Hi-Wire Brewing Anniversary Helles Munich-Style Lager

Posted on by Evan

I was shopping at my local Harris Teeter grocery store when I spotted Hi-Wire Brewing Anniversary Helles Munich-Style Lager in the meat department. This 5.1% ABV lager commemorates the brewery’s 13th anniversary. This Asheville, North Carolina beer uses Epiphany Malt from Durham, North Carolina. This Helles pours gold with a two-finger white head. The aroma is bready and biscuity. It has a light, sweet aroma. The taste is crisp, bready, biscuit, and some malt. This has a light mouthfeel. The finish is a bit sweet and malty, with a light bread note. The aftertaste is faded bread, steady malt flavor, and slightly faded sweetness. But as this Helles warms, it becomes flat. But I still give this an A-. I think this beer should be enjoyed cold. The flavors don’t turn bad as this beer warms. They just become lighter or flatter versions. I’d still recommend this Helles. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Other Half Brewing Co. Oh…toberfest Oktoberfest Lager

Posted on by Evan

This time of year, you’ll see more and more Oktoberfest beers on store shelves. The Other Half Brewing Co. in Beacon, New York, makes Oh…toberfest, an Oktoberfest Lager with Tettnanger hops. It is 5.4% ABV. I have been to their Brooklyn location, which is a good place to visit if you are in the NYC area. This beer pours deep brown with a two-finger beige head. The aroma is dark malt and light sweetness. The flavor is malty and sweet. Not overly sweet, though. It has a bread flavor, crispness, and a spiced note. This beer has an almost full mouthfeel. The finish is crisp and malty with a little spiced note. The aftertaste comes with fading sweetness and lingering malt character. This is a really delicious Oktoberfest Lager, and I give it an A+. Really makes me think of fall. It has the perfect amount of malt flavor without too much sweetness.  I can recommend this enough. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Olde Mecklenburg Brewery Olde Meck Premium Light Lager

Posted on by Evan

Light beer isn’t associated with craft beer. It is a bad word with craft beer enthusiasts. I am one of those enthusiasts. I usually don’t go for light beers. But I heard that the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery was going to brew one. I bought Olde Mecklenburg Brewery’s Olde Meck Premium Light Lager. This beer is a 4.0% ABV year-round light Lager, using American Barley malt and Noble European hops. This beer pours a very light yellow with a one-finger, thin white head. The aroma is light/clean, and with a very light sweetness. The flavor is light, clean, smooth, with very light sweetness. It has a nice, crisp and light malt flavor. This has a light mouthfeel. The finish is light, with not much else. The aftertaste has a faint sweet/bread aftertaste that quickly disappears. This beer isn’t bad for a light lager; I give it a B. It is better than the macro light beers out there. I wouldn’t say this is perfect. But it is good for what it is. As the beer gets warmer, the flavors fall off. But I would recommend Olde Meck Premium Light Lager. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Co. Silhouette Rice Lager

Posted on by Evan

I don’t see rice lager-style beer from any craft breweries. That is, until yesterday, when I was at my local Harris Teeter grocery store and spotted Burial Beer’s Silhouette Rice Lager. Rice Lager is a lager brewed with a substantial amount of rice (10% to 30% or more). Rice lagers are usually associated with brands such as Sapporo and Kirin.  This rice lager is malted with Extra Pale Pilsner malt, Eraclea, and rice. They also whirlpool this beer with HBC 1134 and Saaz hops in collaboration with Nation of Language (a Brooklyn-based indie/synthpop band). I find that rice lagers are great with Chinese and Japanese foods. This lager pours a clean golden color with a light white one-finger head. The aroma is clean and crisp with bread notes. The flavor is crisp and clean with sweet floral notes and a bit of sweetness. This has a light-bodied mouthfeel. The finish is clean and crisp with a fading floral note. The aftertaste is crisp and light with a lingering, faded sweet note. Silhouette Rice Lager is a high B+. It has a bit more flavor than the macro rice lager I’ve had. But I do think that if you get halfway through the fourth one, the flavor becomes a little boring, but not bad, and yes, I would recommend Silhouette Rice Lager. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Grillo’s Pickles x Pabst Blue Ribbon Pickle Beer

Posted on by Evan

Pickles and pickle-flavored things are all the rage right now. There are many different pickles and pickle-flavored things out there these days. One of those things is Grillos Pickle’s x Pabst Blue Ribbon Pickle Beer. This beer is a 4.7% lager. This collaboration pours golden with a steady one-finger white head. The aroma is Sour, with light vinegar and faint garlic.  It does smell like a PBR you left a bit of pickle in. The flavor is light garlic and vinegar. It’s sour and a bit bready. The pickle flavor fades as soon as you taste it. This PBR has a light mouthfeel. It finishes with a very light pickle flavor. The aftertaste of light pickle fades quickly. This is not great. I give Grillo’s Pickle’s x Pabst Blue Ribbon Pickle Beer a D+. It is not terrible, but I would like more pickle flavor. I wouldn’t recommend this, but I would recommend Martin House Brewing Best Made Pickle Beer instead. This is not great. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sugar Creek Brewing Company. Flaco Especial Lite Lager

Posted on by Evan

Sugar Creek Brewing Company originally started brewing Belgian-style beers. Slowly, they started brewing other styles of beer. Flaco Especial Lite Lager is a more recent non-Belgian beer. This is a made Key Lime and is 4% ABV. Sugar Creek is one of my top local breweries in Charlotte. This beer pours a crisp golden color with a one-finger  white head of lace. The aroma is crisp with a citrusy lime. The flavor is crisp and limey. It’s not too sweet or too sour. This lager has a light mouthfeel. This beer finishes with a limey flavor that grows. The aftertaste is more limey, but it is crisp. This is not a bad beer, but the lime flavor does take over. The lime flavor is not overly dominant in the beer. That flavor is slightly more of a main character. I would recommend Flaco Especial, but if you like or love this sub-style of lager, then I would really recommend Stone Brewing Co. Buenaveza Salt and Lime Lager. As for Sugar Creek Brewing Flaco Especial Lite Lager, I give it a high C+. It is refreshing, crisp, light, and citrusy. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Green’s Dry-Hopped Lager

Posted on by Evan

I have seen Green’s beers around from time to time, and have never actually bought any of them. This beer is Green’s Dry-Hopped Lager. This beer is 4.1%, and brewed in Lochristi, Belgium. Brewed by the De Proefbrouwerij. All of the beers are certified gluten-free because a British entrepreneur, Derek Green, created the beer brand after being diagnosed with Celiac disease. This lager pours gold with a one-finger, quickly fading white head. The aroma is dry, herbal, malted, and light. The flavor is clean, dry/dry-hopped, malted, and minty. The mint flavor is light and subtle, which is a little off-putting at first. This lager has a light mouthfeel. Then this beer has a clean minty/herbal finish. The aftertaste is faded mint. I think that the overall flavor of this beer is bitter mint. That is not what I was thinking this dry-hopped lager would taste like. I give Green’s Dry-Hopped Lager and low C-. I was able to finish a pint of this. I couldn’t have any more, nor would I recommend this beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Legion Brewing Carolina Feather East Coast Lager

Posted on by Evan

I don’t drink a lot of lager beer. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s that I don’t really come across many lager beers. I was recently in my local Harris Teeter grocery store and saw Legion Brewing Carolina Feather East Coast Lager. This rice lager beer is 4.4% ABV and has won a NC Brewers Cup gold medal. This lager beer uses North Carolina-grown malt and non-GMO grist. This lager pours a light, clear yellow with a one-and-a-half-finger white head. The head fades quickly. The aroma is light, sweet, and lemony. The flavor is similar to its own aroma. It is sweet, lemony, clean, crisp, and light-bodied. This beer has a light mouthfeel.  The lager then finishes with a light lemon note, which is not that sweet. The aftertaste is crisp with light, sweet notes and a touch of lemon. That flavor doesn’t stay long. This is a good lager beer that I give an A-. It is better than all the macro lagers you find everywhere. This has slightly more lemon flavor than I would like, but that is all because its other delicious flavors make for a lager beer that you should be drinking. Please stay safe, be kind to one another, and remember to always enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Burial Beer Co. Precious Czech-Style Amber

Posted on by Evan

Precious from Burial Beer Co. in Asheville, North Carolina, is a Czech-style amber lager. This lager is 4.9% ABV. This beer is hopped with Czech Saaz and Adeena hops. This lager pours a light brown/amber color with a one-finger off-white head. The aroma is malty and bread-like, with rye and a light sweetness. The flavor is breaded, malty, a rye flavor, light, and smooth. This has a light mouthfeel. Then this beer finishes with an off-flavor of malts. The aftertaste is rye bread and malts that linger. But as the aftertaste lingers. That is not great. I found this Precious to be interesting when I bought it, but after tasting it, it wasn’t so interesting. I give this amber lager a D+. I was able to finish a pint, but I didn’t like it as much. The flavors are not so good, but not the worst I’ve had. I don’t recommend this beer, nor will I rush back to have this one again. I usually like the beer that comes from Burial Beer Co. But this one was too rustic tasting for my liking. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Highland Brewing Cerveza Oscura Mexican-Style Dark Lager

Posted on by Evan

Thereares a number of craft breweries that brew Mexican-styleLagersr. I see quite a few on store shelves. But I have not seen a dark Mexican-style Lager. But on a recent trip to my local grocery store, I spotted Cerveza Oscura from Highland Brewing in Asheville, North Carolina. This is a 5.2% ABV Mexican-Style Dark Lager brewed with Perle hops, Munich 10, Vienna, Midnight Wheat, and Flaked Corn. This lager pours deep brown with tan/beige edged and a one-finger beige head. That head fade rather quickly. The aroma is roasted, semi-sweet (cocoa), and has a dry-ish note. The flavor is roasty, dark bread, malts, a little bit of spicy notes, and cocoa sweetness. This dark lager has a lightmouthfeelh. This beer finishes with a sweetness and a dryness. The aftertaste is slightly roasted and sweet, but fades a bit quickly. This is better than most traditional dark Mexican Lagers. Cerveza Oscura is an A-. It is lighter in flavor, so you could have three or more. But as dark lagers go, there are better ones. German Dunkels are one great example. But that style is slightly different from this one. I would, however, recommend Cerveza Oscura. It is a good beer that I will go for again. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!