Porter

Beer Name: Porter
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 5.8%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 6/24/11

This weather is completely inappropriate for a porter, but it's the last of my sixpack mixpack and it's getting consumed regardless.

Southern Tier's Porter (seriously, this place makes some delicious beer, but their names need some creativity) is a very dark beer that blocks all light from passing through and is nearly black except for some ruby highlights around the edges. It pours with a minimal amount of head, and again, only because I poured it in such a way to force head production. It didn't last very long, and it barely left any lacing. The aroma is roasted malt, roasted chocolate, and maybe a little bit of fruit, but only faintly.

All those roasted notes from the aroma come through in the flavor. It's mostly roasted malt, with a little hint of the chocolate in the background. There's not much carbonation, but I'm not sure you really want a heavily carbonated porter. I am not sure I would enjoy that. There's even a little bit of a hoppy kick to the finish, with just a bit of bitterness.

Final thought - This is a very easy drinking porter. Nothing outstanding about it, but nothing bad either. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the style. I don't think it will convert any porter-haters though.

-Jon

India Pale Ale

Beer Name: India Pale Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 7.3%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 8/12/11

August is a much more reasonable time for a beer to be born if I'm drinking it in September. Hopefully that means things will go better with this beer.

Southern Tier's IPA is an orangey copper beer that poured with a thin head which quickly evaporated, leaving a thin layer around the edges. It also left a medium lacing pattern. The beer has a hoppy aroma, with a mix of floral hops and pine hops. There's also a little bit of citrus hops in the background. It seems like there is even some maltiness in there as well, but it's very faint.

This is a good flavored IPA, with enough of a hoppy kick to let you know it's an IPA without being too bitter. It is balanced with a bit of malt as well, so the flavor is both bitter and sweet. The beer is lightly carbonated, and it finishes with a bitter hop flavor. There's a little bit of an aftertaste, and it has some bitter and sweet components. After a little while, the beer's flavor sort of weakens, so drink this one sort of quickly.

Final thought - This is a pretty good beer, with only one minor drawback. I would say that it has a perfect amount of hops, with enough malt to keep things balanced. The only flaw in my opinion is that after a few minutes, the beer's flavor sort of fades away and it feels kind of watery. I bet if I drank it a little bit faster, then that wouldn't have been an issue. But that is dumb, because I like to enjoy my beers. If I wanted to chug down 10 beers an hour, I'd just drink Random Macro-brew Light.

-Jon

Pale

Beer Name: Pale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 6.1%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: DOB was 5/4/11

This beer is outside my arbitrary 90 day window, and also my 120 day window, which are not based on anything other than seeming like a good amount of time in which to consume a beer after it's brewed. However, I am not sure that this window is significant for anything other than mass-produced macro swill beers, so what the hell, I'll give it a try.

Pale is a pale golden colored beer that poured with about a quarter inch of head (because I intentionally poured it to force some head to form) that quickly faded away, leaving a thin layer on top and a light lacing pattern. At first there is a hoppy aroma, but this disappears after a few minutes, leaving the beer without much of an aroma. That's kind of weird, so maybe we can blame it on the beer's age.

The first sip I took had a nice light flavor with a citrusy hop kick that was balanced by some maltiness. There was a light-medium level of carbonation, and a mostly crisp bitter finish with a mild aftertaste. The next couple sips were like this as well. Then, after a little while, that seems to vanish much like the aroma did. Now, I've had beers that change in flavor as they warm up, but to have the flavor disappear? That's a new one.

Final thought - While not a bad beer by any means, this beer doesn't really live up to the pedigree established by the other Southern Tier beers I've had. I'm willing to give this one the benefit of the doubt and try it again with a fresh one, but only because the first few sips seems like they were the beginning of a delicious beer. Let's call this one "Rating Pending," even though I don't even use a rating system here.

-Jon

Harvest Ale

Beer Name: Harvest Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 6.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: It's "DOB" was 0?/29/11... it was partly scratched off.

Apparently Southern Tier actually does put dates on their bottles, but they come off very easily. As in just rubbing my finger against the date makes it rub off. What kind of adhesive are they using, wishes?

Harvest Ale is a copper-colored beer that pours with a light head (just under half an inch I'd say) that quickly fades, leaving a light lacing pattern behind. The aroma is fantastic, with citrus hops, mainly grapefruit, and caramel maltiness. If the flavor is half as good as this aroma is predicting, then this beer will be... well, pretty average. Maybe I should be shooting for at least 3/4 as good.

Well, I'm not sure I can be exact with the percentages, but this is a pretty tasty beer that doesn't quite live up to the aroma's hype. Although it's classified as an ESB, it drinks like a mild IPA. It has a light hoppiness to it, but it's balanced nicely by the malt. The finish is slightly bitter, with an aftertaste that lingers a bit, but not too long. There's a little carbonation, probably just above what I'd consider "light" carbonation. The overall bitterness increases as it warms up, so take that into consideration depending on your enjoyment of hops.

Final thought - I enjoyed this beer, but I think it would have been better paired with food. It seems like the perfect beer to drink with a meal, as it has a good flavor that wouldn't overpower any foods, but also wouldn't be covered up. I'm not really an expert on food pairings though, so I don't know what it would work with. Probably something with BBQ sauce.

-Jon

Phin & Matt's

Beer Name: Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 5.7%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

What a modestly named beer! I am expecting big things.

Phin & Matt's Extraordinary Ale is an American pale ale, so it's a little hoppier than a normal pale ale without being an IPA. At least that's the way I'm understanding this. I'm fighting a fairly annoying sinus issue right now, so the only part of the aroma I'm getting here are the sweet and hop portions. There's definitely some other stuff going on though, but I can't identify it. The beer poured with only a light head that quickly faded, but the beer still left a light lacing pattern behind. For color, it has a somewhat dark golden appearance.

This beer has a nice flavor of hops without being bitter. Well, it has a little bitterness at the finish, but it's not the sharp bitterness and bitter aftertaste that most hoppy beers have. There's a light carbonation, which, when combined with the clean finish, makes this beer very easy drinking. I could see this being a good beer for a drinking session. A smooth beer with a nice flavor is always a good choice.

Final thought - This is a tasty beverage. I would suggest that if you don't think you like hops, give this beer a try. There is a nice citrus hop flavor, but it doesn't have the normal hop bitterness that seems to turn off some people. This could definitely be a new beer in my regular rotation, which will have to wait until 2012. I've still got a little ways to go to fulfill my promise of 100 different beers this year, so I can't be locking myself into anything specific yet.

-Jon

Raspberry Wheat

Beer Name: Raspberry Wheat
Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Unknown

I recently learned that my local package store allows you to pick and choose beers to make your own variety packs. Sadly, this might be the most exciting event of September, unless our brown ale comes out deliciously. I took advantage of this feature to make myself a Southern Tier mixpack.

Raspberry Wheat is barely a beer. I am suspicious of any beers that make the distinction of putting "Malt Beverage" on their bottle instead of ale, lager, beer, etc. This particular beverage is a pale golden straw color that poured without any head of lacing. It does have a lovely raspberry aroma though, along with some wheatiness. Makes sense, given the beer's name.

This is a very light drinking beer, with only a light carbonation and no real hop bitterness. Everything is very smooth. The raspberry flavor is noticeable without being overpowering. The flavor also has something in it that gives you the impression of a raspberry dessert, like a turnover or a cobbler. It's nice. Each sip ends cleanly without leaving an aftertaste.

Final thought - This is a pretty good fruity beer, but I am not sure I'd be able to drink a whole bunch of them in one sitting. I continue to be impressed by what the brewers at Southern Tier are putting out.

-Jon

Hex

Beer Name: Hex
Brewery: Magic Hat
ABV: 5.4%
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by 11/30/11

Hex, aka Ourtoberfest, is not classified as an Oktoberfest beer over at Beer Advocate. This also goes for the Rate Beer site, although this one seems like a less fancy ripoff of Beer Advocate. I decided to go straight to the source, but on the actual Magic Hat website, it's classified as an Ourtoberfest, which just isn't helpful at all. Come on! That's not even a style!!

Regardless of what kind of beer it officially is, Hex is a deep copper colored beer that pours with about a half inch of head that fades fairly quickly, leaving almost no lacing. The aroma is strongly malty, with some caramel and chocolate notes. It seems like a typical smelling Oktoberfest beer, even though it might not be.

As usual, Magic Hat produces another enjoyable beer. There is a nice malty flavor here, with a lot of the caramel from the aroma and just a light hint of the chocolate. The beer has a light carbonation and a smooth mouthfeel, leaving just a hint of hops and caramel in the aftertaste.

Final thought - It probably isn't the best Oktoberfest beer, or possibly even an Oktoberfest for that matter, but Hex is tasty and makes a great choice for relaxation. It even tastes good when it warms up, which works nicely if you are struggling to find something good to watch on TV on a Thursday while the Red Sox are working on the most epic September collapse in baseball history.

-Jon

My First IPA

Beer Name: My First IPA
Brewery: Homebrewed by me (with Bill), brewery name still pending
ABV: No idea, but higher than it was supposed to be.
Serving method: 12-oz bottle in a pint glass
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Brewed 8/11/11, bottled 8/24/11

I'm not sure if I should be reviewing my own beer here, but since I'm the one in charge, I'm going to let it slide. Considering the amount of mistakes I made during the brewing process, I'm shocked that this even came out as beer at all.

My First IPA is a very dark beer, making the "P" part of IPA a bit of a lie. It poured with about an inch of head that quickly evaporated. As the beer level falls, it leaves a light lacing temporarily, but nothing long lasting. The aroma is lightly hoppy, but not as hoppy as an IPA should be. There's also a sweet maltiness to it, presumably a direct result of me adding the priming sugar to the boil where it absolutely did not belong. It's actually not a bad aroma, but it's not appropriate for an IPA.

The beer is very average. It doesn't really taste like an IPA though, which is disappointing. I am not really sure how to describe the flavor. It's mostly malty and sweet, with only a little bit of bitterness in the background. It finishes fairly cleanly, leaving a slight aftertaste. Light carbonation here, meaning I probably bottled it correctly. Score one for me.

Final thought - Even for a first beer, this is still not that great. Other people have had a slightly more positive opinion, but I suspect they're just being nice. They also didn't try it after being in the bottle a week, where it tasted like someone had bitten my tongue. Yeah, that's a taste now. However, it's still beer that I made, so I'm going to either drink or spite-drink all of them. And maybe give a couple away, if anyone wants them.

-Jon

Heinnieweisse

Beer Name: Heinnieweisse Weissebier
Brewery: Butternuts Beer and Ale
ABV: 4.9%
Serving method: 12-oz can
Born/Bottled/Shipped on: Best by Dec 2011

After a day of errands and an afternoon of bottling our homebrew, it was absolutely time for a beer. There's a couple random beers left in there, so I figured that I had better clear them out to make room for Kate's Brown Ale, whose real name is still under construction.

Heinnieweisse is the last of the Butternuts variety pack we had picked up a little while back, so I decided to polish that off. I wasn't in the mood for pouring beers into glasses at this point in time, so it stayed in the can. It's a hefeweizen though, so it's almost certainly a hazy golden color that stays a little bit cloudy. It certainly smells like a hefe, with bananas and cloves hitting you in the nose with each sip.

Pretty standard hefeweizen flavor here, with bananas, cloves, and a little bit of some other fruitiness all sharing the spotlight. It's easy drinking as well, since I just noticed that I polished off most of the can already while writing this. Good thing the ABV isn't too high, or you could potentially run into problems. Mostly clean finish, with a slight aftertaste of sweetness that lingers on the tongue.

Final thought - I'm probably not the best person to ask about hefeweizens, since it's not one of my favorite styles. I've had some decent ones though, so this one just comes up a little short. It's not bad though. Just not as good as others that I've had.

-Jon