Founders Mango Magnifico

I'm no stranger to malt liquor. In fact I spent more than a few nights in college at the local food mart trying to decide between Mickey's, Old English, Colt 45 and Magnum 40 as my pregame beverage before heading out on the town later that night. While I did have trouble deciding which one I thought tasted the best, I knew Magnum 40 tasted the worst. To me it tasted like bottled urine with a hint of kerosine. But this is not a review of Magnum 40(that might work in the future), this is a review of Founders Mango Magnifico, a beer which flavor took me back to my college days and not in a good way.

Founders Mango Magnifico pours a slightly hazy gold with a fizzy off white head that faded quickly. The aroma reminded of the cheap malt liquor I drank in college with a ton of mango sweetness. Frankly, the smell was so sweet I began to worry about what the flavor would bring. Upon first taste, I knew I hated this beer. The flavor is of malt liquor, drowned in candy mango with a boozy, spicy pepper finish. To cut right to the chase, absolutely none of this works together. On its own the base beer would have tasted fine if it was in a 40 ounce bottle and cost about 8 dollars less. Where it starts to go wrong is in adding the mango. It has no place here and normally I enjoy bold tropical flavors in my beer. The habanero pepper finish just seems like someone added it as a joke. If anything, it draws more attention to the fact that Mango Magnifico has a 10% abv by adding to the burn of the alcohol.

I struggled to see if I could say anything positive about this beer because up until I tried Mango Magnifico, I had yet to have a truly bad beer from Founders. In fact, they make some of the best beers I have ever had. It actually blows my mind that the same brewery that makes KBS, CBS, Backwoods Bastard, Mosaic Promise and Blushing Monk could make something this awful. I love when brewers take risks and experiment with creating new flavors but at no point did anything in Mango Magnifico seem like a good idea. The next time I drink a 40 of malt liquor it won't just bring back college memories. It will help me forget this disaster of a beer.

Overall I would rate Founders Mango Magnifico a 0.25/5. This beer is so bad, I felt bad for my sink as I poured it out.

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!

Vulcan Ale: The Genesis Effect Red Session IPA

I grew up a big Star Trek fan. As a small child, probably no older than five or six years old, I would spend a lot of time playing with Star Trek toys and looking forward to the next episode airing on TV. I watched Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country any chance I could get and to this day I think Captain Picard being turned into a Borg might be the greatest cliffhanger in television history. So now that I have established my Star Trek fanhood cred, you will understand the excitement I felt when I saw Star Trek Vulcan Ale from Shmaltz Brewing Company. At the time I heard my inner voice reminding me that this was probably just a gimmick beer that would leave me disappointed. I then silenced that voice by seeing Spock on the label, along with a reference to “Project Genesis.” I decided it was time to put skepticism aside. With high hopes I decided to boldly go to the register(see what I did there?) and purchase Vulcan Ale not just because I was geeking out. I got it for this review.

Vulcan Ale is a red session IPA that pours a slightly hazy amber with an off white head. The aroma was full of bready malt, grapefruit with a hint of pine. Basically the aroma was what you would expect from a Red IPA. Unsurprisingly the flavor matched the aroma. There was caramel malt sweetness up front followed by grapefruit bitterness and a pine finish. Vulcan Ale had everything you would expect from the style of beer but it was also easy to taste that something is missing. This could be due to the fact that it is a session IPA, which means it has a lower level of alcohol than a normal IPA and multiple bottles can be enjoyed in one sitting before you start stumbling around. In simpler terms a session IPA is the light beer version of a regular IPA. Because of this I felt that it was too light on flavor. I'm sure there were more complex notes intended for this beer but due to the limitations of the style they seem to be lost.

Putting the Star Trek label may be a way to attract someone who may not have had a Red IPA before and safely introduce them to the style. For an old “Trekkie” and Beer Enthusiast this feels more like a missed opportunity to create something unique and special. At the end of the day this is a basic beer inside a really cool bottle. I do not give points for cool bottles.

Overall I would rate Star Trek Vulcan Ale a 2.5/5. It is a safe, middle of the road beer to put a Star Trek label on. But to an experienced beer drinker like me, it is hard to think of this as anything more than a fun novelty beer that I would never buy again.

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!

Jack's Abby Hoponius Union

Pearl Jam, the Boston Red Sox and craft beer are three things I love. With the recent announcement of two Pearl Jam shows at Fenway Park, the excitement I feel at the moment is particularly overwhelming. To think, my favorite band is going to take the stage and deliver two performances on one of baseball's legendary fields is incredible. This is the same field that Red Sox heroes like Ted Williams, Carlton Fisk, David Ortiz, Curt Schilling and Dave Roberts delivered moments no Red Sox fan will ever forget. While starting a long list of great Red Sox moments sounds fun, it does not really work here. And while it is exciting, a concert on hallowed ground is not the only reason to travel to Boston this summer. With so much great beer coming out of Massachusetts that never finds its way to New York this seems like a summer vacation to top all summer vacations. But all of that will have to wait until August because a beer needs to get reviewed right now. To prove that this long-winded introduction is going somewhere, I decided a beer from Massachusetts that was readily available in my area would work perfectly for this review.  So I hopped in my car and headed to my local bottle shop looking for a beer I had yet to have. The beer I decided to go with is Hoponius Union from the always reliable Jack's Abby Craft Lagers. 

Hoponius Union India Pale Lager pours gold with light amount of sediment and a fluffy white head. The aroma is bursting with hops that provide beautiful grapefruit, citrus and tropical fruit notes. Basically there is nothing else in the aroma except bold hops. The flavor however is slightly different. The initial flavor is a burst of floral & citrus hops that fades quickly and then finishes with the bready, crisp, malty flavor of a lager. There is some subtle herbal hop bitterness in the finish as well that sticks around and continued to grow the further I got into the glass. That was my only real issue with this rather tasty lager. I think I would have preferred a crisp, clean finish instead of lingering hop bitterness. Without question if that was the case this beer would have been quite sessionable, even with a 6.7% ABV. But instead by the time my glass was empty I knew I had drank a quality beer but not one I would want a second glass of. 

Overall I would rate Jack's Abby Hoponius Union a 3/5. While not a preferred choice, this could make for a good beer on a crisp summer night under the lights at Fenway.



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!

Prairie Artisan Ales Christmas BOMB!

My first experience with Prairie Artisan Ales was last year's Christmas BOMB! I remember it being good but nothing that blew my socks off. With a hefty price tag of around 10 dollars for a 12 oz bottle I expected the beer to taste like liquid gold. With that same hope, I tried it on draft afterward and was disappointed to find out I still had the same general feelings toward it. I then tried regular BOMB! on multiple occasions throughout the year and I was blown away every single time(you can read that review here). As the year progressed, I wondered if I was fair to Christmas BOMB! Were my expectations too high initially? Or were my initial thoughts that Christmas BOMB! was an overpriced average stout with holiday spices correct? I decided to pick up a bottle of this year's batch and find the answer once and for all.

Prairie Artisan Ales Christmas BOMB! pours a rich black with minimal carbonation. There is almost no head but dark tan lacing does show up. The aroma is what I would describe as holiday coffee. There is a strong coffee aroma, which is complimented by cinnamon and chocolate. Upon tasting the strong flavors of chocolate, coffee and cinnamon flooded my palate right off the bat. There are also hints of ginger and nutmeg as well, before a light peppery finish. Most of the flavors I expected are there, and while they are fine they are nowhere near as good as the flavors developed in regular BOMB! The coffee in regular BOMB! is incredible. It works so well with the beer. Here the coffee tastes like a more watered-down version of the one found in BOMB! Additionally I found that the flavors did not develop as well in Christmas BOMB! as it warmed. Mainly because the spices drown out almost any subtitles in the flavor.

It may appear that I am being harsh on Christmas BOMB! But the truth is I like it. I think the flavors work, they just do not work as well as regular BOMB! or Stone Brewing's Xocoveza which is very similar in flavor, significantly cheaper, easier to find and just flat out tastes better. But if you have to try it, especially due to the limited availability of Christmas BOMB! I feel it is worth trying if you get the chance. That being said, if you are a fan of regular BOMB! keep your expectations in check.

Overall I would rate Prairie Artisan Ales Christmas BOMB! a 3.25/5. Think of a thinner, lower ABV version of BOMB! with watered down coffee and a ton of cinnamon, that's exactly what you get 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 & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

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

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Evil Twin Brewing Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room

I am not a big fan of how everything on November 1^st becomes Christmas themed. We go from the costumes, monsters and candy of Halloween, to holiday themed everything. On November 1^st it seems everything has a snowflake, a candy cane, a Christmas tree, or Santa on it. One of the reasons I don't enjoy this is that I love Thanksgiving. I don't even want to think about Christmas until I have a stomach full of turkey, gravy & stuffing and wake up from my food coma on Black Friday. But year after year Christmas season seems to come earlier and earlier. Right now, stores are filled with holiday themed decorations while Christmas songs play in the background. Streets are lined with Christmas lights and I just can't take it. I would try to wish all of it away until after Thanksgiving but that would mean winter beer would have to go with it and I just don't want that. For this review I decided to suppress my inner Grinch and take a look at the holiday offering from Evil Twin Brewing, Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room Imperial Stout.

In retrospect I probably could have picked a beer with a shorter name for this review but I appreciate the originality of the name Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room and that alone is why I picked this beer. Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room pours a rich, deep black with a dark brown head. The aroma is not filled with any Christmas spices, instead it is filled with roasted malt, espresso, chocolate and coffee. The flavor is immediately roasty with the pleasant flavor of smoke. There are notes of coffee, caramel and chocolate but nothing that really shines outside of the roasted malt and the smoke. The finish has a light earthy hop bitterness, along with a hint of alcohol, reminding you it has a 10% ABV.

Christmas Eve at a NYC Hotel Room Imperial Stout is a good Imperial Stout but it is not a great one. I feel the flavor lacked the depth I wanted from an Imperial Stout, as well as mouthfeel. To me, this beer is a bit thin for what it is. A little more body and more malt complexity could have pushed this beer into great imperial stout territory. One thing I am a fan of is that Evil Twin did not add any cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger to this beer. It is just an imperial stout. So for someone like me, who is not ready for the Christmas season just yet, this is a perfect seasonal beer to start with.

Overall I rate Evil Twin Brewing Christmas Eve at a New York City Hotel Room a 3.5/5. While I wanted more depth in the flavor, sometimes simple works. Plus, the 10% ABV does a great job at silencing your inner Grinch.

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!

Magic Hat Snow Roller

The first time I tried a beer from the Magic Hat Brewing Company, I thought I was drinking something that stood out from the typical craft beer selection in my area. Their flagship beer, #9 became a sessionable favorite of mine during my senior year of college. During that time I also found the Hocus Pocus pale wheat ale, among others to be interesting. My personal favorite, the long retired Roxy Rolles red ale helped establish my love of hops balanced by a wonderful malt profile. But at some point, my palate seemed to shift and I began to find most of their beer to be bland & forgettable. The unique styles of beer that I enjoyed so much seemed to be made better by other breweries. For this review I decided to keep an open mind and revisit Magic Hat by taking a look at their latest winter offering Snow Roller.

Magic Hat Snow Roller according to the bottle is a hoppy brown ale. It pours a reddish brown with an off white head. Nothing really stands out in the aroma, it is nutty with caramel malt, chocolate and light earthy hops. Upon tasting the caramel, chocolate malt flavors flood the palate before finishing with an unpleasant earthy, pine bitterness. Now I may have singled out the finish as being unpleasant but frankly the entire experience of drinking this beer is unpleasant. The malt flavor is boring and understated. I feel like Snow Roller would have worked significantly better if the malt was more pronounced. Instead the hops are showcased and their bitterness with no balance from the malt makes this practically undrinkable. In fact, a third of the way into this beer I began to wonder if I should finish it or put it down the drain.

All and all, drinking Magic Hat Snow Roller was a huge disappointment. To me, the idea of a hoppy brown ale brings the promise of bold flavors and a balance between the hops and malt. There are no bold flavors here, just a lingering hop bitterness that makes me want to brush my teeth as soon as possible rather than take another sip of this horribly disappointing beer.

Overall I give Magic Hat Snow Roller a 0.5/5. I really want to say something clever here, but I really just want to finish this review and move on as soon as possible.



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!

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!