Golden Wheat Finally Tasted!

After being on shelves for a couple months now I finally got a chance to taste the new Bud offering, Bud Light Golden Wheat. This beer is Bud's entry into the spiced beer market. Over the weekend a friend of mine bought a 12 pack and shared it. After putting my bias aside and trying this beer, it's not bad.

I drank it out of a bottle, fairly cold. The mouthfeel was no surprise, smooth and full of carbonation. The smell was decent, mostly spices and citrus with some hops. The taste followed suit, this beer includes coriander so this taste was present, as well as the requisite citrus tones. It reminded me a lot of Shock Top, as well as Pyramid and Widmer hefe's. As far as drinkability goes, I'd give this one a C+. It doesn't really separate itself from the pack but drinking it isn't a problem and it's a beer that will probably fair well at BBQ's and casual get togethers.

A little bit of heaven in a glass!

Over the weekend I was at Two Fools (Nob Hill) with some friends just hanging out. Some coworkers of my friend met up with us and one of them bought a bottle of Chimay Grande Reserve. I had seen the bottle but never tried it. It's a true Belgium beer, brewed in Chimay Belgium by monks at a monastery, no joke, and falls into the Belgian Strong Dark Ale style.

Out of the bottle, the beer comes in a rather large bottle, he poured me a glass. When I took my first smell and drink I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. There were a few fruity tones but mostly I noticed the toasty, slightly buttery taste. It was a soft, smooth toasty taste, I'm not sure how else to explain it. The toasty tones didn't attack the tongue, rather, it gently washed on the tongue. The mouthfeel was surprising as well, light and delicate for a dark beer with a decent amount of carbonation. The smell was equally as wonderful with toasty and spicy notes most noticeable. Overall, I give this one an A+. In fact, I went out and bought a bottle at Quarters and look forward to having it this weekend.

Odell Brewery

Odell Brewery is one of my favorites, there are a number of brews from them that I enjoy. In fact, I would say that Odell is right up there with New Belgium and Sam Adams.

One of my favorite brews from Odell is 90 Shilling. It's a Scottish Ale, so it's gonna be a little flowery and smokey, and this one hits the spot.

The smell is very hopsy, you definitely get a preview of what you're getting into when you take a good whiff of it. The mouthfeel is more on the smooth side, with a slight amount of carbonation to tickle the tongue. The taste is right on, with slight floral hints and a good amount of malty, toasted characters.

Although I have yet to review it, their Pale Ale is also very tasty. Odell Brewery features about 10 brews, covering the major beer styles. I'd recommend trying them out.

Kelly's Brew Pub Custom Brews

Recently a co-worker of my dads gave him a couple of custom brews that he had made over at Kelly's Brew Pub on Central. I had heard that you could brew your own beer over at Kelly's but never gave any thought to trying it out.

Any how, the brew that was given to my father seems to have been a brown ale. It tasted a lot like Newcastle - actually, better than Newcastle. I'm thinking of going down to Kelly's and brewing a beer of my own, perhaps a stout or amber ale?