This week I have another submitted beer. My friend Will brought back for me a bottle (after the stink you all made over the fact he gave me cans last time) of Yuengling Porter by G.G. Yuengling & Son Inc in Pottsville, PA. Now I will admit this beer tasted exceptionally good tonight, because itÂ’s the first beer I had in a week. However, I am devoted to my craft and refuse to let my situation taint my review.

As indicated above, it came in a bottle, the standard 12 oz brown bottle. It has a red neck and body label. The body label is oval in shape, has the eagle symbol that the brewery uses as its logo and the name of the beer on it. It also proclaims that it came from AmericaÂ’s Oldest Brewery.

This was a nice dark beer. With a strong dark brown coloring and slight hint of garnet to the coloring, it has your standard porter look to it. Light had difficulty passing through the body. It poured a nice thick half-inch tan head. However, it faded quickly to just a film on the top of the beer. It left no lacing on the glass at all.

The nose was a mix of roasted malts and sweet caramel grains. There was a hint of chocolate to the scent as well that helped make the scent that much more enticing. The taste was a mix of roasted malts with a touch of coffee. A slightly bitter hop tasted finished it off. It has a slightly bitter aftertaste to it. The flavor is a little on the thin side and very simple for a porter. There is a weak bitter aftertaste to it.

For a porter the body was too light. It should have had more of a medium body to it, but the mouth feel reminded me of the lager. There is a slight creaminess to it, but nothing that left a good coating in the mouth, as one would expect.

I enjoyed this beer, and again I think I was hyping it up since IÂ’ve heard so many good things about Yuengling. Again this is a good beer, but I can think of a couple dozen porters and stouts I would go out of my way for before this. IÂ’m giving it 5.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Tonight I have another beer brought back from vacation, Colony Oatmeal Stout by the Millstream Brewing Company in Amana, IA. Technically IÂ’ve had this beer before. The first time I drank it was two years ago in the Amana Colonies. It left a lasting impression on me; unfortunately you canÂ’t purchase it here in Rockford.

It came in a brown 1-liter bottle with a ceramic Grolsch style stopper. There is a large green label with a picture of a red mill on it. In large red letters at the top is the name of the brewery; the name of the beer is incorporated in the bottom of the picture. There is a picture of a wheat stalk on each side of the mill.

It poured a dark obsidian color that was opaque; light did not pass through at all. A nice 3/4 inch tan head formed. The bubbles were large and dissipated quickly leaving only a ring around the edge of the glass and very minimal lacing.

There is a fragrant combination of chocolate, coffee and oat malts. The scent is almost that of a specialty coffee one would get at Starbucks. The scent is very appealing. It has a full flavored mix of oats and mocha with a hint of coffee accents. With a slight bitterness to the aftertaste, itÂ’s very appealing.

It has a creamy mouth feel that one should get with a stout. The body is somewhere between medium and full. ItÂ’s thicker than a medium bodied beer, but not quite a full bodied one. There is a perfect amount of carbonation for a stout.

Overall I really like this beer. IÂ’ve been craving it off and on for the last two years. IÂ’ve bragged about it to people and have gone out of my way to bring samples of it to those that I think would like it. Unfortunately it doesnÂ’t come in 12 oz bottles, at least not in the last couple of years. So after doing my review it pained me, but I had to dump the extra out. ItÂ’s not going to last in the container once the seal is broken. I truly love this beer and would recommend trying it if you ever get a chance.

IÂ’m giving it a 7 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:13 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This review is a day late due to all of my recent travels. In fact tonightÂ’s beer is a result of my recent travels. Tonight I review Boulevard Dry Stout by the Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City, MO (AKA HellÂ’s Hubcap. KC, not the brewery).

Once again we have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label is black with the name of the beer inside a red circle. There is a little blurb on the neck label that they add yeast to the beer just prior to bottling to start a secondary fermentation.

There is a nice dark brown, almost black color to it. Light just barely passes through it. The head pours an inch thick tan with very fine bubbles. You get the nice cascading factor down the side of the glass as the head dissipates. Unfortunately the head fades to almost nothing quickly, not even leaving a ring around the edge of the glass.

The scent is a mix of roasted grains, chocolate and coffee. There is a slight after scent of hay as the beer starts to settle. The flavor of the beer is mainly coffee malts with a touch of bitter cooking chocolate to it. There is also a nice roasted malt backbone that really brings the flavor to the tongue.

It is a medium bodied beer. A little water for a stout, there is none of that creamy mouth feel one generally associates with a good thick stout such as Guinness or MurphyÂ’s. ItÂ’s lightly carbonated and slides past the tongue easily.

Overall this was not a bad beer. I was expecting a bit thicker than it was, being a stout and all. IÂ’m going to give this beer a 6 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:38 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Wow, itÂ’s been three weeks since my last beer review. Between sensitivity class and vacation I just havenÂ’t been around to do one, sorry. Anyway this weekÂ’s beer was brought back from vacation all the way from Wichita, Kansas. ItÂ’s Flying Monkey Amber Ale by EME Squared Brewing and Bottling Company in Olathe, KS. I picked this beer because of its name. I keep telling the boys theyÂ’re flying monkeys.

It came in the standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label is a tan color with an evil looking winged monkey on it. Above the monkey in red letters is the name “Flying Monkey” and under the winged monkey on a red banner is “Amber Ale” There is a diamond checkered pattern on the lower third of the label.

When poured it barely forms a head. What head that is produced quickly fades to almost nothing quickly. The only thing that remains of the head is a slight ring around the edge of the glass. There is no lacing on the glass. It has an amber color to it that is clear. There is no cloudiness at all.

It has an aromatic smell of malts with a slight floral hop accent. There is a taste of roasted caramel malts with a slight citrus finish. A mild bitterness from hops rounds of the flavor. There is almost no aftertaste. What aftertaste there is doesnÂ’t distract from the beer.

There is a crisp, dryness to it. ItÂ’s light bodied with a decent amount of carbonation. Not so little to make it flat, but not enough to bite the tongue.

This was a decent beer. I had higher hopes for it, but itÂ’s not bad. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’d go out of my way to find it, but I wouldnÂ’t pass it up the store I was in had a six-pack of it. Over all IÂ’ll give it a 5.5.

Posted by: Contagion at 04:10 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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