Ichabod Pumpkin Ale

Ichabod Pumpkin Ale - New Holland Brewing Company - Holland, Michigan


The third beer I’ve tried from New Holland and the third one that I like! I might have a thing against beers that are fruity flavored, because I don’t believe in beer that tastes like fruit (beer should taste like beer) but last time I checked Pumpkin was not a fruit…or is it. Crap. These are the things you should know when you are in your 20s. Well, assuming Pumpkin is not a fruit (but fruit’s seeds are usually found on the inside...like a pumpkin...things are not looking good for my argument) I generally like Pumpkin Ales. They are usually pretty dark and cinnamony and have a good, festive flavor. This one does not disappoint – most of the smell I got was cinnamon when I took my initial whiff. Exciting. The actual taste is less cinnamon than the smell leads you to believe, and the pumpkin flavor only comes out when you are about halfway through the beer. Overall, a complex tasting brew, but one that I will look for as the Fall rolls in and the air starts getting crisp and I can start wearing scarves and vests again! Also the bottle is cool and reminds me of Johnny Depp and the movie Sleepy Hollow.

Yakima Glory Ale

Yakima Glory Ale – Victory Brewing Company – Downingtown, PA 

Of all the beers I’ve opened in my life this has got to be the smelliest one. Like literally I opened the bottle and I smelled this beer without moving my face towards it. I could not decide if this was good or bad...So I drank it. WOAH BABY clearin’ out the sinuses with this one. I don’t understand what it is that’s in this beer that makes it feel like I just snorted pixie stick (flashback to freshman year of college…oops)…oh wait. Hops! I guess the “dark malts warming the hops bright edge” was not warm enough for me, and I fell off the bright edge. So if you like hops, definitely try this beer. If you don’t, stay away from it.

St. Rogue Red Ale

Dry Hopped St. Rogue Red Ale - Rogue - Newport, Oregon


If it’s Rogue I automatically like it. I have many personal connections to Rogue beers; they hold a special place in my heart for many a’ reason. So when I saw this bottle on the shelf I was pretty excited, because I have never seen it before - not even at heaven on earth, Total Wine. As the beer’s name points out it is “dry hopped” which I’m not really sure what that means***, but as I have said before I tend to shy away from lots of hops. And this beer does have a lot of hops, but the beer wizards out in Newport have found a way to blend the red ale-ish-ness with the dry hops to have it come out more sweet than anything else. This is definitely another strong tasting beer, one of those one-at-a-time, get a pint beers, but it is very pleasant and very tasty. Also the label is really cool and I’m pretty sure beer-drinking Jesus is on it, which obviously makes this a go-to on any shelf. Or maybe St. Rogue was Jesus’twin brother…the smarter one who turned the water into BEER.


***http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_hopping#Brewing

Koko Brown - Guest blog!

Guest blog! By my number one fan Jess!

Koko Brown - Kona Brewing Company - Kona, Hawaii


I first encountered this beer in a frathouse, when a friend was sipping on a bottle and raving about the toasted coconut infusions of this Kona Aloha Series brew.  I was intrigued, but I was only granted a single sip upon which to base my first impression. This impression was also colored by the fact that the fratboy who suggested this beer had a collection of Woodchuck bottles on display in his room.  Now, this is nothing personal against Woodchuck, but a professed love of this sweet cider doesn’t really lend itself to a reputation as a great beer connoisseur.  In any case, my reaction to this one sip was: WHOA! Extreme coconut overload! I didn’t think that the coconutty taste mixed well with the moderate bitterness of the brown ale.  Little did I know, however, that my opinion would change when this beer would next cross my path. 

Several months later, my roommate decided to host a bring-your-own-six-pack party, and the shirtless man on the label caught my eye and peaked my curiosity once again.  I claimed a bottle for myself and set out to see if a second taste would sway my opinion. Sure enough! With more than a single sip to tantalize my tongue, I was better able to appreciate how the roasty tones inherent in a brown ale mixed well with the coconutty tones that distinguish this brew.

A couple weeks later, I was impressed enough with this beer to buy a whole six-pack for myself when I spotted it at the grocery store. I realized that I tend to appreciate fruity tones in a beer as long as they blend well and aren’t too overwhelming. I like that this beer has that little zest of flavor integrated with an ale, as opposed to a wheat beer, the style which accompanies many fruity-flavored brews.  I recommend it if you like brown ales and are interested in trying one with a twist, but beware that the toasted coconut flavor gives the beer a rather sweet and nutty finish!

Blackened Voodoo Lager

Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager – Dixie Brewing Company – New Orleans, LA 

Example number one: Never judge a beer by its smell! This one intimidated me when I poured it in a glass and took a wiff…weird. Just smells like malt, and looks like dark malt cause it’s so…dark.  Oh wait – I just read the bottle, it’s brewed with all malt. Whoda thunk it?? No wonder they put “Blackened” in the name!

I think this is a great beer, but it does have a LOT of flavor, and a flavor that sticks around after you drink it, so be warned. It’s a great one to order at your favorite bar, but after a pint I think you would be over it - at least until the next night. The other appeal this beer had for me is that it seems to be steeped in history, and current history as the bottle informs me: “The century-old Dixie Brewery was almost destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but restoration is underway. With the help of our friends, we’re working hard to re-beer New Orleans and the rest of the country.” I love this. Re-beer New Orleans. Like there isn’t enough alcohol going around that city…You keep on, keepin’ on though Dixie Brewery. I like what you’re doing and hopefully my friends will too. Let’s re-beer America! There isn’t nearly enough beer drinking in this country!

Cinco de Mayo

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO EVERYONE! History lesson post!

Did you know that May 5th is not actually Mexican Independence day? That is September 16th. Did you know that the first people to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in America were Mexican miners in California in 1863? They were over-joyed by the anniversary of the Mexican army winning a (A, one) battle (May 5, 1862) against the colonizing French army led by Napoleon the tres in Puebla, Mexico . Those Californian-Mexicans ran around and yelled and sang and shot their guns in the air, much like inner city teenage girls do when their favorite American Idol contestant wins. This victory at Puebla was so huge that people still celebrate it today, obviously, even though within a year the French army struck back at the Mexicans and won control of the entire country...

Since we Americans have to have our hands in every part of history ever, or somehow connect it to our own history, we believe the Mexican victory at Puebla stopped Napoleon III from being able to help/resupply the Southern Confederate army during the American Civil War. What if the French were able to help the Confederates you ask? Good question! The Union would have lost the Civil War. Obviously! And we would all look like this today.

So THAT can be our reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo as Americans. Without Cinco de Mayo everything would have been different! There would be no income tax! No social security! And the federal government wouldn't have their greasy, no-good hands pouring tax money all over useless things like education, welfare, roads/transportation, and healthcare. Americans never asked for help with all that nonsense anyway. We can do it on our own! While we're at it, the whole world would probably be different because the US would not have existed to step in and show Germany what's up during World War I and II. We would probably all be speaking German right now. And Bush the II would have been King of the Confederacy.

Whew, good thing those Mexicans won that battle at Puebla! And good thing beer companies in the 1980s decided to start marketing Cinco de Mayo as a drinking holiday so they could make millions of dollars. I feel like celebrating the existence of America today. There is no better way than drinking too many beers, followed by getting a margarita bigger than my face, and then capping the night off by taking tequila shots and getting punched in the face instead of using a chaser. Thanks Mexico. I don't know what we would have done without you.

Sundog Amber Ale

(Look it hasn't been a month yet! I've still been drinking the beers, no worries.)

Sundog Amber Ale – New Holland Brewing Company – Holland, MI  

This beer is immediately awesome because it has a howling dog/wolf on the label, but I can’t tell which because it is only a silhouette. (This was also an appropriate beer for the time because I was vacationing at the beach with my family/neighbors and I probably got way too much sun that day.)

Sundog, yesdog. I’ve had another beer by New Holland Brewing Company but the name/type of it evades me currently – I do however remember liking it.  So good on Michigan, I only have good memories of the microbrews coming out of the big mitten.  This amber ale tastes a little different from your normal amber, with a very bitter initial bite to it. This took me by surprise because the bottle description made it sound like it was going to be more of a caramelly malt flavor, which doesn’t come through until you get past the initial hop/barley taste. Overall, I really enjoy this amber ale, and it’s definitely a solid beer to be drunk alone on a night of board games at the beach with too many adults wandering around wondering where they put their John Grisham novel.