Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Sampler. Thanks to bartender Sean for the pre-tapping preview! Lite pils color with a thin head that makes it look just like a Colt .45. Detectable corn in the nose and taste, but they’re admitting to it. Taste is otherwise in the light lager range, but thankfully minus the strange overprocessed chemical traces of commercial malt liquors. Alcohol is undetectable to me, but toward the end I get a nice sting of German hops. Finishes with a bit of yeast, but as noted, it’s a very new tapping.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Draft. My Mug Glass is now chilled, but not frosted. Black body, with chunky, brief-lived foam. Smell of sweet lager malt and a bit of coffee. And the taste is similar. Nice and mellow, low on roasties, with a good hit of malt. Is this Chris Boggess’ last specialty brew before he set off to take over brewmaster duties at 3Floyds?
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Sampler, tapped 12/26/06. Cloudy, almost peach colored. Bubbly head. Light, spict wheat smell. Taste is very delicately spiced if this has ambitions of being a wit. Not much of a wit, but a nice tasting beer.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Dry hopped cask sample, 11 Jan., ’07. Come in when Sean is tending bar, start talking beer, and maybe he’ll hook you up to this. Cask pour into a room temp glass greatly enhances the presentation. A smooth tan head over the same black body. Texture is also smooth, with light cask carbonation. Dry-hopped, perhaps, but no overly so, just a nice increased sense of bitterness and well-being. current rating is for the cask version. Mug Club Draft, 3 Jan., ’07. Served in a chilled mug, a bit of a detraction. Otherwise, a good looking porter: brown to black under a thick, lacy tan head. This should have been on cask, too. Still a nice roasty malt comes in through the bubbles. Smell includes a bit of coffee roast. Some hoppiness that may actually go a bit over style, but we’re all hopheads here. Cold does give it a clean finish, but I have to ding it for its presentation. Original rating: 6-4-5-2-13=3.0
McDermottDrink (4593) reviewed Blitzen from Rock Bottom Yorktown 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Draft at RB. Here I’d thought this was a Belgian, like Pete’s Blitzen at the Chicago RB. But noooooo. Definitely an American Pale Ale. Served in a goblet at cellar temperature, yay! Smells mostly of sweet malts with a bit of alcohol. Light amber color, with a thin "crust" of foam. A very strong APA taste with a good hop head, strong bitterness with just a bit of support from pine and citrus. Good alcohol warmth.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Draft at Rock Bottom, Yorktown. This batch was tapped just three days before, and it’s pretty fresh. Orange unfiltered body, standard stiff pale ale head. Delerious northwestern hop smell. A big fresh hop load right at the front of the taste. Has a "cat" quality similar to a fresh bottle of Dreadnaught. Some heady, bready malts come through, too. Going further down, I get notes of apricots, pine resin, pineapple, and for some reason, I’m reminded of spinach. Brutal hop aftertaste for us hop-heads.Taster from cask, 6/5/07: Pulled from the engine, its light for a pale ale (there’s a dichotomy). Hazy golden color, again a thin but stubbord white head. Warmed with low carbonation, the beer plays up the citrus charater of its hops without adding to the bitterness.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Draft at Rock Bottom, Lombard. Nice yellow Mug Club pour with dark clouds in the middle and a lacy 1/4" head. Light wheat smell lacking in malty overtones. Taste is also rather light in malts, but nicely hoppy, with notes of hop spice and citrus, then specifically a bit of lemon.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Mug Club mug. Hey, it’s a been a while since my last hoppy IPA; drat those Oktoberfests and pumpkin beers. Definitely dry hopped, with a big, grassy hop smell, a chunky head over a cloudy brass-colored body. Again, a big dry hopped (I thought even fresh-hopped) C&C taste, with orange, pine and pineapple all over the place. Still room to discover some bready, caramelly malts in the base. Just a fine, fresh American style IPA.
McDermottDrink (4593) reviewed Milk Stout from Rock Bottom Yorktown 19 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Sampler glass. This was off their regular tap, and the bartendress, who turns out to know her beer, said to let this warm up a bit. But during that time, I had a bowl of their chili, so my tasting is skewed. After sitting for 15 minutes, it still shows a thin tan head marked by dark brown "craters" of bubbles past, over a deep brown/black beer. The foam forms a nice coating on the sides of the glass as I drink. Smells good and roasty, with more coffee roast to it than chocolate. Taste shows a very silky, oatmeal type texture, and a slight viscosity. Despite the roasies, I found it very smooth. Not as sweet as they claim, but a very nice beer that I hope to return for a full mug of.
McDermottDrink (4593) reviewed Abbey Ale from Rock Bottom Yorktown 19 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Mug Club Draft. Despite the name, this seems to fall into the purview of a Belgian Blond Ale, too light to be an Abbey Dubbel. Cloudy yellow to brown pour in my mug, with a bubbly but thin head. Clean pale malt smell. First taste impression is of oranges, followed by a healthy dose of those light Belgian malts. And agreeable fruity ale component. Hops come on like the bratty little brother of a La Chouffe: one moment spicy and grassy; the next running back home to ma. Substantial and worth contemplation. Finish turns slightly hoppier and lemony. Another surprise from Chris Boggess’ recipe book.