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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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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Saranac Basking in Bourbon

I tend to avoid purchasing a 4, 6 or 12-pack of beer with the Saranac name on it because frankly, I do not like much of it. To keep up with their new beers, I usually buy a single bottle hoping to find something I enjoy. Truth be told, I have not had much luck lately. I have mentioned before that during college I would buy their mixed packs to get more familiar with different styles of beer. I found most of the beers in the pack to be underwhelming but nevertheless continued to keep trying them. However, I feel like I should say my relationship with Saranac beer is not all bad. In college I drank my fair share of Saranac Black Forest. On dollar pint nights, drinking that particular beer was a no-brainer over Labatt, Budweiser or the other domestic beers you commonly find in college bars. Sadly, outside of an appearance in a mixed pack, Black Forest has vanished from their lineup, and so has the opportunity for feeling the positive vibes of nostalgia along with it. So where is this all going? Well, I wanted to paint this picture so you would understand my reluctance to purchase a 4-pack of Basking in Bourbon Imperial Stout.

On several visits to my local grocery store over a week-long span I would stare at the shelf containing Saranac Basking in Bourbon. Normally, I would take any chance I could to buy a new barrel aged imperial stout from a brewery I enjoyed. Having the name Saranac on it caused me to leave it on the shelf. Each time I looked at it I would check Untappd to see it's rating. Over the span of the week, the rating kept going up. Then I started hearing some positive word of mouth about the beer and its price point. A 4-pack of an imperial stout sitting in barrels for over a year costing under 15 dollars was definitely priced right. After a week of deliberating, I went back to the store and picked up the last 4-pack on the shelf. It felt like it had been waiting there just long enough for me to buy it. Now, putting my past judgments of the Saranac Brewery aside, I opened up a bottle of Basking in Bourbon for this review.

I have set the stage for this review long enough, so I will cut to the chase. Basking in Bourbon is really good. I had a feeling I would enjoy it from the aroma. Judging by the aroma, Basking in Bourbon certainly lived up to its name. It was full of bourbon, oak, dark chocolate, caramel, spice, tobacco and a hint of smoke. It felt like a vast departure from anything else I have tried from the Saranac Brewery. The aroma told me there was a lot going on here and my first sip confirmed it. Basking in Bourbon is boozy, chewy, full of bourbon, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, with a smokey tobacco, spicy finish. As it warmed, the vanilla and chocolate sweetness became more pronounced. A small complaint I have is that I wanted just a little more carbonation. Basking in Bourbon is by no means flat but I think a little more carbonation would have added to the mouthfeel. The strong tobacco-like finish was interesting at first but I would have liked to see that scaled back just a little bit as well. Those complaints aside, this is by far the best beer I have had from the Saranac Brewery. It's full bodied, complex and most importantly, it tastes great. I hope Basking in Bourbon becomes a regular yearly release from them. Next time, I would purchase it without an ounce of hesitation.

Overall I would rate Basking in Bourbon a 4/5. It was good enough to open my mind up to future new releases from them. Also, if they could just bring back Black Forest that would be great.

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

The Alchemist Sterk Wit

The first time I went up to Vermont to purchase beer from The Alchemist was a couple years ago. My wife and I arrived at The Beverage Warehouse in Winooski, Vermont at 8:40AM. I was the 6th person in line. By the time the place opened at 10 AM, the parking lot was completely full and the line was around the building. Judging by the license plates on the cars in the parking lot, people had come from all over the US and Canada to get their hands on Heady Topper. I stood in awe of the amount of cases the store received. Their entire stock sold out that day in a matter of minutes.

Since then, The Alchemist Brewery has opened a new visitor's center in Stowe, Vermont. This has made their beer significantly easier to obtain. It also allows for a bit more variety to choose from. For our most recent trip to Vermont, we were fortunate enough to arrive there with friends around 5 PM, with plenty of beer still in stock. Unfortunately, we ended up missing out on Focal Banger. We did however leave with Heady Topper, Luscious British Imperial Stout and the beer I will be reviewing today, Sterk Wit Belgian Style Double Wit.

My first experience with Sterk Wit was not under the circumstances I would normally like. I drank it out of a can in let's just say a shorter amount of time than I would have liked. Now that I am home from vacation, I was able to take my time with it and really enjoy it. The aroma was lovely, full of orange, spice, coriander, bread dough and a hit of fruit. This first sip was delightful and had a nice creamy mouthfeel. Sterk Wit is by far one of the hoppier witbiers I have ever had. The flavors of orange peel, tangerine, coriander, bread dough, clove, and banana give way to a spicy, dry finish. There was also this subtle fruity sweetness that lingered in the background which really added to the character of the beer. Needless to say, there's a lot going on here and I thoroughly enjoyed every sip. The use of Mandarina Bavaria hops are a beautiful addition to Sterk Wit. They really amplify the citrus and fruitiness. This beer definitely measures up as one of the best Witbiers I have had in recent memory. The Alchemist Brewery delivered again with another fantastic beer.

Overall I rate The Alchemist Sterk Wit a 4.5/5. If you are a fan of Witbiers, this is a must try.

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!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Guinness Golden Ale, Rye Pale Ale & Milk Stout (Featuring Pat Ryan)

With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, Guinness is everywhere. It's impossible not to walk down a beer aisle without stumbling upon a giant display of it. I really enjoy Guinness, I think it is a perfect beer to transition from winter to spring. Body-wise it is a little on the lighter side but the flavor is not. Unfortunately, like many others, I kind of drift away from it once the season passes. Not because I am tired of drinking it, but because it gets lost in the shuffle with all the amazing craft beer out there. I still enjoy a Guinness Draught on occasion throughout the year because my Dad(Pat Ryan) always has it in stock. For him, there never seems to be a bad time to enjoy a Guinness. If it's a cold winter night, he's enjoying a Guinness. If it is a 90 degree day with 100% humidity, he's still enjoying a Guinness. For this week's blog, I decided to visit him with some of the latest offerings from Guinness to see what his thoughts were. I also wanted to see if the same brewery that makes one of his favorite beers could make another beer he enjoyed just as much.

Guinness Golden Ale kicked off our tasting session to underwhelming results. Very light on flavor and what was there was not anything special. Caramel, cracker with a mild hop bitterness and a very metallic finish disappointed both myself and my father. We searched for positive things to say about the beer but kept circling back to the strong taste of metal we were left with after each sip. However if the finish was not an issue, with a low ABV of 4.5% this could have worked as a light beer in warmer weather. When it comes down to it though, Guinness Golden Ale is just nothing special.

Pat's take: “It's not terrible. It's definitely drinkable. I just don't like the aftertaste”

My rating: 2/5

Guinness Rye Pale Ale was up next. It was a significant step up from the Golden Ale but that's not to say it was anything special either. The rye spice was there but I wanted more of it. One would think that if it is promised in the title of the beer, it would be a featured part of it but sadly it was not. There were some nice candied orange, grapefruit and tropical notes here which we both enjoyed but they were also understated. Bready malt dominated most of the flavor. The metallic finish that ruined the Golden Ale was also present but not nearly as prevalent. My dad pondered this one a bit longer. I could tell he did not mind it but this is not something he would seek out again either. He agreed it was better than the Golden Ale but that was about it.

Pat's take: “It's a notch better than the golden ale. Clean finish, none of that bullshit in your mouth. It tastes more like a craft beer.”

My rating: 2.75/5

My Dad are I were divided on the final beer we sampled which was Guinness Milk Stout. Since it was more true to the style of Guinness Draught than anything else we tried, he thought this one would be a winner. After his first sip, he was completely disappointed. However, I enjoyed Guinness Milk Stout. It was a little chalky on the mouthfeel but the nice flavors of roasted malt, coffee and milk chocolate worked for me. I did not think the beer was by any means a masterpiece. Like the other beers, this one was a bit thin and the flavors could have been developed better. Overall though, I thought it was a serviceable milk stout.

Pat's take: “I thought I would like it. I'm not happy with it. I liked the Rye better”

My rating: 3.25/5

Once we finished each of the beers, my Dad and I both arrived at the same conclusion. The latest offerings from Guinness were nothing special. From his standpoint, none of the beers were good enough to take the place of Guinness Draught in his fridge and I completely agreed with him.

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!

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Thanks for reading. Sláinte!