Tonight IÂ’ll be reviewing a beer that IÂ’ve had suggested to me by multiple individuals. The beer of choice is a Golden Ale by Hook & Ladder Brewing Company in Rochester, NY. As a bonus for this brewing company, they donate money from their sales to a local burn foundation. In fact they proudly state they donate a penny for every pint, a quarter for every case that they sell. It makes me wonder if I can start drinking this beer and using it as a tax deduction.

They use a standard 12 oz brown bottle. There is a tan label with a red fire fighter style Maltese cross. The name of the beer company is in the cross in a two tone white and gold lettering. Under the cross is the name of the beer with two crossed axes under it. The neck label states, “For every barrel we sell, we make a donation to a local burn foundation” and “A penny for every pint.”

There is a nice golden straw coloring to the beer. It is clear, with no signs of cloudiness of floaters to it. When I poured it into a pint glass, almost no head formed. What head there was consisted of tiny white bubbles and faded quickly to nothing, not even a ring around the edge of the glass. There was no lacing at all.

The scent is a mainly a dray caramel malt with a slight graininess to it. There were some floral hops in the background that helped enrich the overall scent. The flavor is a subtle and a little week. ItÂ’s mainly of malted grains and a very mild hop finish. The combination of ingredients gives the beer a very mild pear flavor in the background.

This is a light bodied beer. Almost no coating to the mouth and it passes over the tongue very easily. The carbonation is a little strong and bites on the tongue and lips.

Overall this is a nice, gentle beer. I think this would be a good one for a hot summer day. The thought of sitting out on the front porch kicking back a couple of ice cold ales or even sitting around a campfire on a cool summer night with friends. I enjoyed it, and could see myself picking up another six pack sometime in the future, especially since each purchase helps a burn foundation. I give it 5.5 out of ten. (An extra half point for the generosity.)

Posted by: Contagion at 08:17 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Tonight I hand picked a beer from the Isles of Scootland. My new beer connection has had it on stock for a while and I wanted to try it. When I was in Kalamazoo last month, I tried to get it at the Irish pub, but they were out. So tonight IÂ’m reviewing SkullSplitter by the Orkney Brewery in the Orkneys, Scotland.

It came in a 12 oz brown bottle with a red foil seal over the bottle cap. The label shows a picture of a Viking on a beach. The name of the beer is at the top, and Orkney Ale on either side of the Viking. The back label says “Orkney - a small group of islands off the northern tip of Scotland, shrouded in magic and mystery, was the home of Thorfinn Hausakluff (SkullSplitter) 7th Viking earl of Orkney around 1,000 AD.” The front label also states the beer has a 8.5% Alcohol by Volume.

There is a dark nut brown color to the beer with copper accents. There is a slight haziness to it, not enough to impede light passing through. When poured a quarter inch, off white head formed. It dissipated quickly to a ring around the edge of the glass and a slight film at top. There was no lacing at all.

The scent was almost overly sweet. Toasted malts, molasses and caramel are most notable. There was also just a slight hint of alcohol. The flavor was a combination of caramel malts, dark fruit, brown sugar, and touch of acrid alcohol. There was also a slight bitterness to the finish. The aftertaste was almost buttery.

This is a medium bodied beer. A slight creamy coating forms in the mouth.

This was not exactly what I was expecting from a Scottish Ale. It was a bit sweeter than I expected, however I was surprised that the 8.5% ABV wasnÂ’t as noticeable as one would think. As it warmed towards room temperature, the flavor opened up more, and the body seemed to gain a thickness to it. Towards the end it was almost like I was drinking beer flavored melted butter. The butter analogy comes from the buttery taste to it. IÂ’m not sure that I would want to drink a lot of this beer in one sitting, but a bottle every now and then definitely would be nice. Thankfully the name had nothing to do with how your head feels after drinking it. I give it 6 out of 10.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:43 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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No, you didn't read that wrong.

At least once a year a “friend” finds a beer that looks like it would be absolutely nasty. A beer that looks so vile, so nasty, so evil that the only way you would drink this is out of extreme curiosity or on a bet. Of course that “friend” buys said beer and gives it to me to review because THEY want to know how it tastes and is afraid to try it themselves. Well the recently revived Graumagus has done just that. He found a bottle of Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer. It’s a contract beer made by the Sprecher Brewing Company for the Pizza Beer Company.

The label is red white and green. In the white part is a hand drawn picture of a male and a female wearing chefs hats. There is a signature on each person. The guy is Chef Tom and the Lady is Chef Athena. At the top of the label it says “originals Seefurth Family”. Above the picture in red letters it says Mamma Mia! Under it is Pizza Beer. At the bottom it plainly states, “Ale brewed with oregano, basil, tomato and Garlic”. The neck label claims, “Beer so good it Deserves… A wine glass!” Is your fight or flight center of your brain sending signals yet? Well mine was screaming, “NOOOOOooooooo. This may be the beer that turns you off of beer completely!”

There is a nice honey gold coloring to it. It is cloudy, but not so cloudy you canÂ’t see through it. Almost no head formed when I poured it. What did was thin and white. It faded quickly leaving nothing on the top of the beer. There is also no lacing on the side of the glass at all.

The smell was something I had never experience in a beer before in my life. They did a decent job of capturing the smell of pizza. Unfortunately it smells like a cheap frozen pizza that someone sprinkled an Italian Seasoning blend on, but still Pizza. The Tomato, basil, oregano and Garlic really does overpower any other scent in the beer. What malts that can be detected blends with the other scents to give it kind of a doughy/crust scent. Now this may just be my imagination because of the type of beer it is and that was missing from the scent was pizza crust.

The taste is much like the scent. All you can really taste is the Tomato, Garlic and herbs that are added to it. There is also a bit of saltiness to it. Realistically this tastes like someone took a piece of the above cheap frozen pizza and let it soak in a keystone light for a while. The pizza tastes about washes out any standard ale flavors one would get. The aftertaste is a bit salty and overpower. Honestly, I couldnÂ’t imagine drinking this beer with anything other than maybe pizza.

This is a medium bodied beer. There is a light carbonation to it, but nothing biting.

Honestly, I canÂ’t believe I drank this whole beer. IÂ’ve drank beers that are much worse than this, but not in a long time. IÂ’m not sure if the people that make this novelty honestly think this is a good beer or if they make it as more for entertainment. IE, in college I had a friend that used to make the most god awful punch for parties; nobody liked it, not even him. Yet he made it for every party because inevitably it would get drank in its entirety because people would bet each other they couldnÂ’t drink it, or do the olÂ’ switcharoo and give it to some unsuspecting individual. The fact that I drank this willingly just speaks volumes to how far IÂ’ll go to review a beer. Overall I give it 1.5 out of 10.

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

Posted by: Contagion at 07:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Finally I am able to review a beer that Petey gave me that didnÂ’t go bad. IÂ’ve heard of this beer before and it is made in different batches, each year a little different from the last. So tonight IÂ’m reviewing The Czar Imperial Stout by Avery Brewing Company in Boulder Co bottled in 2008.

It came in a large 1 pint 6 oz brown bottle. The label is orange with an imperial seal on it with the picture of what I am assuming is three Czars. In the top of the seal in the brim of the crown it states bottled in 2008. The name of the beer is at the top, and in a banner under the seal is the name of the brewing company. The bottle also states 1.103 original gravity, 70 IBUs and Alcohol 10.77% by vol. The bottle has some other information about the beer in it and recommends cellaring it as “The Czar will continue to mature and become denser and more complex with age.”

The beer pours a thick dark brown color like a dark coffee. There is a ruby tint to it that is brought out as the light catches it along the edges. ItÂ’s thick enough that light doesnÂ’t pass through easily. A tan head formed but rapidly disappeared into just a small ring around the edge of the glass. There was some lacing, but not much.

The initial scent after pouring had an acrid scent of alcohol. The following scents, if taken mildly, were much more pleasant. There was creaminess to the smell like one gets with a cream liqueur. It opened the way for the gentle smells of caramel and coffee malts. There was also a hint of dark fruit (raisins, dates, prunes etc) to it. No matter what, the scent of alcohol was always present. The first taste was a biting alcohol taste, but subsequent sips revealed a nice caramel malt taste with a chocolate malt follow up. There is a slight molasses finish to it. As the beer warmed, the taste of alcohol became more and more present.

This is a full bodied beer that has a more watery than creamy feel to it. ItÂ’s thick while in the mouth, but after swallowing, there is no coating.

This is not a beer I would suggest drinking in any great quantity. This would be something that you drink one bottle at a time, probably on a special occasion. This beer also gave me the impression that you have to be in the mood to drink it. I could see where if you were not expecting this beer, one would not like it, where as if you were anticipating it, it would be really good. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’d classify this as an excellent beer, but it is pretty good. IÂ’d be interested to buy a bottle and cellar it for a year or so and see how it ages. I may have to pick up an extra bottle and do a re-review in a couple of years. Right now as a fresh beer I give it 5.5 out of ten.

Posted by: Contagion at 07:39 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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