Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier

Today I will be reviewing Sam Adams Blackberry Witbier. This is a little rare for me since I tend to stay away from white, wheat, and Belgian ales. Regardless, everyone once in a while I'll indulge.

I am reviewing this particular beer poured from a 12 oz bottle into a snifter glass.

It pours a nice hazy-golden color with a white head that dissipates rather quickly. A powerful aroma of blackberries is immediately brought out from the pour. I found this beer to have a prominent taste of blackberries and wheat. As the beer warms up a little, I picked up a mellow malt characteristic.

Overall, this is a nice thirst quencher. I found it very refreshing and crisp, better for the spring and summer. As I do enjoy these characteristics year-round, I will give it a thumbs up.

Cheers, Antonio.

Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat

Hello once again everyone. In my second post this evening, I am going to review Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat. I purchased a twelve pack of this particular brew from my local package store earlier this week and I wanted to give you my opinion of it tonight. The twelve pack cases cost around $16.99 plus tax in the State of Rhode Island.

The appearance of this beer is light in color. It has a golden hue to it with a nice white foamy head. The smell of this beer is very pleasing to the nose. One gets the aroma of fruit, and to be more specific, a blueberry smell.

As I said in a previous post, this brew was the beer that started my love affair with craft beers. Part of me wants to give you a detailed description of the taste, but to be honest with you, this beer tastes just like one thing. That's right, this beer tastes just like Fruity Pebbles. Every time I take the first sip of this beer, I am reminded of this cereal.

I am going to give this beer a definite thumbs up from me. It has a nice fruity taste, it is widely available at most package stores, and it is reasonably priced. Overall, other people seem to like this beer as well. By far, it is not the greatest craft beer that I have tried. However, if you have not tried craft beer yet, Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat is an excellent beer to start drinking. It is very easy to drink and has a great, refreshing taste. If you have tried this beer, but are looking for a more traditional blueberry taste, then may I suggest Sea Dog Wild Blueberry Wheat Ale. This beer has a much more traditional blueberry taste. I will have a review of this beer posted in the near future.

Cheers Everyone!!

Berkshire Coffeehouse Porter

Hello everyone, tonight I will be reviewing Berkshire Coffeehouse Porter. I have had this particular beer many times, both on tap and in a bottle, and tonight I am going to give you my opinion of it. As I mentioned in a previous post, this beer is my favorite porter by far, and definitely one of my favorite beers in general.

If you want to purchase this brew at your local package store, you will most likely only be able to find it in 22oz. bottles. These bottles usually cost around $4.99 plus tax. If you are lucky enough to find this brew on tap, you could pay anywhere from $4 to around $5.25. If you are in the Rhode Island area, The Mews Tavern has this brew on tap for around $5.25. Also, Track 84 also has this brew on tap for only $4! Both of these establishments serve this brew in 16oz. pint glasses.

The appearance of this beer is extremely dark. If you get this beer on tap, you are able to see the thick cream colored head fall to the bottom of the pint glass. It looks like a beer waterfall. It is very impressive, and fun to watch. The aroma of this beer is fantastic. One can smell dark chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, and toffee. The taste of this beer is just like the smell...fantastic. When the beer first enters your mouth, it is very thick and creamy. If you have a beard like I do, the foam will definitely stick to your moustache. Dark chocolate and roasted malt fill your palate. On the after taste, you get the bitterness of the dark chocolate and more of the roasted malt taste. This is definitely dessert in a glass.

This beer definitely gets a thumbs up from me. I am not alone with my love for this beer. Many other people also love this beer as well. Don't let the dark complexion of this beer scare you away. This beer might be thick, but it is full of flavor. So give it a try if you haven't already, you don't know what you're missing out on!

Cheers Everyone!!

The Type of Beer I'm Going to Brew

Hello everyone, Fontes here. Let me first start out by apologizing for the long wait for this post. I've been really busy with work and school, but now I'm back in action. For those of you who are unaware, I am going to be brewing my own beer in the coming weeks. Two weeks ago I purchased a brewing equipment kit from a local brewing supply store. After researching the process of brewing I have decided to brew a version of Samuel Adams Boston Ale.

Why am I going to brew a beer that has already been brewed before you may ask? There are multiple reasons why I chose to brew this beer. First, after researching different types of beer, I found that Ales are more forgiving during the brewing process. Educated home breweres suggest that a new homebrewer start out brewing Ales, since they are very straightfoward to brew and not as complex. Another reason for my choice of an Ale is because Samuel Adam's founder Jim Koch offers a step by step video of how to brew this version of Boston Ale. As a new brewer, I can already tell that this video is going to be very helpful to me when I start to brew. And lastly, I really like Samuel Adams Boston Ale! I really enjoy the caramel and spicy notes that I taste when I drink this beer, and I hope to recreate that with my home brewed version of this beer. Don't just take my word for it, other people really enjoy Boston Ale as well.

The exact type of ale that I am going to brew is called a stock ale or an Old Ale. These types of ales are very traditional English style beers. They are typically at or above five percent alcohol by volume.  This ale uses English Ale style hops.  Here are some of the ingredients that I am going to be using for this beer during the brewing process.

The specific types of hops that are required for the brewing process are East Kent Goldings and East Kent Fuggles. During a process known as dry hopping I will use a different type of hops according Jim Koch's instructional video. This type of hops is called hallertau. I am also going to be using malt extract. The type of malt extract that is required for this version of Boston Ale is amber and light malt extract.

So the process is coming along everyone. I have my brewing equipment, I know the type of beer I am going to brew, and I have the knoweldge of how to brew the beer. Now the next step is to purchase these ingredients and start the brewing process. I hope by next weekend I will have the ingredients so I can start to brew. Hopefully if all goes well my beer will look and taste similar to Boston Ale.

Cheers Everyone!! 

Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale

Hello everyone, Fontes here. Tonight I'm sitting down and enjoying a glass of Sea Dog Pumpkin Ale. I am drinking this particular brew out of a standard pint glass after pouring it from it's bottle. I purchased this in a six pack for $8.99 at my local liquor store. The beer is amber in color when poured into a glass. Right away I got notes of pumkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar when I smelt this beer. It instantly reminded me of the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. However, the taste of Sea Dog's Pumpkin Ale is very different from the Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. Sea Dog's brew is spicy on the palate, but in a good way. I do get a taste of pumkin, but what I really taste is the cinnamon and the nutmeg, along with the brown sugar. The Dogfish Head Punkin Ale was much more sweeter than the Sea Dog's Pumpkin Ale. Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale is more of a dessert beer, while Sea Dog's Pumpkin Ale can be drunk anytime. 

Overall, I am going to give this beer a thumbs up. I am really enjoying drinking this beer right now. It is spicy, reminds me of the fall season, and easy to drink. Now I should mention this: You will find other reviews out there that will portray this beer in a bad light. For example, these reviews do not portray this particular brew in a good light for the most part. BUT, don't let that deter you from trying this beer. If you like a pumpkin ale that is spicy and with flavors of pumpkin, nutmeg, and cinnamon, then this beer is for you. If you like an Octoberfest style of beer with more malt flavor and hop flavor then this beer is not for you. Again, in my opinion I really like this brew and it gets a thumbs up from me.

For those of you reading this post who really like Octoberfest style beers, then I suggest that you also try Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale. This beer tastes very similar to the Sea Dog's Pumpkin Ale in the sense that they both have the same kind of spicy flavor. Also, may I also suggest Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest. This beer is also very enjoyable. I do not have either of these two beers on hand at this time, but I will try my best to get more before the season is over so I can give you all a full and detailed review of each of them soon.

Cheers Everyone!!!!

My First Brewing Kit

Hey everyone, Fontes here. So I did it...I finally bought a brewing kit!! At 12:30 p.m. this afternoon I purchased my very own brewing kit. At this time I only have the equipment to brew, but in the next few weeks I will purchase the actual ingredients to brew. As I mentioned in last weeks post, I was looking at two local shops in the state of Rhode Island that specialize in brew supplies. After conducting some research on the internet, I found that Basement Brew Haus was the better of the two shops. For those of you reading this blog that are located in or around the Rhode Island area and are interested in going to this store, it is located at 116 Calverley Street in Providence, Rhode Island. 

When I entered the store, I noticed that there was one type of complete brewing kit available for sale. It was a True Brew brewing kit. The manufactuer of this particular kit is Crosby & Baker Ltd. In addition to making beer kits, the company also produces and sells various other items for brewing, including, hops, yeast, and malt extracts. I was familiar with the True Brew brewing kits since I have seen them on various websites. From the comments that I read about them, I was confident that it was a quality product. The total cost of the purchase came to a little over $82. I was very happy with this price since it was cheaper than most websites that I looked at and since I bought it from a local shop I did not have to pay any shipping costs.

As of this moment, I hope to start brewing within the next two weeks. Before I start brewing I want to become familiar with the equipment and the brewing process. The lady who sold me the beer kit at Basement Brew Haus suggested that I purchase a book called The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. If anyone has any comments about this book please let me know.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my two favorite types of beer are porters and stouts. For my first home brewed beer I am still not sure what I am going to brew. Obviously, I am thinking about brewing a porter or a stout, but I am also giving thought to an IPA. Whatever beer I brew I am sure it will be fun and a learning experience. Maybe not after my first brew, but sooner or later I plan on entering a batch of my home brewed beer into the Samuel Adams Longshot Contest.

I can't wait to start brewing my own beer. If anyone reading this has brewed their own beer before and you have some tips and tricks, please leave a comment. And if you haven't brewed your own beer yet, what are you waiting for!?!? You know you want to do it, so get out there, get a kit and start brewing!

Cheers Everyone!!