Goose Island Festivity Ale 2014

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 22SEP14 aka 9/22/2014)

Style/ABV: Brown Ale, 7.7% 

Reported IBUs: 50

It's another year, so that means another vintage of Goose Island's annual holiday/Christmas brown ale. This year, Goose Island swapped "Christmas" to "Festivity" for all the complainers that celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. This was totally unnecessary since craft beer is the next most white supremacist thing after the Klan and Nationalist party. If you can't pick up on those white privilege tones, you need to visit any micro-pub in the United States or Europe. About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2013, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

The 2011 Christmas Ale was really good, but I wasn't as big of a fan of the 2012 vintage. I skipped the 2013 vintage, which was branded Sixth Day. What the hell, Goose Island? Just call it your fucking Christmas Ale. Anyway, the politically correct 2014 Festivity Ale is brewed with Special Pale, Bon Munich, Caramel-60, Caramel-120, Rice Hulls, and ECJ Sugar malts. The hops used for this beer include Pilgrim and English Golding. This one clocks in at 7.7%, and packs 50 IBUs.

This is a gorgeous beer, pouring into a hazy burgundy/maroon body, kicking up a finger of maroon-tinged head. The beer is well carbonated, and has good head retention. In bright light, the beer appears more ruby red, but I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

If you like malty smelling beer, you'll be in good company here. This takes the Brown Ale base, and adds some sweet toffee and faint fig and dark fruit notes. I'm getting a lot of toasted malts, some sweet candies, and sweet Twizzler notes. 

This is probably the best Christmas Ale that Goozie Inlets has rolled out since the 2011 vintage that I'm so partial to. This is a giant malt bomb through and through, with tons of toffee and toasted notes hanging in the back, along with some faint piney hops. The main flavor here are sweet malts, sweet sugars, and tons of sweet Twizzlers. The kiss of hop bitterness at the back end totally rounds out the experience, and elevates the beer. If you dig into the malts, you get some brulee and burnt brown sugar, which is just so nice.

At 7.7%, this is a big and sweet beer. I recommend letting this one warm up. This is a medium to full-bodied beer, but the carbonation keeps things moving along, and the hop bitterness on the back end is a welcomed contrast. This has good palate depth and complexity, with lots of sugars and toffee up front; toast and fruity notes in the mids; and more sugars and piney hops in the back. I'm actually really impressed with this 2014 Vintage, I'm happy I picked up the 6-pack and I would pick this up again this year. Between this and Brown Shugga', I think Chicago is covered.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. To reiterate, this is fantastic stuff...I would definitely pick some of this up if you see it on shelves. This is the perfect beer to pair with your holiday trimmings or a football game on a chilly night.

Random Thought: Seriously...I love being politically correct and sensitive to other people's needs but can we just call this the same thing we have been calling it for the past decade or whatever? 

Sierra Nevada Coffee Stout

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from the 2014 Snowpack purchased at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014
Style/ABV: Coffee Stout, 6.2%

Reported IBUs: 53

DAE Cerro Nevarros? I do. For $14.99 the 2014 Snowpack was too cheap to pass up. This year's Snowpack features their Porter, Pale Ale, Boomerang IPA, and Coffee Stout. About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

Coffee Stouts are maybe my favorite thing ever, so I have some pretty high expectations with this one. The Coffee Stout punches in at 6.2% with 53 IBUs, and is brewed with Nugget hops; Two-row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Wheat, and Brown malts; and cold brewed coffee and lactose. 

Sierra Nevada Coffee Stout

This pours into a near-black body, kicking up a finger of dark brown head. Bright light betrays some of those brown tones around the edges, but this is basically opaque through and through. Head retention is good, with solid lacing. 

The aroma here: coffee, hazelnut, mocha, coffee + creamer, a little espresso, and lots of filter coffee and coffee that has been leftover in the filter. There is also a substantial amount of lactose on the nose, with hints of creamer, vanilla, and milk.

This pretty much follows the nose to the tee...leading off with lots of sweet coffee, filtered coffee, espresso, ground coffee, and some hazelnut sweetness. Along with the coffee onslaught is a lot of hints of mocha, creamer, lactose, and sweet notes. The sweet notes include some sugars and hints of dark fruits...beneath the coffee is some hints of roast complexity, but this is mostly a sweet coffee ride.

This is pretty straightforward, but gets credit for being medium-full at just 6.2%. The palate depth here is really good, but this isn't the most complex beer in the world. This pretty much rides sweet coffee up front, with tons of coffee, espresso, and hazelnut; the mids roll into some creamer, lactose sugars, mocha, and earth/tobacco; the back end trails with lots of coffee sweetness, and has a bit of roast. The theme here is sweet and coffee. A part of me wonders if this beer would be elevated if it had a little more roast or dark malt complexity to balance out some of the sugars.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average here. This is a really solid coffee stout, especially at the ABV, but I do think it could be a bit more complex. Still, this is a great addition to the winter pack, and also a tasty beer. I would pair this with some dessert....maybe some dry chocolate cake. Yum.

Random Thought: The 2014 Snowpack doesn't have any mind-blowing beers, but it does feature four very good beers. I'd say it is worth the $14.99. 

Sierra Nevada Boomerang IPA

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from the 2014 Snowpack purchased at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014
Style/ABV: American IPA, 6.7%

Reported IBUs: 60

DAE Cerro Nevarros? I do. For $14.99 the 2014 Snowpack was too cheap to pass up. This year's Snowpack features their Porter, Pale Ale, Boomerang IPA, and Coffee Stout. About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

The Boomerang IPA is brewed with Galaxy, Vic Secret, and Ella hops. This one features a malt base of Two-row Pale, and Wheat. This veers into the land of golden IPAs, with golden tones for days. The beer is well carbonated, and kicks up a finger of fluffy, creamy, whipped head. 

Sierra Nevada Boomerang IPA

The aroma here is really nice, with lemon, pineapple, white pepper, and big spicy and resinous hops. As you dig into the aroma, you can pull out some citrus: grapefruit, tangerine, and orange. There are also some grassy notes, and the malt backbone reminds me of a Pilsner for some reason.

This is clean and refreshing but kind of par the course...you get some nice hops. Actually, this is pretty vibrant, with clean lemony hops, white pepper, and lots of tangerine. This has a good amount of spice, and the malt backbone drifts towards that American Pilsner thing...which is weird. It's like crackery.

This is medium-light bodied, with great carbonation, great palate depth, and not a ton of complexity. This is pretty straightforward, with tight execution. A refreshing winter beer for sure...and much cleaner and brighter than the Celebration Ale and Torpedo. This leads with lots of lemon and white pepper up front; and gives way to some resinous citrus and lemon; the back end lingers with white pepper and a fair amount of cracker malts. Not bad, not great, good. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. This is definitely par the course for the style, but it's very well executed with clean lemony lines and lots of nice white pepper. You could pair this with burgers and wings and be in good company.

Random Thought: Beeer...mmm

Sierra Nevada Porter

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: 12oz bottle from the 2014 Snowpack purchased at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 10/03/2014)
Style/ABV: American Porter, 5.6%

Reported IBUs: 32

DAE Cerro Nevarros? I do. For $14.99 the 2014 Snowpack was too cheap to pass up. This year's Snowpack features their Porter, Pale Ale, Boomerang IPA, and Coffee Stout. About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

The Sierra Nevada Porter has been around for a while. This beer is brewed with Aurora and Yakima Golding hops, and a malt base of Two-row Pale, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Black & Carafa. This one is available year-round, and is a classic example of the style.

Sierra Nevada Porter

As you'd expect, this pours into a ruby-red/brown body, kicking up a finger of caramel tinged head. Brown Ale or Porter, take a guess. There's good lacing...carbonation...blah blah.

The aroma here is actually really good. There's a lot of deep toasty notes, nuttiness, and lots of lightly roasted coffee. I'm getting a lot of hazelnut, light wood, light earth/tobacco, and some really nice dark grains. The aroma is not muddled, and stands out boldly.

The taste is a good extension of the nose: there are rich dark grains present, with lots of coffee, hazelnut, toasted notes, a good amount of woody/earthy/tobacco/chocolate notes, and some grassy hops. 

This is a very straightforward and classic example of a Porter, but the execution here is top-notch stuff. Like many of Sierra Nevada's beer, this one could serve as a standby or a regular fridge stuffer. This is medium bodied, with spot-on carbonation, good palate depth, and good complexity. The carbonation is what you'd expect from a Porter, Brown Ale, Dry Stout, or regular American Stout. It's really a fantastic beer, with lots of coffee and hazelnut up front; some chocolate and earthy tobacco in the mids; and more coffee and some hops in the back. I could drink this shit all day long, and at 5.6% you should.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average here. What a fantastic beer....I really like Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale, Stout, Porter, and Hefe. You have to hand it to Sierra Nevada, they know how to roll out these classic styles. The sweeter coffee notes in this porter beg to be paired with some pork. I'm thinking dried ribs or a pork roast. You could also pair this with some beef ribs or beef brisket. Yum.

Random Thought: I <3 Winter Beers. 

Founders Backwoods Bastard

Brewed By: Founders Brewing Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy, 10.2%

Reported IBUs: 50

Thanks to Founders' increased distribution, Backwoods Bastard was much more plentiful this year. I hope this trend continues, because it would be nice to see something like KBS become a shelf turd like their Breakfast Stout. About Founders:

Founders is the holy grail of Michigan brewing. Based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Founders was founded in 1997 by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers, and produces some of the best beer in the world. If you haven't heard of Founders...well, what are you doing? Get on that, now.

The Backwoods Bastard is the bourbon barrel-aged version of the Dirty Bastard, which is just a phenomenal, readily available, American-made Scotch Ale. 

The Backwoods Bastard is relatively unassuming...it pours into a murky, red-brown body, kicking up a finger of caramel-tinged head. This is a relatively well-carbonated beer, and suspended yeast is clearly visible in the body. I always look forward to busting out my Scotch Ale glass.

Founders Backwoods Bastard

Unlike the appearance, the aroma is pretty vivid and engaging. Straight away is a ton of oak, bourbon, coconut, and raisin-whiskey sweetness. There are some serious cherry notes on the aroma as well, with toffee, and English-style Barleywine notes coming along for the ride. There are a lot of complex layers of malt aroma, and the barrel takes the Scotch Ale into English Barleywine territory. 

It's very interesting to see how oak barrels can change certain style of beers...in this case, the oak and bourbon adds a lot of complimentary notes to the deep, peat-like malts. This isn't a super thick beer, but there's a ton of malt depth and layers of oak, wood, bourbon, raisin-sweetness, toffee, dark fruits, and barrel character. It all ties into a fruity licorice note, which is quite nice. As this warms up, you get a really nice chocolate and English-style Barleywine character, courtesy of the bourbon and oak. Hints of coconut and grain start to show up, and it adds a much welcomed layer of complexity that elevates this into something beyond average.

At 10.2%, I'm tasting a little booze in here...this is definitely a bit hot, but I like it. The bourbon and whiskey notes are welcomed, in my opinion. I think the style and the peated malts lend themselves to a little whiskey/bourbon heat. This is medium-bodied, surprisingly, but has really good palate depth and lots of complexity. A lot of the complexity here is unlocked at warmer temps. This has a lot of bourbon and whiskey up front; it gives way to great fruit notes, spice, licorice, toffee, wood, peat malts, bitterness, wood tannin; the back end drops peat malts and finishes nicely. This is a great barrel-aged Scotch Ale. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. I wouldn't pass this up...I think it's a pretty fantastic beer. I don't know if I would age this, maybe for a year or two tops to see if it mellows out...but I think this is impressive. It's a nice twist on a relatively one-note style of beer. Founders did a very good job letting the bourbon and barrel stand out here. I would not pair this with much, maybe a dessert....it's very similar to an English-style Barleywine, with barrels. 

Random Thought: I feel like a "state of the blog" is in order. I apologize to the six people that read this pile of word vomit. I have been quite busy with graduate school...I've also been on a tight budget. Those two things have sort of constrained my beer drinking and beer reviewing. On the other hand, as a graduate student, I find myself drinking a lot more. Hmmm. DAE alcoholism. Actually, I think it's just grad school. "If it doesn't kill you, it'll make your liver stronger." 

Bell's Expedition Stout

Brewed By: Bell's Brewery, Inc. in Kalamazoo, Michigan  

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Chicago, IL; 2014 (Bottled on 09/19/2014)

Style/ABV: Russian Imperial Stout, 10.5%

Reported IBUs: ?

Winter is here early in Chicago, so I guess we can break out the big guns. About Bell's:

Bell's Brewery is one of the biggest names in craft beer. Once you get past the Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Stone phase, you start hearing about breweries like Bell's. Bell's began as a home-brewing supply shop, founded by Larry Bell, back in 1983. Bell's sold its first beer in September 1985. The brewery has humble roots like many of the first craft breweries, and the beer was originally brewed in a 15-gallon soup kettle. The beer was originally self-distributed, bottled, and delivered by hand during the company's first four years. In 1993, Bell's became the first brewery in Michigan to open an onsite pub. The brewery currently has two facilities, one in Kalamazoo, and one in Comstock Township, Michigan. For more info, check out their website. 

Bell's Expedition Stout is a classic, and really needs no review. This is a massive, malty, hoppy Imperial Stout...I would compare it to beers like Surly's Darkness (the non-barrel-aged version). You can't go wrong with that.

This is a pretty ferocious beer, pouring into an inky-black body that results in a finger of dark, mocha-colored head. While the beer itself doesn't produce a ton of head, head retention is pretty good. There is also a substantial amount of lacing. This is massive in so many ways.

Bell's Expedition Stout

This is also an infinitely complex beer on the aroma. I give a lot of credit to Bell's for this beer, which smells like the bottomless depths of the deepest bag of dark roasted malts. This really goes all over the place, with fruity notes, coffee, chocolate. I'm getting big anise, cherries and raisins, sharp espresso and coffee character, some mocha, and dusty cacao. This pulls out some baker's chocolate, and ties in a woody and mocha character. It's also an incredibly hoppy aroma right now (two months fresh), although the hops mostly show up as dark fruits and intense resin-bitterness. 

This tastes blissfully huge, with everything you get in the aroma plus a wallop of hop bitterness and veiled citrus/pine punch. This is a giant RIS...unloading espresso, coffee, dark baker's chocolate, cacao, and woody notes. There is some nice waves of anise and cherry in here, with tons of underlying hop oils that add some resiny rosin notes into the mix. 

The body of this beer is oily and full-bodied, and the mouthfeel has huge depth. This is also incredibly complex. At 10.5%, this is appropriately boozy. There's a lot of stuff going on here. Up front: oily chocolate, cacao, anise, dark fruits, cherries; the mids roll into more cherries and anise, with growing hop resin, rosin, dank bitterness, woody notes, roast, coffee, espresso; the back end cleans up with dark fruits, espresso, coffee, bitterness...and a drying roasty finish. This is what Russian Imperial Stouts are about.

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Divine Brew on this. This is a world-class Russian Imperial Stout, and it reminds me of the 2013 Darkness. That's pretty tall company, and you could do a lot worse than this beer. It also is a bonus that this beer comes in a 6-pack instead of a 4-pack. I have to give Bell's credit for that. This is an insanely large beer with lots of roast, hops, and the appropriate amounts of booze. I might pair this beer with grilled meats, or a dry chocolate cake. Good stuff, recommended. 

Random Thought: The Bears suck. They can't even tank right. I guess they are going for the slow troll. 8-8. 

[Cellar Review] Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2011 Vintage

Brewed By: Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California 
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from 6-pack purchased at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2011
Style/ABV: India Pale Ale (IPA), 6.8%

Reported IBUs: 65

For whatever reason, people LOVE to cellar the Celebration Ale. It makes no sense, since this is a hop-forward beer that is all about those "wet hops." Google it. Anyway, I happen to have a 2011 vintage laying around...so here we are. About Sierra Nevada:

Sierra Nevada are one of the big players in craft brewing, and one of the first craft breweries to arrive on the craft beer scene. If you check out their history page, you will see that founder Ken Grossman began his quest to build a brewery in 1976. In 1980, Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi brewed their first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. According to Wikipedia, Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is the second best selling craft beer behind Boston Lager. Sierra Nevada is the sixth largest brewing company in the United States as well, cranking out over 750,000 barrels in 2010. For more info, check out their website.

Seriously, don't cellar this beer. This is a good beer fresh, as I noted way back in 2011. This beer is brewed with Chinook and Centennial hops, and features a Two-row Pale and Caramel malt base. 

[Cellar Review] Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale 2011

The aged vintage pours into a cloudy and hazy reddish/orange body, kicking up a momentous amount of orange/caramel-tinged head. This beer has had some time to carbonate in the bottle, and features a good amount of rising carbonation, sustaining head, and yeast particles that are just floating around. There's a good amount of lacing on the glass as well....

The aroma is a pretty solid indicator that this beer has been aged. Long gone are the vibrant citrus and pine notes. They have been replaced with wet leaves, iced tea, and watery Aspirin. It smells like a weak and aged Barleywine. This is what happens when hops drop off...hop...drop...fade...roll...twerk it.

This doesn't taste as disappointing as you would expect it to taste...but it's no Barleywine. The beer is well carbonated, still, and has those gentle iced tea hop notes with some crushed wet leaves. There's a little caramel and orange marmalade hanging around in the malt base spectrum, and the beer does gently veer in the direction of pine nuts and maple syrup....kind of like a Barleywine. But Cerra Nevaroz releases this shelf turd called Proud Foot that is totally more suitable for aging. Yeah.

For a 3-year-old beer, this isn't awful. It tastes very much like a muted Barleywine. All the faded elements have faded in the appropriate places...it's like being blessed with great tits and also having gravity pull them down favorably. I don't even analogy anymore. This is still well-carbed, retains a medium body, has solid palate depth, and solid complexity. It's a touch oxidized, and the hops generally veer in the direction of iced tea and that pine nut thing you get in aged BWs. Surprisingly, a malt base does retain, showing up in the back-front, mids, and back, mostly as hints of orange, caramel, and bread. This isn't awful, but it is much better fresh. If you want to age a Barleywine, buy a Barleywine. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Decent Average on this. It's not bad...but it is definitely better fresh. Food pairings here include nothing. Do you really want to pair food with a 3-year old beer?

Random Thought: Can we finally lay to bed the myth that you should age this beer? If you desperately want to age a Sierra Nevada beer, age their Big Foot.

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 5.5%

Reported IBUs: 10

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

After pretty much #reking the Farmhouse Red Ale, I'm genuinely surprised to say that the Cinnamon Horchata Ale actually smells really fucking good. If you haven't #educated yourself on Horchata, do so now. The Cinnamon Horchata Ale is brewed with 2-row pale malt, long grain rice, and Sterling hops. 

Blue Moon Cinnamon Horchata Ale

This actually pours into a really nice, hazy, golden-pineapple-yellow body, kicking up two fingers of thick white head. Head retention is actually solid on this, as is the lacing and the carbonation.

This is far and away the most aromatic and best smelling beer from this Blue Moon Winter Sampler. This has strong cinnamon on the aroma, along with apples. It smells like apples dipped in cinnamon, apple pie filling...with some peppery spice, apple cider, and some wheat malts backing the whole thing up. It's actually a really inviting nose. 

Somehow the taste isn't quite as good as the aroma, but it still delivers a solid punch of apples and cinnamon. I'm getting a lot of apple pie filling with this one, with some wheat and caramel sugars in the mix. The apple pie filling is enough to bring out the nostalgia in me and warm my heart. But this is still one-note and has too much underlying caramel sweetness. Why. 

As you drink this, the rice starts to show up more in the taste, which is a nice wrinkle of complexity depending on how generous you want to be. This is not bad, maybe the best variant in the 2014 Winter Sampler. This is light-bodied, but still on the sweeter side of things, and has okay palate depth. The complexity leaves a lot to be desired, but this is an effective apple pie filling delivery system. I'm sure some people dream about that shit, and Keith Villa made that happen. The progression of this beer is pretty much apples and cinnamon up front; some wheat and more apples and cinnamon in the mids; and big pie filling, caramel sweetness, and faint bread on the back end. This really plays up the pie thing, and begs to be paired with some apple pie with American cheese on top (because MillerCoors). 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This is basically liquid apple pie filling, and that's high praise for something brewed at some Canadian sandlot in the armpit of MillerCoors' super corporation. Again, I'm gonna second the apple pie pairing. With American cheese. 

Random Thought: For $15 you can buy a 750ml bottle of really good beer...or a 6-pack of really good beer...or a 12-pack of mostly average to mediocre beer. I guess this Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack would be serviceable for a party or something, but I wouldn't pick this up if you are looking to drink good winter beer. Just buy a couple of bottles of Trader Joe's Vintage Ale, or some Abt 12. 

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Farmhouse Red Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Farmhouse Ale/Saison, 5.4%

Reported IBUs: 15

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

At what point are we going full shark jumping? Blue Moon making a Farmhouse Ale? The Farmhouse Red is brewed with Pale Malt, European Abbey Malt, European Acidulated Malt, Chocolate Malt, and Malted White Wheat malts; this features Spalt Select and Czech Saaz hops; and is brewed with white pepper, coriander, and hibiscus. I'm not sure what qualifies this as a farmhouse ale, or why I should pour it into a slender glass.

HOLY SHIT. The bottle of this actually says "Saison/Flanders-Style Ale." It also is part of Blue Moon's "Expressionist Collection." LOLOL.

This is a heaping pile of shit. "Saison." Fuck you, MillerCoors.

This pours into a flaccid red body that is filtered and rather unlively. The finger of red tinged head was quick to drop off leaving nothing but this caramel-soup mess of a beer that is apparently a "Saison." It's hard to believe that MillerCoors lets Keith Villa outside of their rape dungeon or whatever they call their R&D department, so I don't understand the story about how Keith traveled the Belgian countryside while fingering mashes or whatever the fuck MillerCoors thinks you need to do to conceive a Saison.

This abomination smells like wheat and fake caramel, ala EVERY. OTHER. FUCKING. BLUE. MOON. BEER. EVER. EVER!!!! And for the other styles that's okay, but Saisons are supposed to be peppery and citrusy and wheat-fueled. This smells offensively doughy and is not leaving a good impression on the nose.

This is possibly the worst Saison that has ever been made, and is a huge reminder that MillerCoors doesn't have a clue about the world of beer. This wouldn't even register as a Saison in the American craft beer scene back in 1990, and effectively tastes like Blue Moon Belgian White with some hibiscus thrown in because "if it works for that crazy honky Dany Prignon it must work for us!" The caramel and rye notes that cut through the hibiscus are like a bad mix of an Oktoberfest with Boulevard's Hibiscus Gose. Only it somehow tastes seven times worse. This is equal parts muddled as it is stupid, and the only connection to "Flanders" or "Saison" is to the Flanders region of Canada where they brew Saizons. Or something. What the fuck.

Rarely does a beer leave me speechless, but this is an aberration. As this warms up, some of the wheat makes an appearance over the onslaught of saccharine caramel-extract, but this is just so incredibly stupid...and kind of offensive. It's not so much that this is a bad beer per se as it is a bad Saison. Operative word. This is a Wheat Ale in the vaguest sense, and not really a Saison at all. It's just too damn malty and sweet. This is medium-bodied, and pretty full in the palate; up front is a blast of caramel, sugar, bread; the mids roll into some hibiscus, and mild wheat, with faint muddled tartness; the back end is just like "huh?" I'm not getting any pepper or citrus here. Just so bad. 

Rating: Below-Average (1.5/5.0 Untappd)

This is a Strong Below-Average. This isn't sewage by any stretch insofar that it is beer, and it is in my glass, and it is drinkable. Any connection to the Saison style or the Flanders region is incredibly tenuous, and this beer misses the mark like Chernobyl, the Titanic, and Peter North is space. This is just a remarkably gimmicky and stupid beer that needs to go away, like the Blue Moon Grand Cru.

Random Thought: Wow! I didn't think I would have such vitriolic and choice words regarding this Blue Moon Winter Sampler...I mean, it was smooth sailing up until now. Funny how that works...

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Mountain Abbey Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Abbey Ale, 5.6%

Reported IBUs: 16

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

This is where things probably start to get weird....Blue Moon doing an Abbey Ale? Eh? The Mountain Abbey Ale is brewed with pale, "winter white wheat," and chocolate malts; this uses Mittelfruh hops, and features some dark Belgian candi sugar because DAE Belgium. 

This beer pours into a pretty nice reddish-brown body, kicking up a finger of brown-tinged head. The beer is carbonated well, but appears filtered...and yeah. Calling this an abbey ale is about as nebulous as calling this a Belgian Ale....so I'm not sure what to expect, but let's see.

The aroma is pretty mild and smells like a Brown Ale...I'm getting some toasted and nutty notes. When I swirl the beer, I'm starting to get some of the candi sugar, with some plums and dark fruit sweetness. This also has a saccharine sweet caramel presence, which seems characteristic of all these Blue Moon beers.

This is like a Belgian Ale light...really, it drinks much like a malty Bock or even a Brown Ale with some hints of sugar. This mostly dials up caramel sweetness, with some light toasty notes and some nuttiness. The kiss of candi sugar suggests some dark fruits and sort of legitimizes this, but this mostly tastes like a solid Brown Ale.

This is pretty solid as far as Brown Ales go. The candi sugar does add a nice dimension to the sweetness, and the toasty and nutty notes all work well together. It's not particularly complex or interesting, but it has reasonable depth. It seems very average, if not a bit outside the typical abbey ale guidelines. Up front is a nice dose of caramel, faint hops, and toast; the mids roll into more toast, some nuttiness, and hints of sugar; the back end drops candi sugar and some dark fruits. Overall it's pretty decent and hard to hate. 

Rating: Average (2.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. This almost falls into below-average territory because honestly, this isn't a very inspiring Belgian Ale and I really have to work hard to dig out the nuanced and rewarding flavors. Having said that, this is probably an average or average+ Brown Ale thing. It would certainly pair well with the cooler weather, minus that weak ass ABV. I'd treat this like the many Winter brown ales that inevitably sit on shelves come November. 

Random Thought: My Garmin watch won't turn on and my life is in ruin. 

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Gingerbread Spiced Ale

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer, 5.9%

Reported IBUs: 16

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

The Gingerbread Spiced Ale is a Winter seasonal brewed with Pale, Munich, Caramel, and Wheat malts; Hallertau hops; and some ginger, molasses, cinnamon, allspice,and nutmeg.  

The beer pours into a filtered, dark red body, that is nicely carbonated, and kicks up a finger of caramel-tinged head. This is a fine looking beer. Wooo.

Blue Moon Gingerbread Spiced Ale

It's hard to believe we just wrapped up with the onslaught of Halloween/Pumpkin beers, because this beer would fit right at home with all of those. This smells like any generic spiced beer: I'm getting big nutmeg, allspice, clove, and cinnamon. The cinnamon in this beer veers into the land of Big Red, which is either good or bad...I can't decide. Beneath all the spice is a layer of suggestive caramel malt base.

Wow...this basically tastes exactly like the aroma. This is super sweet, and basically unloads a bunch of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon (with some faint Big Red) on this caramel-sweet malt backdrop. This is lacking in complexity, and pretty much just goes cookie sweet with the malts. But the cookie sweet malts work with this style of beer, and they do deliver a pretty effective gingerbread cookie into your mouth. 

I can sort of see the appeal to this beer. The cookie/caramel sweetness on the backdrop is pretty superficial, and despite being relatively moderately-full with good depth, this lacks complexity and nuance. But this is a "gingerbread spiced ale," and to that end it pretty much delivers what it promises. Up front: caramel, gingerbread, cookie-like malts, ginger spice and nutmeg; the mids roll into cinnamon, more nutmeg, clove, ginger, spice; the back end drops more cookie sweetness and spice, and finishes cloying and spicy. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. I'm trying really hard to hate this beer, but it pretty much nails the gingerbread cookie thing. It's not very complex, and it's not very big, but this would work for me as a beer to pair with a Holiday meal (Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner), or with some pie. Honestly...not a bad effort from Blue Moon.

Random Thought: Serious question: what's the difference between Winter and Pumpkin spiced beers? 

Blue Moon Winter Sample Pack 2014: Blue Moon Belgian White

Brewed By: Miller Brewing Company (MillerCoors) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin   

Purchased: 12oz bottle from the Blue Moon Winter Sampler 2014 bought at Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian White, 5.4%

Reported IBUs: 9

DAE Macro sampler packs?

Over the past few years of penning horrible blog reviews, I have never actually reviewed one of America's classic beers: Blue Moon Belgian White. I did review their god-awful Grand Cru once upon a time, but how about some of their more seminal releases? I couldn't pass up on the Winter Sampler Pack for 2014. This thing cost about $15, and comes with five unique beers. Well, five really, because who hasn't had the Belgian White? About MillerCoors aka Blue Moon:

Blue Moon was first brewed in 1995 at one of MillerCoors' R&D arms; in a sandlot, in Denver, Colorado, by Keith Villa. Keith Villa is an OG player these days. He's off judging beer, and talking about his PhD in brewing from the University of Brussels. There's a PhD for everything these days. Seriously though, it's Blue Moon. Read the Wiki. 

Blue Moon's Belgian White is the classic beer that you can find at terrible chain restaurants like Applebee's and Chili's. You might also find it at TGIFridays. This beer is literally a classic American craft staple, regardless of what people on forums like "BeersAdventures" and "RapesBeers" might say. Blue Moon is brewed with orange peel, oats/wheat malts, and the usual shit you'd find in a Belgian White. This beer is Keith Villa's pride, and Keith Villa is MillerCoors' Stepford Wife. 

Blue Moon Belgian White

For a MillerCoors' product, this beer is vibrant and orange, and hazy and unfiltered. It actually looks like a legit wheat beer, or at least until the head dies off and you are left with orange juice. Then again, this is a Witbier, not a Hefe.

The aroma is all sorts of conflicting. You get wheat, orange, and honey -- but the aroma is very thick. It smells pretty sweet, and takes a turn towards cereal, with some Fruity Pebbles, and fake spice. It's kind of how I imagine an extract batch of a Witbier would smell.

Witbiers aren't really my bag in general, and Blue Moon tends to highlight a lot of the things about the style that I don't love. For 5.4%, Blue Moon is fairly dense and heavy. It's also fairly sweet. This beer dials up the saccharine juices, and reminds me of apple juice. It tastes like something made from extract, or something that could be further fermented out. In the taste is juicy orange, Fruity Pebbles, some bubble gum, artificial clove that is cloying, and lots of wheat. The saccharine edge isn't overly enjoyable, and the fake spice goes over-the-top in ways that rival Hoegaarden. 

Despite some of the flaws that Blue Moon has, it has a full body that is pretty substantial at 5.4%. The complexity is bottom-of-the-barrel, but the saccharine orange and Fruity Pebbles sweetness is obnoxious enough to stand up to the heartburn inducing foods you might find at such chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's, etc. This is a fully utilitarian beer, something beyond the monotonous Pale Lagers likely to be on tap wherever you go, but not nearly as interesting as many other beers. I mean, I'd take a Sapporo over a Blue Moon Belgian White 9/10 times. This is truly a MillerCoors product...the saccharine sweetness reminds me of Miller Genuine Draft, and the relatively uneventful transition from orange/wheat, to a spicy/salty middle, to the bubblegum/wheat back end isn't impressive. And yes, Blue Moon is definitely slightly salty in its attempt to do spice. Salty like semen. Yum.

Rating: Average (2.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. Blue Moon isn't offensive enough to hit that below-average stride, and this beer actually does sort of pull off the style. It's a bit cloying on the sweetness, but the slight brine/semen/salt note that is probably supposed to be coriander spice actually adds an interesting dimension...oh shit, I'm fishing here. Or phishing. Ha, the jokes on you! Seriously though, I would never go out of my way to buy a 6-pack of Blue Moon, but this is a serviceable beer on tap. I've had this beer while out to many a shitty chain restaurant with family and friends. This is a great beer to shove an orange in, and call it a fucking day. This is my Chili's beer. 

Random Thought: The Blue Moon Grand Cru was hilariously bad. Maybe that's why I don't see it on shelves anymore.