Coming Soon: Schlafly Coffee Stout and New Belgium’s Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

It’s almost time for midterms at school and I have a full load, so I’ve been unable to do many tastings lately. But I did just purchase New Belgium’s Might Arrow Pale Ale, one of their seasonal beers, and Schlafly’s Coffee Stout, so I’ll get some tasting notes together soon and post those reviews.

Whenever I can find some time, as well, I would like to make some changes to this blog. First, I’d like to have beers I’ve reviewed listed by brewer as well as by type of beer. Second, I’ve not been happy with my format for a long time now, or at least the last part of it. I always say whether I would recommend a beer or not, but that is too much of a yes or no answer, and doesn’t make it easy for me to express what I think. I’d like to come up with some sort of number based rating system. I’ve been throwing ideas around in my head, including having a rating system based on a couple of different criteria, that are then averaged together or simply giving a number on a scale of 1 to 10 telling how much I liked or disliked a beer.

I don’t know what I’ll do yet on the ratings. If you have any ideas, let me know! Look for a review of one of the above beers soon!

Cheers,
The Beer Snob

Beer Review: Boulevard Brewing Company Lunar Ale

A friend selected Boulevard Brewing’s Lunar Ale one night when he and his lovely wife (and young’uns) were at our house for a cook out, so I decided to review it for this blog. Thanks Chad!

According to the Boulevard Brewing Web site, this is an unfiltered brown ale. Here is more information:

Brewed using a unique aromatic yeast, this refreshing variety is best described as a cloudy brown ale with a complex, malty aroma and flavor, and a crisp, dry finish.

SENSORY DESCRIPTION: Very versatile beer. Light sweetness complements light foods and malty/smoky flavor can stand up to some spicier dishes. Flavor hooks: fruit, cloves, roasted malt

PAIRINGS: Lightly caramelized flavors from grilling chicken or seafood, roasted chicken or pork, stews, sausages, salads, and desserts including walnuts or almonds.

Let’s get on to the tasting…

The Pour
This poured with a two-finger head consisting of small, tight bubbles that gave the head a somewhat fluffy or pillowy texture. The color seems to be that of a too weak coffee. The beer is somewhat cloudy from the yeast and appears quite carbonated.

The Nose
Wheat is the strongest scent I picked up. It’s almost the only note, as a matter of fact. There are some spice notes. It really smells like a typical wheat beer.

The Taste
The head is rich and creamy. This is medium-light bodied, not heavily carbonated and pretty smooth. This is kind of a one-note beer. You get a wheat beer flavor profile with slight teases of hop bitterness here and there. 

Overall
Before cracking this open, I had no idea it was a wheat beer. Then after taking my tasting notes, I see on their Web site that it’s a brown ale, though it does have wheat in it. There’s really nothing exceptional about this beer to make me say, “Go try this today!” but there’s nothing wrong with it either. Overall, a drinkable wheaty beer.

Recommended: I’m not really going either way on this. Try it and see if you like it, but I won’t push this as a really good selection.

Price: Unknown

ABV: 5.1%