Frosty Goodness » Light

St. Peter’s Sorgham Beer. Yes, quite.

Walt Liquor — Sat, 15 May 2010 05:33:00 +0000

I recently tried St. Peter’s Sorgham Beer, mostly (I’m ashamed to admit) on the basis of the novelty: a beer brewed with sorghum instead of wheat, and in a bottle that looks like either aftershave or a laboratory chemical, but definitely not a beer bottle. What exactly is “sorgham”? For me, it’s always been the go-to plant when you’re making a random joke about crops. Kind of like “naugahyde”, which is an excellent out-of-left-field reference to drop when you’re making a joke regarding fabrics. (Try it!) Never thought I’d come across sorgham in real life. Particularly not in a bottle that looks like Dr. Johnson’s Guaranteed Medical Salve and Snake Balm from 1890.

And the result? After all the build-up, the flavor is just as odd as you’d expect — and oddly, it’s the least flavorful beer I’ve ever had. Of course any normal beer probably tastes oddly flavorless to me, after trying Budweiser’s Clamato — but even after correcting for my forever-damaged taste buds, this is a very subtle beer. It’s almost refreshing, practically alcoholic mineral water, and would be a good beer to drink after a marathon, if for some reason you had to drink a beer instead of a sports drink. (Try it!) But after the subtle dignified label and the promise of exotic sorgham, I was ready for a complex spectrum of unusual and challenging flavors to process, for tastes and top notes and bouquets and aftertastes, but instead I had to consciously check midway through to see if it still tasted like beer at all. In other words, this is a Radiohead album cover containing a compilation CD of soap opera background music.

Hell or High Watermelon: It’s a tougher choice than you think.

Frosty — Sat, 01 May 2010 20:47:23 +0000

Before I begin, an appeal: Brewers of the world, can you please, please, stop putting watermelon in beer. It just doesn’t belong. Like Jar Jar in a Star Wars movie (geez I’m a nerd), you are just going to go and ruin a good thing. I have now “officially” reviewed 3 watermelon beers, and they have all been unabashedly terrible (SPOILER!). People will try them, because they are funny. But no one actually likes them enough to buy more. And if they do, they probably have no taste buds and eat junk like mayo-and-relish sandwiches and pork rinds (hi Wayne!).

But let’s begin. Let me introduce today’s entry. This is Hell or High Watermelon from 21st Amendment Brewery. It comes in a can. It’s brewed with watermelon juice. And it tastes awful.

There is no bitterness to the flavor at all, but I actually think that is a bad thing here. If it had any other characteristics, even cheek smash, I would have had something more clever to say than “it tastes awful”. But I don’t. The best way to describe the experience of drinking this, is to give you a play by play:

Pour. Its kind of foamy, but not obnoxious. Typical light beer type pour.
Smell. Not bad. Vaguely watermelon-y. Even though I knew this was going to be a tough swallow, I had an actual glimmer of hope at this point.
Taste
1. Light. Not much to it. Hardly more substantial than water.
2. Ok there is a hint of the watermelon, but…
3. What is that … fish? ugh…watermelon ala’ fish scales.
4. (At this point my face kind of scrunched up, and I drank some Tabasco to get the flavor out of my mouth)
Pour in the sink. Sorry about that sink.

It’s not the worst beer I’ve ever had. I didn’t cringe, spit it out or want to vomit. But it is really bad. It’s just sort of the definition of what “this tastes bad”, is supposed to taste like.

Believe it or not, I really don’t like giving bad reviews. I love craft brewers, and encourage them to experiment with awesome beers to make us dance and cheer. But since this is clear violation of Frosty Edict #4 – “Enough With The Watermelon”, the voice of the people needed to be heard. So thanks Billy. Thanks for dropping off something on my desk that was as terrible as expected, packaged in BPA lined cans, and nearly ruined my egg sandwich.

See what I have to go through for free beer?

Full Sail LTD 03 – Welcome to the Cooler.

Frosty — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:00:22 +0000

Any beer that labels itself “pilsner” scares me a little. I mean, I went college…I’ve been to bars on nights filled with military guys on leave. Even though nasty domestic beers are the farthest thing from a true pilsner, I can’t help but have visions of the old Coors cans my Grandpa used to put his cigarette butts into. Presumably to make it to taste better.

With their third offering in the LTD series, Full Sail has done their best to rescue me from years of therapy required from my previous pilsner experiences. I feel like a giant weight has been lifted off my liver, and I can once again drink a pilsner and not have to wear a wifebeater or listen to Larry the Cable Guy.

This stuff is great. Super light, super smooth. Its crisp on the first sip, and knows to back off just in time for you to say “ahhh”.

And what’s more, it has earned a coveted spot alongside Bridgeport Haymaker in the official Frosty Goodness July 4th Beer Cooler. A true honor. Congratulations, and thank you Full Sail. May nary a cigarette butt ever cross your bottle.

All that’s foreign is not gold: Koshikari Echigo Beer

Frosty — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:31:49 +0000

I present his here to you as a cautionary tale.

Grandpa Goodness was in town, and we shared some of the yummy Hitachino Nest, both coming away with what we thought was a new appreciation for Japanese beer. Sadly, one day while I was away at the salt mines, Grandpa, flush from the success of the previous evening, decided to go to the local beer pusher and pick up something new from Japan to try.

And so begets what is about the worst beer I’ve tried in the 60+ reviews on this site. It’s been a long time since I’ve had those college mainstays Keystone and Natural Light, but if my memory for nausea serves me right, they have a Japanese equivalent. Light like urine, rancid tang like urine (wait, how would I know that?) this stuff was … less than stellar.

There are quite a few things I like to recall from college, but what the frat party beer tasted like isn’t one of them.

Sunshine Wheat, happiness in a glass

Frosty — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 05:52:54 +0000

I can now add another in my quest to review all the brews from this generation’s best brewery, New Belgium. This time I had a six pack of something that can only be described as Happiness in a glass. It was like drinking sunshine. Sunshine Wheat to be exact. And very appropriately named. It was light, refreshing, a hint of fruitiness, and if such a thing can be said … it tasted … cold. If you like wheat beers that are light enough to please the pilsner crowd, start guzzling now. As the three recent empties in the picture can attest to, you’ll drink them fast. Too fast, the throbbing in my head might say…

Red Hook SunRye – 99% presentation, 1% beer

Frosty — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:55:05 +0000

You know how when you taste a particular nasty flavor, it just sort of sticks with you? You may have only had it once, but you instantly recognize it when you taste it again. I can say the same about beers like Coors and Budweiser. Brewed heavily with rice, they have this kind of “crappy beer” twangy aftertaste that screams wifebeaters and mullets.

Unfortunately, the same can be said for Red Hook’s SunRye. The packaging is top notch (cool bottle shape even), and the promise of a yummy summer beer is inviting. But once you have that first light sip… I’d swear this was a Coors in a fancy wrapper. I wanted to like it, I really did, but damn that aftertaste.

It almost meets the criteria for a 3, but my total disappointment, and the fact I don’t want to drink the 4 remaining bottles in my fridge smack it down to a sad 2. If they could kill the post sip twang, this would be some good stuff. But until then, I don’t want to feel like I’m back in high school, drinking Bud or Natural Light in my buddy’s garage while his parents are out of town. Blech.

Post AC Install: New Belgium Skinny Dip

skylark — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:38:59 +0000

After the 2nd 90+ degree day in a row, I decided to bite the bullet and install the AC unit. Once I lugged the thing in to the house and spent a few blistering minutes out on the back porch putting it in the window, I am now enjoying a couple of degrees less heat and a bottle of New Belgium’s Skinny Dip Ale.

I need to come clean about something first, when I went to the store I intended to pick up a case of my old favorite, Miller Highlife. However, when I got there I wasn’t in the mood for the Highlife. There was also someone else there and I was ashamed. But as I drink my Skinny Dip, I am glad my shame led me to by it. Light, but with that Fat Tire full-bodied taste, and a burnt-chocolate finish. Very yummy and light too! So I won’t gain any weight, right?

If you’re looking for a light beer that REALLY tastes great, Skinny Dip is it. Prost!

Troublette. There’s a snail on my beer

Frosty — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:27:03 +0000

Every now and then, when I’ve had tons of the Easy Drinkin’ brews, I hanker for something more experimental. I wander down to the local brew pusher and grab something off the “wall o’ beer”. Sometimes this can have spew worthy results (see Fuller’s Extra Special Bitter … my dad bought it). But on occasion I get lucky, and this stuff is certainly one of those times. Those crazy Belgian brewers have created a fruity sort of yum in a way that Kona’s Wailua missed entirely. It’s a light tasty Belgian Wheat that leaves no crappo aftertaste that can be the hallmark of foreign beer.

The main problem I have with this beer has nothing to do with the taste, its the goofy wrapper. A snail? Really? I mean maybe they market this beer to France, or perhaps it just has some ingredient that the distributor chose not to mention. Either way, it’s a terrible visual choice, and makes me wonder what exactly it was that brought me to pick it up in the first place. Sacre bleu!

Packaging Suckah: Full Sail Ltd. Brew

skylark — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 04:53:48 +0000

Turns out I am a complete suckah-fish for good packaging. Case in point: Full Sail’s Limited Brew. Full Sail’s packaging is top-notch. Each brew is visually distinctive but shares a common brand. The magic happens when you look closer. Witty banter is sprinkled about the packaging in the voice of a stoner outdoorsy type with long hair, tie-dye, and the faint sent of petchuli. He says the word “dude” A LOT. But he loves brewin’ good beer so its cool. He’s “livin’ the dream.”

Light-bodied with a somewhat burnt-chocolate finish seems like an oxymoron, but I swear its there. The “Dude” says it is an import-style lager but I’m not buying it. I guess if you’re talking about some lambic, or tripel, this might qualify as a distant cousin but its definitely not your typical “euro-bud” trash (Becks, Heineken, etc).

So, long story short: I dig it… um, dude. I think I’m going to set out to see if good packaging equals good beer. Sounds like a good combo of my two favorite things: good beer and good design. In the end, we’ll see which one deserves the top spot.

Bridgeport Haymaker Extra Pale Ale

skylark — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:58:08 +0000

Any beer from Bridgeport Brewery will always get my attention. This local brewery’s IPA will always have a special place in my fridge. However, when I look at the beer cooler at my local Freddies I have to wonder if it isn’t just a big beauty contest.

The packaging on beer labels and boxes gets more and more elaborate each year. From the local artistry featured on Rogue Ales to the slick Budweiser Select bottles, a lot of thought goes in to the look and feel of your average brew. And there is definitely a “micro-brew look.” If you look closely, you can tell the posers from the real thing.

Bridgeport’s Haymaker Extra Pale Ale is no exception when it comes to the design of the packaging. As a designer, I appreciate the level of branding and illustration. This beer is definitely the product of a highly skilled marketing team. However, it IS the real thing.

The verdict: Bridgeport brings their characteristic hoppiness to a wheat beer. Finishes light and crisp, just right for summer time.