Tonight I was able to find another beer brewed here in Oklahoma. It is Kudu Premium Lager Beer by the Huebert Brewing Company in Oklahoma City, OK.

Sorry for the picture quality, it was taken with my webcam.

We have our standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a dark green label with KUDU in bold white letters at the top. In the middle there is a picture of a KUDU. I only know what it is because right below the picture there is a little history, “Kudu Premium lager is named after the shy, but handsomest and second largest African antelope, the Kudu. Kudu Premium lager is a smooth naturally dry and full-bodied lager beer. After you have had kudu lager you will not be as shy as a kudu!”

There is a pale golden yellow/straw coloring to it. Light passes through easily. There is no cloudiness to it. You can watch as carbonation bubbles flow up through the beer as the develop into columns. When poured I received a quarter inch thick head that quickly dissipated into a film on the top of the glass. There is some lacing, but not a lot.

The smell is an interesting combination of floral hops, a wine-like grape scent and something that gave it the smell of melted butter. The scent reminded me of melted butter used for baking cookies. The taste was of a mild spicy hop. There is a ginger like flavor to it. Maybe it was the melted butter scent, but it reminded me of ginger snaps. ItÂ’s not a bad taste, just kind of interesting. ItÂ’s unlike anything IÂ’ve had in a beer in the past. Just like the label suggests there is a dry finish to it. The aftertaste is interesting and difficult to describe, but itÂ’s not bad.

IT is a light bodied beer with a heavier than average carbonation to it. The carbonation bites on the tongue, but doesnÂ’t make it hard to drink. Honestly this is a very smooth beer that is easy to drink and goes down easy.

IÂ’m not sure if this is something I would go out of my way for, but it is definitely not bad. The taste is unusual and I may have to ship a six pack of this home with me just to let some of my loyal and devoted readers try it. It really is not a bad beer and IÂ’m rather enjoying it tonight. IÂ’m giving it a 5.5 out of ten.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:23 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 424 words, total size 2 kb.

Since IÂ’m in Oklahoma IÂ’m going out of my way to find beers that are brewed either here in the OK or ones in the surrounding states (Texas, Arkansas, Kansas) that I canÂ’t find at home. It took me four stops in two days to find one, and then I ended up having to ask a local that IÂ’m training in order to find a place that sold something other than big brands. Finally I found a pretty good store that had a decent selection. Tonight IÂ’m going to be reviewing Miner Mishap by the Choc Beer Company in Krebs, Oklahoma.

Sorry for the crappy photo, I had to use my webcam on the laptop to take it.

We have our normal brown 12 oz bottle. There is a two tone picture of two miners carrying another miner between them in what appears to be a... mine. The name of the beer is in that late Eighteenth century western script. At the bottom they state this is a black lager.

There is a dark brown color to it. Light passes through it, but you canÂ’t see what is on the other side of the glass clearly. ItÂ’s dark enough that I canÂ’t tell if there is any cloudiness to it. The head was about quarter of an inch thick and consisted of tiny tan bubbles that gave it a thick and creamy appearance. It slowly faded to a thin film on the top of the beer. There is a bit of lacing on the side of the glass, but not much.

It has a nice roasted chocolate and caramel malt sent to it, just as the label describes. There is a touch of a coffee scent to it as well. You can also detect just a hint of hops. The smell is a pretty good indicator of the taste. The chocolate and roasted malts really come through. There is a slight mineral water taste to it. It finishes with a mild hoppiness. As the beer starts to warm, the hop flavors start to be more noticeable.

This is a medium bodied beer. The carbonation bites a little on the tongue.

They advertise this as schwarzbier, but it almost has more of a porter taste to it. Over all it isnÂ’t a bad beer. I found it rather pleasant to drink. I give it 6 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:04 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 401 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I did not see any Bell's beer on your site, www.bellsbeer.com I am emplyee of this company and have grown very fond of our brew's you shold check it our.

Posted by: Fawn at July 23, 2008 09:14 PM (cl1bG)

2 I like chocolate!! This may be a beer that I would rate a 10. If Wil is going that way, he's going to have to pick us up a 6 pack or more.

Posted by: red at July 24, 2008 08:30 AM (Xw6pC)

3 Sounds good!

Posted by: Richmond at July 24, 2008 12:58 PM (p79b+)

4 Re: above comment - Hmm... looks like they sell some stuff over the northern border that we don't get here - might be in need of a road trippin' beer run in the upcoming future Glad you were able to find something unique - I seem to remember having trouble finding anything that was really regional while I was down there as well...

Posted by: Shadoglare at July 24, 2008 10:28 PM (q1yPG)

5 I quit drinking before the microbrew craze came along but I used to be quite partial to Shiner Bock. I kind of like never having a hangover but I do miss beer.

Posted by: Peter at July 24, 2008 10:57 PM (foYxR)

6 Shadoglare: Yea, I looked up the above suggestions, it's not available in Illinois. At this time I have an overabundance of beers to review back home, so I'm not looking to pick up any more at this time. I'm looking to get those reviewed when I return to Illinois. Peter: Shiner Bock is pretty good, I haven't reviewed it yet. But I'm waiting to review it because it is made in Texas, and I'm trying to get some Oklahoma beers reviewed.

Posted by: Contagion at July 25, 2008 07:21 AM (VrjLP)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

ItÂ’s time for another random beer review. Tonight IÂ’m reviewing a beer that I found next to DragonÂ’s Milk at the store. ItÂ’s Blue Goat Doppelbock by the New Holland Brewing Company in Holland, Michigan. This is the same company that makes DragonÂ’s Milk.

It comes in a 1 pint, 6 oz brown bottle, thatÂ’s 22 oz for those of you that donÂ’t want to do the math. In blue ink silk screened on the bottle is the name of the beer at the top and a picture of a goatÂ’s head. There is a long story about the beer on it. There is nothing on the bottle that tells you what the Alcohol By Volume is, but after some research I discovered it is 7.5%, which is rather respectable.

When poured into a pilsner glass it has a nice dark brown color to it. There are some orange highlights when held up. Light passed through it, but you couldnÂ’t make out images on the other side. A nice, thick tan head formed. It faded into a film on the top of the glass after a couple of minutes. There was some lacing on the side of the glass.

The scent is a combination of caramel and toffee. There were some nutty undertones to it. The smell was pleasant and inviting. It enticed the drinker to take a sip. There was not a hint of alcohol to it, which is kind of surprising with a 7.5% ABV. The taste was a pleasantly mild combination of caramel and toffee malts. It didnÂ’t have as strong of a malt flavor that you normally get with a doppelbock. There is a slight grainy/bread like finish to it. Surprisingly you canÂ’t taste the alcohol. The aftertaste is pleasant and unobtrusive.

This is a medium bodied beer with some strong characteristics. There is a silkiness to it that coats the tongue, mouth and throat. The carbonation is on the lighter side of beer, but it fits the beer perfectly. It drinks very easily and could be dangerous on a hot summer day.

Overall this is a really good beer. Easy to drink, but watch out for drinking too much too quickly. I donÂ’t know if I would actually call it a doppelbock, it seems to be a bit light for one. I was pleasantly surprised by this beer, I give it an 8 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:12 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 407 words, total size 2 kb.

Tonight IÂ’m reviewing the last surviving beer of the beer tasting. There were others but we didnÂ’t have any left overs. IÂ’m reviewing 1554 enlightened Black Ale by the New Belgium Brewing Company at Fort Collins, CO. This was brought by Labgirl, ShadoglareÂ’s date.

The bottle is a 12 oz brown bottle. This one however is specially cast with a neck band that has the name of the brewing company on it. The label is red with a blue square that has green ivy on it. There is a picture of a snifter of beer sitting on a barrel. The name of the beer is in black lettering toward the bottom of the picture.

This beer has a beautiful dark brown color with a reddish background to it. It poured a thin tan head that dissipated into a film. There was some lacing that stayed on the side of the glass, but not much.

There is a nice roasted malt scent to it. You can also detect a slight a dark dried fruit scent, like raisins and molasses. A slight earthy undertone is also noticed. The taste is a mix of roasted chocolate and coffee malts. There is a hint of nut to the taste. It has a slightly bitter finish and aftertaste.

It is a medium bodied beer. There is some creaminess to it that coats the mouth, but not a lot. The carbonation level is decent.

At the beer tasting this was one of the beers that no one hated, and a couple of people really liked. Over all itÂ’s a pretty good beer, but I could see how drinking it could get filling after a while. At the beer tasting I gave it a 4.5, and IÂ’m going to stick with that rating, 4.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:34 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 308 words, total size 2 kb.

I chose tonightÂ’s beer because not only was it brought to my Beer Tasting, but it was brought to the Four B Party at WilÂ’s. (Beer, Brats, Blue Grass and Butt JuiceÂ… DonÂ’t ask). Noah brought this to my beer tasting, it is Dirty Helen Brown Ale by the Barley Island Brewing Company in Noblesville, IN.

It came a 12 oz brown bottle. The label is brown with a 1920Â’s style drawing of a lady on it, assumable Dirty Helen.The name of the beer is across the bottom of the label in yellow letters.

It pours a lovely dark reddish brown color. There is a very thin tan head on it that fades quickly to a film on the top of the beer. There is no lacing on the side of the glass.

The aroma is a combination of nuts and caramel malts. There is a slight sweetness to it that is rather interesting. The smell and flavor are about the same. It tastes like a combination of nuts and caramel malts. There is a bitter finish to it and a slight taste of floral hops. The bitterness lasts into the aftertaste.

This is a medium bodied beer that is easy to drink. There is a decent amount of carbonation in it.

This was a beer that didnÂ’t do too well at the Beer Tasting. A lot of people scored this one really low. It actually isnÂ’t that bad, IÂ’ve had worse, much worse. ItÂ’s not something I would go out of the way for, but honestly if you drink it on a fresh pallet, itÂ’s not bad at all. I give it 4.5 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 06:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 281 words, total size 2 kb.