St. George Porter

$1.49/12oz @TWAM, 5%ABV

Too carbonated, too sweet. Not everbody can make a Porter.

Thumbs down.

Great Divide Saint Bridget's Porter

$1.79/12oz @ TWAM, 5.9% ABV

Nice texture, not too carbonated- somewhat "creamy." Subtle coffee and (dark) chocolate taste. Slightly bitter in a nutty kind of way. Certainly not sweet.

Good, not great.

Guinness 411

Found a really cool Guinness FAQ:
http://www.textfiles.com/drugs/guiness-faq

Q: What types of Guinness are there?

A: MJ states 5 or 6 main types in 19 variations. So far, we've
been able to identify (Detailed specifications are listed in
the last section of this FAQ):

Draught Guinness (Ireland, NA), is smooth full-bodied and
creamy. Despite its body, it is a rather mild beer (OG
1039, 3.4% abw, 4.2% abv). This beer is pasteurized.
There are many local variations of this product. The
canned "Pub Draught Guinness" using the draught-flow
(tm) system is a packaged version of this beer.

Bottle Conditioned Guinness (Ireland) had similar
specifications to the Draught Guinness, but the
presence of the yeast provides for a "...spicier,
fruitier, drier, more complex and lively, fresh
character." (MJBC, 182)

Bottled Guinness (Britain) has similar specifications to the
above two beers, but it is pasteurized.

All Malt Guinness (Continental Europe) is available both
draught and bottled. It is slightly stronger and also
has a little more of the characteristic stout bite.

Guinness Extra Stout/Guinness Original (bottled, available
widely) is stronger with even more stout bite. MJ
reports this to be 4.8% abw, 6.0% abv, but one poster
says that in advertising from Guinness Imports, the
strength is listed as 5.6%. This product is licensed
for production widely around the world.

There is a strong bottled version (Belgium and others) that
is somewhat sweeter and stronger (7.5% abv)

Foreign Extra Stout (primarily tropical countries) is also
about 7.5% abv. However, this is blend of Guinnesses,
included one aged for three months.

In Nigeria, which bans barley, Guinness is made from
sorghum.

Baltika #3 Classic Beer

$1.79/16oz @ TWAM 4.8% ABV

I wasn't expecting much from this one, and I wasn't disapointed. It's piss yellow and tastes like Miller High Life. Oh, well. Trying new beers means getting a few zonks, and this is one.

Thumbs down.

Baltika #9 Extra Lager

$1.89/16oz @TWAM 8%ABV

I was expecting something along the lines of their Dark Lager, so when the beer poured a dirty yellow, I was initially disappointed. Looking at the ABV, I was expecting a Russian version of Old English 800- more college memories I'd like to forget. Upon tasting, my first thought was of Jupiler, but I quickly realized the Baltika was a much better brew- almost in the Belgian Golden Ale category. I won't say this is as good as Duvel, but it's in the ballpark.

Not as coarse as the Baltika Dark lager, it carries the alcohol well without tasting "sharp" and has low carbonation. It's not particularly complex, but hey- it's a lager. This is at least as good as any of the Duvel clones on the market. OK, I'm going to have to A/B this against Duvel to see if I've completely lost my sense of taste to even be comparing them. Another great bang-for-buck beer- this is much better than I had any right to expect.

Thumbs up.

Baltika Beer

Baltika #6 Porter

$1.89/16oz @TWAM, 7%ABV

Respectable porter with subtle nutty taste. A bit rough and acidic, but not bad. More of a "light stout" than a porter, IMHO. Not sweet the way some porters are prone to be. Good "bang for buck" beer.

Thumbs up.

Baltika Beer

This one won some Russian award for “Best Women's beer” 1995. Damn, Russian chicks must be really different than American ones.

Baltika #4 Dark Lager

$1.79/16oz @TWAM 5.6%ABV

OK, fine- what attracted me to the Baltika line was the fact it's from Russia. I was also hoping they'd have a Baltic Porter like Black Boss, the phenomenal Polish porter I had in Sweden (it's good, but not that good).

The Baltica Dark Lager seems like what big beer companies think a "dark" beer should be- fizzy, watery, but with a slightly acidic nutty flavor. It doesn't seem "dry", but it is making me thirsty. Reminds me of the vats of Lowenbrau Dark I drank in college- not a pleasant memory. OK, OK, it's probably more in line with Beck's Dark- not bad, but if you want a dark beer why not go all the way and get a fucking Guinness. Decently balanced, but not my style- this is kind of a "between" beer for people who want to break out of the ordinary, but aren't ready to commit to a real beer. I guess that's what I was doing with the Lowbrow Dark all those years ago- it was a "gateway" beer!

For some reason, I think this would go great with pretzels and mustard. Sadly, I have neither.

OK, not great.

I do like the motto on their website, though- "this beer is brewed for you"*

Baltika Beer


*uh, I found that on a different website than the one I have linked here. The other one turned out to be not about Baltika beer, but tourism in St. Petersburg... tourism that involves tabs labeled "Russian Girls!"

Acme IPA

$1.99/12oz @TWAM 6.5%ABV

Acme is a North Coast product, and as I'm already a fan of their Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout and Red Seal Ale, I figured I'd give this a shot.

Acme is a "wet" (as opposed to "dry") IPA with a subdued, yet present hoppy taste. Not as watery as the last Bass I had, but not quite to the Sierra Nevada Pale or Geary's IPA level. Nice mouthfeel- low carbonation. Something odd in the aftertaste I can't put my finger on.

OK, not great.

North Coast Brewing

WTF?

So I was standing in Total Wine and More, trying to remember if I'd sampled a particular brew. I remembered all the "beer journals" I'd tried to keep over the years- most of which are languishing in forgotten notebooks, lost at the bottom of boxes in my attic. I realized a blog would be a good way to store the information, and keep it accessible when I was traveling.

This isn't really written for public consumption, but if you find my half-assed notes useful in some way, great.