Blue Moon - Grand Cru Limited Edition

It's almost the end of the year, only a couple of more days, and what's a better beer to review than one brewed especially for the occasion. Now normally I would wait and publish this post on New Years Eve or the day after but I wanted to get it out there before all of the limited edition beers are off the shelves of your local liquor store. The first thing I want everyone to know is that the Blue Moon Grand Cru does not come in a case or six pack but bought in 25 oz. bottles. The bottles aren't cheap and run around $8 dollars a piece but before swearing it off because of the price let me tell you a little more about the beer. First of all, the beer has a very high ABV of 8.2%, almost double a normal beer. Now usually when you see a beer with a high ABV, the beer usually loses a lot of good taste but this beer is completely different. The Grand Cru tastes better than its brother, the Blue Moon, but is very similar with a more distinct taste of the orange, the usual garnish and taste of the blue moon beer. Now the Grand Cru drinks very smoothly and will get you on your way to being out of control drunk really fast and you won't even realize it. If I had to pick one thing that I don't like about this beer is just the little bit of dry mouth that it leaves but other than that there really is no after taste and nothing else bad about this beer. If I were you I would try to get my had on a couple before the New Years and ring in the new year the right way.

Overall Score - 8.2

I wasn't lying there are definitely some micro brews on the horizons.

BG

Magic Hat Winter Brews

The 25th of December marked the beginning of the end of another year, and a perfect day to have a couple of beers while visiting family and friends. On this Christmas ,the choice of brews was Magic Hat's winter seasonal Howl and the Odd Notion Series' Winter 09. The two beers bring two completely different types of styles and tastes to the table so first we will look at the Howl. The first thing that comes to mind when you see the beer is how funky the label looks (this is true for all Magic Hat beers). After you get past the eye popping label and get down to drinking the dark brew, you get the typical tastes expected when drinking a winter lager with a few exceptions. First of all the beer has a pretty average ABV of 4.6%. As I said before, the taste of the beer is in line with other winter brews but with a few exceptions. In my opinion these exceptions make the beer much better than other heavy winter beers. While there is nice subtle chocolate taste the beer does not sit too heavy in your stomach. I feel like this is a nice beer that would be great to have late night while eating some desert, maybe replacing coffee for a few of us.

The second winter beer of Magic Hat that I had was one of the Odd Notion Series, Winter 09. Magic Hat puts out a new Odd Notion beer for each season every year and this year for the Winter 09 beer they decided to make it a sour beer. Now this was the first sour beer that I have ever had and the experience was not a good one for me. The first couple of sips of the beer caught my attention and I thought that I might enjoy it but by the time the beer was gone I decided that this was not a favorie of mine. There are subtle tastes of fruit in the beer (mostly lemon) but the beer is really kind of sour and leaves a not so pleasant aftertaste that lingers for a while. While this is completely different from any of the winter beers that we have seen so far, in my opinion, it is not a welcome change.

Magic Hat Howl

Overall Score - 7.0

Magic Hat Odd Notion Winter 09

Overall Score - 4.5

Keep posted because there are some micro brews on the horizon.

BG

Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Samuel Adam's brings a great beer to the table with their winter seasonal selection, Winter Lager. The label defines the beer as "a dark wheat lager blended with winter spices." Now usually, I am not personally a fan of the type of wheat beers that Samuel Adams ships out because of the distinct taste that they have but this one I love. The winter lager has a good ABV of 5.8% but the interesting thing is that I actually had to go onto the website to find that little piece of information out because I couldn't find it on the bottle or the six pack it came in. The beer goes down really smooth and doesn't have the bite or the heaviness that other of the winter seasonal's have had, which is a nice change. The only bitterness that you will experience is in the little hint of an aftertaste that only lingers for a fraction of a second. In reality, at least to my limited beer palate, the only of the "winter spices" that I could say that I tasted was a hint of cinnamon. I am torn between really enjoying this beer because of the great flavor or liking it more because of the different change of pace that it brings compared to the other winter varieties. But, the fact that it gives us beer drinkers a new direction in winter beers gives it a notch up in my book. In closing, I feel that this beer is easy to drink and gives a good taste without being overpowering.

Overall Score - 7.3

Keep posted, I have two different Magic Hat winter brews sitting in the fridge and I'm getting pumped to drink them.

BG

Full Moon Winter Ale: Part of the Blue Moon Seasonal Collection

With almost two feet of snow lying outside on the ground with more continuing to fall, it just happens to be a perfect setting for watching a couple of movies, relaxing, and enjoying some good beer. Today on the menu is Blue Moon's Seasonal Selection, Full Moon. Full Moon sits at the average price of around $8 dollars for a six pack and has a nice ABV of 5.6% which will keep you warm on a night like this. The label on the beer describes the beer as a full-bodied ale that is brewed with roasted malts and a hint of Dark Belgian sugar for a perfectly balanced taste. Now while drinking the beer I have no idea if I was tasting the sweet Belgian sugar or not but what I can tell you is that beer does have an interesting taste. Compared with the last winter brew that I reviewed, the Sierra Nevada, there is only a slight hint of bitterness in the beer. There is also a slight hint of sweetness that you can pick up on in the after taste. In truth it is not to heavy and is definitely a beer that deserves more than one in a sitting. One of the best things about the beer is that it doesn't have a significantly bold taste which makes it more enjoyable to people who do not necessarily like a really strong "beerish" flavor. (My mom is a huge fan of the entire Blue Moon Collection and her favorite beer is Coors Light) Overall I think that this an enjoyable beer for everybody but if your looking for a beer with a more bold flavor than look elsewhere.


Overall Score - 6.8

Tune back next time for the newest beer review

BG

Sierra Nevada - Celebration Ale

The first beer of the winter season that's on the chopping block is the ever popular, Sierra Nevada's winter special- Celebration Ale. Since this is a full review of the beer I'll cover everything from price to taste including all of the niceness in between.

The Celebration Ale is average costing beer (I paid around $8 dollars for a six pack) that has an ABV of 6.8 which will do the job of getting you on the road to feeling good. But forget about where the beer leads you and lets focus on the taste and see if this is a winter ale that beer lovers will enjoy while hanging out with friends on a cold winter night. The beer has a strong bitter taste to it which I rather enjoy in the ale variety of beers but a female friend of mine and my brother really did not enjoy the Celebration Ale because of how bitter the taste was. The thing that really struck me about the beer was how easy it was to drink and that it was not a heavy beer that sits in your stomach like a ton of bricks. After having the first couple the beers I enjoyed a couple of slices of pizza and the beer really paired well with the pepperoni pizza that I had. Overall, I think that the Celebration Ale is a little over-hyped for how expensive it is but is not a bad beer. If you're not a fan of a bitter tasting beer than I would stay away from this particular brand of Sierra Nevada's but, in two words, not bad.

Overall Score - 6.2 out of 10

Stay posted for future winter specialities.

Happy Holidays!!!

The holidays are in full swing here in mid December. Hanukkah is just passed and Christmas is around the corner. Here in the Dirty Jers' there is an upcoming snowstorm looking to dump about a foot of snow on us. With winter in full force I have decided to dedicate my first couple of posts (by couple of posts I mean all posts until the end of January) to winter brews. I plan on reviewing beers from the most popular to small micro brews found across the country. I hope to start this blog of right and start to give all you beer lovers out there great reviews. Also I am going to be trying to review as many types of beer as possible so if anybody has any suggestions on winter beers that I should try please let me know. Check back later.