This weekÂ’s review is sponsored by Petey of PeteyÂ’s Powderhorn. He donated a can of Beamish Irish Stout by Beamish & Crawford in Cork, Ireland. Thank you Petey!

It came in a 14.9 fl oz nitro can. Yes, this is one of those beers that have the widget that when the can is opened it injects nitrogen into the beer making it creamier and have a thicker head. The can is black with a cream colored ban at the top, which may be trying to emulate what the beer looks like. In bold read letters running the length of the can is the name beamish. The company logo, a red B in a red circle, is in the middle with the worlds Genuine Draught Irish Stout.

There is a nice dark mahogany color to it with ruby highlights. ItÂ’s almost black like a cup of coffee. When the can is first opened and poured into a proper pint glass the bubbles flow on the inside of the glass as the head forms. It gives the look of waves flowing down the inner part of the glass. The head is a thick and creamy tan color. It leaves a decent amount of lacing on the glass.

The smell is a faint combination of Cocoa, Coffee and nuts. There is also a nice undertone of roasted malts. The flavor is mild for a stout. There are subtle notes of roasted coffee and chocolate malts. A mild bitterness is noticeable in the finish. As well as a very slight nuttiness. There is not much of an aftertaste to it at all.

This is a medium bodied beer. There is a nice creaminess to it that coats the mouth and throat and helps to keep the flavor fresh. Even though it is creamy, IÂ’m surprised that it isnÂ’t heavier bodied. I like my malts to be a touch thicker.

This is a pretty good stout, itÂ’s very easy to drink and goes down smoothly. It wouldnÂ’t be my first choice of stouts, but I definitely wouldnÂ’t pass one up. I could also see myself picking up a four pack when I was in the mood. ItÂ’s pretty good. I give it 6.5 out of 10.

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Yea, it's about like that.

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Bruce of Back to the Batcave donated tonightÂ’s beer for review. He actually gave this to me about a month ago, and IÂ’m just now getting around to reviewing it. Tonight beer is AmericaÂ’s Original Pumpkin Ale by Buffalo BillÂ’s Brewery in Haywood, CA.

It came in a 12 oz shortneck brown bottle; the label has a black background with a picture of a pumpkin on it. The name of the beer is at the top and the name of the brewery is at the bottom. Under the name of the beer it claims, “Ale brewed with real pumpkin and spices.”

There is an orangish/amber color to the beer. ItÂ’s clear and light passes through easily. I was unable to detect any haziness or cloudiness at all. There was no head when poured into a glass. As it poured it fizzed like a carbonated soft drink, but nothing lasted more than a couple of seconds. Almost as soon as I finished pouring the beer the head disappeared to nothing. As it sat in the glass it almost looked like I had a glass of some kind of dark apple juice instead of beer.

The smell is an overpowering combination of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. It gives the beer a scent of pumpkin pie or my friendÂ’s wifeÂ’s pumpkin squares. I was unable to detect the scent of malts, hops or any normal beer scents. The taste is almost like the scent. A very strong combination of pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. There is a strange slightly bitter aftertaste.

It is a light bodied beer that is kind of watery. ItÂ’s very easy to drink. There is no coating to the mouth or throat, which helps the aftertaste to fade even quicker.

I really did not find this beer to be very pleasurable to drink. The flavor, while fine if eating a desert, is not really something I look for in a beer. It was overly sweet and really not much of any beer taste. Seriously, it was almost like drinking a pumpkin pie smoothie. Yet, it didn't taste too bad with Apple Cider Doughnuts. Honestly I think Bruce bought this for me because heÂ’s on a personal quest to find the nastiest, most horrible beer for me to drink. He must take some kind of sadistic pleasure in having me drink some really god awful swill. Heck, this isnÂ’t even the first pumpkin ale heÂ’s given me to review. With that being said, IÂ’m sure it takes no one by surprise that IÂ’m giving this beer a rating of 2 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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This weekÂ’s beer is brought to us by Petey of PeteyÂ’s Powderhorn. He gave me a can of Belhaven Scottish Ale Draught by the Belhaven Brewery Company LTD. In Dunbar, Scotland.

It came in a 14.9 fl oz nitro can. You know, the can with the widget in it that injects nitro into the beer making it extra creamy. The can is two tone with the upper half a tan color and the bottom a dark brown, which may be in homage to the way the beer looks in a glass. On the front of the can there is a picture of an old Scottish village. In a half circle above the picture is the name Belhaven. Below the image it says Scottish Ale in gold outlined boxes.

When poured into a glass it has a dark reddish copper color. ItÂ’s clear with no cloudiness to it at all. ItÂ’s too dark to make out whatÂ’s on the other side of the glass, but light still passes through. The head is thick and creamy. It has a nice tan color to it and it lasts for a long time. There is a very minimal amount of lacing on the side.

The scent is grainy and cereal like, almost like a whole grain or bran cereal. The gentle scent of hops follows along with a touch of fruit. The taste is much like the taste. There is a sweetness of toasted malts with a mild hop follow up. There is a fruit flavor that is reminiscent of apples or pears. A slight nuttiness is also present. The aftertaste is mild and fades quickly.

This is a medium bodied beer. There is a creamy coating that washes through the mouth as it is drank. It helps to lock in the flavor. ItÂ’s easy to drink and is refreshing.

IÂ’m a huge fan of Scottish Ales. IÂ’ve drank many of them, and this is a pretty good one. ItÂ’s a little light in the color and flavor, but still not bad. The smokiness and dark roasted malt flavor is not present like in most Scottish ales. Overall I like this beer; IÂ’m giving it 7 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:25 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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ItÂ’s been a couple of weeks since IÂ’ve done a beer review. Last week I was busy with stuff and the review suffered, sorry. This week IÂ’m reviewing a beer that Blogspawn Bruce of Back to the Batcave donated. ItÂ’s Blue Marble Organic Pilsner by the Blue Marble Brewery in Chico, CA (subsidiary of Butte Creek Brewing Company). Why he decided to get me a hippy beer I donÂ’t know.

IT comes in a standard 12 oz brown bottle with a tan label. There is a picture of the earth in the upper right corner and the name of the beer takes up most of the label. Below the name of the beer it claims, “An Earth-friendly beer with an out of this world taste.”

It has a pale yellow color, like lemonade. There is cloudiness to it with floating bits. Light passes through easily, but you canÂ’t make out images on the other side of the glass. It poured a thick foamy head that fades really slowly. When I poured it into the glass, I poured it gently, but it produced more head on a beer than IÂ’ve ever seen before. It took three pours before I could pour all of the beer into the pilsner glass. The head was so thick that on the second attempt it actually extended out of the glass.

The smell is mainly of bitter hops. There is a hint of lemon grass, corn and sweet malts. It has a very mild taste that starts with sweet malts and finishes with a bitter hop flavor. As the beer warms to room temperature it takes on a biscuit finish.

ItÂ’s a light bodied beer without much mouthfeel to it. There is no coating which could be good because the unpleasant aftertaste would last longer than anticipated. The carbonation is at a nice level, but is inconsistent with the amount of head that formed.

This isnÂ’t a bad beer, but it really is bitterer than I would prefer, especially in a pilsner that is supposed to be mild and maltier. It was pretty easy to drink, but the taste kind of haunts you and not necessarily in a good way. I really did not enjoy this beer, but I can see how some people would. Overall I give the hippy beer 3 out of 10.

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