Beer Snob updates and a plug for Buckbean Brewing Co.

Hello, fellow beer snobs. Just wanted to post an update to menti0n a couple of things. I hope this update finds you well and enjoying good beer!

First, I wanted to recommend you try Buckbean Brewing Company’s Original Orange Blossom Ale. I reviewed it already, back in July 2008, and was pretty enamored with it. Well, of all the beers I have reviewed, this is the beer I can’t stop thinking about and  wishing I could get here. What a tasty and refreshingly clean beer! Check out my review and look for it if it’s sold near you. You won’t be sorry!

Next, I have a review of Sam Adams’ Summer Ale coming soon. I had that beer once before, a few years ago and before this blog. I decided it would be a good beer to review right about now as we ease into summer.

Also, on the school front….it looks like I will be able to take Fluid Mechanics this summer, which makes it very likely I can finish my degree in the Fall of 2010. Maybe then I’ll finally have more time to devote to this blog!

Finally, May 28th I board a plane bound for Paris, France. I’ll do my best to find some good beer there and take tasting notes for reviews to be posted when I return. It’s a great place to be if you’re a wine snob….but alas, I am only The Beer Snob. I appreciate good wine but am by no means qualified to review wine.

Cheers!
The Beer Snob 

Beer Review: Brooklyn Brewery Brown Ale

This beer review is in honor of finishing this semester. Initially I thought I would try to find a beer whose name somehow related to school, but when I saw Brooklyn Brewery products were now available in Nashville, all bets were off! I only saw the Brown Ale and the Lager available, and being the brown ale fan I am, I went with Brooklyn Brewery’s Brown Ale. You know what they say, “Brown will never let you down”. Well, maybe someone somewhere said it once.

On to the beer….

According to the neck of the bottle:

Richly mahogany in color, Brooklyn Brown Ale is richer and hoppier than its mild and malty English forebears. Chocolate and coffee flavors punctuate the roasty malt background.

The Pour
This pours with a light beige, two and a half finger thick head, consisting of somewhat loose bubbles and leaving, at first, only a tiny bit of lacing on the side of the pint glass. As you drink the beer, more prominent lacing is evident. It is indeed a mahogany color as the neck of the bottle mentions. Held up to the light it looks quite light bodied.

The Nose
Excellent malty notes are the first thing you notice. There are definite oak notes and roasted and smoky notes, as well as a hidden sweetness. Smells terrific.

The Taste
First reaction: there is more hop to it than I expected. (I didn’t read the neck of the bottle until I finished my first bottle.) There is definite oak in the taste, as well as a dry dusty dark chocolate profile. It seems kind of light bodied and smooth, but with a slight crispness occasionally making itself known. There is a little sweetness on the finish. The hops give it a dryness but not a bitterness or sourness. With the oak and the somewhat light body, this is sort of like a brown ale version of an dry oaky merlot.

Overall
This is an experience beer. An experience beer is what I call those beers that are unique and interesting, but not something you would drink a lot of. This is more for savoring and enjoying. It just gets drier as you drink it, and reminds you more and more of a merlot tinged with chocolate. Overall it is beginning to grow on me.

Recommended: This is not a beer for everyone. It is quite dry and is more a beer to try and to savor. I would recommend any beer connosseiur give it a shot.

Price: I paid about $1.75 per 12 oz. bottle.

ABV: 5.6%

More beer reviews coming as the semester ends

Well, my semester is almost over. I am finishing up design projects today and tomorrow and studying for my last final exam of the semester, which will be a Circuits exam on Wednesday. Fortunately my Mechanics of Materials professor gave us a quiz the other day and said if we scored an A on that quiz, we would get an A for the class.

I managed to ace it. So even though I scored a 55% on my last test and maybe in the high 60s on the previous test, looks like I’ll be scoring an A there. The quiz was comprehensive, which explains his willingness to let us be exempt from the final if we got an A.

Yes, I’m one semester closer to a civil engineering degree. I may be able to finish this up in three more semesters, but we’ll see. At most it will be four more semesters….it seems like such a long time. 

Anyway, I’m hoping I’ll be able to use some of this break from school (at least until Summer semester) to review more beers. And of course at the end of May, Mrs. Beer Snob and I will be traveling to France, so I’ll be sure to try to get some tastings done there to post when we return.

As always, thanks for visiting and come back again soon!

Cheers,

The Beer Snob