I made a mistake this week. It wasnÂ’t until late last night that I realized that I it was Wednesday. That meant I had a beer review to do. It was too late for my deadline yesterday, so IÂ’m doing it a day late. Hope no one is too upset, especially since I ended up not doing one last week. This is the last review for the month of March, which means the last Irish beer for a while, this week I did Harp Lager by the Guinness Brewing Company.

We have a standard 12 oz brown bottle with a front, back and neck label. The labels aren’t all that fancy, a cream oval on a dark blue background. It has the name of the beer and the picture of a harp on it. Along the bottom it tells you that it’s “From the brewers of Guinness.”

When poured into a standard pint glass, the beer itself has a nice golden to straw yellow coloring. ItÂ’s clear with no distortion or cloudiness at all. It formed a nice half-inch head that dissipated very slowly. As the head disappeared, it left a good, thick lacing on the side of the glass.

The smell was kind of week. There was a nice floral scent of hops with a touch of malts to it. There was a citrus undertone like that of lemon that helped enhance the hops and malts. The flavor was that of malted grains with just a touch of hop bitterness. The flavor wasnÂ’t very strong. IÂ’m even going to say it was a little on the week side.

This is a light bodied beer. There is a nice level of carbonation that makes it easy to drink. ItÂ’s very crisp and refreshing.

This is not a bad beer; IÂ’ve had it before and was never overly impressed with it. Since it is an import, IÂ’m not sure itÂ’s actually worth the price for the quality. IÂ’m going to give Harp 5 out of ten.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:10 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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To keep with this monthÂ’s theme of Irish inspired beers, IÂ’ve chosen one that actually comes from Ireland. ItÂ’s a beer that some have had the pleasure of trying, while others may not have heard of it. This week I review MurphyÂ’s Irish Stout by MurphyÂ’s Brewery.

Murphy’s Irish Stout comes in a 1 pint Nitro Can. “The ingenious floating Draughtflow system in the can enables you to enjoy the creamy head of draught style Murphy’s from a can.” I’m pretty sure this is very similar to, if not the same, as Guinness’ floating widget. The can is tan in color with a shield insignia over the name of the beer.

We have another beer that is a drink and a show. ItÂ’s a very thick beer and the nitro system infuses the beer with gas making a beautiful display of bubbles rising to form a thick tan head that lasts. It leaves a nice lacing on the side of the glass. The beer is black like coffee in color. Light doesnÂ’t really pass through the beer at all.

The tantalizing smell of dark roasted malts enhanced with a touch of cocoa and hint of coffee tickle the nose. The smell is light and not overpowering, itÂ’s an enhancing side to the main course that is the taste. Upon taking the first sip, the mouth is awakened with blend of flavors. Roasted barely malts dominates the taste with underlying flavors of coffee and chocolate malts. There is a touch of hopps to it that makes a good finish that isnÂ’t too bitter.

This is a nice medium to heavy bodied beer. There is a nice creamy texture to it that coats the mouth and throat. The nitrogen infusion from the can gives it a good “carbonation” that keeps the beer from being too heavy.

This happens to be a beer I truly love. I would rather drink this then Guinness any day. Unfortunately itÂ’s not as common as Guinness is. This beer is an 8.0 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:32 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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May the luck of the Irish be upon ya! Since it is March and St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in March, all the beers I review this month are going to be Irish. Well okay, some are going to be Irish influenced or as I like to call them, “I can’t believe it’s supposed to be Irish.” If there is one thing the Irish can do right, that’s make some damn good beer. If there is something American Beer companies can do… is pass of a piss poor imitation of Irish Beer as being “Irish”. I’m not saying these aren’t good beers, just that they really aren’t Irish. That brings us to this week’s Faux Irish beer, Kilgubbin Red Ale by Goose Island Brewery in Chicago, IL.

They really want you to believe this is an Irish inspired beer. The label has all kinds of Celtic knot work all over it. It even has the name of the beer on a red banner in the “old Irish” script right over three shamrocks. If they really wanted to do it right, they would have had a pint-sized bottle instead of your standard 12 oz brown bottle. Any beer drinker worth their hops knows that the Irish drink by the bloody pint.

Besides being 4 oz short when poured into a pint glass, there is a dark brownish red color to the beer. ItÂ’s darker in color, but light still passes through. There is no haziness to it at all. There is a nice quarter inch white head that slowly fades into a film on top of the beer. There is virtually no lacing on the side of the glass.

There is a good earthy scent of roasted malts, both of the barley and chocolate variety. The floral scent of hops can be detected as well as a nice citric accent. There is a nice malty sweetness with a burnt hop bitter finish to the beer. There is a touch of smokiness to it that enhances the flavor. To be honest, the flavor is a little on the week side. There is a mild aftertaste that isnÂ’t pleasant, but does make you want to drink more.

This is a thin beer, itÂ’s almost watery. It wants to have a creamy texture to it, but the body of the beer is just too thin. It is very easy to drink.

As faux Irish beers go, this is not bad. IÂ’ve had much better, but I wouldnÂ’t be upset if someone gave me a six-pack of this. IÂ’m going to give it a 4.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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