Genesee Ruby Red Kolsch

I bought Genesee's Ruby Red Kolsch initially out of respect for my hometown's legendary brewery. While Genesee is making some incredible beer right now, this fruited offering did not initially appeal to me. Fruited summer ales like shandies/radlers for example, are something I typically avoid drinking. I understand why people like them, they just have not clicked for me. I can actually only think of two summer radler/shandies I have enjoyed over the years. One was a Peach Radler from Niagara Brewing Company just across the Canadian Border. The other was Boulevard's Lemon Ginger Radler. While I may enjoy these beers, the tap list would have to be bare bones for me to actually order them.

I find that the fruited radler/shandy is just too much of a departure from what I want in a beer. Sure, they are easy to drink but the fruit flavoring usually tastes a bit too artificial and drowns out the part of the beer I want to taste the most, the actual beer! This is why this beer surprised me so much. Genesee's Ruby Red Kolsch definitely reminds me more of the shandy style than a kolsch ale. The strong grapefruit presence does take over the beer but in this case it worked for me. For a style like this I would normally complain about the grapefruit flavor. However, the grapefruit does not taste artificial, it's delicious actually. Then again, with the beer Genesee has been making and I should not have been so surprised.

As I work through my second 12-pack(which is priced under 10 dollars) of Ruby Red Kolsch, I feel fairly certain I have found a beer that I will drink regularly over the coming months. The grapefruit is the star of the show here and its presence works beautifully in both the aroma and in the taste. The flavor in particular reminds of eating a juicy grapefruit with a touch of sugar sprinkled on it. Basically I equate that flavor to a semi-healthy breakfast. Now, I am not saying you should have this beer for breakfast, I am just saying that I personally will not be able to eat grapefruit again without thinking of it. I also got a touch of bread, honey sweetness, cereal grains and grassy hops in the flavor as well.

Ruby Red Kolsch is not a complex beer, it is a simple summer crusher meant for refreshment on a hot day. The kolsch ale does take a back seat to the grapefruit, but there is just the right amount of it here. The end result is a light, easy to drink, super affordable and extremely refreshing beer. Try it and see for yourself!


Overall rating: 3.75/5



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. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Beating The Cold With Beer II - Base Camp S'More Stout, Lough Gill Mac Nutty & Rohrbach Cookies and Milk Stout

For the second day in a row, my wife and I found ourselves stuck inside due to outrageously cold temperatures. Fortunately, we had a refrigerator full of beer and no place to go. Another beer tasting seemed to be on the menu for the day and I could not be more excited.


We started things off with Portland, Oregon's Base Camp S'More Stout. I wanted to start here because I wanted something to remind me of warmer days and enjoying a s'more fits that perfectly. The aroma contained a lot of smoke and roastiness, along with some chocolate, coffee and caramelized sugar. It tasted pretty close to the aroma. The smokiness was the first thing I noticed, it certainly added a nice campfire note. Then there was dark chocolate, coffee and caramelized sugar which added a touch of creaminess to the finish. I am assuming that caramelized sugar was supposed to satisfy the marshmallow note but it needed to be bolder. Completely missing was the graham cracker and I found this immensely disappointing. In a s'more, the graham cracker is certainly not the star of the show but it does bring everything together. Missing this key component makes it hard for me to think of this as a s'more stout. If I put that aside and just think of this beer as a chocolate stout, it works fairly well.

Overall rating: 3/5


Next, we decided to “take a trip across the pond” for a beer from Ireland's Lough Gill Brewing Company. MacNutty, a nut brown ale brewed with macadamia nuts should have been right in my wheel house. In the past, I have blogged about how I feel brown ales are a completely underappreciated style. I have also blogged about how I feel people always remember a really bad brown ale. Well, unfortunately, I will always remember this extremely watered down, borderline flavorless beer. It is like drinking a glass of water with a hint of caramel sweetness, a touch of chocolate and a nutty finish that not surprisingly washes away clean. Nothing here tastes particularly bad, there is just barely anything to taste at all. I felt like I was hydrating(which is important) while I was drinking it but that was not what I was looking for on a super cold night.

Overall rating: 1.5/5


Discouraged from the last beer, I opened the fridge and pondered what to drink next. I grabbed a can of Rohrbach's Cookies & Milk Stout while thinking, “when in doubt, drink local.” This line of thinking was rewarded the moment I opened the can. The aroma was chocolate chip cookies in beer form and it was blowing my mind. My mind continued to be blown when the flavor of chocolate chip cookies is what I got on my first sip and every sip after that. It was a touch more on the subtle side at first but the rich chocolate and vanilla flavors only get bolder as it warmed making this even more of a treat. After every sip, I would stare at the glass in disbelief of what I was drinking.  This is a dessert beer that never gets too sweet and delivers exactly what it promises. I admit I am geeking out a little bit as I write this, I did not expect to like this as much as I do. This is a really great beer and I am thrilled it is brewed in my hometown.

Overall rating: 4.25/5

I think we did a solid job beating the cold, I wonder how we will beat the snow? Cheers & stay warm!


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. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Genesee Oktoberfest

Three things remind me that summer is coming to an end: NFL Preseason, WWE Summerslam and Fall Beer hitting the shelves. I enjoy all three of these things but I could always wait just a little bit longer for all of them to arrive. Now that they have arrived though, I feel I might as well enjoy them. Well, actually it is a bit difficult to enjoy NFL Preseason Football. I think you really have to be vested in a particular roster battle to even remotely care about the games. Personally, I spend most of my time watching those games hoping no one gets injured, but that's beside the point. We are here to talk about fall beer, not meaningless football and that is what we are going to do.

Last year, I wrote a two-part blog covering several Oktoberfest beers(Part 1 & Part 2. Some were great, some were not, but those were two of the most fun blogs I have written so far. One beer missing from that blog was Genesee Oktoberfest. The reason for this happening was I decided to protest the release of fall beers until I felt the weather outside could be considered actual fall. This was an incredibly stupid thing to do on my part because I missed the opportunity to have Genesee Oktoberfest chilling in my refrigerator. Arguably the best value in beer on shelves right now, Genesee Oktoberfest sold out practically as quick as it arrived last year. That may not have actually been the case, but it certainly seemed that way to me. This year however, I did not make same mistake. I bought it the moment I saw it, and ran out of the store giddy to open a can and write about it.

After opening a can and pouring Genesee Oktoberfest into a glass, I was greeted with the familiar aromas of Oktoberfest beer. Caramel, toasted bread, a light nuttiness with floral and spicy hops. The hop aroma is noticeably light but it is there. The first sip matched the nose but there was a clear difference between this Oktoberfest beer and a lot of the others I discussed last year. The difference is Genesee Oktoberfest is noticeably lighter bodied. This might sound like a criticism but that is not necessarily the case. Being a bit on the lighter side works well here. It is almost as if Genesee has created a bridge between a light, refreshing summer beer and a malty, fuller flavored fall beer. The fact that it is mid-August and still hot outside as I write this should let you know how refreshing I find this beer. If it was a cooler night in mid-September I might be looking for something with a little more body but for right now, Genesee Oktoberfest is working beautifully for me as a late summer session beer.

If you are looking to ease into fall beer, Genesee Oktoberfest is the perfect place to start. As the nights get colder, it might feel more appropriate for something with more body. For right now though, I highly recommend seeking it out. If you are not sold yet, the other fantastic thing about Genesee Oktoberfest is its price. At around 9-10 dollars for a 12-pack, I don't think you will find a better value out there.

Overall rating: 4/5. Light on the wallet & easy to drink, Genesee Oktoberfest is a fantastic bridge between summer & fall.

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. Drop everything, BUY IT NOW!

To discuss this blog or all things beer like my Facebook page

Look for me on Instagram & Untappd and Twitter @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews check out: http://www.acraftylook.com

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Ellicotville Chocolate Cherry Bomb

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!

Genesee Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Black IPA

Genesee Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter

The other day I opened my fridge, stared at my beer collection and realized it had been far too long since I have written a blog. Now I could bore you with stories of where I have been or make up more dramatic & interesting stories about what I've been up to, but what good does that do? The important thing is I'm back, I've got a fridge full of beer and it's time I let you all know whether those beers belong in yours. The beer I will use to kick things off is the latest beer from the Genesee Brewing Company, Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter.

Genesee Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter is a beer that surprised many(including yours truly) during its very limited release in early 2015. Now it is back and in bottles for first time as part of the “Pilot Batch” series from Genesee. While I found this to be exciting news, so far the “Pilot Batch” beers have yielded mixed results. The Imperial Black IPA was a solid beer but there was nothing impressive about the Scotch Ale. And while I admire Genny's attempt at trying to break into the craft beer market, neither one of those beers offered something that separated them in a crowded field. That has now changed with the release of Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter pours a rich black with a fluffy khaki colored head. Caramel dominates the aroma, with hints of chocolate and salt. The flavor itself is fairly similar. The wonderful caramel flavor is bold and flooded my palate initially. This gave way to the slight bitterness of roasted malt and dark chocolate before finishing with a hint of salt and a light hop bitterness that balances out the sweetness beautifully. While this might sound strange to some beer drinkers, I cannot begin to describe just how well this works. The mouthfeel is silky smooth and the sweetness of the caramel never becomes overpowering because of the slightly bitter finish. On top of that the caramel tastes authentic and not artificial like the caramel in Saranac Caramel Porter for example. The only thing that I wanted more of was the chocolate. And while the chocolate did provide a nice bitterness to the finish, it was a bit understated in the flavor. But truthfully, that is just nitpicking. Genesee Brewing Company truly hit a home run with this beer and hopefully it is a sign of innovative releases to come.

Overall I give Genesee Salted Caramel Chocolate Porter a 4.5/5. This beer is so good you will forgive Genesee for those bad Cream Ale hangovers.


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 & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!