malt. The nose did not come close to the first sip and that is where things went off the rails. The sweetness of the artificial watermelon candy started things off before giving way to a metallic, spicy, extremely chalky, astringent finish.  The chalky finish paired with the artificial fruit flavoring makes this beer seem almost medicinal. Outside of the aroma, there is nothing good going on here. Each additional sip I took I kept looking for something that resembled a refreshing summer beer. I did not find anything of the sort and was disappointed by a brewery that helped build my love of craft beer. Sadly, any good feelings of nostalgia I had went down the drain along with this beer.

Overall a 1/5. I may not understand why someone would dislike Hell or High Watermelon but I definitely understand why someone would dislike this beer.


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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Jack's Abby & Søle Wicked Philthy IPL

When I think of reliable breweries, one of the first breweries I think of is Jack's Abby Craft Lagers. Jack's Abby consistently makes great lagers and on a regular basis can be found in my refrigerator. One of the things I admire most about Jack's Abby is the fact that they seemingly continue to find new ways to enhance their diverse catalog of beers. Each year, I look forward to the release of their Kiwi Rising Double IPL, their Framinghammer Baltic Porter and its barrel aged variants in particular. For this blog, I wanted to take a look at their latest IPL release which is a collaboration with Søle Artisan Ales, Wicked Philthy IPL.

Due to my love of Jack's Abby Kiwi Rising and Excess IPL, I was certain Wicked Philthy was going to be a winner. It poured a beautifully hazy golden-orange with a fluffy white head. A strong floral, almost perfume-like aroma practically jumped out of the glass. The nose also contained lots of grapefruit, malt breadiness, and tropical notes. My first sip was herbal, spicy at first, giving way to flavors of melon, grapefruit, bread, and grass before a pine, bitter, boozy, astringent finish. There are some nice things going on here but unfortunately overall, this beer is underwhelming. The herbal, earthy spice started things off nicely but seems to overshadow just about everything else. The tropical and citrus hop flavors are present as I mentioned earlier but unfortunately are not nearly as bold as they should be. They get lost in the shuffle between the spice and the finish, which is ridiculously bitter. The finish in particular is where things completely fell apart from me. After each sip, the astringent bitterness seemed to get stronger. I found myself laboring to get through the last few sips of this beer.

For the past few blogs, I seem to have started a streak of positive reviews. When I selected Wicked Philthy IPL for this blog, I thought that streak would continue. I also thought that things might start getting a little boring around here if I sang the praises of every beer I drank and wrote about.  Fortunately, things are not getting boring around here, the streak is now officially over. Unfortunately, this is a surprisingly disappointing offering from the normally reliable Jack's Abby.

Overall I would rate Wicked Philthy IPL a 2.5/5. It's not a terrible beer, it's just nowhere near as good as other Jack's Abby IPL offerings.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Burlington Beer Elaborate Metaphor Pale Ale

My intention is not to flood my blog with beer from my recent Vermont trip, but it seems almost a disservice not to mention a few of them. First and foremost a beercation in Vermont does not officially start until I have had some Heady Topper. I was able to accomplish this almost immediately and from there I was open to trying some new and exciting things.

Our visit to Foam Brewers in Burlington in particular was a highlight. Everything I had from there seemed to leave an impression, especially their Galaxie 500 Double IPA. The beer was like drinking pineapple juice mixed with an amazing blend of tropical hop notes and a nice bitter finish. Everything about the beer worked for me and I hope to one day have it again.

A place I did not get to go sadly was Burlington Beer Company. I ended up trying their Stargazer Blonde Ale as a hotel beer and was instantly in love. The blonde ale style of beer seems to get lost in the crowd and that's a shame. When it is done right, it can be fantastic. If this beer was sold in Upstate NY, I would make it a regular part of my summer beer drinking. Since Stargazer was so good, I had no issue dropping 15 dollars on a 4 pack of their Elaborate Metaphor Pale Ale. I waited until I  returned home to drink it, because if it was as good as I hoped, then Burlington Beer Company would be the first place we would visit during our next trip there. Until then, I think a review of it is a fantastic idea.

Elaborate Metaphor pours an opaque straw yellow with a lasting white head. The aroma is full of passion fruit, peach, orange, and grapefruit with a nice bready malt in the background. The citra hop really comes through in the aroma. From this, I was certain I would enjoy the first sip of this beer and I was right. Peach, orange, melon, mango, and passion fruit with a slightly bitter grapefruit finish. There was a hint of pine and grass in the finish as well. If you look at those flavor notes and think that sounds a lot like juice, you would be correct. There is a noticeable malt presence but it is in the background. The malt lends a breadiness which adds a nice amount of sweetness. The other thing about Elaborate Metaphor that is beautiful is its soft mouthfeel. It is light, pillowy and silky smooth. That characteristic which is more common in New England Pale Ales & IPAs makes everything here even better. Needless to say, I am gushing over Elaborate Metaphor Pale Ale. I think it is safe to say Burlington Beer Company will be my first stop next time I go to Burlington.

Overall I would rate Elaborate Metaphor a 4.5/5. So juicy I wonder if it has Vitamin C in it.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!