Shadoglare of Refractional Darkness sponsors this weekÂ’s review. Thank you sir for being an enabler! He donated a bottle of Black Dog Ale by the Spanish Peaks Brewing Company.

We have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label has a picture of “Chug” the owners black lab on the label with the name of the beer around it. In the background is a picture of a mountain range. The neck label has a brief story about the brewery and the beer itself on it.

It has a dark brown color, kind of like an old penny. Light passes through it easily; I didnÂ’t see any cloudiness at all. It is dark enough that you canÂ’t see through it clearly. When I poured it there was no real head. It formed a thin tan head that faded quickly to a crown around the glass. There was no lacing at all.

The scent was of roasted caramel malts and citrus hops. It has a nice and enticing aroma, not overwhelming at all. The taste starts out with a strong hop flavor. There are some malts that follow, but nothing specific. For the hop flavor, itÂ’s not very bitter at all. The aftertaste is mild.

This is a medium bodied beer. It is a little heavy on the carbonation.

Overall I liked this beer. ItÂ’s not all that special, but itÂ’s not bad. It really is something that one could drink and enjoy. I give it 5.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:15 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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We finally hit the last beer of the gift pack my father gave me for Christmas. Honestly, I appreciate my father buying this for me, he was trying to get me something IÂ’d like and appreciate. He put thought and effort behind the gift and I really appreciate it With that being said, if you are going to buy beer for a beer drinking fan in your life, donÂ’t get them this gift set. The beer isnÂ’t bad, but there really isnÂ’t much to it, most of it is just a bland rehash of mass produced American beers with names added to it. There isnÂ’t much flavor to any of them. However, the book is kind of nice. TonightÂ’s beer is The Barbary Coast Brand Gold Rush Style Beer by the ever so mysterious MDII of Rochester, NY.

We have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a cream label on it with a green bar across the middle with the name Barbary Coast on it. There is a red Circle with a picture of a mountain on it just above the green bar. The lettering is all done in that old fashioned late 1800Â’s style.

It pours a nice amber color. Light passes easily through it as there is no sediment floating. When I poured it into the glass it formed a nice inch thick white head that slowly faded to a film on the top of the beer. There was some very minor lacing on the side of the glass.

The smell is weak. First you smell the fruity citrus of the hops. Roasted malts can be detected as well. There is a slight metallic scent to it. The flavor was meager taste of malts with a slight sweetness. There really isnÂ’t much else to it. The aftertaste is even milder and really canÂ’t be described.

This is a light bodied beer that is kind of watery. There is a nice level of carbonation, but not much else to it.

If you had a friend that isnÂ’t a beer fan but wanted to drink on, this is a very inoffensive beer to let them try. The flavor isnÂ’t that much stronger than beer flavored water. Overall I give this a rating of 3.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Tonight is another from the gift pack my father gave me for Christmas. IÂ’m actually looking forward to this one, because itÂ’s not the Bud Light Chelada from last week. BTW, just so you all know I havenÂ’t been able to get the memory of the taste of that crap out of my mouth. BLECH! Anyways, back to tonightÂ’s, Tonight IÂ’m reviewing the Rock River Lager Beer by MDII of Rochester NY. The apparently fictitious pseudonym of a larger brewery.

The deliver method was the standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label is off white with the words Rock River crossing it at an upward angle. There is a picture of a river on it, presumably the Rock River. (ED. Note. IÂ’ve lived along the mighty Rock River and have traveled up and down the whole length of it through out my life. IÂ’ve done this by car, canoe and boat. I donÂ’t know for sure itÂ’s the same river this is named after, but it adds just a bit more of coolness to the beer for me.)

There is a light golden yellow coloring to it. It poured a half inch thick head made of up of large bubbles. In less than 30 seconds the head faded into a film on top of the beer. There was some lacing, but not very much of it.

The scent was weak. What could be detected was malts and what can be described best as a freshly mowed field. Much like the scent, the taste was very weak. All that I could really pick out was a very mild malt flavor. ItÂ’s not much different that the mass-produced American light lagers that are on the market. Almost no aftertaste is left after your done drinking

It is a light bodied beer. There is some carbonation that bites on the tongue, but not much else. There is no coating and really nothing that lingers in the mouth.

If you are looking for a nice beer to go with a meal, this would be it. There is not enough flavor to it to alter the taste of the food. It went really well with the gumbo I had for dinner tonight. Overall I give this a 4 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was called out recently over my beer reviews. As many of you that have been around since the origin of the review, I started doing this to review beers so that you were forewarned. After a while I started reviewing more and more microbrews and I started finding some really good ones. Back in December a new beer was brought to my attention, and I quickly told everyone, “I will never drink it.” T1G and Bruce have both heard me say this. I even came close to violating my rule that I would drink any beer bought for me. Fortunately the arsehole gentlemen that was going to purchase it for me changed his mind. Finally a couple of “friends” told me I “had” to review this beer, they had been waiting for it. So here I am tonight reviewing the only beer I’ve ever, EVER condemned before tasting. Tonight I’m reviewing Bud Light Chelada, AKA Bud Light & Clamato juice (Clam and Tomato juice) by Anheuser-Busch. May the beer gods have mercy on my soul.

Sorry T1G, It was the first beer glass I grabbed.

IT came in 1 pint 8 fluid oz (22 ounce) silver can. It proudly advertises that it is Bud Light and Clamato (with salt and lime the perfect combination) Below that it shows a beer goblet with limes in the rim and Chelada across the front of it. On the side it has a box that has both Spanish and English writing in it. The English says, “Enjoy the best of two worlds: a refreshing Bud Light and the unique flavor of Clamato. Drink a Red One, ready to go, or use your favorite ingredients to make it yours – wherever, whenever!” Ed note: Never

The color is like that of a dark pink grapefruit juice. There is a distinct red color to it. ItÂ’s thick; light passes through, but barely. It just looks thick. When Ktreva walked into the room she said it looked like chum. There is no head at all and no lacing on the glass. There is a film, but it isnÂ’t pleasant looking. ItÂ’s like floating bits of stuff have stuck to it.

The smell is mainly tomatoes, salt and only what can be described as wharf. You know, that scent you smell along piers that are in large bodies of water. There is a hint of lime and I think you might smell stale beer. IÂ’m not sure if it was there or just my nose wishing it was. Unless you really like the scent of fish and bloody marys, donÂ’t smell this. The taste is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. In 20 years from now IÂ’m going to wake up screaming while I have a nightmare remembering this review. First off, this does NOT taste like beer. Tomatoes, salt, clams with a slight stale beer backwash is what it tastes like. BTW, there are floaty bits in there. Not many, but there are someÂ… and yes they are chewy. Fortunately they are few, far between and small.

IÂ’d love to tell you what the mouthfeel is like on this beer, but honestly I didnÂ’t want it in my mouth long enough to find out. I will tell you that for the brief milliseconds I had it in my mouth it reminded me of drinking tomato sauce and vomit.

Bud Light Chelada is proof that the gods of beer have a dark and mean sense of humor. This has to be the vilest and nastiest beer I’ve drank in my life. It’s not pleasant in any way or shape. It actually brought tears to my eyes at the thought of having to drink the whole 22 ounces and made me do the “it’s icky” dance. Any of you with young kids knows what I’m talking about. I’m not joking when I warn you, for the love of all that is good and right in the world, DO NOT DRINK THIS BEER. I give it .5 out of 10. Yes, point five out of ten.

Now if youÂ’ll excuse me IÂ’m going to go gargle with Everclear.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:21 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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1 Heheheh... the first thing I thought when I say that pic was, "Hey! You ruined the glass!" Then I saw the note under it, and started laughing. You didn't need to do this one, man. This can't count as a beer. Some bastard tricked you...

Posted by: That 1 Guy at March 05, 2008 06:56 PM (F8ULw)

2 HA HA HA HA HA HA Sorry, way to take one for the team. You know you could leave an open bottle outside as rodent repellant.

Posted by: Bruce at March 05, 2008 07:12 PM (j8iYO)

3 Sadly, I saw this on the rack and my only thought was that it might be something my dad would like... the only way I've ever seen the man drink beer is mixed with tomato juice (and I've only seen that maybe 2 or 3 times... just not a drinker whatsoever). But I don't think I'd take the chance on actually buying the stuff even for him - just thought sounds amazingly nasty. And no, I really don't think this counts as beer.

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 05, 2008 08:07 PM (6dnbi)

4 Clamato is definitely not for everyone. However, if you like Bloody Marys, then you should at least give it a try. Like Bloody Marys, it is made with Clamato, and like Bloody Marys, you can add Tabasco, hot sauce, pepper, olives, olive juice, pickles, pickle juice - whatever - to make it just the way you like it. It sounds as though you just don't like Clamato juice or Bloody Marys, and because it's made with Clamato, no, it does not taste like beer. So, it's not that it's a bad product, it's that it doesn't appeal to you, which is fine. Again, it's not for everyone. It's actually been very successful in test markets, and has been rolled out nationally in the US this spring. It appeals mostly to Latino consumers, and many of them were already mixing beer and tomato juice or Clamato juice on their own. We've now just done the work for them. Additionally, Bloody Mary drinkers now have a convenient way to consume a Bloody Mary type of drink if they're looking for something a little lighter and more lively than a Bloody Mary and don't want the hassle of mixing something and pouring it into glasses. It's convenient! So.....that's the rest of the story, folks. Keep drinking beer (and products made with beer). Cheers- Karen M. Anheuser-Busch, Inc. St. Louis, MO

Posted by: runnergal at March 06, 2008 07:45 AM (T7ynp)

5 Thank you for the comment, this is the first time I've had someone from the brewery of the beer I've reviewed leave a comment. Actually I don't mind a bloody mary, but this doesn't really taste like one. It's close, but not the same. My reviews are done for beer drinkers and most of the readers of my reviewers are looking for my opinion on a beer. As you can see from some of the previous comments, they don't consider this a beer. I do because it is made with Bud Light. I'm sure there are people that like it. I'm not sure why, because drinking it really did ruin my appetite for the evening. I will admit that I did try to add a bit of humor to my review, but I do stick by it. This really is not a good beer.

Posted by: Contagion at March 06, 2008 08:10 AM (Q5WxB)

6 A friend of ours is a bud distributer and she says there is all kinds of flavored bud beers. She said she had samples and DH said a no way, but thank-you.

Posted by: Quality Weenie at March 06, 2008 09:19 AM (grH7t)

7 I don't think I would even allow it in my trash can!!!!!

Posted by: bx19 at March 06, 2008 12:17 PM (wr7x2)

8 Arkansas is the only place I have ever encountered what they call "Red Beer". It is loosely what you just described, but no clams. It's just tomato juice, and beer. I tried it. Once. I finished the glass. And proceeded to vomit my entire gastrointestinal system. It's not beer. But it is a safe substitute for Waterboarding.

Posted by: BloodSpite at March 06, 2008 12:34 PM (pOo0j)

9 Thank you for making me ill reading this after lunch. I can't believe you actually tried it. This stuff is so bad, I honestly almost sold all my Anheuser-Busch stock when I first saw it. If they're going to make something this bad, they should at least not call it "beer." Call it "Tomato-flavored wharf crap" or something like that.

Posted by: Ogre at March 06, 2008 01:28 PM (oifEm)

10 bx19: well I had to let it into my stomach. Bloodspite: I about did the same thing. Ogre: I'm surprised you didn't sell it anyway.

Posted by: Contagion at March 06, 2008 06:47 PM (f5Co1)

11 My local package store doesn't even carry this stuff. I asked about it today (after seeing it here) because I was going to give it to a friend whose wife refuses to let him drink anything that isn't "natural" while in the house.

Posted by: Jabbah at March 06, 2008 09:10 PM (JOq8W)

12 Dude... this stuff is anything but "natural"

Posted by: Shadoglare at March 06, 2008 09:53 PM (GsLRZ)

13 Oh my - you *are* brave. I wouldn't have even tried that... ; P

Posted by: Richmond at March 07, 2008 01:56 PM (U7ye2)

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