Okay, I know I normally do the beer reviews on Wednesday, but that didnÂ’t happen, and I wasnÂ’t about to let it go three weeks without one. This is a beer that was given to me by Petey of PeteyÂ’s Powderhorn. He really wants to be the first enabler to hit 24 beers donated! HAHAHA! He had given me a box filled with various beers to try. The reason I selected this one tonight was because at Winter Camp Petey and the rest of the gang from his neck of the woods showed up with cases of it. I did a quick evaluation of it up there, but I held off on a full review until I got home. Tonight IÂ’m reviewing the 1888 Bock by the LeinenkugelÂ’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI.

It came in a standard 12 oz brown bottle. The label is green and yellow and itÂ’s hard to tell, but it appears to be a stream running along the edge of a forest, or in a clearing, or something. ItÂ’s hard to tell because the name of the brewery and the beer take up most of the label.

There is a nice dark reddish brown/burnt amber coloring to it. ItÂ’s clear and light passes through it easily. Yet it is dark enough that you canÂ’t make out images on the other side. The head poured was about a quarter inch thick. It was made up of fine white bubbles, and faded to a film on the top of the beer. Minimal lacing formed on the edge of the glass.

The smell is a basic combination of caramel roasted malts with a slight toasted nut scent. A very mild fruit scent can also be detected. The taste has a thin taste of roasted caramel malts with a hint of a hop bitterness. You can also detect a bit of a grape like fruitiness to it in the finish. The aftertaste is a bit of a week bitter fruit combination.

ItÂ’s got a thin body to it. There is no coating to the mouth. There is a mild carbonation that fits this style of beer.

Overall, IÂ’m less than impressed with this LeinieÂ’s creation. A lot of their beers are pretty good, and this one is not bad, but itÂ’s not what I would expect from them. ItÂ’s a sub-par beer for them. ItÂ’s not a bad beer, but I just donÂ’t think IÂ’d go out of my way to grab one. If you are a leinieÂ’s fan, then I would recommend trying one, if notÂ… IÂ’d avoid this one. I give it 4 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 09:04 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The beer review has to be postponed for one night, I forgot to put it in the fridge to cool it off! I don't want to review a warm beer. So stay tuned and tomorrow we'll have a good one!

Posted by: Contagion at 07:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Since the Steelers won the Super Bowl, and Bruce is a big Pittsburgh fan, he gave me this beer to review. Now to be fair, I have a ton of other beers that need to be reviewing that were given to me first, but if the rules donÂ’t apply to the Steelers in the Super Bowl, why should they on here. (HAHAHAHAHA!) Anyway, tonightÂ’s beer is Iron City Beer by Iron City Brewing Co in Pittsburgh, PA.

We have our normal 12 oz brown bottle. There is a clear label that has a red oval with the name of the beer on it. Below that in white lettering it claims, “Official Beer of the Pittsburg Nation” It also claims to be a Premium Lager.

It has a clear yellow gold color to it. When I poured it into a pint glass, little to no head formed. What head formed was very thin and faded rather quickly to just a ring around the edge of the glass. The ring lasted until I finished the beer. No lacing formed at all.

The smell was a mildly unpleasant combination of under roasted malts and flowery hops. The scent is almost enough to turn away even the most stout of beer drinkers. The flavor is very mild. It was a hollow and kind of bland. There is a slight lemony flavor to it that masks what might be a malt flavor.

This is a light bodied beer, which has mild carbonation to it. There is no coating and is kind of watery.

Honestly this beer is not very appealing. I wouldnÂ’t go out of my way for it, and I would probably pass it over if there was just about anything else on the shelf. Instead of buying this, I would recommend getting anyone of your mass produced major beers that are on the market. If you are looking for just a beer to drink and you could get this on sale, okay, but itÂ’s nothing special. Overall I was less than impressed with this beer. I give it 3 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 08:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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