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...

New Glarus Snowshoe Ale

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 

Style/ABV: Amber Ale, 5.7% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Mmmm mmm love those trips across the border. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Snowshoe Ale is a winter seasonal, brewed with a blend of American and German malts, and hops from Slovenia and the Great Pacific Northwest.

New Glarus Snowshoe Ale

Appearance: Matches the bottle. Seriously, we have a chicken and egg thing going on here. What came first, the beer's SRM or the bottle? I can only guess. Anyway, this one is dark brown/red, like an Amber, with a nice finger of caramel/amber head. The beer is transparent, and features a nice amount of mid-sized carbonation. It's a good looking beer.

The aroma is very malty, with Marzen and Vienna-esque malts popping on the nose. I'm getting Munich malts, toast, bread, rye, sweet sugary malts, caramel, and some grassy and floral hops. The hop note almost hints at something brighter and sweeter, like tropical fruits. I'm curious what "pacific northwest" hops were used in this. 

This is incredibly New Glarus, with a strong leaning towards the sweeter, German, caramel malts, toast, Munich sweetness, and Marzen-like goodness. I think this is an Ale, but fool me once. There's a lot of bready toast and dried berry sweetness in here, and any hints of "pacific northwest hops" are washed away in favor of more straight up grassy and floral hop notes. There's a kiss of hemp sweetness, but this is no West Coast bong rip. 

This beer is amazingly consistent like that one girl you dated who was super average and you had no real reason to break up with, but you did anyway because sometimes you want to try something more edgy. It's a good Winter Amber...consistent and smooth, but malty and warming, and yet drinkable. But the 5.7% is on the higher end for the New Glarus wheelhouse, at least for this style of beer. It's medium-bodied, well carbonated, has good duration, and is complex enough. It's an Amber. The front end is malty and toasty; the mids dial up more toast and caramel sweetness, with dried berries, caramel, and burgeoning hops; the back end hits some hop notes and features lingering malts.

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. It's somewhere between "middle of the road" and "above average." I couldn't not recommend it based on how quaffable it is, but there's no mystery or intrigue here. Food pairings here are whatever. Anything light goes well with an Amber. Pizza, chicken, whatever. Not bad @ 7.99 a sixer or whatever I paid.

Random Thought: I do appreciate these simple beers, but I'd appreciate them more if I lived in Wisconsin.

Anchor BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red

Brewed By: Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, California  

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Binny's in Illinois; 2013

Style/ABV: American Amber/Red, 6.0%

Reported IBUs: ?

How can anyone say "no" to Autumn/Fall beers? Fall beers have to be the best seasonal releases, coinciding with the changing leaves, crisp cooler weather, and football. Mother fucking football. That's all you need to know. And if you don't like football...well, you suck, or it sucks to be you. But we also have baseball in October, which is the best baseball, and hockey and basketball just around the corner. So yeah, Fall. About Anchor:

Anchor Brewing Company is "America's first craft brewery." The brewery can be traced back to the 1849 California gold rush, where German brewer Gottlieb Brekle arrived in San Francisco with his family. In 1871 Gottlieb purchased a beer-and-billiards saloon, and turned it into a brewery. In 1896, Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law, Otto Schinkel Jr. bought the brewery and named it Anchor. In 1906, Baruth passed away, and a fire and earthquake destroyed the brewery. In 1907, Otto Schinkel Jr. was run over by a car. The brewery was maintained by Joseph Kraus, August Meyer, and Henry Tietjen. During the 1950s and 1960s, the brewery went through hard economic times, and Anchor was shut down twice. In 1965, Fritz Maytag purchased Anchor saving it from bankruptcy. In 1971, Fritz began bottling Anchor Steam beer; and by 1975, Anchor had four beers, their Porter, Liberty Ale, Old Foghorn, and Barleywine Ale, and their annual Christmas Ale. In 1979, Anchor moved to its current location, on Mariposa Street, where the brewery currently resides today. Since then, Anchor continues to brew beer (and distill spirits), and remains one of America's most traditional breweries. Definitely check out the company's history page, HERE.

The BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red is obviously a Fall/Autumn seasonal. This beer is brewed with maple syrup, and is inspired by the California maple tree. In addition to the maple, caramel malts, and pale malts, this beer is also brewed with three additions of Nelson Sauvin hops in the brew kettle, and a blend of Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Cascade for dry hopping. Punching in at a pleasant 6.0%, this beer is available between August and October.

Anchor BigLeaf Maple Autumn Red

I'm obviously doing this wrong, but the beer pours into a nice amber body, and kicks up three-plus fingers of super fluffy, soapy, off-white head. The head is sticky and is sustaining nicely, and takes on some amber/tan tones. In bright light, this beer looks exactly how an Amber Ale should look. The beer is transparent and filtered(?), and there's lazy carbonation. Head retention is sexy, and sticky lacing is coating my glass. 

The Nelson Sauvin hopping is apparent on the aroma, along with the big Cascade. I'm getting a lot of pine, grapefruit rind, and wet leaves on the aroma. But what's surprising is the huge blast of bready, maple syrup on the aroma. I'm getting bready/biscuit honey, maple syrup, and cake on the nose. The pine and bready maple syrup thing on the nose is fantastic.

Wow...this is really fantastic for a seemingly simple style of beer. The beer is refreshing and crisp, with lots of pine, earthy floral, earthy bitter, rye, rye spice, and big crushed wet leaves, iced tea, and hints of citrus. The whole hop package is wrapped in a layer of bready maple syrup. Like, legit maple syrup. The whole beer takes on a rustic, earthy edge...and it reminds you of being outside on an Autumn day.

The Nelson Sauvin hops play nice here, never imparting any serious passionfruit or grape. At 6.0% this beer is dense enough, but drinkable and crisp at the same time. The mouthfeel is medium, and palate depth and complexity are both alright for the style. You get lots of pine, rye spice, hints of citrus, wet leaves, and tea up front; that rolls into more pine, rye spice, wet leaves, and hints of maple; the back end is a coating of maple syrup, bready goodness, and a nice finish that is dry and pleasantly earthy/floral. Autumn in a glass.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Above-Average on this. This is a really good, simple, Amber Ale. There's not much to this style of beer, but the addition of the Nelson Sauvin and Cascade impart some rye-like spice that adds a nice layer of complexity to this beer, and the addition of the maple syrup actually comes through in the taste. This beer is everything you want in an Autumn/Fall seasonal, and would be a great beer to sip on during a football game, or on a chilly October night while you watch some baseball. Ambers pair well with whatever, but I'd stick with food that doesn't have a ton of heat...anything starch + meat or bread + meat would work, and yeah. Good stuff.

Random Thought:  I'm so happy that Anchor continues to put their beer in 6-packs.