Guinness Drought Stout

Posted on by Evan

I have been watching The House of Guinness on Netflix, which is a good show about the Guinness Brewery and the Guinness family in Ireland. So I decided to review Guinness Draught Stout. This beer is brewed at the St. James Gate brewery in Dublin, Ireland. This dark beer is 4.1% ABV, composed of water, malted barley, roasted barley, regular barley, hops (the type of which is not specified), nitrogen, and yeast. The nitrogen is in a widget inside the can, and that gives this Guinness a smooth texture. This beer pours what looks black at a glance, but when held to some light, it is dark ruby red. This beer has a generous three-finger creamy off-white head that is robust and leaves thick lacing behind. Pour this beer aggressively and watch it cascade like snow forming the grand head. The beer’s aroma hints of coffee and chocolate. The flavor is smooth and not really what you’d think it would be. This Guinness is smooth and bitter, balanced, and it has roasted notes. This beer is easy to drink. This has a light-bodied feel in the mouth. This beer comes to a smooth finish of light chocolate and some coffee. The aftertaste is slightly bitter and creamy, with light roasted coffee. This is not the world’s best stout. It is, however, a really easy-to-drink ”light” stout. I give this one a B-. The stout flavor is light overall, but they are good. I am sure if you follow my blog, then you’ve probably had a Guinness. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Left Hand Brewing Co. Coconut Milk Stout

Posted on by Evan

This review is a re-review of Left Hand Brewing Co. Coconut Milk Stout. I originally reviewed this back in February of this year. From time to time, I will re-review a beer. This is Coconut Milk Stout, a seasonal beer available during winter. This beer is 6% ABV. It is made with Rocky Mountain water, malted barley, lactose (milk sugars), flaked oats, toasted coconut, yeast, and natural flavors. I couldn’t find those natural flavors. This stout pours black with a two-finger beige head. The head is pretty robust. The aroma is sweet, with notes of coconuts, malts, and roasted flavors. The flavor is of toasted coconut and some chocolate. This has a full, creamy textured body. This beer has a sweet coconut finish and malt roast. The aftertaste is less coconut, but has a nice sweet malt/roast flavor. This beer is still as good as when I first reviewed it. I give Left Hand Brewing Co. Coconut Milk Stout an A. It’s not overly stout feeling. It is just right and one you should drink. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer x Cloudburst Brewing Co. The Scars On Greedy Palms India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

This India Pale Ale is a Collaboration between Burial Beer and Cloudburst Brewing. This IPA, 6.8% ABV, was brewed for Burial’s annual Burnpile festival (2025). Mashed with wheat and oats. Whirlpooled with Simcoe, Nectaron, and Simcoe Dynaboost. Double dry hopped with Amarillo Fresh CGX Nuvo, Nectaron, and Citra Cryo. The IPA pours bright yellow with a bright two-finger white head. The aroma is tropical and citrusy, with notes of orange/grapefruit. It also has a herbal aroma. The flavor is a combination of orange, grapefruit, light tropical notes, and dank, with a dry finish. The finish is light on fruit. Then it has a dry, dank fruit aftertaste. This beer has a medium body that somewhat coats your tongue for a second. This is a good beer. It’s not the best, but still something I’d recommend. It’s an A-. I wasn’t a fan of the dryness of this beer, but the tropical and citrus flavors helped. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. x Störtebeker Brauspezialitaten Oktoberfest Festbier

Posted on by Evan

This limited Oktoberfest Festbier is a collaboration between Sierra Neva Brewing Co., here in Asheville, NC, and Störtebeker Brauspezialitaten of Stralsund, Germany. This beer is just called Oktoberfest Festbier. This beer is 6% ABV with Munich, Pale, and Pilsner malts. There are Magnum, Opal, Perle, Spalter Select, and Tettnang hops. The yeast used is Lager. This beer is only available in limited quantities this year. Sierra Nevada collaborates with a different brewery each year for a fest or Marzen-style beer. This beer pours a deep gold with a one-and-a-half finger white head. The aroma is malty sweet, with a light bready note. The flavor is malty sweet. There is a light citrus taste. This beer is overall crisp and doesn’t feel like it has a 6% ABV. This has a medium body. The finish is malty and bread-like. The aftertaste is not that malty; it fades really quickly. This is a good Oktoberfest beer. It leans more to the lighter side. I give this a B-. I like to see this have more malt character. But I would still recommend it. So try it! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Premium Pils Craft Lager

Posted on by Evan

I have heard that Sierra Nevada was going to make a Pilsner beer. I kept my eye out for Sierra Nevada Premium Pils Craft Lager. I found this at my local Harris Teeter grocery store, along with another Sierra Nevada beer (stay tuned for that). This beer has a 4.7% ABV and comes in 8.4-ounce cans. This beer is packaged in eight packs. This Pilsner is more akin to a German Pilsner. Traditionally, in Germany, they would serve a pilsner in a smaller glass to keep it cold and preserve its great taste. Pilsner malts, Sapphire, Crystal, and Lupulin hops are used. They also use Lager yeast. This pilsner pours gold with an almost two-finger white head. The aroma is slightly bitter, citrusy, and light on hop aroma. The flavor is slight hoppiness, crisp citrusy notes, and some sweet notes. This has a light-bodied mouthfeel. The finish of this pilsner is lightly fruity with some bitterness, but it is a cleaner finish. Then you come to an aftertaste that is less bitter than the finish, with some citrusy notes. This is a delicious Pilsner beer, which I give an A. I have had more flavorful and bolder Pilsners, but those are more of an “American” style of Pilsners. Most “American Pilsners originated from German or Czech Pils. I do recommend this Premium Pils from Sierra Nevada. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Birra Menabrea Bionda Lager

Posted on by Evan

I love Italy; it is a beautiful country. When we think of Italy, delicious wine comes to mind. But they do have beer. I find most of it to be good. Some isn’t. Birra Menabrea Bionda Lager from Biella, Italy, is a 4.8% Pale Lager. I found this beer in my local Pasta and Provisions (a fresh pasta shop and Italian market). I have had this beer abroad in Italy, but never in the US. This lager beer pours a golden color with a one-finger translucent, white fizzy head. That head is gone in seconds. The aroma is classic lager with clean, semi-sweet corn-like notes. The taste is clean, slightly metallic, with corn-like sweetness, and a light bread note. This lager has a light body. Then this beer comes to a crisp, clean finish that is less sweet. There isn’t much aftertaste to this lager. You can taste the brewing unit in the aftertaste, but that fades quickly. For a macro Euro lager, it’s a solid beer, which I give a B-. But I would score this lower in the ‘craft beer’ context. This is a very approachable pale Euro lager that is refreshing, light, and easy to drink. You should try this, I think this is better than Peroni beer, way better! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibility! Cheers!

Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Oktoberfest Festbier

Posted on by Evan

This Oktoberfest from Royal Bliss Brewing Co. in Denver, North Carolina, is called Oktoberfest Festbier. This festbier is 5.6%. I found this at my local Total Wine. Royal Bliss Brewing Co. (www.royalblissbrewing.com) is a great brewery and is becoming one of my favorites. I am fond of these Festbiers over the Pumpkin beers that pop up in mid-August. I do not like pumpkin-flavored things. This beer pours brown with a one-finger beige head. The aroma is malty, toasted, and sweet. The flavor is malty, toasted, and sweetened. There is a light and subtle smoky flavor. This beer has a medium-bodied mouthfeel. Then it has a malty, sweet finish. The aftertaste is toasty, and that lingers for a while with a light malt note. This beer is a good-tasting Oktoberfest Festbier. It’s a good fall beer. Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Oktoberfest Festbier is an A+. If you love Oktoberfest beers, you should drink this one. I highly recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer x Allagash Brewing Company Contrast American-Style Wheat Beer

Posted on by Evan

I found Contrast at Total Wine not long ago, and this American-style wheat ale puzzled me. I have never seen an American-style Wheat spice with orange peels. So I decided to try it. Contrast is a collaboration between Burial Beer and Allagash Brewing Company. Contrast is mashed with Riverbend’s Raw Wheat and Appalachian Wheat. Contrast is dry-hopped with Montueka, Eclipse, and Nectaron. Then, Contrast is conditioned on orange peels and finished with Motueka Cryo and Hop Kief. A lot is going on in this beer. This beer pours a light, cloudy yellow with a two-finger bright white head. Its head does fade a little quickly. The aroma is floral, bitter, and very light orange. The flavor is orange bitterness and honey. There is a light floral and wheat flavor as well, with a light mouthfeel. This wheat beer finishes with a bitterness that is slightly citrusy. The aftertaste is light on the bitterness with a wheat-spiced orange. This beer tastes like a light IPA to me than an American-style Wheat. It wasn’t that bad, C. It was average to me. If it had a little more wheat flavor without the bitterness, it would have been better, or if this were marketed or labeled as a wheated IPA, I am sure it would have been better. Would I recommend this? Yes, but just buy a single can. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Lindeman’s Framboise Raspberry Lambic Beer

Posted on by Evan

Framboise is the last in the Lindmans’ mixed four pack. This is a raspberry Lambic Beer that comes in a 2.5% ABV. This Belgian raspberry beer utilizes wild-fermented yeast, much like the rest of the mixed pack beer. This beer pours a deep red with a one-finger pink/red head. This resembles dark cranberry juice. The aroma is raspberry sweetness and sourness. The flavor is slightly tart and sour. You get a raspberry flavor, but this is not as strong as the other fruit flavors. The mouthfeel is light. Then this Lambic finishes with a tart and sour raspberry flavor. Aftertaste is more raspberry, but on the lighter side. That aftertaste lingers for a short moment. I found this one to be delicious and an A. But this is a slightly darker flavor overall. That’s because the raspberry is a slightly darker fruit. Which of the four is the best? That would be the Kierk Cheery Lambic Beer. That is because the cherry really shines on that beer. It was just the right amount of fruit flavor to sourness/tartness. Overall, balanced. The peach is good, but the peach does come on strong, and so does the carbonation. The apple lacks apple flavor. But there is just barely enough apple flavor and a good amount of carbonation. In conclusion, all of the Lindman’s Lambic fruit beers are delicious and worth drinking. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Nocturnum

Posted on by Evan

Brouwerij Huyghe is probably one of the best breweries. I think so. This particular Brouwerij Huyghe beer is Delirium Nocturnum, an 8.5% ABV Belgian dark strong ale. This ale hales from Malle, Belgium. This ale pours brown with red-hued edges and a two-finger beige head. The aroma is malty and sweet. It is a dark fruit (plum) kind of sweetness. The flavor is sweet and malty. I found it to have dark stone fruits(plum and prune). This ale has a full, rich mouthfeel. The finish is malty, less sweet than its first initial taste. There is a dark, fruity, and malty aftertaste that lingers. I have had this many times. It is good every time. I think everyone should try Delirium Nocturnum. I believe it’s an A+. Really, one of the best beers in the world. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!