lament for lager

weltenburger bier

i'd kill a man for you

alas, awash 'n'ales

O'dells

This is apparently a brewery out of Colorado. You can get the 5 barrel pale ale almost anywhere, but it's not too impressive. The IPA is definitely the best around. It's on tap at Bread & Cup, and it also tastes great in bottle. Cool bottle labels, too.

IPA

http://www.odells.com/beers/classics/ipa.aspx
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/267/35626/?sort=topr&start=0
Apparently it's won a few awards. Not a big surprise. Great scent and taste. Full bodied. Kinda citrusy hops, but floral and mostly piny, though I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Perfect amount of alcohol. Smooth but rich. I know I'm not describing this very specifically, but it's hard to find in bottles here (Meier's on South St. never has it. Have to go to the Still). If I remember correctly, medium head at first dies, but leaves a good amount of lacing and swirls up readily.

Extra Special Red

There doesn't appear to be a website for this one. Here's beeradvocate:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/267/33503/?sort=topr&start=0
A little skunky in most bottles, but though I haven't tried it on tap, I bet it's excellent fresh. Excellent red malty body with a lot of hops and alcohol. Not as good as the IPA, but I haven't tried it fresh or on tap, so it's an unfair comparison. Scent is like any red beer plus lots of candied sugar and hops. Not a really 'sweet' flavor, but the maltiness is sweet. Very smooth with leftovers of hops turning to malt. Doesn't linger long, turns into a generic red ale aftertaste, but lasts long enough while you still have some left in the cup. Medium head, lingers throughout with good lacing. Unforunately, loses a little something when it gets too warm, I guess the skunkiness of the bottles and the extra maltiness comes through and drowns out the balance.

5 Barrel Pale

Fine. I would take this over most domestics, but it's not impressive. Usually not very fresh, and not particularly rich or exciting. For such a cool sounding name, a big dissapointment. I guess they were going for balance and smoothness, but I usually don't care much for beers with that aim.

domestic doppelbock and dunkelweisse

From beermusic

OK, yes it's Michelob. But that means it's cheap. And who am I to judge? I like the fact that Michelob and Anheiser-Busch et al. are trying to make real beers on the side. The only thing I'm afraid of is them pushing out craft brewers, which is why I only bought this once, but honestly if I see this at a crappy bar, I'll probably order it over some light crap. It's a little too sweet, and lacks body, but I wouldn't put it past most American microbrews to make crappier versions, and I would certainly drink it again. For the price, I'd say it's worth a shot. They have pretty detailed stats/info here: http://www.michelob.com/ExploreDunkelWeisse.aspx

From beermusic

Sam did a much better job than Michelob, though I paid for it. It was $9 something for a four-pack, and I was quite reticent (correct usage? I don't know. Maybe too fancy a word for a beer blog.. am I being abstruse?) to pay so much for Sam, but in the end I'm glad I did. Not so sweet as Michelob, lots of alcohol, and pretty full bodied. Poured nicely with short-lived head settled up from the bottom through the pour. Smells, like all other double bocks, like candy sugar and sweet malt. Mmm. Maybe not a repeat buyer since some German doppelbock(s?) are available at Super Saver, but I'm glad I tried this. BeerAdvocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/47785 . Annoyingly, the Sam Adams website doesn't link readily to this cold one's stats, so here they are OG: 23 Plato; Calories 310 (sweeet); ABV 8.8%; Malt: Two Row Pale, Caramel 60 degrees; Hop: Tettnang Tettnanger and Tettnanger-Hallertauer; Yeast: Bottom-fermenting lager yeast; availability: early Spring (Jan-March)

From NEBRASKA

Happy V-day, from us!