Thanksgiving Brews

During the planning for the vacation away I decided to grab a 12 pack of New Belgium Ranger IPA and a 12 Pack of Sam Adams Winter Lager. I have had the Ranger before but wanted to have more than one to get a better feel for the beer. The day comes and I pack up the car. My family got a few hours away and I realize that all of the beer is sitting in my car. I flew to my destination so I didn't get to bring any of it along. I was bummed but decided we are close to the home if the Sam Adams brewery so Winter Lager should be easy to find. Ranger not so much.

Yesterday I sampled the Winter Lager. On the bottle it says it is brewed with spices but I couldn't really taste any. It tasted like a normal lager, not hippy and not strong. The Oktoberfest beer is a far superior brew. I will try some more and see if I like it any better. So far 3/10.

When beer shopping I found a local 12 pack with 4 different beers inside. I will get the details and report back with the 4 reviews.

Ommegang Hennepin

Had this brew last night at a bar, it was on their rotational tap selection so it wasn't one of the normal beers they would have. Hennepin is a Belgian ale, a little malty but has some residual sweetness and spicy notes from the yeast used. It sits there with many other Belgian Ales as a decent session beer. It's slightly high in alcohol at 7.5% but doesn't come across with a strong alcohol taste or smell. It was poured in a Chimay glass which again fits most belgian ales, in a goblet style glass. It left a great lace all around the glass and the head was somewhat frothy. I detected some lemony notes in the 2 samples I had and possibly some orange. Neither was strong at all, they were subtlely there. I'd drink it again, 8/10.



Shiner Bock

Had this at the vendor tradeshow, it was the best choice over bud lite, miller lite, Corona. I didn't care for it. Just not my favorite style and possibly a bit too commercialized.

Virgin Islands Liquid Sunshine

This beer is one of the 4 I will be reviewing in the next couple of weeks. It came as part of the Beer of the Month club this month and comes to us from the Virgin Islands from St. Johns Brewers. It's dubbed as a Belgian Style ale and that is very evident by the dregs left in the bottom of the bottle after the pour. The color is what you would expect from a Belgian beer, it's golden but also extremely cloudy. That sticks with the style very well. It pours a really nice frothy head which is cotton in color. The aroma is strange and since I am a hophead it's somewhat foreign. It almost smells like skunked beer but obviously it's not. It just has a very light strange odor, certainly not of hops.

Now onto the flavor. I detect a citrus flavor and some spice also, maybe just a slight banana flavor profile (which come to think of it I think I am detecting that in the nose also.) It's not a favorite by a long shot but I would give it a 6/10 because it adheres to the style fairly well. Not sure what yeast they used here but assume one of the popular Belgian styles. The beer might be a little over-carbonated as you can really feel it hit your tastebuds when you take a drink. I have another beer by these same guys to review, I will have that up later this week or early next.

Slainte