Magic Hat Fat Angel and Belgian Wit, also Widmer hefeweizen

From BEER_webalbum

Beer Advocate (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/96/295/?sort=topr&start=0) seems to like this cold one, whereas I think it's no better than fair-to-middlin. I have so far been mostly un-impressed by Magic Hat, though I admit to being a little impressed by their website (http://www.magichat.net), which has a good amount of information in a well organized flash format (if you like flash formats...)
Anyway, this is a darker form of pale ale, maybe with a slightly more German feel. The hoppiness makes it feel like a good German, but then on the back of the tongue and after the initial taste it turns to a weird fruitiness that isn't particularly pleasant.

It's not that much better than Widmer hefeweizen. Apparently, Widmer is the original American Hefeweizen. Besides that, it's pretty unimpressive. Beer Advocate (finally) agrees with me: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8/17 and one of the Allstroms wrote about it in some detail: http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/684 . I like this quote: "... “Garnish with lemon to enhance the beer’s natural citrus flavor,” this should read: “Garnish with lemon to enhance the beer’s natural blandness.” Sorry, Widmers, but if your beer needs lemon garnish enhancement, you’re doing something wrong." In Widmer's defense, it's a cheap beer available at concerts. I had a 22oz cup of this cheap and relatively boring cold one at the Wilco concert last night (Bank of America Pavilion) and also at the Orpheum, and it's better than Harpoon IPA, Bud Light, or Coors light. So, albeit not a great beer, with a lemon at a concert, it's not terrible.

I can say with full confidence that the "Belgian Wit," which I tried one time after a quite a few cold ones at the American Beer Fest and then once when Jeff got it at Bukowski's, that it totally sucks ass. This is what I'd imagine Boston Beer Works would do with this style, or maybe a failed homebrew attempt. 2 BeerAdvocate Reviewers don't hate it, and in fact kinda like it (http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/96/36770). Maybe I'm a snob, but it sucked when I tried it on tap at two different places. Anyway, I suggest never buying it ever.

Radeberger Pilsner

GEBRAUT NACH DEM DEUTSCHEN REINHEITSGEBOT VON 1516!
Zutaten: Wasser, Gerstenmalz, Hopfenextrakt.

From BEER_webalbum

The first in a series of beers stashed in checked luggage. Most of these were purchased last minute at a getranckerei(?) or whatever that place is called. I picked this one up because it was the only one Wanja had tried and remembered liking from the canned selection. There were more, but I had had many of them before in the states and decided to stick with novelty over comparing German vs. American sources of German beer. I wanted a can because it's easy to pack. Anyway, this pilsner (surprisingly) tastes like a pilsner. Bitter, good with wurst, (making me crave currywurst actually), light golden color and frothy head that stirs up to make a nice crown and disappears half way through. Definitely a nice beer to have around. If I made frequent trips to Germany, I would consider buying a case of this or another canned Pils to bring back and fill my maß on a regular basis. This would also cause me to order hot dogs from Spike's more often and probably even buy meat at the grocery store. So, maybe it's good that I don't have this beer around. I must say, I'm coveting the ability to find a good Pils or HefeWeizen on any corner for less than 2 €uros. Anyway, pretty good pils. The Allstrom bros like it: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2974/799/?ba=bros and so do BA's top reviewers: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2974/799/?sort=topr&start=0 It is important to note that they're talking about a Radeberger bought in the US in a bottle, so who knows how different that is. Anway, I agree with most of the stuff, except all the crap using words like "herbal" and "tingle." I never thought I would criticize people for being too "girly" with their beer descriptions (for lack of a better word, please forgive me female gender), but come on guys. It's a pilsner and it tastes good. No need for "fresh husked grain in the nose"… though I do appreciate many reviewers who write like this but keep referring back to words that mean something to me like "carbonation" and "hop profile."
BTW, I know your keyboard has a number pad hidden somewhere, and if it does you can do this:
ß alt + 0223
€ ... 0128
… 0133
£ 0163
ä 0228
ü 0252

etc. full descriptions are easily googled w/ something like "alt codes" or "alt 0233"
(the infamous french é).

American Beer Fest 20007

I need to write about Germany, but now I'll write about the beer fest while it's still vaguely in my memory.
Something cool on the topic of homebrew I just found off the Flying Dog website: http://www.opensourcebeerproject.com
In other news, here's a good Allstrom Bros review of SeaHag IPA, which I reviewed previously: http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/715 I think they're a little harsh, but the flavors are effusively but comprehensively described. Hate to say it, but the way people seem to write about beer almost makes me not want to deal with fancy beers and beer snobs. Almost.
Sadly, my tolerance ran out long before I could try all the stuff I wanted. Of what I tried, here are those that stood out:

#1 most interesting brewer:
Livery (Benton Harbor, MI) liverybrew.com apparently doesn't bottle, so i guess they were just showing off. Started w/ Cherry Jubilee "belgian amber ale blended w/ 40% Montmorency cherry juice then aged in brandy cask for 6 mos (7.5%)." I thought it would suck because of the cherry, but the cherry flavor was surprisingly mild and worked very well w/ the ale. Cousin Jax Imperial PA (aged in oak for 6 mos, 8.5%) was also pretty bad-ass. DoublePaw IPA "single hop, single malt IPA w/ huge citrus-pine character" was great. Tastes like the description. Liverator Doppelbock (aged in oak for 6 mos, 7.5%). I'd never had an oak aged doppelbock, and it was amazing.

Craziest (good) beer:
South Tier (Lakewood, NY) southerntierbrewing.com Unearthly IPA. "vigorously hopped imperial IPA at 153 IBU and weighing in at 11%". Probably slightly smoother than Rogue Old Crustacean, though it's difficult to compare this fresh tapped beer to an aged, bottled Old Crustacean.

In ABC order

Allagash: Curieux tripel in bourbon barrels 11%. Think bourbon flavor may be too strong and sweet in a bottle, but on tap this is very nice. Hopefully will find at Publick House, Sunset, or Deep Ellum. Hugh Malone hoppy "w/ notes of pine and grapefruit, malty palate, dry hoppy finish (8.5%)." That's a good description, and it was good. Inoculator aged in oak w/ cherries, fermented w/ Roesalare yeast 9.5%. Not incredible. Interlude: maybe my favorite Allagash. "fermented first using a Belgian farmhouse yeast and 2nd w/ a house strain of Brettanomyces yeast, aged in French Merlot and Syrah wine barrels (9.5%)." Pleasantly sour, and the aging is done tastefully.

Brooklyn: Blast! I guess I'll quote them: "A rare and riotous celebration of hops; spiced w/ 5 lbs of hops per barrel; Ahtanum, Cascade, Willamette, Palisade, East Kent Golding, Northdown, Challenger, and Fuggle. Scottish Maris Otter and German Pilsner malts (8.2%)." very nice, though I'm not sure what it means to have so many types of hops, but they tasted good. Abbey Singel. Apparently this is a lighter beer of the style drank by monks when they don't want something outrageously strong. It was like a tripel, but weaker. Pretty nice and refreshing. Could be a very good introduction to Belgians for the uninitiated, or just good if you wanna drink your Belgian beer down. Local 1: bottle re-fermented w/ german barley malt and hops and Mauritanian sugar and Belgian yeast. 9%. Continuously impressed by this brewery.

Cambridge Brewing Co: I didn't actually make it by, but I tried the Red God IPA at Bukowski's and I really liked it. Description: "Huge, deep-garnet-colored, strong ale w/ an epic amount of hop character; hopped and dry-hopped w/ Tomahawk, Amarillo, and Simcoe..." Maybe "epic" is a bit much, but it was really good. Also, they describe "YouEnjoyMyStout," Imperial stout aged over 1.5yrs in oak bourbon barrels. Sounds awesome. Wish I hadn't missed it.

Clipper City (Heavy Seas): Loose Cannon Hop3, which I've described before, was awesome on cask. Peg Leg Imperial Stout was good, but no different from other imperial stouts.

Dogfish Head: I missed the World Wide Stout somehow. 18%. wtf?

Flying Dog: Only tried Woody Creek White, which was pretty nice "Belgian style white beer brewed w/ orange peel and coriander 4.7%." I don't know that I'd want a sixer, but if I found it in a mix pack I'd be happy.

Harpoon: Peche tasted like peaches. Wish I'd tried this though: Pre-Prohibition Lager: The way American Lagers used to taste. Malty and bitter, 20% flaked maize along w/ N. American grown 6-row barley, bittered w/ American Nugget and finished w/ old country Nobles.

Jolly Pumpkin: Luciernaga "...grand cru... Coriander and Grains of Paradise... 6.5%" was pretty nice.

Lagunitas: Sirius high gravity cream ale (7.6%). I really liked this one. Under Cover Shutdown Ale: Imperial ESB (10%). Was also goood.

Magic Hat: Kerouac Beet Beer. bad pun, boring beer. even though I love beets. Wit bier lame.

Narragansett Beer. Bock: lots of barleys and very tasty. surprisingly interesting. a lot like barley tea. didn't try the lager, but i'm confident that it tastes like a lager.

Portsmouth: Black Cat stout on cask was pretty nice. Bottle Rocket IPA (6.5%0 and Imperial IPA were both very good. I loved the imperial "..utilizing all aspects of hopping. In the mash tun, as well as the kettle, whirlpool, fermenter, and dry hopped. 9.1%."

Smuttynose Big A IPA "Big-ass west coast style double IPA, loads of hops in the kettle and dry-hopped up the ass at 120 IBU. 9.2%". sweeet.

Stone: the 2007 Imperial Russian Stout was good, but not all that surprising. Old Guardian was great as always.

Stoudt's double bock was pretty nice. however, they don't have a double bock listed, so maybe it was actually the Pils or the Barleywine. Anyway, one of those was good.

Saint Louis Brewery (Schlafly):
coffee stout, oatmeal stout w/ local espresso. was tasty and definitely caffeinated. bourbon stout is also unlisted, but it was good.

There was more, but I don't remember. All I know is that I ended up with my beer on my head. I also remember not paying for my Belgian waffle, so it was all good in the end. And I don't mean I blacked out or got hazy. My memory is just that bad. All the time. mrr.