Jimbo's Beerblog

Golden brown clear looking ale. Scent/smell is very, very nice. It is very fruity and has plum and flowers – like smelling a field in spring, ahhhh :)   Taste is nice and bitter, a bit nutty and English Ale like, sweetness and toffee follows. It is a bit sharp, which is actually nice, it gives a nice first kick to your taste buds. Aftertaste is nice too, it has that “Brooklyn vibe”. They sure know how to brew these tasty and easy drinkable yet very tasty ales in New York! This is not the easiest ones though, as it has very thick bitterness that attacks the mouth in full frontal attack. Hoppiness makes this very different to those traditional English Ales, but still this is a nod to those historical ones. I say this is a great effort to sum up and combine English IPA tradition with the modern American IPA revolution of hoppiness.   **** Great

Pivovar Žatec makes its traditional Czech pilsener in the old town of Žatec in Czech Republic. First documented hop growing started in the fields of the town in 1004. Pivovar (=Brewery) was built in 1801 after almost 800 years of local brewing. Under communist regime Pivovar lacked funding, but in 2001 it started in new hands and is nowadays a growing business – with huge history and traditions. This is very basic Czech pilsener, but a very good one also. It has that typical very noticeable Saaz hops taste. Actually Saaz is German for Žatec, so here we are, at the birthplace of Saaz hops. *** OK

Belgian yeasty shit pops out of the bottle. There is enough head for the all the beers of tonight, but yeah, I have time to wait it lower a little :)   Foggy, very light yellow looking. Scent/smell is very Belgian – bretta yeast rules ok and the usual spiciness familiar with it. Head is white foamy shit. Taste is what counts, and its very interesting. Bitter, sour, sharp. Aftertaste spicy and tingling in the back of the tongue. Very fruity shit, like drinking some nice bitter juicy stuff. This has maybe apple, orange, grapefruit and others I can’t describe. Very very nice taste and a hell of a good Belgian beer!!! Easy drinkable for a 8,4% alc vol. Blonde with three grains in this: barley, wheat and oats. Nice one, I like blondes :) **** Great

A bit misty yellow-brown liquid pours into glass. Head is almost non-existent. Scent is hoppy and fruity. Taste is a bit flat. American style hoppy, but only mildly. Easy drinkable, but like too easy if you know what I mean…not the best of Stadin Panimo products, unfortunately. Refreshing drink if you are thirsty, but also a bit boring. For session drinking, sure, as an alternative for piss lagers and such. ** Drinkable

Brown Ale from California uber alles. Dead Kennedy’s anyone? :)   Okay, I appreciate the impact of Anchor in American and maybe even international craft brew movement’s rise, but lately I’ve not been so satisfied with their products. Fame is nothing, if the product is not prima. A bit same feeling I have with Fuller’s, though they still have their spearhead products as well as Anchor has their Liberty Ale. But you know, there are a lot of breweries there today, and many of them have such great variety of beers, that it doesn’t matter if they have done their beers for only 10 or 5 or 2 years, if they make quality all the time. I guess brown ale in particular, is not my favorite beer style. Other non-favorites include for example industrial piss-lager, sweet dark lager and kriek. This just feels wrong. Too sweet malty shit. I sense that this has quality, but still I don’t like this very much. ** Drinkable

Dark brown or “cola-black” strong German dark lager, but with traditionally a Kulmbach area style of partially freezing a doppelbock and removing the water to concentrate the flavour and alcohol content. Smell is not very noticeable (but not bad either, maybe a hint of sweet and nutty) and taste is kinda the same, lagerish. Not bad, still.  Very good for a lager, but of course this has some back-kick in storage in form of alcohol as this has 9,2 % alc vol. Aftertaste is kinda nice, a bit bitter but in a malty way, this is not very hoppy. Sweetness and nuttyness in the taste too.  I actually like this very much, though it is not great. This is still one of the best German beer styles this eisbock, I reckon. This has nothing to do with those worse-than-piss strong lagers, that they make in Eastern Europe (and in Finland) just to get people drunk. This has taste and character. *** OK

A bit more elegant winter ale from Colorado. More English Ale –like than YuleSmith, but also a bit more dull. Still a very nice brew for slow enjoyment. *** OK